Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering Ahimsa.
Unto those that hath shall be given, and they shall have abundance: but from those that hath not shall be taken away even that which they have.
-The Gospel According to Saint Matthew
This is a strange paradox, a little-known secret. Jesus isn't speaking of worldly goods. He is speaking of a very rare kind of treasure: the more you draw on it, the more you will have. The more patient you are with people, for instance, the more patience you will have. The more generous you are today, the more generosity you will have tomorrow. The more love you give, the more loving you become.
The principle can be stated in the plainest of terms: if you are selfish with your love, the scant security you cling to will be battered by life. But if you give of yourself freely, your security will be unshakable. Your joy will be limitless. You will always have more to give.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to consider the very first precept of Yoga - Ahimsa. Ahimsa translates as non-harming and as Love. In Yoga sutra II.35 as translated by BKS Iyengar it is stated that when one is established in Ahimsa "one’s aggressive nature is relinquished and others abandon hostility in one’s presence." Practice Ahimsa and see for yourself if others abandon hostility in your presence.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tenderness in our communication.
Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering tenderness in our communication.
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.
-The Gospel According to Saint Matthew
This is love at its most magnificent. In order to love like this, we cannot be attached to ourselves. It is because we think so much about ourselves that we strike back, show resentment, speak harshly, move away.
Jesus' words do not mean agreeing with everything people say or supporting whatever they do. We sometimes have to oppose people we love. Yet, if we do it tenderly, it is not likely that it will cost us a single friend. In fact, that person might say, "I've found a friend who will support me and stand beside me always."
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to consider how our Yoga practices can help us develop tenderness in our communication. Consider the following limbs of Yoga in your process: Pratyahara – withdrawal and emancipation of the mind from the domination of the senses and exterior objects; and Dharana – concentration.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
This week in class we are considering tenderness in our communication.
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.
-The Gospel According to Saint Matthew
This is love at its most magnificent. In order to love like this, we cannot be attached to ourselves. It is because we think so much about ourselves that we strike back, show resentment, speak harshly, move away.
Jesus' words do not mean agreeing with everything people say or supporting whatever they do. We sometimes have to oppose people we love. Yet, if we do it tenderly, it is not likely that it will cost us a single friend. In fact, that person might say, "I've found a friend who will support me and stand beside me always."
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to consider how our Yoga practices can help us develop tenderness in our communication. Consider the following limbs of Yoga in your process: Pratyahara – withdrawal and emancipation of the mind from the domination of the senses and exterior objects; and Dharana – concentration.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
Monday, February 6, 2012
What does the Buddha mean when he says that we become what we meditate on?
Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering what the Buddha means when he says that we become what we meditate on.
If you let your mind dwell on ghosts, you'll become a ghost yourself. If you fix your mind on God, your life will be filled with God. Now - which are you going to choose?
-Sri Ramakrishna
In meditation, we learn the skill of bringing our attention back to the words of the inspirational passage whenever it strays away. Attention is like a restless puppy, fond of running after anything new that comes along. When it sees an intensely charged memory, it cannot let it roll by; it has to chase the memory and keep yapping, yapping, yapping.
Just as with a dog, we have to call the mind back over and over again, whenever we sit down for meditation. This may go on for years. But if we keep practicing diligently and systematically, the day will come when we can put our attention where we want it with little effort, and it will stay without movement or protest. Then, however unkind somebody may have been, we will not be mastered by resentment; our attention will not turn to the past at all.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to consider what the Buddha means when he says that we become what we meditate on. Can this be generalized to all of our thinking? How can understanding this inform our Yoga practices?
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
This week in class we are considering what the Buddha means when he says that we become what we meditate on.
If you let your mind dwell on ghosts, you'll become a ghost yourself. If you fix your mind on God, your life will be filled with God. Now - which are you going to choose?
-Sri Ramakrishna
In meditation, we learn the skill of bringing our attention back to the words of the inspirational passage whenever it strays away. Attention is like a restless puppy, fond of running after anything new that comes along. When it sees an intensely charged memory, it cannot let it roll by; it has to chase the memory and keep yapping, yapping, yapping.
Just as with a dog, we have to call the mind back over and over again, whenever we sit down for meditation. This may go on for years. But if we keep practicing diligently and systematically, the day will come when we can put our attention where we want it with little effort, and it will stay without movement or protest. Then, however unkind somebody may have been, we will not be mastered by resentment; our attention will not turn to the past at all.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to consider what the Buddha means when he says that we become what we meditate on. Can this be generalized to all of our thinking? How can understanding this inform our Yoga practices?
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
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