Ideas Sinking In

"...for here no metaphysical truth is brought into expression solely for its own sake. It seeks the highest truth for the highest practical utility, not for intellectual or even spiritual satisfaction, but as the truth that saves and opens to us the passage from our present mortal imperfection to immortal perfection. Therefore, after giving us in the first fourteen verses of this chapter a leading philosophical truth of which we stand in need, it hastens in the next sixteen verses to make an immediate application of it. It turns it into a first starting-point for the unification of works, knowledge and devotion, - for the preliminary synthesis of works and knowledge by themselves as already been accomplished."

Sri Aurobindo Essays on the Gita

for me the long sentence just recaptures in my mind the long train of events in my own life/progress of going through various realizations however dim and vague they started, that allowed me to climb through the first awakening to the spiritual current. Understanding and seeking purpose in the world, and seeking greater knowledge of ultimate reality, of my self, who I am in my nature and beyond, and finding out knowledge of the spiritual practices/disciplines, of metaphysical knowledge that would organize/integrate experiences and further give explanatory power and a framework that would guide the practice practically towards greater growth. And as in the quote above, seeing how Bhakti and devotion which naturally arises was actually the way onward.


To me this is a realization that is hard fought to see clearly and integrate into the ideas that I am actually acting upon.


I see several people in my life who have ideas of spiritual life and the idea that their practices will help them, but they don't practice but are caught in social life that keeps them too busy. I know this place well.


I appreciate Triyoga for being able to start with a base physical practice, and physical habits, getting on the mat are really useful for establishing time and space each day. You can start with the idea of a purely practical physical practice for health even. But then we come to integrating the breathing and taking out the overly talkative extremes of minutiae alignments, the yoga as the image/role of being powerful, the distraction of therapy knowledge or working on specific fitness that lacks knowledge of subtle body. Instead from the basic movement base one has to grown in awareness of the body from movement and entering into the quiet state in the midst of activity in order to get more and more refined. This is the flow and the breath the all important tool. All the while the nadis are being opened. Not only by the breath and movement, but also mudra, the hand gestures, the shapes of the postures, sealing and circulating the energy. Eventually meditation in motion is established, and begins to inspire and inform taking the place of the external alignments (though still useful, especially good verbiage) and laying the foundation for a deeper knowledge that comes from the Devi. This too goes further as the nadis develop, the emotions are cleared, the elements balanced and Bhakti will inexorably arise... or as we fathom the depths of being, we as would say, we delve into anandamaya kosha and experience and dwell in the bliss surrounding the soul.