Yoga & Universal Insight…

At their best, the teachings of yoga are universal; they provide a map of the human experience that is reliable, and accurate across cultures. For example, the creation is bound by “pairs of opposites:” up and down; gain and loss; life and death, to name a few. 

The teachings are less concerned with trying to convince us of anything, rather they simply seek to account for “the way things are” on a multitude of levels; subtle and gross; perceived and unperceived; mystical and pragmatic.

As students, we may struggle with certain principles, but with continued practice they reveal themselves with greater depth and clarity over time. Perhaps you can recall hearing or “getting” a particular asana cue for the first time?  “That’s what they meant all along!”

And other teachings still remain elusive; your essential identity is Spirit-Soul as a possible example. Until, one day….
 

“That’s what they meant all along!”

Dharma, or “cosmic-virtuous-order” is a foundational teaching about right relationship with life and virtuous action. Dharma is very nuanced, layered, universal and subjective all at once. Dharma does not ensure desirable outcomes, but rather it is a path to wholly reckon with competing forces – something like a compass amid variable seas.

The seas will continue to stir, but at least we are lost in the right direction, and can orient as needed. The universal teachings of yoga are there to guide us, and provide refuge amidst our temporal and timeless aspects of this human journey.