Yoga Sutras Week 6 *Bonus Blog* - Already Home, Yet on the Way Home

 sa tu dīrgha-kāla-nairantarya-satkāra-ārdhara sevitu dṛḍha-bhūmiḥ

To become well-grounded, deeply rooted, established in truth, practice must be done for a long time, without interruption, and with devotion.

To become well-grounded in the inner stillness of yourself — in the truth of your own nature — will take the fullness of time. It will take consistency. And it will take everything you are.

If we wish to attain the supreme goal of all existence, we need to make the supreme surrender. The surrender of ourselves.

What you give to Life — Life gives back.

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Atta. Now — Yoga begins. The process of self-discovery.

We’re enjoying this. Sangha’s on fire. Everyone’s lit up.

We’re lit up, aren’t we? Collectively — it’s obvious. Listen to those Oms at the beginning of class… Yeah that’s how we fucking Om…

Why was it like that? Because of Abhyāsa. Because you brought the whole of yourself to it.

You didn’t just think, “Oh, that sounds okay.” You weren’t a limp appendage to the moment. You showed up. Life responded. And Life is beautiful — absolutely abundant.

We talked about this last week, didn’t we? You don’t have to be fit. You don’t have to be in good shape. You don’t even have to feel great. You just have to show up. Open up.

That’s the only requirement Life has. And in truth it doesn’t even have that because it still loves us and caresses us despite our contractions.

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Yoga isn’t about adding anything. Anything added to you can’t be you. Only what’s original to you — that’s you. And that’s already here. Always has been. Always will be.

Go find that. Fall back from the body. From the breath. From the emotional tangles and the gripping. Let go. Just fall. Freefall back into yourself.

And — ta-da — from that splendour, you’ll realise: life has already given you everything you need to be here. You don’t need to be clever. Or prepared. You don’t need a talent. Or to prove yourself. You don’t need to play the game people play when they’ve forgotten the Source.

Because when we think we have to live life — “I’ve got to be better,” “I’ve got to make it” — that’s when all the psychological nonsense begins.

The yogi says: step out of that world. You can live in it. But don’t be it. See through it. Bit by bit.

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Don’t condemn it. Don’t judge those still in it. But you — what are you doing?

Are you still convinced by all of it? Or are you starting to fall back… into everything?

Like a waking up, followed by a waking up, followed by a waking up. Ongoing. Unfolding. And isn’t it beautiful?

Are you enjoying your awakening, yogi?

You only get it once, really. You see — and once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. You can pretend. You can deny. But you can't go back.

So why not enjoy the awakening?

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This group of disciples with Patanjali — he was giving it to them directly. Nothing written down. It was all coming through his body. It had to live in people.

If no one had been around to hear it, maybe he’d have carved it into a rock. Then a thousand years later, someone would sit on that rock and — boom — explode into full super-conscious awareness of the whole truth of everything.

But instead, it was for bodies.

They asked him:
“How do we connect to the central current — the thing that lets us move in harmony with life?”

And he said:
“You’ll have to give yourself. Totally. Be completely involved in everything that’s happening… and at the same time, remain utterly detached.”

Abhyasa-Vairagya

That’s the paradox. Both, together. One movement. You give everything — and you let go.

You give… and you drop it.

Wherever there’s a rising current, the mind wants to hold on. If it feels good, the mind wants to build something around it. To preserve it. To enshrine it.

“My PhD.”
“My GCSEs.”
“My greyhound.”

Anything can be identified with and enshrined. And when it does, it traps us. Shrinks us. Puts us in a little box of our own making.

But you? You’re outside the box.

Keep liberating yourself from your boxes and notice every time you box yourself in.  

Take a breath. Let the body relax. Catch yourself.

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Then the yogis around Patanjali must have asked:
“Is this a time bound process? And if so, you know… how long, on average is it going to take?”

We’d love a number. A benchmark. A spiritual ETA.

But Patanjali just says:
Dīrgha Kāla.
Long time. Deep time.

It’s going to take a long time.

And that’s good. Because it takes the pressure off. You don’t have to rush. You don’t have to get it all done this week. You just have to keep walking.

How long will it take? As long as it takes. For you. For this unfolding. The fullness of time. Not a deadline — but a depth. Not a countdown — but a deepening.

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Are you still up for it?
Or have you already lost your spark just hearing that?

Have you started thinking,
“Alright… but when do I see results?”
“When do I get the final payback?”

Or can you just… let go into the journey?

A journey that doesn’t promise a finish line,
but does promise truth.

Maybe not fast.
But real.

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You’ve already been in this for the long haul.

It took a long time just to get here. Even if you’re a materialist — this moment is still the result of a very long unfolding.

The universe had to explode. Stars had to form. Planets had to stabilise. Life had to emerge. Consciousness had to wake up.

And here you are.

If you go the Eastern way — you’ve worn every form. Died and returned again and again. And now you have the capacity to be still. To listen. To open.

It’s already been a long journey.

From the heart — you could say:
“That was an epic pilgrimage.”

And maybe now... you’re on the very cusp of something.
Not more doing. Just integration.
What’s already awake in you… softening its way into your living.

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And still — here comes the paradox.

We are already home… and yet we’re still on the way home.

Back in the first Sutra, we said it:
You are already one with life. Already connected. Already That.

But what is it that’s travelling?
What is it that still feels separate, or in process?

It’s this whole mass of conditioning —
the psycho-physiology,
the egoic contraction,
the habits and stories of self.

The moving part — the “me,” the egoic momentum — that’s the part that’s still softening. Still learning to let go.

It feels like it’s on a journey.

It drops in sometimes. Feels good. Then something bubbles up — an old thought, a fear — and we’re back in our story.

It’s fine. That’s the rhythm.

As this one — this “me” — learns to soften, it starts to disappear. It becomes less of a solid thing, more of a surrender.

Until life flows more freely through.

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And you can feel it. When you breathe all the way down, into your boots… and empty out…

You dissolve.

And because you’ve emptied — you can receive more. More breath. More energy. More of life.

Your outer life starts to shift too. You’re not forcing anything. Just allowing.

And then even that — you let go of.

Because if you cling to the revelation, to the bliss… you’re right back to grasping.

So you relax again.
And it continues.

Abhyāsa and Vairāgya. Practice and release. Give and let go. Over and over.

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Even when you know, it doesn’t end.

You don’t arrive at some final state. You just continue to draw from life. To bring it through. To offer it back.

And your life keeps being enriched. Deepened. It never becomes static.

Even total integration isn’t the end.
It just opens up more.

More subtlety. More stillness. More love.

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Over time, different paths have said different things.

Some say: I am this, and I’m connected to That.
Some say: there’s only That.
Others say: Only this is real, there is no That.

And that’s all fine.

If you want a religion — I’d suggest Totalism. Become a Totalist.

Christian? Cool — include it.

Atheist? Great — that’s in.

Buddhist? You’re covered.

Whatever you are — include it.

It’s all part of the unfolding.
Totality has room for it all.

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So… be engaged with your process.

The part of you that’s unfolding — feed it. Nourish it. Go to the well again and again.

Sometimes you’ll drift. But it won’t leave you. It’ll call you back.

The only thing that will get in your way… is you.

Not your true Self — but the small self. The ego, the clinger, the saboteur. It knows that full awakening means it starts to fade. It won’t die — but it’ll return to Source.

It’s just a wave. And it returns to the ocean.

Keep an eye on it. But don’t fear it.

You’re already being moved by something far greater.

And that something… is you. The real you.

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Sa tu Dīrgha Kāla.

Let the practice continue. Let it deepen. Let it stretch across time.

You don’t need to hurry.

Enjoy this journey.

You’re already home.
And you’re still on the way.

Both.

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Sometimes you will take big doses and sometimes you will take the feed.

Sometimes you’ll slip away. But it won’t leave you. It’ll call you back. Because there’s a taste. A sweetness. You’ll want to return. To be nourished again.

Keep going to the well. That’s what this is. That’s what Patanjali’s saying.

But also — notice: on your path of unfolding, you are the only one who will get in your way. Not life. Not the universe. Just you — or rather, that little mechanism of ego.

Your own attachment to a version of yourself — even if that version is miserable or limited — will try to pull you back. It’ll absolutely try to reclaim control.

You will.

Not the you-you. But the me. The clinger. The old identity.

That one will try and get in your way. Because it’s the only thing that can.

The entire universe is behind you. It's got your back and it's moving you forward. But there's still that little pocket of you that's ever-ready to sabotage.

Why?

Because it knows. It knows that full awakening means its hold is over.

It’s not annihilation. But it is dissolution. You're reducing — as you're awakening.

And that’s a beautiful event. But of course, this one gets a little nervous.

“What will be left of me?”
“Will I get a look in at all?”

This one — it’s not evil. It’s not the enemy. It’s just being merged into what you truly are. Simply returning to its basis.

It’s only a wave. Nothing is destroyed. Just the activity returning to the One.

And still, we keep an eye on it. With compassion. With clarity.

“I’ll do everything in my power,” says that voice. “I don’t have much power left… but I’ll use what I’ve got.”

And that’s okay. Because now — you see it.

And that changes everything.