East and West
The mind of man is the same, in essence, wherever you go on the planet. Yes, customs and cultures change but what we essentially are as human beings does not. Wherever we go, the mind has the same longing for connection, sustenance and meaning; the same basic needs and appetites. Ignorance is not American, Zambian, Chinese, Christian, Atheist, Communist, Woke, Anti-Woke, Humanist or Muslim. Ignorance is ignorance. It has many masks but underneath it is the same blind and scared animal.
Yoga is associated with India and it means "union" in Sanskrit. We at Sutranovum have been influenced by the depth and wisdom of the Yoga tradition, by Advaita Vedanta and by Buddhism and Taoism. The East has so much to offer. But so does the West. And man is man and his problems are universal. The solutions are too. We also have been inspired by some of the great psychotherapists, by the Greek mystics, the Sufi mystics and other Western mystics and the Course in Miracles has deeply inspired us. We are very much focused on emotional intelligence but not just that. We are also very devoted to what the fourth chapter of the yoga sutras calls "Kaivalya" or "Liberation." Work is not the purpose of life and how we respond, in all our relationships and affairs, merely reflects the prevailing stories of where we find ourselves to be currently internally.
The word "strategy" comes from an ancient Greek word which means, by analogy, the 'general in charge of the battalions of tactics that bring harmony to the forward motion of our lives.'
Many therapists focus on ending the victim mind and many coaches focus on work-life balance, reducing the clutter and productivity.
We seek to focus on:
seeing the victim mind as an invention of the ego
and how to disassociate from that and listen to our inner teacher
how that inner teacher matures and transcends the world
These are the thing which are at the heart of what we stand for. If a story from Greece best serves us to do that then that is what we draw upon. If it is from India we share that. But our focus is to embrace wisdom, not one sect or path over another.
Kenneth Wapnick once said, "If you are kind to all...that's a Course in Miracles. You don't need the fancy schmancy metaphysics." We adhere to that. But we understand that the 'fancy metaphysics' can help us pull out reasons within ourselves to be kinder.
The path of yoga has 8 steps:
Ethics, Codes of conduct, Exercising the body to support mental calm, Breath-work to support health and focus the mind, Withdrawal of the senses to go inward, Concentration, Meditation, Union
Western Psychotherapy focuses on finding a path beyond trauma and disorder to come to live a balanced happy life. From there one moves on into spiritual realms and to embracing the light within. The primary focus of the Course in Miracles is forgiveness to heal our own minds of the mistaken ego self-concept.
We draw upon all these strands and more, with the primary goal being to support the healed mind and its way of seeing. It is this that inspires our forward motion and our product development also.