The Blessings of becoming a yogi.

What does it mean to become a yogi? Am I a yogi if I practice yoga regularly?

Nobody can say who is and who isn’t a yogi or what is the prerequisite for becoming a yogi.

I’m not even sure if I am a yogi or whether I am qualified to even comment on the topic.

All I can offer is some of my own personal reflections.

What made me consider this topic in the first place? I guess it was the gradual realisation after years of practice, daily meditation, workshops, and study that I was being drawn towards a personal sense of sacredness. Not all day and not every time I sat down to meditate. 

Something had changed. This sense of sacredness which I read about and which I considered was something to be attained or acquired was becoming more tangible. I don’t even know when the shift occurred.  There was no lightning bolt moment. For me it did not involve any obvious outer transformation. I didn’t wake up one day with the desire to start wearing beads or to paint a dot on my forehead.  It’s not something that easily translates into words. It’s like trying to describe the taste of chocolate to someone who has never tasted chocolate.

I have no doubt that this simple felt experience of sacredness has arisen because of my continuous meditation practices.

I sit down before sunrise every day to meditate. Most afternoons as well. For many years I lit a candle and some incense as well.  Again, I cannot say when the shift took place from being a daily obligation that I had created for myself to becoming a treasured experience not to be missed. Was my day transformed as result of my daily practice?  Honestly, I can’t say if this is the case or not. In fact, it doesn’t even matter or feature in my reasons to continue my daily practice. I can’t think of any reason why I would want to apply any conditions or expectations on my daily practice or on my other yogic interests such as study of sacred scriptures.  The blessing of the inner experience now requires no justification.

In the yoga of self realisation not all questions need to be answered. Certainly not by the mind anyway. What is self realisation? Who is the observer/ witness? Why even ask when we can simply experience. Are there any features or qualities of the experience that I can point to or describe?

I always start with a sense of gratitude. By that I mean that I take care to allow all pre concepts or conditions to melt away. I will often start by saying the following as a kind of mantra.

“Nothing in this moment needs to be any different to what it is. Nothing needs to change in this moment for this now moment to be fully experienced. Further that nothing needs to be achieved or attained in this now moment.  That there are no barriers or conditions between the divine and what is being experienced.   Just for this moment, I give myself complete permission to be totally present with nothing needing to be fixed at any level of myself, my relationships, my health, or my life.”

See how that mantra feels for yourself and if it resonates with you. Another shortened version could be - Om Namah Shiva, translated in this case to; ‘I merge my awareness with my divine self”

When you move into this space of total acceptance in the moment with absolutely nothing to judge the shift begins. The experience as it is, becomes all enveloping, all embracing and  is constantly full. What it is full of, will be for you to discover through ever more subtle levels of attention and refinement even if it’s for the briefest of moments.  Without effort.  In my experience, it helps to have a felt sense of keenness in nothing in particular.

The idea that there is only NOW, is one that I had previously accepted intellectually but my physical program always defaulted to the sense of a past (as memories) and the waiting for an imagined future either with enthusiasm or anxiety. The old paradox that I was trapped in was that the present never lasts.  It was only through continually spending time in the inner sanctuaries of pure experience the more real the Now became for me.

This was a turning point for me. The Now was indeed eternal and it was accessible as a natural state of being.  Something incredible quietly took root and grew out of this experienced nonintellectual realisation. A sense of joy/ love arose from deep within the heart. In this moment there was nothing to learn. Only knowing remains.  Is there anything else? Remember the opening mantra- i.e., nothing else is required, nothing needs to be other than what it is, and nothing needs to be fixed.

So, as you make this a daily practice of going deep within yourself and into the fullness of the Now moment you may wish to combine this practice with whatever daily asana/ pranayama or kriya practices that further support your health and wellbeing and your ability to sit and practice more contemplative exercises.

It has certainly been my experience that this daily practice takes between 20 and 40 mins. 

Namaste

David