Thanks for joining me today for what I plan to be a free weekly event during the YCYC transition. If you weren’t able to make it this morning, you’re welcome to explore the links below.
Quite a few topics were introduced that will be covered in future satsangs. As I mentioned, work at your own pace. If you can’t make a session, it’s okay. We’ll be reviewing and revisiting the material, and eventually you’ll find things start to come together. It’s a process.
I hope to find a suitable location for the Saturday 10:00am Slow & Steady class before too long. I appreciate your patience!
Some key terms from today’s session:
- Sangha = the company of like-minded spiritual seekers; the company of the wise
- Satsang = group teaching with exchange of ideas
- Doshas = elemental energies (earth, water, fire, air, and space/ether) that condense and combine, creating our personal constitutional makeup
- Kleshas = deeply enmeshed tendencies (ignorance, distorted sense of self, attachment, aversion, urge for self-preservation) that drive our behavior
- Svadhyaya = self-study, self-reflection
A svadhyaya exercise:
Think of an obstacle, habit or tendency that is currently operating in your life. It could also be a powerful emotion. The habit or tendency may be positive and helpful–or the opposite. Consider whether you’re acutely aware or somewhat aware of the obstacle, habit/tendency or emotion.
Write it down and draw a circle or box around it. As non-judgmentally as possible, begin to explore it by drawing radiating lines and jotting down spontaneous thoughts such as: possible cause(s); deep seated or temporary; is it a pattern; possible origin(s); if negative, what would be its opposite? Then put it away for a day or two. When you come back to it, hopefully with a clearer mind, you may discover a few insights or clarifications. The real practice begins by what you decide to do with this information.
Does this sound like modern psychotherapy? Of course it does! But remember that yoga got there first…like 5,000 years ago. The saints and sages were masters of knowing the human mind–what afflicts us (kleshas) and what liberates us (a clear, calm and transparent mind).
Take the dosha quiz by clicking here! (courtesy of The Ayurvedic Institute, Albuquerque, NM)
Recommended resources:
- Yoga Sutras
- Bhagavad Gita
- Himalayan Institute website (some material is available to non-subscribers)
- The Sanskrit Channel (on YouTube)
- The Ayurvedic Institute, Albuquerque, NM
The Shiva Sankalpa Sūkta is a powerful six-verse hymn from the Rig Veda that entreats the mind “to dwell on the auspicious will of the Divine,” and helps you cultivate conscious resolve in alignment with your dharma. © Yoga International
