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Fearlessness

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Greetings Students! This season we are contemplating the yoga of

Fearlessness

In 1941, President Roosevelt gave his famous “Four Freedoms” speech, proclaiming four basic freedoms that people everywhere in the world ought to enjoy: Freedom of speech; Freedom of worship; Freedom from want; and Freedom from fear.

Abhaya
Abhaya

This freedom from fear, called “abhaya” in Sanskrit, is a fundamental quality of the state of spiritual liberation.

There is a hand gesture, called a mudra, that  corresponds to fearlessness: the abhaya mudra.

  • Fear Not

How does a person overcome fear when we are all scared to death?

We endeavor to shore up safety in all kinds of ways, pursuing money, physical prowess, status and group affiliation to fend off primal fear, but from a yogic point of view this unremitting attempt to construct ‘safe spaces’ merely results in the wretched dependence and demeaning captivity of the ego.

YOUR SAFE SPACE

The enlightened 8th century yogi, Adi Shankara, wrote:

“It says in the Yajur Veda: ‘One who has even the slightest sense of differentiation is always afraid.’ One who sees any attributes of differentiation, however small, in the absolute Brahman, will for that reason remain in a state of terror. One who locates the sense of self in the physical body and its objects will experience sorrow after sorrow. “

Shankara’s teaching is that the way to annihilate fear is to extinguish the sense of difference, the split, between subject and object and to feel viscerally the truth of our unity with the cosmos. This is nirvana.

So the yogic path offers methods to obtain this felt-sense of infinitude, this wine of undifferentiated bliss which we call non-dual awareness.

We have to go beyond duality to drink the ambrosia of infinite awareness.

Asana, pranayama, mudra, chanting, and meditation, are all tools for the neuro-enhancement of non-dual awareness, which alone is the fearless state. In a non-dual state, the body is saturated with the wellbeing arising from the somatic knowing that only one existence infinitely pervades the universe. Fear evaporates as your vibration expands without limits. Free, intoxicating joy gushes through the thirsty nadis, the subtle channels

Trust is the opposite of Fear

Summoning your deepest trust, learn to dissolve into oceanic bliss.
This yoga of dissolution, called Laya Yoga, is accomplished through simple love.

As Patanjali puts it, “Give up all effort, and relax into the infinite.
From that, you will be free from the suffering of duality.”
– Yoga Sutra II:47/48


Enjoy this sublime rendition of the fear dispelling mantra, We have been playing in class Namah Shivaya by Uma Mohan

Let nothing disturb you
Nothing frighten you
All things are changing
God never moves
Patient endurance attains to all
One who has God
In nothing is lacking.
Alone, God suffices
— St Teresa of Avila
Yoga Newsletter for July 2018: Fearlessness
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Fearlessness

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  • Podcasts (1)
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  • Tantra Newsletters (5)
  • Class Talks (7)
  • The Four Goals of Life (4)
  • Yogic Concepts (5)
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Posts

Fearlessness

Greetings Students! This season we are contemplating the yoga of Fearlessness In 1941, President Roosevelt gave his famous “Four Freedoms” speech, proclaiming four basic freedoms that people … [Read More...] about Fearlessness

Recommended Reading

These are a few books and texts which I recommend:   Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yognanda   Play of Consciousness by Swami Muktananda.   Meditate: Happiness … [Read More...] about Recommended Reading

oval with radii

Intention

Greetings Beloved Yoga practitioners! This month we contemplated the theme of Intention At the start of the New Year we mobilized our yoga practice to examine the very nature of intent and to … [Read More...] about Intention

glowing heart

The Heart

Your Yoga Newsletter on the Heart Greetings Yogis and Yoginis! This month we have been exploring the topic of the Heart. The heart has many layers of significance in the sphere of Yoga … [Read More...] about The Heart

Yantra with picture of Swami Muktananda

School of Recognition

Your Yoga Tantra Newsletter Greetings Yoga Sangham This month we were contemplating and practicing thanksgiving, delight and recognition. There is a whole philosophical school of Yoga Tantra … [Read More...] about School of Recognition

The Void

Greetings Dear Friends and Sangham Some notes on our topics and the central theme examined this month: THE VOID Void or emptiness is important to both Buddhist and Yoga philosophy. The … [Read More...] about The Void

Our Work is Cut Out For Us

I thought I was being charming at dinner recently, in the midst of telling one of my fascinating stories, when my son turned to his father and said: “Dad, youre a saint.” We all laughed at his … [Read More...] about Our Work is Cut Out For Us

Hatha Yoga is Kundalini Yoga

I am often asked what kind of yoga I teach, and after almost 35 years, I am still stymied as to how to answer. I usually mercifully restrain myself from breaking into a lecture and say that I teach … [Read More...] about Hatha Yoga is Kundalini Yoga

Monkey Mind

Happy Chinese New Year! It is the Year of the Monkey and it is said the character of the next 12 months will mirror some traits we associate with monkeys: quick moving, volatile, tricky, changeable … [Read More...] about Monkey Mind

About Anger

“Attachment breeds desire. From desire anger is born. Anger leads to delusion, from delusion, forgetfulness, from forgetfulness, the destruction of intellectual discernment." Bhagavad Gita, … [Read More...] about About Anger

Om

Om as Guru

One who chants Om, which is the closest form of Brahman, approaches Brahman. This liberates one from the fear of the material world. - Rig Veda, circa 1500 BC Rare is the yogic text or scripture … [Read More...] about Om as Guru

Flammarion engraving

Intention

Intention “You will find that intention on liberation is the means to it. When this intention is full no other means is necessary. But when intention is weak what is the use of a thousand means? … [Read More...] about Intention

Moksha: Liberation, the fourth goal of life

“Of all the instruments of emancipation, Love is supreme.” So wrote the 9th century yogic sage, Shankaracharya who spread the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta: the doctrine of unity. Moksha is the … [Read More...] about Moksha: Liberation, the fourth goal of life

The Discipline of Love

We are contemplating a topic today that probably gives a lot of us the heebie jeebies: Discipline. Discipline, restraint, practice, sacrifice, and consistency: these things form the spine of a yogic … [Read More...] about The Discipline of Love

The Four Goals of Life : Kama

We have been contemplating the four goals life, the “chatur purusharthas” for the past few weeks (they are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha). Yoga is said to bring about fruition of these goals, and … [Read More...] about The Four Goals of Life : Kama

The Four Goals of life: Artha: wealth and beauty

We’ve been contemplating the “chatur purusharthas” recently. They are the four goals of life in the yogic canon: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Yoga is said to produce the accomplishment of these … [Read More...] about The Four Goals of life: Artha: wealth and beauty

Seamless Robes

Today's Science section in the New York Times has an interesting article: “Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isnt Just a White Coat.” It is about experiments that were done studying a phenomenon they … [Read More...] about Seamless Robes

The Four Goals of Life: Dharma

Happy New Year, it's good to see everybody! We’ve made it to this auspicious moment: 2012. I thought we might benefit by taking the time to focus on our intentions for the coming year, because having … [Read More...] about The Four Goals of Life: Dharma

The Depression of Arjuna

We were listening to the Bhagavad Gita being chanted, and i put it on for a reason. The Bhagavad Gita is pretty much all you would ever really need to follow the path of Yoga. Its name means the “Song … [Read More...] about The Depression of Arjuna

Pranayama: Breathing Techniques for calming the mind

Breathing Awareness The core of meditation techniques the world over is breathing awareness. Awareness of the breath refines the mind and leads it into a state of meditation. You will find that many … [Read More...] about Pranayama: Breathing Techniques for calming the mind

Samadhi

Samadhi I We are contemplating and speaking of samadhi lately. Samadhi is a theme that threads throughout the yogic canon. The word refers to a state of being which could be loosely translated as … [Read More...] about Samadhi

St Patrick and the Trinity

We have been speaking about Lent and in the middle of Lent comes St. Patrick’s day which is tomorrow. I was just reading that either St. Patrick died on march 17 or that the Irish Catholics decided … [Read More...] about St Patrick and the Trinity

Om, the Vedas and the Cat in the Hat

I I am preparing for a workshop in a couple of weeks: – “Experience OM” – so I’ve been contemplating Om quite a bit, and thought we would contemplate it together. In the course of preparation i have … [Read More...] about Om, the Vedas and the Cat in the Hat

GustaveDore-Paradiso05

Absolute Joy

We’ve been listening to Handel's Messiah and most of the text is from the book of Isaiah – we just heard “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd” which has the line: “take His yoke upon you...” And … [Read More...] about Absolute Joy

Guru Purnima

The sacred moon of the Guru Today is Guru Purnima which is a big holiday for people who love yoga and for people who love their Guru or spiritual master. “Purnima” means total fulness and perfection, … [Read More...] about Guru Purnima

Prakriti and Purusha

We’ve been having a little bit of fun here contemplating a branch of Hindu philosophy called “Samkhya.” The word Samkhya means “enumeration” or “list” – so it is a categorical, analytical approach to … [Read More...] about Prakriti and Purusha

Feeling it in our bones: Transcending the “Anava Mala”

I have a little story to tell. It turns out the girls track team at my local high school is the fastest in the country – they just won first place in the whole nation. No one can figure it out because … [Read More...] about Feeling it in our bones: Transcending the “Anava Mala”

Life, Death and Immortality

Yama and Nachiketa On Tues. we were talking about death, resurrection, and immortality because it comes up a lot in spiritual texts, in yogic texts and of course in the Easter story. Also, because … [Read More...] about Life, Death and Immortality

Assimilation

Last Tuesday i virtually collapsed in front of the whole class because i have really bad hypoglycemia. A few days before that i had a dream that i wasnt absorbing the protein i was eating in the … [Read More...] about Assimilation

sunset

Thanksgiving

Thursday is Thanksgiving and of course one does think about – I hope a little bit – the quality of gratitude. Gratitude has a lot to do with yoga, the goal of yoga and what we do when we do yoga. One … [Read More...] about Thanksgiving

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Featured Posts

The Glance of Shiva

The Glance of Shiva To the Trinity be praise! God is music, God is life That nurtures every creature in its kind. Our God is the song of the angel throng And the splendor of secret ways, Hid … [Read More...] about The Glance of Shiva

Om

Om as Guru

One who chants Om, which is the closest form of Brahman, approaches Brahman. This liberates one from the fear of the material world. - Rig Veda, circa 1500 BC Rare is the yogic text or scripture … [Read More...] about Om as Guru

Flammarion engraving

Intention

Intention “You will find that intention on liberation is the means to it. When this intention is full no other means is necessary. But when intention is weak what is the use of a thousand means? … [Read More...] about Intention

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