Nov 2007
Devotion
November 28, 2007 @ 07:13 AM Filed in: Philosophy I Big Ideas
The full translation of this would be “devotion to god,” but this can be misleading in the context of Classical Yoga. Religious yogins often use this discipline as a place to put their devotional practice in the context of the practice, but Patañjali’s intention here is a little different. Read More...
Self-Study
November 26, 2007 @ 07:21 AM Filed in: Philosophy I Big Ideas
In Patañjali’s time, self-study meant taking it upon yourself to study the scriptures of your religion to better know your chosen deity. One of the beautiful things about Classical Yoga is its open-mindedness when it comes to religion.
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Yoga, Inc.
Another excellent documentary about yoga. This one, by John Philp, uses Bikram Yoga as a focus to look at the way in which yoga and commercialism have collided in the US. As far as I know it does not yet have distribution in the US, but you can buy copies from the filmmaker himself.
More clips here.
More clips here.
Katchie Ananda
November 25, 2007 @ 06:54 AM Filed in: Video
Katchie Ananda was one of my very first yoga teachers. She is one of the most genuine and honest yoga teachers you could ever come across. She owns a beautiful yoga studio, Yoga Sangha, in the Mission in San Francisco. Take class with her or hear her speak if you ever have the chance.
Austere Practices
November 24, 2007 @ 08:01 AM Filed in: Philosophy I Big Ideas
As we have already seen, Patañjali is as much a stickler for regular practice as any music teacher or sports coach. Theory is all very well, but without practice it is meaningless.
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Yoga Unveiled
This documentary, by Gita and Mukesh Desai is wonderful. Beautiful footage, great interviews and chock full of valuable information. I use it in my Teacher Training seminars. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in the history and philosophy of yoga.
Teaching Them To Accept The Snake...
This is a rather charming paranoia piece from what seems to be the early 1980's. It was posted to YouTube by LaneCh as part of a CNN thread on Christianity vs. Yoga. I must say that there are one or two things the piece presents as yoga that most yogins would raise an eyebrow at as well. It's extremely inflammatory.
Having being raised and educated Catholic by the very kind and compassionate Benedictine monks of Downside School (terrible name), I think I tend to agree that strict adherents to Christian sects should probably not be practicing yoga, as the goals of yoga, regardless of the lineage, tend to be very much incompatible with many of the Christian theologies.
Having being raised and educated Catholic by the very kind and compassionate Benedictine monks of Downside School (terrible name), I think I tend to agree that strict adherents to Christian sects should probably not be practicing yoga, as the goals of yoga, regardless of the lineage, tend to be very much incompatible with many of the Christian theologies.
Contentment
November 22, 2007 @ 07:18 AM Filed in: Philosophy I Big Ideas
Contentment, or satisfaction, is another discipline that needs to be addressed on two levels, that of achievement and that of the experience of time. Without contentment we cannot hope to be present and mindful.
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Purity
November 20, 2007 @ 06:37 AM Filed in: Philosophy I Big Ideas
Sometimes translated as cleanliness, there are two levels to the discipline of purity, both which lead to the same result: purity of the body and purity of the mind.
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The Disciplines: Necessary Attitudes
November 18, 2007 @ 08:27 AM Filed in: Philosophy I Big Ideas
With the yamas, the Great Vow of Yoga, we condition our behavior in order to observe and adjust the way in which our worldly interactions affect our inner nature and vice versa. With the niyamas, Patañjali’s second limb in his eight-limbed path of yoga, we begin to condition our thoughts in order to set the stage for deeper insight. Read More...
Non-Hoarding
November 06, 2007 @ 09:06 AM Filed in: Big Ideas I Philosophy
Where the observance of Non-Coveting deals with the many things we see outside ourselves that we may want, Non-Hoarding deals with the things we already have.
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Continence
November 01, 2007 @ 07:27 AM Filed in: Big Ideas I Philosophy
This fourth observance is one which often makes people uncomfortable, as it seems on the surface to be tied in with moralizing and repression. However, what use is chastity or celibacy when the mind is tormented with desire. This would merely be self-torture, as dissipating an indulgence as sexual licentiousness. Two of the root causes of affliction common to us all are attraction, the product of desire, and aversion, the product of pain. The observance of continence calls upon us to moderate all our desires, be they sexual or otherwise. Read More...
© 2010 Witold Fitz-Simon.
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