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Building a Yoga Community
Buddha/Dharma/Sangha
Part 1 – Dharma – Building the Yogi Within

Living Buddha
Again and again ~ Return like mountain ~ Release like ocean ~ Relax like sky ~ And rest ~ Rest in the heart of pure awareness.

Don’t go outside your house to search for jewels.
Don’t even bother with that excursion, my friend.
There are jewels inside yourself.
Precious, profound and ready to be discovered.
-An Except of Chakra Garden of Jewels ~ Julie Lusk with Kabir’s inspiration and ‘A Place to Sit’-

Dharma – ethics, duty, purification and moral transformation

It’s such a funny thing…trying to think back to the person I was before yoga. It’s not that there was anything hugely wrong with me…it’s just that there was a lot less to me…less awareness…less feeling…less hope… less optimism…less gratitude…less altruism…less desire…less growth…less light…less intuitiveness. I am , we are all,  growing into an infinite number of tiny,  glowing particles that daily grow, and daily meld  into this infinite space and time in which we live.  We are, by becoming less, becoming more.  It is easy to explain physical strength, endurance, and balance …that’s why we discuss those parts of yoga so often…so easily. But spiritual growth is so much broader than verbal description allows for. Spiritual growth is what occurs to an open mind when practicing yoga. We all begin to find one another in a spiritual light.  It is here, in this place of light, where our actual yogic community is formed, and grows…There is room for an infinite number here… where each and every one of us can reach and touch…It’s as if the yoga “community”  is but a tiny space. This is a part of the magic.
There is no criteria for joining the yoga community other than desire. I remember very clearly realizing the point when I wasn’t just  “doing”  yoga anymore…such beautiful, electric enlightenment began within me.  The idea of one “living one’s dharma” has traditionally  meant that a person lives in a way that is in accordance with the laws of nature and destiny.  It is  sometimes interpreted as living on this planet and doing what you were meant to do…loving what you do…always continuing to search with an open mind,  heart, and spirit.  Is doing what you want to do the same as doing what you were meant to do? I guess that depends on whether the desire comes from ego or from the soul’s desire to express itself into the world. One of the reasons we practice yoga is to better match up what we want with what we need. As we keep bringing our bodies, spirits, and minds into greater union, the things we desire are things that will not only serve us, but serve others. When you’re in love with what you do… and what you do serves the world…makes a contribution, large or small… you know you are doing your dharma. Yoga is often used in enlightened self-discovery to find the part of you that remains constant and beautiful no matter what changes occur around you or what happens to you.
Everyone has a dharma… everyone is able to practice their dharma… We are all called upon to bring peace, happiness, and relief to others.   We together will learn to work and contribute from the heart.  We will learn together how it feels to give people space and support to find their own Dharma . We are all learning ways to move  towards our purpose.That is what being a Yogi means.