Progress in meditation comes swiftly for those who try their
hardest.
-Yoga Sutras
Given the sheer impossibility of it, I always find it
astonishing how swiftly the transformation of personality
can proceed when we are meditating with sustained
enthusiasm. It may have taken you thirty years to make
yourself insecure, but in much less than thirty years you
can become secure, loving, resilient. The key is simple: how
much do we desire to change? Patanjali, the author of the
Yoga Sutras, makes a deceptively simple understatement: they
go fastest who try hardest. Whether it is tennis or
transformation, the secret is the same: to achieve success,
we need to master our desires.
The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer
somebody else up.
-Mark Twain
Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts.
-The Buddha
Luck is not chance -
It's toil -
Fortune's expensive smile
Is earned.
-Emily Dickinson
Training the mind is just that – a matter of training.
Home reintegrating after a 2 long days of travel and 4 days immersed in 30 hours of yoga studies in INDIANA – which i learned locals call INDIE. THANKS to my host, Kim Allen for your support!
I feel an overwhelming sense of Gratitude, Peace, Love & Inspiration to continue formally studying with my Teacher, Gary Kraftsow – a tradition of Yoga which has been passed on for thousands of years beginning with Krisnamacharya and onto Desikachar and my teacher.
Focusing on moving beyond asana (postures) and integrating asana as a tool to prepare for deeper pranayama, chanting meditation and prayer.
I experienced Bandhas for the first time and now feel a sense of space (infinity) within, expanding to the world surrounding me.
Thoughts and prayers go out to Steve and his dear wife ….there is a group of us chanting the Health Mantra in your honor:
OM AYURDHEHI PRANAMA DHEHI
OM APANAM DHEHI VYANAM DHEHI
OM CAKSURDHEHI SROTRAM DHEHI
OM MANO DHEHI VACAM DHEHI
OM ATMANAM DHEHI PRATISTHAM DHEHI
OM MAM DHEHI MAYI DHEHI
http://www.pranamaya.com/blog/special-features/qa-gary-kraftsow-on-yoga-therapy-and-your-mood/
God loves a cheerful giver.
-II Corinthians
God expects but one thing of you, and that is that you
should come out of yourself insofar as you are a created
being and let God be God in you.
-Meister Eckhart
Love, and do what you like.
-Saint Augustine
In deep meditation the flow of concentration is continuous
like the flow of oil.
-Yoga Sutras
There are two basic tools for mastering the thinking
process. The first is meditation, which is described in the
yoga texts with a beautifully precise image: there should be
a smooth, unbroken flow of attention on a single subject,
like the flow of oil poured from one vessel to another. My
method of meditation is to make the mind go slowly through
the words of a particular passage from the scriptures or
great mystics, as slowly as possible. Whenever the mind
wants to slip off on another line of thought, bring the
attention back to the words of the passage. It may take
practice, but eventually thought flows smoothly without
interruption.
The other tool is the mantram, or mantra, which is a name or
phrase with spiritual meaning and power. Meditation on an
inspirational passage for half an hour every morning slows
down the thinking process. Then during the day, the mantram
keeps the mind from speeding up again. The mantram keeps the
stream of concentrated thought flowing throughout the day.
******
