How to Master the Eight Limbs of Yoga
The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali, in its second verse, explains that the effect of living in the realm of matter is literally that we get our "knickers in a twist" what to speak of our DNA (a double helix) and of course all of organic life is twisted via the Fibonacci sequence, into a distorted but necessary "pretzel" form of our self, based on combined opposites.
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Which is to say that our atma or true self, the consciousness animating the matter that functions as our body and mind, is only twisted by association with orbits, wobbles, eclipses, gyrations, seasons, days and nights, etc. This is the cosmic "Ground-hog Day" of our true self our soul or atma.
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Thus, the second verse of the Yoga sutras says:"Yogas chitt vritti nirodha", or "Yoga is freeing the atma from the effect of all the spinning, twisting vortexes of matter." Yes, we have been "screwed"! and "torqued" and "made dizzy" by the whole spinning cosmos. The third verse of the Sutras says " Tada drastu svarupe avasthanam" or "Then, the yogi sees the "rupa" or the atma, the true form of their immortal self, lying at the core of all those twisting coils of matter.”
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That "Tada!" is spoken dramatically, like the MC when the star of the show steps onto the stage. And lastly, verse four of the Yoga Sutras says: “Vritti sarupyam iti Ratri.” Or “If the vision of the atma or true self is not achieved through Yoga, then all that is seen day after day and night after night, is the twisting and turning of matter.”
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Kriya Yoga Aha
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In order to remember
The secret of your existence,
You must burn like an ember
Through the darkness and resistance,
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In order to excavate
The treasure buried within,
You must not meditate
On the images made of skin.
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If you would like to learn
The purpose for which we exist,
That fire is where we yearn
And fight without a fist.
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The journey begins with questions
Alone in the dark at night,
The answers improve your digestion,
The lamp in your heart starts to light.
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The toys that used to amuse you,
Sit unused on the shelf,
Now excitement is finding a clue,
In the search for your permanent self.
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In order to see you must focus
One pointed, your eyes on the goal,
Beyond the worlds hocus pocus,
That has had you in its control.
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To regain your vision, distractions
Must not cause your purpose to waver
And thought must be turned into actions,
So, Truth starts to rule your behaviour.
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Then bowing before what is greater,
Shows that the ego has cracked,
This allows you to become a creator
And quickly absorb what you lacked.
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Then a rush of deep feelings,
Will flood the desert inside,
Whose blooming will soon be revealing
The beauty within that you hide.
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That inner world so enchanting,
Will quickly become your new home,
As your tongue gets addicted to chanting,
The opium of yogis is Aum-
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A drug that will heal the distortions,
The thorn will give way to the rose,
As your body regains its proportion
And the life force leads to each pose.
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Your now steady mind will not waver,
When the winds of change shake the world,
Your atma will seek a new flavour,
Stretching below where she’s curled.
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Awakening now from her slumber,
Your kundalini will rise,
With flashes of lightning and thunder,
Shedding all mortal disguise-
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She’ll dance in the joy of arising,
Dropping the eight veils of matter,
At last your true self realizing,
While climbing the cosmic ladder.
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This Yoga will lead you toward union,
While unity holds the design,
Your eagerness for a reunion
Will lead you to the Divine,
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Past the shining realms of the Devas,
Beyond Indra’s net of the Stars,
Now dreaming of Bhakti and Seva,
Old habits and vrittis and scars-
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Burn up like a comet’s tail,
In the blazing fire Transcendental,
Far up the shushumna trail,
Way up but unable to fall.
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Samadhi, the now waiting Lover,
Nirvana-no matter is mine,
Amrita the drink you discovered,
The nectar that saves you from wine.
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The portals now open to Brahman,
Bright home of all yogis in sight,
There the gardens of sweet Bhagavan,
Are waiting to share their delights.
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Tapasya, Svadyaya, Pranidan,
O Ishvara, I long to return,
To walk in the fields of Vrindavan,
To dance with You when it’s my turn.
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I hunger to taste from Your hands,
The ambrosia of sweet Loving Grace,
To rejoin Your eternal band
And again, see Your smiling face.
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Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Armstrong All Rights Reserved
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