Whatever your current understanding of yoga is, wetther you think it is union, or the letting go of your ego and identifying with what is real, the all pervading consciousness, or if you think it is just exercise, these are nine proven sure ways to fail at it:
1.- You are sick: If you do not feel good you will not have the energy to get on the mat or sit on meditation or even notice that you are identifying with your ego.
2.- Inertia: You know you want to, you just cannot make the first move. Cannot get on the mat for the first time, cannot open that sacred book, cannot hit the cushion.
3.- Doubt: You are not sure that the practice of yoga will do any good, so why waste time?
4.- Laziness: Much rather stay in bed.
5.- Carelessness: doing the practice but not focusing on the drishti or not engaging the bandhas, or at least trying, or sitting on a cushion but letting the mind wonder, or going through life without considering the repercusions of our actions in the lives of others, just sort of going through the motions
6.- Vacillation: Hmm, today this style looks good but maybe tomorrow I will start a Karate practice, yeah, that looks more focused, then perhaps I will take up ballet, those people know what they are doing.
7.- Delusions: You get on the mat for a week or read a text and you suddenly know that you are enlightened... yeah, been there, you are not alone.
8.-Inability to Make Progress: You work hard but nothing happens, nothing changes. You keep on being the good old angry individual you were before, you are rude and inconsiderate and cannot change, you still want to be right rather than happy.
9.- You make progress but fall back: So you have been practicing for a while, but you abandon the practice, you let it go, or you go back to the old ways.
If you have not noticed yet, this is Patanjali's Sutra: 1.30
Yeap, 1.30.
The serpent-headed guy should have been a blogger!
See this:
I got hurt by a commentator and learned a new sutra in the process
1.- You are sick: If you do not feel good you will not have the energy to get on the mat or sit on meditation or even notice that you are identifying with your ego.
2.- Inertia: You know you want to, you just cannot make the first move. Cannot get on the mat for the first time, cannot open that sacred book, cannot hit the cushion.
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4.- Laziness: Much rather stay in bed.
5.- Carelessness: doing the practice but not focusing on the drishti or not engaging the bandhas, or at least trying, or sitting on a cushion but letting the mind wonder, or going through life without considering the repercusions of our actions in the lives of others, just sort of going through the motions
Do you see where I am going with this?
6.- Vacillation: Hmm, today this style looks good but maybe tomorrow I will start a Karate practice, yeah, that looks more focused, then perhaps I will take up ballet, those people know what they are doing.
7.- Delusions: You get on the mat for a week or read a text and you suddenly know that you are enlightened... yeah, been there, you are not alone.
8.-Inability to Make Progress: You work hard but nothing happens, nothing changes. You keep on being the good old angry individual you were before, you are rude and inconsiderate and cannot change, you still want to be right rather than happy.
9.- You make progress but fall back: So you have been practicing for a while, but you abandon the practice, you let it go, or you go back to the old ways.
If you have not noticed yet, this is Patanjali's Sutra: 1.30
Yeap, 1.30.
The serpent-headed guy should have been a blogger!
See this:
I got hurt by a commentator and learned a new sutra in the process
Interesting post, claudia. Does Patanjali say how to overcome these 9 obstacles to practice? I think there might be a little chicken and egg issue here. I mean, practice is supposed to help you to be less prone to doubt, laziness, and delusions, but then, you are unable to get to the mat because of doubt, laziness, and delusions. What is one to do?
ReplyDeletegood question Nobel, these are actually the obstacles, but there is a practice of courser, several actually, two of them outlined in chapter two the second being ashtanga.... Ramaswami's interpretation includes lots of discussions on how to balance the gunas so that we will become more satviv which in turn leads to the right disposition... I should write more about this
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