Monday, April 4, 2016

Yoga Angels


Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering the cultivation of Yoga angels.

Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you.                                                                        
                                                            - Saint Francis de Sales

When the word "angel" is used, we can understand it as a personification of the forces for good in the world. Who will deny that forgiveness is one of the greatest forces on the face of the earth? Show me a man or a woman who can forgive completely and I will show you an angel.

If you want to see an angel, you have only to see a person who can return love for hatred. He is not just a person, he is a force. Similarly, a woman who has boundless patience is a powerful force that can transform antipathy into sympathy, ill will into good will, hatred into love.

There is another meaning as well: there are beneficial forces in life, ready to support those who are sincere but who find their capacities not adequate to the challenges that life presents.

When you are needed by others, when you have something valuable to contribute, these beneficial forces will support you, and give you greater health, greater energy, longer life, and deeper creativity. Life may strike at you, and challenges can hurtle themselves against you, but you will feel equal to them. Deeper forces from within will support you, hold you up, and act as a shield.

We are not alone in the universe. We are surrounded by mighty creative forces.

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

The homework is to consider how the cultivation of Ahimsa (non-harming, Love) and Satya (honesty and truthfulness) the first two Yamas from the first limb of Yoga can help you create the energy to become a creative and loving force in our world. Beyond these first two Yamas study the practice of the remaining Yamas and the elements in the other 7 limbs. Could these practices cultivate Yoga angels?

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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