Tag: Yoga
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NEW RELEASE! Chop Wood, Carry Water: The Yoga Of Work
Reflections On Work 2.0 I’m delighted to announce—more than 8 years after I began thinking about “total work” (a brief overview can be read on Aeon)—that I’ve just self-published a book entitled Chop Wood, Carry Water: The Yoga Of Work. It’s a practical way of reflecting on the role of work in one’s everyday life.…
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Raja Yoga Vs. The Direct Path
The difference between the Direct Path of Advaita Vedanta and, for instance, raja yoga is that what the latter takes for granted is drawn into question by the former. Allow me to unpack this statement. Quite understandably, raja yogis will say, “You need to take these forms–the gross body, the energy body, and the mental…
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What Is Karma Yoga For The Jnana Yogi?
Karma yoga has as its central realm that of action. It is not, as is commonly believed, concerned chiefly with trying to do good on behalf of others. Instead, it’s the arena in which one seeks to transcend certain ego conceptions–two in particular. First, karma marga invites one to become detached from any results–good, bad,…
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What Is The Yoga Of Relaxation?
What is the yoga of relaxation? The answer comes in this beautiful and astonishingly hard-to-find book entitled Yoga: Art of Relaxation (1979) by Wolter Keers et al. A preliminary and only very partial answer follows: 1. The first suggestion the authors make is that we open to tensions. While the latter remains undefined, we could say…
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Should I Curb The Mental Chatter?
Question: During my self-observation, I’ve noticed what strikes me as needless mental chatter. Should I try to curb it? What I learned from Zen was to really sit with whatever was arising. My Zen teacher would suggest that I sit without a timer. Just sit for as long as possible. No doubt he had many reasons…