Compassion is a vehicle for love and a channel for gratitude Yoga poses joint pain . Often this day is a day of showing our appreciation for others, which is in Yoga poses joint pain and of itself a form of gratitude. But it can also be a day to appreciate ourselves too. I started Valentine’s Day this year recording a poem written by Deepak Chopra and inspired by the love poems of Rabindranath Tagore for a CD. I was asked by Deepak to contribute to this project by reading a poem, and unconsciously somehow, the day I chose to read fell on this day, the day of the heart. Each person participating was invited to read a poem from his selected collection. I chose a poem entitled Be. I had very little time to prepare prior to the recording but, while reading it aloud, I realized why I had chosen it.
When the five instruments of knowledge stand still together with the mind (manas), and when the intellect (buddhi) does not move, that is called the highest stage. This, the firm holding back of the senses, is what is called yoga. VI. 10-11
This description of yoga reminds us very much of the ascetic-meditative selfmortification practised by the Sramanas. In this version Yoga is about stilling the mind and the thoughts, by controlling and disciplining the input from the senses. As this definition appears together with discussions of immortality and the realisation of brahman, it is clear that Sramanic discourse of ascetic self-mortification gains recognition in the Upanishad milieu.
