Painting : Galatea of the Spheres by Salvador Dalí, 1952.
Compared to the vast dynamism of the universe, human life may, in some respects, appear relatively simple: patterns of breathing, eating, thinking, acting… repeating routines. Yet this repetition unfolds within a dynamic, ever-changing flow.
“The atoms of our body, as well, flow in and away from us. We, like waves and like all objects, are a flux of events; we are processes, for a brief time monotonous.”
— Carlo Rovelli, La realtà non è come ci appare: La struttura elementare delle cose
Human beings are temporary organizations of matter and experience, continuously forming and dissolving—a dynamic flow of biological, psychological, and emotional events.
Our thoughts arise and pass, our cells renew, our moods shift… there is no static point or stable state to which we could cling. Then, how can we define the “I” beyond all this? Is it the patterns that produce the story? The framework that produces the patterns? Or, as suggested by yoga philosophy, the seer that witnesses both—unchanging and untouched by the laws of nature?
In the Yoga Sutras, Patañjali says:
draṣṭā dṛśimātraḥ śuddho’pi pratyayānupaśyaḥ (II.20)
That which perceives is pure and unchanging, yet it perceives through the mind.
– Translated by T.K.V. Desikachar
tat-artha eva dṛśyasya ātma (II.21)
All that can be perceived exists for the sake of being perceived.
– Translated by T.K.V. Desikachar
viveka-khyātiḥ aviplavā hānopāyaḥ (II.26)
The means is the cultivation of uninterrupted clarity, through which the distinction between the changing qualities of what is perceived and the unchanging nature of the perceiver becomes evident.
– Translated by T.K.V. Desikachar
Yoga is about removing confusion between the seen (body, thoughts, experiences—changing and impermanent) and the seer (unchanging awareness). Through sustained practice, we learn to cultivate discriminative insight (viveka‑khyāti), which, when developed continuously, leads to liberation—a state of consciousness in which the boundaries of the “I” dissolve, transforming both our perception and the way we engage with all of existence, revealing a deep resonance with the universe itself.
How and from where does consciousness emerges? Is it a consequence of the universe, or a cause of its existence? Is it an accident, or a natural outcome of cosmic evolution?
L’univers est une machine à faire de la conscience.
“The universe is a machine for producing consciousness.”
— Hubert Reeves, Patience dans l’azur
Trying to reflect on concepts such as consciousness can feel overwhelming: How can we even think—using our brains and words—about something that is supposed to be beyond the laws of nature? Such vertiginous questions make attempting an answer through reason alone feel almost futile. Ultimately, Yoga teaches that consciousness can only be known or realized through direct experience… everything else is merely speculation !
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and Massage treatments with Amina Mokrane 