Yoga of Freedom

Yoga of Freedom

We all have freedom of choice within the restrictive boundaries in which we find ourselves. The freedom of the Yogi transcends normal limitations and includes freedom from suffering and many of the limitations which restrict his work and life to finite areas of activity. The freedom to which the Yogi aspires arises from the understanding and realisation of what is meant by Self Realisation and the oft repeated phrase Atman=Brahman.

The Atman is a reference to the Self or Soul of a human being in its eternal and highest sense. A question is often asked, ‘Do we have a soul?’ The answer is we do not have a soul, we are a soul.

Prior to the time in which we became aware of ourselves in the individual or self conscious sense that is prior to creation itself. God existed as pure spirit, that is as power unformed and Self aware throughout his eternal being. Hence the word Absolute to express that which is without limit, yet complete in itself.

The soul, which gives rise to a sense of individuation, is a particular area of activity or solo zone of the Absolute, and if it were possible to lose one’s soul, it would simply mean taking away the boundary that separates us from God. To grasp the significance of this is called strong meat as to achieve it requires an act of faith. As by transcending the boundary that separates us from God, does not mean that we disappear but return to the original level of being prior to creation.

The feeling that we have of separation arises, because we identify with our own particular zone of activity, and this is reinforced when we come into contact with other beings or separative zones of action and become drawn into a world of difference and comparison.

The world in which we live is very much a test bed or proving ground for the life of spirit. Spirit is the activity of the soul and the more we become enmeshed in the world of time, the further we move away from free initiative spirit and subject to the reactive behaviour and responses of the world which we have created for ourselves.

The ideal world exists in the mind of God as Truth sustained by love. It is the real without which the world would fall apart and which provides the pattern on which all creative form sustains itself.

Karma is the by product that arises as a consequence of wrong thought, wrong feeling and wrong action. Karma is a bit like the dog which runs out of the sea and shakes off all the excess water from its coat. The shaking or readjustment does not disturb the essential underlying pattern; however, constant sinning, or missing the mark, can disturb man’s underlying unity, resulting in psychological as well as physical problems.

The essential unity that makes life complete is always there and is fundamental to existence, it is the Edenic or Garden of Eden in which there is differentiation without judgement and which existed prior to the fall. God does not judge us as his love is perfect freedom, we judge ourselves through the inner disquiet that we feel when out of phase with reality. It is through inner disquiet translating itself into action that we begin to learn the lessons of life.

It is after tilting at many windmills and falling of our horse many times that we discover that the answers do not lie outside of ourselves, but within our own hearts, where the undemanding truth presents to us a vision of reality.

What has been a vision of reality is not always recognised, even when it has been written down by Sages of the past for the benefit of future generations, as with the ethical observations and observances of Yoga called the Yamas and Niyamas.

The Yoga postures themselves are more than just a means of adopting strange shapes so as to demonstrate ones fitness and prowess but a means of embodying eternal truth by working toward the highest degree of physical health and well being. This requires a high degree of sensitiveness and attunement within oneself in order to bring the body gradually and naturally into correspondence with the eternal.

Prana or Life Breath is the out speaking of the eternal, via the rhythmic sequence of the breath, as it brings life and love to the manifest world. This sequential breathing loses effectiveness with mentally imposed rhythms on the breath. The subtle rhythms we call life rise and fall in harmony with the wisdom that has generated life. All wise and all knowing these rhythms adjust and respond to the medium in which they are working. No two human beings are identical and only sensitive introspection can help us to respond to the healing and developmental rhythms which are perfect to each situation.

Introspective breathing is only possible when we are detached from the worldly aberrations of mind and consciously attuned to the world of free spirit. The withdrawal of the senses which turns the senses from outward to inward is called pratyahara and part of Yogic development and learning to recognise and trust the inmost Self.

The lower mind linked to the senses is useful for storing and collecting information about the world in which we live and is much like the modern day computer to be used from time to time. The higher or intuitive mind is not restricted to time and place and to be able to attune ourselves to its wavelength, we have to refine our whole being from the ground up and learn to quieten day to day thought frequencies and listen to the still inner voice within.

Meditation helps us to gain in trust and recognise the voice of spirit and is the mediation and means by which we can develop a working partnership with the inmost Wisdom and Understanding. This partnership is non restrictive and the inner voice is a still voice that comes to the heart and mind like the reflective light that shines on the still surface of a lake.

We all have freedom of choice, to either choose the wearisome constructs of the lower mind, locked into the time worn decisions of the past, or trust the intelligence of a spiritually awakened heart and mind whose burden is light. Gordon Smith