Tag Archives: cleansing

Doing Your Laundry

Solitary VajrasattvaHow does washing out your clothes at the laundry and Purification tie into yoga practice. Well it’s pretty easy to make this analogy. As we strive to keep our bodily garments free from pollution so must we make effort to keep our minds free from the pollution of unwholesome thoughts and to try and eradicate them when we find them in our consciousness. If we notice dwelling on thoughts of malice or other kinds of thoughts that we know in our hearts are not profitable then we need to divert our attention towards that which is wholesome and beneficial. Easier said than done eh?
Well practice is just like going to the launderette. When we stand on our mat for yoga practice or sit on our cushion for meditation this is going to the mind laundry. By continually associating ourselves with this meditative environment, the mind begins to prefer it’s clarity to the environment of greyness, dullness and over excitement. It’s just a matter of acclimatisation. And it may take some time. But if you can make the resolve to practice your yoga on a daily basis eventually you can tip the scales in your favor and turn your mental state around..
Without this tending towards virtue, there can be no yoga. Remember the phrase INAPPROPRIATE ATTENTION. It’s a very good friend.

The image to the right is of  Buddha Vajrasattva, the Buddha of Purification.
And now back to pick up my clean laundry….