The Middle Way

One-Footed Pose dedicated to the Sage Koundinya I (also referred to as Straight Leg Side Crow Pose)

King Suddhodana and Queen Maya had a baby boy named Siddhartha, and as was common practice at the time, they had sages and wise people come visit the court to make predictions about the boy’s future. Sage Koundinya predicted that baby Siddhartha would grow up to renounce the court, leave the kingdom, and go on his own path to find enlightenment and truth. Siddhartha’s goal was to relieve the world of suffering and he found the concept of the middle path or the four noble truths. These noble truths are as follows:

1.       There is suffering in the world. We all suffer.

2.       The root of that suffering is desire.

3.       We can stop suffering.

4.       To do so, we follow the noble path which includes good moral conduct, meditation and mental development, and wisdom or insight.

Through this pose named after Koundinya we recognize that the only kingdom that can be ruled is that within our own heart and soul.

Some intentions that we can practice in relation to Sage Koundinya include:

1.       “I consistently practice good moral conduct, meditation, mental development, and wisdom in order to achieve enlightenment.”

2.       “I am the ruler of my own kingdom, which is that of my heart and my soul.” ~ Larissa

A key take away is that through our connection to the self we can let go of any suffering.