mahā

A long while ago I was on a yoga retreat that lasted about two weeks. During that time we were asked to journal about what was going on in our minds at different times of the day and specially after meditation. After a week we were asked to read the entries in the journal and watch for any patterns.

I was surprised to see the highs and lows of my mind throughout that week. What I considered a good state of mind was usually followed by a not so good one and then by another good one. After just seven days of practice the mind continued to oscillate but the highs and lows were a lot closer to a more balance state of mind rather than high peaks and low depressions. And yes there were glimpses, long and short, of just silence.

Years later I read something in a philosophy book about "the path of return" that mirrored my experience of that retreat. This path is contained in the Sanskrit word mahā split in three parts: ma-ha-a,

"ma" represents the individual, us as we think we are, awareness turned outward.
"ha" is still us but more subtle. awareness turned inward in a sense
"a" is the sanctum sanctorum. The deepest part and the most primordial part of us. Awareness resting in itself.

At the beginning there is each one of us that at some point turns inward and recognizes our inner landscape. Then as we observe this we come to experience where that comes from. Then we come to a true resting place. Awareness resting into itself.  Even if we just have a glimpse of this state we know what is there. It is like turning the light inside a dark room. Even if the light only goes on for just a second we have seen what it is in there.

We experience a version of this any time we do our practice of yoga. We step on our yoga mats bringing every part of us along. As we move we become aware of the body which is awareness turning within to the physical body and then the mind itself. After having moved through all that we finally come to rest in śavāsana where we might get a glimpse of the experience of awareness resting into itself. Whether we realize it or not we bring that experience with us and it is incorporated into who we are.

I look forward to seeing you in class so we can move through all these layers.

Blessings

Jorge Nihal