Refreshing views

[Guest guest]

Thanks to all of you writing your thoughts about

the "true" Astanga yoga forms. I am so appreicative

of open-minded comments from posters such as javra,

opurple, and many others who I can't recall at this

instant.<br><br>It was daunting to read that Astanga yoga as

practiced by KPJ of Mysore is only strictly the asanas as

laid out in his book only in that specific sequence,

especially in that during classes we often skip some poses

for the sake of time, to focus on breath, or to give

more instruction or adjustments. That would mean that

what I have thought I was practicing as Astanga yoga

for the past year and half was actually not.

<br><br>Boy was I confused, especially when my friends came

back from their week with KPJ in New York and told me

he skipped some of the more difficult poses in the

classes he led! So according to some of the prior posts

he was teaching something other than Astanga? I

think not! <br><br>It is nice to see that astanga yogis

can be so flexible! <br><br>For my own experience,

I have attended workshops with some of the teachers

often discussed here. I have gotten kernels of ideas

from TB & BBB, as well as being pushed and pulled into

poses I had never been in before. I got a lot of

intellectual information from Richard Freeman which comes back

to me every time I practice, and I appreciated his

dry sense of humor and other worldliness. I most

enjoyed David Swenson, for his spirit, his exuberence,

his open-heartedness, his go-for-it attitude, his

generosity, and also his super-human strength, which he uses

to help those of us earth-bound folks feel the

sensation of flight. In fact, I'm going to the workshop he

is leading with his brother in Great Barrington this

weekend, and I can't wait!<br><br>I also find that every

class I take within a different form of yoga,

especially Iyengar, adds to my experience of

Astanga.<br><br>There's some taoist quote I can't fully remember,

something like "The way that can be told is not the way."

Someone out there knows the one I'm refering

to.<br><br>Anyway, I appreciate all of you who pursue this practice

and encourage others with your open minds, bodies,

and hearts.<br><br>B

[Guest guest]

> There's some taoist quote I can't

fully<br>> remember, something like "The way that can

be<br>> told is not the way." Someone out there

knows<br>> the one I'm refering to.<br><br>The tao that can

be told<br>is not the eternal Tao<br>The name that

can be named<br>is not the eternal Name.<br><br>The

unnamable is the eternally real.<br>Naming is the

origin<br>of all particular things.<br><br>Free from desire,

you realize the mystery.<br>Caught in desire, you see

only the manifestations.<br><br>Yet mystery and

manifestations<br>arise from the same source.<br>This source is called

darkness.<br><br>Darkness within darkness.<br>The gateway to all

understanding.<br><br>-- Opening lines of the Tao Te Ching, translated by

Stephen Mitchell

[Guest guest]

The same ideas are developped in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with insight into

the path to achieve it.

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Mark.

[Guest guest]

Yup, and the same ideas are developed in most

religeous mystical traditions to some extent - not only

yoga and Taoism, but also many shamanistic traditions,

Tibetan Buddhism, Jewish Kabbalah, Christian Mysticism

etc. Personally, I believe that the Hindu Gods, the

God of the three great monotheistic religions, the

Tao -- in fact, all gods and god-concepts of all the

great religeons and mystical paths -- are

one.<br><br>Spirituality, to me, is aboout finding paths to God or the Gods

in whatever aspect you conceive of them. There are

as many paths as there are people.<br><br>It seems

to me that that should apply to yoga practice as

well as to anything else. One of the wonderful things

about Hinduism, from which yoga springs, is that it

acknowledges that there are different paths for different

types of people. If SPW believes that he can only

achieve his goals by learning all of the series of

ashtanga yoga and then moving on from there to other

practices, then that will be true for him, won't it? If

someone else claims to find theirs after practicing only

the primary series -- or from meditation without

asana practice at all, or from going to Mass every week

-- who is anyone else to argue with them?<br><br>I

also have had the same experience as bandawoman, that

one practice can deepen another. In my case, I am now

both a practicing Jew and a yogi, and I'm finding that

they can complement each other beautifully.

[Guest guest]

Mark, you seem extremely well read. Thanks for

your input.<br><br>Any advice on entry-level reading

on the Kabballah? <br><br>Also, before I started

practicing Astanga on a nearly-daily basis, I filled in days

between with the five Tibetan rites, which entail

repetition of specific moves, including spinning and a

ballistic downward dog/upward dog, 21 times with

coordinated breath. Does anyone know anything more about the

rites? I was told they work the chakras intensely, but

not why. Any information is

appreciated.<br><br>Thanks, B

[Guest guest]

> Any advice on entry-level reading on

the<br>> Kabballah? <br><br>You could try Kim Zetter's

"Simple Kabbalah," which is a straightforward narrative

explaining the basics, or "The Essential Kabbalah"

<br>edited by Daniel Matt, which contains excepts of key

Kabbalistic works from the last two millenia or

so.<br><br>Zetter's book even has an appendix with tips for

chakrasana. Well OK, not really.