THE ENERGY OF VASANA
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💫 SADHANA 💫
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IF YOU WANT TO TEST YOUR OWN LEVELS OF RUNANUBANDHA, YOU COULD TRY SITTING ALONE IN AN UNFAMILIAR PLACE ON AN UNFAMILIAR PIECE OF FURNITURE . OBSERVE YOURSELF CLOSELY. HOW COMFORTABLE IS YOUR BODY? IT IS UNEASY? DOES IT SEEM TO WANT TO BE ELSEWHERE? YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT OLDER PEOPLE OFTEN HAVE A FAVORITE AMCHAIR. IN MANY FAMILIES, PEOPLE GRAVITATE TOWARD THE SAME CHAIRS AT THE DINING TABLE. SOME OF THIS IS A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE OR HABIT. BUT VERY OFTEN WHAT IS AT WORK IS RUNANUBANDHA.
THE MORE RUNANUBANDHA YOU BUILD, YOU CAN BE SURE YOU ARE COMING BACKWARD ON THE LADDER OF SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION. KARMA SETS A BOUNDARY FOR YOU. WHEN THAT BOUNDARY BECOMES TOO COMFORTABLE, IT IS TIME TO START BECOMING VIGILANT. THE SAME CHAIR OR ROOM MAY GIVE YOU PHYSICAL PRIVACY, BUT IF YOU FIND YOURSELF GROWING TERRITORIAL ABOUT IT OR DISTURBED AS IF YOUR VERY IDENTITY DEPENDS ON IT, IT IS TIME TO START SHAKING UP YOUR KARMA.
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THE REASON MANY SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS OFFERED MANATERIES AND ASHRAMS TO SEEKERS WAS TO ENABLE THEM TO LIVE IN A CIRCUMSCRIBED GEOGRAPHICAL PLACE THAT WAS FREE OF RUNANUBANDHA. THIS SOMETIMES CREATED A NEW SET OF BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIES, WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE. BUT THE AIM WAS ALWAYS TO EMPOWER THE SEEKER TO EXPAND HORIZONS, RATHER THAN TO EMPOWER THE SEEKER TO EXPAND HORIZONS, RATHER THAN TO CONTRACT THEM. IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD, THEIR RUNANUBHANTA WOULD OFTEN DRAW THEM TO A CERTAIN SET OF PEOPLE OR PLACES OR CIRCUMSTANCES OVER AND OVER AGAIN. KSHETRA SANYAS - A SANSKRIT TERM THAT REFERS TO A VOW TO NEVER LEAVE A CERTAIN CONSECRATED GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE - WAS A WAY FOR SEEKERS TO LIBERATE THEMSELVES FROM THE OVERPOWERING TENTACLES OF PHYSICAL MEMORY.
IF YOU WANT TO BE SELF-PROPELLED, IT IS IMPORTANT TO START BY FIXING YOUR INTENTION, MAKE YOUR INTENTION AS ALL-ENCOMPASSING AS YOU CAN. START WITH A SIMPLE RESOLVE. DECIDE TO BE A MOTHER TO THE WORLD. THAT MEANS SEEING EVERYONE AS YOUR OWN. THERE IS NO ONE WHO IS NOT PART OF YOUR CLAN. WHEN YOU WALK DOWN THE STREET, ARE YOU CAPABLE OF LOOKING UPON EVERYONE WITH THE SAME SWEETNESS OF EMOTION THAT ARISES WITHIN YOU WHEN YOU SEE YOUR CHILD COMING HOME FROM SCHOOL? THIS INTENTION ALONE COULD LIBERATE YOU FROM MUCH AGITATION AND NEGATIVITY AND COULD HAVE A TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON HOW YOU CRAFT YOUR DESTINY.
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IF YOU ARE CONSCIOUS EVERY MOMENT THAT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET IS YOURS, YOU DO NOT NEED ANY LAWS TO TELL YOU WHAT YOU SHALL OR SHALL NOT DO. YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR FUNDAMENTAL IDENTITY. YOUR KARMIC BOUNDARIES NOW FALL AWAY AND YOU EXPERIENCE A SENSE OF BOUNDLESSNESS. A NEW IDENTITY OF INCLUSIVENESS AND INVOLVEMENT IS BORN.
THE SMELL OF BONDAGE
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AS WE HAVE SEEN, WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR BODY, MIND, OR ENERGY LEAVES A CERTAIN IMPRINT. THESE IMPRINTS CONFIGURE THEMSELVES INTO TENDENCIES. THESE TENDENCIES HAVE BEEN TRADITIONALLY DESCRIBED IN INDIA BY A WONDERFULLY APT WORD: VASANA. LITERALLY, VASANA MEANS SMELL. THIS "SMELL" IS GENERATED BY A VAST ACCUMULATION OF IMPRESSIONS CAUSED BY YOUR PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, AND ENERGY ACTIONS. DEPENDING UPON THE TYPE OF SMELL YOU EMIT, YOU ATTRACT CERTAIN KINDS OF LIFE SITUATIONS TO YOURSELF.
THINK OF A FLOWER. A FLOWER HAS A CERTAIN KIND OF VASANA. IT IS THIS FRAGRANCE THAT DRAWS KINDS OF LIFE TO IT. IT CANNOT MOVE AND IT HAS NO VOLITION, BUT BECAUSE OF ITS FRAGRANCE, IT MAY BE CHOSEN FOR WORSHIP IN A TEMPLE SANCTUM. IN FACT, THANKS TO ITS VASANA, IT GAINS ENTRY WHERE FEW HUMAN BEINGS ARE PERMITTED.
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IT IS NOT SO DIFFERENT FOR HUMAN BEINGS. HERE THE WORD SMELL DOES NOT IMPLY AN ODOR. THERE IS NO VALUE JUDGMENT ATTACHED TO THE WORD. IT SIMPLY MEANS THAT IF YOU EXUDE A PARTICULAR KIND OF VASANA, EXISTENCE WILL ENSURE YOU LAND UP IN CERTAIN PLACES AT CERTAIN TIMES. IF YOU EXUDE ANOTHER TYPE OF VASANA, EXISTENCE WILL MAKE SURE YOU LAND UP IN CERTAIN OTHER PLACES. SO WHAT MOVES TOWARD YOU AND ALSO WHAT MOVES AWAY FROM YOU ARE DETERMINED BY THE SMELL THAT EMANATES FROM YOU. YOUR VASANA DEPENDS, OF COURSE, ENTIRELY ON THE KIND OF RESIDUAL MEMORY OR KARMIC CONTENT YOU CARRY.
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THIS WORKS IN SUBTLE WAYS. YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE OF IT, BUT IN WAKEFULNESS AND SLEEP, YOU ARE PERFORMING KARMA. A SIMPLE THOUGHT PATTERN COULD MAKE YOU FUNTION IN SPECIFIC WAYS. IF YOU KEEP THINKING ABOUT THE MOVIES, OR PERHAPS A PARTICULAR PERSON MOVIE STAR, FOR INSTANCE, YOU ARE VERY LIKELY TO SEE A PARTICULAR PERSON IN A CROWD WHO SHARES YOUR PASSION. YOU MIGHT MISS THE OTHERS. THOSE WHO LOVE BOOKS, OR MEDITATION, OR SOMETHING ELSE. IF YOU SEE A THOUSAND FACES BEFORE YOU, YOUR VASANA IS LIKELY TO DRAW YOU TOWARD SOMEONE WHO IS SIMILARLY INCLINED.
IT HAPPENED.
