The laws of karma
The next sutra is Kleshamoolaha karmashayo drushtadrushta janmavedniyaha meaning “Suffering has to be undergone because of the karma bank; some bear fruit in this birth itself whereas some bear fruit in their next.”
Patanjali Maharishi says that there is no other way and you will have to suffer this in this life. You have to undergo this suffering, this misery, not only in this life, but also in the coming life, because they form as karmâshaya, as a bank of karma which is reserved!
But through meditation this karma can be washed off right now, here. Before the body drops, you get rid of the karma and lessen the sheaths of ignorance over you. Otherwise there is no escape for you from there. Drishta adrishta janma vedanîyaha means some will give you fruits in this life itself and some will stay back with you to give fruits in the next life. Now, some people have an argument. They ask, “If you put your fingers in a fire, will it burn today or tomorrow or in your next life? There is nothing like karma. Every action has got its repercussion, but it has to happen immediately. It does not come with you to your next life.”
Not all the seeds you sow take the same amount of time to reap. Some seeds sprout in two days. Peanuts take five days. A coconut takes several months. A mango tree takes ten years to give fruit. Similarly, different karmas will give fruit at different times. As you sow, so shall you reap.
The next sutra is Sati moole tadvipako jatyayurbhogaha meaning “If the roots of karma are existing, they ripen and result in the body into which you are born and the fruits of the karma are experiences throughout life.”
Patanjali goes on to explain about our births. Jati is the body you come from. Your birth is determined. The length of your life is determined. What you will get in your life, your joy, your miseries are also determined. Why is someone born in Ethiopia and someone else in Switzerland? Is there any explanation?
Patanjali has an explanation for this. This is the usual question asked, “Why is it that one person was born a pauper and another a prince?” “Why is one person’s life full of pain and suffering while another’s is full of joy and comfort?” These are big questions. There is no logic that can give you any understanding or explanation. Patanjali Maharishi says that it is because of your past karmas.
It is the strongest impression in the mind that persists. Try this tonight. Just before going to bed, think of something. Think very strongly about it. As soon as you get up in the morning, it will be your first thought. The same thought will also come up in the dream. If you practice this for four months or six months, they will assume those qualities in you. Those thoughts will begin to take control of you. It gains such a pattern inside you because that karma, that impression has become so strong. So, the wise people say that the last days of your life is much more important than your whole life.
To emphasise this in India there are many, many stories. There is a story about a king called Ajamila. He was an atheist until his death. When he was dying, he called out: “Narayana, Narayana’’. His son’s name was ‘’Narayan’’ and he was calling his son. God thought that he was being called and he came and liberated him. This is a story. It is an extreme way to say that the last impression carries much weight in spite of whatever one does the whole life.
There is another story about a saint, a very enlightened rishi named Jadabharatha who was on the bank of a river in meditation. He saw a young deer caught in a flood. So he jumped into the water and like any one would and have done, he saved the deer from drowning. The deer had hurt its leg. He cared for it. He got so attached to the deer. When he died he became a deer. This is the only instance where an enlightened person became an animal. It is said that it is almost impossible for a liberated man to be driven back into an animal’s body. This is one of the impossibility. This example of Jadabharatha is quoted through out just to tell you that the last impression is most important.
Same thing, when children go to bed in the night after watching horror movies, they get nightmares. They cry and shout and do all sorts of things. How do you get rid of this?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
No pain, no gain
The next sutra is Tehladaparitapaphalaha punyapunyahetutvat meaning “impressions give you pleasure and pain as the fruits of virtues and vices”.
When the impressions are good, they bring you joy, but when they are not, they bring you suffering. It all depends on whether you have done something good or something bad. Good karma accumulates and brings you joy.
If a person is happy it is because they have done some good in the past. If they are miserable, then it is obvious they have done something bad. Patanjali connects happiness and misery to an act of the past.
Patanjali says meditation is the way out of all that. Meditation helps you wash everything out.
If you look into the pleasures or joy that you get in life from birth they all come with a tax. You have to pay a tax for that and that is sorrow.
In the next sutra Patanjali says: Parinamatapasamskaradukhairgunavruttivirodhachcha dukhameva sarvam vivekinaha, which means “The result of an event, anxious wait for an event, feverishness to achieve and the impressions of these events cause sorrow and more so when things happen to the contrary. Therefore, for an intelligent one, everything is indeed considered as painful”.
Every event causes some pain. Even if the event is pleasant, when it ends, there is a little pain. The greater the joy, the greater the pain too. Right? Parinama, the effect or the result of an event, brings you pain.
The longing or waiting for a pleasurable event is again pain. Memory of a pleasure too brings pain. Longing for something too causes pain. Then when you get it, the fear of losing it too is painful.
For a viveki or an intelligent one, the one who is awakened, he sees the whole incident as painful. There is nothing that is not painful. You say love is beautiful, but love is also painful. Bodies can get close, but still there is no satisfaction. Often the male takes the female body and the female takes a male body in the next life. That is what craving or longing does to a person. The mind is more prominent. That is why in every male you find a female and in every female you find a male. This is because there is some impression from the past.
The soul is not just satisfied by the physical body coming closer. It wants something more. It wants to merge, vanish and disappear. This is what you call love.
Love also creates tremendous amount of pain. Separation is pain. Trying to please creates pain. You want to know the mind of the other person in and out. How can you, when you do not even know your own mind? You want to know somebody else’s mind! It is impossible to know anybody else’s mind just by their words and movements of their lips and tongue.
There is a saying that the tongue has no bone. It is not steady. It says something today and tomorrow it may say something else. You cannot trust your tongue. You can trust anything in the world. You experience some good feeling, love, you feel wonderful and joyful and suddenly it is not there the next moment and it is painful.
Pain seems to exist in everything. What do you do? When you realise that everything is pain, then how do you go about it? What do you do? You have to do something to stop this pain. How will you do it? The next sutra will study that.
The next sutra is Tehladaparitapaphalaha punyapunyahetutvat meaning “impressions give you pleasure and pain as the fruits of virtues and vices”.
When the impressions are good, they bring you joy, but when they are not, they bring you suffering. It all depends on whether you have done something good or something bad. Good karma accumulates and brings you joy.
If a person is happy it is because they have done some good in the past. If they are miserable, then it is obvious they have done something bad. Patanjali connects happiness and misery to an act of the past.
Patanjali says meditation is the way out of all that. Meditation helps you wash everything out.
If you look into the pleasures or joy that you get in life from birth they all come with a tax. You have to pay a tax for that and that is sorrow.
In the next sutra Patanjali says: Parinamatapasamskaradukhairgunavruttivirodhachcha dukhameva sarvam vivekinaha, which means “The result of an event, anxious wait for an event, feverishness to achieve and the impressions of these events cause sorrow and more so when things happen to the contrary. Therefore, for an intelligent one, everything is indeed considered as painful”.
Every event causes some pain. Even if the event is pleasant, when it ends, there is a little pain. The greater the joy, the greater the pain too. Right? Parinama, the effect or the result of an event, brings you pain.
The longing or waiting for a pleasurable event is again pain. Memory of a pleasure too brings pain. Longing for something too causes pain. Then when you get it, the fear of losing it too is painful.
For a viveki or an intelligent one, the one who is awakened, he sees the whole incident as painful. There is nothing that is not painful. You say love is beautiful, but love is also painful. Bodies can get close, but still there is no satisfaction. Often the male takes the female body and the female takes a male body in the next life. That is what craving or longing does to a person. The mind is more prominent. That is why in every male you find a female and in every female you find a male. This is because there is some impression from the past.
The soul is not just satisfied by the physical body coming closer. It wants something more. It wants to merge, vanish and disappear. This is what you call love.
Love also creates tremendous amount of pain. Separation is pain. Trying to please creates pain. You want to know the mind of the other person in and out. How can you, when you do not even know your own mind? You want to know somebody else’s mind! It is impossible to know anybody else’s mind just by their words and movements of their lips and tongue.
There is a saying that the tongue has no bone. It is not steady. It says something today and tomorrow it may say something else. You cannot trust your tongue. You can trust anything in the world. You experience some good feeling, love, you feel wonderful and joyful and suddenly it is not there the next moment and it is painful.
Pain seems to exist in everything. What do you do? When you realise that everything is pain, then how do you go about it? What do you do? You have to do something to stop this pain. How will you do it? The next sutra will study that.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
Keeping life within
This week, we look at Heyam dukhamanagatham, which means that the pain that has not yet come can be avoided. This sutra tells us that we need to learn to eliminate the root cause of pain. The pain that has not yet entered our lives, the sorrow that has not yet sprouted must be nipped in the bud. But how does one do that?
That is where Drashtridrushyayoho samyogo heyahetuhu or the next sutra comes in. This means that the cause of suffering is when the seer becomes one with the seen and forgets one’s true nature.
Forgetfulness of one’s self is the root cause of pain. The self becomes one with the objects that are all around the self. This is because of lack of perception. You think “this is me”. Then the problems begin.
There is a story which children in India read during their childhood, about a wicked king who has to be killed. Only the life of the king is in a a parrot in another place, which means that the only way to kill the king is to kill the parrot.
According to the story, the king’s life is not within him and he will not die even if someone tries to kill him. To kill the king you have to go to the island where the parrot is and into a fort where the parrot is caged. The fort is guarded by cobras and anyone seeking to kill the king has to get past all of that.
When the person attempting to kill the king manages to get inside the fort, he finds that there is a cage there and the parrot inside it. Only problem is that he cannot touch the cage becuase if he does it will burn him. So he has to kill the parrot without touching it, the same way he has to kill the king without touching him.
In the same way, you keep your life somewhere else, and not within you. Your life is somewhere else, in the bank account. You have not just deposited the money in the bank. Along with the money you have also deposited your life. If something happens to the bank account, you will have a heart attack. Do you see what I am saying?
Whatever you think of as more important becomes the cause of suffering. So, when you see the difference, then the seer separates from the surrounding you will ask yourself, “What is all this?”
That’s when the true meditation happens. Patanjali says — Prakashakriyasthitisheelam bhutendriyatmakam bhogaapavargartham drushyam, which means manifestation, dynamism, inertia is the nature of one consciousness. The entire creation being made up of five elements gives you pleasure and relief from the objects of enjoyment. That does not mean you have to run away from this world. This world is here to enjoy. Patanjali is very clear about that.
The world is here for you to see. Great food is here for you to eat. The whole world is here for you to enjoy, but while enjoying do not forget yourself. You are separate from them. This is viveka.
This seen world is eliminated. It conveys a message. It gives you an idea of how great the consciousness is. Every aspect in the world is an expression of God. Everything is active. Everything is manifested from the consciousness. Everything in this universe is dynamic. It is not static. There is nothing that is static. Even though the mountains appear to be static, they are not. They are all dynamic. Every atom is dynamic.
Everything is governed by certain principles and certain qualities. The entire creation is made up of five elements and five organs of action. These are the ten organs. The entire creation is endowed by these ten. The mind is also a part of the creation. This entire creation is there to give you pleasure and relief. Whatever gives you pleasure will also give you relief. Otherwise pleasure becomes a pain. The entire creation gives you enjoyment and liberation and relieves you. You have to get yourself liberated from all this at some time or the other so it does not become pain.
This week, we look at Heyam dukhamanagatham, which means that the pain that has not yet come can be avoided. This sutra tells us that we need to learn to eliminate the root cause of pain. The pain that has not yet entered our lives, the sorrow that has not yet sprouted must be nipped in the bud. But how does one do that?
That is where Drashtridrushyayoho samyogo heyahetuhu or the next sutra comes in. This means that the cause of suffering is when the seer becomes one with the seen and forgets one’s true nature.
Forgetfulness of one’s self is the root cause of pain. The self becomes one with the objects that are all around the self. This is because of lack of perception. You think “this is me”. Then the problems begin.
There is a story which children in India read during their childhood, about a wicked king who has to be killed. Only the life of the king is in a a parrot in another place, which means that the only way to kill the king is to kill the parrot.
According to the story, the king’s life is not within him and he will not die even if someone tries to kill him. To kill the king you have to go to the island where the parrot is and into a fort where the parrot is caged. The fort is guarded by cobras and anyone seeking to kill the king has to get past all of that.
When the person attempting to kill the king manages to get inside the fort, he finds that there is a cage there and the parrot inside it. Only problem is that he cannot touch the cage becuase if he does it will burn him. So he has to kill the parrot without touching it, the same way he has to kill the king without touching him.
In the same way, you keep your life somewhere else, and not within you. Your life is somewhere else, in the bank account. You have not just deposited the money in the bank. Along with the money you have also deposited your life. If something happens to the bank account, you will have a heart attack. Do you see what I am saying?
Whatever you think of as more important becomes the cause of suffering. So, when you see the difference, then the seer separates from the surrounding you will ask yourself, “What is all this?”
That’s when the true meditation happens. Patanjali says — Prakashakriyasthitisheelam bhutendriyatmakam bhogaapavargartham drushyam, which means manifestation, dynamism, inertia is the nature of one consciousness. The entire creation being made up of five elements gives you pleasure and relief from the objects of enjoyment. That does not mean you have to run away from this world. This world is here to enjoy. Patanjali is very clear about that.
The world is here for you to see. Great food is here for you to eat. The whole world is here for you to enjoy, but while enjoying do not forget yourself. You are separate from them. This is viveka.
This seen world is eliminated. It conveys a message. It gives you an idea of how great the consciousness is. Every aspect in the world is an expression of God. Everything is active. Everything is manifested from the consciousness. Everything in this universe is dynamic. It is not static. There is nothing that is static. Even though the mountains appear to be static, they are not. They are all dynamic. Every atom is dynamic.
Everything is governed by certain principles and certain qualities. The entire creation is made up of five elements and five organs of action. These are the ten organs. The entire creation is endowed by these ten. The mind is also a part of the creation. This entire creation is there to give you pleasure and relief. Whatever gives you pleasure will also give you relief. Otherwise pleasure becomes a pain. The entire creation gives you enjoyment and liberation and relieves you. You have to get yourself liberated from all this at some time or the other so it does not become pain.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
Discover your gunas
The sutra for this week is Drashta drushimatraha shuddopi pratyayanupashyaha meaning the self is pure consciousness, although it get covered when mixed with intellect.
The self, though pure, is a mere witness. But when it becomes one with the buddhi or intellect, it gets coloured. People who are stuck in their intellect, stick to their thoughts and ideas as though they are their own. They suffer as the self becomes the centre of their creation.
Moving on to the next sutra — Tadartha eva drushyasyatma, which means for the unenlightened only the world exists.
Though this world does not exist for the enlightened one, it exists for the one who is not enlightened. To them, the world continues to exist with its opposites. For the one who is awakened to knowledge, there is no more suffering. The world appears different. For the enlightened one, every inch of creation is filled with bliss. But for others it exists as the seed. So, though the enlightened one has realised this world and sees it as separate, but a part of the self, it does not exist for them.
The next sutra says Kruthartham prati nashtamapyanashtamtadanyasadharanatvat, which means that for the enlightened one the world is destroyed even though for others the world is not destroyed. Consider travelling in a bus. The journey may be over for you but the plane keeps moving or the bus keeps going. The bus still goes because it has to take the other passengers elsewhere.
Swaswamishaktyoho swarooppopalabdhihetuhu samyogaha is the next sutra and it means the power of nature is the cause and when united with the seer brings about its effects.
Your body is made up of three gunas — sattva, rajas and tamas and the three act according to the circumstances. When the tamasic guna dominates it creates lethargy. When rajasic guna dominates, you feel restless. When the mind is dominated by sattva, then you are alert. Observe the tendencies that come up in you without thinking that you are those tendencies.
The sutra for this week is Drashta drushimatraha shuddopi pratyayanupashyaha meaning the self is pure consciousness, although it get covered when mixed with intellect.
The self, though pure, is a mere witness. But when it becomes one with the buddhi or intellect, it gets coloured. People who are stuck in their intellect, stick to their thoughts and ideas as though they are their own. They suffer as the self becomes the centre of their creation.
Moving on to the next sutra — Tadartha eva drushyasyatma, which means for the unenlightened only the world exists.
Though this world does not exist for the enlightened one, it exists for the one who is not enlightened. To them, the world continues to exist with its opposites. For the one who is awakened to knowledge, there is no more suffering. The world appears different. For the enlightened one, every inch of creation is filled with bliss. But for others it exists as the seed. So, though the enlightened one has realised this world and sees it as separate, but a part of the self, it does not exist for them.
The next sutra says Kruthartham prati nashtamapyanashtamtadanyasadharanatvat, which means that for the enlightened one the world is destroyed even though for others the world is not destroyed. Consider travelling in a bus. The journey may be over for you but the plane keeps moving or the bus keeps going. The bus still goes because it has to take the other passengers elsewhere.
Swaswamishaktyoho swarooppopalabdhihetuhu samyogaha is the next sutra and it means the power of nature is the cause and when united with the seer brings about its effects.
Your body is made up of three gunas — sattva, rajas and tamas and the three act according to the circumstances. When the tamasic guna dominates it creates lethargy. When rajasic guna dominates, you feel restless. When the mind is dominated by sattva, then you are alert. Observe the tendencies that come up in you without thinking that you are those tendencies.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
The wisdom of human life
The next sutra is Tasya Hethuravidya, which means “thinking that these causes are yours is ignorance”. What is the way out of ignorance? The only way is definite knowledge in the mind that your body is constantly changing. You must know that you are not the body, you are the self. You are imperishable, untouched and untainted by the probabilities of the world. Every particle in this body is changing. The mind is changing. The world is changing all the time.
The entire universe is in the state of fluidity. It is full of change and it is going on according to its nature. This definite knowledge is the way to get out of the circle.
Human consciousness is like a seed. A seed has the possibility of a tree, of the leaves, of a branch, of fruits, of flowers and of multiplication. A seed needs proper ground, proper conditions, sunlight, and water, soil for it to sprout and blossom. Human consciousness is like that. Either the seed can be dormant for years together keeping its possibility within itself or it starts sprouting. The sprouting of the seed of human consciousness is viveka or discrimination. Freedom comes with discrimination.
All other species in this creation are governed by nature. They do not need discrimination, nor do they have the freedom. So they never break the laws of nature. The human mind has this possibility of freedom and it also has been given discrimination. It is through wisdom and discrimination that the human consciousness can progress or else it can remain where it is. You will never see an animal overeating. They have no choice. But human beings have this freedom to do whatever they want. This freedom is given along with discrimination, along with wisdom, along with the consequences of action. Knowledge of consequences of action helps humans to choose and lead life with wisdom. Are you getting what I am saying? The human life is governed by wisdom and discrimination.
How should this come up? How can this be enhanced? How do you make the seed sprout? A seed has the possibility. But if it is not watered then the possibility remains a possibility and does not manifest.
Time for the next sutra — Yoganganushtanadashuddhikshaye jnanadipthiraviveka khyatehe. It means that by the sustained practice of the eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and the light of wisdom and discrimination shine forth.
The husk is strong. The sprout moves through this and the grain comes out. Similarly, by the practice of eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and wisdom as well as discrimination shines forth.
What are the limbs of yoga?
Yamaniyamaasanapran? ayamapratyaharadharanadhyna samadhayoashtavangan, the next sutra, is the answer. It means ‘restraint, observance, postures, regulation of breath, substitute food for the mind, ability of the mind to focus, meditation and higher states of consciousness are eight limbs of yoga’.
Yoga has eight limbs and each one is connected to the whole. So, if you pull one, everything else will come. When the body is developing, the whole body develops simultaneously. Organs develop together and all the aspects or limbs of the body develop. That is why Patanjali says that these are all the limbs of yoga.
Unfortunately people think that these are all stages, one after the other which has to be achieved. This is wrong understanding or misconception that has crept in yoga.
The series on Patanjali’s yogasutras continues…
The next sutra is Tasya Hethuravidya, which means “thinking that these causes are yours is ignorance”. What is the way out of ignorance? The only way is definite knowledge in the mind that your body is constantly changing. You must know that you are not the body, you are the self. You are imperishable, untouched and untainted by the probabilities of the world. Every particle in this body is changing. The mind is changing. The world is changing all the time.
The entire universe is in the state of fluidity. It is full of change and it is going on according to its nature. This definite knowledge is the way to get out of the circle.
Human consciousness is like a seed. A seed has the possibility of a tree, of the leaves, of a branch, of fruits, of flowers and of multiplication. A seed needs proper ground, proper conditions, sunlight, and water, soil for it to sprout and blossom. Human consciousness is like that. Either the seed can be dormant for years together keeping its possibility within itself or it starts sprouting. The sprouting of the seed of human consciousness is viveka or discrimination. Freedom comes with discrimination.
All other species in this creation are governed by nature. They do not need discrimination, nor do they have the freedom. So they never break the laws of nature. The human mind has this possibility of freedom and it also has been given discrimination. It is through wisdom and discrimination that the human consciousness can progress or else it can remain where it is. You will never see an animal overeating. They have no choice. But human beings have this freedom to do whatever they want. This freedom is given along with discrimination, along with wisdom, along with the consequences of action. Knowledge of consequences of action helps humans to choose and lead life with wisdom. Are you getting what I am saying? The human life is governed by wisdom and discrimination.
How should this come up? How can this be enhanced? How do you make the seed sprout? A seed has the possibility. But if it is not watered then the possibility remains a possibility and does not manifest.
Time for the next sutra — Yoganganushtanadashuddhikshaye jnanadipthiraviveka khyatehe. It means that by the sustained practice of the eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and the light of wisdom and discrimination shine forth.
The husk is strong. The sprout moves through this and the grain comes out. Similarly, by the practice of eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and wisdom as well as discrimination shines forth.
What are the limbs of yoga?
Yamaniyamaasanapran? ayamapratyaharadharanadhyna samadhayoashtavangan, the next sutra, is the answer. It means ‘restraint, observance, postures, regulation of breath, substitute food for the mind, ability of the mind to focus, meditation and higher states of consciousness are eight limbs of yoga’.
Yoga has eight limbs and each one is connected to the whole. So, if you pull one, everything else will come. When the body is developing, the whole body develops simultaneously. Organs develop together and all the aspects or limbs of the body develop. That is why Patanjali says that these are all the limbs of yoga.
Unfortunately people think that these are all stages, one after the other which has to be achieved. This is wrong understanding or misconception that has crept in yoga.
The series on Patanjali’s yogasutras continues…
Friday, September 11, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
The wisdom of human life
The next sutra is Tasya Hethuravidya, which means “thinking that these causes are yours is ignorance”. What is the way out of ignorance? The only way is definite knowledge in the mind that your body is constantly changing. You must know that you are not the body, you are the self. You are imperishable, untouched and untainted by the probabilities of the world. Every particle in this body is changing. The mind is changing. The world is changing all the time.
The entire universe is in the state of fluidity. It is full of change and it is going on according to its nature. This definite knowledge is the way to get out of the circle.
Human consciousness is like a seed. A seed has the possibility of a tree, of the leaves, of a branch, of fruits, of flowers and of multiplication. A seed needs proper ground, proper conditions, sunlight, and water, soil for it to sprout and blossom. Human consciousness is like that. Either the seed can be dormant for years together keeping its possibility within itself or it starts sprouting. The sprouting of the seed of human consciousness is viveka or discrimination. Freedom comes with discrimination.
All other species in this creation are governed by nature. They do not need discrimination, nor do they have the freedom. So they never break the laws of nature. The human mind has this possibility of freedom and it also has been given discrimination. It is through wisdom and discrimination that the human consciousness can progress or else it can remain where it is. You will never see an animal overeating. They have no choice. But human beings have this freedom to do whatever they want. This freedom is given along with discrimination, along with wisdom, along with the consequences of action. Knowledge of consequences of action helps humans to choose and lead life with wisdom. Are you getting what I am saying? The human life is governed by wisdom and discrimination.
How should this come up? How can this be enhanced? How do you make the seed sprout? A seed has the possibility. But if it is not watered then the possibility remains a possibility and does not manifest.
Time for the next sutra — Yoganganushtanadashuddhikshaye jnanadipthiraviveka khyatehe. It means that by the sustained practice of the eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and the light of wisdom and discrimination shine forth.
The husk is strong. The sprout moves through this and the grain comes out. Similarly, by the practice of eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and wisdom as well as discrimination shines forth.
What are the limbs of yoga?
Yamaniyamaasanapran? ayamapratyaharadharanadhyna samadhayoashtavangan, the next sutra, is the answer. It means ‘restraint, observance, postures, regulation of breath, substitute food for the mind, ability of the mind to focus, meditation and higher states of consciousness are eight limbs of yoga’.
Yoga has eight limbs and each one is connected to the whole. So, if you pull one, everything else will come. When the body is developing, the whole body develops simultaneously. Organs develop together and all the aspects or limbs of the body develop. That is why Patanjali says that these are all the limbs of yoga.
Unfortunately people think that these are all stages, one after the other which has to be achieved. This is wrong understanding or misconception that has crept in yoga.
The next sutra is Tasya Hethuravidya, which means “thinking that these causes are yours is ignorance”. What is the way out of ignorance? The only way is definite knowledge in the mind that your body is constantly changing. You must know that you are not the body, you are the self. You are imperishable, untouched and untainted by the probabilities of the world. Every particle in this body is changing. The mind is changing. The world is changing all the time.
The entire universe is in the state of fluidity. It is full of change and it is going on according to its nature. This definite knowledge is the way to get out of the circle.
Human consciousness is like a seed. A seed has the possibility of a tree, of the leaves, of a branch, of fruits, of flowers and of multiplication. A seed needs proper ground, proper conditions, sunlight, and water, soil for it to sprout and blossom. Human consciousness is like that. Either the seed can be dormant for years together keeping its possibility within itself or it starts sprouting. The sprouting of the seed of human consciousness is viveka or discrimination. Freedom comes with discrimination.
All other species in this creation are governed by nature. They do not need discrimination, nor do they have the freedom. So they never break the laws of nature. The human mind has this possibility of freedom and it also has been given discrimination. It is through wisdom and discrimination that the human consciousness can progress or else it can remain where it is. You will never see an animal overeating. They have no choice. But human beings have this freedom to do whatever they want. This freedom is given along with discrimination, along with wisdom, along with the consequences of action. Knowledge of consequences of action helps humans to choose and lead life with wisdom. Are you getting what I am saying? The human life is governed by wisdom and discrimination.
How should this come up? How can this be enhanced? How do you make the seed sprout? A seed has the possibility. But if it is not watered then the possibility remains a possibility and does not manifest.
Time for the next sutra — Yoganganushtanadashuddhikshaye jnanadipthiraviveka khyatehe. It means that by the sustained practice of the eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and the light of wisdom and discrimination shine forth.
The husk is strong. The sprout moves through this and the grain comes out. Similarly, by the practice of eight limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed and wisdom as well as discrimination shines forth.
What are the limbs of yoga?
Yamaniyamaasanapran? ayamapratyaharadharanadhyna samadhayoashtavangan, the next sutra, is the answer. It means ‘restraint, observance, postures, regulation of breath, substitute food for the mind, ability of the mind to focus, meditation and higher states of consciousness are eight limbs of yoga’.
Yoga has eight limbs and each one is connected to the whole. So, if you pull one, everything else will come. When the body is developing, the whole body develops simultaneously. Organs develop together and all the aspects or limbs of the body develop. That is why Patanjali says that these are all the limbs of yoga.
Unfortunately people think that these are all stages, one after the other which has to be achieved. This is wrong understanding or misconception that has crept in yoga.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
Breathing ahimsa
The next sutra is Jatidesha kalasamayanavachchinnaha sarvabhouma mahavratam meaning ‘the great vows are universal and are not limited by life — state, country, time or circumstances’.
These words are applicable everywhere, all the time and to everyone. These five principles mentioned above are universal. An animal does not go into violence for no reason. Wild animals hunt only when they are hungry and when they want to eat. Human hunt out of pleasure. Human beings have no qualms about killing in the name of God. Mindless violence is prevalent in the world in the name of country, in the name of religion, in the name of race. This is absolute nonsense. This is total lack of viveka or wisdom. A violent person cannot listen to anybody.
Why does violence arise? Frustration is the answer. The mind gets frustrated and frustration builds up. The question ‘why, why, why?’ transforms into violence and this contagious, so to speak. A crowd commits violence. Individually, a person may not be able to do that violent act, but when that person is in the crowd he joins hands. Viveka is when a person takes to non-violence saying, “I will not kill any animal or any life on this planet consciously or unconsciously.” Already without your knowledge you are destroying many creatures. You walk and many ants are dying under your feet. You are not killing anyone. It is just happening. But an intention to destroy something, an intention to do violence can destroy your very basis, your very own root. Dropping this intention for violence is ahimsa.
What is the effect of ahimsa? Patanjali Maharishi gives a beautiful explanation in Sutra 35: Ahimsapratishtayam tatsannidhau vairatyagaha, which means “When a person is established in non-violence, then violence is dropped in his or her presence.”
If you are established in non-violence, in your very presence, violence will be dropped by other creatures. For example, someone comes to attack you. As soon as they come near you, because your vibrations are totally nonviolent, they drop down. They stop being violent. Lord Mahavira emphasises on ahimsa. It is said that whenever he walked, twenty kilometers around him, people would stop being violent. The story goes even to that extent and says even the thorns would not prick anybody but would instead become soft.
Ahimsa gives rise to tolerance.
Have you ever felt like hitting somebody? Why is that violence arising in your mind? What is the source of the violence? As you watch the source of violence, you will see that violence disappears, dissolves and peace dawns. Yoga brings that inner peace which in turn establishes non-violence. Practice of non-violence is two-way traffic. Ahimsa or non -violence brings about the union of the mind or peace of mind and when you are peaceful or calm within, you naturally become non-violent.
The next sutra is Jatidesha kalasamayanavachchinnaha sarvabhouma mahavratam meaning ‘the great vows are universal and are not limited by life — state, country, time or circumstances’.
These words are applicable everywhere, all the time and to everyone. These five principles mentioned above are universal. An animal does not go into violence for no reason. Wild animals hunt only when they are hungry and when they want to eat. Human hunt out of pleasure. Human beings have no qualms about killing in the name of God. Mindless violence is prevalent in the world in the name of country, in the name of religion, in the name of race. This is absolute nonsense. This is total lack of viveka or wisdom. A violent person cannot listen to anybody.
Why does violence arise? Frustration is the answer. The mind gets frustrated and frustration builds up. The question ‘why, why, why?’ transforms into violence and this contagious, so to speak. A crowd commits violence. Individually, a person may not be able to do that violent act, but when that person is in the crowd he joins hands. Viveka is when a person takes to non-violence saying, “I will not kill any animal or any life on this planet consciously or unconsciously.” Already without your knowledge you are destroying many creatures. You walk and many ants are dying under your feet. You are not killing anyone. It is just happening. But an intention to destroy something, an intention to do violence can destroy your very basis, your very own root. Dropping this intention for violence is ahimsa.
What is the effect of ahimsa? Patanjali Maharishi gives a beautiful explanation in Sutra 35: Ahimsapratishtayam tatsannidhau vairatyagaha, which means “When a person is established in non-violence, then violence is dropped in his or her presence.”
If you are established in non-violence, in your very presence, violence will be dropped by other creatures. For example, someone comes to attack you. As soon as they come near you, because your vibrations are totally nonviolent, they drop down. They stop being violent. Lord Mahavira emphasises on ahimsa. It is said that whenever he walked, twenty kilometers around him, people would stop being violent. The story goes even to that extent and says even the thorns would not prick anybody but would instead become soft.
Ahimsa gives rise to tolerance.
Have you ever felt like hitting somebody? Why is that violence arising in your mind? What is the source of the violence? As you watch the source of violence, you will see that violence disappears, dissolves and peace dawns. Yoga brings that inner peace which in turn establishes non-violence. Practice of non-violence is two-way traffic. Ahimsa or non -violence brings about the union of the mind or peace of mind and when you are peaceful or calm within, you naturally become non-violent.
What Gurudev Said?
'When we are joyous with ourselves, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us'
Posted: 09 Sep 2009 06:35 AM PDT
What Sri Sri said today:
'When we are joyous with ourselves, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us'
India (Art of Living International Center, Bangalore), September 8:
Q. Why is it difficult to get focused on things that I don’t like to do?
Sri Sri: If you don’t like something, then your focus is all the more on it. If you like something, then you focus on it. When you’re neutral about something, when there is no aversion, then there is no focus.
Studying the nature of mind is itself is an amazing phenomena. You will be thrilled knowing and learning more and more about your own mind. When I say mind, I don’t mean just mind. I would rather say the consciousness because the mind is one function of the consciousness. The perception is what we call the mind. The perceptible aspect of the consciousness is called mind. The judgmental aspect, the intellect.
The study of consciousness is the most difficult. And with time and maturity, everybody gets it.
Q. Can we aspire for something higher like enlightenment at the age of twenty one?
Sri Sri: Definitely. You should aspire for enlightenment and enlightenment is unconditional happiness, unconditional love and a life in which you are in the driver’s seat. You must aspire for enlightenment. Right from when you recognize to aspire anything in life. Go to the highest first and all the good things will come along, you don’t have to make an effort for it.
When I say you don’t have to make an effort, I mean you don’t have to sit and worry about it. When you aspire for the highest, your action will be spontaneous and in the spontaneity you will see things have started falling into place.
Q. What is a self referral attitude?
Sri Sri: Being in touch with your very center. When you worry there is a tendency to lose that focus or centredness. It is the same when you are tired or too busy. Self referral means coming back to yourself, to your center again and again. The core value within you.
Q. Are there any plus points of doing a job other than earning money
Sri Sri: Money and experience. That’s all and some discipline. If you have to do a job you have to discipline your life in a certain fashion.
Q. Is there a gene for knowledge, any nadi (channel for energy flow) that has to be opened for creativity?
Sri Sri: Definitely and you all have it. And it opens whenever you listen to knowledge.
Q. How does it feel to be God?
Sri Sri: Absolutely natural.
Q. We are not supposed to marry in our own gotra (family tree). Scientifically, what does a gotra mean?
Sri Sri: Gotra is a family tree, like you know if you marry your own siblings, or cousins, they say the genes will not develop properly, children will not develop. The family trees go back to some rishis in the past. And they say that gotra means we belong to this (a particular) family. Today what the scientists say about blood groups was known to people thousands of years ago. Yet people from the same gotra have spread. If you marry in the same gotra the children will not be too healthy. That is the main thing. It’s better to avoid.
But those were the thoughts from some thousands of years ago but now since we have gone so far away and the population has spread so much, it has become so vast. I don’t know how relevant it is. But (marriage within) gotra is better to avoid.
Q. Many times parents out of over attachment, prejudiced opinions and being football of the relatives opinions stop us from doing seva. Can we make seva our career?
Sri Sri: Yes.
Q. What is beauty and how to enhance it within and around us?
Sri Sri: First of all you should know you have a beautiful mind. The mind is free, it is loving, beautiful, satisfied and not feverish. So when the spirit is centred or your mind is centred, that beauty shines through.
Q. Could you speak a little bit about Sanskrit and its greatness? I would like to take it as one of my Ph.d topics.
Sri Sri: Yes, do it. Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Whether it is English, Russian, German or Italian, there is a lot of Sanskrit in it. Of course, Sanskrit is the base of all Indian languages.
Q. Every day, in different corners of the world, people ask you the same questions. Don’t you get bored? I am very inspired by your patience.
Sri Sri: My consciousness is nitnutan (new every moment). First we get bored with ourselves and then bore others or get bored from others. When we are joyous with ourself, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us.
Q. How do we gear up for enlightenment?
Sri Sri: Wanting it, itself is half done. The rest is a little discipline and you should know that you will get it. It will be given to you. That’s why you have the path, the guru. You will just get it. Shama jali hai tere liye, tujhko kuch nahi karna hai (The candle is lit for you, you don’t have to do anything). You don’t have to do anything just be hollow and empty from inside.
Q. I have a habit of recalling the pleasant memories of life again and again, as it gives a glimpse of the same pleasure as I felt in the past. Is it something to be cautious of, can it hinder my growth?
Sri Sri: It’s alright, don’t make an effort to sit and go on remembering the past. I think you have too much free time. Get busy and start working. There are so many things to do in the world. Where is the time to live in the past, recollect all the past. Right? The world is new every moment. Go with it. Don’t turn back and keep looking back. Move forward.
Q. Why does everyone not aspire to serve the society, in their youth?
Sri Sri: It must be there. There is no heart that does not get affected at the sight of misery. This we assume. At one time, everyone should desire to do seva. This we cannot say.
Q. What is the essence and secret of life?
Sri Sri: Essence and secret! It will be whispered into your ears when you go into meditation. Do (Sudarshan) Kriya and meditation.
Q. Why is that we are unable to understand the mind- which is the most powerful thing in the world?
Sri Sri Have you begun to understand it? (reply: No) then start from somewhere and then we will see whether it is fully understandable or not.
Posted: 09 Sep 2009 06:35 AM PDT
What Sri Sri said today:
'When we are joyous with ourselves, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us'
India (Art of Living International Center, Bangalore), September 8:
Q. Why is it difficult to get focused on things that I don’t like to do?
Sri Sri: If you don’t like something, then your focus is all the more on it. If you like something, then you focus on it. When you’re neutral about something, when there is no aversion, then there is no focus.
Studying the nature of mind is itself is an amazing phenomena. You will be thrilled knowing and learning more and more about your own mind. When I say mind, I don’t mean just mind. I would rather say the consciousness because the mind is one function of the consciousness. The perception is what we call the mind. The perceptible aspect of the consciousness is called mind. The judgmental aspect, the intellect.
The study of consciousness is the most difficult. And with time and maturity, everybody gets it.
Q. Can we aspire for something higher like enlightenment at the age of twenty one?
Sri Sri: Definitely. You should aspire for enlightenment and enlightenment is unconditional happiness, unconditional love and a life in which you are in the driver’s seat. You must aspire for enlightenment. Right from when you recognize to aspire anything in life. Go to the highest first and all the good things will come along, you don’t have to make an effort for it.
When I say you don’t have to make an effort, I mean you don’t have to sit and worry about it. When you aspire for the highest, your action will be spontaneous and in the spontaneity you will see things have started falling into place.
Q. What is a self referral attitude?
Sri Sri: Being in touch with your very center. When you worry there is a tendency to lose that focus or centredness. It is the same when you are tired or too busy. Self referral means coming back to yourself, to your center again and again. The core value within you.
Q. Are there any plus points of doing a job other than earning money
Sri Sri: Money and experience. That’s all and some discipline. If you have to do a job you have to discipline your life in a certain fashion.
Q. Is there a gene for knowledge, any nadi (channel for energy flow) that has to be opened for creativity?
Sri Sri: Definitely and you all have it. And it opens whenever you listen to knowledge.
Q. How does it feel to be God?
Sri Sri: Absolutely natural.
Q. We are not supposed to marry in our own gotra (family tree). Scientifically, what does a gotra mean?
Sri Sri: Gotra is a family tree, like you know if you marry your own siblings, or cousins, they say the genes will not develop properly, children will not develop. The family trees go back to some rishis in the past. And they say that gotra means we belong to this (a particular) family. Today what the scientists say about blood groups was known to people thousands of years ago. Yet people from the same gotra have spread. If you marry in the same gotra the children will not be too healthy. That is the main thing. It’s better to avoid.
But those were the thoughts from some thousands of years ago but now since we have gone so far away and the population has spread so much, it has become so vast. I don’t know how relevant it is. But (marriage within) gotra is better to avoid.
Q. Many times parents out of over attachment, prejudiced opinions and being football of the relatives opinions stop us from doing seva. Can we make seva our career?
Sri Sri: Yes.
Q. What is beauty and how to enhance it within and around us?
Sri Sri: First of all you should know you have a beautiful mind. The mind is free, it is loving, beautiful, satisfied and not feverish. So when the spirit is centred or your mind is centred, that beauty shines through.
Q. Could you speak a little bit about Sanskrit and its greatness? I would like to take it as one of my Ph.d topics.
Sri Sri: Yes, do it. Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Whether it is English, Russian, German or Italian, there is a lot of Sanskrit in it. Of course, Sanskrit is the base of all Indian languages.
Q. Every day, in different corners of the world, people ask you the same questions. Don’t you get bored? I am very inspired by your patience.
Sri Sri: My consciousness is nitnutan (new every moment). First we get bored with ourselves and then bore others or get bored from others. When we are joyous with ourself, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us.
Q. How do we gear up for enlightenment?
Sri Sri: Wanting it, itself is half done. The rest is a little discipline and you should know that you will get it. It will be given to you. That’s why you have the path, the guru. You will just get it. Shama jali hai tere liye, tujhko kuch nahi karna hai (The candle is lit for you, you don’t have to do anything). You don’t have to do anything just be hollow and empty from inside.
Q. I have a habit of recalling the pleasant memories of life again and again, as it gives a glimpse of the same pleasure as I felt in the past. Is it something to be cautious of, can it hinder my growth?
Sri Sri: It’s alright, don’t make an effort to sit and go on remembering the past. I think you have too much free time. Get busy and start working. There are so many things to do in the world. Where is the time to live in the past, recollect all the past. Right? The world is new every moment. Go with it. Don’t turn back and keep looking back. Move forward.
Q. Why does everyone not aspire to serve the society, in their youth?
Sri Sri: It must be there. There is no heart that does not get affected at the sight of misery. This we assume. At one time, everyone should desire to do seva. This we cannot say.
Q. What is the essence and secret of life?
Sri Sri: Essence and secret! It will be whispered into your ears when you go into meditation. Do (Sudarshan) Kriya and meditation.
Q. Why is that we are unable to understand the mind- which is the most powerful thing in the world?
Sri Sri Have you begun to understand it? (reply: No) then start from somewhere and then we will see whether it is fully understandable or not.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
The real truth
Restraint, observance, postures, regulation of breath, substitute food for the mind, ability of the mind to focus, meditation and higher states of consciousness are the eight limbs of yoga. The first limb is Yama or the rules. Non-violence, truth, non-stealing, moving in the Brahman, non-accumulation are the five yamas. We already discussed about ahimsa or non-violence.
The second rule is Satya. It means to be with what is right now, to be with something that is not changing. Satya does not mean just speaking the truth. It is total commitment for truth. It is not just words. Unfortunately people mistake satya to be just speaking words. Many people consider being blunt as being truthful.
The sutra is Satyapratishtayam kriyaphalashrayatvam, meaning When you are established in truth then the fruits of action will follow.
When you become established in truth, any action you do will become fruitful. Many people do their actions, but their action does not bring about results because there is no truth consciousness inside. When there is truth consciousness inside, when you are established in the truth, the fruit of the action will follow the action immediately. It is the quality of the consciousness. Even if you lie, if you are bold enough to say that, ‘I am telling a lie right now’, you are speaking the truth!
When you lie, your consciousness is not straight-forward or strong. A person who is committed to truth is committed to the presence of the being. For them, success comes easily. The ancient saying in India is Satyameva jayate meaning ‘truth alone triumphs’. Truth will eventually win though it may appear not to be winning.
There is a story about Emperor Akbar and his minister Birbal. Once Akbar heard a lecture on truth and he became so enthusiastic and said “Okay, I will make everybody speak the truth.” Immediately he ordered that ‘‘anybody who says a lie will be hanged!” He wanted this law to be implemented. As this law was announced, there was a big commotion in the market place. What was the commotion about? All the lawyers gathered together and said “What is this law? Our profession will be finished.” In another corner all the merchants gathered together and said, “See, what is happening. This is disastrous. How can we sell anything?”
Next, all the priests gathered and it was the same story there too. The doctors gathered and said “Oh! We have to migrate to some other country. This law is too dangerous.”
All of them approached this wise minister in the king’s court, Birbal and said, “Come on Birbal, you have to do something. What will happen to our trade? This is outrageous.” Birbal said “Okay I will do something.” So, the next day Birbal, the minister entered the king’s bedroom. As he was trying to enter, the guards stopped him and asked him where he was going. Birbal said “I am going to get hanged.” Now, this was a lie! He was one of the top ministers of the cabinet. He was getting into the king’s room and saying “I am going to get hanged.” That was not a place to be hanged. So the guards said, “Minister Birbal has spoken a lie!” He was brought in front of the king. If Birbal was to be hanged then he had not spoken a lie. Whatever he had said was the truth. Then it means that an innocent man will be punished for no crime of his. It will be a big crime. If he will not be hanged then the law becomes obsolete. Then what to do?
All the wise people and all the ministers were called and there was a big debate, “Now, what should we do? Should we hang him or not? If we hang him we violate a law. If we do not hang him, even then we violate a law.” The king was in a fix. Everybody else was in a greater fix. So they told Birbal, “You yourself suggest to us as to what we should do?” Birbal then said, “Truth is not what is spoken. Anything you speak becomes a lie. The moment you open your mouth, you are distorting the truth.” Akbar realised this and withdrew the law!
Satya or truth means ‘to be with what is’. It is not just the words but it is to be truthful in one’s life, heart and presence. Truth is not what we speak, but what we are.
Restraint, observance, postures, regulation of breath, substitute food for the mind, ability of the mind to focus, meditation and higher states of consciousness are the eight limbs of yoga. The first limb is Yama or the rules. Non-violence, truth, non-stealing, moving in the Brahman, non-accumulation are the five yamas. We already discussed about ahimsa or non-violence.
The second rule is Satya. It means to be with what is right now, to be with something that is not changing. Satya does not mean just speaking the truth. It is total commitment for truth. It is not just words. Unfortunately people mistake satya to be just speaking words. Many people consider being blunt as being truthful.
The sutra is Satyapratishtayam kriyaphalashrayatvam, meaning When you are established in truth then the fruits of action will follow.
When you become established in truth, any action you do will become fruitful. Many people do their actions, but their action does not bring about results because there is no truth consciousness inside. When there is truth consciousness inside, when you are established in the truth, the fruit of the action will follow the action immediately. It is the quality of the consciousness. Even if you lie, if you are bold enough to say that, ‘I am telling a lie right now’, you are speaking the truth!
When you lie, your consciousness is not straight-forward or strong. A person who is committed to truth is committed to the presence of the being. For them, success comes easily. The ancient saying in India is Satyameva jayate meaning ‘truth alone triumphs’. Truth will eventually win though it may appear not to be winning.
There is a story about Emperor Akbar and his minister Birbal. Once Akbar heard a lecture on truth and he became so enthusiastic and said “Okay, I will make everybody speak the truth.” Immediately he ordered that ‘‘anybody who says a lie will be hanged!” He wanted this law to be implemented. As this law was announced, there was a big commotion in the market place. What was the commotion about? All the lawyers gathered together and said “What is this law? Our profession will be finished.” In another corner all the merchants gathered together and said, “See, what is happening. This is disastrous. How can we sell anything?”
Next, all the priests gathered and it was the same story there too. The doctors gathered and said “Oh! We have to migrate to some other country. This law is too dangerous.”
All of them approached this wise minister in the king’s court, Birbal and said, “Come on Birbal, you have to do something. What will happen to our trade? This is outrageous.” Birbal said “Okay I will do something.” So, the next day Birbal, the minister entered the king’s bedroom. As he was trying to enter, the guards stopped him and asked him where he was going. Birbal said “I am going to get hanged.” Now, this was a lie! He was one of the top ministers of the cabinet. He was getting into the king’s room and saying “I am going to get hanged.” That was not a place to be hanged. So the guards said, “Minister Birbal has spoken a lie!” He was brought in front of the king. If Birbal was to be hanged then he had not spoken a lie. Whatever he had said was the truth. Then it means that an innocent man will be punished for no crime of his. It will be a big crime. If he will not be hanged then the law becomes obsolete. Then what to do?
All the wise people and all the ministers were called and there was a big debate, “Now, what should we do? Should we hang him or not? If we hang him we violate a law. If we do not hang him, even then we violate a law.” The king was in a fix. Everybody else was in a greater fix. So they told Birbal, “You yourself suggest to us as to what we should do?” Birbal then said, “Truth is not what is spoken. Anything you speak becomes a lie. The moment you open your mouth, you are distorting the truth.” Akbar realised this and withdrew the law!
Satya or truth means ‘to be with what is’. It is not just the words but it is to be truthful in one’s life, heart and presence. Truth is not what we speak, but what we are.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Patangali Yog Sutra
Looking beyond the trials and tribulations of life
We were discussing about the Niyamas first one being Shoucha (inner and outer cleanliness) and second one being Santosha (Contentment or happiness).
Shoucha and santosha come together.
If there is no shoucha there can be no santosha. If you are in constant touch with other people, then you are not letting your energy to be your energy even for sometime. You are always trying to be in association with somebody .
So, you are lost. You do not know who you are. You do not know yourself. So keep some distance and some time for yourself once in a while. Learn to know what your real strength is, what your real weakness is and what your true spirit is. This is shoucha and with shoucha comes santosha or happiness.
You can come home happily and say with a smile, "today the entire job that I did flopped! There was no success in any of the work I did today." Anyway everything has flopped, so at least do not let the mind also flop. You should have the guts to say "come what may I am not going to give up the smile on my face because I am much more than the event or the circumstances. Everything comes and goes, but I continue in spite of all the situations."
Just turn back and look at your life when you were a kid. How many times have you cried? You cried as though hell has fallen on your head. You thought that was the end of the world and then sobbed and sobbed and then went off to sleep. So what happened afterwards?
Once a lady from Italy told me, "I lost my daughter not even six months ago. But I have started going to public functions. I am just being normal. I am not sad. Is something wrong with me? I feel so guilty even to smile. When she was gone I was very sad, no doubt, but I still go to parties. Of course, every mother has that little pinch inside." I said, "never mind, go. You do not have to be a masochist, thinking about the sad event all the time." She said, "But, people expect me to be sobbing all day I cried for a whole month.
I felt all that pain. But I am moving on with my life now. But people expect me to be sad all the time."
This is true. If someone has the courage to move ahead, we think that something is wrong with that person.
I tell you there is nothing wrong. In the places where Tsunami stuck on December 26, 2004 and people who were hit so badly, after our teachers taught them some breathing techniques and meditations, people were singing, smiling and dancing!! Many would not understand this. These people who were so paranoid to even look at the sea, in just two-three sessions of meditations began singing and dancing and they wanted to carry on with their lives.
The traumas have been left behind because our very nature is joy and happiness. The sadness or sorrow is only in the circumference. It is like a cloud covering the light that you are. The nature of your being is joy. That needs to be uncovered. Again, you need not make a mood out of it. When somebody has passed away, you cannot say "Okay, now I am going to be happy" and smile and dance! No, you should not do that. The ancient people had designed a methodology for this. They said that, if anyone dies in a house, the people of that house are in ‘ashoucha' for 10 days. For 10 days you can mourn and cry Even if you do not cry, they will bring some professional criers in some parts of India! There is a whole drama of crying which happens. Later these people collect the two or five hundred rupees and go happily , laughing the moment they are out of the gate and leave the house. But they really cry when they are in the dead person's house. This is to bring out the emotions of the near and dear of the dead one, so that they can be genuinely happy after the 10 days. After 10 days of mourning, on the eleventh day , they usually distribute sweets to the people, have a celebration, wear new clothes, have a family get together and have a feast.
On the day of the final rituals, they take some ghee and water and put it on their eyes which give a cooling effect and then they decide. "Okay, now we get on with our life." If a spiritual person passes away, then even this not there. Then every moment is a celebration because the sprit is all pervading. In the same way, there is shoucha when a child is born in a house for 10 days. You are so excited because a new soul has come into your family. So be with all the excitement and happiness for 10 days. You are free from all the social rules and obligations for you to enjoy 100 per cent.
Then come back to your commitments and responsibilities.
We were discussing about the Niyamas first one being Shoucha (inner and outer cleanliness) and second one being Santosha (Contentment or happiness).
Shoucha and santosha come together.
If there is no shoucha there can be no santosha. If you are in constant touch with other people, then you are not letting your energy to be your energy even for sometime. You are always trying to be in association with somebody .
So, you are lost. You do not know who you are. You do not know yourself. So keep some distance and some time for yourself once in a while. Learn to know what your real strength is, what your real weakness is and what your true spirit is. This is shoucha and with shoucha comes santosha or happiness.
You can come home happily and say with a smile, "today the entire job that I did flopped! There was no success in any of the work I did today." Anyway everything has flopped, so at least do not let the mind also flop. You should have the guts to say "come what may I am not going to give up the smile on my face because I am much more than the event or the circumstances. Everything comes and goes, but I continue in spite of all the situations."
Just turn back and look at your life when you were a kid. How many times have you cried? You cried as though hell has fallen on your head. You thought that was the end of the world and then sobbed and sobbed and then went off to sleep. So what happened afterwards?
Once a lady from Italy told me, "I lost my daughter not even six months ago. But I have started going to public functions. I am just being normal. I am not sad. Is something wrong with me? I feel so guilty even to smile. When she was gone I was very sad, no doubt, but I still go to parties. Of course, every mother has that little pinch inside." I said, "never mind, go. You do not have to be a masochist, thinking about the sad event all the time." She said, "But, people expect me to be sobbing all day I cried for a whole month.
I felt all that pain. But I am moving on with my life now. But people expect me to be sad all the time."
This is true. If someone has the courage to move ahead, we think that something is wrong with that person.
I tell you there is nothing wrong. In the places where Tsunami stuck on December 26, 2004 and people who were hit so badly, after our teachers taught them some breathing techniques and meditations, people were singing, smiling and dancing!! Many would not understand this. These people who were so paranoid to even look at the sea, in just two-three sessions of meditations began singing and dancing and they wanted to carry on with their lives.
The traumas have been left behind because our very nature is joy and happiness. The sadness or sorrow is only in the circumference. It is like a cloud covering the light that you are. The nature of your being is joy. That needs to be uncovered. Again, you need not make a mood out of it. When somebody has passed away, you cannot say "Okay, now I am going to be happy" and smile and dance! No, you should not do that. The ancient people had designed a methodology for this. They said that, if anyone dies in a house, the people of that house are in ‘ashoucha' for 10 days. For 10 days you can mourn and cry Even if you do not cry, they will bring some professional criers in some parts of India! There is a whole drama of crying which happens. Later these people collect the two or five hundred rupees and go happily , laughing the moment they are out of the gate and leave the house. But they really cry when they are in the dead person's house. This is to bring out the emotions of the near and dear of the dead one, so that they can be genuinely happy after the 10 days. After 10 days of mourning, on the eleventh day , they usually distribute sweets to the people, have a celebration, wear new clothes, have a family get together and have a feast.
On the day of the final rituals, they take some ghee and water and put it on their eyes which give a cooling effect and then they decide. "Okay, now we get on with our life." If a spiritual person passes away, then even this not there. Then every moment is a celebration because the sprit is all pervading. In the same way, there is shoucha when a child is born in a house for 10 days. You are so excited because a new soul has come into your family. So be with all the excitement and happiness for 10 days. You are free from all the social rules and obligations for you to enjoy 100 per cent.
Then come back to your commitments and responsibilities.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Patanjali and the gift of knowledge
We will begin with a story, the greatest and most effective way of conveying knowledge. Once upon a time, long ago, all the munis and rishis approached Lord Vishnu to tell him that even though He (incarnated as Lord Dhanvanthari) had given them the means to cure illnesses through Ayurveda, people still fell ill. They also wanted to know what to do when people got sick.
Sometimes it is not just physical illness, but mental and emotional illness too that needs to be dealt with. Anger, lust, greed, jealousy etc. How does one get rid of all these impurities? What is the formula?
Vishnu was lying on the bed of snakes — the serpent Adishésha with a 1,000 heads. When the Rishis approached Him, he gave them Adishésha, the symbol of awareness, who took birth in the world as Maharishi Patanjali.
So Patanjali came to this earth to give this knowledge of yoga which came to be known as the yogasutras. Patanjali said he was not going to discuss the yogasutras unless 1,000 people got together. So 1,000 people gathered south of Vindhya Mountains to listen to him.
Patanjali had another condition — he would put a screen between him and his students and told them that nobody was to lift the screen or leave. Everybody had to stay in the hall till he finished. So Patanjali stayed behind the curtain and he transmitted his knowledge to the 1,000 gathered. Each of them absorbed this knowledge. It was an amazing phenomenon and even amongst the students, they could not believe how they were getting this knowledge, how the master was making each of them understand without uttering words from behind the curtain.
Everybody was amazed. Each one of them experienced such a blast of energy, such a blast of enthusiasm, that they could not even contain it. But they still had to maintain the discipline.
But one little boy had to go out to attend nature’s call. So he left the room. He thought to himself that he would go quietly and return quietly. Another person became curious. “What is the Master doing behind the curtain? I want to see.” He got so curious that he lifted the curtain to see the Master. But just as he did so, all 999 disciples were burnt to ashes. Now, Patanjali became very sad. There he was, ready to impart knowledge to the whole world and all of his disciples were burnt.
At this moment, that one little boy returned. Patanjali asked him where he had gone. The boy explained and asked his forgiveness. Patanjali was compassionate and felt that at least one of his disciples was saved.
So he gave him the rest of the sutras, the rest of the knowledge. But the student had violated the law and Patanjali was not willing to forget that. So he said, “Since you have violated the law, you will become a Brahmarakshasa , a ghost and hang on the tree.” And the only way he could liberate himself from the curse is to teach one student. Saying this Patanjali disappeared.
Now Brahmarakshasa, hanging on a tree, would ask everyone who passed by one question and when they could not answer he would eat them. He had no choice and for a few thousand years this was the story. He could not find a single person to whom he could teach the yogasutras. So he remained in the tree as a Brahmarakshasa (the lesson here being that for the one who has great knowledge, and who does something wrong, the state of Brahmarakshasa will come. An intelligent person becoming a criminal becomes more dangerous than an innocent person becoming a criminal. If a person, who knows all knowledge and then turns a criminal, it is much more dangerous). So the Brahmarakshasa was hanging there and waiting for relief.
Then out of compassion, Patanjali himself becomes a disciple and comes as a student to Brahmarakshasa who told him all the sutras, which Patanjali wrote on the palm leaf. The story goes that to redeem one disciple, the Master became the disciple of a disciple.
Patanjali wrote the sutras sitting on the top of the tree as that was where the Brahmarakshasa sat. Also, Brahmarakshasa worked only in the night. So he dictated the sutras at night and Patanjali wrote them on the leaves. He plucked all the leaves and made a small scratch, drew blood and wrote. This went on for seven days. At the end of it, Patanjali was tired and put everything he had written on a piece pf cloth and set it down and went to bathe. But when Patanjali returned, he found that a goat had eaten most of the leaves. Patanjali then took the cloth bag and the rest of the leaves and walked away.
In this story, there is a lot of depth. The puranas do not give any explanation. They just give a story and it is for us to unlock the meaning. So what is that you all have to find out? (1) How did the master convey the knowledge to everybody without uttering a word? (2) What was the significance of the veil and when it was lifted why did everybody burn down? (3) Why was the one boy forgiven? (4) What is the significance of the goat? (4) What is the significance of this story? You should think about all this and come up with your own answers.
This is the first in a series on yoga sutras
We will begin with a story, the greatest and most effective way of conveying knowledge. Once upon a time, long ago, all the munis and rishis approached Lord Vishnu to tell him that even though He (incarnated as Lord Dhanvanthari) had given them the means to cure illnesses through Ayurveda, people still fell ill. They also wanted to know what to do when people got sick.
Sometimes it is not just physical illness, but mental and emotional illness too that needs to be dealt with. Anger, lust, greed, jealousy etc. How does one get rid of all these impurities? What is the formula?
Vishnu was lying on the bed of snakes — the serpent Adishésha with a 1,000 heads. When the Rishis approached Him, he gave them Adishésha, the symbol of awareness, who took birth in the world as Maharishi Patanjali.
So Patanjali came to this earth to give this knowledge of yoga which came to be known as the yogasutras. Patanjali said he was not going to discuss the yogasutras unless 1,000 people got together. So 1,000 people gathered south of Vindhya Mountains to listen to him.
Patanjali had another condition — he would put a screen between him and his students and told them that nobody was to lift the screen or leave. Everybody had to stay in the hall till he finished. So Patanjali stayed behind the curtain and he transmitted his knowledge to the 1,000 gathered. Each of them absorbed this knowledge. It was an amazing phenomenon and even amongst the students, they could not believe how they were getting this knowledge, how the master was making each of them understand without uttering words from behind the curtain.
Everybody was amazed. Each one of them experienced such a blast of energy, such a blast of enthusiasm, that they could not even contain it. But they still had to maintain the discipline.
But one little boy had to go out to attend nature’s call. So he left the room. He thought to himself that he would go quietly and return quietly. Another person became curious. “What is the Master doing behind the curtain? I want to see.” He got so curious that he lifted the curtain to see the Master. But just as he did so, all 999 disciples were burnt to ashes. Now, Patanjali became very sad. There he was, ready to impart knowledge to the whole world and all of his disciples were burnt.
At this moment, that one little boy returned. Patanjali asked him where he had gone. The boy explained and asked his forgiveness. Patanjali was compassionate and felt that at least one of his disciples was saved.
So he gave him the rest of the sutras, the rest of the knowledge. But the student had violated the law and Patanjali was not willing to forget that. So he said, “Since you have violated the law, you will become a Brahmarakshasa , a ghost and hang on the tree.” And the only way he could liberate himself from the curse is to teach one student. Saying this Patanjali disappeared.
Now Brahmarakshasa, hanging on a tree, would ask everyone who passed by one question and when they could not answer he would eat them. He had no choice and for a few thousand years this was the story. He could not find a single person to whom he could teach the yogasutras. So he remained in the tree as a Brahmarakshasa (the lesson here being that for the one who has great knowledge, and who does something wrong, the state of Brahmarakshasa will come. An intelligent person becoming a criminal becomes more dangerous than an innocent person becoming a criminal. If a person, who knows all knowledge and then turns a criminal, it is much more dangerous). So the Brahmarakshasa was hanging there and waiting for relief.
Then out of compassion, Patanjali himself becomes a disciple and comes as a student to Brahmarakshasa who told him all the sutras, which Patanjali wrote on the palm leaf. The story goes that to redeem one disciple, the Master became the disciple of a disciple.
Patanjali wrote the sutras sitting on the top of the tree as that was where the Brahmarakshasa sat. Also, Brahmarakshasa worked only in the night. So he dictated the sutras at night and Patanjali wrote them on the leaves. He plucked all the leaves and made a small scratch, drew blood and wrote. This went on for seven days. At the end of it, Patanjali was tired and put everything he had written on a piece pf cloth and set it down and went to bathe. But when Patanjali returned, he found that a goat had eaten most of the leaves. Patanjali then took the cloth bag and the rest of the leaves and walked away.
In this story, there is a lot of depth. The puranas do not give any explanation. They just give a story and it is for us to unlock the meaning. So what is that you all have to find out? (1) How did the master convey the knowledge to everybody without uttering a word? (2) What was the significance of the veil and when it was lifted why did everybody burn down? (3) Why was the one boy forgiven? (4) What is the significance of the goat? (4) What is the significance of this story? You should think about all this and come up with your own answers.
This is the first in a series on yoga sutras
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