The Journey Inward

Realizing your own true nature through the mind body soul connection

We live in the world of our five senses. Our minds operate by receiving information from our sense of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. Anything that does not fall into this realm cannot be comprehended by our mind. From this limited prospective we have deducted that humans are so to speak, at the top of the totem pole. Try this out for size. Dogs can smell and hear much better than we can. If we were gathered in a room and next store a fire started, we may never know of the fire until it burned thru the wall. However a dog would know immediately, so, how can we say that we are superior to animals? Plants can manufacture carbohydrates from the soil sun and water. We can't come near that.

Maybe we can start out with the belief that we are all operating on the same plane. In some cases we are all there is and in some cases we are not. So now we can begin to have respect for all earth's inhabitants. Now try this on for size. We are all sitting in a large room with the door closed. The air in the room is tinted blue and we can see into each others bodies. What we would see is this. First our lungs would be tinted blue, then our bloodstream would be tinted blue and finally our cells would be tinted blue. This blue tint would penetrate all of us and we would be sharing it. In a sense we would be connected by the air we are exchanging with our breath. So now, not only are we on the same plane with animals and vegetables but we are all connected. We depend on each other. Who would you be slapping if you slapped the person next to you? If you answered yourself you would be correct.

So now, in a sense we may be able to consider that a state of so called enlightenment is the physical experience of the complete connection between everything in the universe. But how do we physically experience this? This is where the process of yoga and meditation come in.

When I started out on the inner road, I had no idea where I was heading. I just knew it was right for me. So I stayed on the road. First it was karate. From there it took me to tai chi and from tai chi it was yoga. Slowly, over a long period of time I stopped focusing on the outside world and started focusing on the inner world. I used the breath to direct myself inside. In yoga postures when moving, the inhales and exhales can be fit to every movement of the body. When your body expands, inhale and when your body contracts exhale. When holding postures just let the breath alone. Let yourself be breathed. This could be called moving meditation.

Now the yoga postures also strengthen our body and mind in preparation for seated meditation. After practicing yoga postures while focusing on the breath, relax the whole body by staying in savasana (also called the corpse pose) for at least ten minutes. Then find a comfortable place to sit for meditation. The body should be completely relaxed, the spine straight. You can sit on a cushion or the floor or a straight backed chair. Set a timer for a certain time and begin to focus on your breath. Concentrate completely on your breath. Watch carefully on the inhale, watch carefully on the exhale. Note the length of the inhale and exhale. Focus on the changeover from inhale to exhale. Try not to loose your concentration. Try to find the origin of the inhale. Try to find the origin of the exhale. If any thoughts come into your mind, let them go and continue your concentration. After long practice you will start to notice that the breath starts to breathe your whole body. You become one with object of your concentration. Soon your breath seems to actually stop for a time before resuming. Stay with it. Try to act as a witness to yourself being breathed. Now, after long disciplined training you will start to enter into a state of Samadhi, that physical realization of oneness that we all crave.

Obviously one or two pages of instruction will not produce enlightenment; however the merging of body mind and soul thru yoga will start the process of self awareness. This self awareness will keep you on the road leading to spiritual growth and spiritual healing culminating into a state of happiness

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