The western world hasn’t completely wrecked all instances of culture, for example, advances in musical technology, in cuisine, and modern remedies are nothing short of miraculous. Typically, what creates culture is firsthand human experience being shared. What mucks up the bigger picture is when a message is misinterpreted, and that misinterpretation resonates with many other people’s experiences. This is how counterproductive societal paradigms are born, this is what happened to the path of yoga in modern civilization. The path of yoga will be in vain if it is not in pursuit of reaching the state of Yoga (Union). People have lost sight of their own highest potential, true fulfillment is seen as a naive goal in the western world. Here it is all about “getting by”, or, “getting accustomed to suffering on a regular basis.” Modern yoga is about straining and becoming exhausted to the point that hopefully the physical challenge will take precedence over impending thoughts. Maharishi Yoga Asanas (compiled by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi), however, are centered around the individual, you, not just meeting some standard, not concerning yourself with how “good” you look while in these postures, nor how good you hope to look after repeatedly practicing. The movements in this series are all designed to facilitate a dive inward, a dive into the present eternal moment. The goal is to guide an individual away from their shallow, gross intellectual narratives, and lead them towards deeper, more visceral, quieter, subtler levels of experiencing consciousness. Asanas followed by pranayama and then transcendental meditation are ideal for cultivating restful alertness, and awakening the higher Self.
Maharishi Yoga Asanas give the opportunity to locate stress and intentionally, yet effortlessly just let go of it. Stress dissolves through allowing one’s intellect to take a backseat, enabling the rise of intelligence in the body and cultivation of the laws of nature that can heal the physiology and the spirit. It is almost as if the human body was engineered for transcendence. All things in the natural world exist in a sort of harmonious pattern, nothingness permits all potential to be realized and materialized. The line between the material world and the ephemeral world is very thin. By focusing one’s greatest strength, their awareness, on any point of reality, they are liable to see that the very potential is what catalyzes creation itself. This specifically coordinated sequence of postures exists to experience all 20 asanas firsthand and by allowing the attention to gravitate towards each point of stretch. Each movement is an opportunity to recognize and release stress, falling deeper into physicality, until eventually, unpleasant sensations are replaced with blissful flexibility, and the boundaries separating your body and the outer world become blurry. Diversity is only perceived through the human lens. As tension fades Samadhi sets in. Samadhi is a blissful and profound experience of Unification with the Absolute, often referred to as the “Dawn of unboundedness.”
