At the HK airport on my way to India, got even upgraded to business class, but instead of indulging on the buffet table, here comes a quick blog to summarize it all.
In short it is a great happening when people come together and celebrate the many aspects of yoga. Does anybody become clearer about it from doing three to four classes per day, shopping around in the bazaar, looking for more stimuli and entertainment? Probably not, but hopefully it plants seeds of further personal inquiry for those that are ready to maintain their unique garden of inner growth. It is indeed fascinating to see forty teachers under one roof and peak your head in on some of the classes and get a feel for what is going on. Yoga in this modern age is truly fascinating and as it keeps growing bigger and bigger I keep asking myself what the heck is it really? In a modern context it is usually about the stretch, but ultimately it is rather how we live our lives and allow this essence to fill us on all levels.
The panel discussion was interesting. “Scratching the surface of yoga, for greater clarity to unfold!?”. Did we succeed, probably not, that is impossible in one hour, but as some of the participants said later, ‘the debate and differences in opinion, prompted further investigations in many areas.
After the conference I had the privilege to meet Tejomayananda, the head of the Chinnmaya mission. I asked him: “In the practices of Yoga and the various Sadhana that we do, how can we know we are not fooling ourselves with pretentiousness, fancy and projections of our own concepts. He paused for a while, and then said. ‘This question may have many valid answers, but for me it has to do with our outlook on life, or our vision rather, the actions that we do and the actual results of our actions. If our vision is real, we will feel a connectedness with everything that exists and see through the veils of illusion and feel a oneness with everything that exists. Then our actions may become clearer, as we can learn to navigate through the pairs of opposites, free ourselves from the many trappings of the Ego and raise our perspective a little and thus maintain a balanced state of mind, no matter what difficulties or challenges placed upon us. As we become sturdier in that there will be less pain and confusion all around. That is ultimately the real test of all our practices, to purify our vision, act in a more conscientious way and as a product of that, we make ourselves more receptive to the genuine state of happiness situated within us all. A happy joyous life is then whatnaturally follows.