Introduction
The highest yoga for a human being is union with the Divine Mother. To be in union with the Divine Mother is to be an instrument of Her love, grace, and intelligence. It is not something the yogi does, per se. It is the Mother extending into Her creation as, within, and through Man. At the epicentre of such an instrument—and such a state of Being—is a burning, loving, passionate, and surrendered Heart.
Yoga is to yoke—to unify in function, experience, and expression—body, mind, heart, soul, spirit. The ancient Egyptians symbolically represented this integration of self with the ankh, which was a symbol for “life” and “soul”. Later, Christianity utilised a slightly modified version of this symbol, in that of the cross (derived from the Latin word crux, meaning a ‘cross with a handle’ or the ankh). Represented within this symbol is horizontal unity through the dynamic harmonisation and expression within and through the polarity of male / female, masculine / feminine, negative / positive, yin / yang, giving / receiving, generative / destructive, and so forth. And, vertical unity through the dynamic integration of the many layers or dimensions of our being, from subtle to gross, sometimes referred to as above and below, spirit and matter. Within the esoteric Christian tradition, in the middle or heart of this symbol is placed the Christ, better referred to as Christ Consciousness, the Spirit of Man (male/female).
So what is the original purpose of yoga? Was it for our own self improvement, enhancement, or gratification? Or was it given to our ancient ancestors by One that intended it as a means to commune with and act on behalf of that One?
Psyche-therapy
One of the great travesties of modernity is the reduction of the soul (the psyche) to what is little more than mental noise—as a by-product of physical brains. The goddess Psyche (Greek psukhē, the Wisdom emanation of the Divine Mother in Greek cosmology) has been degraded to mere rationalism, “conscious” and “unconscious” mind-stuff, and mentalised concepts invented and sustained by collective and individualised mind chatter. Psyche is the soul of the Mother, in times past recognised as the collective soul of Man. She is readily experienced and accessed through the breath, and all other manifestations in which the flow of life-force makes itself known to and through the human being. Therefore true psychotherapy would naturally be a healing modality for the soul, utilising breath, right relationship to life-force, and an integrative (body, mind, heart) experience of the self.
Recognising the above, it becomes apparent yogic and ayurvedic science—when approached as originally intended—are an ancient form of self-administered “psychotherapy,” typically guided by one who has themselves recovered their natural state of body, mind, heart integration (a Yogi, whose calling it is to be a yoga teacher or ayurvedic healer). The depths to which a “teacher” has delved and, most importantly, integrated into living expression the body, soul, and spirit, is the depth to which she is qualified to assist another to bring forth the same.
Presence
The highest yoga for a human being is union with the Divine Mother.
To be in union with the Divine Mother is to be an instrument of Her love, grace, and intelligence.
Union with the Divine Mother implies being present to Her creation, to Her ever emerging Creativity, in all its many forms—the so-called “good”, “bad”, “ugly”, “blissful” and “sublime”. All phenomena are one and the same—the emergent display of Great Mother’s wisdom and perfection.
Presence is a dynamic living response and state of Being, within consciousness. The consciousness experienced as “self” lovingly responding to the consciousness experienced as “other”. It’s all pure and total consciousness. The ineffable experience we call “love” is, in somewhat reductionistic and yet pragmatic terms, what we might call “intelligent cooperation”. Intelligence is the orientation towards Life and that which is Life-affirming.
Reactivity is a hindrance to or imposition upon our natural state of presence. That doesn’t mean the experience of reactivity (in self and in others) should be rejected as “wrong,” and therefore ignored, denied or suppressed. Rather, the experience of reactivity serves as a stepping stone to greater presence, when we lovingly bring consciousness to the origin or seed of the reactivity.
Yoga practice can be a very useful doorway through which to enter into a deeper relationship with the nature and source of our reactivity. At the root of reactivity you are likely to find artificial (human made or invented) impositions and false concepts you were conditioned to identify with as self. So, yoga practice brings to the light of consciousness our false, and at times deceptive, conditioning. On the one hand, these conditions limit the soul in its righteous expression and functioning. However, on the other hand facing our unique set of conditions, issues and challenges is the very act that incarnates our Spirit into the soul / psyche. This is a prerequisite to being an embodiment of our loving and awakening spiritual essence. It’s all about the integration (or marriage) of “above” and “below”, of the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine.
Sacred and Self-less Service – Seva / Sewa
Naturally, the righteous expression and function of the soul is loving adoration of the Power that creates us. This is bound to manifest as devotion and service to the Divine Mother—to all Her creation and Her Life, as expressed and experienced through you.
In your practice or application of Yoga you are putting this principle into action, by being present to the Mother’s creation in the form identified as “you” and your body, mind, feelings, et cetera. When there is sufficient integration of these inner dimensions of “self” within consciousness, you will naturally extend the practice to encompass the world “out there”. In Hindu culture this was known as seva, roughly translating to selfless service. In the tradition of the original indigenous people of Colombia, it’s known as sewa. Same word, coming from cultures seemingly worlds apart. The Divine Mother knows no separation, neither by time nor space.
If our yoga practice doesn’t lead us promptly and directly into seva / sewa, it’s likely one isn’t practicing yoga in its original and genuine form. Either the approach has been mis-taken, or the particular method applied was likely one invented or later misconstrued by someone with a different agenda in mind. Whatever that might be.
From where I stand, the same can be said of all spiritual practice, by whatever name or tradition it originates. This is simply because the origin of all genuine spiritual practice is the Divine Mother, and She is in ceaseless service to Her creation. Spiritual practice is an act of bringing forth our spirit, our Presence in Consciousness… the emergence of spirit into the Mother’s moment-to-moment Creation.
Seva… Such is the Heart’s journey of devotion into Infinity—into the Mother’s boundless Creativity.