Patanjali’s second Yoga Sutra in Book One states that yoga stills the thought patterns coloured by our ego’s judgments, perceptions, and expectations. As we grow up and wake up, we discover things are not necessarily as they appear when our ego is the witness. When we attach assumptions or biases to a thought, we block the truth from emerging. It is these misperceptions (opinions), negative thoughts, and feelings that our yoga practice works to dissolve. Most of us are familiar with the phrase, assuming makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me”, yet we persist in making assumptions based on our past experiences. The teaching is to take each moment as it appears and then assess whether we see it with a truthful eye. This act of discernment stills the ‘monkey’ mind long enough for us to awaken to divine wisdom and express our true self.
Writing poetry became my act of discernment wherein my truth was exposed and expressed. My poem below speaks to the importance of stilling the unruly ideas that pattern our consciousness. Click the audio clip below if you would like to hear me reading this poem.
Awakened
Urgent knocks on soul’s door trigger curiosity.
In search of answers, the mind wanders through
every sealed nook and cranny.
Pursuing truth, unruly ideas pour forth as faulty
emotional glue comes unstuck. Superficial, yet
wildly captivating, vagaries of the mind are shed.
Source knowledge never rises from only one stream.
The mind passes its ‘mental seeing’ through
the sensing body where felt experience awakens.
Such down-to-earth awareness startles and
quickens intuitive response-ability. Then, do
deepest realms divulge their truths.
For more yoga teachings, yoga actions and poetry, click here. Namaste.
