Shekhar Kapur

and He spoke these words :
were you in control of your birth
and will you be in control of your death ?
or the birth and death of your loved ones
could you even control the lives of those you loved dearly
or even you children ?
did you think in your arrogance that they were your children
and not mine ?
did you even control your own nature before you tried
to control the nature of that which surrounds you ?
and you speak to me of words of wisdom ?
and I tell you that wisdom lies in action without illusion
in action without desire
in action without fear
in action,
pure and simple
are you willing, He said
to accept the mere simplicity of this ?
(from: my conversations with Death)

in those first moments
of waking in the morning
of extreme vulnerability
and extreme clarity
of extreme potential
for true insight
and action
just for a few moments
before
the ego battles back
with addiction
to memories
not real
but false interpretations
with waves of fear
of the loss of control
hitting against
the clarity
that seemed so real
and yet so
out of reach
as the
addictions
of the day begin
and gone
is the amazing spinning
of being completely
out of control
to be
child again
once more

The following question from Deepak R is very valid : who is saying it (yoga) is higher? does the one who says it has a higher goal experience life from a lower place? is such a higher goal which draws compassion from us momentarily the one to chase? do we chase another fleeting experience in an attempt to freeze it forever? did you meet the one who experienced and reported this?did you find the yogi?
Fascinating question you are asking Deepak R. In fact you are questioning whether any spiritual goal is just another addiction and an illusion in itself. Another manifestation of fear of ageing and dying. And I really love to way you put it – “do we chase another fleeting experience in an attempt to freeze it ?”
I can only answer for me. First I agree. Lets assume there is nothing about us that is higher, and that what we aspire to is nothing but an illusion/desire for some form of immortality. Of course there is nothing higher. But nor lower for for the lower to be perceived as real there must be a ‘higher’ ? The descriptions can only exist in context of each other. So nothing lower and nothing higher. Everything just is. Nothing immortal, but then nothing mortal either. In fact a vast nothingness. No individuality, no time, no distance. Nothing measurable except in out own imagination. No beginings and no ends.
Now to Yoga. What I was trying to say is that Yoga is greater if one aspires to do just that. To lose ones individuality. To pass into a vast nothingness. And to be in harmony with the vibrations of the Universe. To do any form of Yoga for mere benefits to health is to lose the essence of it. Health is a side benefit.
Like how children play games. The focus is play. the side benefits are learning social role playing skill sets and physical excersise.
Your last question : “did I find the Yogi ?” I am not sure I have the tools yet to do so. How would I recognize one ? I may pass a Yogi that sits on the streets of Mumbai in the form of a beggar – how would I know ? And I ask myself, if I really had the tools to find a Yogi, why can’t I search for one within myself ?