April 19, 2024
If something has gone wrong with my yoga practice I must see where it has gone wrong. Either I am doing it mechanically or there is some inefficiency in it. So it is good to stop and think, "What has gone wrong?" Then I will put some spirit back into my spiritual practice; without spirit is not spiritual practice, it is mechanical practice. Let it come from your heart; put something into it. There is nothing wrong with your yoga practices. Because the spirit has been lost, why must you throw the whole thing away? Why shouldn't you put the spirit back into it?
Here is the same problem with these iconoclastic trends. "I don't like all these formalities," I used to hear. "What you want to do then?" "I want to sit and meditate," I was told. But sitting in a quiet place is also a ritual, as much as a ritual is worshiping a statue. And in discarding the formal ritual you've lost some of the mystique. So instead of condemning the whole thing for the fault of a part, repair the part. If in your way of worship something has gone, put the spirit back in and keep it.