TH 54: The Background of Yoga

When we start to prepare ourselves for yoga, we have to prepare the background first. A firm background is necessary because the path of yoga is full of different experiences and lots of unpredictable challenges.  There are times of difficulty and times when everything seems to sail smoothly. One has to be prepared for challenges that actually come to help us grow. They are like a series of examinations that one must pass before going to the next level. The background has to be prepared for this. This background consists primarily of faith, sincerity and surrender as also of some other psychological qualities and attitudes such as humility, perseverance, endurance etc. Mind, body and life give lots of challenges and in each level we have to work on it. The wider we are, the more supple and inwardly strong we are, the more easy it will be to navigate through the difficulties and challenges. Our aspiration must be for Peace, wideness, ananda of the Divine. We have to offer all the experiences of life, good or bad to the divine as we do not understand the purpose behind. When offered, the Divine takes hold of our life and does everything necessary for progress. That is why a good background is so necessary in yoga.

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This talk was recorded in May 2012 in Nainital.