Note for Essay

Necessity of Unity

-we need vocabulary that can unify some fields that is divided unreasonably.

(body-mind, physical health-mental wellness or logical solidness, individual-relationships, quality of life-ecology-economy...)

Ex) When we evaluate our economic activities, we have only evaluation by quantity. (This is very unnatural because there is no such thing as monotone value in biology)

We need a new way to perceive and evaluate by criteria (ex: how we cooperate with mother earth)

-how we live with unavoidable suffering

-how we relate with other people with unavoidable conflict without war

-how we live in symbiosis with nature in unavoidable need to exploit and possess some parts of resource

These three are same one question must be thought in one context..

Unity will provide us...

-aesthetic moving

-modesty to nature including one's body

-consideration for who are different

Means for Unity

-we need a way to see the world directly

-"Yoga is "direct" participation in Reality itself"

what does this statement exactly mean?

Technology of Hatha Yoga

-the way we directly participate in Life as Life. (body moves for its breath),(A participates in A)

-the methodology complicated enough to fit the reality and one can easily practice (without complicated thinking)

ex) polarity of inhalation and exhalation provides us a way to overcome fundamental difficulties/paradox(double-bind) such as "ahimsa"(nonviolence) and "satya"(honesty), "aparigrah"(not to possess) and to keep living(to possess at least essential resource)...

-dynamic self-study(tapas-svadhyaya Y.S2-1)

and to accept that we are limited (isvarapranidana)

Steps for practice

savitarka samapatti → nirvitarka samapatti

-we can start practicing with biased preconception in verbal level

(if we absorb in it, the bias will dissolve)

Desikachar's translation (Y.S1-2)

"to go in your chosen direction" , then the mind's fluctuation is reduced

what is thought to be right?(Y.S1-7)

pratiyaksa(direct perception), anumana(inference), agama (words of reliable person)

-epistemology of each individual

then Y.S1-49

to overcome what is heard or inferred

Methodology not to state

- division of sadhana (what can be actually done) and Siddhi (what is given)

not to bring objection

-vinyasa krama (to follow the order)

a way to persist on what to do right now

Where Magic happens

-"sraddha" how do we trust/love someone?

where we cannot explain

-Education of Yoga

"Is there anything or anything, or just shall we gossip?"

"Is there any burning questions?"

a guide to make students go in their own direction (nirodha)

Construction and Deconstruction

abhayasa-vairagya (Y.S 1-12)

to unite/ to become chaotic (=to live in entropy)

-after constructing perspective, we soon go back to actual practice

not to be destroyed by one "good" habit...

How Life Receives and Releases

You don't need to let it go.
You don't need to accept it.

You don't need to struggle to release it by your mind.
Just, exhale.
If possible, I want the rest of your body to coordinate this process so that you can exhale more smoothly.
What you exactly wanted to let go is contained in this exhalation.
As you keep living, what you don't need will go out naturally.

You don't need to impose yourself on such a difficult task as to accept something you don't like or to become flexible.
And now, just inhale.
If possible, I want your whole body to move so that the inhalation can pervade to every corner of your body.
In what you breathe in, there is what you exactly wanted to take in.
If it is really important for you, the Life will receive it and raise it carefully.

The world is one and mixing.
It is impossible that what you want or what you want to let go are completely absent here.
Here is, the beauty that attracts you, the greatness that you will be envious of, the brutality that you want to escape from, and meanness that you don't want to look...
Everything is here, little by little.

When you gaze at what you hate and try to eat it, you will fail.
I suggest you to take it in as much as you need now with all other things in the world.
You may not need even to be aware of the fact that it is contained!

Life can receive or release only what it needs and as much as needed at this moment.
By doing this, we live perfectly.
Is there any necessity for us to put something on this wonderful intelligence?

Live, just as how life is.

Yoga that is put in a Box of "Cause-Effect"

We are living in a world that is very busy to look for "cause and effect".

If we are used to this way of thinking too much,
we tend to seek for something as an "ultimate cause" that can solve everything like a savior.

I usually see somebody who might have this kind of desire.
Or, I may be (definitely used to be) a person  who has such desire.

However, if we put yoga in a box of "cause" of "becoming well", it cannot be special compared to other methods.
There are many other powerful way, I know yoga is very powerful for health though.


Plus, this way of explanation describe the world too much simpler than as it is.
We miss the vast network and relationships that make each phenomena happen.

If we describe yoga as a "cause" of good effects, we mention the aspect of "tapas".
Tapas means to reduce the mental/physical impurities.
It is sure that yoga contains this aspect.

But yoga has more qualities;

tapah svadhyaya isvarapranidanani kriya yogah. (PYS.2-1)

Yoga is not only preparation "cause" for future result.

Svadhyaya means to look over the whole network of "cause-effect" and to know oneself arising from complexity of relationships.
Isvarapranidana means to know that individuals cannot possess any relationship and to surrender oneself to the flow of nature.

Yoga contains these three qualities and they happen simultaneously.
I think this fact makes yoga very powerful.


When people ask me a reason why I practice yoga,
and when I explain why yoga is good,
I have no choice but to mention the aspect of "a cause that brings about better effect".
It's not impossible to say about it.

However, essence of yoga may reside in the fact that we cannot complete describing it on this "cause-effect" context.

Paradox of "Suffering" in Yoga Practice

I'd like to say,
yoga is not solution of suffering(duhkha).
not transition from the world where there is suffering to where there is not.
Yoga is not something you do in your room to feel better.

It is mere perception of whole life and being intimate with it.
It is not matter of contents (story) of your life.

You may feel "relief" or "relaxation" (in my case these are main) when you perceive whole aspect of life,
but it is also possible to feel  "weariness" ('oh, I have to live on in such a condition!') or
"hatred" ('AH, I discover such a ugly aspect of life!').

Even though it might be negative feeling, we can go through natural healing process as a result of participation in Life.
This healing begin by mere embracing of whole life, not by effort to change negative pattern to positive one.
There is no struggle to solve problems there, but
this entire participation can provide most powerful solution.

Therefore, for practitioners (who have already begun) suffering (duhkha) is not even what to perceive.
And this feature makes yogis/yoginis optimistic (sometimes too much).

Sadana, what you can do from now.
If you focus on this, you don't even need to know suffering, and you can just live your life as life.


So, what happens when someone starts yoga practice?
Each everyone has his/her purpose.
In short, I may say there are two points.

1. perception of suffering
2. expectation for becoming better

We feel suffering (duhkha; including pain, adoration for what you are not) and face it, and then we can initiate actual practicum.

As long as you avoid facing suffering, you cannot start embracing entire life.
(but I'm not sure if it is proper to make such people look the Life.)

So,  you feel suffering, then you feel desire to becoming better.
This desire is not what to suppress or control, but sincere motivation that makes us start practice.
At this single moment when student tries to start practicing, duality happens.
Duality between "student who hasn't begun yet" and  "someone who has already begun".
Teacher(acarya)'s role is to mediate this duality.

When you do something for benefit from it, there is a distance between you and the benefit inevitably.
For instance,

1, You do cleaning(practice) because you want reward(benefit).
2, You do cleaning(practice) because you want to feel better in a clean room(benefit).
3, You do cleaning(practice) because you enjoy it(benefit).

Describing practice and benefit in this way, these two seem to be apart.
For you before practice, the benefit seems not to be there (even at 3).

For sutudent before starting practice, benefits are absent and full of uncertainty.
It is teacher(acarya) that who can make student know benefit tangibly.
In Krishnamacharya's translation, acarya means who overcome their own difficulties.


Student can connect with acarya by love, trust, and friendship.
In this intimate relationship, acarya can suggest student to do practice.
"This practice is very good for me, will you try?"
Teacher can shows what student can start from here now(sadana) by consideration for student's health, age, cultural background...

By this intimacy,
student can start yoga practice as what he/she can enjoy his/her whole life,
not as dual-effort to solve problems.

Summary,
yoga is not solution of suffering,
but one can needs to perceive suffering when starting practice.
At this moment duality inevitably arises, and function of acarya can mediate it.

P.S.
I saw some "living evidence"of yoga when I visited Fiji last month.
It was really honor for me to meet them and live together for 2 weeks.
Special thanks for Mark Whitwell, Tamar Zick, and all yogis/yoginis who I met there!

However, if I choose "proper teacher for me", I'd say Japanese are better.
Fortunately, I met Yohsuke Ono who lives in Japan and understands our culture.

I'd like to help people who are in similar condition with me, while thinking as universal as possible.

Spark

They say that you should have one strong point.
For, you need to make everyone notice your attraction.

It cannot be helped!
Sadly, the spark of your being itself is supposed to be invisible for almost everyone.

So, you need a hook so that people around you can realize it.

But isn't it only people around you that who don't notice it?
Are you yourself aware of it?
Don't you forget about it, do you?
While pretending to be all right, don't you lose what is shining there, do you?

Oh, do what you love.
Do what you are excited.

Then, look! Here is a Gift!
(Has it been there since before I notice it?)

Location of Beauty

Beauty exists everywhere.Every existence has wonder of "being".On the other hand, we see "constructed beauty".

These beauty reside in specific area such as canvas.

And we reproduce them as "special" beauty.
They can be entrance of our perception of beauty.

If we meet original works (not reproduction), we will feel the beauty more powerfully, and more tangibly. (aura!)

However, we don't need such things actually.

Wherever we see, there is beauty.
Somehow, the closest material, our body, is felt as transparent usually.
In order to play roles as social functions, we cannot be surprised all the time!
But if we always work as functions, we will forget something significant;
Beauty is here, too!

We are the beauty not because we are collection of what is called beautiful,but because we are manifestation of what is called beautiful, what is called ugly, everything.

Short, important invitation.
.
Shall we remind the beauty of existence here, once a day!?

To write about Yoga

It is always difficult to write about yoga. There are a lot of great texts on yoga such as Yoga sutra and Bhagavad Gita. The words written in them sometimes help us when we actually practice yoga.

 However, suffering arises when we take them as imposition. Description on long history of yoga may give a lofty impression, and discussion on philosophical background may be seem complex and irrelevant to ourselves. It is quite difficult to talk about yoga without making readers think that “it is difficult, I am not sufficient to understand it, so I have to make efforts.”

In fact, yoga is not meant to reach higher mental state, to understand complex ideas, nor to realize difficult physical exercise like acrobat. You may have such impressions of yoga by complicated philosophical terms or images on advertisements, and you may think you cannot do it. But yoga is concrete, actual and practical means that everyone can start from right here, now. What we require is actual living life, body, breath, and a teacher who is close to you.

 My teacher told me a simple breathing and moving practice that I can do every day. I practice it every day and share it when needed. Yoga happens in mutual interaction between actual people. It is not what is taught on assembly line or performed as a linear process to get somewhere.

  The confirmation of the benefit before the practice itself is impossible and unnecessary. Yoga is a lifelong practice and its benefits are also shown throughout life. Therefore, we have no choice but to find it out only by practicing and living with it. A strong motivation for practice is trust. I was taught yoga directly by a teacher who himself practices yoga every day. I don’t know why but I put my trust in him and began to practice it. The trust has no any particular reason in a same way as we don’t know the reason why we love someone or something.

   Continuing this practice and keep living with the practice, I developed certain feeling. That is, the wonder of Life. It is hard to explain by words, but Life is already perfect and functioning as an extreme intelligence. Even if temporary symptoms or dysfunctions appear, they are also parts of inherent healing of Life. Yoga is mere participation in the wonder. You may get healing, inspiration, or great experience described in Yoga Sutra as a result. But you don’t need to get confused by words. You don’t have to struggle to improve your life and to reach “better” stage. Breathe comfortably, move the whole body, and feel the Life. That is enough. I hope yoga functions for many people as a blissful experience.

To Live with Yoga

About two years have passed since I began to practice yoga. I greatly appreciate the fortune to meet yoga at the age of 19, relatively early stage in the life. Yoga is not a special ritual performed only on the mat, but what is normal and inseparable from our lives. I will propose what The Life with Yoga is from one perspective of a practitioner who is standing on the start line of the path on Yoga.

              “It is impossible to dislike one’s life itself.” This is a statement by Genboku Takahashi, the author of this book. We have daily lives, and we inevitably have multifaceted feelings, habits, and behaviors. Most of us must have undesirable behavioral patterns which we continue unconsciously even though we don’t like it. Even though we have some parts that we don’t like by ourselves, however, it is impossible to dislike one’s life itself, the fact that we are living and existing here.

              Yoga is a mere process to reassure the fact that we live. On this simple fact, there is no any value judgement such as good or evil, for we can only say that the life itself is just as it should be. The keys to access to the life itself are body and breath. This is because these two things are always existing even when we are not aware of them. Asana (body movements, seated postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques) on yoga are process to treat these two. And what we call yoga practice mainly indicates these two practices. In my case, every morning I stand on a mat, and practice asana and pranayama, then meditate a little, then return to daily life, and repeat them as one seamless process. I think this is one form of “to Live with Yoga”. It is very important to suit yoga for each individual lifestyle and continue non-obsessively.

              First, there is a Life. The body takes a specific shape inevitably, the breath continues, and uncountable biological activities happen without our will. These process are essentially nurturing and caring. Even if they express as a pain or some diseases, they are parts of this caring process that life has. We can say yoga is participation to this fullness of life. We cannot modify our bodies beyond the nature of human body structure, nor hold and extend breath so long. What we can do is to accept them as they are and regulate them a little bit.

              In asana practice, one participates to life itself, by modifying the body posture so that one can energize it if possible without distracting it. Then one moves to pranayama practice, to stay in one stable posture and concentrate on the breath, to direct the mind toward the breath that has become deeper, stronger, and more receptive as a result of participation by the whole body. Finally, one releases the consciousness that has been toward the breath, and merely sit in silence. When one gives up any conscious effort, meditation may happen. And then, one goes back to daily life with the life shining more.

              This is how my yoga practice, a ritual to be with the fullness of my life itself, comprises. It was very lucky for me to bump into yoga the time full of wondering. Yoga will help me and remind me something important especially when I face problems. I every day practice yoga to be as a normal being.

Shock and Love

Yesterday was a big day for me,

One of my closest friends said to me;

"Quit Yoga! "
(He was drinking and the way he said was half joke and half true.)

I was shocked, damaged, and confused by this word.

I'm thinking a lot about this word....

What did he want to say?
______________________________________

Last month, I attended a philosophical meeting that he was also there.

The member including him were talking about human relationship.
But I don't know why, I couldn't get into this conversation, couldn't say any words to them.
For me, what they were talking was not a problem.
So I could only see empty words there.

Maybe you can notice, I read U.G.'s book and did Yoga a lot at that time.
I was a kind of nihilistic, and couldn't see the value in that conversation.
____________________________________________

However, I am a person.
I can only see the world from the perspective of a person.

And at that time, there were people who talked about human relation in front of me.

In short, I had to face them.
I had to love them more.

Even if I had a great experience in yoga or meditation or anything,
I had to face and tried to relate to people in front of me.

If I really thought that there was no problem there, I had to say so and make everyone stop the search.
If I disliked them, I had to show how I felt.

That's the best way to send love to them.

What I shown them was not Love, but an opposite thing; indifference.

That's why he was mad at me.
________________________________________________

Again, what he wanted to say?

If I put it in other words,

"If you make hierarchy by doing yoga, quit yoga!"

In fact, I spend a "special" time by doing yoga every morning.

I can feel the connection with the world through my body, breath, and movements.

However, if I talk with someone, I can access to the world through him or her.
If I have a trouble, I can deeply relate to the world by thinking about it thoroughly.

There is no superior point in yoga（＝breathing and moving exercise）.

If I access to the whole world, I should start form where I am.


What he wanted to say might be;

"Look at me!"

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Happiness is to have enough love for all the windows even while cherishing that special one view carved deep inside your heart.

Exactly!

I have something that I feel special love.
(How much I say "I love all", still I have something special, yoga, family, close friend....)

But at the same time, I face something right now.
That's what I should embrace most.

I will send Love to whole world, from where I am.

The Body that Makes Choices

Life is repetition of choices.

The moment we start living, we pick up some and discard the other.

The result of all choices I have made is “I”.

Whatever we do, we cannot avoid to make choices, and cannot be neutral.

“Choices” are not only social and conceptual (what jog I choose, and what kind of character I play).

Standing with two legs as a process of evolution is also human choice, and we Japanese losing the ability to distinguish “R” and “L” is choice, too. We cannot be alive without these choices literally.

Therefore, that we say something, that we take certain form (have a body that have a specific shape), and even that we exist are parts of our choices. In other words, they are removal or directivity.

Any existence cannot see the world as it is.

That we live in this world means that we categorize the world along with our own convenience, and do something based on this categorization.

I want to question here.

What have I been doing?

There is a “life” we have already begun, and there is a “self” we have been playing in a very real way.

Earlier than I do something, I began to “do human” and “do Yuto Matoba”.

My body presents the gross of what I have been doing.

Anyway, let’s move my body.

The moment I flex any parts of my body, one choice and exclusion begin,

If I pay attention to some parts, the other parts begin to exclaim.

“That’s not fare! Look at me!”

I move and breathe while listening to them.

After this exercise, I feel refreshed, relaxed and can see the world in a flat way.

However, even in this state, there is a bunch of parts that I have overlooked.

Moreover, returning to daily life and doing “Yuto Matoba”, playing a “university student”, and behaving “masculine”, and doing a “human”, I put myself huge number of bias.

After all, we can see the world only through the lens we ourselves have made.

We, such existence, always face something different.

Different culture, age, gender, species…

They categorize the world in a different way from me and live based on the world image.

That’s why it is possible to have a conflict.

I need to renew the question I made earlier:

What have I been discarding?

People, animals, plants, stuff around us, and my body...

They are always sending signals to notify us what we have forgotten.

Looking back choices I made, and being aware of them.

Only after that, I can have a possibility to relate to others who are incompatible to me.

Still, I can see the world only in a way I have categorized, but there is a beauty in the fact that while we cannot understand each other completely, we can relate .

The Self as a medium

You are a perfect being as you are.

When you are said in this way, you tend to have this questions;

“Then, don’t I need to anything?”

NO, no,

You take “yourself” in wrong way.

You regard your “true self” as the unchangeable subject that exists without any transitions and interactions with others and do nothing, aren’t you?

In reality, however, we are cast on this world first, and are made to start living while we cannot understand why we do so.

We tend to think we have a body first and the body changes and interacts with others.

But, in fact, interactions first, transitions first, and the place that they happens is called “body”.

The existence of “I” is dependent on this world.

So there is no such thing as “the self” that does nothing and isn’t placed anywhere.

This is a mere product of our thoughts.

Some people use the expression; we need to keep internal peace,

But we cannot identify “internal” and “external”.

Even if we become a priest and renounce the world, we cannot exist without interaction with the world.

I’m not mentioning some special states of spirituality.

I’m mentioning in an actual way.

For example, see how your body is.

Your body doesn’t exist as an entity.

The interactions with what you eat and drink, the air you inhale, and the bacteria that live in your body happen all the time.

We cannot live without them even a few moment!

It is said that the number of bacteria that live in human body are more than that of human cells.

Not are bacteria living in our body, but are we living on bacteria!

Then, when we say “I am thinking”, “what” on earth are thinking?

When I chanted Yoga Mantra one day,

I tried to manage how I chant well at first.

As I continued, however, the consciousness that “I am chanting” was getting to disappear.

I felt like the world wanted to express something and accidentally my body was chosen as a medium.

I didn’t need technique to chant anymore.

What I did was just try not to distract the flow of the energy.

Even though my self-consciousness disappears, it doesn’t mean my personality does.

My personality remains through my body inevitably.

(Feel a relief!)

When I was there as a medium, I felt so fantastic.

But, it is boorish to try to maintain it and to find the way to represent it.

On the same level, for us, mere media of what the world wants to express, it is also boorish to try to remove something bad when things don’t go well.

We are just placed in this world, and we can enjoy the transitions and interactions that happen there.

Well then, is there nothing that we can do?

Relax. You are doing something inevitably.

So, don’t I need to do anything positively?

???

I’m wondering in the same question that I cast as first…

Function of yoga mat as a boundary

Yoga mat is becoming an essential item for modern yogis/yoginis.

But, when did it become popular?

Traditional yogis in India may not use mat…

I couldn’t identify the exact time.

Originally, yoga mat might come from practical needs; prevention of slip or comfortability on lying down postures.

Plus, the functions I will refer seem to be added consciously or unconsciously.

Boundary between yoga and others

Modern yogis who practice while live in social life use yoga mat as a boundary between yoga and others.

They set yoga mat for “sacred space”.

They set the time they are on yoga mat for “sacred time”.

The moment they stand on the mat, they are separated from gross and miscellaneous daily.

They are in “yogic mode” during the time they are on it.

Yoga mat, an artificial object, lies between yoga, the workings to be part of nature.

This can be unnatural and impure.

If I can, I want to use a mat made from natural materials so that it can return the earth.

(Recently, two of my friends pointed it out for me. It is embarrassing for me but I didn’t care about it when I purchased my mat.)

However, there is a merit due to the artificiality.

Yoga mat, an artificial item, can exist without any change from yesterday to today, from today to tomorrow (at least from macro viewpoint).

I, a social being, am a natural object which is always changing.

Sometimes my feeling is mess when I stand on the mat.

Yoga mat can bring me to usual state thanks to the “un-changeability”.

(It is similar to “unmoved mover” as Aristotle said. )

Incidentally, on my yoga mat there is a signature and message of my teacher J. Every time I stand on it, they remind me the power of yoga.

Boundary between self and others

Yoga mat functions as a boundary between self and others as well.

This fact is clear in yoga classes with many people.

Each of them secure “their own space” in the room.

Even if you don’t care about this personal space, you may hesitate to step into others’ space.

Many “boundaries” are made in yoga classes unconsciously…

Some people may assert their personality by color or design of mats. If so, it is also an important function.

Impossibility of “oneness”

By the way, the word “yoga” originally means “union”.

The goal of yoga includes unity between yoga and others or between self and others.

If so, I’d like to remove any boundaries we make unconsciously in the end.

Union, unity, oneness…

When the view of the world that is shown by these (above) words realizes, it may be the time when we don’t need yoga mat anymore.

Now we are in yoga time. Now we are not…My space is here. His space is there…

Hopefully, I will practice yoga as much as these distinctions are not problem, but it is difficult.

In reality, we cannot help making these boundaries so that we can do specific practices.

However, as long as we depend on the means; the use of yoga mat, and if I say more, asana, pranayama, and any kinds of techniques, we inevitably keep drawing boundaries.

So, I cannot jump for joy without reserve.

I’m feeling like always running with “training wheels” that I should discard someday.

L.Wittgenstein says,

  My propositions are elucidatory in this way: he who understands me finally recognizes them as senseless, when he has climbed out through them, on them, over them. (He must so to speak throw away the ladder, after he has climbed up on it.)

I don’t know if someday I don’t need yoga mat, poses, and breathing techniques anymore.

If the time comes, it would be great.

If not, it is also good.

Yoga happens in the exercise named internal conflict; depending on many practice materials and at the same time trying to detach from them.

Admit that I feel dislike.

Unconditional love

This is the one of the ideal states of yogi.

Not to judge as good or bad, and to accept and love with no reasons.

Is it possible?

Since we were born, we have “judged” too much. It is said that we get the ability to distinguish between pleasure and displeasure, and they differentiate to “joy”, “sadness”, “anger”…

So, should we decrease these kind of judgements?

Ideally, yes, maybe.

However, we cannot “do” it. As you make efforts to do so, you will be annoyed.

We have nowhere to find “ideal state”!

Heart of yoga, which I have learnt, is said to have “non-dual philosophy”.

J.Brown, a senior teacher, usually says,

Dualistic yoga practice makes us painful.

In other word, if we set “ideal state” somewhere else, we have pain by the gap between the ideal and what we are now.

Therefore, if we seek “unconditional love” as an ideal state, we must realize that in reality we emotionally judge everything around us and have a guilty to yourself which do so.

When you face something you dislike, you feel pain by itself and simultaneously feel pain by how much you judge. Double pain!

For human beings, it is normal to dislike something as a natural feeling. (If you are a saint, don’t you?)

When you pretend to have “unconditional love” and to be stabled even if you suffer internally, you are not honest to yourself. It is a violence to yourself.

Love is not equal to “kindness”!

One day, I honestly told one guy that I have felt dislike for his behavior.

This is a normal thing, but I was about to forget to do so.

Maybe I misunderstood “love”. The word “love” usually implies kindness, but not necessarily.

Love is sometimes severe.

Even if we seek to be like a saint, we can only live as we are.

We have to be honest enough to face this inevitable fact. If you feel dislike by someone, tell your feeling frankly.

It may be the best way to tell “love” him or her.

By doing it, we could be more comfortable each other.

The state of “unconditional love” is impossible to seek by artificial effort.

If you hope so, there may be only one way.

To be as you are.

Theory of Continuation (by a normal guy)

Continuation is power. (This is a Japanese saying.)

We cannot get benefit without continuation when it comes to physical practice especially.

Why?

This is because human body is a matter that has homeostasis.

Once we get into habit, the body will try to sustain it as homeostasis.

If so, how do we firmly establish as a habit?

Let me think of “running”, one of the most common habits for example.

When I was a high school student, I ran playground every morning to improve myself as a football (soccer) player.

Sometimes I didn’t feel like running when I was tired off.

I could continue this habit, though. This is because of something moved me such us goals, teammates, etc.

Sometimes I was encouraged by words of successful athletes,and at other times I was stimulated by keen teammates…

These were, so to speak, magic to make me continue thinking “I will be able to get something great if I continue running!” I can run as long as the magic works.

When the magic was about to disappear, I desperately searched for materials of magic and cast a spell on myself again.

When the magic disappears

However, the moment we lost the last game of the football team, the habit suddenly came to an end.

Generally speaking, it is common for Japanese high school students to stop everything on sports after the last game and to start preparing for entrance exam of universities.

However, now I wonder, how come I could suddenly stop what I was able to continue such a long time? Wasn't it unnatural?

In conclusion, running was not so important for me that I could continue without the “magic”.

Running wasn't so natural for me that I could continue without something stimulated me.

Desire for “purity” and internal conflict

By the way, there is no day when I don’t practice yoga this year.

How do I, a very fickle person, continue this habit?

I don’t cast a spell on myself consciously.

I don’t search for benefits by yoga practice.

That’s why I can continue uneventfully like brushing my teeth.

I feel like saying above…

However,

My yoga practice is not so pure.

Am I doing “unselfish” practice without seeking benefits?

No, I cast a spell on myself unconsciously after all. I rely on magic.

I am stimulated by some great yogis, I read articles about benefits of yoga practice, and I sometimes try to remember some eccentric experiences in India.

This is how I am intoxicated by “myself” practicing yoga.

If you can practice without any magic or intoxicants, that’s beautiful.

But, is it possible?

Is it possible for human beings to have such purity?

 For me, not a sacred man but a normal guy, there is no use to assume the state of a saint.

It may be ideal to be able to practice without magic, but I have no choice but relying on magic.

Haruki Murakami, a Japanese famous novelist who continues running as a habit for many years, says,

There are few reasons to continue running, but there are a tons of reasons to stop running. (・・) 

Only we can do is to brush and sustain “few reasons” carefully.

Unfortunately, yoga practice hasn’t become natural for me to do without any reasons. That’s why I need to be intoxicated by some reasons or magic.

I sometimes think “I want be such a nice person” when I meet wonderful yoga teachers, I am intoxicated by spiritual atmosphere in yoga room, and I seek stylishness in yoga asanas…

Some reasons I rely on can be impure.

However, I may not be able to continue without these factors.

I am doing something strange, to continue using magic to become independent of magic.