Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 hi. my name is jayadev, new to your club. it is an honor to be among you.<br><br>so beautiful to see so many occupied with the practice of yoga. i think this must be one of the great benefits of this style of practice, that it generates such spirited interest. also happy to see such great good humor. as i used to say at the ashram -- if i can't laugh you can keep your f'ing enlightenment.<br><br>i have done some practice in what has come to be known as the "ashtanga" style and see how it is satisfying and lovely for so many. have settled for most of life into sivananda intrepretation of the ashtanga of raja yoga, as evolved through pratice and further study of the sutras, pradipika, gita, upanishads, etc. i find this complements well my practice of jnana, karma, and bhakti yogas. and of course, it just intuitively feels good.<br><br>love that now there are so many styles proliferating in the west. when we get down to it, the only relevant yoga path is the one we each craft for ourself. different schools and teachers can guide us in what they believe to be of greatest benefit, but comes the time when the pupil learns to fine tune, to tailor the esoteric way he or she alone must follow to find that personal union with pure, eternal consciousness. the clearer path to samadhi may not be in accomplishment of one asana series or another, but in changing adult diapers for a debilitated friend.<br><br>for now the raja yoga portion of my sadhana is with other men, naked, late at night. most are gay, some are straight, all are lovely spirits well-focused on their practice. emphasis throughout our sessions is on meditation and achievement of effortlessness within the postures. in this way our sadhana teaches to acknowledge and then transcend self-identification with the body and senses.<br><br>i am aware that "ashtanga" has become like a trademark for a certain school of yoga, its proponents regarding that word as descriptive of specific asana series. but it is good to remember that ashtanga refers to the eight limbs of raja yoga, the royal path, as described by patanjali 2500 years ago or so, and that he was summarizing information already millenia old. the first seven limbs are but a general means to the eighth, samadhi, superconsciousness.<br><br>the sadhana section of the sutras, chapter 2, specifically sutras 2.28 through 2.55, describes the ashtanga. note there is no mention of "down dog" or "chaturanga" or any other postures, all of which derive from other teachers, other styles, other emphases, other interpretations.<br><br>yes, i know, names and forms and who cares really. it is good to remember that "ashtanga" refers to a constellation of ideas that include surrender to the infinite, contentment, doing no harm, and nonpossessiveness, that asanas should be steady and comfortable, and are only mastered by releasing all tension while focusing the mind in meditation. if we are forcing and straining, hurting ourselves, competing, we are creating many more obstacles than we are dissolving, engendering more karma than we are burning away, and putting the eighth limb of the ashtanga, samadhi, so much further away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 hey jayadev: read about that nakkkeeedd ting in windy apple. straight boys welcome as well? kool<br><br>wish i said what you did. in fact thats the kernel of what i think but ego goes where ever my tapping fingers flow and i just skate around it all. reckon pretty much anything that gets said at this group from now on should be referred to your entry.<br><br>and 21 . . . pah, wisdom of youth, mutter. . . <br><br>old git of sarf london <br><br>hari om tat sat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 Midnight in Chelsea...candlelight,boah...men only..."naked before the infinite",pah...most are gay...hum...<br><br>But isn't all that somewhat testing to the Brahmacharia aspect of Naked Yoga sadhana? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 The whole name of this particular style of yoga is Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, to make a distinction with the Ashtanga of the Pajantali Yoga Sutras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 <<<<<The whole name of this particular style of yoga is Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, to make a distinction with the Ashtanga of the Pajantali Yoga Sutras.>>>>><br><br>"I teach only ashtanga yoga, the original method given in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra."<br><br>"This is the original teaching, the ashtanga yoga method. I've not added anything else. These modern teachings, I don't know ... I'm an old man!"<br><br>"Vinyasa means "breathing system." Without vinyasa, don't do asana. When vinyasa is perfect, the mind is under control. That's the main thing -- controlling the mind. That's the method Patanjali described."<br><br>-- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Yoga International magazine, January 1994 <br><br><a href=http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/cgi-local//do.pl?form=viewstory&id=88 target=new>http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/cgi-local//do.pl?form=viewstory&id=\ 88</a> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 Seems kind of a leaping tautological description of what Patajali "described," imo.<br><br>Maybe PKJ can follow Prabhupada's lead and rename Yoga Mala PATAJALI'S YOGA AS IT IS.<br><br>Patajali suggested all kinds of techniques for stilling the mind. He said very little about asana and vinyasa in the context of Jois's interpretation of Astanga yoga. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 thanks i.n.n.n.23 for your sweet confirmation. just muddling through, doing the best we can with what we have. please note your colleague is right in his subsequent post. use of ">" symbol here means "greater than," simply so y'all know i'm legally allowed to sign contracts and hear about sex or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2001 Report Share Posted January 10, 2001 ah omboy, me at the rising of the morn, i write without thought and certainly observation err. . . i didnt notice the symbol >. probably would have assumed you were under 21 as i always get that one mixed up. its like the compass rose: 'never eat shredded wheat' always help out there tho'.<br><br>i need no number 23, i always take the 137 home. . . <br><br>ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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