International Yoga Day – the thoughts and saying from the thinkers and believers.
“If you seek enlightenment, go to the root cause. Nothing exists without a cause. The root cause of enlightenment is compassion.”
-H.H. XIV Dalai Lama
Buddha’s Teachings – the connection between yoga and Buddhism
The core of the Buddha’s teachings exists in the Four Noble Truths, expounded in his very first sermon following his enlightenment, which is Nirvana.
The first noble truth explained by the Buddha is Dukka: This says, Life is suffering and suffering is a reality.
The second truth expands – Samudaya, it elucidates that the cause of this suffering originates in our own minds.
The third noble truth, Nirodha, offers hope: it says, liberation and freedom from suffering is possible.
The fourth noble truth, Magga, gives one the method to attain liberation, known to Buddhists as the path of the “Middle Way.”
Buddhism, as well as yoga, acknowledges that there is affliction and that liberation from pain is possible. This biblical pedagogy holds that empathy is a vehicle for liberation. Meditation is a yogic practice used by Buddhists and yogis similarly to go beyond the variations of the mind (the dualistic thought process), to realize the Oneness of Being. Buddhists may call it void. Yogis may call it the untarnished self. Shakespeare said, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
The compassionate Buddha was noted for saying –
“When we don’t have what we want, we are unhappy; when we do get what we don’t want, we are unhappy. Freedom comes when we are free from our wants, our preferences.”
The yogic text Astavakra Samhita states: One who thinks he is free is free, one who thinks he is bound is bound, as we think so we become. When one identifies with that which is eternal, one eventually becomes eternal.
Final thoughts
International Yoga Day is a reminder that we must keep our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health before anything else and take some time out to nourish and nurture it with yoga (it is a holistic approach). Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy International Yoga Day.
PS: The image had nothing to do with the prototypes and the existing phenomenon of Yoga and its benefits. It is for all the lovely people who demean themselves due to many reasons and hold back. go, let go, and fuck the world with the right attitude to make your future better.
