The practice of Yoga–merging our self with the Divine, or our sense of limitation into the infinite–requires the dissolution of all our fixations.
Fixations create definition. If we examine our personality, we’ll find in the design many opinions, preferences, shades of likes and dislikes, and volumes of stories. These lines of definition divide and shape an individual. When we recognize that these lines and shapes are ever changing, merging into and out of definition like clouds, we delight in God’s Play.
When we hold on to one line of this design, suffering ensues. We’re trying to play Marbles with Dominoes, frustrated because nothing seems to roll the way we want it to. All we have to do is let go of yesterday’s game pieces and work with what is here now.
It is a little funny to examine the definition of Yoga as “union with God.” We are already united fully with the Supreme Creator who is drumming away in the rhythm section of our heart, each beat in perfect time! So what is it we are uniting?
Maybe it is more like dissolving the lines that define who we think we are. What defines who we think we are, is what we think. So how about renouncing all our likes and dislikes, pains and pleasures, renouncing all our thoughts, in service to our true luminous nature that is beyond preferences and more expansive than the mind can contain. Then what will we find?
We are likely to find the root of what feeds the idea of our self, and where the idea of separation begins. We may find we value the idea of our self more than the truth of our soul identity. And yet, if we find we really do want God more than anything else, we will. When our devotion strengthens, we overcome all obstacles. Nothing can stand in the way of the true devotee of God. We will knock, and the door will be opened.
Yoga is a path to dissolution, and a way home. Patanjali outlines this path with precision. The eight limbs of practice include: Yama (ethical disciplines) and Niyama (self observation) laying the foundation for right living; asana (postures) help to develop the awareness to align in form and enter the formless; pranayama (breathing practices) helps to discipline a wandering mind and tune us into the flow of Divine Law; pratyahara (sense withdrawal) teaches us to develop non-attachment to outer directed senses, and draw our focus within; dharana (concentration) teaches single-pointed focus; dhyana (meditation) offers an opportunity to experience our true nature. Samadhi is the final limb and is often described as “a state of joy and peace,” but is an experience that expands beyond the limitation of description into pure union with the Divine.
Yama and Niyama are the primary requirement for yoga practice. If we are not living a life of ethical integrity and purity, sitting in mediation will only reinforce our negation. Purification through right living is the first and constant step. Skillful application of asana balances the body, not by imposing another limiting pattern, but through releasing the binds. Effective sadhana works this way; it leads not to more bondage (more techniques or more tricks of mind), but to the freedom found in true relinquishment.
Through surrender our essence shines forth, revealing the present moment is all there ever is. The opportunity for awakening does not exist outside of this moment. Patanjali’s first sutra says now is the beginning of instruction in yoga. Now, not later, not yesterday, not last year…now.
We have heard this spoken many times in many ways. Yet, yoga practices can either ignite our receptivity to this grace filled moment, or fill our minds with more fixations. When we release everything outside of now, we receive the perfection of God before and behind our eyes. We feel the presence of the Divine Love within and all around. It is humbling to realize that everything we need for realization has already been given; all we have to do now is wake up from the dream of delusion. We find our willingness to surrender any fixation or idea that is in the way; even surrendering the idea that there is something in the way.
