Parinama

    Without santosha (self-containment) is to build a form which has no indwelling life in it.   Rohi Mehta, Yoga: The Art of Integration   Presence is the true refuge. Tara Brach, True Refuge   Yoga reveals to us a rich depth of embodiment which we uncover layer by layer overtime through years of practice.   What may start as a physical experience penetrates the more subtle sheaths of existence emotional, intellectual, and spiritual as we cultivate more sensitive ways of perceiving ourselves.   This journey inward is like an outer journey in that the actual experience of it is unlike anything we could have imagined.   We have to embark on the journey to experience it.   The sense of fullness that comes from feeling the bones of the body, the space created from an opened chest, the calm of an inversion has to be felt to be understood.   Inside of that fullness we come in contact with the seer, our indwelling...

  If the river of life is kept uninterrupted then that very flow creates its own discipline…there is a discipline inherent in the flow of life.   One has only to look at nature to know how all its activities are perfectly disciplined. But this is not a discipline which is apart from living.   The act of living is a dynamic state. Life’s dynamism demands a discipline that comes into being in the very act of living. Yoga, The Art of Integration, Rohi Mehta   Tapas, devoted discipline to grow spiritually, is one of the three pillars of Hatha Yoga along with Svadyaya (self-study), and Ishvara Pranidana (surrender to the higher Self).   This discipline of tapas requires tremendous energy and focus and cannot be fueled by only the willpower of the ego which seeks a security and continuity that is anathema to growth.   This is not a discipline that is imposed from outer commandments or obligations but is rooted in the deep longings of the ...

    I have been watching “The World’s Most Amazing Houses” on Netflix.   In each episode two British hosts guide a fifty-minute visit to four architecturally remarkable and very expensive homes.   Those in cities like Mumbai and Madrid offer a monastery like repose and inner beauty amidst the noise and the crowds.   Those in nature (New Zealand, Switzerland, Nova Scotia, Arizona) offer remarkable privacy and stunning views of mountains, forests, oceans or deserts. Most of the houses also are huge, as large as half of a small hotel.   While the living spaces are other worldly, they can seem obscene in their excess. In one monstrosity in Switzerland, a museum like cavern houses the owner’s collection of vintage and modern Porsches.   “It is the first time they have felt at home,” the man said as if they were his children.   At another massive concrete structure on Miami beach the owner claimed, “I feel so much joy everyday waking...