1. Enter into the Zone of NOW🔗

Patanjali starts the Yoga Sutras with this aphorism – 'Atha Yogaanushaasanam.' The exact translation of the sutra is: 'Here, now, begins the instruction on Yoga.' I can say, 'Now, let us enter into Yoga.'

Patanjali is a great Master who does not use unnecessary words. What does he mean when he says, 'Now, let us enter into Yoga'? Please understand, to enter into the zone of yoga, to enter into the teachings of yoga, you need to be in this moment - NOW. Usually, if your body is here, know for sure that you are not here! That is the state of mind we are living in! In the morning, the moment you get out of bed and put your toothbrush into your mouth, you are already at office; you are already thinking about office. When you are sitting in the office and working, you are already on the beach in the evening! In the evening, when you are sitting on the beach and enjoying the breeze, you are already back home. And when you are at home, you are already thinking of the next day at office. If your body is here, you are not here. That is why Patanjali says, 'No! Come down. Come back to the present moment. Be here and now.' When you move into the zone of NOW, Yoga starts happening to you. Patanjali says, 'Come down from your illusions, come down from your fantasies; come straight to this moment. Yoga will start happening in you.' Yoga is not just moving your body. Yoga is not just focusing your mind. Yoga is the ultimate Happening.

You first need to understand what yoga is NOT. Especially in the west, there is a lot of misconception about yoga. In the West, yoga is often reduced to physical or mental exercises. Yoga has therapeutic effects, no doubt, but that does not mean that yoga is just a therapy. It has a spiritual depth and sacredness. Yoga is a conscious uniting experience.

We are living continuously in illusions, dreams and hopes. We cannot live without them. That is why, even when we do not have anything to do, we are constantly chewing on our dreams. We are constantly chewing on our illusions. We are constantly chewing on our fantasies. That is what I call Maya. Ya ma saa maya – Maya is that which is not there, but which we continuously feel is there. We feel as if it is there and live with it. That is what is Maya. See your life – it is full of hopes, fantasies, illusions, dreams! None of them are actually there in the present moment. But you are constantly creating and living with that which is not there. This is Maya.

That is why Patanjali is saying - come down, relax from your fantasies. Please understand, he is not asking you to be hopeless! He is not telling you to be depressed. No! Depression is nothing but negative hope. Positive hope is desire; negative hope is fear or depression. So is not asking you to be depressed. All he is saying is, 'Come to this moment, and Yoga starts.'

I don't want to add any more words. If I add any more words, you may forget Patanjali's words! So please understand this one message. The essence of Yoga is in this one message: whenever you are in the present moment, Yoga is happening in you. You do not have to bend your body or stand upside down to be a Yogi. If you want to be a yogi, be in this moment: atha yogaanushaasanam. If you can remember and master this one truth, you don't need a second truth. You don't need to go to the next sutra. Some of you may be feeling, 'Oh, today Swamiji has only introduced this book... there are so many hundreds of sutras, but I cannot listen to all the other sutras, because he will leave for India soon.' Don't bother about that - this one sutra is enough to make you a yogi. You will see new doors to higher consciousness open inside you.

We are constantly chewing on our illusions. We are constantly chewing on our fantasies. That is what I call Maya – that which is not there, but which we continuously feel is there.

Actually, even the idea, 'You will become a yogi' can create one more fantasy in you. No! You ARE a Yogi. Come to this moment; you are a yogi already. Sometimes people ask me, 'How can such a small technique do so much?' When you apply it, you will understand. It takes only a small key to open a six-foot door! When you apply this small key of being in this moment, it opens the greatest doors of your life - the doors to Consciousness. Let you all experience the higher consciousness, the state of jeevanmukti, Living Enlightenment.

CONTEMPLATION

What is the NOW, the present moment that is constantly escaping me? How can I bring myself back to the present moment again and again today?