Sunday, July 20, 2008

Traditional Practice

A good friend/teacher of mine send me this article, Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga, written by Gregor Maehle. I found this last part of the article really interesting and wanted to share it with you all.

“Why a traditional practice is still applicable
A peasant once spoke to the sage Ramakrishna thus: 'I am a simple villager. Please give me in one sentence a method by which I can obtain happiness.' Ramakrishna's answer was: 'Totally accept the fact that you are a machine operated upon by God.' This needs to be deeply understood. It is through the belief that individuals exercise free will that ego is produced; and, in turn, ego produces suffering. In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna states, 'All actions are done in all cases by the gunas (qualities) of prakrti (nature). He whose mind is deluded through egoism thinks I am the doer.'
This means that the entire cosmos, including our body-mind complex, is an unconscious machine operated upon by God. Our self, who is pure consciousness, is forever inactive. It merely witnesses. The giving up of the idea that it is we who act is echoed in the Yoga Sutra by Patanjali's use of the term kaivalya. This final state of yoga is the realisation of the complete independence of consciousness. Since it is completely independent, it has no way of influencing the world. Like a mirror, which simply reflects, consciousness can neither reject nor hold onto objects of its choice. Give up the sense of agency, says Krishna: 'Only a fool believes I am the doer.'
The surrender of the illusion of free will is reflected in the vinyasa system by acceptance of the original system [Ashtanga Yoga] as expounded by the Rishi Vamana. Of course it is easy to make up our own sequences of asanas, and possibly commercial success and fame will result. But then we run the risk of falling for the ego, which says I am the doer and the creator. We are only pure consciousness - the seer, the witness, the self - which, as the Samkhya Karika says, plays no active part in this world.
That does not mean we cannot adapt the practice for some time if difficulties are to be met or yoga therapy needs to be practiced. We need to return to the original system whenever possible, though. Rishi Vamana's system leads through outer structure and limitation to inner freedom. If we constantly practice self-made sequences, we create inner limitation through outer freedom.
The rishis of old did not conceive the ancient arts and sciences by trial and error. The method they employed was samyama, which combines concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana) and absorption (samadhi). In that way, deep knowledge of how things really are can be gained. Patanjali himself explains in the Yoga Sutra how he gained his knowledge. Knowledge of the mind, he says, is gained by doing samyama on the heart. He also explains how the body can be understood. Medical knowledge, he says, is gained by practicing samyama on the navel chakra. This is how the science of Ayurveda came into being. It should be noted that Patanjali compiled the Charaka Samhita, an ayurvedic text. When we study and practice the ancient sciences today, we need to do this with a feeling of respect and devotion.
The teachings of the ancient masters have never been declared invalid. They have only ever been added to. “

I never thought about the yoga I practice, love, live, breath in this way. I was taken by it for reasons beyond my understanding (there is the magical quality of this practice) and also within my understanding (thank god there is some groundness somewhere in me!). Beyond my heart beating faster each time I start talking about ashtanga yoga, I just love it, enjoy it and find it very complete. When I began learning the primary series of Ashtanga Yoga, I realized that it was opening my body, all of it, touching all the corners of my body… and I loved the fact that I was doing it in silence with other people and a teacher watching over, caring and assisting and teaching… so I got into a deep love affair with this practice and now as I am learning the intermediate series, I am learning to love openings of parts my body I did not consider before and openings of my feelings and then getting stronger. Intermediate series (a.k.a. Second series) is rather emotionally triggering while primary series has been calming for me… but it is also very much fun, adventures and more challenging for me (of course while it was so natural for me to forward bend – primary series- being introverted, now I am being told to open my heart!). So for these reason, I never had temptation for other Vinyasa classes. I attended few Vinyasa classes, which were good but left me with a sense of incompleteness; however, this is only I being I. Few of Tias’s sequences gave me the feeling of “vooww that was good!” but he is somewhere between Ashtanga and Iyengar (even if he is leaning much towards Iyengar) so I guess there was something sung to my heart. Therefore, I decided to practice what I enjoy and love and then after a while I decided to teach what I enjoy and love.
I think all practices can be creative. I find creativeness in the way I and many other people do this traditional practice, ashtanga yoga. In this respect, it is not about what one practices but how one practices. On the other hand, if one is creative to design their own Vinyasa sequences that is great too (should I say as long as that ego is reined ☺). As Osho says, creativeness comes from a meditative state; therefore, in whatever way one is creative, it comes from a beautiful source. So, I believe that if one is happy with their own practice, then they are fine with all other practices… all practices are good as long as they bring the good within us.
Namaste to all…