Yesterday, Sharon defined yoga as enlightenment. Referencing the Yoga Sutras, she showed us that yoga is achieved when the fluctuations of the mind cease,Yogas Chitta Vrtti Nirodhah (Y.S. 1.2)
"When you stop identifying with your thoughts, fluctuations of mind, then there is Yoga, identity with Self, which is Samadhi, happiness, bliss and ecstasy." Wow what a concept! (Sharon's addition! :)
So if yoga = enlightenment, how do we get there? Well, today we learned that Patanjali told us about a secret short-cut method for attaining this enlightenment, this yoga, in his Yoga Sutras when he said,
"By giving your life and identity to God, you attain the Identity of God."
This advice refers to bhakti yoga, or the devotional practices of worshipping God with your heart. In other words, if our aim is to stop the fluctuations of the mind (thus achieving enlightenment or yoga), we can bypass this messy chaotic task of reining in the mind by skipping directly to the heart! And this makes sense, doesn't it, since love is the most powerful force that exists? Why shouldn't the power of love be able to bring some order to this unruly mind of ours?
It gets complicated, though, because the word "love" is so misunderstood and falsely defined. To get an accurate definition, we turn to the Yoga Sutras. According to this sutra, love refers to the practice of completely and utterly surrendering yourself to God, making a self-offering or self-gift to the Divine. However, in order to be able to do this, we must first be able to have a smidgeon (Sharon really likes this word and uses it a lot, really confusing the non-native English speakers....) of what God is. We can't just dedicate ourselves to some vague nothingness or void, even if we believe that all is one, because its impossible to relate to something like that. In order to form a relationship of love with God, you must first FIND Him, find how He (or She) reveals Himself to you. And this can be in any way.........which is what makes yoga NOT a religion, because it leaves the decision up to you. Some may find God in a religion, others in nature, and so on.
I really loved this teaching and it made complete sense to me. I have often wondered how I can be so dedicated to yoga, both its practice and philosophy, and yet stll be strongly Christian and devoted to Christ. Now I see that my particular personal form of God, or " ishwara", is Christ. And this is only an enhancement for my yoga practice and doesn't interfere in any way.
And so, part of reaching enlightenment is first finding that personal form of the Divine, and then committing to the practice of surrendering to Him/Her. Both are practices and do not happen overnight. As one searches for God, God reveals Himself more and more towards the devotee but all in time and according to God's time! And surrendering to God is definitely not something that happens overnight either. It is something to keep remembering moment after moment, after moment, after moment, until "eventually but inevitably" (as Sharon and David say) it becomes a part of you, and you merge with God.........and attain enlightenment. Attain yoga.
As Sharon would say, "wow, what a concept!"
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