Always keep a diamond in your mind.

So, this sutra tells me, why it’s so important to let go of disturbances and seek serenity.
When I look at the world, reality, through my transparent inner diamond, I most likely will see, and become true reality. Emotions, feelings, opinions, personality colours and disturbs my perception, and the possible unity. I love Bouanchauds words about this sutra. He asks me, how I distinguish between a mere quiet mind and contemplation. I don’t know. Maybe my only experience is that contemplation can include an object, while a quite mind can be unfocused as well, or have no special playground. But I long to hear your experience here :-)
I’ve been guided to share my reality (like; what I plan to do) with others, and leave the explanations and defences out of the discussion. My experience, with this practice is that my life gets easier, calmer and yes, more bright and transparent (honest). I also get to see, that a lot of mess between me and my loved ones had to do with discussing the explanations and the defences, there is a diamond hard edge to leaving all those matters behind, but it is a beautiful hardness.
How do I translate this into my yoga practice?
To meet every pose, with my inner diamond hard clarity… Let go of all the personal stories about what I cannot and doesn’t use to… To focus on being on my mat, and not about xxx (what to remember to tell someone, what to buy later and what the idiot accomplished earlier :) just be, breath, move, do and maybe experience the cleansing of mind and connection to my inner diamond clear mind.
So I’m thinking forehead, headstand, warrior poses and breathing. I don’t know why yet…

Sutra 1.41 Bouanchaud;
“As fluctuations subside, the contemplative mind becomes transparent like a gem, and reflects the object, whether it is that which perceives, the instrument of perception, or the object perceived.”
Desikachar;
“When the mind is free from distraction, it is possible to be involved in the object of enquiry. As one remains in this state, gradually one becomes totally immersed in the object. The mind, then like a flawless diamond, reflects only the features of the object and nothing else.

more, more, more 1.41 with Kate
Namasté
Jenni Saunte

Ease and peace 1.40

Desikachar translates the sutra to “When one reaches this state, nothing is beyond comprehension. The mind can follow and help in the understanding of the simple and the complex, the infinite and the infinitesimal, the perceptible and the imperceptible.”
For many weeks I’ve concluded to my classes, that serenity must be pretty darn important-one sutra after another telling me how to get there…
Sutra 1.40, tells me that things get better when I get in the yoga-state :-) I believe Patanjali is right!
How many times haven’t I thought “this is so messed up, it can never be good again” or something along that line, and when my disturbed mind have found peace, serenity everything is clear. So this week I’m in the clear, clean sight, working with garud asana and connecting all asanas to the unfolding of clarity and peace. To me there is clarity and peace, to enjoy in finding unity. For me, everything gets simpler when the key fit the lock :-) so exploring unity, (finding/using the right key) is the same quest for me. Ease and peace.
I’m keeping this post short this week, have been writing so much – love and gratitude for your time and attention.
Jenni Saunte

focal points calming the mind 1.39

Where have I recently just read something like; “if you focus on external objects all you find is that you need more and more and more to get satisfied, if you focus on inner being, you will find a depth that fulfils your every wish and need for more”.
Maybe in the 365 tao…
Well, this sutra:
Bouanchaud: “Choosing meditation according to one’s affinities also brings mental stability.”
Desikachar: "Any inquiry of interest can calm the mind."
...reminds me that focusing on one thing can calm my mind. I’ve really tested this one – it works, it really does. Having kids, studies and work, I often get disturbed trying to do the impossible act, multitasking- as way of life. Not healthy. This week I’ve tried to fix my whole semester and my whole essay at once – this drives me insane – and it’s so true, simple and beautiful. It feels insane, because it is! Cannot fix May in March. Simple. Cannot write the ending and the result and the middle and the start at once, it’s madness. Simple. So, thanks for the reminder, one focal point (at a time) can cool my heated mind. My affinities – I’m looking that one up, it means: “relationship by marriage, an attraction to or liking for something, an attractive force between substances” relation and relationship is mentioned. I love the dictionary-meditation. So my affinities are matters of relation, attraction and kind of a connecting force.
In my meditations, my affinity has been on sensing “being alive”, for some time. It’s so nice, just to feel life vibrating and awareness shaped into a form. I guess I’m building a relation with this affinity, to my experience of life. Reading this sutra makes me think of dristis, focal points, maybe I work them into my practice, and into my teaching. The focus has been exclusively on breath, attitudes and awareness for some time, maybe this is a push towards some new material… Maybe I’ll share some meditation experience, or maybe we lengthen the small meditation I’ve worked into every class.
Ok that’s it for now.
Namasté-bumpless minds to all of you :-)
Jenni Saunte

dreamy and poetic - 1.38

Well, I’ve had some pretty vivid dreams this week, also this night. In my academic work, I meditate on the concepts “poetic” and “dreamy” to name a quality of experience, play and creativity. A challenging differentiation, but I just keep waiting and listening, cause in my experience, the answer is always clear, easy (and already there). This quality points towards another (4.) dimension, where “knowing” is something completely else.
For me, this quality is the one that makes the hobbyhorse fun to ride – it’s like a magic wand.
And today I read sutra 1.38 “Enquiry into dreams and sleep and our experiences during and around these states can help clarify some of our problems”, nidra (yogic sleep) off course reminds me to make some extra work on the endings off my classes, maybe go dynamic during class, and than use some extra minutes to be in the this dreamy – poetic state.
I also love that Bouanchaud reminds me of drastar, inner being. If I connect this, with what I work on academically, than I conclude (haha) that in every asana – inner truth or being is available, through – dreamy – poetic - qualities of experience. Let’s make the “hobbyhorse asanas fun to ride” hahaha oh, that just sounds weird.
There is a salutation I love – which Rossella Baroncini thought me – I do the rising and lowering of the arms (start of sun salutation) and while lowering-
I say to the sound “aaa” while turning face to the east and honouring the state of being awake –
Than turning to the south I say “ååå” when lowering the arms, honouring the state of conscious dreaming while asleep –
To the west I say “uuu” while lowering the arms, honouring the state of deep sleep (resting in trust, inner being, gods hands) –
And to the north I say “aum” honouring the state that includes the three former and transcends them :-)
I love that salutation.
Read a bit more about 1.38 at Dharmayogas...
So an aum salutation to all you beautiful connecting people
Jenni Saunte