It's All Yoga Now

It's all yoga now:

it's all yoga now, everything, life - and recognized in the original meaning of the word of being joined together, our daily living already a path to the divine. In the yogic traditions it's call sadhana, a spiritual exercise or practice, and with an easy sense of awareness every aspect of our lives is seen through the lens of a sacred union, that life is always joined in seamless order and our practice is simply a means to express it. This is really nothing special, our lives change little with this recognition, but of course everything is different too, objects seem to shine with this awareness, things tend to lose a single meaning and are seen in light of their dependence of our view. 

everything belongs.

it's not seen as anything special by reason that this is how things always are, have always been this way, and that we see it now as if for the very first time even though we deeply knew it all along. That's the joy of awakening, seeing, hearing, every sense really, is now alive as our practice, a means of direct recognition of our original and present nature. It's all yoga now, not really a practice by way of any effort, but more a sadhana of recognition, a gentle nod towards the ease of seeing how everything belongs exactly as it's found through each moment, and how even our wish to change a present situation fits seamless in life's flow. 

and that's really the gift of awareness, seeing that no effort is required of our yoga, life is already joined though every aspect, always whole, seamless. Our true sadhana simply and only being aware, and this too is easy, and free of any effort. We're just aware, and conscious that it's so. So it's all yoga now, our every activity a prayer of some form, a vibrational hymn that brings life to the particular song of our performance, whatever is it, our actions divine by sense that everything in the universe is joined to its conclusion. Our yoga is in this moment, right now, each breath and heartbeat occurring somehow without our conscious effort and yet this grace carries on through all we measure as a lifetime. It all works through us, completely so, and we could call it the divine by virtue of it's grace and mystery, that life is unearned, freely given, and to even find ourselves aware of this is a gift beyond compare. 

it's all yoga now, and our sadhana is to simply....

notice. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Lila

Lila,

of Lila, being the divine play of all creation for it's own amusement and pleasure of performing - and this is perhaps my favorite of any explanation and concept as to why the world exist, that it's all without true purpose and design aside from a grand theatrical presentation of life itself, and that we each play our role through comedy and drama with equal commitment to our task. For me this is the essence of non-duality, that secretly, deep and within, we are in on the joke, knowing ourselves as every aspect of this play, actors to stagehands, props and all, everything is all part of our very own set design. It's all Lila, spontaneous, improv at its finest. 

this is really about our own participation with and as life, not for reasons of a distant god that only seems to set us up for failure, dooming us to judgement on our performance. Lila is much more intimate than this, it's God in sacrifice of herself in the original sense of the word, of making sacred an entire universe for her own expansion, for the sake of joy, and knowing of herself through every aspect of creation. That's the point of awakening, remembering ourselves as key points in this divine performance, participants, not victims of an often cruel and random fate, and not to be judged for how well we played our role. It's all Lila, life, the universe in the midst of self-creation. 

and there is absolutely nothing for us to do...

but to simply live, to breathe life into this role that we now find ourselves awakening to, embracing ourselves as aspects of this divine play, aware, and part of its commitment towards continuous self expression and expansion. We could see this as consciousness knowing itself as the very substance of the world, as the fabric of the universe itself, consciousness being self-ware. 

or Lila,

and that we are essential through inclusion. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Deep Humility

Deep Humility;

arriving again to a deep humility, a rediscovery of self within an infinite expression of the world, that life offers itself though my own appearance as an extension of the whole - to find myself as simply part of this all, an aspect of so much more than I ever am when I thought myself alone. I am humbled by this largeness, by my capacity to belong to such a beautiful world, and that I appear as even the smallest part if this, a finite thread appearing within an endless tapestry of possibilities and expressions.

it's a humility of exploration, a self discovery of limits as well as my own true expansion as far as seamless reality goes. It's knowing that I am once the slimmest thread of this personal expression and the endlessness of the grand tapestry too, that both belong as some form being true, even if one is only brief in its appearance. This is how I see myself as being faultless, without a single flaw in my expression, a deep humility of knowing that I belong within that tapestry of infinite possibilities and that things couldn't appear any other way than they do at this very moment It's this one possibility that I live right now, as if the entire universe conspired for my appearance through it's own evolution. 

this is a deep, abiding humility, of seeing who I am for just this moment, how a story builds of all that's possible, and just as easily letting it all go. I edge to something spectacular, a sure glimpse of my true and present reality, and yet I possess no words for its description. So a story is told, words offered with a sense of certainty to what will always be a mystery. None of what I write is truly so, nor is it anything other than the reality and poetry of single moment of my expression.

it's all offered in deep humility....

even as I let it go. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Workable Theories

Workable theories:

 really, it seems we know very little of the world, of actual experience, and not the information provided by sources far removed from their reality as well. There are many well meaning people who offer us nothing but their own inherited beliefs, thinking that this is how life should be, unquestioned, and simply accepted as true and always so. These are our parents, teachers, and clergy, all wishing us the best, but seldom pausing to consider the information they pass on. What we're given are stories, workable theories presented as facts, and some will serve us well. Yet everything we learn is meant to be questioned, examined, weighed against our own test of life. 

it's all a story in some way, everything, even science in it's sacred quest for answers is meant to be proven wrong, expanded upon, it's story added to in meaning and important way. Science is about workable theories, and no great scientist simply accepted dogma as any ultimate belief that's not meant to be questioned and explored. It should be no different for religion and most especially for any personal spirituality that we may choose to base our life upon. Our inquiry should always be a test of our experience against values believed to be true, nothing dismissed at first, but examined, explored thoroughly through the light of our own direct recognition of what's so. 

and even then it's just a story.

we can't escape stories, there will always be our own translation of experiences and meaningful events that seem so sure and true. Our role is to accept them all as workable theories, a story meant to be told for that moment alone and nothing more. Perhaps in sharing a particular story someone else will begin an exploration for their own version of our reported view, arriving to their own revelation, another story told for just that one moment. Everything is told through filters, inquiry and meditation reduces these filters to more subtle roles, stories are more personal now, an intimate telling of what we truly are, yet stories still and always. 

so these are our workable theories, everything, each moment and experience, not simply believed but lived as our own version of what might be so, a partial story of a life that's still unfolding, expanding, unbound and infinite through imagination and possibilities. 

our story is never final, never fully told...

it's all just workable theories. 

~

Peace, Eric 

A More Humble Approach

A more humble approach:

a more humble approach, truly so - and in the sense of not insisting on a familiar world, that we know anything of value beyond this single moment and even this we don't really understand. The universe is far too infinite for any ultimate answers to be given, consciousness too unbound for any final comprehension. What we intuit is our position within the whole, a glimpse of our true nature, but never the entirety as it's impossible to fully grasp the vast mystery of what we are and how it may unfold. 

this is the shift from the energy of being a seeker to that of an explorer, no longer demanding answers and frantically searching for the perfect means of revelation. It's now a more humble approach, a softer exploration to what's now and always present without need of anything other than a few questions of a simple inquiry, asking of ourselves who we really are and accepting silence as our revealing answer, an endless source of mystery that greets us in reply. 

it seems both science and spirituality search for final answers, a theory of everything as well as a claim to know the mind of God. Yet both are a search for limits, to know ourselves within the boundaries of what we believe right now. A more humble approach is to know ourselves as limitless, exploring the universe as our very own extension and that perhaps we are the very thoughts of God. It's knowing ourselves as belonging to the vast nature of the universe, of life, and by this not separate from any view of God that we may hold. Both science and spirituality are a quest for self discovery, and a truly humble approach must be one of our inclusion, to know that we belong within the framework of every question and that any answer is simply part of our own revelation. 

it's a more humble approach because of this inclusion, not being separate from the knowledge that we wish for, and that even questions, our inquiry, are already an expression of the answer. We don't stand apart from any exploration, not scientific experiment or equation, nor a mystical search for God it's all self-discovery, a singular view caught in momentary expression. It's an endless approach, more humble, as there are no final answers...

only questions, not yet asked.

~

Peace, Eric 

Insights

Insights: 

my own insights are gathered from infinite and inner fields of a sure reality of experience, a certain knowing of how my mind unfolds within and as the world. Meditation opens me to a greater understanding of my life and how everything fits in seamless order, insights on the very nature of existence seem to come spontaneously through a silent fashion. 

and of course I am completely wrong in my understanding of it all, a misinterpretation is told of these subtle and quiet points of consciousness. Words simply don't belong here, not appearing once through such layers of deep and utter silence. Only later does a story appear and label this an experience, assigning greater meaning and importance to the innocence of  just sitting and accepting the world as it unfolds through the quiet wonder of my mind. 

honestly, I have no idea as to what's going on, not in any meaningful way of sharing at least, what's certain and true for me could prove to be completely wrong for others. We all offer our misinterpretations of silence to each other, insights meant to guide become dogma, certainty replaces our natural curiosity and wonder. Meditation is a singular act of coming to a seamless place of understanding, there is a revelation through the stillness of the mind that won't be told with words, and no poet ever truly captures the pureness of this silence. It's impossible, and yet worthy of a poet's effort. 

but none of it is to be believed.

really, it's similar to science, insights gathered are a working theory of my own best understanding of my inner world and how it all unfolds to this particular point of living. What seemed so sure and true to me once has now been replaced with growing certainty that I truly don't know anything at all, and this is exactly how it's meant to be. All I have are working theories to guide me through specific times, never to be held past the moment that they're given. My insights belong to me alone, shared, but only for the sake of language, poetry, an attempt to offer beauty through my own misinterpretation.

don't believe a single word.

~

Peace, Eric 

Wings and Flight

Wings and flight: 

of course it isn't an easy transformation, it seems the caterpillar's own immune system recognizes this event as a threat and offers a response to attack the very cells within it's system that are responsible for this metamorphosis. There's a strong resistance to the amazing change that offers wings and flight, an ignorance of what's to come even within the wisdom of the caterpillar's own body. Eventually the cells of change overwhelm any last resistance, using the material left to assemble a complete new structure, eventually connecting to remaining parts to complete this transformation. 

from resistance to surrender...

a butterfly emerges.

really, it's a natural resistance, sensing the pain of transformation, a bodies betrayal of familiar circumstance to the promise of something completely foreign and beyond its scope even fathom - a butterfly is born of initial suffering, fear of the unknown, and its eventual surrender. From caterpillar to flight is the story of life, our story too in similar metaphor, that we suffer the change of familiar to the unknown, comfort traded for the pain of transformation, the ground of our reality taken right beneath us without a trace of warning. We think of a caterpillar's metamorphosis as a seamless transformation to the amazing world of a butterflies flight. Yet wings and flight are earned from resistance, anguish, fear, and there is no promise of survival, no hint that another world awaits beyond this present suffering. There's just what's happening now, without explanation, nor story of a better world. 

a caterpillar has no faith in a butterflies world.

it doesn't yet exist in its reality. 

for a period there is only resistance, fight to regain the familiar world of leaves and ground, to maintain a caterpillars body even as it's betrayed by it's very own immune system. This is no easy surrender, again, wings and flight are hard earned, given through the grace of long suffering to the exact moment of letting go of all that's ever cherished. Yet it is a seamless transformation too, everything is present within the caterpillar for wings to grow, and flight is always an innate promise, even in the cells that are eventually destroyed. 

a caterpillar isn't a butterfly, nor is it anything other. 

there is a moment of our own wings and flight, but we are not meant to know it, our transformation is always present and ongoing, without promise that we will become anything other than exactly what we always are. We emerge to the world of flight only through a natural surrender, accepting what's present without denial of its pain, enduring through our own reality and not dreaming ourselves as something other. That's our immediate grace, our gift of wings and flight, always now, always now, and never strayed from our own surrender. 

each moment,

we are transforming.

our metamorphosis never truly complete...

we are always in the process of ending, becoming, resisting, and letting go - we are life in constant change and wonder. 

realizing this, we gain the grace of wings and flight. 

~

Peace, Eric