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November 12, 2009
Greetings!

Mirra and Aadil, the owners of Yoga Centers
Here is a beautiful quote for today, from The Mother, of Pondicherry, India:
 
"To know is good, to live is better, to be, that is perfect."
 
With our love,
 
Aadil and Mirra
 
P.S. Mirra's tips on meditation for better sleep - as promised in our last newsletter - will be ready in the next issue. 
Respecting the Material
  The Consciousness of Physical Things
 
caringThere is a consciousness in physical, material things.  Physical things have the ability to respond to a person's care and are sensitive to disrespectful handling and misuse.  It is because of that consciousness that we must treat material objects with respect and use them in the way that they were intended.  To mistreat things is a denial of the yogic consciousness and a "great hindrance to the bringing down of the Divine Truth to the material plane," says Sri Aurobindo.
 
Everything is an aspect of the Divine.  To feel and respect physical things means that one is respecting an aspect of one's self. The physical world is the spirit in potentia and awaits its manifestation. Treating all things with care and respect is treating Universal Force with care and respect, is treating God with care and respect. If you cannot even treat a shirt, a pair of shoes, a pen or a sheet of paper with respect and care, how can you treat a human being with compassion? It is an all or nothing state in the subconscious mind. Either I treat God with respect, or I do not.
Thank you for voting!
 Your help made a difference!
 
BoWW CertificateWe are deeply grateful to each and every one of you for voting.  Thank you for helping to share what yoga truly is with the rest of the world.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful students and supporters as you!
 
This "contest" was not about "winning" for us.  It was about letting the world know we are here, and about all of us using our voices to acknowledge the Light that shines through Purna Yoga. May the planet glow brighter from our affirmation.
 
With our sincere gratitude,
 
Mirra, Aadil, and all the teachers and staff at Yoga Centers 
Being Internally Referential
 Fire of Love, by Aadil PalkhivalaExcerpt from Fire of Love
 
Looking inside ourselves to find our identity and our value does not mean that we have license to become egoistical or oblivious to the opinions of others. Sometimes we are wrong, and others help us understand who we are. As an example, in my early years of teaching, I was occasionally told that my teaching was very aggressive. I dismissed this observation because I was teaching the only way I knew, and believed that that was the best way to help a student progress quickly. After years of introspection, I realized the truth of those criticisms, and now I teach in a much gentler manner. So, being internally referential means that we make allowance for the opinions of others, but we - not others - make the final determination about who we are.

Yoga is the attainment of freedom, and freedom begins with our own thoughts. When our thoughts are truly our own and not merely the regurgitated ideas of others, and when we are free from the dual influences of compliments and criticisms, only then can we begin to attain true freedom.
 
Fire of Love, for Students of Life, for Teachers of Yoga, by Aadil Palkhivala, is available online at Yoga Centers Online Store or Amazon.com.