Monday, August 4, 2014

Pratyahara or the Withdrawal or Refinement of the Senses - the Fifth Limb of Yoga

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring Pratyahara or the withdrawal or refinement of the senses - the fifth limb of Yoga.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

                                      – John Muir

When we see the world with new, spiritual eyes, we realize it is God's beach, God's ocean, God's world. We see ourselves as waves in the ocean of love that is God. We are not separate from one another, we realize, but we all exist as part of the sea, as a wave of the infinite ocean. This is seeing spiritually: seeing everything joined together - the waves of the sea, the light in the sky, the birds skimming along the whitecaps, the dogs running, the children playing, the warmth of the sand - everything together.

It is impossible to put this experience into words, but all those who try to do so describe it as a deep sense of fellowship with all creatures, from the little sandpipers to the mighty leviathans of the deep.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to refine your senses to really experience your environment. Learn to really notice, without intellectualizing or describing, your physical environment. This is practicing Pratyahara or the withdrawal or refinement of the senses - the fifth limb of Yoga. See if this practice encourages you to turn the senses inward towards the soul.

Blessings,

paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com

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