Saturday, August 30, 2014

Astavakrasana, the powerful message of the pose

Here is the message of the Astavakrasana, attributed to a child saint, who was only 12 years old when he revealed his spiritual maturity and wisdom. Here, in a slight rebuke to the aversion expressed by king Janaka on seeing his crooked body, the young boy says:

O King, just as the shape of a temple does not affect the akasa (sky), the crookedness of the physical body has no effect on Atma (Soul). A wise man has Atmadrstii.e. he looks at the Reality behind this manifested world, whereas an ignorant one hasCarma-drsti i.e. he gets lost in names and forms."

What a powerful message, especially when we fail to keep track of yogic philosophy behind each pose...

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Shameem,

Thanks for writing about Robin Williams, depression and heart chakra

http://jaisivananda.blogspot.com/2014/08/robin-williams-depression-your-heart.html

I suffer from depression and take medicines and also go for therapy. My life goes exactly the way you described in the article.

There are times when I feel extremely happy and I congratulate myself that I overcame depressive feelings etc etc and I will never go back to that depression phase.

Then something happens at home with family members or others which triggers my depressive feelings. I don't blame anyone for my state but I hope with the help of Yoga and disciplined routine I will overcome this dreaded depression.

Shameem, Please write about depression from the yogic perspective.

Thanking You

Sai

(U.S.A.)