Meditation Posture, Time-Bound Thoughts and The Yoga Sutras (Part 4)
April 14, 2024
8 min read
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{Body}
Best posture for seated meditation
Due to the mind-body connection, your meditation posture directly affects your ability to quiet the mind.
Below is a picture of the “correct” meditation posture (note: I’ll give you some modifications below [in brackets] if your body isn’t this open yet).
{Mind}
Getting rid of past and future thoughts
It’s believed that the “goal” of meditation is to become permanently present — to do away with past and future in order to free our minds from their time-bound grasp.
The sentiment behind this idea is right on, but there are exceptions to the past/future rule that can actually bring you closer to this liberation.
For instance, used correctly, memory is actually an ally — not an enemy — on your path towards enlightenment.
By reflecting back on times of unconditional peace or love, you are inspired to continue renouncing your momentary sense pleasures for the higher highs of God-inspired joy.
Or by simply remembering times of suffering, you gather fuel necessary to cut the chords of your attachments, once and for all.
Expectation, too, (which is often poo-poo’d by meditators) can work for your spiritual benefit. Because of how the mind works, expecting to become wiser, kinder and more enlightened, actually helps you become wiser, kinder and more enlightened!
So while it is eventually necessary for you to detach from all thoughts of past and future, you don’t have to throw them out just yet. In the meantime, you can observe these kinds of time-bound thoughts carefully to discover what lessons, beliefs or desires are propping them up.
{Soul}
This is part 4 of 4 on a series about the Yoga Sutras. Click to read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3.
According to the Yoga Sutras, yoga is the practice of stilling the fluctuations of your mind so that you can rest in unconditional peace.
The only alternative to this achievement — according to Sutra 1.4 — is that “the Seer takes the form of the modifications of the mind,” or “vrtti sārūpyam itaratra.”
Said differently: if you don’t learn how to restrain your thoughts, you are bound to identify with them, believing them to be who you are!
Let’s unpack that second part.
If someone were to ask “who are you?”, what would you say to them?
Would you respond with your name? Hi, I’m Ethan.
Or would you answer with your age, role in society, or city? I’m a 27 year old yoga teacher from Asheville, North Carolina.
Or would you reply with beliefs you hold, memories that shaped perspective, or aspirations you have? I’m someone who tries not to adhere to labels, because of the profound meditation experiences I’ve had; I’m trying to help others discover their changeless essence, too.
But what if you changed your name? Would you still be you?
And what about when you get to be in your 80s? Or when you inevitably change professions? Or when you move cities? Would you still be you?
And what happens if your opinion is proven wrong? Or if you lose all of your memories? Or if you shift your priorities? Would you still be you?
Obviously the answer is yes. Whether you lose waking consciousness under anesthesia, or you change your gender, or you renounce all prior engagements to become a monk in a cave, you will very likely still have the felt sense of being “me”.
This, then, is the constant tension you’re under: you know (theoretically, at least) that you’re not your thoughts and stories, and yet you keep identifying with them! You keep confusing yourself to be the mind, instead of the Presence behind the mind.
The ancient science of yoga was created to help you with this problem. By slowing your mind down through stretching, breathwork and meditation, you are given an opportunity to trade in your temporary identities for an everlasting One.
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