Just as a jewel within the net of Indra reflects the entire interconnected net, so too any point upon which the mind rests is seen as a reflection of all of the body, all of the mind, all of creation.

whether your yoga practice consists exclusively of sitting meditation, chanting, āsana, or prāṇāyāma, you find that the body itself is the medium through which you can discover interconnected avenues of awareness that lead to a direct experience of insight.

Whatever tradition captures our mind, whatever ancient, medieval, or hybrid form of yoga we find that works for us so that we may dig deeply into the nature of the direct experience, that is the starting point. If it allows real work and authentic inquiry within our own unique circumstances, it is the tradition to follow enthusiastically.

When we practice yoga we cultivate the ability to concentrate the mind so that as we move into various physical postures, we begin to notice our habitual patterns of holding within our own body, just as we might observe physical patterns of holding in musicians as they perform.

tantra and haṭha yoga alike are organized around the principle that all things are sacred.

idea. The physical nature of many traditional yoga practices gives an unusual visceral understanding of the interpenetration of all aspects of life, which can be uniquely clear and profound because it is a direct experience of the interpenetration of form and idea within our own body.

When our saṁskāras are suspended, instead of experiencing a sense of anxiety due to tension between our projections and the truth, we may experience a deep sense of physical relief within the body; the glorious feeling of the residue of truth.

we must beware, because an excellent, profound, living tradition of yoga can still be worn by an idiot as a decoration for his or her ego, while a sincere, open-minded, inquisitive student of a fractured lineage can breathe new life and insight into that tradition for everyone’s benefit.

In a sense our saṁskāras are quite functional because they allow us to process and react to our perceptions without having to exert the energy and presence of mind required to observe and assess whatever is arising anew.