Dr.Patanjali J. Yogendra
In the suggestion box of a church, a pastor once found a bitter note. It read, “Father, I have been attending your Sermons for years, coming in week after week to hear your wise words. But come to think of it, I do not remember even one of the thousands of sermons you have delivered. I feel it is a lot of time wasted on my part to have come here to listen to you and a lot of time you have wasted delivering them”. “Cut out the crap” was his suggestion.
The pastor folded the letter and kept it carefully on his table. On the following Sunday after mass, he brought out the topic of this letter and asked the parishioners for their suggestions.
One old man stood up and asked permission of the pastor to say a few words. He said, “I have been married for forty years now. In that time, my good wife has cooked tens of thousands of meals for us. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall what the menu was for a single one of those meals. But I know this much that they all nourished me and gave me the strength to do the work I needed to do. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be dead long ago.”
Such is the case with all spiritual disciplines be it Yoga or religion. Daily practices of the subtler teachings help us to achieve a better and more balanced state of mind and body. Though the effects are not immediately evident – be sure that without them you would collapse long ago.
Daily practice of the simplest teachings of yoga helps build a good foundation for our future developments.
As Shri Yogendraji often said, ‘Judge not an action by what you get from it, but what you become by it’.
Published in the July 2011 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine.
The pastor folded the letter and kept it carefully on his table. On the following Sunday after mass, he brought out the topic of this letter and asked the parishioners for their suggestions.
One old man stood up and asked permission of the pastor to say a few words. He said, “I have been married for forty years now. In that time, my good wife has cooked tens of thousands of meals for us. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall what the menu was for a single one of those meals. But I know this much that they all nourished me and gave me the strength to do the work I needed to do. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be dead long ago.”
Such is the case with all spiritual disciplines be it Yoga or religion. Daily practices of the subtler teachings help us to achieve a better and more balanced state of mind and body. Though the effects are not immediately evident – be sure that without them you would collapse long ago.
Daily practice of the simplest teachings of yoga helps build a good foundation for our future developments.
As Shri Yogendraji often said, ‘Judge not an action by what you get from it, but what you become by it’.
Published in the July 2011 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine.
