More on asana

    After all that has been said recently about Yoga and the practice of Yoga in the West, I thought I would pitch my two-bits in from the perspective of a practitioner that is not from the exalted ranks of the Special Elect,i.e. those that can put their foot behind their head or their head in unmentionable places.   I have considered, "What else can I, mere mortal that I am, add to the vast cannon of literature and endless, vacuous DVDs that are currently available on the market? Need more be said?" So here is what I came up with for all of us to consider about this Hydra-headed monster that has landed in our backyard.



Grand Canyon taken 2006, inscribed ?



Mt. Whitney, closest referent
to Cold Mountain or
Mt. Sumeru in China



 There are only so many body postures one can engage with in one's current condition.  Some postures are available to human beings and some are only available to those with alien genes (see left, above).  After over 20 years of teaching variations on body movement (Pilates, Yoga, Qi Gong) I am currently attempting to collate what I have learned and what I may yet have to learn.  This may turn into quite the journey up Cold Mountain where the pine sings, though there has been no wind, where the moss is wet on the stones, though there has been no rain (it sounds pretty cool if you read it like Master Kahn talking to a younger Kwai Chang Cain) and the sound of chopping wood echoes between the peaks.
    
     First off, the physical aspect can be the most exhilarating and the most deceiving part of any yoga practice. Exhilarating because, "like, wow, look what I can do!" (or not "do" as the case may be).  Deceptive because it can lead to a forest of brambles in the Land of Narcissus where many are trapped staring at themselves on Facebook or gazing attentively at the reflection in the studio mirror in their latest yoga apparel. I am afraid that one to many endorphin/adrenal rushes have been mistaken for "enlightenment" or at the very least progress in one's practice.  Not to minimize those "rushes" for they do feel good and can connect one to one's body-mind, but the end goal can be missed in the thrill of the journey.
    
     What is the end goal? Hell, I have no idea other than what the sutras tell us, and that is, Raja Yoga, every day-mind.   What is that? Don't know. As straight up as I can tell you, I don't know what that critter is supposed to look like. Pure and translucent? A blissful look like after a really good bong hit? Everything "light"? An endless sense of riding on the Matterhorn? Ashes in the hand and a Bently in the garage? Or perhaps just ease in one's own skin? Every day-mind. Just what is happening, every day.  That is the royal path in a nut shell. "But I thought yoga was about eternal Bliss! Lots of pithy sayings and hanging out with really cute and flexible people." Maybe not so.

     In the Hatha Yoga Pradapika it clearly states that the Asana are for disciplining  the body-mind duirng the process of a very mysterious phenomena known as Raja Yoga. Various practices are suggested in other collections of sutras,such as the Gherana Samita and the Shiva Samhita, but none of them singularly emphasize the physical postures.  As a matter of fact, none of them highlight the same postures as the most beneficial. So Yoga as asana is really missing the point according to the major texts concerning Hatha Yoga. Can you see the Mountain yet?

    
     Just as an aside, Krishna, (of the 500 Gopis), helping Arjuna through a bad hair day (as found in the Bhagavad Gita), spends a lot of time talking to him about what this yoga spiel is all about.  Seems to me that it is about doing what is right in front of you. Amazing! "Do your Yoga!", the faithful charioteer thunders more than once.  "Do your Yoga!".  Eeek, I get it already! 

     So at least we have a basic idea that yogasana is just a portion of the overall practice.  As mentioned above, the physical is one of our primary tools to engage with who we are (or think we are).  As I have taught and practiced over the years I have found that each asana greets the practitioner exactly where they are. Then, through whatever the individual brings to the mat, the unfolding begins.  Like that Bristlecone Pine.  It didn't show up as a Sugar Pine high on the hills in the Sierra Nevada.  This magnificent tree showed up as a Bristlecone, in the White/Inyo Mountains of California.  It grows way exposed and on a dolomite base. The conditions harsh and unfriendly (unfriendly to humans that is). It is unique unto itself and developed as it is. Unique. Just like you are. Of all the possible DNA combinations that existed at the time of your conception, you showed up. Just you. So do your Yoga. That is what Raja yoga is.  Not just another system, series or flow. Just you, totally present, that some would call that samadhi, i.e. total absorption in the moment. Can you hear the pine sing?



Evidence of alien visitation in the Grand Canyon



     I would suggest not doing what some humans came into the world naturally able to do (see right, it's those aliens again).  Each asana, whether doable or not, is a gateway to where you are now.That gateway has inscribed across the top, Raja Yoga.  Admiration and wonder as you view the Sugar Pine and the Bristlecone Pine engage in what they do best.  They too, are "doing" Yoga, Royal Yoga. Every day. Disciplining the body-mind means engaging in what your body mind does mentally and emotionally as itself.  It may mean not doing any postures at all! This is the moss that is wet though there's been no rain. Do your Yoga, the Raja Yoga that is you.

The rest is the echo of chopping wood between the peaks at sunset.