The word ‘yoga’ comes from the same root as the word ‘yoke’. A yoke is used to bind two animals together. In much the same way, yoga is the art and science of coming together with the Absolute, with the spirit and consciousness of all that is, with what we might normally call God. Yoga is the same as what religion is supposed to be. The word religion comes from the latin ‘religare’ (re-ligare), and ‘ligare’ means to bind together. The prefix ‘re’ is there because of the fact that we all come from the Spirit, so when we engage in true yoga or religion, the idea is that we are undertaking the process of returning to our very source, to what it is that gives us the gift of life. I am by no means an expert on yoga or Indian philosophy, despite having been interested in it, and studying it on my own time for about a decade now. There is a lot to learn, and I couldn’t possibly learn it all even if I dedicated an entire lifetime exclusively to it, which I don’t plan on doing because I’m interested is so much more and have no plan on settling for a specific religious belief, at least for now. From what I’ve learned so far though, it seems as if there are many paths to God, according to yoga philosophy. Yoga itself is only one approach to this whole mystery, but even within yoga there are different branches, for example Bhakti Yoga (constant devotion to the sacred in everything), Jnana Yoga (self-inquiry, contemplation), and Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga is the yoga of action, and this is probably the one that has interested me the most, especially because of my own aversion towards certain kinds of action, namely 9-to-5 work. My study of karma yoga has taught me to always strive towards learning to consecrate my actions to God, or to the divine will, and this has aided me immensely in my path towards achieving a mental state in which I can finally, for the most part, endure tedious and repetitive work for many hours, as is sometimes necessary in today’s society in order to achieve one’s goals. I’ve always been kind of hyperactive and easily distracted, at least mentally. For this reason, I can really appreciate how it feels when my mind slows down, and when it seems like there’s a bit of peace or relaxation within it, and when this happens, it is almost exclusively due to having meditated for a good amount of time, at least half an hour or forty minutes, just meditating on the breath and the present moment, acknowledging my thoughts yet allowing them to come and go without a struggle. Being in the moment was never an issue for me, as I had practically lived my life up until that point without paying much attention to possible consequences or to my future. It was the concentrating part that was always a problem for me though. My incessant train of thought would keep me going 24/7, wondering, thinking, desiring, trying, failing, achieving. I wanted to be a part of everything, I didn’t want to miss a second of life and whatever was going on within my social circle and beyond. I was so good at being in the moment that I never even stopped to contemplate and ask myself if the way I was living was the correct way. Now, I had to learn to get my mind under control, and to have it learn to concentrate, to fall in love with stillness rather than the chaos it had previously been so used to.
I appreciate you reading.
rebel eye 