Matt Borer – Yoga 4 Liberation, Austin TX

Adi Shankara was a yogi philosopher and scholar, born approx. 509 B.C., who was responsible for starting the Advaita Vedanta school of yogic thought.  He was an infamously fantastic debater who traveled across India spreading his particular ideas based deeply in the Upanishads and various Vedic texts.  Apparently after his father died he was initiated into a student life of yoga and mastered/memorized the Vedas by the age of 8!  (I  cant even remember what I had for breakfast!)  His works are available and are pretty interesting stuff to crack into!  

I bring him up because he has a fantastic list of “suggestions” for successful Sadhna (daily work or effort to foster change i.e. prayer, asana, pranayama, meditation, mantra), which fall right in line with my previous piece concerning meditating on the seeds we have within us and how we choose to care for them.  Here you go…

1. Viveka- discernment- the process of finding out what is important and what you can get rid of.

2. Vairagya-detachment-becoming “ok” with getting rid of some elements in your life or behavior to foster personal growth.  

3. The 6 Treasures     -tranquility of mind      -poise

                                        -self control                     -burning faith

                                        -patience                          -self surrender

*Burning faith is my favorite to ponder on.  This does not mean faith in a higher power necessarily.  It means a faith in yourself!  If you don’t firmly believe you can change and/or get better, you will not get much further!

4. Thirst for liberation.  ”You can get it if you really want it”-Jimmy Cliff  

All of this information is really only useful if you truly want to become the best you that you can be.  There are those that go through life thinking they are the way they are and thats the end of it.  I feel like one element that truly separates us as human from animal is our capacity to view inward and make changes as we see fit.  Is liberation or enlightenment attainable?  Im not sure, but I am doing my best to find out!