First and foremost, yoga means awareness to me. This awareness is not the accretions of distracted labeling that we might normally call "awareness." The awareness I am referring to is a distinct, stable clarity of mind that never conflicts with, or doubts itself. It is the light in our own eyes. It is with this understanding that I believe a yogi must give themselves to their own yoga. It is not to establish a pedagogical, philosophical, or practical difference between one's own yoga and that of others. Nor is it an attempt to prove something to oneself either. It is simply a matter of becoming more and more familiar with one's own innermost processes of body, breath and mind. However, yogis do not merely study and catalogue what they think is going on, rather they delve into an epic exploration of the very nature of their own mind and existence itself. In other words, the word "I" is only a signifier of the recognition of what is happening in the depths of one's individual awareness as one's own yoga of body, speech and mind.

The only way to give myself completely to anything is to give up the conflict and strife of self-absorbed fixation and thinking. For the greater good, I’ll allow myself to be present, calm, clear, radiant and responsive. In that manner, my understanding of awareness is inseparable from how I understand integrity and wholeness. My integrity is only so great as my awareness allows it to be. We can only be honest and truthful with ourselves about that which we experience clearly and directly. Otherwise, we are merely producing hearsay and speculation. Integrity is just how much we can genuinely trust ourselves. Therefore, ascertaining and maintaining awareness of one's own body, speech and mind becomes the main point of yoga. In order to do that, we must learn to relax and let go of our obsessive thinking, not so we become mindless sheep or zombies, but instead to experience the mind in it's fullness, free of distraction. That is awareness that results in great integrity. And so, with great integrity comes great responsibility.

Being with awareness as a practice is a refined sort of mindfulness. Mindfulness probably doesn’t need to be explained to anyone reading this, but it serves to introduce it to beginners. Mindfulness is simply knowing one’s own mind. If we can immediately recollect what we have been thinking or experiencing then we have been mindful. For instance, sometimes when we’re conversing with others we lose track of what they’re saying, and slip into reverie or distraction. Mindfulness is what alerts us to our own indiscretions. Awareness is what allows us to be mindful. Like the sun and its rays, our fleeting thoughts clouds in the sky.

The sky. What is the sky? That experience of the limitless potential of mind. The vast open clarity of mind. Always willing to display whatever we experience.

Nothing is outside of the light of awareness within the space of awareness.

It is great compassion and wisdom in union.

That is the underlaying connection between conduct and meditation, compassion and wisdom. When awareness knows itself, it begins to recognize its reflection in others as well. Thus begins the noble path of all awakened beings. Awareness giving rise to awareness is the nature of mother and child, teacher and student. When one clearly discerns the benefits for oneself, only then can one clearly discern the benefits for others. Thus wisdom gives rise to compassion. When the mother and child sleep, sometimes the baby wakes the mother, that is like compassion inspiring wisdom. Humans are social creatures. This interdependency is the source of our greatest strengths and cause for our biggest challenges. Knowing this becomes the key to navigating life without blame.