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
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
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