Yoga Now France

Peace and compassion is nothing to do with the physical condition and ability to be performing the different yoga poses. How healthy, fit, skillful, strong, and flexible is the physical body cannot determine whether the mind is peaceful and compassionate, or not. Just do one's best in the yoga practice, without forcing the body and mind beyond its limitation, do what is possible and comfortable in the present moment, and what is possible or impossible and what is comfortable or uncomfortable in the present moment will change. It's more about relaxing into all the positions, devoid of struggling in the different poses. It's about keep practicing or keep trying, without attachment, identification, craving and aversion, comparison, judgment or expectation towards the practice and the result or the effect of the practice, that leads towards devoid of attachment, identification, craving and aversion, comparison, judgment or expectation towards all actions and the fruit of action...

The genuine yogi/buddhist, or the adept yoga/buddhism practitioner, or the selfless impermanent mind that has intense yearning towards liberation, inquires towards the truth of everything under a calm, quiet, purified, and open mind, including all the teachings of yoga as mentioned in the Scriptures or the Yoga/Buddhism Sutras, being commentated or interpreted by anyone, of many different Gurus or teachers under different lineages from different timings, without blind-believing, blind-following, blind-agreeing, blind-worshiping, blind-practicing, or blind-propagating. To inquire towards the all-pervading selfless universal consciousness as mentioned in the teachings of yoga, the mind can inquire towards the selfless impermanent limited existence of the limited conditional physical body with the perceptive thinking mind, that cannot exist or function independently by itself, where it needs to depend on many different selfless elements and selfless energy to be supporting its selfless im...

Liberation, or freedom, is all in the mind. The limited conditional physical body is inevitably not free, being limited and restricted by time (impermanent changes), space (can only be at one place at a time), and causation (cause and effect). That cannot be modified. It is what it is. The mind also 'can appear to be' not free, being limited and restricted by ignorance, egoism and impurities, as well as being conditioned and limited by certain worldly egoistic conditional thinking, belief/disbelief, ideas, values, and practice, and hence, it is being limited by time (impermanent changes of restless thoughts activities), space (the mind perception of a selfless impermanent worldly life existence under a limited physical body is limited by space, on top of being determined by past memories and future wild imaginations), and causation (cause and effect, being supported and influenced by energy to be existing and functioning), however, all that can be transcended, where the thinkin...

Self-inquiry is about inquiring or investigating towards what is the 'I' that 'the thinking' in the mind that thinks and believes as the 'existence' of a permanent independent non-decaying unchanging immortal infinite 'I' or self/individual/being/entity/identity that 'exists' in this physical body and mind, that has been under going ceaseless rounds and rounds of 'reincarnation', or 'rebirth', or 'transitioning' in countless different mortal impermanent names and forms that are subject to decay, changes, and disintegration, or 'death', that inevitably leads to another 'birth', endlessly and restlessly. It's about inquiring or investigating towards what the thinking mind is about, or what is the selfless impermanent function or the restless modification of the perceptive, cognitive, assertive, intellectual, emotional, reasoning, understanding, remembering, learning, experimenting, knowing, thinking, desi...

If all kinds of random impure egoistic thought activities in all the minds in this world are being exposed as they are, one will see that there's very little or even no truthfulness in all kinds of worldly ties and connections, social relationships and interactions, worldly affairs, dealings, and activities, except in silence, devoid of selfless restless modification of the mind, or when the mind is free from the idea of 'I', ignorance, egoism, impurities, and restlessness. Truthfulness is just what it is. Neither good nor bad. Neither hurtful nor non-hurtful. Similarly, what is going on in the mind, of all kinds of random impure restless thought activities/desires/actions/reactions/feelings/emotions/ideas/impurities/wild imaginations/subjective partial incomplete distorted memories of the past, is also neither good nor bad, neither hurtful nor non-hurtful. However, truthfulness appears to be something hurtful, disturbing, unpleasant, inappropriate, or something contributes...

The essence or the core of the teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism, is about impermanence and selflessness. Anything that has a beginning of coming into an existence of having a particular quality of name and form, that has a limited period of existence or limited life-span, that is constantly changing and decaying, and passing away, regardless of living organism or non-living object, is impermanent. There's not a single name and form that comes with particular quality, is non-changing or non-decaying, that exists permanently, except the space, that is limitless, unconditional, substanceless, attributeless, beginningless, endless, birthless, deathless, changeless, timeless, nameless, and formless. All and everything are impermanent, except the space, that hosts all and everything that are impermanent, that is not being determined, or changed, or contaminated, or increased/decreased by all kinds of impermanent names and forms that ceaselessly arising, changing, and passin...

To know what is non-attachment, it's easier for the mind to understand or know what is attachment. If there is a personal and group identity towards certain names and forms to be identifying as 'I' or 'us', if there is judgment, expectation and discrimination towards everyone and everything based on the existing thinking, belief/disbelief, ideas, values and practice in the mind, based on the different qualities, names and forms that all and everything have or possess, then that is attachment. If the mind will be pleased or displeased, satisfied or dissatisfied, and comforted or disturbed by something that it perceives or experiences in the present moment, not to say, something that it perceived or experienced in the past, then that is due to there is attachment towards the names and forms or experiences that the mind perceives(d) or experiences(d). If the mind is being determined by the presence and absence of something that it likes and dislikes, agrees and disagre...

The purity or cleanliness that matters in the path of yoga, is about the mental purity, where the thinking and acting faculty is free from the influence of the idea of 'I', ignorance, egoism and all kinds of impurities, of incorrect or corrupted thinking and understanding, attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, expectation, dissatisfaction, disappointment, restlessness, disturbance, hurt, bitterness, resentment, selfishness, self-righteousness, discontentment, greed, lust, jealousy, violence, ill-will, anger, hatred, vengeance, back-biting, slandering, prejudice, discrimination, separateness, superiority or inferiority, pride, arrogance, possessiveness, authoritarian, corruption, grief, sorrow, fault finding, blame, fear and worry, and so on.

The health and fitness that matters in the path of yoga, is about the mental heath and fitness, where there are certain degrees of openness, clarity of thinking, profound intellectual reasoning, mental and emotional independence, mental strength, mental flexibility, mental stamina, and correct understanding, that give rise to self-control of not harming oneself and/or others even under extreme condition and situation, as well as the ability of being able to have peace unconditionally, being undetermined or undisturbed by all kinds of mind perceptions of names and forms or life experiences that are not necessarily pleasant, agreeable, or desirable, even if the physical health and fitness is not that good for some reasons.

The courage that matters in the path of yoga, is not about doing everything risky in this world regardless of whether it's something harmful to oneself and others, or not, but it's about the openness of the mind towards the unknown or uncertainty, as well as the courage to be able to let go the existing worldly passionate egoistic conditioned way of thinking, belief, ideas, values and practice, be free from the influence of certain preconception towards certain things being conditioned by past accumulated knowledge, way of thinking, belief/disbelief, ideas, values, practices and experiences towards certain things, to be able to take full responsibility towards looking after oneself and be fully responsible towards one's thinking/desires/actions and the consequences of all that without blame and regret, to be open for trying (or keep trying), exploring and inquiring towards something that the mind knows and doesn't know, under certain degrees of universal common sense or...

The skill that matters in the path of yoga, is not about the skill to be performing the many different yoga asana poses, or the breathing exercises, or the cleansing exercises, or the rituals, chanting and prayers, but it's about developing and having the basic correct understanding, mental and emotional independence, right effort, right attention, and right attitude towards implementing the essential teachings and practice of yoga in every moment that will lead the mind towards purifying the tool (the intellectual reasoning under a calm and quiet mind) and developing the skill (openness, free from the influence of worldly passionate egoistic thinking, beliefs, ideas, values and practice, and without egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, or expectation) to be performing self-inquiry inquiring towards the truth of names and forms (selflessness and impermanence, and/or what is 'I'), without blind-believing, blind-following...

The strength that matters in the path of yoga, is not about the physical strength, but it's about the mental strength or ability to be able to forbear or withstand whatever that appears to be unpleasant, disagreeable, undesirable, challenging, or difficult, that couldn't be avoided or changed, as well as the ability to accept, forgive, and let go the past and present experiences that are not necessarily the way that the mind would like it to be, and be able to move on, without dissatisfaction, disappointment, disturb, hurt, anger, hatred, vengeance, bitterness, or resentment.

The stamina that matters in the path of yoga, is not about the physical stamina, but it's about the presence of the intense yearning for liberation, the perseverance, the determination, the patience, and the acceptance, as well as adopting the middle path and respecting the nature's law of cause and effect, or the selfless impermanent changes, that enabling the mind to be keep practicing until the annihilation of ignorance, or the direct realization towards the truth of selflessness and impermanence takes place, without egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, or expectation, transcending all kinds of unpleasant, disagreeable, undesirable, challenging, or difficult conditions, situations, obstacles, affairs, ties and relationships, interactions, experiences, or duties and responsibilities, not being determined or disturbed by all kinds of experiences, or the fruit of actions.

The flexibility that matters in the path of yoga, is not about the physical flexibility, but it's about the mental flexibility or ability to be making necessary adjustment at anytime, to adapt and accommodate the present impermanent condition of the body and mind, and life, being what it is. It's about performing necessary action in accordance to the condition and situation in the present moment now. It's about knowing when to keep moving, when to retreat, and when to take rest, or when to go faster, when to go slower, and when to stop for awhile, or be able to make necessary changes to the plan or the route without changing the goal, without being determined or disturbed by all kinds of challenges, obstacles, difficulties, the possibility and impossibility, success and failure, or the fruit of actions. It's about respecting what is possible and impossible in the present moment now, and both possibility and impossibility are impermanent. When there's a need to be ge...

One of the very basic yoga practice is about taking full responsibility towards looking after the over-all physical and mental well-being of oneself, as well as towards all one's desires and doesn't desires, actions and reactions, and the consequences of all that. The mind that doesn't know how or refuses to be taking full responsibility towards looking after itself, and all its desires and don't desires, actions and reactions, and the consequences of all that, where all that lead to all kinds of desirable and undesirable life experiences, while putting the responsibility onto some others or everything else but itself for all its desires and doesn't desires, actions and reactions, and the consequences of all that, such mind cannot realize yoga, even if it is performing some kind of yoga practice regularly, while enjoying the yoga practice and the physical and mental health and fitness benefits that it receives from performing the yoga practice. When the mind feels h...