June 7, 2026
According to yoga philosophy, asana is any position or posture in which one is able to sit, firmly and comfortably. If I'm seated in a comfortable way, then it is possible for me directly to observe the rising of the ego-sense, and suddenly to become aware that it is a shadow. When the shadow is gone there is a realization of oneness. When light meets a shadow, the shadow vanishes leaving the truth unaffected.
These yoga postures are given to us to awaken in us the truth of this harmony, this oneness of existence, the harmony that is built into every body because it is omnipresent, cosmic. The body too functions on the principle of this harmony.
Without harmony life is impossible. If I understand this I understand the yoga asanas — their beauty, their limitation, the body, the body language — and the fear of old age, sickness and death disappears.