The Lazy Yogi

What was your own experience like on the road to self awareness?

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:44:33 -0400

Like the sun realizing there is no such thing as night and day.

Namaste

"Self is what you are. You are That Fathomlessness in which experience and concepts appear. Self is..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:47:26 -0400

“Self is what you are. You are That Fathomlessness in which experience and concepts appear. Self is the moment which has no coming or going. It is the Heart, Atman, Emptiness. It shines to Itself, by Itself, in Itself. Self is what gives breath to life, you need not search for it. It is Here. You are That through which you would search. You are what you are looking for! And That is all it is. Only Self is.”

- Papaji

Thoughts on abortion?

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:31:34 -0400

I don’t think it’s really possible to discuss abortion practically when it is absent of its context.

It is easy to say you feel one way about abortion but it’s another thing entirely when you are living through it. While I personally believe in the freedom of choice, I feel terrible whenever I have to kill an insect. I wonder how I would feel if it ever came to supporting a woman through an abortion? Likely horrible.

Life is life. The teachings of spirituality also tell us that existence is eternal, independent and unaffected by the transience of life’s physical expression. However, that is in no way free license to go around murdering our fellow humans so how would that apply to abortions? I can’t pretend to know.

I don’t believe there is a wrong or right choice in such a situation. Just a difficult decision either way, and one you have to live with afterward.

Namaste

So I need your advise on finding peace with myself. I've always had low self-esteem, I feel like I'm not good enough and I end up putting myself down, I feel like I can't be happy until I can be comfortable with myself. So how do I achieve this?

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:14:00 -0400

We can’t always be comfortable and we can’t afford to wait until we are comfortable with everything before allowing ourselves to know peace.

Whether or not you feel good enough, you are Here. You are the moment itself, experiencing a human hallucination.

People who have high self-esteem have put a lot of faith and belief in a story they are constantly telling themselves about themselves. They live and die by that story.

People who have low self-esteem are doing the same thing, except making that story about all the things for which they feel critical of themselves.

The point is that the whole esteem game revolves around a fictionalized sense of self that is derived from external things. I don’t recommend swapping one out for the other but rather ditching the whole mess entirely.

All of this uncertainty comes from not knowing and abiding as who you are at the most basic level. Who you are isn’t a name or a form or a personality/intellect but a radiant and vibrant presence of aliveness.

The self you keep putting down doesn’t exist in the way you think it does. Until you realize this through your own clarity and insight, you will be a slave to your mind’s compulsion to deprecate yourself.

My advice is to sit with yourself in the silence and stillness of meditation. Re-discover a sense of being where you are without the body and mind’s input. I’d highly recommend the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

To get an idea, here is a page of some great quote from the book.

Namaste :)

"Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:31:44 -0400

“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was talking to a friend and brought up my interest in Buddhism but found their response very disheartening. They said that I couldn't be a Buddhist because I don't live as the monks live etc etc. I was wondering what you might say to this and what encouraging words you might give to someone just beginning their journey? My thanks.

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:25:00 -0400

That is like saying you cannot understand and use science if you aren’t a physicist working at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

Here’s some advice: Don’t look for insight about buddhism from a non-buddhist.

While buddhism has a variety of outward expressions from monks to lay practitioners, the whole path is entirely inward. It is not about what you live but the way you live and approach life.

Buddhism is the science of existence as understood through particular language and terminology. It was never meant to be purely a cultural phenomenon.

Buddhism started in India, then diffused to Tibet, China, and Japan. Each country brought something new out of buddhism whether that be the mighty Vajrayana approach or the deceptively simple and direct Zen way.

Understand that the life lived in confusion encourages suffering while the life lived in clarity and love encourages peace. Take up daily practices like meditation while learning what you can from teachers, organizations, and books. Buddhism is abundant in all of those things.

For a beginner, I would also highly recommend the book Rebel Buddha by Ponlop Rinpoche.

Never let anyone stop you from discovering the truth of reality, and enjoying the hell out of it. :P

Namaste!

What is your opinion on expressing anger as a step to get over that feeling? Sometimes I feel something negative come up and I know that I could either just scream and act on it and then let it pass, or immediately "attack" it with my own rationality and calm myself down. Sometimes I feel like the first option is immature, while the second one is repressive and might somehow go unresolved.

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:33:22 -0400

I would say that is an apt insight into those two options. However, I would propose a third way.

The reason why the first way works, expressing your anger, is that it leads to relaxation. Anger and unpleasant emotions cause us to tense up, to feel as though we are holding something in. By expressing those feelings, we allow ourselves to release that pent up tension and once again find relaxation.

This transition from tension to relaxation need not depend on an outward expression of the emotion. Rather than expressing the anger or suppressing it, you can let it be as it is without being controlled by it.

To be controlled by your anger means to think in terms of your anger. When we are overwhelmed by any emotion, we tend to use that emotion as a lens through which to see the world and ourselves. That is being under an emotion’s control and it is a kind of intoxicating effect. It makes us forget ourselves and our nature of peace and ease.

However, when you feel your anger, you need not push it away or try to change it. All you must do is take your attention deeply into your body. Shift your focus away from the causes of your anger and instead hone in on the bodily sensation of the emotion.

This can be done with any emotion. The point is to stop being a victim of your emotions and to start perceiving them directly. With time and practice, you will even be able to see/feel emotions as they creep up on you. This gives you the opportunity to let them go even before they get a grip on you.

By witnessing your emotions directly without fixating on them through rejection/indulgence, you take the energy of attention away from their reactivity. Breathe easy and watch, watch, watch. A moment will come when you have the opportunity to allow the emotion to diminish itself. Let it happen.

Often we identify with our anger or sadness or jealousy and feel hesitant to let it go. We don’t care that these emotions are causing us pain.

“Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone; in the end you are the one who gets burned.” ~ Buddha

Every emotion has its own time and place but like a good painter who uses every color on her palette, such an artist knows when colors are useful and when they are unnecessary.

Namaste :)

I feel like I need a guru or actually just a mentor at this point in my life. Where can I find one?

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:14:00 -0400

These are two very different things. A guru is a human who has realized the Self, abiding in and as eternal peace, and who is capable of leading others to the same realization. Such a person is a rare and beautiful opportunity to learn from his or her direct experience.

There are a few gurus that tour the world. I will be putting up announcements as some come through New York City but you can track them on your own as well. Others remain more stationary with regard to physical location.

Just a few of those gurus are:

Sri ShivaRudraBalayogi (my guru)

Amritanandamayi Ma

Amma Karunamayi

Mooji

Master Nome

You find such gurus through research (talking to people, googling, using your own sense) and exploration (showing up to events, getting some firsthand experience of different gurus, seeing what’s what).

Don’t assume meeting the guru that is right for you will be an immediate click. I had known my guru for a few years before even thinking of asking him to play such a role for me.

A mentor is someone who is spiritually competent and clear but has yet to fully realize the truth of existence. While such people are helpful in many ways, they are likely ill-equipped to bring anyone the whole way to self-realization.

You can most likely find a mentor by checking out some local groups in your area. See what zendos are around or yoga studios that may host meditation/spiritual events. Between buddhism, hinduism, and other similar spiritual paths, you may be able to find a competent and helpful community near you.

I would also recommend daily meditation as a way to keep your mind alert and relaxed so that you will be able to recognize truth when you hear it, as opposed to simply finding a teacher who indulges your preferred beliefs.

Namaste :)

Spontaneity doesn’t mean being unpredictable. Spontaneity means being unpredicted.

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:35:09 -0400

Do Not Wait for Peace

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:54:00 -0400

The peace for which you have to wait is the peace that is bound in time. It is mortal.

Peace that arises from causes will live and die by those causes. It is not ever-present and what is not ever-present is not real on the level of the Absolute.

Uncaused peace, which is no different than Being, is available at any moment. It is the recognition of the Self by the Self within the Self. It is you and always you.

When you fixate on the not-you, which means to say the body, mind, and ego, then you forget yourself and fall prey to the suffering that arises from confusion.

Often we are left with the mistaken belief that we need to get X and Y done before we can allow ourselves to feel okay. Or we have to prove ourselves in this or that way before we can consider ourselves a whole Being.

By all means, aim to achieve whatever inspires you. But don’t hinge your sense of Self on such transient things. Otherwise you will be a constant victim of your own imaginations.

Re-discover yourself without the context of a mind and body, as a timeless and endless expanse of contentment. Then be in touch with that Self even as you go about playing the part of a human in this world.

Namste, sangha.

"Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance."

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:04 -0400

“Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”

- Eckhart Tolle

I want to thank you so much for making this blog and sharing your wisdom, you've helped me so much. You've taught me how we are pure consciousness and not our bodies nor our minds, after understanding this and applying it to my life it's truly fulfilling and making my life more joyful, but I feel that I need to be more compassionate, I know in my heart that that's the way to go, but when I am social, I feel more self centered than anything. How do you go about putting others before yourself?

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:16:00 -0400

Suppose you’re an adult with a few children at an amusement park. They’re all so excited to go on the rides and have fun. So you take them around and go with them. Are you going to try to cut them in line and think of yourself first? Or are you going to let the kids go first and will you take amusement in how much they enjoy themselves?

Compassion is like that but without the adult/child condescending perspective.

We are self-centered when we expect our body-mind to give us lasting happiness. As you loosen up your fixation and identification with the body-mind, you discover yourself as that radiant joy of simply existing. Stay in touch with that, keep some attention within you even as you are out and about socializing.

Others are very dependent on experiences in order to be happy. You are growing to be independent of transitory experiences. Thus you will be happy to allow others to enjoy themselves before you, since you don’t really care. Not only that, but you will enjoy seeing others enjoy themselves with you.

On a practical level, I suggest practicing tonglen. I have never considered myself an especially compassionate person but after reading The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron and practicing tonglen, I’ve come to really value the quality of compassion in daily life.

Compassion isn’t always about putting others before yourself, or lowering yourself and elevating others, but rather it’s a way of relating directly with all living beings.

Namaste :)

If our true nature is supreme awareness, why do we experience this human life which is extremely limited in time and space?

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:01:36 -0400

It is only our confusion that causes us to mistake this current human experience to be a phenomenon limited in time and space. When you discover the truth that you are timeless and spaceless in this very moment, as this moment, then you will realize you were never really limited.

The often quoted metaphor is that of a rope being mistaken as a snake. In the dead of night, someone sees a rope on the floor and thinks it’s a snake. He reacts with fright to the appearance of the snake but when he lights a candle, he sees the snake is really a rope. Then his fear vanishes.

The snake never came nor went, it was only the man’s confusion which changed. The snake never was.

Similarly, we were never this limited human experience that you take yourself to be. We are eternal, vast, and blissful existence. Why did this confusion arise in the first place? I do not know. My focus is on coming to know and abide as that truth.

Namaste :)

Hi. My close relationships tend to bring out the worst in me. I get easily annoyed, angry, ignorant, selfish, almost even mean. These emotions come with such strength, it seems impossible to just observe them. I get caught up in them. Even when I try to let them go, they still effect my mood and the way I act, speak, think, feel. When this happens, I often feel ashamed and pull back. I would appreciate some advice on how to just.. be. How to not get caught up. Namaste

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:39:53 -0400

When you realize and accept that relationships cannot give or take anything, your ego has a lot less to kick up a fuss about.

Relationships are for relating with and enjoying one another.

It may seem impossible to remain the witness of your emotions but it is not. You are already the witness to your reactions, only you are so fixated on the reactions that you forget yourself as the witness. To remain as the witness means to remember yourself as not being your body and its emotive reactions.

Come back to yourself. This is not a single action but a continual effort to return to yourself every time you meet the challenge of reactivity. Each and every time you come back to witness these emotions, you diminish their control over you. Over time it will become easier.

Ask yourself why you feel so conflicted with your relationships. They are meant to be expressions of life enjoying itself; when they become sources of pain it is time to re-evaluate your reasons and approach.

You are whole. No relationship can add to your wholeness or subtract from it. Therefore there is no reason to cling to a relationship out of selfishness nor put up a wall of anger out of fear that the relationship can somehow diminish your Being.

Daily meditation reminds you and keeps you in touch with Being so that when you find yourself in the world among these turbid emotions, you can recognize them as a kind of transient intoxication and stand aloof as the witness.

The act of witnessing itself takes the wind out of the sails of the ego, it removes energy from reactivity and allows the emotions to burn themselves out.

Often our thoughts tune to the frequency of our emotions so that when we feel an emotion, our thoughts tend to reflect that perspective. When we are happy, we see the world as a beautiful place. When we are depressed, it looks like hell. And when we are annoyed, the world seems worthy of burning.

The reason why you have trouble letting go is because your thoughts tend to rekindle the emotions. When you think in tune with the frequency of your emotions, it’s like adding fuel to the fire. Instead, shift your attention away from thought into direct feeling/witnessing/perception of those emotions.

Patience is peace. Watch, watch, watch. Realize you are always the watcher and sit back as that witness. It is certainly not easy at first but effort is needed to break the inertia of your ignorance.

Take heart and keep at it.

Namaste :) Much love sis

"The world has only as much power over you as you give it. Rebel. Go beyond duality."

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:31:02 -0400

“The world has only as much power over you as you give it. Rebel. Go beyond duality.”

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

What is Peace?

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:02:34 -0400

Peace is not an experience. It is a lack of confusion regarding what you are experiencing. In that clarity, there is contentment and the joy of liberation from the suffering of confusion.

The human experience is filled with moments of positivity and beauty interchanging with moments of negativity and pain. This human experience is characterized by the body, its associated physical senses and sensations, along with the mind’s thoughts and moods.

When some embark on the journey to discover peace, they search for it in the world of human experience. The hope is that the experience of this body can be made permanently happy and positive, forever forsaking the negative.

Such a perspective is dependent upon your experience being a certain way; and since experiences themselves are transient, so is the happiness and pleasure they bring.

You are not your experiences and the conviction of this truth born of direct perception will take the pressure off avoiding negative experiences and clinging to positive ones. You become less fixated on your experiences, enjoying what comes and no longer lamenting letting go of what goes.

But where does peace fit in? Peace is not an experience but the way you regard experiences. It is not a thought or a mindset but rather the place of eternal awareness from which you live.

By the place, I mean your Self. When you no longer mistake yourself to be your body or mind, where does that leave you? It is the opportunity to become aware of your own existence without the context of human form.

In that clear awareness, you are at ease and at peace. Or rather, you recognize yourself as ease and peace itself. There are endless ways to release our confusion in order to re-discover clarity, and I like to recommend meditation and self-enquiry.

We are a lot less like individual beings and more like a spaceless and timeless dimension that is endlessly conscious of itself.

Trippy but true. :P

Namast, sangha.

Yogis of Tibet A rare and stunning documentary about Tibet,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:41:00 -0400

Yogis of Tibet

A rare and stunning documentary about Tibet, Buddhism, and Modernity. It really is informative and moving. I highly recommend watching it.

It saddens me that our country manages to get into wars all over but has yet to find a way for this tiny and compassionate nation to return to its homeland.

Thanks to resonantfrequencies for sharing it with me!

Namaste

Hello LazyYogi! I just a simple question about your personal interests: I was wondering if you could give us a quick short list of your favorite books of all time and maybe a little bit about why you like them? Namaste!

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:08:06 -0400

Awesome, I’d be happy to! I’m sure I’ll forget some good ones, though, but here goes nothing:

The Invisibles by Grant Morrison — This is one of my favorite graphic novel series of all time. It challenges our notions of reality/society while at the same time painting a beautiful possible future for us all to grow.

Promethea by Alan Moore — Another fantastic graphic novel series. This mythic story celebrates the figure of the heroine and the true power of imagination. It takes place in a future human society and also heralds the coming of a new time in history. Simply amazing and awesome.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson — I just love the way Hunter thoroughly rejects conventional reality and substitutes his own. I don’t think his insights are by any means final conclusions but they are sharp, humorous, and witty indictments of the western world.

Harry Potter — Enough said.

The Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman — Another graphic novel series that is marvelous. It draws from various mythologies, conspiracy theories, and its own imaginative world to create enthralling stories both dark and moving.

Tales of Horror and the Macabre by HP Lovecraft — A gifted author who had eyes and thoughts completely out of place for his time period. He would have been an amazingly successful writer and film director in the current industry. His stories are both disturbing and vividly hypnotic. I recommend The Call of Cthulhu.

I’m sure I’m missing some, but those are a few to start you off :)

Namaste!

"Whatever you feel, you become. It is your responsibility."

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:23:31 -0400

“Whatever you feel, you become. It is your responsibility.”

- Osho

hi lazy, what book got you in to spiritualism? a book that change your view on life, that shifted you from a sleeping person. ty for the time Rigo

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:13:58 -0400

Oddly enough, despite the fact that I’m always recommending books, I did not get into spirituality due to a book. For me, it was a natural evolution that arose from the invariable questions life posed.

The first spiritual book I read was Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda. It came highly recommended and was interesting but didn’t teach much in the way of spiritual living, especially for a westerner.

In college, I read the first scripture that really moved me. It was The Avadhuta Gita as translated by Sri Purohit Swami. That text made a vast impression on me.

After graduating college, the first spiritual book I read was the very same book put in my hands by the parents of my departed close friend: The Power of Now. There’s a story in that, and perhaps I will tell it sometime.

Regardless, it was Eckhart Tolle’s book that really made spirituality come alive for me. It made clear to me how spirituality is meant to be lived, not solely done through action or belief.

Namaste :)