LIVING YOGA
There is a teacher within us; a teacher who guides us; and a teacher who inspires us. Sometimes that teacher is one and the same. Sometimes that teacher is fictionalized. Sometimes that teacher is someone we can never meet, but someone whose “life in practice” teaches us, guides us, and inspires us. Again, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of biographies and related books on living the philosophy.
- Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom, B. K. S. Iyengar
- The Tree of Life, B. K. S. Iyengar
- Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence, Matthew Sanford
- Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramanhamsa Yogananda
- Finding My Balance: A Memoir with Yoga, Mariel Hemingway
- Living Yoga: Creating a Life Balance, Christy Turlington
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
- \Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives, Dan Millman
- The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book, Don Miguel Ruiz
As you so eloquently write above, “Sometimes that teacher is someone we can never meet…”
Metta (Love) is characterized as promoting the welfare of others. Its function is to desire welfare. It is manifested as the removal of annoyance. Its proximate cause is seeing the loveableness in beings. It succeeds when it makes ill-will subside, and it fails when it gives rise to selfish affection.
Karuna (Compassion) is characterized as promoting the removal of others’ suffering. Its function is not bearing others’ suffering. It is manifested as kindness. Its proximate cause is seeing helplessness in those overwhelmed by suffering. It succeeds when it makes cruelty subside, and it fails when it gives rise to sorrow.
Mudita (Sympathetic joy) is characterized as joy in the success of others. Its function is being free from envy. It is manifested as the elimination of aversion. Its proximate cause is seeing other beings’ success. It succeeds when it makes aversion subside, and it fails when it gives rise to merriment.
Upekkha (Equanimity) is characterized as promoting equipoise towards beings. Its function is to see the equality in beings. It is manifested as quieting like and dislike. Its proximate cause is seeing the ownership of deeds thus: “Beings are heirs to their deeds. Whose, if not theirs, is the choice by which they will become happy, or will be free from suffering, or will not fall away from the success they have reached?” It succeeds when it makes like and dislike subside, and it fails when it gives rise to the indifference of ignorance based on the household life.
Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification, by the great Indian monk Buddhaghosa, 5th century AD.)
~ ♥ ॐ नमस्ते ॐ ♥ ~
Namaste Rick! Thank you so much for sharing the passage from The Path of Purification. It is such an amazing breakdown of useful/powerful emotion – not to mention a great reminder that we have within us the tools/skills to live joyfully and to help others experience the beauty of life.