Changeless
Root yourself in the changeless.
There are many different aspects, practices within yoga. Many times we associate yoga with asanas and rightfully so because it is a visual practice that we notice so much change occurring. Through the physical we often feel something tangible and in time we also notice deeper changes that balance us inside and out. This is where we often connect change as a measure of value or progress. If change becomes the measure of progress then it is much harder to notice as we move into other forms of yoga. Dhyana; ध्यानं or meditation is a very challenging form of practice for many people, and this is not something that you can visually see the difference or change. If you sit somewhere, not moving, does change occur? Yes, change happens whether you are sitting there, doing nothing or not.
Have you ever read a quote from someone and you thought to yourself, “That is exactly how I feel!”? Then you notice that the quote was from someone who lived hundreds of years ago. Maybe you wonder how could they know how you are feeling, or maybe you question if life really is that different from way back, long ago. And yes, things of course are different, but the human experience is very similar in many, many ways.
How does this relate to yoga exactly?
Let me explain. Those feelings that you had that are so similar to someone living in a very different time of life, also asked the deepest questions like, “What is the life about?”. It can feel the same as comparing your life now to when you were much younger, or if you lived in a totally different place. If you go on a vacation, you look at your destination and almost forget what life feels like back home. Maybe you look outside in this moment, think back to a time when your experience was so different from what you see currently, right now. With that in mind, I want to share a quote to you.
“ The thoughts and feeling you are experiencing are just bodily feelings. They are like waves that come and go. You are rooted, anchored, steady. View all that is happening like a movie. You are watching the different scenes, where sometimes you are crying, and sometimes you are laughing. What are you seeing is just a movie, a screenplay that is projected from you. You are a magician! What you see, is your projection. Don’t play with the mind that is demanding something. The mind is seperate from you. You have nothing to do with it.” -Sri Ramakant Maharaj
Sri Ramakant Maharaj points to the Changeless. The Changeless that is available to everyone. It is not limited by age, sex, circumstances, destiny, path, etc. Changeless is not dependent on beliefs, it is not imprisoned by words or worlds. It is not even limited by the body or the layers of illusion or Maya माया that we wear like clothing in our lives. It is not even limited by a practice of Yoga or not. As a yoga practitioner, you learn that yogis often call yoga, everything. You also learn, in time, that yoga points to nothing. No human, no limit, no ultimate definition. But if we are not careful, we will add more layers of illusion, more layers of concepts to call ourselves. The practice is there to pull, remove, reveal the layers and what is underneath. It is not separate. That quote you read from someone who lived in a completely different world is also you, not separate. Our ego drives us to care about the main character of our life, ourselves, and wants us to put it above everyone else, never be wrong, and always conquer. The ego divides, it is strong.
The movie that we see is channeled by the seer. Ask yourself, “Who is this seer?”. You may discover in time that the seer is not the body, not the mind, unlimited, changeless, formless. Keep going. Don’t become attached to the main star of the movie. Observe and allow everything to unfold. Yoga is Union. Yoga is Changeless.