Waves in the Ocean of Infinite Mind. Originally written in 2011.
Waves in the Ocean of Infinite Mind
My very wise yoga teacher, Erich Schiffmann, speaks a LOT about Infinite Mind. About our being connected to Infinite Mind. He sometimes refers to this as Big Mind. Or - God. Whoa! Don't stop reading now....take a risk and dive in!
First of all, let's try to explain Infinite Mind. Some teachers of yoga/meditation refer to Infinite Mind as Universal Consciousness, or the Intelligence (with a capital "I"), that is behind all that is. Wow! Now that is a BIG statement.
So let's begin at the beginning. (A logical place to start.) If we accept that fact that we ARE, that we are HERE, that we are living, and existing, that we are spiritual beings currently having a human experience, one has to wonder how it is that we actually got here in the first place. Did we hatch? Did we just appear out of nowhere? We certainly did not make ourselves. Our parents got together, winked at each other, and voila! A human body....into which our spirit plummeted! There we were! Inside a body....!
Now, where did our spirit come from? Clearly, who we are is not our body....and who we are is not our thoughts. So who are we? We are Spirit. Individual spirits, not one of us alike! More to the point, we are part of a greater whole, part of – and not separate from – a much, much bigger Spirit....Universal Consciousness or Big Mind.
Namaste, Yogis!!
Scientists and mathematicians might explain Universal Consciousness more concisely in terms that only they understand. Vibrational frequencies, the Big Bang Theory, and all. For the rest of us, we can rest in the somewhat simpler explanation that there is – there MUST be – some Intelligence of some kind - that created – and continues to create - us, and our world as we know it.
Where does yoga fit into this concept? Erich explains very well. When we are still – when we experience ourselves in stillness and feel the peace within us, we will come upon a new awareness of who we are. The new awareness convinces us that we are part of a greater whole, that we are not a separate energy nor a separate consciousness. We are an individuated and specific expression of one energy, one Consciousness, one Infinite Mind – much like a single wave in the ocean is a specific expression of that ocean. Waves are not separate energies. They are individuated and unique, one of a kind, but they do not exist apart from the ocean. They ARE the ocean.
Thus, we are connected – one to the other – and all connected to Universal Consciousness. There is no You, no Me, there is only Us. All together. All one.
I think that is enough to meditate upon this month! So, here is the practice. Get comfortable. Practice being still without holding yourself rigidly still. Breathe. Breathe into and out of your heart. As you breathe in and breathe out, feel the air that you breathe. Feel the ground beneath you. If you are in a room with other yogis, feel the energy around you. Feel the energy of YOU! Feel the connectedness of Everything. Your existence then will be more in harmony with those around you, with the happenings of your life – because you will be experiencing yourself and everything in a new and awesome way!
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