Hari
Om
'Freedays' are the 'gather our thoughts' days;
Q&As; a general review of the week so far…
Year three of Aatmaavrajanam is now complete, year four starts
today. Yes, it is the anniversary for this humble bloggy!
Are you new here? Recently arrived? Have you taken the advice under
the banner and gone back to the beginning? Of course, one can join in at any
point, but eventually, to make full sense - especially as this is not 'live
teaching' - it is best to retrace steps and fill in those which may have been
jumped.
It can seem tiresome. We live an age of 'instant knowledge'; an age
of 'bytes' of this and that and cobbling them together however we wish to
arrange them. We make our own narrative to images which flash by, irrespective
of the truth of them. Indeed, 'truth' is a variable in modern living. Everyone
in the room looking at an elephant will focus on one or more parts but will
very rarely be able (or desire) to take in the whole picture or attempt to see
properly what the fellow on the opposite is seeing. The idea of spirituality
has fallen prey to this culture of immediacy. It is driven, still, by the ego
and what is in it 'for me'. It even becomes another form of competition.
"I" meditate this way, "I" do this or that yoga form, "I".."I".."I"…
Reading here at AV-blog, if you have been alert, it will be noted
that the first person singular is never used by the teacher - except in example
and thus quotation marks, as above.
Writing a piece without the ego presence is challenging enough.
Engaging in daily conversation in a similar way, even more so. It can be done
though. The ego serves a purpose and there are times in casual conversation
where "I" simply must be present and this is not an error. However,
if we find that "I" am dominating 'my' conversation, then it is time
to reassess…
SAADHANA
Spend the weekend self-monitoring for the use of "I" in
your conversations and even introspection. Become aware of your ego self and
resolve to tweak it, improve it, sublimate it at the times it is unneccessary,
bringing it forward only where needed. Grasp a better understanding of your
relationship with yourself.
To those who have read from the beginning, thank you and more power
to you as you progress in saadhana. To those who are new, thank you for being
here… now go back and fill in the gaps!
Love and Blessings
YAM xx
