When I read a book I have the habit of highlighting certain passages I find interesting or useful. After I finish the book I’ll type up those passages and put them into a note on my phone. I’ll keep them to comb through every so often so that I remember what that certain book was about. That’s what these are. So if I ever end up lending you a book, these are the sections that I’ve highlighted in that book. Enjoy!
The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.
When we maintain our dignity and act truthfully in the face of an ethical challenge, others will follow our brave lead and also behave with a clean conscience.
Ahimsa involves abstaining from intentionally inflicting pain on or killing other creatures in thought, word, or deed.
Clear and honest communication can prevent misunderstandings that may lead to anger or violence.
Acting against one of the five ethical practices results in endless suffering and ignorance.
If we had our hand in any part of a violent event, that energy will come back to us in some fashion.
A quiet heart-mind calms, whereas an agitated one disrupts.
Looking at someone and thinking to ourselves, “He is ugly” is like saying that thought out loud on a subtle level.
If our kindness is weaker than another’s meanness, then we may become less kind because of the interaction.
We can let the mean words pass through us, understanding that the person saying them is unhappy and is directing her frustration toward us. The ego may try to identify with and hold on to its interpretation of the words, which can lead to negativity.
If you do something wrong, be compassionate and kind to yourself, and learn from the experience.
The direction of yoga is toward moderation and balance–enjoying what life has to offer, yet not being attached or addicted to these sensations.
Unhealthy attachments and too many external sensory distractions can derail our attention and curtail our progress.
Our ego love to call ideas its own and cling to its ideas and opinions. But everything–including the world and ourselves–is always changing, and instead of a rigid ego, we need a flexible heart-mind to navigate these changes comfortably.
As we accumulate stuff, more of our time is spent maintaining it.
Our body is inherently impure, especially compared to our pure inner light of awareness (purusa). Our outer, physical shell is like a temple that temporarily houses this awareness. Keeping our temple clean makes it possible to connect with the divine radiance within. The process of yoga is a gradual purification of all layers of our individual self.
Keeping the body clean can remind us of its impermanence, since it is always changing, which in turn can make us realize what does not change and requires no maintenance (the light within).
Contentment makes poor men rich. Discontentment makes rich men poor.
We are changing from moment to moment. Possessions flow in and out of our lives, people around us come and go, our opinions and even what we think is true changes over time.
A delicious soup results from a long, slow simmer, not a quick and furious boil. So it is with any endeavor, including yoga: the best, most satisfying results come from sincere effort and gradual progress over time.
Since each component informs the others, change is more profound and noticeable when they are practiced together.
The practices of kriya-yoga cause our reactions to previously uncomfortable or painful events to diminish, eventually transforming them into conscious and positive actions because the events no longer push any of our buttons.
Make a change.
Feel the heat of resistance
melt away old habits
and burn through ruinous conditioning
Offer negative behavior
into the fire of tapas
and chart your course toward freedom
Real and permanent change in behavior creates heat creates heat from the friction of a new, positive pattern rubbing up against an old negative one.
Pancagni, meaning “five fires” is where a person sits in the hot sun (fire number one) surrounded by four fires and tries to meditate.
The idea is to become impervious to the pairs of opposites, such as heat and cold, wet and dry, that assail the sensory organs and draw the attention outward toward external objects.
Tapas requires discipline and effort. In Indian lore, a sage would practice tapas and celibacy for thousands of years to accumulate lots of power. When the gods noticed that their power was threatened, they sent down to earth a beautiful nymph who tried to distract the sage from his meditation. If she succeeded in seducing him, he would lose his seed and thus his power.
The inevitable pain or discomfort will produce the sweet nectar of positive, lasting inner transformation.
Keeping a daily diary of actions that we were not proud of is extremely beneficial since it brings awareness to parts of ourselves that we can improve.
Logic works well in the outer world of names and forms, but breaks down as our focus turns inward.
Doubting ourselves is an obstacle. Doubt can spoil any chance of success.
Faith in the unknown can neutralize fear of the unknown.
Whatever happens as a result of our action is exactly what is meant to happen, even if it doesn’t match what we expect.
Action based on inspiration and not bound by expectation is truly free.
Pure love is independent of the outer, changing world around us. When we understand that each person is a constantly changing outer shell encasing an unchanging, pure inner light of awareness, then we can show love for the divine in all sentient beings.
Humility means that egotism is not active and that anything the ego thinks it owns can be passed through us to our teacher or to the universe. If you think that what you teach or purport belongs to you, then asmita-klesa has reared its possessive head.
No one owns knowledge. We all dip into the giant soup of universal intelligence.
Surrendering to the divine allow me to truly understand my relationship with it.
A poor diet or stressful lifestyle will work against our asana practice.
A healthy mind has an easy breath.
Stabilizing and refining prana, our life force, is the centerpiece of yoga practice.
When prana flows smoothly, our attention can focus and our heart-mind can calm down.
Wherever the mind goes, the prana follows. In other words, wherever our attention is directed, our life force is projected.
Thoughts are considered to be waves of prana that haev an ever so subtel effect on their destination. For example, he has noticed that when his daughter is sleeping and he thinks about her waking up, she stirs in her sleep.
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