Dec
12
Categories: Quotes
Tags: Advice, Brain, Concentration, Focus, Muscles, Nerves, Rewarding Endeavor, Spiritual Giants, Success, Swami, Tough Times, Whole Life, Yoga Meditation, Yoga Sutras
Dec
12
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.” – Swami Vivekananda
The yoga sutras mention that meditation is a natural unfoldment from a state concentration, and and that the state of meditation provides other subtler, spontanious and deeper states of experience.
This quote for me, makes me think if you follow this advice, ones whole life becomes a meditation on one thing to be achieved. Obviously day to day needs are to be taken care of, but to have one focus in you’re life no matter what you’re age, must be an interesting way to live.
Of course the question is, what one thing could we set our selves upon? and is it even worth setting our lives up in this way? If we did set our focus, it would certainly help us through the tough times, it could be a rewarding endeavor if it works with the type of person you are.
Jan
31
Now here is something I could contemplate the rest of my life.
” What is it you are hanging on to? How long will you continue this play, this drama? What is happening? Hmm?”
– Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Founder of the Art of Living Foundation
Jan
22
I found some quotes by Socrates at zenhabits.net, and as they are all very yogic and brilliant I thought I would share them.
“Be as you wish to seem.”
“I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.”
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel”
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have”
“The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms” ”
“Wisdom begins in wonder.“
Jan
19
I just received the first official newsletter from the K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute, at the end was the following quote that I wanted to share.
“If you only read books, you only have book knowledge. You have to have practical experience by practicing the yamas and niyamas, and asana in the correct method, with correct breathing and correct gazing, in your daily life. This is how you realize the meaning of yoga—how you realize who you are.”
R. Sharath (taken from the offical www.kpjayi.org January 2009 newsletter)
Jul
6
“The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.” – Dalai Lama
May
20
An important aspect, no, lets say a central aspect of yoga practice, physical and mental, is the process of transforming oneself. Many people manage to transform their bodies through yoga asana practice (postures), how many look inside at themselves and work on true transformation?
This is a question that I find myself pondering. It seems that most people, and I say seems because I do not know and I do not want to judge, are distracted and not even the slightest bit interested. A certain amount of slow transformation occurs through life’s knocks, but sometimes these knocks transform us in negative ways.
There is a lovely quote in “Autobiography of a Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda” which realy needs to be read in it’s fuller context, but is still significant;
“Is the world going to change for you? Change yourself …”, page 126
Which I thought works well with; “Make it a way of life to observe yourself, for by being aware of your behavior you will be your own guru.” Kevin and Venika Kingsland from the book Cassandra Powers/page 82
Which links nicely into yoga sutra I.33; “By cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.” taken from the book The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Translation and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda).
I also like I.33 as presented by TKV Desikachar from the book “Reflections on Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali”; “… if we can be happy for those who are happier than ourselves, compassionate towards those who are not as happy, pleased with those whose activities are praiseworthy and remain undisturbed by the errors of others, our minds will be very tranquil.” page 35
And also I.33 from the book “Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Philosophy”; “Clarity of mind is produced by meditating on friendliness towards the happy, compassion towards the miserable, joy towards the virtuous and indifference towards the wicked.” page 168
Copyright © 2008 Russell Smithers
Apr
28
One essential aspect of yoga is the ability for an individual to gain control over their mind, because otherwise the opposite is true, we are slaves to our minds. So what is the part of the individual that we don’t want the mind to dominate, it is the Self that is covered by the endless aimless wittering, of the untamed mind and it’s ignorant thought patterns.
What benefits to a yogi is there in gaining control over ones mind? Attending a personal practice regularly, and becoming freed from the crazy flow of thoughts running wild in our minds. You can think of the mind as a muscle, would you like your mind muscle to be ever twitching in spasm, imagine what it would be like for your arm to ever twitch or have a mind of it’s own, that is essentially the state most of us are in, minds twitching uncontrollably.
The Yoga Sutras encourage us to learn things for ourselves, knowing it to be true and not blindly believing. We are given tools to explore and discover the depths of being for ourself, one way is through meditation, which by practicing we eventually have moments of no thought, and these moments become more and more often and of a longer duration. Those who experience the ability to exist without thoughts prove that the endless chatter of the mind is not required for existence. It’s a lovely place to be, one then notices when the mind starts up, and when this is unwanted a yogi can switch it off, whilst the machinery of thought is running the yogi must be vigilant and aware of it running away with itself.
The purpose of Asana (physical postures) is to help free the mind from the dis-ease of the body. Building a strong, subtle and healthy body frees the yogi of bodily distractions which help the breathing and meditation, and ultimately free the yogi to search inward for the Self.
Rather appropriate is the following, taken from the Amritabindu Upanishad in the book: The Upanishads, introduced and translated by Eknath Easwaran.
“It is the mind that frees us or enslaves.
Driven by the senses we become bound;
Master of the senses we become free.
Those who seek freedom must master their senses.”
“When the mind is detached from the senses
One reaches the summit of consciousness.
Mastery of the mind leads to wisdom.
Practice meditation. Stop all vain talk.
The highest state is beyond reach of thought,
For it lies beyond all duality”
Copyright © 2008 Russell Smithers
Apr
14
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”, Dalai Lama
This isn’t always easy of course 
Mar
24
“Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.“, Albert Einstein
Mar
10
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”, Mahatma Gandhi
Mar
3
“I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become. “, Oprah Winfrey
This is an interesting quote when you think about it, certainly yogic philosophy and common sense seems to agree with this. What do you think?
Feb
25
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”, Albert Einstein
Feb
4
“It is only with total humility, and in absolute stillness of mind that we can know what indeed we are. “, The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei…
Jan
28
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.”, Aristotle
Jan
13
“To advance, you must come to see yourself as a Master. You must conduct yourself as a Master. There is no one who can teach you mastery, nor is there anyone who can give you mastership, for they are already yours. Practice is required. You must live as a Master lives, think as a Master thinks, act like a Master acts before you would know a Master if you were to meet one.”Found in the MySpace blog post Practical Techniques for Alignment, the quote itself is from “Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East” by Baird Spalding in Book 4, on page 159:
Jan
12
“By becoming attached to names and forms, not realising that they have no more basis than the activities of the mind itself, error rises and the way to emancipation is blocked.”, Buddha
Jan
11
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”, Dalai Lama
Jan
10
“We imagine that waking-life is real and that dream-life is unreal, but there does not seem to be any evidence for this belief. Chuang Tzu, in the third century B.C., put it in an amusing way; having dreamed that he was a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, he stated that he was now wondering whether he was then a man dreaming he was a butterfly or whether he was now a butterfly dreaming he was a man.”, Wei Wu Wei “Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon”…
Jan
7
“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”, Buddha
Jan
6
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”, Aristotle
Jan
5
“If you do not tend to one another then who is there to tend to you? Whoever who would tend me, he should tend the sick. …”, Buddha
Jan
4
“Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, “I am of no value”, is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought – so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.”, Dalai Lama
Jan
2
“Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, “I am of no value”, is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought – so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.”, Dalai Lama
