MyLifeYoga

When we remember a long gone cherished vacation we gloss over the tension, the quibbles and the fights that took place. All we remember is the gorgeous sunset and the moments of love and peace we felt.

It is as if we have zoomed out and in this view the ego went out of focus. When the ego ceases to matter love blooms. Joy, peace, and serenity prevail.

If on the other hand when we zoom in we get to the level of the ego. We are now at the resolution of living moment by moment. We can now clearly feel the tension, the fights, the conflicts, and the drama created by the ego. At this level the days are long and difficult. Life is challenging and tiresome. It is as if we have to put up a fight to get anything. Nothing comes easily.

The view from afar always appears rosy as the ego has a diminished role from this view. When we look back on the years we feel that they were happier than when we were actually experiencing them. We feel that the happy times just whizzed past and we barely noticed. So the days appeared long and unhappy while we lived them, the years that have gone by seem short and happier: The days are long but the years are short. Continue reading →

Countless people have remarked how if only they had discipline they would practice yoga more regularly. Discipline can be good, sometimes. And sometimes it can be ego’s way of promising guilt, self-flagellation and a spiritual life that is controlled by will – which is no spiritual life at all.

It’s hard not to think about discipline as a sought after quality of the most successful people in the world. We respect the discipline of athletes, soldiers, business people and fitness gurus. And in the name of producing a well-oiled human machine, discipline in this sense is really a formidable feat.

The question is: can we come to know our spiritual self through the same means as we mould our human self? Continue reading →

I recently watched a movie for the second time. The law of diminishing return suggests that this should have been less pleasurable than watching it for the first time. But this was not so. I enjoyed the movie much more than I did the first time. In fact when I look back, the few times I have watched a good movie again, I have always enjoyed them more than watching them for the first time. Why is this so?

When I watch a movie for the first time, I am too caught up in the drama. I am too anxious to figure out the plot. My mind is too gripped with answering the question: What’s going to happen next? When I watch the movie again I have no such worries. I can now enjoy each scene on its merit. I am liberated from the worries of the plot. I can now sit back, relax, and actually enjoy the movie.

Our lives are also in many ways like movies. Like movies our lives have a plot and we constantly worry about what is going to happen next. Unlike movies though, we do not get a second chance to experience our lives again. But the lesson from movies is clear: If we somehow learn to free ourselves from the worry about the plot then we shall enjoy our lives more.

Marty Rubin is the author of these aphorisms. You can find more of them here. If you like a daily dose go here. This has been reposted with permission. You can find the original post here.