YSN Vol. 12, No. 1 (Feb 2024)
The Evaporation of Identity: A Poem by Ajmal Sobhan
From the time we were born,
we were labeled with what we appeared to be
Or by what we ostensibly represented –
A native of ‘this’ country or of ‘that’ state.
Either members of a religious order or of a laic group
Belonging to a high caste or a low caste.
We spoke ‘this’ language or ‘that’ dialect
We were a wealthy family
Or we belonged to the working class
Either sophisticated or rustic in temper.
Each of these identities became our trademark.
Creating an identity of our own
based on our body form also came easy to us.
If that wasn’t appealing enough we identified
ourselves by the measures of our mind,
Intelligence, intellect, and the arrogance that follows.
If we were part of the privileged few,
We flaunted our identity through power, and might
If we were part of a minority or the disadvantaged
We flaunted our victimhood instead.
From times eon we were distinguished by form.
Forms that defined us, not innately but by association
Forms that illustrated our features distinctively
Forms that made us proud of what ‘we were.’
As we got older our forms became further cemented
by our behavior, our attitude, our mannerism
Forms that gave us a manufactured distinctiveness
Of whom we ‘were’ and whom we ‘were not’
We articulated our encrypted form with force.
and ‘valor’ oblivious of what ‘truly is’.
Sooner or much later we discover our form.
to reflect our egoic nature.
Or just a mirage in the desert of a deluded self
Building castles in the quicksand of desire
and false perpetuity, despite the inevitable transience.
Misguided notions of ‘oneself’ keeps our mind.
active in pursuit of an identity that hardly exist.
An identity that belie who we truly are.
The form identity of illusion notwithstanding,
Flourishing midst its stubborn persistence,
there are yet other formless states of reality.
And that is our blemish less essence.
Essence that is equated with ‘Being’
Being that denotes transcendence.
One that is at par with awareness,
Awareness that goes beyond the physical and the mental,
Awareness that is above body and the mind,
Awareness permeating the very universe.
Once we become aware, our essence becomes our identity.
In it there is no competition, no heights to scale,
There is no superior, or inferior,
nor a wailing victim, nor a howling victimizer.
Only compassion and unity
Our essence is beyond an identity,
Indeed, it’s the evaporation of identity.
The true meaning of essence is ‘being. ‘
And this ‘being’ resides in ‘silence’.
But in the real world that we live in,
form identity is unlikely to evaporate,
but it can be dimmed and diminished,
By consciously letting our essence govern our being.
Our essence negates the false self of beauty, power, and glory
Thus, letting the true self emerge in its wake.
The Self that touches the Supreme, and is devoid of a self-identity,
Being free of form identity, lets a journey into silence begin.
Ajmal Sobhan
January 2024
YSN, Vol. 11, No. 2 (June 2023)
Poetry: The Cycle of Suffering, by Dr. Ajmal Sobhan
Be sure to see all four pages of this poem, by hovering at the bottom, and clicking to advance to the next page.
The Cycle of Suffering
Be sure to see all four pages of this poem, by hovering at the bottom, and clicking to advance to the next page.
This incisive poem by Dr. Ajmal Sobhan beautifully highlights and exemplifies how our reactions to external negative events from the past or present, in the form of anger, guilt, regret, remorse keep us trapped in this poem. The poem serves as an example of the principles outlined in the Patanjali Yoga Sutras, which propose that to end suffering, one must cultivate mindfulness and detachment, thereby disrupting the mental cycle of suffering.
Of course, this is easier said than done, and it takes constant vigilance to stay present and centered. By recognizing the immovable reality of stillness and peace, we open a window to transcend our suffering. Remember to check in with yourself during those down times and know that this is a work in progress. Personal growth is an ongoing process. With patience and practice, we can develop the ability to rise above the mental turmoil, the world of suffering and discover inner peace.
YSN, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Nov. 2018)
The Film: History of Yoga
योग का इतिहास – हमारे पूर्वजो के जीवन पथ से।
Dr. Deepika Kothari’s comprehensive film spanning the 6,000-year journey of the history and philosophy of Yoga is well worth the watch!
See Dr. Kothari introduce her film at www.vishuddhifilms.com, or click the play arrow below.
To view the film in its entirety, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92J-JPChaeI.
YSN, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Nov. 2013)
Dr. Sarkar and Yoga Asana Sculptures at Delhi Airport
Photo credit: Dr. Dilip Sarkar
Yoga Mudrā Sculpture at Washington DC Restaurant
Photo credit: Pat Deepak
Yoga Mudrā Sculpture, similar to the one at Delhi Airport (shown in this issue of YSN), depicting the “Prithvi Mudrā” overlooks the dining hall of the gourmet Rasika Westend Restaurant in Georgetown, Washington, DC, USA.
A brief description of the powerful benefits of Prithvi Mudrā is given as follows:
Prithvi Mudrā (Mudrā of the Earth)
Method:
The tip of the ring finger touches the tip of the thumb, with the other three fingers stretched out. It should be done while doing “Kapālbhati Prānāyāma”, or can be done while doing effortless normal breathing for 2 to 4 times a day for 3 to 30 minutes each. It can be done while sitting in a chair or on the ground.
Specialty:
It reduces all physical weaknesses, and brings balance, for example, by adjusting excessively high or low weight or blood sugar.
Time duration:
It has no particular time duration, and can be practiced any time.
Benefits:
It helps to increase the weight of weak people or reduce the weight of the obese people
It improves the complexion of the skin, and makes the skin to glow.
It makes the body active by keeping it healthy.
It is good for type-2 diabetics, as it tends to remove excess sugar in the blood.
Look for more articles on explanation of, and research on, the powerful health benefits of different Mudrā-s in future issues of YSN.
~ AD
Yoga: The Art of Transformation – The Exhibition and Two Paintings
The two paintings at the Sackler Gallery entrance are enlarged copies of the lavishly painted folios (ca.18th century hatha yoga treatise) that depict the transformation of an advanced adept (siddha*) in a blissful state experiencing his equivalence with the universe or cosmos, since at the philosophical core of Hatha yoga is the understanding that “everything – from the limitless Absolute to the lowest forms of inert matter – is one, yet manifested differently.”**
This essential equivalence allows the yoga-practitioner to progressively convert his gross body (sthula sharira, शरीर, in Sanskrit) into subtle body (sukshama sharira) and become a greater being than a deva (divine entity with unlimited or divine welfare-bestowing power). “With the sun and moon (identified as the ha and tha in hatha yoga), the siddha stands**” in meditation (dhyāna), depicted by his eyes crossed, as if having transcended each of the transcendent cosmos’ or universe’s 14 levels, depicted as a white palace city, from feet to head. In many yoga systems, equivalence of the Self (ātmā) and the Absolute (brahman) constitute the ultimate reality. The different works are artists’ attempts to make visible the yogic insight of this equivalence of cosmos as body. The yoga paths (yoga mārg), whether Tantric or hatha or others, were developed as systematized paths for adepts to understand this equivalence. These and other insights are beautifully explained and illustrated in the chapter on “The Cosmic Body” (p. 161-165) in the referenced Exhibition book.** It is a book worth reading for understating the complex history of Yoga based on available visual art form since 500 BCE as shown at this Exhibition.
For the Exhibition schedules in Washington, DC, San Francisco, CA and Cleveland, OH, see the YSN CALENDAR.
*The Sanskrit word siddha (perfected or self-realized being), also appears in conjugate form as in El Cid in Spanish, according to Barbara G. Walker’s The Women’s Encyclopedia of Women’s Myths and Secrets. Per Wikipedia, the name El Cid is a modern Spanish denomination composed by the article el meaning “the” and Cid (meaning a very strong and brave man or ‘Master’ ) which comes from the Arabic word sîdi or sayyid, which means “Lord” or “Master”.)
**Yoga: The Art of Transformation by Debra Diamond, with contributions by David Gordon White, et al. (2013), 328 pages, published by Freer Galley and Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC. Debra Diamond, Ph.D., is the Associate Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, Sackler Gallery, who also curated and published the edited volume on the 2009 Exhibition entitled “Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur,” at the Sackler Gallery, with a scholarly description of the Nāth yogis who in the 12th century originated the Hatha Yoga philosophy and practices.
~ AD
[Photo credits: Top – Dr. Dilip Sarkar; Bottom – Pat Deepak]