Yoga Philosophy Beyond the Mat

“Yoga is blossoming throughout the world. In Sydney, Australia, for example, you will find there are numerous yoga centres in every suburb. It has become mainstream to have a healthy body and mind. This is a wonderful, wonderful thing. But what became evident to me, is that whilst they have an appreciation, to a degree, of the philosophical spiritual origins of yoga, many don’t have much knowledge at all.

It is evident to all of us that life is governed by laws – if you eat too much you get sick, if you eat too little you get sick, if you sleep too much you get red eyes, if you sleep too little you get red eyes. So this whole universe is governed by principles. There are laws governing everything. So we need to understand how to eat well, how to move well, how to exercise the body, take in the proper nutrients. And we need to know how to think well. You don’t have to – if you want to over eat and become sick, if you want to have a dull mind, that’s ok. This is, after all, an environment of choice. But there are laws. The whole of the galaxy works on the principle of attraction and repelling – everything is governed by law.

So, yoga philosophy beyond the mat, the whole reason for this, is to help people understand what it is that makes them who they are. This is essential. What is it that gives the ability for the mind to work, what is it that enables the eyes to see, to enable the ears to hear, from where have I come?, where am I going? What am I doing here? What is this inner nature of myself?, when I wake up every morning I say ‘good morning’, and the same voice that you have lived with in your head all your life – almost says, ‘good morning’ back? What is this?

As you think, so you will become. As you sow, so will you reap. The Bhagavad Gita says, ‘The mind is so important, it can either liberate you or bind you.’ Such emphasis our past and present Masters put on the mind!

So as human beings, we are constantly learning, learning, learning, learning. As I have said about eating too much or too little … then one day, we die. What’s the point of learning, learning, learning, and then dying!? What’s the use of learning all this? 

So yoga philosophy then is to help us put things into perspective. It is to help us become the master of our destiny, instead of being a slave to our destiny … And yoga actually originates from the Vedas. There are many great philosophical writings from India that I am sure you are aware of, but the Vedas stand above them all because they are ‘the breath of the eternal.’ (Swamiji quotes a Vedic verse in support of this).

There are two types of knowledge …”

(please view this short video to learn more of what Swamiji has to say)