Living Yoga and Meditation

Living yoga and meditation is living everyday in the purest delight and with deep and clear appreciation of yourself and of every living creature. It is to experience every day as wonderful and new, positive and full of love.

Often it is believed that yoga and meditation are two distinct entities: yoga consists of physical exercising while meditation is equal to Buddhism. Let me first clarify that these two topics are like two colors in a rainbow; they are varieties of one white light. Just as all colors together make white, all of these esoteric arts together aim towards a life filled with love and peace.

I will refer to the whole spectrum of yoga and meditation together as yoga meditation.

In the rustic Himalayan Mountains of northern India I spent eight glorious years immersed in studying and practicing meditation and the skills of yoga. Living full-time in meditation, yoga and in the study of ancient scriptures was a blessing. I grew to appreciate the value of taking quiet time to myself, and being happy every day no matter what was going on or not going on!

Now back in Canada, I have been working to integrate the wisdom, insight and beauty of this exotic experience into my life in urban North America. I have continued to meditate daily and do yoga, breath work and endless studying. I have run a yoga studio, produced a television yoga series, and taught yoga and meditation to many, many friends. I have developed a meditation method, Padma Meditation, that is solidly based on the classical wisdom scriptures, yet is updated to suit life now, here in Canada.

Living yoga and meditation really means more than merely doing yoga techniques or spending time in silent meditation. Living yoga meditation means you feel friendly towards people, meeting them with the assumption that you already like them, and you are happy for them when they are happy. Living yoga meditation is to have compassion when friends are sad, confused or suffering, and to be patient with them when they are angry. If you can simply be kind, compassionate, and loving to everyone, every day, including yourself, then you are living yoga meditation!

Your warmth and love extends out to others and also inwards to yourself. You allow yourself to enjoy when you are happy, and you are compassionate towards yourself when you are suffering or sad. Just as with someone else, when you get angry, you do not condemn yourself, but let the anger pass.

Yoga and especially meditation might still be considered by some to be odd, eastern practices that have nothing to do with our everyday life here in Canada. More and more, however, people are discovering that the practices of yoga and meditation are enjoyable and with only a little effort they add a tremendous quality to the daily lifestyle we have in North America. Not only is it simple to add yoga meditation practices to our lives, but it is also a pleasure. You'll find that waking up to stretch and then to sit in quiet peace for twenty minutes before running off to your day, is an exquisite treat.

Yoga translates into English as union, specifically, the union of a person's awareness with every aspect of their life, from the most obvious and physical aspects to the most subtle and spiritual realms. Yoga practices evolve an awareness of a whole and balanced life. The state of yoga is a state of mind that is expanded and aware, a mind that fearlessly sees every part of life as it really is.

The practices of yoga meditation originated over 5000 years ago on the Indian sub-continent and were taught over the centuries by word of mouth from guru to disciple. Around 2500 B.C.E., a sage named Sri Patanjali wrote down the classical practices of yoga meditation in Sanskrit.

In four chapters, Patanjali overviews the reason for yoga meditation, the classical practices of yoga meditation, the incremental results and stages of these practices, and, in the fourth chapter, the final beatitude of accomplished practice.

Yoga meditation was developed to help what is evidently a chronic human condition: suffering. The Buddha said simply, "Enlightenment is freedom from suffering." Bob Marley wrote, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery." Sri Patanjali defines yoga as "Freedom from mental disturbance." The purpose of all the meditation and yoga techniques, then, is to relieve suffering and allow the yogi to live life in happiness, love, freedom and health. Travel anywhere in the world and you will be amazed how universal human suffering is. Whether from Europe or Asia, Africa or America, people share the common problems of physical, mental and emotional pain. Meditators have spent centuries looking into what could be the primary cause of suffering and they have seen that all suffering stems from one issue: we forget who we really are and we believe in our imagination about who we are. This forgetfulness starts with the belief that your mind is always true and real, and so you believe that what your mind says about you must be true.

It is tricky to understand the workings of our own mind and how this mind leads us into suffering. The practices of yoga meditation help clarify this confusion.

The method laid out by Sri Patanjali, known as Classical Yoga, has eight branches that are eight schools of techniques and philosophies. As time goes by, the dedicated student learns more and more of this extensive science of yoga meditation practices and philosophy. At first there might seem to be division between the various schools of practice, but, ultimately, the yogi understands that all of the branches of the tree share one common sap; all of the practices are for one common purpose: the enhancement of the quality and peace of every minute of your life.

Here I'll give a brief description of the eight classical branches of practice.

Every day you can practice one or many of the techniques and pay attention to the results of that practice on your own health and happiness. If some practice makes you healthier, then keep doing it! Watch and see the results over a longer time. Bringing yoga into daily life does not just mean adopting a set routine of practice and then staying stuck in that pattern forever. This is the very first step of being a yoga student. After some time, you will sense what practices are benefiting you and bringing you closer to peace.

The first two branches, Yam and Niyam, include ten instructions about general living and describe lifestyle rules that increase happiness and decrease suffering. These are basic to civilizations all over the world. Since yoga meditation is a wisdom tradition of health, happiness and peace, it is natural that the first rules would be the primary rules of civil and wise behavior!

he very first instruction is non-violence, Ahinsa in Sanskrit: to think, speak and act without violence. If you can live everyday completely free from any nuance of violence, even in your thought, towards yourself or to anyone else, consider yourself an advanced yogi! Without criticizing yourself or setting high expectations for yourself, watch your thinking and notice whenever you are thinking negatively, especially about yourself. Ask yourself if this is really helpful to you or to anyone else.

The second practice is called Satya and means truth. This means to think clearly, speak truthfully, and act honestly. More than merely speaking honestly as you can, this means to be utterly honest with yourself. For example, when you meditate, are you truthfully watching your mind as it really is.

Third is Aastaya, or not stealing. This means not taking what is not yours to take and might be very obvious such as don't steal stuff from a store! More subtlely, this could mean respecting another person's dignity and time and not taking that from them.

Fourth is Brahmacharya, or always remembering the divine throughout all your daily actions. This practice cultivates reverence and thankfulness every moment of the day or night.

And fifth is Aaparygraha, which is not grasping. This practice is difficult but crucial. It does not only mean not grabbing at things, but it means to let everything come and let everything go as it naturally will, even including your own thoughts. I can remember being very proud of myself that I was not a materialistic person who held onto material possessions. Then a wise friend said to me, "Yes, but your thoughts are also objects, and you are hanging onto that thought very dearly!"

The next five instructions are: Cleanliness, Contentment, Effort, Study and Surrender. Each of these is to be practiced with conscious effort; For example, cleanliness does not just happen by itself, but is a practice you must constantly do everyday. Likewise, contentment is not merely a passive result, but an active daily practice. Everyday the aspirant must study something that educates and expands his or her mind to understand more about the possibility of living a whole and happy life. And everyday he or she must surrender frustration and agitation and actively practice being peaceful and at ease.

By practicing each of these every day, your awareness is focused on your own daily life in your thoughts, speech and actions. Instead of being scattered and inattentive, you pay attention to daily activities and develop better focus and awareness of what's really going on.

The third branch of yoga meditation is Aasan, or Hatha yoga. In this set of practices, you learn to pay attention to your physical body and keep your mind's attention focused in the body. In this way you practice keeping the mind's attention fixed wherever you want to fix it. At the same time you become very aware of the functions and needs of your physical body. This awareness makes it possible for you to do whatever is needed to stay in great health for many years. Practicing hatha yoga in a serene and careful manner develops your mind to be focused and steady. Asana should be practiced attentively, as postures of meditation, not just as physical aerobic conditioning.

Pranayam is the next branch and includes various exercises for the breath. Again, this focuses and clears the mind of other distractions, plus increases the student's awareness of the subtler energies in the body. With this awareness, the student can sense imbalances in the health before they become acute and so it is an excellent preventative medicine practice.

The next four branches of classical yoga are meditation levels. Yoga as known in the west is actually only the first half of the program of the classical yoga meditation system.

It is best to have a good yoga teacher to guide you in the first four steps of practices, but it is essential to have an expert meditation teacher to guide you in the last four steps since meditation is so subtle and intangible.

The fifth branch is called Pratyahar. This translates as turning the attention inward. Close your eyes and bring your mind's attention inward from the external world of stimulation to the inner world of mental thinking, memories, and imagination. Just watch. Let any thoughts come along and let them go away. Letting go of thoughts is a skill that will open you up to a far greater vision of life.

Next is Dharana, which means to practice a chosen technique of mental concentration and focus. One technique is to watch your breath go out and come in. Keep your attention on the breath as it moves. Whenever you notice that your attention has drifted off to some other thinking, just gently bring your focus back onto your breath.

 Another powerful skill of Dharana is to repeat some positive sound. Create a gentle humming sound as you exhale and repeat this on every exhalation. This hum will dissolve stressful thoughts in your mind and let you experience peace.

Dhyaan is the next step of classical meditation. Deep meditation overflows into the whole rest of your life and you become happier, brighter and more alive. In Dhyaan, the mind's continuous chattering has subsided and you are left purely watching and aware of a clear mind. One exceptionally wonderful technique of Dhyaan is to lie down on your back and decide to take the next twenty minutes deeply resting. Just let yourself go. Keep telling yourself, "Let go, let go." Allow yourself to be as "gone" as you like! When your mind drifts in, experience, appreciate and remember how wonderful and relaxed you feel.

The final branch of classical meditation is called Samadhi. Samadhi literally means that the yogi's intellect is fully aware of the essence of life. This essence takes on various names in the esoteric wisdom cultures that have explored what lies behind the obvious facet of life. It is known as the "Now", the "Being", the "Void", "Pure Bliss", "heaven", "nagual" and many more names.

 To live in the awareness of Samadhi is truly living yoga meditation. Samadhi is the vision of life in its most actual and sublime existence. Samadhi is seeing one love in all living creatures. As the artist Isadora Duncan said, "Love is the vision of the soul when it is permitted to gaze upon immortal beauty."

The yogi in Samadhi is completely at peace and at ease with a clear mind, and yet is extremely alert and watchful of everything actually going on.

Living meditation is ultimately to remain in unbroken awareness of your own essential life force, throughout every day and every situation. Constant awareness of your own sentient existence is the steady state of a yogi.

The practices of classical yoga meditation unfold this latent possibility in the mind. In this Samadhi state, the yogi is as completely relaxed as if in deep sleep, but all of the waking state senses and mind are still perceived. For people in the normal waking state of mind, the mind's attention shifts constantly from one sensory stimulation to another, from one thought to another, from one emotion to the next. Daily regular life is a constant stream of changing experience and thinking. The waking mind also generally experiences stress, pressure, doubt and worry.

At night we plunge into deep sleep where there is no thought and no awareness of anything at all. This is restful but it is forgotten as soon as we wake up.

In sleep we also enter the dream state of mind. Here, memories, the imagination and all combinations of thinking mix freely. Only when we wake up do we realize that the dream was not a permanent, concrete reality.

By noticing the fleeting nature of dreams, we start to see that what seems real in the mind at one minute can change and not be real the next minute. The meditation student learns that the thinking mind is a temporal and constantly creative power that may or may not be a true reflection of reality. In Samadhi, the yogi's attention is not merely on the ever changing, thinking mind, but sees with a deeper vision into the unchanging essence of awareness.

By daily practicing the first four limbs of yoga you become purified of physical, emotional and mental problems. Your body becomes fit, limber and healthy and this makes you feel better. The yoga asana, or postures, are designed to purge your body of toxins, stress, and illness. They make you strong without building bulky muscles; rather you become more sensitive to what your body really needs.

By properly and carefully practicing the breath work, you purify emotional unrest or unhappiness that might be in you. Gradually you can strengthen your nervous system and become clear of past traumatic memories that have haunted you. Your whole system will be delighted to be free of these physical and emotional burdens and you will have much, much more energy to live everyday fresh, invigorated and inspired.

While it is important to become more clear and strong physically by practicing these yogic arts, it is crucial to also spend some time every day sitting in still meditation. Deciding to spend twenty minutes a day simply sitting with your eyes closed, and watching, may be the most powerful practice you will ever adopt. In this stillness, you become aware of the qualities of your own mind and thought patterns. Just watching as these thoughts come and as they go unfolds the awareness in you that you are present no matter what thinking is going on in your mind. You see that the mind is always changing and imagining, but you are always there, aware and purely present. The fourth chapter of classical yoga meditation is called Kayvalya: Freedom. Freedom from all suffering is the highest success of yoga meditation. Living free from all suffering takes time and dedication, but many yogis over many centuries have found that this freedom is possible and is a direct result of the purification, education and meditation that is known as yoga meditation.

Real freedom comes from an expanded awareness of life. The yogi lives with happiness, peace, and joy and has a clear mind where fear is gone and creativity flourishes. You see people and things as they truly are, just as a clean mirror reflects light accurately. You feel a calm balance in yourself, and are no longer at the mercy of fluxing emotions. You feel more love, compassion and concern for every living creature and are less and less selfish every day. Instead of acting only for personal gain, you choose actions that are life supporting, healthy, and just. You feel generous and not needy, free from greed and hatred and jealousy. You do not worry when things keep changing, but let them come and go as they always do. You feel confidant, decisive and energetic and you are careful to make sure your actions and words are always loving and supporting life.