“TO BE OR NOT TO BE”

 Shakespeare’s often-quoted question above could be expanded upon, “to see or not to see”, “to hear or not to hear” and “to touch or not to touch”.

Do we really wish to be true to our selves, to find our real nature, to understand who we really are, what we are or is it too much trouble? Are we happy in our ignorance?

Do we really wish to see clearly another’s point of view or would that disadvantage us? Are we happy to spend our lives ‘looking through dirty glasses’ just because the truth may hurt?

Can we be open and compassionate enough to sit and listen, really listen to someone; someone who has a need to talk, or someone who wishes you to understand where they are coming from?

Can we touch with sensitivity? Can we hug from the heart and not because it’s the ‘done thing’? Can we touch with the sensitivity needed in a Yoga class?

There is a way to do anything and everything and the above questions need answering. In saying this, it is known that those who do not wish to see will not see, those who do not wish to listen will not listen and those who are insensitive to the needs of others may choose to stay that way. Why, because the ‘I’, the ‘ego’ is in the way and it can be too much of an effort to change the way we live our lives.

If we are true to our real nature which is pure spirit, we will have gone beyond the ‘I’ the ‘me’ and the ‘mine’. These things belong to the ego and it’s these things that cause us so much unhappiness. When we know something of our true nature then we become selfless rather than selfish. Generally our minds are full of our own needs and own thoughts that the spirit is hidden somewhere beyond this conglomeration of thoughts. Now and again we may get a glimpse, become aware of being here now and watching all these thoughts and all these so-called feelings and needs. When we do, it is then we can start to understand them, sort them out and curb this wayward mind and the senses that feed it.

“To be or not to be” is really a vital question for all of us and not just those practising Yoga, because if it is not addressed even in the simplest of ways (and we all have to start somewhere) then we are not practising our faith or Yoga.

Satchidananda Ma with her many helpers

“To Be Or Not To Be”

Shakespeare’s often-quoted question above could be expanded upon, “to see or not to see”, “to hear or not to hear” and “to touch or not to touch”.

Do we really wish to be true to our selves, to find our real nature, to understand who we really are, what we are; or is it too much trouble are we happy in our ignorance?

Do we really wish to see clearly another’s point of view or would that disadvantage us.  Are we happy to spend our lives ‘looking through dirty glasses’ just because the truth may hurt?

Can we be open and compassionate enough to sit and listen, really listen to someone?

Someone who has a need to talk, or someone who wishes you to understand where they are coming from.

Can we touch with sensitivity; can we hug from the heart and not because it’s the done thing.  Can we touch with the sensitivity needed in a Yoga class?

There is a way to do anything and everything and the above questions need answering.  In saying this, it is known that those who do not wish to see will not see, those who do not wish to listen will not listen and those who are insensitive to the needs of others may wish to stay that way, why because the ‘I’, the ‘ego’ is in the way and it can be to much of an effort to change the way we live our lives.

If we are true to our real nature which is pure spirit, we will have gone beyond the ‘I’ the ‘me’ and the ‘mine’.  These things belong to the ego and it’s these things that cause us so much unhappiness.  When we know something of our true nature then we become selfless rather than selfish.  Generally our minds are full of our own needs, our own thoughts, the spirit is hidden some where beyond this conglomeration of thoughts.  Now and again we may get a glimpse, become aware of being here now and watching all these thoughts and all these so called feelings and needs.  When we do it is then we can start to understand them, sort them out and curb this wayward mind and the senses that feed it.

“To be or not to be” is really a vital question for all of us practising Yoga, because if it is not addressed even in the simplest of ways (we all have to start somewhere) then we are not practising Yoga.

To Be Or Not to be

                      To be what?

To Thine Own Self Be True

                        What is the Self?             

Deep In the Silence of the Soul

                                          What is the Soul?

Man Know Thyself

So what are we?  What do we regard as ourselves?

To be, to rest in the silence which is beyond thought and deliberation: to be where the observer resides and even beyond that: to abide in the atman/spirit where all that we think we are dissolves and becomes one with the divine.

Satchidananda Ma with her many helpers

What Are We??

20 COMMONPLACE ELEMENTS:

70/85% water

10/20% proteins

Salts & fats

Carbohydrates and nucleic acids

DNA and RNA

THIS BODY IS:

A community of cells, which has a social order.

75 million, million individuals with an assigned place to occupy or role to play.

THERE IS AN INTERPLAY OF TEN SYSTEMS:

Nervous, endocrine, circulatory, digestive, skeletal, skin, respiratory, muscular, reproduction, urinary.

IT EATS AND IS RESTORED BY FOOD.

IT BREATHES AND IS RESTORED BY AIR.

IT MOVES WITH THE ORGANS OF ACTION i.e.

expression, procreation, excretion, locomotion, grasping.

MOVEMENT is stimulated by subtle impulses and the senses, which feed the mind.

ANTAKARANA, WHICH EQUALS =

Mind, ego, intellect or in Yogic terms – manas, ahamkara, buddhi,

And so we think!

PRANA works on all levels of our being, stimulating all that we regard as our physical self into being and action.  It works through –

The chakras, that transform cosmic energy into physical energy.

In truth we are pure Spirit, our spiritual Self who uses the above as a vehecle to experience this physical world.  This physical world which like ourselves is a Divine creation!

Satchidananda Ma and many helpers

We don’t have to sit silently/quietly to have the feeling that someone/something is very close to us, that we are not alone. It comes as an impression of warmth, of love, of comfort.

Being human we like to understand this feeling, what is it? Who is it?  is it our guardian angel, is it just someone close who loves us – thinking of us?  You may even think it is someone who we have lost to another world, for when they were with us the connection always conveyed a particular feeling.

This impression can come when we need it most, touching our hearts and lifting us up. Some one cares!

Christmas can come with mixed feelings for many of us.  Sometimes feelings of joy, sometimes of sadness.  Some wish to join in the Christmas spirit but cannot because of the pressures of life. Oft quoted “what is this life so full of care”.  It needs to be full of care, care for one another.  The Christ child came to bring hope,hope that we will care for one another, love one another.

There is much help; help that can come from unseen worlds as well as people around us.  It will come from unexpected places.  The greatest gifts we have to give cost nothing, and there are many many of those.

Much love and many blessings

Have a wonderful Christmastime

Satchidananda Ma

How precious it is to be able to retreat from the city/town/village and walk into the peacefulness of the countryside and the silence of the woods.  A silence only interrupted by the song of a bird or the movement of a squirrel. Breathing becomes deeper, the mind calmer as we are drawing in something very special, the beauty and silence all around.

We can liken it to retreating into our special meditative place, sitting, relaxing and focusing on something special, and then slowly those multitudinous straying thoughts will begin to float away.  The mind can be as busy as the noisy city, or less confused like life in the town, and calmer still – village life.  When breathing becomes slower and the mind calmer, we start to become aware of that growing silence within and the closeness of the Divine presence.

Satchidananda Ma

How often do we Yogi’s feel we are missing out if we don’t have time to ‘practice’, or to ‘sit’?

Many times people will ask us ‘how often do you practice Yoga each day?

The practice, the sitting to meditate and how much time you spare is important but the ultimate goal is to be practising, meditating, each and every moment of your life.  When every thought, word and deed is in essence Yoga, when every part of ‘you’ body mind and spirit is working in unison;  this is when selfless action takes place, so that everything you do flows and is (without thought or premeditation) a dedication to the Divine.

That said, within all of us there is a need to sit and contemplate and keep the body in such a condition that it can serve the Divine in others.

The above can apply to those within a religion, a philosophy. Practising is not just once a week or/and 20 minutes in the morning, it needs to be part of one’s very being.

Everyone has to start somewhere and great blessings are bestowed on those who do, for it is long and not so easy a path.

Satchidananda Ma

You are a spiritual being of light,
You are love personified,
You are a creation of the Divine maturing in the ocean of experience.
All creation is one, a creation of Divine love.
The ONE Divine power is the essence of all things.

It is interesting to note that scientists claim to have found the ‘God particle’ that draws other particles to it.

Consider these ponderables: –

• What gives these particles their ability to draw others to them and so form life both animate and inanimate?
• What holds your body together?  Is it the soul or the spirit, and if so, who or what instigated this process?
• What impulse says to these particles, be a tree or a rock, be a human being …?
• What gives that vital ‘essence’, ‘life’?
• Does the spirit enter the growing foetus at the quickening?
• What tells the seed to grow, the earth to feed or the water to sustain?
• Is it fire/desire or the light…? or something else?

Satchidananda Ma

Faith

Without faith we flounder, like a ship on a stormy sea we are tossed here and there losing all stability and power of control.  We also need faith in our own ability to cope with day-to-day living and all the ups and downs that come along;

Faith will bring strength, confidence and the ability to help others cope in the same way because we can share our knowledge.  We are all ‘in the same boat’and if we share our trials and tribulations, comforting one another then nothing seems so bad.

We need faith in our fellow beings, to understand that essentially they too are Divine creations, even when it might not appear so! Just as we need patience and lots of understanding with ourselves, so we need it with others too.  One-day that wisdom will come, as it does for all of us in time. Faith will help us to live in peace with one another and care for one another.

Faith in the Divine, that presence which supports us and gives us life, can be a difficult concept, unless we consider that that which is Divine, is like the sun which sheds its light indiscriminately on everyone, and goes on shining even when depression clouds our view. The Divine is always there as the most patient mother and father, always loving and waiting patiently at hand to support and help when we realise that there is a greater wisdom than ours. The Divine gives life and love to all in equal measure, no one more than another, just as it gives power to the sun to always shine.

We need humility of spirit to know that when the going gets tough there is help we can access.  There is a saying ‘that when the going gets tough the tough get going’.  They get going because they have faith and know to be positive and act, rather than just sitting back and bemoaning their lot is the best way.

We all need someone or something to look up to, to inspire us and lead us on to greater things, to become more peaceful and contented but not complacent.

We all have work to do to uncover the best in ourselves, to see what is good in others, and to open our eyes to see what is beyond the apparent.

Satchidananda Ma

Compassion

Compassion is inherent in our nature.  It is shown when we realise that we all have had to face life and its many traumas, when we can feel for others especially if we have had to walk the same path in similar shoes.  It can also bring the realisation that we are all God’s children, which will make us more compassionate showing mercy whenever possible.  There needs to be sympathy, empathy, identifying with the other person with a feeling of love.

Concern is there because we can relate to the situation they are in.

So we show kindness, consideration and caring.

Satchidananda Ma

What does Charity mean to you?

• Kindness; by being kind-hearted, thinking kindly of others?
• Acting with kindness, performing good actions with good intention, alms-giving, doing good turns and more generally doing as one would be done by?
• Giving things, such as donations, unwanted items, unused items and most especially, time.
• Caring for those in need, not because you have to, but because you want to.
• Thinking lovingly of others?
• Universal love, unselfishness, sharing.
• Sympathizing; being sympathetic and listening to those who have a need.
• Is it just having one’s heart in the right place and the ability to see all as a reflection of oneself?

Surely you can add to the above, but they are all just part of a ‘whole feeling’ from that which comes straight from a heart that is unselfish, a heart alight with Divine love.

Satchidananda Ma