The Ultimate Within

In the ancient text, the Bhagavad Gita, the deity Krishna engages the war hero, Arguna, in conversation that is the substance of the entire text.  At one point, Arjuna asks Krishna if he
would be willing to reveal himself in his God form.   Krishna agrees as he tells Arjuna that he should feel lucky because not even the other Gods have seen him in his entirety.  As Krishna changes from human form to his God-like splendor, Arjuna sees that Krishna is huge beyond belief. He sees Krishna is all of creation and all of destruction.  He has an endless number of heads, eyes, arms;  he is everything good and everything bad.   All other Gods are within him and all humans, too. In fact, everything in the Universe is within him.  This is overwhelming for Arjuna who asks Krishna to return to his four-armed human shape.

Why am I telling you this? 
It's a good read, but that is not why! Your yoga practice offers you the possibility of discovering the unlimited greatness within yourself, as well. Do you accept the offer?

In the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, one of the main themes is the idea of following an external teacher versus your internal one.  If you possess all of the answers you need within yourself, does it not make more sense to turn within rather than head off into the far corners of the
earth seeking who knows what?  In this book, Siddhartha follows his own path while his friend, Govinda, follows teachers.  By the end of the book, Siddhartha has reached enlightenment and Govinda has not.  Similar to Arjuna's request to see Krishna, Govinda asks Siddhartha what
 he has learned.  Siddhartha asks Govinda to kiss his forehead and as he does, he suddenly sees everything that Siddhartha has learned. When he finally steps away, he indicates it may take
him his lifetime to fully understand what Siddhartha now knows.

"The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept." 
George Carlin 

It is natural , I think, to assume someone else must have the answers we are seeking:  someone smarter, someone wiser.  Hmm, could it be someone else is saying that about you? 
Could you, in fact, be wise enough to answer yourself?  So, how to you siphon through all the thoughts in your head to find the one gleaming answer you are looking for?  

Try this:
1. Start with a specific question. 
We have lots of answers inside of us but the answer a horse is measured in hands is not the correct answer to should I quit my job!  
 
2. Look for your answer! 
(See the experiments on my website under class themes to learn how to see that what you need is already right in front of you.)

3. Be open to the answer, especially if it isn't the one you wanted to hear.  
 
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”  ― Rainer Maria Rilke