In my 2009 blog, I left a blank. Why Yoga? Frankly I did not understand it clearly myself.
What are we trying to achieve through Yoga. How soon am I going to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The halos around my head :-). Better health, more happiness. I have now "done" yoga for last 10 years, how much longer to get there.
Where?
Various explanations have been given of benefits in this world and the next. Not too convincing for a person of the 21st century. We want the here and now sort of benefit. We want a short term and a long term horizon of defined benefits. I want results. We hear it all the time. Measurable tangible results. Also we want to quantify our y-o-y targets. This is what the guys who treat yoga as their "property" don't like.
No no no, in Yoga there are no goals, the path is the goal. No expectations. No achievement will take place if you look forward to some achievement. I have just loosely quoted a famous French yogi "Mouni Sadhu", disciple of Raman Mahrishi. I am not saying they were wrong. Their kheer...payasam was bad. No, quite the contrary.
A child has to like the food first, for the food to nourish him. So to today's generation we have to show measurable quantifiable achievement levels at least for the initial path, till he learns the ultimate truth that "WALKING THE PATH IS THE GOAL".
I will require another post to say what is it that one gets "doing yoga".
What are we trying to achieve through Yoga. How soon am I going to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The halos around my head :-). Better health, more happiness. I have now "done" yoga for last 10 years, how much longer to get there.
Where?
Various explanations have been given of benefits in this world and the next. Not too convincing for a person of the 21st century. We want the here and now sort of benefit. We want a short term and a long term horizon of defined benefits. I want results. We hear it all the time. Measurable tangible results. Also we want to quantify our y-o-y targets. This is what the guys who treat yoga as their "property" don't like.
No no no, in Yoga there are no goals, the path is the goal. No expectations. No achievement will take place if you look forward to some achievement. I have just loosely quoted a famous French yogi "Mouni Sadhu", disciple of Raman Mahrishi. I am not saying they were wrong. Their kheer...payasam was bad. No, quite the contrary.
A child has to like the food first, for the food to nourish him. So to today's generation we have to show measurable quantifiable achievement levels at least for the initial path, till he learns the ultimate truth that "WALKING THE PATH IS THE GOAL".
I will require another post to say what is it that one gets "doing yoga".
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