Yoga – Being a Part of Everything
Yoga – Being a Part of Everything
Q: You defined yoga as a state – presumably a state of being, or state of consciousness. Most people think of yoga as something they do – they say, “I’m going to do my yoga today.” Can you distinguish between these things? And in the Yoga Sutras, right at the beginning, Patanjali defines yoga with [...]
Q:You defined yoga as a state – presumably a state of being, or state of consciousness. Most people think of yoga as something they do – they say, “I’m going to do my yoga today.” Can you distinguish between these things? And in the Yoga Sutras, right at the beginning, Patanjali defines yoga with the Sanskrit phrase “Chitta vritti nirodha.” Can you explain what that means?
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru: “Yoga” is a comprehensive word suggesting union. Whatever leads to union can be called yoga. Or in other words, from the simple act of breathing, to sitting here, walking, eating, and whatever else a human being does – all of it can be transformed into yoga. So if I am eating and I am conscious that I am making something that is not me a part of myself – I am uniting with something that I was not till ten minutes ago – if that is your experience, you can call this “eating yoga.”
Only the surface of yoga has come to the West – not the soul of yoga. This is a serious problem. Thinking that yoga is a practice is like having a stillbirth – there is no life in it.
The word “yoga” has been used in the past with a certain understanding, but today it is used loosely, frivolously. Now there is aquatic yoga, dog yoga, cat yoga – all kinds of things. This is a misunderstanding. Only the surface of yoga has come to the West – not the soul of yoga. This is a serious problem. Thinking that yoga is a practice is like having a stillbirth – there is no life in it.
Getting rid of your backache and headache is not the purpose of yoga. For example, suppose you did not know what an airplane is, and I give you one. You try to drive around with it in Los Angeles, but you find these two ugly things on the side hit the lampposts and trees. So, you chop off the wings and drive around with your airplane. You may be pretty happy, but one who knows what it means to fly will cry. When I look at the way yoga is done in many places, that is how I feel – I feel like crying because people are driving an airplane with chopped-off wings.
Q: You defined yoga as a state – presumably a state of being, or state of consciousness. Most people think of yoga as something they do – they say, “I’m going to do my yoga today.” Can you distinguish between these things? And in the Yoga Sutras, right at the beginning, Patanjali defines yoga with [...]
Q:You defined yoga as a state – presumably a state of being, or state of consciousness. Most people think of yoga as something they do – they say, “I’m going to do my yoga today.” Can you distinguish between these things? And in the Yoga Sutras, right at the beginning, Patanjali defines yoga with the Sanskrit phrase “Chitta vritti nirodha.” Can you explain what that means?
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru: “Yoga” is a comprehensive word suggesting union. Whatever leads to union can be called yoga. Or in other words, from the simple act of breathing, to sitting here, walking, eating, and whatever else a human being does – all of it can be transformed into yoga. So if I am eating and I am conscious that I am making something that is not me a part of myself – I am uniting with something that I was not till ten minutes ago – if that is your experience, you can call this “eating yoga.”
Only the surface of yoga has come to the West – not the soul of yoga. This is a serious problem. Thinking that yoga is a practice is like having a stillbirth – there is no life in it.
The word “yoga” has been used in the past with a certain understanding, but today it is used loosely, frivolously. Now there is aquatic yoga, dog yoga, cat yoga – all kinds of things. This is a misunderstanding. Only the surface of yoga has come to the West – not the soul of yoga. This is a serious problem. Thinking that yoga is a practice is like having a stillbirth – there is no life in it.
Getting rid of your backache and headache is not the purpose of yoga. For example, suppose you did not know what an airplane is, and I give you one. You try to drive around with it in Los Angeles, but you find these two ugly things on the side hit the lampposts and trees. So, you chop off the wings and drive around with your airplane. You may be pretty happy, but one who knows what it means to fly will cry. When I look at the way yoga is done in many places, that is how I feel – I feel like crying because people are driving an airplane with chopped-off wings.
