Days 8 & 9: The Eighth Limb

Good day! I mentioned samyama a couple days ago which is the progression from dharana to dhyana and samadhi.

I did not correlate to the Tree!

So dharana is the Sap which brings energy of the tree inward. And ultimately connects to the tree as a whole. Dhyana is the Flower of the tree: the flowering of the whole consciousness, blossoming and ripening into the Fruit of the practice which is samadhi.

The Fruit of the tree, the fruit of a full, dedicated practice is samadhi.  It is total absorption.  Samadhi is the blissful state, a state of full awareness.

There are states and several stages of samadhi, and in the fullness of samadhi, consciousness reaches an ‘absolute state of intelligence’.  Afflictions, the kleshas, are minimized or eliminated. One loses self awareness and loses the cords that bind him/her to the world. There is grace in consciousness and surrender to the Universe.

The path to samadhi through the limbs of astanga Yoga are interwoven and require continuous effort and awareness. The Yoga Sutras provide an outline l, a guide, to not only reach samadhi, absorption but the ultimate freedom, kaivalya.

As we drove through the quaint downtown of Bozeman, we started the drive through Big Sky, Montana. Each time I have shared how beautiful the landscape has been, those pale in comparison to the breathtaking scenery of Big Sky. It is definitely my favorite vista thus far!

Our camp site in Montana was at the top of Yellowstone, on the Hebgen Lake. There was an earthquake at the lake in the 1950s which created some of the geysers in Yellowstone.  We stsyed on the side of a fast flowing stream, where we watched a few fly fisherman. We skipped rocks and I reveled in the changing flow and speed of the water.

Though Yellowstone was pretty and incredibly interesting, it was all about more driving. It took about an hour to get in close enough to the geysers, and on our way, we reached a part of the road which slowed down because of Elk, which we never actually saw.  It was slow going, and hard to find parking. I would have liked more time for trail hiking, but there wasn’t that much time considering we waited to see Old Faithful. I learned a lot and the weather was lovely, once again.

We are off to Pocatello, where Eric’s grandfather built the home Eric’s Father grew up in; then some hot springs near Salt Lake, and a camp site into Nevada. It will be a big day off driving.

I hope all is well with you! I appreciate the emails back!