In the wisdom traditions of yoga and meditation, the experience of yoga samadhi is likened to the moment when fruit drops off the vine. Like the cultivation of a plum or a peach, fruition happens in time, spontaneously, “of its own accord.” After years maturing the essential ingredients of yoga—insight, contemplation, equanimity and tranquility—realization “just happens.”
In what could be considered a very natural process (organic!), when the fruit ripens, it falls. It is impossible to accelerate the ripening. No matter how much you might try, you cannot engineer your own spiritual maturation. It is the same in the supermarket. How rare it is these days to find ripe fruit! Apples, pears, blueberries, and grapes are grown in warehouses far from sun, wind and rain, plucked weeks before fruition. And with what trickery! Designer fruit is made to look enticing—glossy and colorful, over-sized and alluring, plumped-up and tasteless. This kind of polish also shows up in the yoga marketplace. Instagram shots of buffed bodies all shiny and pretty, give the appearance of self-actualization. Like apples plucked too soon from the stem, there are bushels of unripe yoga offerings on the shelves.
Know that it takes many years (possibly lifetimes!) to mellow and season the body/mind. No tricks, no outer display can hasten the process. You simply have to trust that by staying on the vine of your practice, your yoga will come to fruition. Trust it will sweeten with time and will drop when ready– back to the ground of infinite being.
