Sutra 1.3: The Results of Yoga

Sutra 1.3: Tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam

Then, the seer abides in its own true nature

The first three versus of the yoga sutras pretty much sum up all that is yoga. Sutra 1.1 introduces us to yoga: And NOW there is yoga. Sutra 1.2 defines what is yoga: Yoga is presence which is established by stilling the movements in the mind. Today we are engaging with sutra 1.3 which is giving us the results we can accomplish through the practice of yoga: When the movements are stilled, the seer (which is you), experiences his or herself as purity.

Wether we are shopping for internet providers, or tile, or gym memberships, the question we all really have for most situations in our life is: so what am I going to get out of this? This is sutra 1.3. It is offering us what we will get by committing to yoga. And the answer is YOU. You are going to receive you. Not the you that you can fill out the answers for an online horoscope quiz like: sex, age, occupation or even the latest pronoun that may have been slung your way.

You are going to receive the you that arrived long before the world told you who you is, or has force-fed you into believing that there is some sort of corvette riding, Barbie and Ken doll version of you, that you should be. This you has no Trump or Biden bumper sticker, does not wear a yamaka or denounce Catholic priests. This you is not marching in pride parades, ordering vegan food, or having opinions about vaccinations and masks. This you is beyond the made up mind stuff that we cling so desperately to, all used like daggers to pierce the skin of our brothers and sisters. All so that we can climb to the top of a made up podium and claim our fake gold medals, so the fake news can broadcast how we won the fake olympics, so that our picture can be airbrushed onto the cover of People magazine because maybe, just maybe, then we will think we have made it to really being somebody.

Yoga demands that you refuse to ride the fake escalator stairs and choose to climb the real stairs. Every step you climb brings you closer to the real you. The you who is free to laugh and sing with cicadas, the you who dives headfirst into sunsets, swims breast stroke among the stars in the nights sky, and gallops upon the tree top trellises. This is the you that ironically forgets there ever was a you to begin with.

This is the you in sutra 1.3, the you who is free, who lives each moment to simply see and smile and breathe.

Muchas Gracias dear souls,

I honor each and every engagement and believe that the more we can open our minds to consider truths that may have been hidden to our understanding, we have the power to shift the consciousness of the entire planet. This is the most important work we could possibly do and I cherish walking the yoga path with you.

Blessings,

Andrea Dawn