Sense of self?

[Guest guest]

What do you meean by gravitating towards a form

that most reinforces our sense of self and why is that

a shame?<br>Isn't the point of yoga, and especially

astanga, to come back to the self...ie.

self-realization.<br>Astanga as I am continuing to learn is all about hitting

the wall, so to speak, observing our limitations and

ego and being ok about them and learning how to

surrender. For most of us and I speak most definitely for

myself is that "Astanga" really means Astanga, not just

asana practice, and that includes all eight limbs and

ego does not equal ahimsa. We being from the western

culture are so ego driven that we try to shape our yoga

when ultimately we must allow yoga to shapes us. This

is why I feel Astanga is dangerous to us westerners

and we should all make a huge effort to surrender and

be gentle with ourselves...<br><br>and to all

astangis out there to be carefull in July because

astrologically speaking, there is going to be some screwy energy

during this time so be extra carefull with your

practices, so says my acupuncturist, of whom I have total

faith.<br><br>What better way than to reinforce our sense of self?

[Guest guest]

Godfrey makes a very interesting point, though.

Do we gravitate towards forms of yoga practice that

gratify our egos? (I assume that is something like what

he means by "reinforce our sense of self") Maybe,

initially. But why else would most people start doing

something as hard as ashtanga practice, and stick at

it?<br><br>Quite honestly, I think I stuck with ashtanga vinyasa

yoga for my first couple of years - after sporadically

trying lots of other yoga classes for years and never

staying with any of them for more than a few months - to

a large degree because I liked the physical

challenge and wanted to get "good" at it. <br><br>Last year

I moved to a city where there was, at the time, no

ashtanga teacher. I kept doing my own ashtanga practice,

but I wanted to have a teacher and I like practicing

in a group sometimes, so I signed up for an iyengar

class. I learned a lot, but I didn't feel at home and I

didn't enjoy the beating my ego was taking for seemingly

doing everything "wrong". As soon as an ashtanga class

started I was outta there!<br><br>But does it matter if

people start practice with the "wrong" motives? If they

stay with it, they will grow out of their original

ideas and other things will happen. <br><br> And what

you thought you came for<br> Is only a shell, a husk

of meaning<br> From which the purpose breaks only

when it is fulfilled<br> If at all. Either you had no

purpose<br> Or the purpose is beyond the end you figured<br> And

is altered in fulfilment. <br> (TS Eliot, Little

Gidding)

[Guest guest]

the semantics and the actuality of the self can

be easy to get stuck in. what most of us feel as our

self is what patanjali refers to in 4.25 as the

imposed or false sense of self that has been developed as

a result of the accumulation of the traces left

over from unresolved past experiences (samskaras)

coalescing into character traits (vasanas) that underpin and

drive our perceptions and actions (karma). the purpose

of patanjali's ashtangayoga is to see that for what

it is and no longer identify with it until the

unconditional nature of conscioiusnessenergy (citisakti) is

embodied by our living presence.<br><br>only too often we

choose activities, including what kind of yoga we

practice and how we practice it, to reinforce this imposed

sense of self. not always though. <br><br>one of the

beauties of ashtanga practice is that it can be varied

endlessly even within the excat same format, by varying the

emphasis given to various factors and aspects. it can be

anything from the swetest chill out to the most

ennervating charge up, a way to develop strength or a way to

soften the body, a means to develop concentration or to

invite surrender.<br><br>in the end though it seems that

life, and yoga, is self correcting and its only those

who are in a hurry that need be overly concerned

about getting it absolutely right, which is a neurotic

projection anyway<br><br>all this world is but a play, be

thou the joyful player