This “News Letter” No. 4, was written in October 2012 to Athens – Greece
Look, path to the fullness…
” Nava drishti praquir titaha “
” «Oh yoguin, do not practice the Yoga without dhristi…»
Vāmana Ṛṣi (devanāgarī : वामन ऋषि),
Yoga Korunta
In the practice of the Ashtanga yoga, the eyes are open. Like when we drive a vehicle, whether it is a car, a motorcycle or a bicycle we look at the road in the direction where we are going, otherwise it is the accident.
The yogi is at the same time, the vehicle, the one who is driving and the destination of the journey. This classic image in Indian thought that we also find with Platon, indicates the various aspects of human consciousness :
“Think of the soul as the master of a chariot. The body is the chariot itself, the faculty of reason is the rider, and the mind is the reins. The senses are the horses, and desires are the roads on which they travel.
”
The yogi is at the same time the means (sadhana ), the discipline (the gaze, the concentration), and the purpose: the Union to the Self, the individual soul (jvatman ). This divine spark is present in us, as the hidden jewel, in the ” cave of the heart “.
On the mythical Transhilayenne road, on Ida&*Pingala’s sinuous curves, for this odyssey towards our internal soul, we have to keep our eyes open, so as not to fall in the abyss of Maya, the illusion.
Dhristi, it is not only a place for the gaze, but also a means of concentration, a direction, a movement given to the fascia (conjonctive tissues which wraps our muscles).
As a reminder, our body is a system made up of interactive elements. Any modification of one element of the system will have an effect on the others. Our muscles form muscular chains. Any action in a place of the chain will have a remote immediate repercussion on the same chain.
Professor Ph. Souchard, collaborator of Mrs Mézières, gives a striking example: ” if we eliminate a hollow, by pulling on the spinal muscles, another hollow will deepen. In other words, if we pull on an extremity of the spinal dorsal muscles, the tension moves and expresses himself on the other side (increase of the hollow).
This is very important to understand, for all the postures of extension. Because indeed, the muscular chain to which the spinal muscles belong, begins at the basis of the skull and goes right down to the feet. So, to stretch out the muscles of the back, you have to look at your feet ( Padãyour Dhristii), otherwise your muscles resist and if you work without the abdominal control, you will hurt your lower back.
I wish you to rediscover direction of the gaze, muscular common sense, the good rhythm, to find the harmony within yourself, to be in the present of the heart, the breath and the body.
Om Shanti,
JC Garnier
In other words, dear yoguini and yoguin with the modern humor :
” Is there a pilot in the plane ? “
Om Shanti,
JCG
