YOUR MIND NEEDS TO BE LIBERATED

                           THE TRUTH OF OUR MIND

                                                  ❤

                   💫    YOUR MIND NEED NOT BE CONTROLLED, 

                                   YOUR MIND NEEDS TO BE LIBERATED 💫

                    MIND IS NOT A CAP ON LIFE, MIND IS A WAY TO LIBERATE LIFE. NOWADAYS, EVERYWHERE YOU GO, PEOPLE ARE SAYING, "YOU MUST CONTROL THE MIND". YOUR MIND DOES NOT NEED TO BE CONTROLLED, YOUR MIND NEEDS TO BE LIBERATED. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, PEOPLE ALWAYS THINK OF CONTROLLING THE MIND.

                  PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT WANTING TO BE "NO-MIND". IT IS A VERY MISUNDERSTOOD CONCEPT. IT TOOK MILLIONS OF YEARS TO EVOLVE THIS MIND. WHY DO YOU WANT TO BECOME "NO-MIND". NOW?. IT IS SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO HANDLE THE TORTURE OF YOUR MIND. IF YOUR MIND WAS ECSTASY. IT YOUR MIND WAS THE MEANS TO YOUR BLISSFULNESS, WOULD YOU WANT TO BECOME A "NO-MIND?" ONLY BECAUSE IT HAS BECOME A MESS, AND YOU ARE SEEING IT AS A BARRIER, NOT A STEPPING STONE, YOU WANT TO BECOME A "NO-MIND". MIND IS NOT A BARRIER, IT IS A TREMENDOUS POSSIBILITY. IT IS BECAUSE WE ARE TRYIG TO GO ABOUT HANDLING THE MIND WITHOUT ADDRESSING AND UNDERSTANDING ITS FUNDAMENTAL NATURE THAT THIS PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED.

                       MORALITY IS THE MAJOR PROBLEM. ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS, RIGHT FROM ONE'S CHILDHOOD, WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG HAS BEEN IMPOSED ON THE MIND. PEOPLE HAVE TAUGHT YOU WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS BAD. BUT GOOD AND HAD ARE VERY STRONG POINTS OF IDENTITY. YOU NATURALLY GET IDENTIFIED WITH WHATEVER YOU CONSIDERED GOOD, AND YOU ARE NATURALLY REPELLED FROM WHATEVER YOU CONSIDER BAD.

                     HAVING AN AVERSION TO SOMETHING AND AN ATTRACTION TOWARDS SOMETHING ELSE IS THE BASIS OF IDENTIFICATION. WHATEVER YOU ARE AVERSE TO DOMINATES YOUR MIND. THE NATURE OF YOUR MIND IS SUCH THAT IF YOU SAY, "I DO NOT WANT SOMETHING". ONLY THAT THING KEEPS HAPPENING IN YOUR MIND. THERE IS NO SUBTRACTION OR DIVISION IN THE MIND, THERE IS ONLY ADDITION AND MULTIPLICATION. YOU CANNOT TAKE AWAY ANYTHING BY FORCE FROM THE MIND. THIS DOES NOT NEED ANY ENLIGHTENMENT TO BE UNDERSTOOD.

                      IF YOU JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR A MINUTE AND LOOK AT IT, YOU CAN SEE THAT YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING BY FORCE IN THE MIND. IF SOMEONE TELLS YOU, "THIS IS GOOD AND THAT IS EVIL, BUT  DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE EVIL", THAT IS A FULL-TIME JOB. NOTHING ELSE BUT THAT WILL BE GOING AND SOMETHING ELSE AS BAD, YOU GETTING IDENTIFIED WITH THE GOOD AND HAVING AVERSION TO THE BAD IS A NATURAL PROCESS.

                IT IS BECAUSE PEOPLE REALIZED THAT IDENTIFICATON IS CAUSING SO MUCH TROUBLE THAT THEY IMMEDIATELY STARTED GIVING YOU AN ANTIDOTE-DETACHMENT". THE MOMENT YOU DETACH YOURSELF, YOUR ABILITY TO EXPERIENCE LIFE IS ALSO GONE. WHERE THERE IS NO INVOLVEMENT, THERE IS NO LIFE. LIFE CANNOT BE EXPERIENCED UNLESS THERE IS INVOLVEMENT- THE DEEPER THE INVOLVEMENT, THE DEEPER THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE. HOWEVER SMALL THE EVEN MAY BE, HOWEVER SMALL A PIECE OF LIFE MAY BE, IF YOU ARE DEEPLY INVOLVED, IT IS A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR YOU. NOTHING DRAMATIC OR SPECTACULAR NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFE. IF YOU ARE DEEPLY INVOLVED WITH THE SIMPLEST ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE, YOU WILL SEE EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE IS SPECTACULAR. BUT WHY IS SO MUCH DETACHMENT BEING TAUGHT EVERYWHERE? IT IS BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF ENTANGLEMENT. IT IS FROM THIS FEAR THAT DETACHMENT IS ALWAYS BEING PROPATED. IF YOU DETACH YOURSELF FROM LIFE, YOU ARE AVOIDING LIFE. YOU ARE HERE TO EXPERIENCE LIFE, NOT TO AVOID LIFE.

THE REALITIES OF ANOTHER WORLD

 

                              

                          THE END OF OUR LIFE

                                 (NO PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY)

                         DEATH. MAN'S MOST MYSTERIOUS, RESENTLESS, AND INEVITABLE ADVERSARY. DOES DEATH MEAN THE END OF LIFE, OR DOES IS MERELY OPEN THE DOOR TO ANOTHER LIFE, ANOTHER DIMENTION, OR ANOTHER WORLD?

                    IF MAN'S CONSCIOUSNESS SURVIVES THE DEATH EXPERIENCE, THEN WHAT DETERMINES ITS TRANSITION TO NEW REALITIES?

                        IN ORDER TO GAIN CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THESE MYSTERIES, MAN HAS TRADITIONALLY TURNED TO ENLIGHTENED PHILOSOPHERS, ACCEPTION THEIR TEACHINGS AS REPRESENTATIVE OF A HIGHER TRUTH.

                       SOME CRITICIZE THIS METHOD OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE FROM A HIGHER AUTHORITY, NO MATTER HOW CAREFULLY THE SEEKER MAY ANALYZE IT. SOCIAL PHILOSOPHER E.F. SCHUMACHER, AUTHOR OF SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL, NOTES THAT IN OUR MODERN SOCIETY, WHEN PEOPLE ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH NATURE AND TRADITIONAL WISDOM, THEY, 'CONSIDER IT FASHIONABE TO RIDICLE... AND ONLY BELIEVE IN WHAT THEY SEE AND TOUCH AND MEASURE". OR, AS THE SAYING GOES, SEEING IS BELIEVING."

                        NO SCIENTIST HAS SUCCESSFULLY EXPLAINED THROUGH LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS THE MYSTERY OF CONSCIOUSNESS OR ITS DESTINATION AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MATERIAL BODY. RESEARCH IN THIS FIELD HAS PRODUCED MANY DIVERGENT THEORIES, BUT THEIR LIMITATIONS MUST BE RECOGNIZED.

                    THE SYSTEMATIC PRINCIPLES OF REINCARNATION, ON THE OTHER HAND, COMPREHENSIVELY EXPLAIN THE SUBTLE LAWS GOVERNING OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE LIVES.

                   WE CAN ADMITTEDLY FIND NOTHING IS PHYSICS OR CHEMISTRY THAT HAS EVEN A REMOTE BEARING ON CONSCIOUSNESS. YET ALL OF US KNOW THERE IS SUCH A THING AS CONSCIOUSNESS, SIMPLY BECAUSE WE HAVE IT OURSELVES, HENCE CONSCIOUSNESS, SIMPLY BECAUSE WE HAVE IT OURSELVES, HENCE CONSCIOUSNESS MUST BE PART OF NATURE, OR , MORE GENERALLY OF REALITY, WHICH MEANS THAT QUITE APART FROM THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, AS LAID DOWN IN QUANTUM THEORY, WE MUST ALSO CONSIDER LAWS OF QUITE A DIFFERENT KIND". SUCH LAWS MIGHT WELL INCLUDE THE LAWS OF REINCARNATION, WHICH GOVERN THE PASSAGE OF CONSCIOUSNESS FROM ONE PHYSICAL BODY INTO ANOTHER.

                  TO BEGIN UNDERSTANDING THESE LAWS, WE MAY NOTE THAT REINCARNATION IS NOT AN ALIEN, ANTIPODAL EVENT, BUT ONE THAT OCCURS WITH REGULARITY IN OUR BODIES DURING THIS VERY LIFETIME. IN THE HUMAN BRAIN, PROFESSOR JOHN PFEIFFER NOTES , YOUR BODY DOES NOT CONTAIN A SINGLE ONE OF THE MOLECULES THAT IT CONTAINED SEVEN YEARS AGO. EVERY SEVEN YEARS ONE'S OLD BODY IS COMPLETELY REJUVENATED. THE SELF, HOWEVER, OUR REAL IDENTITY, REMAINS UNCHANGED. OUR BODIES GROW FROM INFANCY, TO YOUTH, TO MIDDLE AGE, AND THEN TO OLD AGE, YET THE PERSON WITHIN THE BODY, THE "I " ALWAYS REMAIN THE SAME.

                FOR THE SOUL THERE IS NEITHER BIRTH NOR 

                 DEATH AT ANY TIME. HE HAS NOT COME INTO BEING, DOES

           NOT COME INTO BEING, AND WILL NOT COME INTO BEING.

                  HE IS UNBORN, ETERNAL, EVER-EXISTING AND PRIMEVAL.

          HE IS NOT SLAIN WHEN THE BODY IS SLAIN.

                                              ---- BHAGAVAD-GITA 

                        DOES LIFE BEGIN WITH BIRTH AND END WITH DEATH? HAVE WE LIVED BEFORE? SUCH QUESTIONS ARE NORMALLY IDENTIFIED WITH RELIGIONS OF THE EAST, WHERE THE LIFE OF MAN IS KNOWN TO ENDURE NOT ONLY FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE, BUT THROUGH MILLIONS OF AGES, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE IDEA OF REBIRTH IS NEARLY UNIVERSAL. AS ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, THE GREAT NINETEENTH-CENTURY GERMAN PHILOSOPHER, ONCE OBSERVED, "WERE AN ASIATIC TO ASK ME FOR A DEFINITION OF EUROPE, I SHOULD BE FORCED TO ANSWER HIM, IT IS THAT PART OF THE WORLD WHICH IS HAUNTED BY THE INCREDIBLE DELUSION THAT MAN WAS CREATED OUT OF NOTHING, AND THAT HIS PRESENT BIRTH IS HIS FIRST ENTRANCE INTO LIFE".

THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CHANGES

 

                                              

                             THE CHANTING OF MANTRA 

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                       SRADDHA-VIRYA-SMRTI SAMDHI-PRAJINA-PURVAKA

                    ITARESAM

                        THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH IN THE PRACTICE, ENERGY AND MINDFULNESS, MOVE TOWARDS THE SUPERCONSCIOUS STATE CALLED SAMADHI THAT CULMINATES IN WISDOM.

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                     ISVARA-PRANIDHANAD-VA

                        THIS CAN HAPPEN (NOTE THE SYLLABLE VA, WHICH MEANS ALSO) ALSO BY DEDICATION TO ISHWARA.

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                   TATRA NIRATISAYAM SARVAJNA-BIJAM

                      THERE THE SEED OF OMNISCIENCE IS UNSURPASSED.

                  AS WE HAVE DISCUSSED AT LENGTH THE CONCEPT OF ISHWARA ACCORDING TO PATANJALI IN THE FIRST CHAPTER ITSELF, THERE IS NO NEED TO GO INTO ELABORATE DETAILS. BUT A FEW POINTS ARE TO BE NOTED.

                   1. THAT DEDICATION TO ISHWARA IS ONLY CONSIDERED ONE OF THE WAYS OR PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCEDURES TO ATTAIN SAMADHI. ONCE MORE, NOTE THE WORD VA.

                   2. TO DISTINGUISH THE ISHWARA MENTIONED HERE FROM A CREATOR AND PROTECTOR GOD AKIN TO THE SEMITIC GOD OR THE GOD OF THE SEVERAL PURUNAS, PATANJALI HASTENS TO ADD THAT ISHWARA MEANS A DISTINCT PURUSHA UNTOUCHED BY AFFLICTIONS, ACTIONS, FRUITIONS OR THEIR RESUDUE, BUT BLESSED WITH THE SEED OF UNSURPASSED OMNISCIENCE.

                       THIS MAKES THE CONCEPT OF ISHWARA THE SAME AS THAT OF THE PRIMORDIAL PURUSHA OF SANKHYA, AN ATHEISTIC PHILOSOPHY, AS ALREADY MENTIONED. THE YOGI ULTIMATATELY REALISES THAT IN ESSENCE, HE IS INDEED THAT PURUSHA OR ISHWARA.

                     3. THEREFORE, IT COULD ALSO MEAN A YOGI WHO HAS TOUCHED THE HIGHEST SAMADHI AND ATTAINED THE EXALTED STATE OF ISHWARA.

                    4. ALTHOUGH PATANJALI EMPHASISES RELYING ONLY ON ONE'S OWN EFFORTS, THE SUGGESTION IS THAT A PERFECTED YOGI AS WELL AS DEVOTION OR SURRENDING TO THE SUPREME PURUSHA WOULD HELP.

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                 SA ESA PURVESAM API-GURUH KALENA-ANAVACCHEDAT

                 DUE TO IT BEING UNLIMITED BY TIME, IT IS THE TEACHER OF THE ONES WHO CAME BEFORE.

                   WHICH MEANS THAT THIS TIMELESS ISHWARA, THE PURUSHA HAS BEEN CONSIDERED A TEACHER BY THE YOGIS OS YORE.

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                    TASYA VACAKAH PRANAVAH

                       THE MANIFEST EXPANSION OF THIS SUBLIME ISHWARA IS THE PRANAVA (OM).

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                            TAD JAPAS TAD-ARTHA-BHAVANAM

                          THEREFORE, REPETITION OF IT AND THE REALISATION OF ITS PURPOSE SHOULD BE MADE.

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                         TATAH PRATYAK-CETANA-ADHIGAMO-PY-ANTARAYA-

                         ABHAVAS-CA

                       THIS INWARD CONSCIOUSNESS IS ATTAINED, AND OBSTACLES DO NOT ARISE.

                     SINCE THE MEANING OF THE WORD OM AND THE PROCEDURE INVOLVED IN THE REPETITION OF IT AND THE RESULTS NEED A GREAT DEAL OF ELABORATION, THIS IS DEALT WITH IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.

                                        THE USES OF OM MANTRA

                                                             ❤❤

                    HERE IS  TECHNIQUE OF CHANTING AUM AS LEARNT BY ME, AN INITIATED KRIYA YOGI. MY TEACHER BELONGS TO THE NATH TRADITION. 

                    SIT IN A COMFORTABLE POSTURE, PREFERABLY CROSS-LEGGED, ON A RUG OR FOLDED BLANKET. FACE ANY DIRECTION AND CLOSE YOUR EYES.

                    INHALE DEEPLY. OPEN YOUR MOUTH SLIGHTLY WHEN YOU EXHALE AND ALONG WITH YOUR EXHALATION, CHANT A LONG DRAWN "AUUUUUUUUMMM", AS LONG AS YOUR EXHALATION LASTS. THEN CLOSE YOUR MOUTH AND INHALE AGAIN DEEPLY THROUGH YOUR NOSE. REPEAT THIS EXERCISE FOR FIVE TO TEN MINUTES.

                           THEN LET GO OF ALL  BREATH CONTRO AND SIMPY CHANT FOR TWO MINUTES OR SO. NOW STOP CHANTING AND ENJOY THE SILENCE WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED. REFLECT ON THE UPANISHADIC TEACHINGS THAT OM REPRESENTS YOUR INNERMOST, BLISSFUL SELF.

                          AUM SHOULD BE CHANTED AFTER PRACTISING ASANAS AND JUST BEFORE SHAVASANA. PHOTOGRAPHS OF A WHOLE SET OF ASANAS ARE GIVEN IN THE APPROPRIATE CHAPTER. FOR THOSE WHO DON'T DO ASANAS, ANYTIME IS GOOD AS LONG AS THE STOMACH IS NOT BLOATED WITH FOOD. A LIGHT SNACK IS OKAY, BUT THE BEST RESULTS ARE ACHIEVED ON AN EMPTY STOMACH, PREFERABLY EARLY IN THE MORNING.

                    ANOTHER AUM TECHNIQUE WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THE CHAPTER THAT DEALS WITH PRANAYAMA OR BREATHING TECHIQUE AND DHYANA OR MEDITATION.

                      HOW USEFUL THESE TECHNIQUES ARE AND WHAT OBSTACLES WILL BE OVERCOME IN MOVING FORWARD TOWARDS THE GOAL, WE WILL LOOK AT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.

                      I AM TEMPTED TO USE A CLICHE, THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING'.  AND THIS IS WHAT PATANJALI SAYS IN A WAY, "NAIRANTARYA ABHYASENA' - THE RESULTS COME WITH CEASELESS PRACTICE.

THE VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE TO ILLUSION

 

                  

                              THE YOGA SUTRAS

                                                                       ❤

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                          VRTTI SARUPYAM ITARATRA

                   AT OTHER TIMES (WHEN NOT TRANQUIL AND THEREFORE NOT ESTABLISHED IN ITS ORIGINAL STATE OF THE SEER ) THE BRAIN TAKES THE FORM OF FLUCTUATIONS, CONFLICT AND AGITATION.

                SUTRA 5💫

                    VRTTAYAH PANCATAYYAH KLISTAKLISTAH

                     THERE RE FIVE-FOLD FLUCTUATIONS, THOSE THAT ARE PAINFUL AND TORMENTING AND THOSE THAT ARE PLEASURABLE, BUT ALL THE SAME, FLUCTUATIONS.

                         PATANJALI THEN GOES ON TO ENUMERATE THE FIVE TYPES OF FLUCTUATIONS.

                    1. VALID KNOWLEDGE (PRAMANA)

                    2. MISCONCEPTIONS OR ILLUSIONS (VIPARYAYA)

                    3. DELUSION CONSISTING OF MERE WORDS (VIKALPA)

                    4 . SLEEP (NIDRA)

                    5. MEMORY (SMRITI)

              TO SUM UP, OUTWARD AS WELL AS INWARD ACTIVITIES KEEP THE BRAIN ENGAGED AND CONSTANTLY IN MOTION. VALID KNOWLEDGE MEANS KNOWLEDGE ARRIVED AT BY PROCESSING THE DATE GATHERED BY THE SENSE ORGANS OF SIGHT, HEARING, TASTE, SMELL AND TOUCH.

                    UNFORTUNATELY, THE INSTRUMENTS OF PERCEPTION HAVE A LIMITED RANGE AND MANY-A-TIME PROVIDE INCORRECT DATA AS IN THE CASE OF OPTICAL ILLUSIONS. THE SO-CALLED VALID KNOWLEDGE ARRIVED BY, BASED ON THESE INPUTS, IS NOT RELIABLE, BUT THE BRAIN TENDS TO ACCEPT IT AT FACE VALUE, AND THE CONSEQUENT PLEASURE OR PAIN CAUSES TERRIBLE FLUCTUATIONS, WHICH PREVENT THE BRAIN FROM SETTLING DOWN.

                    THOSE MISCONCEPTIONS, WHICH ARE BASED AGAIN ON THE LIMITED CAPACITY OF THE INSTRUMENTS OF PERCEPTION AGAIN ON THE LIMITED CAPACITY OF THE INSTRUMENTS OF PERCEPTION WHEREIN AN ILLUSION IS SEEN AS A REALITY OR THE REALITY IS SEEN AS AN ILLUSION, IS THE SECOND CATEGORY, VIPARYAYA. A ROPE IN THE DARK, MISTAKEN AS A SNAKE WITH THE CONSEQUENT REACTION OF PANIC, IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE SECOND CATEGORY USED BY THE BUDDHISTS AS WELL AS BY VEDANTINS.

                   VERBAL DELUSION IS THE ONE CAUSED BY USING WORDS TO EXAGGERATE FEELINGS. THE LITERATURE OF ROMANIC AND DEVOTIONAL POETRY, WHERE HYPERBOIC EXPRESSIONS ARE USED TO HEIGHTEN EMOTION, IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF VERBAL DELUSION. EVEN COMMERCIAL CINEMA FALLS IN THIS CATEGORY. SEEING THE EXAGGERATION DELIBERATELY CREATED BY DIALOGUES, SONGS, MUSIC AND SPECIAL EFFECTS, THE VIEWER TENDS TO IMITATE THE DRAMA IN REAL LIFE AND OFTEN LIVES IN A WORLD OF DELUSION.

                    SLEEP IS A CATEGORY OF FLUCTUATIONS, WHICH FORMS PART OF LETHARGY. WHILE SLEEP IS NEEDED TO REJUVENATE ONE DAILY, THE YOGI TRANSCENDS THE NEED FOR TOO MUCH SLEEP. FREE OF THE TAMO GUNA, HIS BRAIN SETTLES DOWN INTO CONSCIOUS TRANQUILLITY, WHICH IS IN CONTRAST TO THE REST, FELT DUE TO THE ABSENSE OF CONSCIOUS AWARENESS IN SLEEP.

                    MEMORY, TOO, IS A CAUSE OF FLUCTUATIONS. THERE IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE TO AVOID BITTER MEMORIES AND HOLD ON TO PLEASANT ONES, FORGETTING THAT BOTH ARE MEMORIES, WHICH ARE MERE RECORDINGS IN THE BRAIN AND NOT THE REALITY THAT IS HERE AND NOW.

                       THE YOGI TREATS PLEASANT AND UNPLEASANT MEMORIES AS JUST MEMORIES AND TANSCENDS THE NEED TO EITHER HOLD ON TO ONE OR AVOID THE OTHER. IN A YOGIC STATE, FLUCTUATIONS CAUSED BY MEMORY CEASE.

                                                                    ❤

                            MANY OF THE SUTRAS UP TO THE ELEVENTH ONE ARE EXPLANATIONS AND ELABORATIONS OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLUCTUATIONS.

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                        ABHYASA-VAIRAGYA-ABHYAM TAN-NIRODHAH

                     THROUGH PRACTISE AND DISPASSION ARISES RESTRAINT.

                           DISPASSION, SIMPLY PUT, MEANS NOT BEING AT THE MERCY OF PASSIONS. A DISPASSIONATE PERSON IS ONE WHO HAS LEARNT TO RESTRAIN HIMSELF FROM ACTIONS, WHICH IN THE LONG RUN, CAUSE PAIN, THOUGH THEY MAY SEEM PLEASURABLE AT FIRST.

                       WHEN ONE IS FIRMLY SITUATED IN A DISPASSIONATE SPACE, THE BRAIN INSTEAD OF MOVING TOWARDS BECOMING, LEARNS TO BE. WHEN THIS IS UNINTERRUPTED THE REAL IDENTITY CALLED THE PURUSHA COMES TO THE FORE.

                       YOGA PRACTIONERS ARE CATEGORISED AS MILD, MEDIUM AND INTENSE.

HOW TO PRACTICE THE YOGA

                                  

                          YOGA IN ANCIENT TEACHINGS

                                                  ❤❤

                LET'S MOVE TO THE EARLIEST REFERENCES TO YOG IN THE ANCIENT TEACHINGS. THE FIRST REFERENCE TO YOGA IN THE UPANISHADS, THE BRAHMANICAL TEXTS, OCCURS IN THE KATHA UPANISHAD.

                  KATHA UPANISHAD: RESTRAINT OF THE SENSES - WHEN THE FIVE SENSES (UNSTRUMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE) AND THE MIND REMAIN STILL, NOT ACTIVE, IT IS KNOWN AS THE HIGHEST STATE. YOGA IS CONSIDERED AS THE RESTRAINT OF THE SENSES. THEN ONE IS INDISTRACTED, FOR YOGA IS THE RISING AND THE PASSING AWAY.

                    THEN THE BHAGAVAD GITA:👀

                         TRANQUILLITY AND SKILLED ACTION:

                        * PERFORM ACTIONS ESTABLISHED IN YOGA, GIVE UP ATTACHMENT, ARJUJA. TREAT SUCCESS AND FAILURE AND EQUAL. YOGA IS EQUANIMITY.

                        * YOGA IS TO BE SKILLED IN ACTION.

                       * YOGA IS TO BE SKILLED IN ACTION.

                      * YOGA IS SEPARATION FROM CONTANT WITH SUFFERERING.

                      * THE YOGA IS SUPERIOR TO THE ASCETICS, SUPERIOR TO THOSE WHO HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE, EVEN THE RITUALISTS. BE A YOGI, ARJUNA.

                       THE MAHABHARATA SAYS :👀

                        THERE IS NO POWER EQUAL TO YOGA. NO KNOWLEDGE EQUAL TO SANKHYA.

                                THEN THERE ARE A NUMBER OF YOGACHARA TEXTS OF THE BUDDHISTS. THE YOGACARABHUMI-SASTRA IS ONE AMONG MANY TEXTS THAT DEAL WITH YOGA. THERE IS ALSO A BODY OF SRAMANA LITERATURE LINKED TO THE ANCIENT JAINA SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT ELABORATE ON YOGIC PRACTICES. THE YOGACHARA SCHOOL, IT SHOULD BE NOTED, PRE-DATES PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRAS. THE CLASSIC DEFINITION OF YOGA IN THE YOGA SUTRAS IS :

                    GIVEN BELOW ARE SOME OF THE TITLES :

                                                   ❤❤

                   1. VAISESIKA SUTRA

                   2. MALINIVIJAYOTTARA TANTRA

                   3. SHIVA PURANA

                   4. VYASA'S COMMENTARY ON THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI

                   5. VASISTHA SAMHITA

                  6. YOGASASTRA OF HEMACHANDRA

                  7. YOGA BIJA

                  8. HAMSAVILASA OF SRI HAMSAMITHU

                  9. GHERANDA SAMHITA

                 10. GORAKSHA SHATAKA

                 11. YOGA PRADIPIKA

                 12. YOGA YAJNAVALKYA

                    THERE IS A FAIR AMOUNT OF CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THE DATES OF THESE TEXTS, HOWEVER, IT IS NOT RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION. BEFORE ENDING THIS CHAPTER, HERE IS A QUOTATION FROM THE BHAGAVAD GITA, WHICH ENDORSES MY VIEW THAT THE YOGA DARSHANA IS BY AND LARGE, NOT VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE SANKHYA DARSHANA, THOUGH YOGA LAYS MORE STRESS ON PRACTICE.

                  THE FOOLISH DECLARE THT SANKHYA AND YOGA ARE SEPERATE. NOT THE WISE . HE WHO PERFORMS EVEN ONE OF THEM CORRECTLY OBTAINS THE FRUIT OF BOTH. THE STTE ATTAINED BY THE SANKHYAS IS ALSO ATTAINED BY THE YOGIS. SANKHYA AND YOGA  ARE ONE. WHO KNOWS THIS TRULY KNOW'S - THE BHAGAVAD GITA.

                 SANKHYA IS NOT AN ATHEISTIC PHILOSOPHY.

                                                       ❤

                        THE PRACTICE OF YOGA

                        WE HAVE DISCUSSED THE QUESTION OF WHETHER THE CONCEPT OF A CREATOR GOD - ISHWARA - IS AN INTRINSIC PART OF THE YOGA OF PATANJALI AND FOUND THAT IT IS NOT SO. WE CAN NOW PROCEED TO THE THEORY, AND ABOVE ALL, THE PRACTICE OF YOGA  . PLEASE NOTE THAT EVEN IN SANKHYA AND IN THE BUDDHIST AND JAIN TEACHINGS, THE IDEA OF A CREATOR GOD PLAYS NO ROLE.

                   PATANJALI BEGINS WITH THE RATHER TERSE SUTRA, ATHA YOGA AMUHASANAM. NOW BEGINS THE PRACTICE OF YOGA.

                   LET'S START WITH :👇

                    1. SAMADHI PADA : THE STUDY OF THE SUPERCONSCIOUS STATE.

                   2. SADHANA PADA : THE ACTUAL PRACTICE.

                  3. VIBHUTI PADA : THE EXTRA ORDINARY ATTAINMENTS ACHIEVED BY THE PRACTICE.

                 4. KAIVALYA PADA : THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM REALISED BY THE PRACTIONER ON ATTAINMENT THE HIGHEST GOAL - THE POWER OF EXTRA ORDINARY AWARENESS AND FREEDOM FROM CONDITIONING.

                       THE CHOICE OF BELIEF IN ISHWARA IS ENTIRELY THE INITIATE'S PREROGATIVE. LET ME REITERATE THAT BELIEF IN ISHWARA IS NOT A PREREQUISITE FOR SUCCESS IN YOGA, EVEN TO REACH THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF KAIVALYA.

                       IN ADDITION TO THE YOGA SUTRAS, WE WILL REFER TO OTHER POST PATANJALI TEXTS LIKE THE SHIVA SAMHITA AND YOGA YAGNAVALKYA, AMONG OTHERS, WHENEVER, REQUIRED TO SUPPLEMENT OUR LEARNING. THE UPANISHADS, INCLUDING THE EARLIEST PRINCIPAL UPANISHADS AND THE LATER YOGA UPANISHADS, WILL ALSO FORM A PART OF OUR REFERENCE MATERIAL.