Adhiṣṭhāna

adhistana new2.png

In Vedānta (one major philosophical framework of yoga), Adhiṣṭhāna(m) translates to: seat / basis / ground / support / abode / the substance from which something is made. ⁣

This tradition asks us to discriminate (have ‘viveka’) between everything that is unstable due to its nature of change, and that which is beyond change - our underlying essence. That which is the basis or foundation for everything else. ⁣

It is a reminder that all of our human concerns & limitations rest on a basis of stability; existence or being itself. ⁣ In my experience, we can gain insight into this when we sense our own presence in the pauses between mental movement. ⁣

This is why meditation is often called a process of ‘remembering’. Relaxing mental busy-ness to remember our essence nature. ⁣

In Vajrayana Buddhism the term also means ‘grace’ and ‘blessings’, which makes sense to me; there’s a certain sense of alignment and reciprocity with the universe when our minds return home to quietness and we rest in our natural state. ⁣