Darren Main Quotes

We live in a world that asks us to do rather than be; to achieve rather than shine; to form relationships that fulfill needs rather than celebrating wholeness. When we stop that cycle by practicing mindfulness, the axison which the world spins shifts entirely, and nothing you knew before will be of any value.

Meditation alone cannot heal the world, but it can and does speed up the healing process.

In most forms of exercise one’s breath follows the movement—the faster and harder you work, the faster and harder you will breathe. In yoga, the exact opposite is true. Rather than changing the breath to match one’s movement, the movement is changed to follow the breath. In doing so, a yogi gains immediate and unconditional access to the deepest levels of consciousness, because just as breath and movement are connected, so too is the breath bound tightly to the mind.

Typically, awareness is only directed to the pronounced sensations of the body—the pleasurable and the painful. In yoga, over and over again, we witness the sensations of the body—the pleasant and unpleasant; the subtle and the overwhelming—neither seeking nor avoiding, and regarding all equally and without prejudice. It is through this nonjudgmental observation of sensation that the wisdom of the body is received, true healing is achieved, and the door to the unconscious mind is cast open.

Guilt is like tarnish on a piece of silver. It effectively obscures beauty and radiance, but can never lessen its true value. Just as the true beauty and value of silver is revealed with a little bit of polish, your true worth will shine with regular spiritual practice.

What I can tell you is that yoga is about removing the muck by shining the light of awareness on it. That is why yoga is so hard. None of us wants to look at the muck, but looking at it is the only way to dissolve it. Thus, there are many times that a yogi may feel filled with darkness. It’s not that the darknessarrived because of yoga; it’s that yoga made you aware of all the things that were holding you back. The good news is that with this awareness, you have the opportunity to dissolve the muck once and for all. However great the doubt, however deep the despair, you can take comfort in knowing that youare feeling these things because your yoga is doing exactly what it was designed to do. You can also take refuge in the knowledge that whatever you are feeling—whether high or low—will pass, because it always does.

The great paradox of life is that to fully live, we must let a piece of ourselves die.

Most people spend years trying to feng shui their lives—to decorate and reorganize life in such a way that order and peace will finally arrive. One can decorate and redecorate for years, but a fresh coat of paint is not going to patch the cracks in your foundation—the only way to do this is through the practice of non-attachment.

So many people confuse attachment with love. Attachment to someone implies control; loving someone assumes unconditional acceptance. Attachment leads to grief and loneliness when the person is no longernear—or even sometimes when he or she is in the very same room. Love is the realization that there is no distance between you and the other—whether they are across the room, around the world, or beyond the veil of death.

The practice of meditation helps us to organize our thoughts and structure ourideas. Through the practice of meditation, we can open to the creative flow that is waiting to pour through us, infusing inspiration with passion. Meditation puts the mind in order and brings it under control, opening the door to receive this free flow of perfect energy. The unfocused mind is like a sledgehammer. The focused mind is like a sharp axe. Both tools can be used to take down a tree, but the axe is going to be much more efficient. Moreover, using the axe will allow you to work more swiftly, thereby saving much energy to get more done.

A Kula or spiritual community is like a nudist camp for the soul. Not only are we given the permission to remove our robes of guilt, our suits of shame, and our masks of false identity—we are encouraged to do so. To become naked and hold nothing back is to become truly beautiful.

Do numbers hold spiritual significance? Perhaps they do. For me, the most powerful numbers are two and six because when you multiply those numbers, you get the exact amount of square feet required to roll out a yoga mat. Even after years of practice, I’m continually astounded that all I really need to heal my body, open my heart, and still my chaotic mind is twelve square feet.

What is it to succeed in yoga? Success in yoga means finding the smile buried deep beneath the pain and discomfort of any moment. Success in yoga is knowing that others were able to find a smile beneath their pain and discomfort because you were near. Success in yoga is speaking to yourself and others with compassion and kindness, even when you want to wield your words as weapons. Success in yoga is to listen more than you speak. Success in yoga is when mindfulness celebrates the joyful moments andbecomes a refuge for the painful ones. Success in yoga is to be grateful even for your pain, suffering, and challenges. Success in yoga is willingly taking the time to put the needs of another ahead of your own. Success in yoga is feeling fear rattle your bones and then doing it anyway. Success in yoga is not only finding your purpose in life, but also finding the courage and passion to live that purpose. Success in yoga is remembering that it was never about the number of times you fell but rather the number of times you got back up.

Many believe bliss and gratification to be synonyms, when in fact they are antonyms. Bliss is the nature of your most true Self and it is with you anytime you become still enough to listen. Gratification is what you seek to fill the imagined emptiness, and is generated by a false sense of self.

Although you could open a can of soup with a hammer, a stone, or even your teeth if you didn’t mind making a mess or chipping a tooth, a much wiser approach would be to use a can opener. The breath is like a can opener for the soul. Can you explore the depths of your being without conscious breathing? Sure. The more relevant question is, why would you want to?

Apathy is the bushel basket under which the ego hides its fear of being powerless. It is easier to become apathetic when there are no words or actions sufficient to comfort a wounded body, a grieving heart, or ashattered community. And so we look away and avoid awkward conversations under the guise that we don’t want to upset others. Yet, the most powerful posture for a healer to take is that of the witness. To stand andwitness a person or community devastated by suffering, and to let them know that while they suffer they have a hand to hold, offers the most potent medicine of all—compassion.

Most people believe that pain and suffering are synonymous—that one begets the other. A yogi recognizes that pain is an unavoidable aspect of life and that suffering is a choice. Pain is what happens when you stub your toe, suffering is what your mind does with the sensation.

Once we understand cause and effect, we can stop complaining about the effects of our choices. We can start making more mindful decisions about the thoughts we entertain, the actions we perform, the people with whom weassociate, and the quality of life we want to live.

Just as a hug is the only way to express yourself when words are inadequate,mudras, or gestures, convey profound spiritual experiences that cannot adequately be expressed verbally. The most powerful,universal and healing mudra is a smile. When we overflow with joy, we cannot help but smile spontaneously. And when we are mired in doubt, fear, anxiety, and depression, a smile creates a map in the mind that leads us home to that joy that is hidden in even the darkest moments of our life. It is one thing to know that joy is possible in any moment—in any situation. It is anotherskill entirely to know when to find that joy when your world is crumbling around you. The map is with you always—just smile!

A teacher’s job is to see students’ potential before they can see it themselves; teachers need to have the faith and foresight to know they can actualize that potential and the wisdom to help students chart their course. It is only with this inner knowing that a teacher can invite the student, over and over again, to the edge of their comfort—and then give them a gentle nudge. In effect, a teacher is like the mother bird who can see her chicks flying before they realize they have wings.

Attachment is the act of trying to control, manipulate, or sculpt the outside world in such a way that we lose sight of our true nature. Nonjudgmental observation allows a yogi to experience the external world as a mirror reflecting back one’s true nature.

All great myths and stories follow a similar pattern. The hero gets distracted and questions his power. He struggles and flounders until he is able to face his perceived weakness. Ironically, it is the struggle that makes himstronger and enables him to meet his destiny. Without the struggle, without missing the mark, without getting lost in the mire of the journey, growth would not be possible. We tend to think of life’s struggles as the cause of oursuffering, when in fact, struggle reveals our true power and unlocks our latent potential.

Mindfulness is the bedrock of all spiritual practice. With mindfulness, the simple becomes profound, and the common becomes extraordinary. Without mindfulness, even gold and silver will quickly lose their luster.

To the unaware person, karma is the prison in which the mind is held hostage. Because of karma, an unaware person is doomed to repeat the past in perpetuity as the seeds planted yesterday bear bitter fruit tomorrow. But to the mindful person, karma offers the promise of freedom. Mindfulness allows us to change our mind in the present, plantingnew seeds that will bear sweet fruit.

It has been said that the body is the temple of the spirit and the mind is the altar within that temple. When we practice hatha yoga we allow ourselves to come fully into the temple of the body—not simply as a tourist wishing to admire the fine architecture, but as a seeker on a pilgrimage of deep devotion and reverence.Meditation is the devotional practice of placing on the altar of the mind that which is sacred, holy, and revered. Just as you would not place garbage on the altar of a great temple, meditation allows a yogi to place on the altar of her mind that which is noble, pure, and free from attachment.

True spiritual virtues can have no opposite, but they can wear masks and costumes.Joy often masquerades as anger; innocence often dresses up as guilt; lovepretends to be fear. At the end of the day, we discover that we don’t need tobe fearful of these internal monsters—we simply need to unmask them.

Fundamentalism wears many masks, but always claims a monopoly on the Truth. Many people buy into fundamentalism in much the same way people buy cola to quench their thirst. There are elements of truth in fundamentalist thinking, just as water is an ingredient in cola. But just as the water loses much of its value when artificial flavors and colors are added, Truth loses itsvalue when guilt, shame, and rigid dogma are present. Fundamentalism is to the soul what artificial sweetener is to the body.

True power—not to be confused with worldly power—is found at that beautifuland sacred spot where will and surrender merge into an unstoppable force.

Like the tightly closed eyelids of a child trying to escape the reprimand of a parent, there is a part of the mind that needs to shut down in the face of an internal dialogue that is steeped in guilt, shame, and self-loathing.

The mind is the only level at which any lasting change can occur—it is the soil in which we plant our hopes and fears, habits, and patterns. What we plant in the mind will grow and bear fruit. Just as it would be pointless to complain about a carrot seed failing to produce a tomato, it is equally pointless to look at the garden of your life and complain about what you see growing there. We have to be willing to plant different seeds.

Sculpting the future and healing the past can only happen through mindful action in the present moment.

When we practice a yoga posture designed to challenge our balance, the use of a gazing point or drishti is a most effective way to maintain physical equanimity. The act of gazing without judgment or attachment is easily the most effective way to bring stability and balance to the pose. Likewise, whenthe poses of life rob us of our equanimity, gazing at the situation without attachment—without judgment—is the most effective tool we have to restore the mind to harmony.

When infused with compassion, even the most useless snake oils have the power to heal broken hearts and shattered souls.

Evolution is messy. Oftentimes our brains evolve more quickly than our capacity to love. Science has unlocked many mysteries of the universe by harnessing the human capacity for critical thinking, logic, and observation. Butwithout a spiritual science to help the heart keep pace, disaster is often the outcome. Rather than clean sources of energy, we develop atomic bombs. Rather than medicines that heal we develop biological and chemical weapons. Rather than technologies that allow us to share ideas and communicate, wefind ourselves more isolated and lonely than ever. Yoga, meditation, and other mystical practices are the spiritual counterpoint to western science. One unlocks the mind, the other opens the heart; and together they reveal humanity’s true potential.

Forcing Your body into a yoga pose is like brushing your teeth with a wire brush. You may get rid of the plaque but gingivitis will be the least of your concerns.

The law of karma is like the wind—blowing on all. Whether you are good or evil, bright or dim, kind or unkind, there is no escaping the effects of your thoughts and the actions that arise from those thoughts. In fact, the onlydifference between the wise and the ignorant is that an illuminated mind erects windmills while the ignorant mind builds weather vanes.

It is easy to make the mistake of thinking yoga is about touching your toes when in fact yoga is about learning to touch others. Likewise, many people think the purpose of meditation is a perfectly still mind, when in fact, it is a more compassionate heart. Spiritual practice is measured by one’s ability to ease the suffering of the world one breath at a time.

Jesus wisely counseled his followers to search for the kingdom of heaven within themselves; but to go within, one needs a door, a key, and the courage to turn the knob. Spiritual practice gives you all three.

Within your ego mind there is a prison cell. Its bars are made of resentment and the door is hung on the hinges of disappointment and unfulfilled expectations. It is a cell, or so you imagine, for those you have not yet forgiven. This prison cell only lacks one thing—a lock for the door. And so youmust hold the door shut by force of will—expending tremendous energy to hold the door shut— energy that would otherwise be used to cultivate joy, creativity, and passion.

Why do we call yoga a practice? The yoga poses of life—the grief, the fear,the uncertainty—rarely offer us the option of coming to child pose or modifying the posture. The yoga mat offers us a safe and controlled environment in which we can witness our challenges, embrace our discomfort, and hold space for our struggles. A yoga practice doesn’t prevent the storms of life, but it does teach us to weather those storms more gracefully.

Standing at the end of a diving board looking at the water never made the water warmer, but it will make taking the plunge unnecessarily hard.

The truth about yourself is so near, so close, that it is very difficult to perceive. Just as it is difficult to style your hair, apply makeup, or shave without a mirror, we require a mirror of sorts to spiritually groom ourselves. For most, that mirror is relationships with others. People who wear masks of untrustworthiness, dishonesty, selfishness, and greed see those qualities reflected back from everyone they meet—even the most noble souls who cross their paths. But people who have put their masks aside are able to experience compassion, love, and wholeness in others, even in their adversaries—even in those who are still mired in a tangled web of fear, insecurity, and abrasiveness.

Instead of asking, “How can I ease my suffering?” yoga would have us ask,“How can I better serve my brothers and sisters?” Because only in answering the latter can we hope to answer the former.

It may seem humble to belittle yourself, but it is every bit as arrogant as grandiosity. Just as it is impossible to be more than you were created to be, it is also impossible to be less. When we pretend to be more or less, we are destined to search for wholeness everywhere except where it actually resides—within.

Gratitude is both a vaccine and an antidote for grief. Grief may be an inevitable fact of life, but gratitude has the power to transform the experience of grief from agonizing suffering to profound joy.

The narrow edge between comfort and discomfort is to a yogi what a grain of sand is to an oyster.

Many look at the blessings in their lives—money, talent, love, abundance, and so on—and say, “I must be one of the chosen ones.”But the blessings in your life were not bestowed upon you to help you live a life of ease, but rather a life of service. You were chosen—chosen to serve.

On a physical level, water is often called the universal solvent because of its ability to dissolve almost anything at the molecular level. On a spiritual level it is the breath which acts as a universal solvent, because there is no trauma so great, no wound so deep, no delusion so convincing, that deep and mindful breathing will not dissolve it.

People slip spontaneously into moments of concentration all the time—while reading a book, exercising, playing chess, or creating art. A yogi seeks to experience that same level of concentration intentionally in a practice known as dharana—the act of purposefully narrowing the mind’s focus on the breath, the sensations of the body, a mantra, or a prayer bead. This consistent and purposeful focusing of the mind while on the yoga mat or meditation cushion gives the yogi the same level of focus in life, allowing for wild creativity and unfathomable productivity.

Yoga and meditation help us to achieve physical health, emotional balance, more connected relationships, and a more satisfying life. But to measure spiritual practice by these benefits is to miss the point entirely. The truemeasure of our practice is how we respond to life when we fall short of these things—when the body falls ill or the heart breaks.

The world would have us fill every space and occupy every corner of the mind. Yoga asks us to become empty; to come to the practice in openness and to allow the practice to remove our notions of good and bad,rich andpoor, health and disease; to sit and simply witness without shame, without guilt, and without judgment. Yoga allows us to let go of everything and hold on to nothing. It allows us to let go of our preconceptions about who or what God is, what it means to live a spiritual life, and how to achieve enlightenment.Whether slowly or in an instant, yoga empties us. What remains is a silence that surpasses understanding,is beyond words, and gives us the eyes to witness the suffering of the world, the ears to hear the world calling out forcompassion, and the heart to answer that call.

The windmill doesn’t try to control the wind or demand that it blow in another direction. It simply surrenders to the wind, and in so doing becomes a source of immense power. The water wheel doesn’t attempt to change the course of the river; it simply surrenders to the flow and allows the power of the river tobe expressed through it. Most see surrender as a form of weakness, when in reality, surrender is the source of all true power.

Just as the light bulb allows the electricity within it the opportunity to express its power, the body allows prana—life energy—to express itself. In yoga, our goal is to slowly increase the wattage of the subtle body, allowing prana to flow within us and through us, leaving health and balance in its wake.

Silence—true silence is universal. It is the profound stillness at the center of everything, at the center of every relationship—at the center of yourself. While it is always there, it can only be experienced beyond the veil of judgment, expectation, and attachment. From time to time, a person can spontaneously enter into a perfect moment of silence when dancing, watching a sunset, holding an infant, or making love; but for most,true silence remains elusive at best. Yet through various forms of meditation and prayer this veil can be lifted, allowing that inner silence to wash through you, leaving in its wake a cleansed mind and a compassionate heart.

While religions and mystical traditions attempt to address the same spiritual questions with which all human beings wrestle, a religious person demands answers to questions that have no answers and attempts to demand harmony from the paradox of life. The result is less wisdom and varying degrees of bothinternal and external chaos. A mystic, on the other hand, contemplates and makes peace with unanswered questions. The great paradox is that sitting quietly with unanswered questions is the doorway to wisdom, balance, and peace.

Non-attachment doesn’t mean you forgo possessions, pleasure, or comfort. It simply means you are at peace when those things fail to show up in your life. It means that while you can enjoy moments of ease, you are equally at peace when pain, hardship, and struggle define a given moment.

As a child, my father was a god to me—at times I loved him, at times I feared him, but I always wanted to be like him. As an adolescent, I resented my father for the sin of being human—for not being the god of my childhood. Then, as a young man, I felt sorry for my father because, in my arrogance, I believed he knew nothing and I knew everything. It was not until I held my own son for the first time that I truly understood my father. Now I can appreciate the man he is and the man he helped me to become.

The hardest part of any yoga practice is rolling out your mat.

Resolutions, like all spiritual virtues, can be misused by the ego when mindfulness is absent. There are few things that will keep you in the bondage of habit like a grand resolution. It is like an empty box wrapped in the best ofintentions, yet lacking anything of substance.

The great spiritual tension between the contemplative life of the monk andspiritual activism in the world dissolves entirely with one word—namaste: thelight in me bows to the light in you.When meditation reveals the light in ourselves, we naturally want to bow tothe light in all beings—to act on their behalf in reverence and devotion.When we truly see the light in another being, our own light shines forth, dissolving the seemingly eternal ache in our hearts and the near constant struggle of the ego mind. To see the light in one being—your own light or thatof another—is to win the cosmic game of hide and seek and ease the suffering of the world.