We Can Always Begin Again

Nothing like a good snowstorm to give the city a reset -- a chance top pause, reflect, ... then begin again.

This past weekend, New York City got a huge dousing of snow. I loved it. This city moves at such a fast pace that I relish those times when I am forced to slow down and be still.

Sillness. That’s what yoga is all about.

I had a chance to teach a yoga basics class recently. I started out by asking folks what they thought the purpose of yoga was. I got various answers, such as: stretching … relaxing … bringing mind, body and spirit into closer connection … to experience enlightenment. All these answers are in fact part of yoga, but the true goal of practicing yoga is to quiet down the movements of the mind, or yogash chitta vritti nirodhah from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali goes on to state that when the mind is still, then we can realize who our True Nature (tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam). Then, we can realize who we really are.

Unfortunately, with the commercializing and commodifying of yoga in the west, people here seem to think that the goal of yoga is to be able to touch your toes or stand on your head or be more powerful and physically stronger. Wrong.

If we are to achieve this highest state of yoga, it requires, I believe, practicing beginning again … over and over again. It requires a willingness to let go of the parts of our past that are no longer serving us well. It requires cultivating the practice of touching each moment with the least amount of judgement. In this respect, meditation practice is a wonderful vehicle for moving further in this direction.

As Maria Robinson says:

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

In whatever ways you like doing it, as you reset and start anew at the beginning of another new year, I hope you’ll reflect on – and perhaps implement – ways that you can begin again. And in the stillness that comes to your mind, I do sincerely hope that you hear your heart’s truest desires and wishes, and manifest them in the coming year. And most importantly, may the new ending you write for yourself benefit not only you but all beings as well.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you let go of the parts of your past that are no longer serving you well, …
May you begin again, …
For the benefit of ALL Beings everywhere.

Aloha, Metta, Peace, and Joy,

Paul Keoni Chun

Children always know how to Begin again … and again … and again!