realising change without change

In the run up Matthew Sanford’s workshops in September, we bring you an insight from his Tumblr – enjoy!

On Krista Tippett’s On Being, MIT’s Nobel laureate professor of theoretical physics Frank Wilczek states the universe might just well embody beautiful ideas. In particular, he believes a fundamental organizing principle is change without change. He explains this in terms of a deepened conception of symmetry. Imagine a circle rotating around its centre point. The points on the circle are changing their relative position but the circle never wavers from being a circle: change without change. He calls this a deepened notion of symmetry.

Wilczek offers another example of change without change. Light appears one way to a stationary observer. But if the observer travels toward that light at a constant velocity, then the light will move toward the blue end of the light spectrum. If the observer travels away from the light at a constant velocity, it moves toward the red end of the spectrum. In both cases, the light changes but always remains light – change without change.  He goes on to restate a fundamental principle of Einstein’s theory of relativity – the laws of physics apply equally at every point of the universe regardless of what changes – change without change.

This truly is a beautiful idea…that something remains constant and equal despite everything that is changing. It gives a reason for hope.

Of course, I am a dedicated yoga practitioner exploring how an individual’s yoga practice might be a microcosm of the macrocosm. In other words, how a particular pose might be a direct manifestation of the entire universe. For example, as I sit in tadasana (mountain pose), how does the universe play directly through my spine and how does this affect my connection to all space that surrounds me. Rumi put this truth much more eloquently: “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop.”

I’ve been thinking about the ancient yogic/eastern belief that we are unified with the universe. This oneness somehow exists despite very tangible separation between me and the glass in front of me. More than just the glass, the world comes all split up into separate pieces and parts. And yet, the ancient yogis reassert this oneness, so much so that they claim that the world of objects is, in fact, an illusion. For them, there is no subject/object distinction. In an incredibly bold manoeuvre, they gave metaphysical primacy to a unity they could not see.

So now I wonder about this ancient claim of primacy, this preference for one reality over another…for unity over separation. It’s no longer necessary. There can be change without change…points moving on a circle while the circle stays constant. This life can be full of ups and down, ins and outs, and a lot of sideways AND STILL there is an underlying unity to everything. I am part of it AND it is part of me. This would be true in every moment of every day and its realisation changes me.  All I have to do is realise the simultaneity of separation and unity…and somehow stay awake. This is the challenge of the coming century.

Originally published on matthewsanford.tumblr.com

Matthew Sanford is an expert in the process transformation through the healing power of yoga. Paralysed from the chest down at age thirteen and beginning yoga at age twenty-five, Matthew knows first-hand the transformative effect that yoga can have on the mind-body relationship. He is an internationally recognised yoga teacher, a sought-after public speaker. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence (Rodale: 2006). Matthew has also emerged as a leading voice in the integrated health movement. He won the 2010 Pioneer of Integrative Medicine Award from the California Pacific Medical Centre’s Institute of Health and Healing. Previous recipients include Dr Deepok Chopra, Dr Dean Ornish, and Dr Mehmet Oz. For more information: https://www.matthewsanford.com/ or https://www.mindbodysolutions.org/.

Join Mathew in Soho
yoga + transformation:
a 3 day teacher training + a weekend of workshops
21 – 25 September 2016

book now

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