Every baby is a yogi

Sometimes people come to the spiritual path when they have some disappointment. This is not the case for all, but usually it is such. However, the fact is that every child is born with spiritual knowledge and as you grow up, you start losing that. Yogi is becoming a baby again.

Getting in touch with your pure essence. It is as simple as that. You don’t need a yoga teacher. Just look at a baby from the time it is born, to the age of 3, and they will teach you everything. But you have to observe them every day for all the three years. The way they breathe, the way they smile. They feel so connected with everybody. It is we who corrupt the children and spoil their naturalness. Normally, 90% of the time children exhibit these qualities of a yogi.

Everyone has child-like qualities in them. Not childish but Child-like. When one is a yogi, this happens automatically. There is naturalness in life. Everyone seems to be one’s own. Ego, any kind of self-identity that one has, gets dissolved. A baby smiles, cries and radiates love from every cell of the body. You can read a lot of books, write volumes on love, but if, in your vibrations, love does not show up, it is all no good. Your dog or baby at home, will tell you what love is with one look, with all its heart, and then you know what love is. So love is in the presence. And there is no need of words where presence carries love. This is indication of a yogi – He/she speaks through existence.

That is why a baby is superior than a monk. An ascetic has an ego, “I have renounced the whole world.” But a child has not even grasped the world yet, let alone renounce. If you ask a baby, or a small child of 3 years of age, what they want. They will look at you and say “nothing”. Desire is wanting joy, not joy itself. But when you are joyful there is no want there. As a child we were in that state of joyfulness. Our actions were expressions of joy. And that is why yogi, never says or wishes a bad word to anybody at any time. As a baby you had only this tendency. At the most you became angry but never used abusive words. You just shook your hand and sometimes like to push the mother away. That is all you did.

Be like a baby. They never hold any grudge against anybody. And yoga is bringing us back to that stage. And when your mind is united in yoga, united with the self, naturally you become positive. Yukta means one who is united with the universal spirit. You don’t need to try to connect, just feel you are part of this.

Wisdom is cleansing our presence, not just our words. It makes you happy from within. A Yogi and a baby may not know too much intellectual knowledge yet they are better than an ascetic, better than a scholar, better than someone who does a lot of work, because they are united with the existence, and with the divinity. And if you understand this, you are the greatest.

(The author is a global humanitarian leader and spiritual master who founded The Art of Living in1981. As Gurudev turns 70 and The Art of Living steps into the 45th year of making life a celebration on this planet, month long celebrations are underway at The Art of Living International Center with eminent personalities from the sphere of politics, entertainment, arts, academia and faith arriving at the center for thoughtful conversations, cultural showcases and launch of several service initiatives.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

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