12/17/09

Hello! How are you..?


Dear Sadhakas,

Hope by this time you would have begun to feel the gentle breeze of the winter. I feel like sharing something about “health” with you all in this Editorial. Health is an essential aspect of human endeavour for happiness in life. The word “health” can be dissected to get “he” and “al” (pronounced as “all”); meaning He (god) is all (he + all); i.e., He permeates the entire creation and works through all. Anybody who stays with this feeling will always be in a healthy mood. Even if you see the word “Heart”, it could be divided to get “He” and “Art” meaning His (HE) Art. All our emotions and feelings spring from Him and one who lives with this feeling, his life becomes an Aesthetic Life.

So friends our health (wherever I say health, it implies physical + mental + emotional health) should be in perfect balance if we want to live peacefully and happily. The kind of attitude mentioned above will go a long way in developing such an aesthetic life. Action is unavoidable. So, it will be wise if we learn to perform our actions in a skillful and efficient way. That is the only way to live rather. Those who resist this natural law experience what is known in common parlance as suffering, strain, misery, dejection, stress, psyco-somatic diseases and the list goes on. The absence of this list in one’s life is what is known as peace, happiness, bliss etc.

Friends, don’t you all feel that it is high time that we understood this simple secret and make our life a very healthy one, thereby influencing the surroundings around us to become healthy? I do sincerely hope that you will give a serious thought to what I have said. My only request is: Do not ignore your health as well as your near and dear one’s health. Take personal responsibility in this matter and see the difference in the quality of your life. I would like to see you all with the result of this experiment when I meet you next in person. Till then, please do take care and I assure you of the blessings of the Parampara in this venture.

In service of Guru Parampara
Sri Pattabhiram

Excellent Communication

Please take care to read till the last word...A very important message for both professional and personal Grooming...If we can remind ourselves , the essence of the message , we may be able to handle our stress more effectively...moment to moment...in everyday life...!

Why we Shout when we are angry?

A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.'

'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint.

'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice?

Why do you shout at a person when you're angry?'

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.

Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot.

To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.'

Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, why?

Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small...'

The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love.

Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all.

That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other.

(from a Sadhaka)

Antardarshana

Taking up sadhana in the initial days is bitter. But when you establish yourself in sadhana-life, it starts giving you a sweet feeling. Eating neem leaves is bitter; but after you eat, the taste it leaves is really worth experimenting. Initially sitting still is difficult, going inside our mind and emotions is difficult. Even if you go inside, it would irritate a lot, initially. Once you learn to withstand irritation, the sadhana will ultimately give you only nectar, amrita.

There are two types of knowledge working with us—inner and outside. The knowledge related to the outside world, its memory, its reactions, are all stored in the chitta. You would be able to tap the inner light only when you learn to empty what is stored in the chitta. In order to clear up the chitta, we need to understand how it got filled up with so many things. Chitta is a store house of mental impressions. As I have told you earlier, there is light within us but the only difficulty with us is we are not able to experience it, because the contents of the chitta are covering that light, and hence the emphasis on clearing the contents of the chitta. That is why we must move on from impulsive behaviour to intelligent behaviour. As you practice this shift from impulsive behaviour to intelligent behaviour, your very mastery over intelligent behaviour would automatically open the door of intuitive realm of your personality. Impulse, or the hurried action, relates to animal instinct. The intelligence relates to human, and intuition relates to the beyond. Whatever contains in the chitta relates to the external world. You can’t enter intuitive world directly; you must bring down the speed of your mind intelligently. Handle your affairs intelligently. Deliberately, try to act slowly and intelligently. When someone says something, don’t react immediately. Wait a while. This way, you develop a space in your mind, for you to relax, to see, to feel and to act intelligently. Even in day-to-day life, learn to listen silently, see silently without commenting, act silently without complaining. As you spend your time silently, you are introduced to the way of your speech, action and thought. Then whatever you do, they all will have to have your approval first and then they would be executed. That way, every action of yours would become responsible and intelligent action. Then, a question comes, what type of things were filled into it?

pramaana-viparyaya-vikalpa-nidraa-smritayah

The chitta operates from the above five vrittis. Pramaana means proof and it is the first vritti. Again, proof has three constituents:

pratyaksha-anumaana-aagamaah pramaanaani

The chitta wants some proof to defend itself and it employs the proof of the things seen. The eyes, ears, tongue, touch, and nose, collect things from the world and transmit it inside. The moment an impression goes inside, immediately, reactions would crop up from inside, it is called chitta vritti. Here, yoga asks you to restrain yourself from reacting though you might have seen/ heard/tasted/touched things directly. It asks you to pause for a while and then act intelligently.

An example. You are sitting in a room and outside you hear a comment on you—you don’t know in what context somebody made a comment on you—but you go and take that person to task. You react violently. This proof is called pratyaksha. The other type of proof is anumaana, inference. Suppose, a smell of garam masaala comes from the kitchen of a pious family. If you had experienced such smell from a non-vegetarian family, immediately you infer that that family is also cooking a non-vegetarian dish. The next proof is aagama, words of the trusted people. You might have seen it with your children. Even if you say the correct spelling of a word, the child would defend only the teacher. The child trusts the teacher more than you. In such beliefs, we strengthen the chitta. We don’t ponder whether our beliefs are right or wrong. Yoga asks you, though you believe the people, yet you test what they say. If you find them at fault, don’t even neglect them. Even if the Lord or Guru says something, without judging, find out for yourself what is right. Viparyaya is explained as - viparyayo mithyaajnaanam atadroopam apratishttham

Viparyaya means false knowledge, no truth, and it means labelling something which is not. In other words, the image which your mind is seeing is not there. But the mind projects something else over there. Sage Patanjali says, see rope as a rope, not as a snake. When you have related chitta vrittis, the rope is seen as a snake. The defect is in the mind. If you have a lot of fear inside, your dealings with the outside world will add up to the fear. The third vritti is vikalpa.

shabda-jnaana-anupaatee vastu-shoonyo vikalpah

Based only on the word-meaning, we go on building castles; it is also called day-dreaming or fantasizing. There is no object, yet we dream about it. The day-dream may be a dream of fear or of pleasure. The fourth vritti is sleep.

abhaava-pratyaya-aalambana-vrittih-nidraah

Patanjali says even sleep is a vritti. Atman doesn’t need sleep. Chitta needs it to get ready for the next day’s ordeal. Since chitta is engaged all through the day, it needs rest. When there is no experience, that state is known as sleep. The thoughts, emotions, imaginations are all pratyaya, contents. The absence of contents, or the absence of transactions in chitta, is called sleep. The mind doesn’t want to do anything for sometime, and it depends on no-action, and that is sleep. To cite an example, the engine of a car is on but is not moving. The biological activity is on, but chitta is resting. Only during sleep the growth and rejuvenation of body happens. That is why it is said that one should not disturb the sleeping child/man. How much we sleep is not important but how qualitatively we sleep is important. The fifth vritti is memory, smriti.

It means, an event has happened, I have experienced that; yet, I have not forgotten it. That unforgotten impression is memory, smriti. The characteristics of the memory is, one memory will give rise to so many other memories. Memory gives rise to aversion, sadness, frustration, fear.... Psychologically, we should try to erase all memories. We should not remember even what we have eaten in the afternoon. That would allow me to stay in the present. When one is in the present, the next meal would be really an enjoyable one. There are two types of memories, objective and subjective. For example, when I see you, I must remember your face. That is necessary. But I should not remember the subjective memories. Subjective memory means, when I met you, you might have said something which left a deep scar on my being. That I should not remember. Normally the mind doesn’t remember that which ended in happiness. But it remembers vividly that which ended in pain. That is why our Gurudev, Swami Rama says, “If you want to progress in sadhana, forget and forgive.” It is enough to say that the memory is the greatest impediment in one’s experience of pure consciousness.

May you succeed in your Sadhana
Sri Pattabhiram

What does Yoga science mean to you?

When people talk about Yoga they often think it has something to do with the physical being only. Yoga is a science that deals with body, breath, mind, soul, and ultimately, the universe itself. It is both practical and theoretical.

Patanjali* is not trying to teach any particular religion to you. Yoga is not a new religion, nor does it condemn any religion. Yoga does not teach that if you are Jewish, you should become Catholic, or if you are Catholic, you should become Hindu, or if you are Hindu, you should become Buddhist. All the great religions have come from one source. Religions tell people what to do and what not to do, and provide a set of rules or commandments that are not fully satisfying.

Yoga science does not tell you what to do and what not to do, but teaches you how to be. Yoga science is a science of life that helps you to know the known and unknown parts of life, that helps you to liberate yourself from pains and miseries, and that helps you to attain that state which is free from pains and miseries.

How can someone living in the world practice Yoga science? If you understand the fundamental principles of Yoga science and why Yoga science should be practiced, it will become easy for you to practice. First you have to decide to search. You have to feel the necessity of finding yourself. Yes, I want to know myself. Something is missing, something I could not receive from my church, from my religion. Millions of people, both in the East and in the West, are searching for Truth and Self-realization—or as the religionists put it, God. You may go to church or temple or synagogues, but the questioning mind is still there. Sometimes orthodox religions do not satisfy your needs, so you question life. When your mind questions, it means you are not fully satisfied. Life is a question in front of you. You want to know something more, but you are using this little mind, which is like a yardstick, to measure the vast universe and its mysteries. You do not understand your religion because you do not understand yourself.

The highest of all books is the book of life. Unless you open the book of life, you will not understand the teachings of the scriptures. The scriptures say what to do and what not to do, but you have to learn how to be. All the gates to higher knowledge will be opened to you once you understand yourself. Patanjali offers something to such seekers. Patanjali says the source of knowledge is within you. The world and external knowledge can only inform you and inspire you. To evolve does not mean going toward the external world. Evolution means going back to the source. If you put ten covers around a light, what will happen to the light? The light will be as it is, but it will appear dim to you. You will not be able to see it. If you remove the covers, you will see it clearly. You can compare yourself with the light. Before you go to the source of knowledge within, you have to go through many barriers.

Yoga science does not offer any new religion; it offers a methodology. Through Yoga science you can understand yourself better on all levels, including your physical well-being, your actions, thought process, emotions, and desires. You will also understand how you are related to the world, and how to lead a successful life in the world. Yoga science creates a bridge between the internal and external conditions of life. Yoga is a way of improving yourself, a way of understanding your internal states. Whosoever you are, you have all the potentials within you. Are you aware of this? If you are aware of this, do you know how to use them? Patanjali encourages us to be aware of the potentials that we have and to learn how to use them. This practical science says to explore more and more.

The word Yoga means “unification, to unite with.” You have to unite yourself with the whole. At present you are an individual and you are experiencing miseries. The cause of misery, according to Patanjali, is ignorance. Ignorance is self-created. You can be free from that misery because it has been created by you. It’s as if you constantly slap your face and then say, God help me. It’s as though you blindfold yourself and then say, O Lord of light, of life, and love, give me light. This prayer is in vain.

You have to light your own lamp. No one will give you salvation. I am talking of enlightenment. All individuals have the responsibility to enlighten themselves. Do not think you cannot do it. You have that spark. You are fully equipped. You simply need to discipline yourself. Discipline is not a prison. It simply means practice.

- Swami Rama

(Extracted from sites.google.com/site/swamiramateachings)

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