4.26.2008

Losing Balance

In the very first chapter, the second sentence in the book “Yoga Sutra” (瑜伽經) (which described as the Bible of Yoga), it says that “Yoga is the restraint or bounding of the fluctuations of the mind.” (約束心靈的變化就是瑜伽). Behind these words, it implies that we human beings are very easily affected / influenced by the surrounding external conditions and situations. (i.e. you’re very concentrated reading a book at home, then u smell something nice, so u take a deeper breath for sucking more nice smell into your nostrils. Now, u recognise this smell. Hmmm, it’s chicken wing……chicken wing in BBQ style, yummp...yummp, with very rich garlic too. You like it, so u go and search where this smell comes from, it’s near, not far. You look down from the window……yeah! u got it. It’s the hawker selling BBQ chicken wings in the street. The good smell reminds u about the funs you have in the BBQ gathering with your friends last time. In split second, you rush downstairs and buy yourself one delicious chicken wing. So where is your book now, how’s your reading?). We grow a habit of attaching ourselves to the outside world. Our thinking, attitude, behavior, emotions….etc,etc; always sway here and there, going right and left, jumping up and down. We never get to the equilibrium, we never rest and have peace of mind; Do u realize that we always find ourselves busy and we always complain there’s not enough time. We always want to have 36 hours a day instead of 24.

Thus, this is our life in the city. New buildings keep growing, more and more tourists coming, prices going up, the whole world is striking hard for expansion and development; when we keep moving forth, fighting for more, everything seems to be growing bigger and bigger, we seems to be gaining more and more. But we don’t know that at the same time, many of our much precious things are losing. We lost our time, our space, our mind and love. There are things which we see and encounter everyday, but you are blind to them; there are things which you think that they should be with you, and you take it for granted. The danger is--- when you realize that all these things are leaving away from you, you will fall into a stage of losing balance, not only you, object loses its weight, space loses its volume, time loses its duration as well. And finally the whole world is at lost. (I think this corresponds with Amy's idea of claustrophobia vs open space.)

Thus, take time to smell the roses is just the first layer, what is the most intimate and delicate thing that we miss smelling it?
--- Candy

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