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| Sunset Image Pixabay |
This weeks Free Mantra Video HERE
Hello beautiful soul,
How are you today?
I write this today bringing a reminder (to myself as much as to you!) to breathe deep. To keep your heart open and to remember who you are.
Life will always provide us with challenges- with wanted and unwanted change but the invitation is always to use it as grist for the mill- To use each new challenge to remove that which you aren't so that you might experience that which you are. Yoga teaches us that underneath the stress, the struggles and the stories there is a part of you watching it all unfold- this is often referred to as 'the witness'.
Within all the main schools of Eastern philosophy, much attention is given to this witness.
We can observe many activities arising from us... but we are not the things that we do.
We can observe many experiences received through our senses... but we are more than the dance of pleasure and pain.
We can observe many thoughts in our minds... but we are the thinker of the thoughts- therefore we must be more than the fluctuations of the mind.
We can observe many feelings... but we are the feeler of the feelings, so then these cannot define us either.
... So who on earth are we then?!
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| Buddha Image Pixabay |
When we enquire into the nature of the self like this it leaves us with nowhere to stand! How can we define ourselves when all the things we usually identify ourselves with are just small parts of the picture? What is the centralised 'I' that keeps us all together? Is there a one part of us that does not change that we can identify with from the cradle to the grave?
It is said that this part of us can be accessed through 'the witness'.
The great saint Ramana Maharshi taught self-inquiry meditation as a way to transcend the normal identifications of the ego and to experience the self as the witness, and that when we do this we experience our true limitless nature and interconnectedness with all things. In yoga, this aspect is personified as the deity, Shiva.
But just because the process is seemingly simple- doesn't make it easy. And just because the brain can understand these lofty concepts does not mean that they are fully integrated. The writings of masters like Buddha and Ramana Maharshi seem to indicate that if we truly understood the above then we would immediately become enlightened. For me this goal feels a rather long way off right now, but I am finding that taking brief moments to step into being the watcher of my thoughts, feelings and actions rather then always identifying with the thinker/feeler/doer, is giving me a different perspective and a welcome break from the relentlessness of life. I can observe myself having a track moment and lovingly watch myself muddle through. I can feel waves of emotion and simply watch how they feel within me rather than be drowned in them.
I am finding this practice very helpful,
I hope in sharing this with you today that it brings you a little bit of benefit too.
I will close this by sharing a mantra with you:
I am that which prevails everywhere... complete in itself.
I am Shiva; the deity of eternal bliss.
I am Joy itself…I am
Sachara Chara Para Purna Shivoham Shivoham
Nityananda Swarupa Shivoham Shivoham
Anandoham
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,
Namaste,
:) Sacha
- PS. Mon 1st June @ 6pm UK time I'll be hosting a Live Meditation, Mindful Movement Practice and Zoom Hangout for Patrons
- PPS I have just released an additional hour-long yin yoga practice for Patrons too :)
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