The Second Modification of the Mind

 

 

 

 

The first modification is right knowledge. The second is wrong knowledge. If you are functioning from the wrong center of being whatever you do you will do wrongly and whatever you choose you will choose wrongly. If your center is out of balance you will be operating from wrong knowledge. Just as if when your center is not engaged in a yoga pose you will lose your balance. Even when you think you are doing good you will probably be doing from the wrong center of energy and in this you will receive the wrong results. You can’t think about right and wrong. You simply have to know from your center which way to move, how to be open and flexible and when it is good to hold strong.

Here is a simple story of how trying to do something good can actually lead to doing something wrong. A man visited a saint. The saint sat in silence. The man finally asked the saint to give him a message for life, a direction so that he could know what the right thing to do is.  The saint said, “Do good and throw it in the well.” This is a very old Sufi saying which simply means do something good and forget about it. Do not walk around thinking about how good you have been. Simply be good.

The next day the man helped an old woman cross the street and then he pushed her into the well. Do good and throw it in the well. If your wrong center of self in functioning no matter what you do it will be with wrong knowledge.

We will continue to work on this, but for today lets’ see if we can find our center, know how to move so that we remain flexible and yet stay strong at the same time.

Doctor Lynn

http://www.doctorlynn.com

This week, do good and throw it in the well. No, do not help an old lady and throw her down the well! Do good and then let it go. In this you will be in right knowledge because right knowledge is always good and never needs reminding.

 

 

 

If right knowledge is present in your being you’ll be centered, you won’t need to pray, or undertake any form of worship or ritual. You will simply know what is right and you will move in that direction. Right knowledge will keep you centered and when you are centered you find your balance. Balance is the place between extremes, in yoga certain poses take us to the extreme and this is where we can get hurt if we are not centered, likewise we can refrain from doing something (like a pose) out of fear and this too can hurt us. To live a life of yoga is to live between extremes; never too little and never too much.

Right knowledge means to do what produces “good” without harm. If someone is harming you then speak up and end the harm. This will take strength, but is necessary to bring balance to your life.

Today let’s work on balance. This means to always come back to your center. Your center is your strength. The moment you let go of it you’ll know it. The practice of yoga is to make you aware of your center (your strength) and then to teach you how to always come back to it; because in life you will lose your balance. Things will happen to cause you to feel weak. The quicker you recover and pull back to your center the stronger you will be and in this strength you will find your balance.

Let’s start our practice and see how this works. Look for the moments you feel strong and the moment you feel weak. Both have much to teach you.

Right knowledge always leads to strength. When you are grounded in right knowledge no matter where you go or what you do you will always connect with the temple of your soul. Here you will always find the truth. Seek balance in all things and in all things find balance. That is the way to right knowledge.

Doctor Lynn

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Right Knowledge- the first modification of the mind.

 

 

 

 

Right knowledge means you are able to choose what is right for you without debate. There is no decision making; you simply move in the direction that is right. A good analogy is a sunflower. Grounded and rooted it simply moves towards the sun. It doesn’t think about what is right it simply moves in that direction.

Knowledge is very powerful. We all know what is right for us and we also know when we are anguishing over something. When anguishing stop and adjust your thoughts and then move in the direction that is right for you without getting hurt or hurting anyone or anything because the first and probably most important part of practicing yoga is to do no harm.

So today choose to move in and out of the poses without harm and with what is right for you. If you listen to your body you will know what is comfortable and what is a struggle. You will know when and how to modify the pose so it is right for you. But be very careful when choosing. Don’t give in to weakness or avoid something because it is a challenge. Remember the sunflower must work to bend and move towards the sun so it can grow.

Right knowledge; stay grounded and strong while always moving in the direction that is right. This is the direction where you do no harm to yourself, to others and to the universe. Listen to your soul and you will always know the right direction and be armed with the right knowledge. With this we all make the world a better place.    

Doctor Lynn

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The Modifications of the Mind – don’t choose- adjust

 

 

 

 

Modification of the mind or your thoughts is just like modifying the poses in yoga class. It’s not that we change; it’s that we make a slight adjustment so that we find the place that is comfortable and right for us. We don’t choose to either stay in the pose or to not do the pose we simply move in such a way that the body becomes comfortable, the mind becomes quiet and the soul takes a breath. Modification means to make slight adjustments. So when we modify the mind we are consciously minding the mind. We are in control of where our thoughts go. We are constantly modifying our thoughts to bring us either anguish or non-anguish.

The first modification is right knowledge. With right knowledge one never has to choose. It is not a decision between what is good and what is bad. One simply moves towards good. To do this you must find your center. It is from here you can choose. Your center is the place that from wherever you go or whatever you do it always leads you to good.  But remember everything in life gets modified or adjusted to each of our own points of view.

So use the yoga poses to understand modification. If you struggle with a pose modify it by moving closer to your center which is the place where you will always find your balance.

If you find yourself struggling this week, modify your thoughts and move yourself closer to your center. It is the place of right knowledge and will always lead you towards what is good.

Doctor Lynn

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