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Yoga, Career and Money

Rich Yogi, Poor Yogi

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Jim and His Karma

1894 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2007 : 10:02:43 AM

Poor people (or people with lots of real-world problems) who get into yoga can harbor a lingering concern that their sadhana is really just about escapism. Maybe they're not doing "real' yoga; maybe it's just the flailings of the desperate.

Well-heeled people (or people for whom real world life is going smoothly) who get into yoga can harbor a lingering concern that, sure, it's easy for them to go on about detaching, opening and surrendering, given their built-in protective safety net. Maybe they're not doing "real" yoga; maybe it's just the self-indulgence of the rich.

Just mind games...

Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Jun 16 2007 10:04:14 AM

anthony574

USA
549 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2007 : 11:42:49 AM

Yes, very true. I have often been frustrated sometimes at the disparity of yogic practices between rich and poor. When I used to read Deepak Chopra, I would often want to invite him to live with me for a day in the place that I live and see how easy it is to go around forgiving and loving everything. But I suppose for us poor folk that makes it all the more challenging.

Interesting note about escapism, though. Yoga and most all Eastern ways always seem escapist on the surface with their passivity and detachment, however, you must wonder what it is you're escaping. The poor could "escape" a limited view of reality that is material deprivation, pollution, crime, etc...but nevertheless, a subjective reality. The rich could do the same with abundant finances, material posessions...which I imagine sometimes to the rich person can almost seem smothering. It is bothways still a view of reality through the individual and not the whole.

Jim and His Karma

1894 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2007 : 2:21:31 PM

My point wasn't that there's a disparity, but that both have concerns that, in the end, are empty.

alan

USA
235 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2007 : 2:52:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jim and His Karma

My point wasn't that there's a disparity, but that both have concerns that, in the end, are empty.

Presence/awareness is without distinction. Poor and rich are equal, they offer the same challenge of subject and object. Being in awareness precludes any outer condition. Ya think? Ha ha ha ha ha

Jim and His Karma

1894 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2007 : 4:29:10 PM

No, my point is that neither condition offers any real challlenge at all when it comes to yoga. Just imaginary challenge.

Geez, I realize this is slightly more subtle than "Did Jesus himself really build this web site?", but I didn't think people would find it this impenetrable...

alan

USA
235 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2007 : 6:02:49 PM

Oops, sorry! I guess I'm a little dense

I get it now, the imaginary challenge thing

clk1710

91 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2007 : 6:07:26 PM

great topic jim, in regards to your original post...
i've often wondered myself if yoga is about detaching, escapism or avoidance but i think regardless of actual wealth, it's more about where we are internally. if we all looking to escape or detach i think we can find anything- yoga, drugs, food, sex, money. so i think it is more of a personal thing.... and noticing also how things shift over time as we evolve. where yoga may have been a means of escapism at one time in life it can then evolve into a practice of surrender and confronting challenges.... for me, i think at sometimes yoga is about escapism in addition to other things, but then sometimes my asana practice or meditation practice is so very confronting as i can cry during a whole yoga class or meditation session feeling as though i'm unraveling because there's so much opening and feelings that are triggered...
it's interesting though, because lately i've been looking hard (and painfully) at the area of money and noticing how it's been probably the biggest area of avoidance and escapism for me. it's like layers of an onion as i see it... we continue to peel away the layers of our life (or ego) realizing all the areas that continually need to be looked at and surrendered. ahhhhh what a joy

thanks for your postings though!

jhony

India
4 Posts

Posted - May 28 2010 : 04:14:43 AM

Hey i read your post and i want to have more knowledge on that. It sounds really good. My opininon is
Ayurveda is the most popular holistic forms of medicine that has originated in India, and is now rapidly spreading around the world. Ayurveda is a combination of two Sanskrit words, ayus meaning 'life' and veda meaning 'knowledge'. Hence, Ayurveda literally means 'the knowledge of life'.

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