SHIVA YOGA

The Place You Want to Go

2010-08-21T11:30:00.001-07:00

Taking bit of a vacation, be back soon with updates !

IN THE MEAN TIME,

Be happy, be brave and practice what I always tell you

And believe me, you will find it, well if you don't, then

NOTHING MATTERS

The point between the eyes, is the place you want to go

Names and Forms

2010-08-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

So there is birth and previous birth and its cause the desire or ‘Tanha’ as the Buddhists call it. Logically desire can only rise out of sense contact. Sense contact can only occur in an entity who could perceive Namarupa or names and forms.
Before we go further into the other causes it would be helpful to learn what this namarupa is. In Buddhism the definition of the term is a bit different from that of the Vedas. There Nama means name and rupa means form in their literal sense. They are determinate divisions of reality. Buddhists have a whole philosophy on names and forms!

To them ( if we could go by the commentaries) "Name" are the three groups beginning with sensation (i.e. sensation, perception and the predisposition) and "Form" is the four elements. You know what the four elements are-it’s the same air, water, earth, fire of the alchemists. The Indians used to include Akasha or space in the list of elements as well. But the Buddhists do not.

Name by itself can produce physical changes, such as eating, drinking, making movements or the like. (I find it a bit abstruse I must say! May be they included all the actions in name. This also is logical if we consider forms as objects alone). Anyway it is said that name alone is not sufficient to create the world. So form also cannot produce any of those changes by itself.

The interesting thing is that, both these are supposed to be produced by the conscious awareness of their existence (on the part of the ‘thinker’ obviously) and is fabricated just like that –out of the thin air just like! There is no material to make these from.

"but just as when a lute is played upon, there is no previous store of sound; and when the sound comes into existence it does not come from any such store; and when it ceases, it does not go to any of the cardinal or intermediate points of the compass;...in exactly the same way all the elements of being both those with form and those without, come into existence after having previously been non-existent and having come into existence pass away”

Desires go on living

2010-08-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

Whatever the reasons for the adoption of the theory of rebirth without questioning it, the Buddha firmly maintained that was why birth occurs. That is, the basis of the present life is that of the previous ones. The desires one forms and acts out in those lives remain with one and manifests in the following ones. In that sense the desires are the upadana or the foundation on which the lives are built upon. The Jain’s who had developed a whole system of philosophy prior to this period had a curious notion about ‘karma sarira’ or desire body that is observed in company with our bodies. This body is said to be attached to us permanently and is the sum total of the desires and thoughts we harbor inside. It goes without saying that this body is as physical as everything else is.

So the cause of misery is the birth and birth is caused by previous births. These births as well as the present one are the result of desires that become attached to our consciousness because of their ‘desire’ to go on living!

Brain and its plasticity

2010-08-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

In modern thought the brain and mind has almost become inseparable. It’s only people like Penfield who could even voice other views in this regard. And when they do so, that would normally be treated with derision, since there is a strong behaviorist content in modern medical thought.

Yet this was not what the doctor was famous for. He was the first to introduce brain mapping. In his experiments he had carefully mapped the brain of his patients and though he had not personally claimed that the centers within the brain are unalterably attached to the bodily parts from which they receive stimulation, he was supposed to have done so by all the text books on medicine till recently. This view was taught widely and every medical student believed in it implicitly. And so it was imagined that the adult brain had no plasticity, that is, once the centers of brain were confirmed by exposure to sensations they remain unchanged and localized.

Yet David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel had already proved that there was plasticity in the brain of the young and Wiesel had also received the Nobel Prize for the discovery! But they too had held firm on to the theory that adult brain is not plastic. It was left to Michael Merzenich to prove otherwise. By inhibiting stimulation from body parts to the brain he is said to have conclusively established that the brain adapts quickly and the part that is cutoff is immediately integrated into the system and used for processing other data coming from without that is related to its previous activity.

If that is so it’s done by neuro transmitters that act as messengers between neurons and the brain cells. This is important, because science has not yet found a central mechanism inside the brain that integrates all its parts into a whole and passes orders modifying the behavior of any of its parts when the need arises to do so. This is where the words of Penfield come to our mind.

“Scientific work on the brain does not explain the mind – not yet”

And again

“But the mind has energy. The form of that energy is different from that of neuronal potentials that travel the axone pathways.”

If there is a separate entity called mind and it has its own potential then what would prevent us from imagining that it acts as an integrative force on the brain, modifying its behavior to the extend it is needed? But then what could be the nature of this mind? How do we account for it? Where does it originate? Could it be of the nature of thought or feelings, could it be a body created initially by the brain itself and perpetuated by the constant and intelligent reactions of the being to its environment, becoming stronger and capable of existing on its own as time goes, even capable of attracting the necessary conditions to produce life forms so that it can survive?

I think it’s possible. In short energy can’t just disappear like that!

May be by now you have started wondering where I am leading all this to! Well not to worry. What I have been trying to do was to provide an impetus to our imagination so that we can cognize stranger things than what we are accustomed to by this circuitous and interesting journey. I certainly can go deeper into it and cite scientific examples by the scores. But that is not the point. The point is, there could be alternate views to the existing ones and if they come to us with the authority of a figure of the great Buddha’s stature we may give ear to it. I encourage you to read up on the subject of our brain and its functions.

I think it was evident to Buddha that birth is the result of previous birth. We can’t argue that the limited sphere of our ordinary experience is the end of all perception. Even the science recognizes that there are alternate states of consciousness where the reality experienced by us could be different to that of our ordinary one.

We will now return to the teachings of the great master.

Rebirth contd

2010-08-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

About the middle of last century a neuro-surgeon called Wilder Penfield was conducting experiments on human brain while he was operating on his patients. He had kept them under general anesthesia to monitor developments during the course of the operations. What he found out was novel. The brain acts like a high fidelity tape recorder and stores all that it has experienced inside in the original format. Electrically stimulating certain areas of the brain elicited responses that were identical to that of the original event. Though only about five percent of his subjects showed this peculiarity and he has not claimed it as a path breaking discovery it is not to be dismissed on that basis alone. What connects him to our subject is the question of how mind works or whether it is connected with brain alone or has any independent existence, since that would help us in stating our case firmly that there is a substratum to life we are unaware of.

Let us listen to what the surgeon has to say about such things. This is what he said in Dartmouth Convocation on The Great Issues of Conscience in Modern Medicine (1960).

“It is fair to say that science provides no method of controlling the mind. Scientific work on the brain does not explain the mind – not yet. Neither the work of Pavlov on conditioned reflexes nor that of any other worker has proven the thesis of materialism. Surgeons can remove areas of brain, physicians can destroy or deaden it with drugs and produce unpredictable fantasies, but they cannot force it to do their bidding.”

Then again he says in his The Mystery of the Mind

"For myself, after a professional lifetime spent in trying to discover how the brain accounts for the mind, it comes as a surprise now to discover, during this final examination of the evidence, that the dualist hypothesis seems the more reasonable of the two possible explanations. Mind comes into action and goes out of action with the highest brain-mechanism, it is true. But the mind has energy. The form of that energy is different from that of neuronal potentials that travel the axone pathways. There I must leave it."

I admit that such ruminations do not conclusively prove there is something beyond the grave and that is mind and desires and thoughts continue their existence even without the body. In fact the doctor says just the opposite. He believes that with the death of brain the mind also ceases. But what I find interesting is the statement about the energy of the mind that is not really linked to the chemical or neurological mechanism that’s functioning within.

The stance on Rebirth

2010-08-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

The Buddha of course stressed the importance of direct perception more strongly than any other part of knowledge and thus began his analysis on that level first. He also allowed inference since without its application it would be impossible to reason. But his stance on recorded knowledge (Or Vedas) of India was ambiguous. All systems in India have accepted the teaching of rebirth except the Charvaka’s and their teachings are not available to us for reference. Buddha though opposing the hegemony of the Vedas nonetheless accepted this doctrine and without it his system would have been incomplete or would have even failed to start.

What caused this implicit belief in this (apparently) strange theory among all philosophers in India? As of yet no one has come back from the dead and reported about what happens afterwards, so what could be the basis of this curious belief? Let us try to look into the matter a little more closely and find if we can resolve it before we proceed further with the things taught by the great master.

We all start our life with a materialistic outlook and in most of our activities follow that belief to the full. This of course has to be so from the time immemorial. According to the theory of materialists everything, including our mind, has to be material. So it goes without saying that the thoughts and feelings created by our minds are as material as anything else is and that they are tangible. In these days of speculations of time travel and multi-verses it’s not difficult to imagine that nothing is outside the physical universe and even the subtlest of vibrations have physical reality.

But to us every thought that we normally make (other than that is recorded) and every emotion that we feel within the mind are ephemeral and we think that they become dissipated or tend to disappear altogether once the moment of their need is past. The reason for this is that they do not intrude again into our consciousness. This is erroneous reasoning.

On theory of Knowledge

2010-08-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

I had condensed the basic part of Buddha’s teaching into a sentence in the previous post and it cannot be much intelligible to those who are following these notes without some detailed explanations on what they actually mean. But before venturing into an analysis of the 12 causes of misery Buddha found, I would like to touch up on some general aspects of philosophical speculation. Buddha was the first to formulate a definite system of philosophy that relied entirely on reason and logic in the world and was particular about defining terms in his system. Till his time philosophy was a mixture of intuitive or poetic insights on life and magical formulas to make life better and superstitious belief’s that went without being questioned. He changed all that and introduced the greatest analytical structure that is found in human history. Let us check the background to his inestimable work. I hope you would forgive the digression because it’s more to provide a basis for what is to come next.

Any real and meaningful system of thought needs to be backed up by a theory of knowledge and unless we are aware how knowledge originates and is stored it would be impossible to speculate on the finer points of life and philosophy. This in its turn demands a definition of terms that are employed in the thought process. I have a distaste for words like epistemology, ontology etc, so I would try not to use them in my article and would like to keep it simple. It might displease some who like things in the abstract. That would of course make the article intelligent and abstruse but if that’s what you are after then there could be any number of tomes around that would keep you occupied for the rest of your life and would shed no more insight into the heart of things as a halogen lamp would shed light on its own innards.

Anyway I am not comfortable with those finer terms of philosophy as well! Whenever I see them I have a serious doubt that they are playing with my poor intellect and trying to hoodwink me into the mires of complexities that I can’t escape from. This comes of being immersed in such abstract systems of thought for a considerable period in my life. May be it’s because of my lack of intelligence or the inherent lethargy; I have only gained one insight from all that hard work-That I am not as wise as I took myself for! The only consolation is that I am in good company. Socrates is said to have expressed the same sentiments when he was on trial.

Not that I am as wise as that great sophist too, for he was able to meet all the geniuses and intellectuals and artists of his time in person and put questions to them that they can’t answer! It was easy then. Athens was a small city state and one could meet people if one is ready to put some effort into it. But how is one to put questions to dead authors? The efforts to learn their works have left me with a firm belief that the writers of those toms are as unaware of reality as I am and was only trying to pass time by composing such delightful nonsense! This goes for the moderns too. One has to keep up pretenses of being intelligent doesn’t one? May be my effort is one such too, though I believe that the great soul I am talking about would show me better sense than that of trying to be egotistical!

Let us come back to the theory of knowledge which has to be the foundation of any system of thought. There is a notion that the Samkhya and Yoga systems existed prior to the period of Buddha, but we have no evidence for it other than the similarities in approaches found in them. The Samkhyas had a theory of knowledge that formed the basis of their analysis of life. It is helpful to learn of it before we start talking about the matter we are interested in.

If you ask anybody versed in philosophy in India they would tell you that there are mainly three methods to acquire knowledge. They are 1) by Direct perception 2) by Inference 3) and through Recorded Knowledge. These would look obvious to anyone once they have learned about them, for there are no other methods to gain knowledge. Yet it is not as easy to keep it fresh in mind at all times, is it?

Direct perception is the knowledge gained through our senses. Senses are 14 in number (14? you haven’t heard about this one have you? The ancient Indians were so meticulous about their definitions!), Five externals (Eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin) and five internals (the centers to which these outer organs report their readings) and mind. I have said this even before- the Indians consider mind as an internal organ (Antakarana) or more precisely an organ with four parts (Psyche, nous, intellect and ego) and not a part of spirit. This is a subtle point to grasp and it would take time to do that for those who have been brought up with the belief that mind is sentient. These parts of the mind would look similar to you but they are not in Indian philosophy. Every single part does a particular job.

Buddha had simplified the matters somewhat by maintaining that there are only six senses. He included the internals in the external. So he would only speak about the six-fold realm of entanglement. He considered this primary.

Buddhist literature

2010-08-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sadly none of his teachings were recorded in his life time. Hindu’s are good at memorizing things verbatim but the Buddha was not a great stickler for such rules. He only enjoined his disciples to accept his teachings on the basis of reason alone. So after a few decades there were discrepancies in the accounts of his followers about what they heard at the feet of the master. This had to be resolved before the teachings could be reduced into writing. Great councils were held for this purpose and thus begin the era of written teachings of the Buddha.

The Pali Scriptures that thus came into existence contained three different collections: the Sutta, the Vinaya and the Abhidhamma. The Sutta or the doctrine part is the real foundation of the system. Vinaya prescribed rules for monks and Abhidhamma only elaborated on the Sutta’s.

The suttas divide themselves into Nikayas. (1) Digha (long), (2) Majjhima (of middling length); (3) Samyutta (delivered at meetings by special people); (4) Anguttara (incremental); (5) Khuddaka (contains several segments). All these together belong to Sthaviravada or Theravada. ‘Thera’ meant elders and the works are a collection what’s remembered by the elders who have sat at the feet of the master and learned Dhamma.

The word Dhamma is used in four senses by the Buddhists: That is, about (1) Scriptures, (2) quality (3) causes and (4) unsubstantial and soulless, for the Buddhists the last one is the most important. it was the essence of the doctrine. Phenomena comes and goes, nothing is permanent all is transitory. The master did not bother to answer questions on the origin of the universe and the like. Buddha only intended to find out "What being what else is," "What happening what else happens" and "What not being what else is not."

So there is only dependent origination. Buddha began his search by asking in “How to know the Way to escape from this misery of decay and death.” Then it occurred to him “what being there, are decay and death, depending on what do they come?” As he thought deeply into the root of the matter, he came to realize that decay and death can only occur when there is birth and so on to 12 causes. It goes like this:

Misery is caused by birth- birth is caused by previous existence- previous existence is caused by clinging- clinging is caused by desire- desire is caused by feelings- feelings are caused by sense contact- sense contact is caused by six fields of contact- six fields of contact is caused by mind and body – mind and body is caused by consciousness- consciousness is caused by conformations- conformations are caused by ignorance. Buddha called this the Bhavachakra.

On the most genial of men and the things he taught

2010-08-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

The only person I really care about in philosophy (or psychology for that matter) is Gautama the Buddha. None has scaled the same genial heights before or after him. He, in his great intellect, was kind to dismiss the spurious questions about ‘where people come from and goes to’ and all such foolishness and would only advice us about the real cause of suffering and about its elimination.

I know that his followers erected edifices of giant proportions after the great master had sadly left us and went on his mighty ways, but that in no way diminishes the greatness of the man. And when I speak of ‘greatness’ I don’t mean the kind of greatness that we speak of nowadays. To us, a sportsman is great, a politician is great and a movie star is great. Well to an ant an elephant would be great, but in the case of the Buddha there is no one who comes within a billion miles to the range of that compassionate aura. He is unsurpassable.

This is how it always happens with me. The moment I start to speak about him I lose all dignity and sense and start to rave and I am not ashamed of it in the least bit. If we can’t rave about the only man our civilization has ever produced, then we are much better become turned into inanimate objects who can’t talk.

Just remembering his name is enough to purify one. As I have often stated he could be the only one who has reached the true state of Man and I define man as the sum total of every virtue that a human being can aspire to. This he definitely was and if anyone seeks an example how we should be true to our words then one should seek him out. He was the personification of everything that the humans have sought all through our history.

There was never an incident in his life where he has hurt someone by word or deed, and he never drove anyone away and turned his back on anybody. He was universally kind and had such absolute control over his mind. Well then he was totally the stuff a real teacher is made of.

All the same, merely praising the greatness of the man is not enough is it? This anyone can do, whether believingly (or believably) or not. Though I am not much into ontology and eschatology and the like and would probably beat the world record in making myself scarce if anyone broaches such subjects up, there is no harm in looking into what was produced in this man’s name; if it would light our way towards the truth isn’t it?

So I would like to place the ideas generated from his followers over the long course of history and would talk about them as well as I can for the coming few posts.

General background to Buddha

There is no real evidence that the Vedas and Upanishads existed in a written form when Buddha was around (They were written-down long afterwards but could have existed in oral form before the period). Yet it is safe to assume that he was familiar with the Samkhya and Yoga schools of thought since his teachings bear the signatures of these two ancient systems. He did not believe in the sacrifices the Vedas prescribed. Some say it was his distress with the practices of Brahmins that made him start a new school of thought altogether.

Buddha was called a ‘nastika’ (‘Atheist’ loosely) by all Hindu philosophers who criticized him. But the nastika of India is a bit different from the atheist of other parts of the world. Here it merely means that the person is against scriptures and not god. This was an important difference because all the great systems of thought in India except Vedanta were atheistic in nature. They either denied god altogether or firmly believed that if there are gods they are also subject to the law of Karma or are not important in the scheme of things. This was the belief of the Buddha as well!

But there were true atheists in India too like the Charvakas who denied even the scriptures and laughed at them. Interestingly they were called Lokayata’s or followers of the common-man’s philosophy! Isn’t it true that atheism is the true state of being in all forms of life and we only turn to god at times of severe distress!

I think it would warm your hearts to learn of the doctrine of the charvakas. They are the best exponents of materialism in the ancient India. Of course they did not believe in the scriptures and god and soul. To them life and consciousness were the products of the combination of matter. There is no after-life, and no reward of actions, as there is neither virtue nor vice. Life is only for enjoyment. So long as it lasts it is needless to think of anything else, as everything will end with death, for when at death the body is burnt to ashes there cannot be any rebirth.

There was another sect of atheists called Ajivikas too. They were great determinists denying the free will of man and his moral responsibility for any so-called good or evil. They believed that “there is no cause, either near or distant for the degradation of beings or for their goodness! Nothing depends either on one's own efforts or on the efforts of others, in short nothing depends on any human effort, for there is no such thing as power or energy, or human exertion. The varying conditions at any time are due to fate, to their environment and their own nature.”

Another school taught that there was no fruit or result of good or evil deeds; there is no other world, nor was this one real; nor had neither parents nor any former lives any efficacy with respect to this life. Nothing that we can do prevents any of us alike from being wholly brought to an end at death.

So the Buddha was born at a period when three significant streams of thought were in existence. First there was belief in Karma and the magic rites prescribed in Vedas by which the Brahmins kept the people( or themselves) deluded, then there was the theory of the ultimate reality preached by the Upanishads, and this was followed by the nihilistic thought stream that denied everything except acceding to bodily needs -all else to them was rubbish.

The spineless sacrifices fattened only the priestly class and brought no relief to people; the materialists on the other hand did not have any moral stance to speak of and the doctrine of the one absolute reality was too abstract to digest. In his kindness the Buddha decided to mend matters and speak to the people in the common language they understood.

The Way It Came To me ( rehashed)

2010-08-07T07:10:00.000-07:00

I had searched in vain for a solution to fill this chasm I found in myself and was becoming hopeless of ever resolving it when I found the Sambavi Mudra.

Then I knew I had found the key. As I went on practicing, things began to fall in-order.

And the realization came one night! It was most profound experience I ever had -Profound in the sense of being complete, not in the sense extraordinary.

I had had the veil removed then and saw the world for what it was. There was no grand awakening; there was no blitzkrieg of lights, no high voltage dramas, and no jet propelled journeys ……………

If anyone of you thought so, I am sorry to disappoint you in that respect.

There is nothing grand in an awakening; it’s like opening your eyes in the morning to familiar sights. You will be surprised how natural it feels, how comfortable you are with it and how easy it has always been. All journeys end there.

There are no more comings and goings from then on (where is one to go and where from should one come?), there would be no ins and outs, no highs and lows, just the awareness that I AM.

I saw myself in everything and everything else in myself, there were no divisions, no feeling of the ‘other’. I was only aware of myself.

I was existence.

Yet can it be called existence even? It goes even beyond that, it goes even beyond the pale of existence and non existence. There is no way of explaining it, it is inexplicable, and it’s beyond words. The futility of trying to express it in words would only occur to you after you have been through the experience yourself.

One can only quote the beautiful words of the ancient Rishi’s who underwent similar experiences. There is nothing else to do. How true are those observations!

They describe the state in one Upanishad as:

“Where the words turn back
Where even mind does not enter”

Then again in another:

“Words do not reach there
Neither do the mind.”

This is the catch. Words are the products of the mind or are only usable when there is ‘two’. I am talking of the ‘one’ or the indivisible and it can’t be talked of in the realm of names and forms. This all looks very old fashioned and boring to you does it not? No wonder, but when we are left with no options, the only way is to do as the others did and say the things they said!

How I used to snigger at this expression once, “names and forms”! I thought it was just mystical bulshit, coined to deceive the ignorant. How wrong I was! It had its revenge on me finally. There is no other expression capable of describing the experience from the perspective of the ultimate reality in human language.

This world is nothing but names and forms, a play ground of shadows.

In the oldest of Upanishads the Eithreya it’s said

“Only ‘this’ was there and-
Nothing else was in sight.”

It then goes on to reveal the cause of the world.

“It thought
I shall be many.”

The moment it thinks, there is the dual world. The one becomes two. And when there are two, two points of observation occur, two paths occur, time occurs, infinite variety of things and events are born. It’s as simple as that. It all happens within and not outside.

In true-realization all these disappears into shadows. The man who is being questioned, the others who are questioning him all revert back into the shadows that they are, and they exist in relation to ‘Me’ alone. Even this is a very sketchy description. But what can one do?

The only option is to get into that state, and then all would be clear. The path is also not difficult as some think; there are no mountains to scale or abysses to cross!

Yet doubt may arise who this ‘me’ that was mentioned is. Is it this man called ‘Chasing my shadow’?

Well ‘Chasing my shadow’ is only a part of me as everything else is; he has no special significance other than ‘I’ have evidenced in him at this point in time.

But sadly this fact does not elevate him to the position of a god. There is no special position granted here. There is no ego evident here. The truth doesn’t make him high or low, it doesn’t change him. He doesn’t gain or lose anything by it.

Difficult isn’t it? You have something and you can’t describe it? Well the only consolation is that better equipped individuals than me have failed at it!

If this does not teach us humility nothing else will.

Yet don’t mistake me as some do, I haven’t denied Yogic powers as some believe. There are such powers, however material they are, and some are naturally inclined towards them.

In such Yoga’s the journey is more important than the final destination. They go for gradual evolution and ‘advancement’. Though I don’t care for such ‘advancement’ there is no ban on others to do so.

To me the notion that there is ‘advancement’ is ignorance. Such thoughts would take us away from the real thing and land us somewhere else.

But there are such Yogi’s and they do glitter, they beam the power of Kundalini through the crown chakra, they have the sidhis, and they have powerful minds and have refined inner vehicles. But a liberated person would have nothing of the sort with him; he would have to stand like the shapeless sky before the might of a powerful thunder storm in comparison to these stalwarts!

But somehow, I was not after these powers (may be because I am unfit to pursue them!) and never cared for them too, they had always seemed spurious and expendable to me. And in the kind of realization I was after they were a hindrance rather than a help.

As a human individual I wanted beyond, I wanted the final truth. I wanted to have done with this farce called Maya once and for always and to never come back.

I even used to shudder at the thought of anything less!

In truth what you want is what you realize. If you want the final truth, you would realize that, if you want heaven, you would get there, if you want to be the Buddha, you will be him- you want to be the devil and you have become one. If you want powers you would get them sooner or later.

You always realize the ‘god’ you are after!

You truly are the masters of yourself and the world. I am not playing around with words here like they do in positive thinking sermons. Let me tell you this, the matter of liberation is so simple that, if you can hold on to the truth that you are liberated at the moment of death, there would not be any coming back.

I can guarantee you that. Let you be the worst devil in the world, hold on to this thought with an unflinching belief. None would make you come back; there would be no further births and deaths for you.

But it is not as easy as you suppose. First you need to be sure that it is the case. That is why it’s important to make it a habit of being with the final truth. Hence the need for Brooh Dhyana. It is the only way you can be sure of finding it for yourself.

But how can one be sure anyone else’s experience would be the general one?

I can only resort to an illustration.

Draw a circle with a series of dots. Take any one dot; every single dot can be the beginning and end of the circle at the same time. All dots have the same chance of becoming so.

That is, if one has experienced truth somewhere others would also experience it. All points in the world have the same prospects.

So my suggestion is:

Place the mind at the point between your eye brows

Place the Mind at the Point between Your Eye Brows

PLACE THE MIND AT THE POINT BTWEEN YOUR EYE BROWS

And you will be liberated.

Resorting to Meditation

2010-08-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Resorting to Meditation

I am not really talking about the true state of meditation here. That is a natural phenomenon and is quite simple in the real sense of the word. But to be so requires the fruition of certain qualities in a person. It cannot be forced and brought about. That’s why the Sidha Masters of the India enjoins to “do nothing”. What they want you to do is NOT practice sloth. They want you to be at ease with everything within and without you. It’s a state that can be only learned by being at peace with yourself.

Real meditative state happens to one. A good example of it could perhaps be found in the life of Jiddu Krishnamurthy. The man was born with it. He did not need to practice any disciplines to reach it. One of his European teachers used to slap his face to get the ever present vacant look out of his face.

How could we slap a state of being out of existence! It was the true state that the man was experiencing. Every other kind of knowledge pales into insignificance before this light. That vacancy can not be filled or discarded. Once one achieves it, it is there to stay.

But who would want to be like that? Isn’t it the highest state of inactivity? What’s the use of being in that state? What would it give us? Well the only answer is that it would give us NOTHING. Yes Nothing- It’s a mind shattering experience to learn this. What we have are things, what we need, is to find nothingness. That completes our adventure.

You see we can never get this thought of gain out of us. We are always travelling, we are always seeking, and we are always worried that we have missed something or would miss something unless we remain alert and industrious. What we are familiar and comfortable with is data. We procure it and store it and feel safe with it. It’s the whole of intelligence. Intelligence can only work with data. If there is no TWO then there is no intelligence. All divisions, categories and paraphernalia arise out of the perception of TWO.

That’s why the Rishi says:

“Dwitiyat toh Bhayam Bhavati”

When there are two, fear too arrives.

Intelligence is a property of brain. It is a mere vassal and not a master. It relies on the inputs from outside to function and is unreliable as its product the reason as far as the higher aspects of human consciousness is concerned.

Coming back to Krishnamurti, such a state is rare in others. It requires great strength from a person to hold on to it while living a full life amongst the less lucky. The artificial folly that we call life would soon convert such a being into the most common of creatures we can find amongst us. Perhaps he would be considered less than most others frequently, for there would be a natural disinclination on his part to live life like other.

The meditation practiced by some of us now sadly is not going to get us to this state. It’s mostly an exercise to rid us of our internal dialogue and achieve a state of calm to “still” the process of thought in us. This is a dangerous practice, for the moment you manages to rid of your thoughts other thoughts come in and take hold of you. This leads to possession and is the worst state imaginable. This has to be avoided at all costs. Instead of being free and liberated we would become more bound and troubled than before. Only those with no desires can overcome this obstacle.

What we aim at is to posses ourselves fully and not to be possessed by others!

Keep the mind at the point between the eye brows

To Gain Control

2010-07-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

(I don’t know when I wrote this, (must be a long time ago) and I may have run it in the blog before, but I haven’t had time to check!
It talks about the initial steps to gain control over the mind. It might be of use to someone. So there is nothing wrong in running it again too. Here it is!)

Fixing the mind at any place or on any object is a difficult task. I have had my troubles with it. It is the first and perhaps the final task we need to be good at to achieve anything in life. We all have certain leanings in us. Some like music and gets easily absorbed in it, to some others it might be some other things. But everyone has the talent to concentrate on the things that they like in exclusion to everything else.

Yet to gain control over the mind one needs to fix it on the most uninteresting of things. It would resist like hell every time you try to make you do it. But this is how you tell your mind who is the real master, who is in command and in the driving seat. But before I go any further with this I would like to point to an important difference in the concept of the mind among the western and the eastern systems of thought.

In the west the mind is taken as a part of consciousness, that is, part of our true self. Thus mind is considered as a sentient entity. This makes it absolutely difficult to control. For how could you control the self which is the real controller!

But in the east, especially in India mind is conceived as Jada (inert). It’s an object in the phenomenal world. It appears sentient only because of its proximity to the self. This is an important difference and a very helpful one too. An object can easily be controlled and made to do whatever the self wants it to do. There is whole philosophy on the subject, that is, how the world evolves into what we see now before us, but it’s not necessary to learn all that for our purpose.

I would talk here of a certain practices I used to follow to gain such control, to some these might look very insignificant and simple techniques, but don’t let the simplicity deceive you. This is the biggest step that you are going to take in your life, make no mistake about it. By adopting complex procedures you can easily deceive yourselves that you are making progress, not with these ones. You would know for sure whether you have made any progress at all while doing them.

Take up any tiny object, any uninteresting object will do, let it be a small pebble, a hook, or a button or anything you can find, hold it in front of you and look at it steadily, all the while thinking about it. Force your mind to think about it in isolation to everything else. Everyone would have their own method of thinking, so it would be unwise to outline it for you. Yet for the sake of illustration let us outline one. Say you are thinking about a button-

Well turn it in your hand, notice its shape, color, design, any flaws you can find in it, its material, its size, whether it’s smooth or rough to the touch, the way it is to be attached to the dress, where it is produced, how it is produced, the place you obtained it, its function, and so on to everything that you can think about it. These are not instructions to follow one after the other, these are only suggestions and you can improve on them.

You might believe that you know all about them even without consciously taking note of their features, or that they are trivial, but remember that you are not trying to check the extent of your knowledge or trying to expound your philosophy of life. You are trying to put your entire mind at work on an insignificant thing. The only way to keep yourself interested in it is to think about it without allowing your eyes and mind to wander.

Try doing this for five minutes every day. You will soon find how tiring it is to keep the span of attention for more than a minute or so. If you succeed doing it for five minutes the world would look very different to you from then onwards. You will start to observe the minutest details of the things that you see around.

Another technique is to try to follow a thought to its end. Some think we need a wealth of knowledge to do that. Again we are not trying to prove how knowledgeable we are. It doesn’t matter even if we know next to nothing about it. Keep it simple. Take up any word or idea, the less complex the better.

Any word will do. Day, road, sky, wild, summer, wind, you know it can be any word. Think of anything and everything on it, but keep at it for five minutes. This would make you hold a thought for a longer time. It helps you focus.

You can devise any number of such exercises yourself, but if you the above two regularly it would be enough to get you on your way to your final conquest of mind.

I will outline what I would do with a word; mine need not be the style you prefer, but I am volunteering this because I have often found people bamboozled by the simple act of thinking. They would start off at a hectic pace if they are following someone else’s ideas, but the moment they have to produce something out of their own, people mostly jam.

There is nothing to it really; in this instance you are not out to show-off before yourself by exhibiting your wealth of knowledge about it, you are only trying to recall everything you know about what you are thinking of. You are trying to force your mind to be at it for a while.

Take up the word day, of course you think you know all about it, but really do you? What is day? You would answer day is when the sun is around and when sun goes down the day ends; as an afterthought you would also add that the sun neither goes up or down and it’s the earth which does a slow summersault to cause the phenomenon of day and night. You are also bound to remember that though the normal duration of a day is about 12 hours more or less, there are places on the globe where the day extends for six months at a time…. And several other things besides.

Fine, but we are not even out to find new facts about day either within or without us, a poet might describe a hundred different types of days, a phenomenologist or semanticist may have different interpretations on its meaning and may bring in the context in which its discussed before the mind, a social scientist may talk of its evolution and growth, there could be numerous approaches to any single word or idea. But none of that need concern us. We are using thought to get hold of our mind and fix it somewhere. In this effort what matters is the steadiness that we display in it.

Just try to do the above, you will start developing concentration. This just let me tell you, is the biggest step you will ever take in life. It will lead you towards the real goal of your life. But how? Just wit and practice, all would become soon evident to you without any help.

Am I socially committed?

2010-07-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

( I wrote this for another blog of mine sometime ago, I think its relevant even in this one. I have tried to edit out the more scalding portions of it, if any has escaped my editing, just bear with it;) )

Lord I would rather be murdered first. Did I shock you? I know I did, conventions dictate that you should be shocked, yet NO, I am not an anarchist, that is, in the sense the word is used by the anarchists. It may be true that I share their dislike for God, State and Religion as they exist (in our minds) today. But I haven’t lost hope in two of them-God and Society, though I have no sympathy for the society as it is now. Most of you, whether you like society or not, might not be well disposed towards god and I don’t wonder at it. The guy has not been of real help to us over the years.
But the god I am talking of is different, on the outer level it is the sum total of everything we hold dear in our lives, the value system, beliefs, finer feelings and everything that you may call godly in you for want of a better word. On the inner level my definition of god is totally revolutionary and it contains everything that you are. Some may call it a vague definition. I am not really defining god here, I am doing something even better, I am pointing a way to find god and you can learn it from my relevant posts.
I am sure that all of you can find god even without resorting to any religious practices. Please note that I am not denigrating the finer elements in religion here, there are finer elements in everything, but they all get clouded by the structure in which they are shut up. Instead of liberating us they trample us underfoot. None of the established religions can save you, study the lives of any saint, all have gone beyond the strictures imposed by their faith in search of truth. Have you ever thought why it is so; have you ever thought why Jesus told the world that his kingdom is not of this world?
It isn’t of this world, but what he didn’t say is that it includes this world in it as well. He could not say that to a bunch of stupid people who goes by the strictures of Talmud and cannot think straight. I know that some may take umbrage at this, but listen people, jump out of those darkened caves inside your heart, take a look around and see the world for what it is.
It is happening right before you, people are being led into traps they can never come out of, they are being mentally castrated, they are being traded and subjugated, every code, every book is being made use of in this terrible man hunt. Learn that all systems of beliefs are regressive, they instill subordination, they make you obey, they don’t lead you forward.
This is why intellectuals are the most obedient people in the world, they work with data, and that data is provided by the system, every intricate point that you learn makes you more obedient, makes you more docile, it takes away the capacity to react as a human being, it curbs wonder, it provides answers for all your questions. It plants you inside a mental fortress from which you can never escape.
You can control intellectuals like you control dogs with a piece of bone or a lump of sugar. They would never believe that they are being controlled; they would think that they are acting out of their own volition. They only generate thoughts for their masters, both hidden and evident. Every time I think on this it calls back the words of Hitler to my mind. He openly stated that 99 percentage of the population is like women, they can be led, they can be told to do things and they would gladly do that.
Did you know what was the excuse offered by most of those tried in Nuremberg after the WW II? They said that they were only taking orders. Some of you may think that Hitler was a total idiot and a fanatic, he may have been, but he had learned one thing right, that the people require a master and he consciously became that.
It is this weakness among the humans that I am afraid of, this willingness to follow the leader, this frantic desire for a host mechanism, this total submission. You think that only the ‘weirdo’s’ desires such things don’t you, you are wrong, everyone would follow a leader if he is forceful enough. It is easier to justify something than make something on your own. This is a perennial weakness of the human mind.
The human mind yearns for something to lean on; it wants to forget its insignificance and would like to bask in reflected glory. This is why people run to religion and such other systems of thought that there is out there which promises salvation. This goes for the materialist as well as the idealists, the idealist promises heaven up above and the materialists promise the heaven below. Both lull the fear of isolation in the human heart. They can’t think out of the hat, though they mouth these words incessantly. The inflow towards religion all over the world now is the failure of a dependable substitute, People want to be comforted, patted on the back and looked after. Even if these are provided invisibly they would be satisfied.
Hence they run to religion.
Yet really religion is a totally mucked up institution. It has out grown its usages and it relevance. But the alarming fact is that people are being attracted to religion by hoards. The world has not been able to replace religion with anything that people can really believe in. The people have not unfortunately grown. They did not grow with the growth of civilization. Only internal changes could make people grow; only an inner revolution could make people break the shackles imposed by their conditioning. But the religions would not allow that. The people who run them have several things to lose by doing that.
If I could I would wipe the entire religiosie out from the world. I would do it this moment if I can. It has to be done by someone to cleanse the world.
But the guys are too entrenched, too dug in, and there are enough dolts in the world who believes every word that’s uttered by these Beelzebub’s. If anyone speaks against these ‘godly’s their followers would rise up in arms and would start murdering you right and left. I can’t even blame them unfortunately, they are totally muddled up and frightened. They don’t know what to do and they flock to the first group which assures them that they would take care of them come what may. I can’t gain say the words of Marx, religion is the opium of the masses, though later Marxism itself started exhibiting the characteristics of a religion. It has even chapels where they place flowers and incense now. Look at the terrible servility to the earlier modes of culture.
So what do we do to get out of this strange servility? Well we start thinking on our own- discard the current forms of thought and fashion our own conceptions of life and things. It looks simple doesn’t it? You just have to pick the right words and utter thoughts! How simple!
Try to form any thoughts on your own without reference to any of the thought structures that is around. And you will learn about simplicity in real earnest.
Or else you can dive inside and come up with a real nugget of truth as I have been suggesting to you all the time.

The choice is yours.

KEEP THE MIND AT THE POINT BETWEEN THE EYEBROWS

Excerpts on Sambavi Mudra

2010-06-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

(When was the last time I updated the blog? Well anyway, there is no point to it, is there? Those who want to know would search for knowledge elsewhere, they hardly need my prompting. And those who don’t wouldn't have to listen to me!

It’s a catch 22 situation ;)

All the same here is something for those who pass by…..)

You don’t have to learn anything to become liberated. It's the most natural of all states. Yet there could be obstacles in realizing this. The one effort should be to dispel these…..

All true teachers of the world (Don’t mistake me, I only intend to bring the gist of what they have said to you and vouch that its attainable!) have always tried to do this in the most simplest of ways.

In my readings I have come across many portions in Upanishads that are related to the things I have been trying to explain to you. The following is a compilation of those vital portions. Because I have very little time and more because of my laziness I haven’t put them in any clean order. So you need to take them in good faith and think on them.

Now to the excerpts from Vedas on Sambavi Mudra

I think this is from Mandala Brahmana Upanishad:

“Know that Yoga is twofold -the earlier and the later.
The earlier is Taraka (of stars) and the later is Amanaska (the mindless).
Taraka is divided into Murti (with limitation) and Amurti (without limitation).

That first goes to the end of the senses (or exist till the senses are conquered). Amurti Taraka goes beyond the two eyebrows (above the senses).

Both these should be performed through Manas (mind).

( Note: That is, mind is the instrument for achieving them)

Antar-Drishti (internal vision) associated with manas comes to aid Taraka. Tejas (spiritual light) appears in the hole between the two eyebrows.

This Taraka is the earlier one.

The later is Amanaska.

The great Jyotis (light) is above the root of the palate. By seeing it, one gets the Siddhis Anima, etc.

Sambhavi-Mudra occurs when the Lakshya (spiritual vision) is internal while the (physical) eyes are seeing externally without winking. This is the great science which is concealed in all the Tantras.

When this is known, one does not stay in Samsara(in the world). Its worship (or practice) gives salvation.

Antar-Lakshya is of the nature of Jala-Jyotis (or water colored light). It is known by the great sages and is invisible both to the internal and external senses.

4. Crown (chakra) light is the Antar-Lakshya.
By becoming one with Antar-Lakshya, the self becomes one with Absolute space”

Again in another Upanishad it is said:

“Antar-Lakshya ( Internal Target)

It is very hidden and Unmanifested. It can be known (only) by one who has got into the boat of Jnana (Wisdom). It is the object of both Bahir and Antar (external and internal) Lakshyas. In its midst is absorbed the whole world.”

And I believe this is from Annapoorna Upanishad

“one should look out for Taraka. Taraka is Brahman which being in the middle of the two eyebrows, is of the nature of the spiritual effulgence of Sachchidananda.

The (spiritual) seeing through the three Lakshyas (or the three kinds of introvision) is the means to It

When the two ears are closed by the tips of the forefingers, a Phutkara (or booming) sound is heard. When the mind is fixed on it, it sees a blue light between the eyes as also in the heart. (This is Antar-Lakshya or internal introvision).

In the Bahir-Lakshya (or external introvision) one sees in order before his nose at distance of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 digits, the space of blue colour, then a colour resembling Shyama (indigo-black) and then shining as Rakta (red) wave and then with the two Pita (yellow and orange red) colours. Then he is a Yogin.

When one looks at the external space, moving the eyes and sees streaks of light at the corners of his eyes, then his vision can be made steady.

When one sees Jyotis (spiritual light) above his head 12 digits in length, then he attains the state of nectar.

In the Madhya-Lakshya (middle target), one sees the variegated colours of the morning as if the sun, the moon and the fire had joined together in the Akasa(space or skies) that is without them.

Then he comes to have their nature (of light). Through practice, he becomes one with Akasa, devoid of all qualities and peculiarities.

At first Akasa with its shining stars becomes to him Para-Akasa as dark as Tamas itself and he becomes one with Para-Akasa shining with stars and deep as Tamas. (Then) he becomes one with Maha-Akasa resplendent (as) with the fire of the deluge.
Then he becomes one with Tattva-Akasa, lighted with the brightness which is the highest and the best of all. Then he becomes one with Surya-Akasa (Sun-Akasa) brightened by a Crore of suns. By practising thus, he becomes one with them. He who knows them becomes thus.

( Don’t mind these various akasa’s or skies. they are only a scientific description of the states you go through. If you start searching for all of them you would soon be out of the meditative state)

Hope this is helpful

“

Keep the mind at the point between the eye brows

”

About comments in other languages

2010-04-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

Well guys, I have been receiving comments in what looks like the Chinese (or the Japanese) language for some time now. May be my small efforts at bringing a simple truth across might be making some little impact on the followers of two of the ancient cultures in the world. If so I am very glad. But sadly this blog is in English and I don't know a word of the languages that those comments are written in………Hence I am in a little bit of a predicament here.

The thoughts expressed in them could be the most sublime or the most beautiful for all I know. But as I can't understand their import or meaning I have little option but to reject them. This in no way reflects on the genuine intentions of the authors of the comments and I hereby express my regret in failing to understand them.

My thanks too are intimated for their kindness in taking an interest in what I write. But I am unable to publish them in the blog and though I would very much like to learn those beautiful tongues, I am just not in a position to do so now.

So, if you like the blog or what's written in it, you can say that in very simple English. Let me also say that I am no anglophile and English is only a second language to me. But a blog in any language hopes for comments in that language.

So guys, please do not be offended if I don't publish your beautiful comments in other languages in my blog.

Thank you!

Sambavi Mudra as per Hatha Yoga Pradeepika and Kheranda Samhita

2009-12-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

I was recently going through a commentary of Hatha Yoga Pradeepika by Hans Ulrich Rieker and came across these portions about Sambhavi Mudra in the book. It’s a nice translation of the original verses and could be useful to those who are interested in the practice of the Mudra. There are some minor variations to the method of practice and the description of the Mudra to that of mine in my post on it. But in essence they are the same.

Kheranda Samhita also mentions it, but its scant and unsatisfactory. Yet it would be interesting to first look into it before going to the commentary of Rieker.

The Kheranda Samhita discusses it in the the Ch.3 (15) . It is curious to note that it suggests applying Kajal or some sort of eye care to the eyes before starting the practice. I believe it is intended to keep the eyes cool to minimise irritation to the eyes.

Anyway here is the description of the Mudra in the Samhita.

“ After applying kajal or eye-ink to the eyes look at the knower of truth. This is the Sambhavi Mudra hidden in all the sciences.”

“The Vedas, Satstras and puranas are like common prostitutes , but this Sambavi Mudra is like a chaste women, well protected and safe”

“The Lord Siva as well Brahma ( The creator) knows of this Mudra”

“Those who know the sambhavi Mudra is the truth itself . This is true, true , true.”

Here ends the mention of the Mudra in Kheranda Samhita . Now let us go to the commentary of Rieker. I have left the commentary as it is.

Verse “(35) The Vedas, the Shastras and the Puranas are like prostitutes [attainable to all]. The shambhavi mudra, however, is like a chaste woman, carefully guarded.

(36) Shambhavi mudra consists in fixing the mind inwardly [on any one of the chakras], and fixing the eyes without blinking on an external object. This mudra is left secret by the Vedas and Shastras.

(37) It is rightfully called shambhavi mudra, when mind and prana are absorbed by the object, when the eyes become rigid in the contemplation of the object. Once this state has been reached by the grace of the guru, everything perceived becomes a manifestation of the great Shambu (Siva) and is thus beyond emptiness and not−emptiness.

Everything is Siva: everything is kala (light−waves, form, yantra, manifestation of the divine image in all its forms), nada (sound waves, sound) mantra, divine name in all its forms), and bindu (meaning, the divine) and the logos common to both the other spheres).

(39−40) Direct your [inner] gaze upon "light" by slightly raising the eyebrows. Then perform shambhavi mudra as you have learned it. This induces samadhi. −−Some confuse themselves by the alluring promises of the shastras and tantras, others by the Vedic Karmas, and still others by logic. None of them recognizes the real value of this mudra, by the aid of which one can cross the ocean of existence.

(41) With half−closed eyes focused on the tip of the nose, the mind steadily fastened[on its object], and the active prana current of the ida and pingala nadis suspended [by guiding it into the sushumna], thus the yogi reaches the slate of realization of Truth in the form of a radiating light which is the source of all things, and the highest objective to be reached. What higher state is there that he might expect?”

Well practice practice practice and good luck be with you in it.

KEEP THE MIND AT THE POINT BETWEEN THE EYE BROWS

Uththara Geeta

2009-11-19T13:05:00.000-08:00

Most of us have heard of Bhagavad Geeta, and some of us have endeavored to understand it too. The Geeta is like a broad spectrum spiritual antiseptic. It considers every kind of mental preferences and prescribes remedies for all sort of spiritual illnesses. People are often confused about the different streams of thought that is seen in it. That is why Arjuna says that he is bewildered by Krishna’s equivocal instructions (Cha.3 verse 2 of Geeta). The Geeta can only be taken as an introduction to spiritual practices.

This is the reason why Krishna later taught the AnuGeeta (the verses that follow geeta) to Arjuna. But he knew that even an intelligent student like Arjuna would find it hard to arrive at truth unless repeatedly advised on it. So in compassion he goes on to teach the Uththara Geeta (Post Geeta) to Arjuna. This is the final advice and culminates the teachings of Geeta.

He takes out the essence of every science in it and teaches it to Arjuna saying “Yal saara bhUtam thadupaasithavyam”. Worship only that which matters. Sciences are many, we could spend our entire life learning them and understanding nothing at all about ourselves.

I will relate to you meaning of the important verses of the advice. They throw light on the practice we are interested in.

Imagine the limitless Chidakasa (inner space, or the space you find within when you close your eyes and turn your attention to your forehead) as the soul or imagine the soul as the inner space so that both becomes merged into one – forget everything else. One should be steadfast and intelligent about it. Never doubt for a moment that what you find within is your true self. As you keep on doing it the breath would become still at the point between the eye brows.

When you do it what happens is this:
Prabhaa sUnyam, manhsUnyam
BudhisUnyam, niraamayam

That is, your consciousness goes through these stages- first, thoughts become nil and the mind remains in its nature of light, in fact mind and this light is one and the same. Slowly the light fades and our psyche remains with its names and forms, this also fades and what remains is the intellect which is still aware of different emotions, then that intellect also fades. After that you can’t say what remains…..

“There the words and mind turns back”

As an Upanishad describes it, this state in indescribable, this state is called Samadhi.

Krishna states emphatically in the verse 10 of the second chapter:

“MuhUrthamapi yogaschEl
NasaagrE mansa saha
Sarvam tharathi papmaanam
Thasya janma sathaarjitham”

That is:

If someone achieves this state for a single minute, all the sins in all the births they ever had become destroyed forever. Now the sins that Krishna speaks of are the foolish entanglement with the world of ignorance which our consciousness ever had.

This is the method of “sadyO mukthi” or “immediate liberation” and Krishna goes on to describe how Krama Mukthi” or step by step liberation can be achieved for the ignorant by following the Kundalini Yoga. We are not concerned about it here.
So,
KEEP YOUR MIND AT THE PLACE BETWEEN THE EYE BROWS

Breathing

2009-11-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Most of us are very busy in our lives. We do not have a spare moment and even when we have it, it is weighed down with the cares and troubles that we generally have. Thoughts come and go, emotions flit through the mind. Everything we see around us brings back memories of things done and reminds us of things which need to be done. We either live in the past or in the future and never in the present. Naturally we are not at peace. We can only be at peace if we live in the present.

Hence, even when we put aside a bit of time for meditation it becomes mostly useless because we can’t rid ourselves of this constant activity of our mind. This is more so when we try to follow a simple technique of meditation like the Sambavi Mudra. If we can quiten the mind it might be of some help in the practice.

So let us talk about the most effective and easy technique to do that- Breathing.

Technicalities about pranayama are not important here and are not necessary for our purpose. Our aim is to lessen the number of thoughts we have so that it would be easy to fix our mind at the Trikut or middle of forehead.

What you do is to breathe deeply when you sit or are lying down for meditation. Just breathe from your abdomen or the pit of your stomach or whatever you like to call it. Names and terms do not matter, breathing long and deep and slow is what matters. Take it as the preparatory exercise before beginning the real meditation. As you do it, follow the breath in an out. There is no need to tire yourself out by rushing things. Slow steady sweet breathes would do it.

If you can manage it keep your spine straight, but even if you can’t do it breathe through the nostrils. This is very important, apart from other ills like colds etc which may result from mouth breathing, breathing through nostrils would make the breath pass though the trikut making us more aware of it. Also breathing through mouth can never be deep. So breathe through the nose at all times.

Well what do you when your nostrils are blocked as sometimes they are? Mostly this does not happen to those who practice pranayama. But if you do not do it but is person who takes a bathe every day, try this technique. When you shower or pour water over your head or are in the pool bathing, keep a little water in the mouth and keep it shut till you have toweled your hair dry. Then spit it out. This works most of the time and clears the nostrils for the day.

I think it works this way. The water that get into you through your head you as well as the mucus which might block the nose otherwise, trickle down to the water kept in the mouth and goes out of you when you spit it out.

Well back to breathing. As you go on doing it you would notice that thoughts are becoming lesser and lesser till they disappear completely. Please remember that we are not trying to fill ourselves with energy by doing it. An excess of energy does more harm than good to our state of mind. Our primary purpose is getting rid of unwanted thoughts and emotions so that we can bring our attention to our foreheads.

There would come a time when you are aware that the thoughts, feeling etc have completely disappeared from you for the present then turn your attention to the spot between your eye brows and place your mind there.

Normally the breath or prana becomes still at the place where the mind is placed. I outlined the above technique only for those who find it difficult to control their thoughts whatever they do, at times. All pass though such stages, even the best.

Wish you luck with it

KEEP THE MIND AT THE PLACE BETWEEN THE EYE BROWS

The tale of Svetaketu in the Chandogya Upanishad

2009-11-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

Well I think someone wants me to update the blog. That is nice; it shows that there are people out there who want to preserve this effort, whether playfully or otherwise. I will take even the playful efforts if it furthers the cause of knowledge and keep it alive in some form in some one’s mind. Let all beings be illumined.

I am even willing to believe in the theory of the sudden evolution of the human race in the year 2012( not the dooms day theory, I can assure you that would not happen), to a higher spiritual enlightenment. The poor state of affairs in the world makes me wish for it earnestly. Can the few words that I write in a blog with very few followers be the harbinger of that enlightenment? It is amusing to think so, well you know, much stranger things have happened in the world haven’t they?

Well, may be those who plays with this condensed essence of human knowledge might be ushering in that mighty change in our world who knows. I have very little personal interest in it, other than preserving the little body of knowledge for posterity. Let that change happen without any harm to anyone or anybody in the universe.

Anyway, let us do some browsing in the Upanishads and try to find something useful for understanding the world.

Let it be again understood that I have no particular preference in philosophical systems and that I think the whole body of human knowledge is one in essence. It is the heritage of the entire humanity. The only thing which prompts me to use the Upanishads is my familiarity with them.

We will talk about the tale of Svetaketu in the Chandogya Upanishad now. The old masters have subtly hinted at the whole process of evolution in the tale in their inimitable style. It is a beautiful tale and one we can carry in our minds once we have understood the essentials. Now to the tale:

Svetaketu proudly returned home after studying for twelve long years.

Seeing his pride the father asked him:

Did your teachers tell you about that country where the unheard is heard and the unthinked is thought of?

Wondering Svetaketu asked:

Where is that place, my teachers did not teach me that!
His father instructed him:

Once we know what clay is we know about all things made of clay, once we know what gold is we know all things made of gold, once we know what iron is we know what a nail cutter is.

“Ekam-evaa-adwityam” there is only one not many.

It is ‘asat ‘ or non-existent. But then what is the logic behind one nonexistent thing becoming everything else that you see around?

( well you know, this problem is difficult to digest even for the highly intelligent. That was why Sankaracharya introduced the theory of Maya, this world in delusional and not real. The modern science is slowly coming to grips with this fact after the advent of the quantum mechanics)

The one essence imagined “ I shall become many” It produced ‘Thejas’ or primal energy, you can take it as the field which came into being after the big bang. The thejas then thought “I too shall become many” it produced ‘apa’ ( water literally, but let us take it as plasma for the sake of convenience). The apa also thought “I shall be many” and invented ‘anna’ ( literally food, but it is solid matter in essence.) They also thought of becoming many by entering into everything and creating names and forms.

It then decided to make all these a trine (of three parts) to enter into them. Then the Upanishad subtly hints at the way the world is made with the example of fire. It says:

The red part you seen in a flame is the Thejas (energy), the white part is the ‘apa’ (plasma or light), and the black part is ‘anna’ ( food or mass).

Only these three (light, energy and mass) are real. Everything else is linguistically derived forms and names.

The Upanishad then sites the examples of the Sun, the Moon and the Lightening and says that we can see these three in them.

It then come down to the world of individual beings and states how to derive the subtle from what we see and experience on the outside. We might think that those old teachers taught without citing reliable experiments. Just follow this discourse to its end if you can find the text of the Upanishad (the whole of the sixth and seventh chapters). You will become a new person afterwards. It is too long a tale to site in full here. I might do it if someone wants me to do it and I have the time and desire to do it.

KEEP YOUR MIND AT THE PLACE BETWEEN THE EYE BROWS

The point in being creative

2009-10-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

It is boring I know, stating the same things over and over again. People go in for variety, and novelty. That is where our aesthetic sense comes in. And that is the starting point of all art. Art is the interpretation of reality as we perceive it. We wake up in the mornings, see the same bed-stead, see the same night lamps, see the same bedside table, see the same walls, the same bed sheets the same curtains, the same flower pots. The window gives us the same trees, the same compound-walls, the same roads the same grainy gravel or cement paths……

We are in despair, the whole humdrummity of life hits us on the head like an umpteen ton hammer. No, we don’t swoon; if we do, that would be an artistic reaction on our parts. But instead we sigh, and get out of the bed, squeeze the same old tube of paste on to the same slightly frayed brush and puts it inside the same old mouth and brushes the same old teeth. We taste the same old mixture of saliva mixed with sweet clay.

We look at the same poor mug seen in the mirror; it had some beauty in the night, in the faded light, now it looks like a baked potato with its skin hanging, in the morning glare. We are not feeling confident, we get inside the toilet and try not to think of what goes on in there.

No one can be blamed for it. I am often like that too. I look in the mirror; I see the same face every day. I get bored, so I lengthen the side burns or wear a beard or shave everything off. Sometimes I shorten my hair or grow it long, I turn my moustache up or down, I wear a Bulganin or a French beard. I put on glasses, different types, different shades, different designs, in the hopes all that would alter the boring thing that I see in the mirror.

Even these are creative efforts aimed at producing a different kind of reality than we do normally see. We do that by manipulating things that we have a right on. We can’t alter the public road, or the skies or the sun, so we have to be satisfied with the small things we can lay our hands on. We even try to alter the lives of the people we meet out of this sheer vacuity. I would not call it viciousness. We are out to create something new and we are so sure that we have a right to do it. We have knowledge haven’t we? We have even friends to supply material to bolster up our puny ego. Although we have little inkling what goes on in our own lives. If anyone asks us what neuron is functioning at any given moment we would either take recourse behind laughter or rage….

We are lost souls, the sooner we realize it the better. We can’t alter any ones lives without altering something in ourselves. If we are really within ourselves we would naturally effect a change in others even otherwise, even without doing anything. Sometimes we would shock them right into their being by our mere presence, or the mere fact that we exist. It is a jolt that is life changing. But some would even then cling to their old lives and try to fake their older selves.

I am sorry to say this, but we are wrong, once we come into contact with something real, we alter even without knowing ourselves. There are forces at work which makes it happen. I watch these forces in operation all the time. I need not react to them, I can even ignore them, but I like this play, this strange display of self importance in things. I would like to always play along. I am the sportive guy.

Life is still a game which makes me laugh, well I would have liked to laugh with everyone of you but unfortunately some of us laugh without mirth, without real pleasure, when some of us die we would cling to earth, frantically thinking about our wives, husbands, children, houses, jewelry, positions in life, friends, bank balances, and art and cart….

Well hopefully when I die, I would dissolve into elements and be no more be anywhere in the individual sense. And my poor sense of humor calls it liberation. Anyway, if any of you know of anything else about my evolution I would be delighted to hear it.

May be there are souls out there who can correct me in this ‘mistaken’ assumption. If so they are welcome here to predict my path. You see I love this dual nonsense called life. I would be the very devil if I can continue this farce. Would some kind souls come and predict that I would be Satan or at least some minor devil in after life. Come on; be kind to a person who has been trying to tell you what he knows about reality.

Or at least can’t you say that I am a great soul, godlike or even god. It would be a great boost to my ego. I would turn my collar up and would prance about. Okay don’t even go to that length, there is no need to be nice about it. So don’t mince words, say that I would become anything, any mean thing. Yet my poor doubt is that everything has to pass through every other existing state as this farce unfolds. The god would pass through different states to become the devil and the devil would become god. I know that this is a destructive statement and would make some of you shiver to your very core. But unfortunately this is the truth. Any child would see it.

The only way to get out of this tangle is to go beyond the duality altogether. But I am willing to listen to other options to reach that state.

They say in the ancient texts that I was alone once and I became manifold out of boredom or out of this creative urge in me.(You can take a joke I hope. It’s not really a joke in essence, but its better keep it at that level now)

Idam eka Evaagra aaseel (This one was all alone)
Naanyath kinchanamishat (There was nothing else to be seen)
Thadekshata (this one mused)
Bahusyam prajaayEti (I shall become many)

My friends that is how I became the world….. I would go back to the earlier state the moment I attract all this back into me. Do you think I am raving? This I AM is not a thing you know about then. You need to try harder.

Okay I will play this game of duality with you. Tell me of someone who has gone beyond the Buddha and I will follow you and won’t stop following you, tell me about a god who won’t become a devil as time passes and I would become a convert to that faith. I am delighted with illumined souls who can amass virtue alone on one side and oust all evil from the world. Prove that it can be done and that the world is non-dual, and I will be your slave from then onwards. Prove it with convincing arguments.

If you can’t, well here is what you do.

KEEP YOUR MIND AT THE PLACE BETWEEN THE EYE BROWS.

Keep at it, keep at it, keep at it.

Who in the gods name am I

2009-10-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well what do we really search for?

Do you have any idea?

I know that you haven’t. Don’t be peevish when you listen to this, it is the honest fact that you haven’t. None has. Some would say that they are searching for truth if they are very hard pressed. But what is the use of talking about something you have no idea about? What do they mean by truth? Come on, tell me that. Anyone?

We live like dazed beings relying on whatever comes our way, in desperation some have started to say that there are multiple realities- but really!

You see, there is only one reality that is your own; you don’t have to run anywhere to find it. It is already yours; there is no need even to search for it.

All the trouble starts when we want to find it.

Even those who realize this intuitively don’t know how to go about it. They run from people to people. I have nothing against these guys, some of them as I already stated in my earlier posts are great yogis. They can show you wonderful things. They can awaken forces like Kundalini within you. They might produce ashes out of the thin air and talk about your past and future in detail.

Well what of that? A person who knows some part of a book by heart can tell you of certain events in the story. It’s not such a great thing if you put your mind to it. It’s gained through certain techniques and practices; occasionally it might even be congenital.

Well if you are satisfied with it, its okay with me, you have every right to become deluded and muddled and to be led on a path which would not end till the dooms day comes. It’s your life, it’s your choice.

But to those others who are troubled by this one question:

Who in the gods name am I?

I can point you the way to find it. I have already done so. It’s the only method that there is and it is the only technique worth trying.

This comes to you without any charge, if you are deluded by the notions of worth, status, morals, learning etc.. Well what can me or any one do in your case?

You see there have always been people out to murder those who know, so that the world would remain deluded for all ages to come. Buddha tried to show people how to go about meditation.

He held up a flower and just looked at it. Only one among the audience understood.

Millennia’s went. Have the people become any the wiser? The world is still where it was then, may be it has become worse. Some have even started to claim that it is all an old world notion. They just don’t know what they mean by it. They really have no idea what time itself is.

So what do those who want to learn about themselves do?

They keep their mind at the place between the eye brows; they work at it, till the truth comes out.

KEEP THE MIND AT THE SPOT BETWEEN EYE BROWS.

Its not so difficult is it?

2009-09-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

The Vedantin starts his meditation on the awareness of I AM. There are no lower vehicles for him, no Chakra’s, no life force, no mind, and no intellect like the Kundalini Yogi.

He asks:

Who Am I? Am I the body or mind or intellect or consciousness?

He gets an answer:

I am Consciousness because that’s the only part which never changes. I am always aware of myself in all states.

He concentrates on his consciousness.

Then a strange thing happens. He realizes his oneness with everything. I will illustrate it for you. I have mentioned it before too.

Just think of a closed string of beads. The string could begin and end at any bead, yes? The vedantin notes this. In effect you could call yourself the beginning and the end of the universe. So could anyone too.

The vedantin in his realization says.

I am Everything ( Aham Brahma Asmi.)

If someone comes then to him in that state in search of knowledge, he says.

You too are that (Tat Tvam Asi).

To such a person nothing remains to be explored. He is always in bliss.

He might wander the world like a mad man, letting the world do anything to him. He is not mad of course, but the ignorant would think him so.

I know this would sound completely bizarre to you. But anyway, that’s the difference between a Yogi and Vedantin. Yogi believes in evolution, Vedantin achieves liberation.

Keep your mind at the point between the eyebrows.

Keep it there, keep it there...

Advaya Taraka Upanishad

2009-09-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

It would be hard for me to update the blog for a while. In the meantime you could go to the link below and read the translated text of Advaya Taraka Upanishad.

It has immediate relevance to the subject we are interested in and makes certain aspects of the practice clear.

If you find anything perplexing in it feel free to post it here. I will try my best to answer you.

Advaya Taraka Upanishad

Zhine to develop Sambavi

2009-08-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

Let us talk about Zhine (peaceful steadiness) here, a Tibetan Buddhist practice to gain control over the mind. It is useful while practicing Sambavi Mudra.

The Tibetans speak of three stages of Zhine, the forceful, natural and ultimate. The practice begins with focusing the mind on an external object and goes on to the fixation of mind on an objectless state.

You can sit in a chair for this practice. Cross your legs under you. Place the hands folded in your lap with palms up one over the other. Hold the spine straight but not rigid, head slightly tilted to keep the neck straight. Keep the eyes open (This is the main reason I am talking of this technique. It teaches us the Poornima Drishti.)

The eyes should not strain, it should neither be wide open or too shut, but just open enough to keep them relaxed and steady. The object on which you are concentrating should be dead ahead of you, not over or below the line of vision. Don’t move or blink, even if tears stream down the face keep the eyes steady on the object. Breathe naturally.

I would suggest the letter Aum in Sanskrit script or Aum written in English as the object of meditation. If you are using the English version make the A big and inscribe U and M within it.

The Tibetans inscribe the picture of the letter on a paper an inch square and fix it on a stick with a base to hold it on ground. This is a good idea. You can carry it around and practice the technique where ever you want. Make the letter white on a black background. Place it just a foot and half in front of the eyes while practicing.

If something strange occurs during practice think they are natural and continue practicing. In forceful shine you make your mind concentrate on the object. It would wander, but try to bring it back every time. If you can’t break session and try to concentrate on a quality you would like to develop, like compassion, truthfulness etc and return to your practice. You can do it as many times as you want. (If you have no tool to concentrate on you can also visualize a ball of light in the forehead.)

Never waver for a moment. Keep your attention steady on the object and breathe steadily. Slowly the breath would begin to thin and become un noticeable.

Just be aware of the object and don’t think about it. Slowly concentration would intensify and you will begin to get absorbed in the object. This is the time to start meditating without object. Look at the space in front of you and not at any object. Take an imaginary point in before you and focus on it. Then even forgetting it allows the mind to dissolve. This is called ‘merging the mind in space’. This leads to the next stage the Ultimate Zhine.

This is the natural next stage in the practice. Thoughts would not enter the mind and you will remain in a relaxed and tranquil state.

You should not involve in intense physical activity just before practice, this would agitate the mind and make concentration difficult. Then while you are practicing sleep might come. Stop it with your mind by concentrating more strongly.

The most troublesome problem of all is a lax state of mind while in meditation. Your mind would be calm and passive with no power to it. This can be very pleasant but is not conducive to reaching higher levels of consciousness. Strengthening your posture and alerting your mind would be effective in combating it.

Practice it always till you can consciously reach a state of steadiness of mind. This is the preliminary practice on Raja Yoga; the Tibetans learned it from Padmasambava a Tantric Yogi who came to Tibet sometime in the thirteen hundreds. It would lead you towards the attainment of Sambavi mudra.

I suggest this for those who are struggling to fix the mind at Trikut (the fore head, at the point between the eyes, the ajna chakra) without any previous experience in meditation. Sometimes props such as these might become useful to them.

I will discuss similar practices as we go on. Our mind tires easily and might welcome variety while involved in spiritual practices.

Welcome

2009-08-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

I would have liked to post more in the blog, but it does not seem possible now because of other engagements. But I do have few things to say on the general aspects of spiritual practice which might be of interest to those who seek the truth.

Well I might get to it eventually.

In the meantime I would like to welcome Ashok Kumar to my blog.

Please be at home here.

Swetaswatara On Finding Truth

2009-08-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

Dhyana is actually a mental activity and has little to do with bodily postures, but having said that a comfortable posture might be helpful in quieting the mind.

The Swetaswatara Upanishad says that the head, neck and shoulders should be held straight and steady while meditating. Then one should think of AUM. AUM is the Shabda (Nada) Brahman, the primordial sound. (Think of A as creation, U as the steady state and M as destruction). Just imagine that all the three is happening when you mentally pronounce the word. It would move us away from hindering thoughts and would help to still the mind.

I might write something on the worship of AUM sometime later. But really it’s not needed. It’s only a boat to steady the mind for further activity.

As you stay like that in your place of meditation you will notice the thinning of breath. At that moment you need to close your mouth and begin Pranayama. The Rishi prescribes Rechaka-Puraka-Kumbaka’s (You might want to look up the article on Pranayama to learn what it is). But to me such strenuous practices are not all that necessary. Just steadying the breath would do.

Upanishad says that a flat clean surface with no disturbing sounds or no captivating/awkward sights is preferable to every other kind of sites. Air currents should not also trouble us while we sit thus. Caves are suggested for this purpose. A room is as good as anything else as far as I am concerned, if it’s uncluttered and clean.

If you experience the presence of fog, smoke, sun, gaseous phenomena, fire, star, lightning, crystals and moon in the beginning it would lead you towards the final truth. You can meditate with your eyes open and see all these phenomena in the visible form.

I can assure you of that. These are not mere words; I have been through the experience.

According to Indian cosmology there are five states of matter in our environment. They call it elements. Prithvi (Solids), Jal (Liquid), Agni (energy), Vayu (Gaseous) and Akasha (Space). As you meditate your mind would start to understand how these elements form and evolve into each other. This would give you the Yogic body (that is you would know what the body is really made up of) and thus would eliminate old age death and diseases.

A word of caution: Though this is possible, if you concentrate on these aspects it would lead you astray from the search of truth. These are spectacles by the way side and we should not and stop our journey for them.

The first signs of Yogic state are lightness of body, strength in you, personal beauty, attractive voice, presence of good scents, aversion to worldly things, and diminished quantity of excretions.

All this is true too.

This yogi sheds his vestures and starts to realize his real nature, that is, his oneness with everything. This Deva (Spirit) is nothing but the whole world. He pervades all directions and is the first born in the universe. He is the one in the womb and the one outside and is the one yet to be born. He resides in the hearts of all as the inner spirit. He faces all points in the universe simultaneously.

The second chapter of the Upanishad concludes enjoining us to pray to this god who resides in fire, water, plants and trees and has entered everywhere in the universe.

It technically becomes a prayer to our own true self.

Taming mind

2009-07-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Fixing the mind at any place or on any object is a difficult task. I have had my troubles with it. It is the first and perhaps the final task we need to be good at to achieve anything in life. We all have certain leanings in us. Some like music and gets easily absorbed in it, to some others it might be some other things. But everyone has the talent to concentrate on the things that they like in exclusion to everything else.

Yet to gain control over the mind one needs to fix it on the most uninteresting of things. It would resist like hell every time you try to make you do it. But this is how you tell your mind who is the real master, who is in command and in the driving seat. But before I go any further with this I would like to point to an important difference in the concept of the mind among the western and the eastern systems of thought.

In the west the mind is taken as a part of consciousness, that is, part of the self. Thus mind is considered as a sentient entity. This makes it absolutely difficult to control. For how would you control the self which is the real controller!

But in the east, especially in India mind is conceived as Jada (inert). It’s an object in the phenomenal world. It appears sentient only because of its proximity to the self. This is an important difference and a very helpful one. An object can easily be controlled and made to do whatever the self wants it to do. There is whole philosophy on the subject, that is, how the world evolves into what we see now before us, but it’s not necessary to learn all that for our purpose.

I would talk here of a certain practices I used to follow to gain such control, to some these might look very insignificant and simple techniques, but don’t let the simplicity deceive you. This is the biggest step that you are going to take in your life, make no mistake about it. By adopting complex procedures you can easily deceive yourselves that you are making progress, not with these ones. You would know for sure whether you have made any progress at all while doing them.

Take up any tiny object, any uninteresting object will do, let it be a small pebble, a hook, or a button or anything you can find, hold it in front of you and look at it steadily, all the while thinking about it. Force your mind to think about it in isolation to everything else. Everyone would have their own method of thinking, so it would be unwise to outline it for you. Yet for the sake of illustration let us outline one. Say you are thinking about a button-

Well turn it in your hand, notice its shape, color, design, any flaws you can find in it, its material, its size, whether it’s smooth or rough to the touch, the way it is to be attached to the dress, where it is produced, how it is produced, the place you obtained it, its function, and so on to everything that you can think about it. These are not instructions to follow one after the other, these are only suggestions and you can improve on them.
You might believe that you know all about them even without consciously taking note of their features, or that they are trivial, but remember that you are not trying to check the extent of your knowledge or trying to expound your philosophy of life. You are trying to put your entire mind at work on an insignificant thing. The only way to keep yourself interested in it is to think about it without allowing your eyes and mind to wander.

Try doing this for five minutes every day. You will soon find how tiring it is to keep the span of attention for more than a minute or so. If you succeed doing it for five minutes the world would look very different to you from then onwards. You will start to observe the minutest details of the things that you see around.

Another technique is to try to follow a thought to its end. Some think we need a wealth of knowledge to do that. Again we are not trying to prove how knowledgeable we are. It doesn’t matter even if we know next to nothing about it. Keep it simple. Take up any word or idea, the less complex the better.

Any word will do. Day, road, sky, wild, summer, wind, you know it can be any word. Think of anything and everything on it, but keep at it for five minutes. This would make you hold a thought for a longer time. It helps you focus.

You can devise any number of such exercises yourself, but if you the above two regularly it would be enough to get you on your way to your final conquest of mind.

in fact there are only two methods to do that, practice and dispassion as Pathanjali terms them . Let us take up practice first.....

Try it Sometime

2009-07-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered why people run after a kind of knowledge which is never attainable. It’s a waste of time. We ask so many questions about world and ourselves and falsely believe that their answers would make us aware about what we are. But such analysis is never going to get us anywhere.

Just think for a moment, do we know what happens inside our own body which is more near to us than anything else? We don’t. Even if you are the most brilliant of all medical experts you would not be able to know it at any given point of time. May be there could come a time when we can do so with the help of the tools we might develop as we progress.

But that time is not yet here. At present we are left with what we have and that is not enough to tell us about ourselves in any clear manner. So struggling against the impossible is not an option for us.

The only thing that we can rely on at this moment is the knowledge of our ‘existence’. No one that we know of would deny that they exist. It’s the only thing that they are ever certain of, this constant in all the changing phenomena that they observe.

We all know that we are not physically the same person that we were once, several things have altered, but the only thing which remains invariable in all these changes is this certainty that we exist. You are pretty sure of that. When you say “I” you mean something of which you are sure of. This ‘I’ don’t change at any time, it is to this “I” that things are added and from which things are removed either knowingly or unknowingly.

It is the only factor that is steady and reliable. So it follows that we need to follow this stable part to know ourselves, all else is unimportant because everything that we learn about them would open up other areas for investigation. That is, knowing about what happens within the body at any given moment may in turn necessitate the knowledge of the forces influencing them and in its turn the forces influencing those forces and so on. It’s a never ending process.

That’s why Ramana Maharshi advised, question yourself( “Who am I?”) at all times. That is the only way you would reach truth. In fact this “I” is the truth.

But this is not going to happen with an intellectual realization of it. Unless it becomes an experiential reality it’s not worth having.

That is why even the Vedantins advice the process of Sravana, manana and Nidhidyaasana and in that order.

Sravana or listening or hearing about the truth is the first step. This is necessary because we are normally very confused about what truth is. We may know that we are this “I”, but we are not sure whether all else is part of this “I” and without this knowledge you would never achieve peace.

Peace is the only quality worth trying for. If you don’t know it to be so yet you would very soon.

There is no point in going after something which is not sure to bring this state in you. So you need to be sure you would achieve peace by following a particular path before venturing to follow it. Unless someone tells us so we are never really sure about it.

That is the whole point of Sravana or hearing of the truth from one who have achieved it.

Next you think about what you have heard (Manana). This is not the ‘thinking’ that you do normally. That is called analysis, and that would not be of help here. You have passed that stage before approaching one who has experienced it. Once you have heard him/her your doubts have been dispelled.

So Manana or thought in this sense is constantly repeating the truth to yourself. If the knower has told you that you are the truth itself then you repeat it to yourself with firm belief. Unfortunately this is also not enough to get you where you want to get.

That is why Nidhidyaasana (Or meditation) is prescribed. In nidhidyaasana you sit somewhere and meditate on the truth you have listened to.

But most of those who follow Vedanta, mistakenly meditate on the words that they have listened to. Closing your eye and repeating “I am Truth “is not going to make you that. Words are only pointers; they are not the truth itself. Truth is the “I” that you know yourself to be. While meditating, in any practice, you look for this “I” and realize it for what it is.

It is the only trick that there is.

You achieve this by stilling the mind, which is ever active otherwise. When the mind is stilled the life force which runs everywhere from you would also become controlled, if you can control both you will see truth.

There is place where the mind sits quietly within you. It’s the place between the eye brows. When the mind merges at that place prana or life force also does likewise, then there are no obstacles to see truth in its entire splendor.

Try it sometime!

The Storming Of The Fortress

2009-07-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

(This is the story of a tramp that I know of)

A poor tramp once heard of a great fortress somewhere.

It was a period of terrible famines and desolation. It hadn’t rained for a long time in his land, fields did not yield anything, lakes, rivers and water sources had gone all dry. There were rich and powerful people in the land but they were all hoarders. They had amassed great wealth by stock piling what they could obtain for a long period of time.

None gave anything to those they did not know.

Everyone was looking after their own interests. People had lost faith in humanity and barely smiled at others. Every new face was viewed with suspicion. They were seen as infiltrators, enemy agents to sow seeds of disharmony within the near and dear.

So the tramp had gone hungry and thirsty for some time. Whenever he approached anybody for assistance they would drive him away.

You lazy bum, first learn to till the soil, learn to weave clothing, learn to fight the enemy, learn to draw water from wells.

They would say.

Hence the tramp did not get anything. He did not have the soil to till. All soil was taken up by the powerful, he did not have the cotton to weave clothing, all the cotton fields were under privet ownership, he couldn’t fight the enemy, for he had no enemies, he could not draw water from the wells, only the tax payers could use wells and he did not own any wells. He was penniless. He had never felt the need for any.

So the tramp subsisted with what he could obtain from around him and that was not much. All the while he had been hearing in hushed tones about the siege of a great fortress somewhere where there was immense wealth.

He had nothing to gain by staying where he was, so he trudged towards the great fortress everyone was talking about with awe. He had no grand aims in this, he only wanted to appease his hunger and thirst if he could.

He was hearing the noise of great battles going on from afar, the air was cloudy with kicked up dust and the smoke from mighty guns, great battle cries were heard, giant machines were roaring, new recruits were arriving every minute to join the various armies.

Now he could see the fortress, it looked inaccessible, impenetrable and inviolable. Giant armies were lying in siege to the fortress, there were unending raids going on, all the sides of the fortress was covered, ladders had been put up on its sides and soldiers were seen crawling upwards on them. Maps of the fortress were being studied, underground tunnels were being dug. Strategies were being discussed. Fights were even breaking out between the armies, all laid claim to the best action to overcome the fortress.

The tramp walked around viewing the massive goings on and became aware of his own insignificance, he had no valor to join in the armies and in fact he was foot sore, tired and needed a place to rest. No one would grant him any, all the places were occupied. The soldiers drove him out from everywhere.

You bum, clear off, what has the cat to do where the gold is being melted. Go and ply your trade somewhere else.

But the tramp had nowhere to go. So he looked on the fortress with wonder, what is in there to attract so many, it seemed not resisting or fighting back. No guns were seen on the ramparts, no archers were seen anywhere.

The tramp had nothing to lose, he would die anyhow, he had no baggage and he carried no arms. The fortress had nothing to fear from him. So he decided to go and see if the fortress would have him, if no one else in the world did. He looked around for a path to get to the fortress by the easiest route and without directly coming under fire from the legions fighting it. He found an unoccupied path; it seemed to be the only path too.

He got on it and went towards the fortress.

There were laughter all round, everybody was jeering.

Look at the tramp; he is going to assault the fortress all by himself.

Hey tramp, join the armies.

The fool is on a path of self destruction.

The tramp did not mind, he had been called everything even before, but none had helped him, he had nothing to lose.

The path was uncluttered, everyone had carefully kept away from it because it was the most uninteresting of all, there was no valor in going that way, it was a smooth and clear path, there were no chances to show ones prowess on it and so it was kept out of the charts and covered up intentionally.

The tramp was not proud, so he went forward on it and reached the gates.

Wonder of wonders, there was no gate, there were not any doors, there were no sentries, and nothing obstructed his path.

He went in and looked around. Suddenly there was no fort anymore, there was no siege, there were no armies, there was no tramp, he realized that the fort is within himself and all that supposed to lie outside was also within himself, there were no barriers, nothing to conquer. He was the lord and master of everything.

He was no more a tramp.

He was at peace. He had no imaginary thirst to satisfy then, no imaginary hunger to appease, no imaginary places to rest.

He had become the truth, the consciousness and the bliss. He also knew that he had been so all the time and there was no one to take it away.

He stayed there a while.

Then he was drawn out by his tramp-body and thought, now that I have seen the fortress and knows that it is within me all the time, why not go out and play around for a while.

He again assumed the grab of the tramp and left the fortress. The legions roared with laughter.

Here comes the crazy tramp that went to conquer the fortress.

Oh ho the lazy pig was driven away; you see how the bum looks.

The imbecile thought it was easy. We couldn’t do it with umpteen forays.

The tramp laughed with them, called himself names, kicked himself for the foolishnesses he committed and begged them for food and shelter.

This time they did not drive him away, though useless he too had returned defeated from the assault of the fortress.

The tramp now placed himself on a knoll behind the field of battle and watched the proceedings. There were great heroes like Achilles and Arjuna in the fray. The assaults were on. He wondered at the great prowess exhibited by all the great warriors. Goose bumps would start down his spine when some great forays are made.

How brave and heroic these people are! They are relentless. The tramp would think with wonder.

Now and again he would leave his place and beg for something to subsist with. They were kind to him this time and would give him a morsel.

Out of gratefulness he would say to them:

You know, the fortress is always open; you can go in just like that, there you see, is the path to it.

The soldiers would look at each other and try to hide a smirk. They would say.

We know all about that. Now leave and keep out of sight, don’t let the great generals see you.

The moment his back is turned there would be an outbreak of uncontrollable mirth.

The poor crazy bum, telling us about the way to get into the fortress……..He became totally unhinged after his try.

The great generals would show their contempt for him whenever he was in sight.

Who is he?

The soldiers would cover their mouths not to laugh out loud.

He is the one we spoke to you about sirs.

Oh, the one who knows the path to the fortress?

Then they would all laugh outright. The tramp would also join in.

Anyway keep the nuisance out from the fields; we wouldn’t want to hurt the path finder would we?

Oh that’s difficult sirs; he is irrepressible, jumps into the middle of the fray from time to time.

Well a sad case it is.

And the generals would leave.

As they said the tramp would sometimes join with the armies that helped him and would run with them to the fortress throwing small stones at it. They would not go very far, but the soldiers would cheer him on:

Bravo tramp, you have the spirit.

Did you look at the distance he threw the stones, whew!

He also used to get in the fray between armies, joining forces with the one which helped him. Calling names, throwing stones till his energy is exhausted with the effort.

He knows its all play and has no meaning in the real sense whatsoever.

Other times he would be back on the knoll, watching. He knew he had to kill time somehow till the body wears off………..

The Way It Came To me.

2009-07-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

I had searched in vain for a solution to this chasm I found between myself and the world and was becoming hopeless of ever resolving it when I found the Sambavi Mudra.

Once I had discovered it I knew I had found the key. As I went on practicing it things began to fall into order.

And the realization came one night.

I had the veil removed then, saw the world for what it is. There was no grand awakening; there was no blitzkrieg of lights, no high voltage dramas, and no jet propelled journeys ……………

If anyone thought that I am sorry to disappoint them in that.

In fact there were no comings and goings anymore (where is one to go and where from should one come?), there was no ins and outs, just the awareness that I AM.

I saw myself in everything and everything else in myself, there were no divisions, no feeling of the ‘other’. I was only aware of myself.

I was existence.

Yet can it be called existence even? It goes even beyond that, it goes beyond the pale of existence and non existence. There is no way of explaining it, it is inexplicable, and it’s beyond words. The futility of trying to express it in words would only occur to you after you have been through the experience yourself.

One can only quote the beautiful words of the Rishi’s. There is nothing else to do.

“Where the words turn back
And mind does not enter”

Then again

“Words do not reach it
Neither the mind.”

This is the catch. Words are the creations of the mind or are only usable when there are ‘two’. I am talking of the ‘one’ or the indivisible and it can’t be talked of in the realm of names and forms.

How I used to laugh at this expression once, “names and forms”! It had its revenge on me finally. There is no other expression in human language capable of describing the experience from the perspective of the ultimate reality.

This world is nothing but names and forms, a play ground of shadows.

In the oldest of Upanishads the Eithreya it’s said

“Only ‘this’ was there
Nothing else was in sight.”

It then goes on to reveal the cause of the world.

“It thought
I will be many.”

The moment it thinks so there is the dual world. The one becomes two. And when there is two, two points of observation occur, two paths occur, time occurs. It’s as simple as that.

In true-realization all these disappears into shadows. The man who is being questioned, the others who are questioning him revert back to the shadows that they are they exist in relation to me alone.

But who is this me, is it the man called Chasing my shadow?

Chasing my shadow is only a part of me as everything else is, he has no special significance other than I AM evidenced in him at this time. It doesn’t make him high or low, it doesn’t change him.

If this does not teach us humility nothing else will.

But don’t mistake me,

Yogis do glitter, they beam the power of Kundalini through the crown chakra, they have the sidhis, and they have powerful minds and have refined inner vehicles.

But I was not after these, I never cared for those, they had always seemed spurious and expendable to me. And in the kind of realization I was after they were a hindrance rather than help.

I was not after the gradual evolution to the next world and to the next finer world and to the next and to the next………

I was not going to make a career out of it, whatever pretenses we invent for practicing it, like saving the world, assisting in the evolution of the universe, helping others, following gurus, deeming ourselves at lower stages of evolution requiring higher stages. No, I was not going for a sort of a spiritual careerism.

I wanted beyond, I wanted the final truth. I wanted to have done with this farce called Maya once and for always and never come back.

I even used to shudder at the thought of anything less.

In truth what you want is what you realize. If you want the final truth, you would realize that, if you want heaven, you would get there, if you want to be the Buddha, you will be him, you want to be the devil and you have become one.

You truly are the master of yourself and the world. I am not playing around with words here like they do in positive thinking sermons. Let me tell you this, the matter of liberation is so simple that, if you can hold on to the truth that you are liberated at the moment of death, there would not be any coming back.

I can guarantee you that. Let you be the worst devil in the world, hold on to this thought with unflinching belief. None would make you come back; there would be no further births and deaths for you.

But it is not as easy as you suppose. First you need to be sure that is the case. That is why it’s important to make it a habit of being with the final truth. Hence the need for Brooh Dhyana. It is the only way you can be sure of finding it for yourself.

But how can one be sure anyone else’s experience would be the general one?

I can only resort to an illustration.

Draw a circle with a series of dots. Take any one dot; every single dot can be the beginning and end of the circle at the same time. All dots have the same chance of becoming so.

That is, if one has experienced truth somewhere others would also experience it. All points in the world have the same prospects.

So my suggestion is:

Place the mind at the point between your eye brows

And

Place The Mind At The Point Between Your Eye Brows

And

PLACE THE MIND AT THE POINT BTWEEN YOUR EYE BROWS

And you will be liberated.

Targeting the Asamprajnata Samadhi

2009-06-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Yoga is said to be esoteric and inaccessible to the uninitiated.

This is not so at all. Consider the case of Yoga Sutras itself; it’s a work on human psychological process rather than a teaching on religion or of philosophy. But this point is missed by many.

So read the following.

Vyasa, the most famous of all commentators on the Yoga sutras, states doubtlessly,

“Yoga, Samadhi sa cha sarvabouma chithasya dharma”

That is, Yoga and Samadhi are common to all states of mind!

Just think of the implications of that sentence. It seems to shake yoga as you know it today to its very foundations.

You might want to know what these states of mind are.

They are classified as follows

1. Kshipta or the restless

2. Muuda or the infatuated

3. Vikshipta or the distracted

4. Ekaagra or the one pointed

5. Nirudha or the suppressed

Even yogis may undergo all these states from time to time, but that doesn’t mean they have a monopoly of it.

The Sutras are describing the general characteristics of human mind than the characteristics of the minds of Yoga practitioners.

This may be hard to believe for some of you, but that’s the truth, and that’s why Vyasa shrewdly stated it so. He had the integrity to do that, while several later day commentators seem confused on this point.

So in every one of those states Yoga occurs, but how?

Well yoga is defined as inhibition of thought waves by the Sutras. But that’s the final destination rather than the first one. You need to pass through different stages before getting there.

In the lower levels there is another kind of yoga, the more general and more widely understood one.

As you know already Yoga means to yoke or join together, and in every one of those states of mind the individual become inseparably bound to the existing state of mind.

That’s a kind of Yoga too, it may not be the YOGA, but it is yoga nevertheless, this yoking needs to be cut asunder to reach the final state.

But then what about Samadhi? Is Samadhi evident in those states also?”

Yes it is!

Samadhi is total absorption. In every one of the states of the mind described above such total absorption occures, that is, you respectively become absorbed in the restless, infatuated, distracted, one pointed and supressed states of mind in exclusion to everything else.

Lets us now go further with Yoga Sutras and Samprajnata Samadhi.

The yoga sutras have described two kinds of Samadhi. Samprajnatha Samadhi (that is, Samadhi –with- object- consciousness) and Asamprajnatha Samadhi (Samadhi –without –object- consciousness).

The terminology may look tough to you. But the gist of the matter is, the Samprajnata is the Samadhi where you have something before your mind, an object of meditation, and you get absorbed in it. We do it all the time. None of the great inventions in the world would have happened otherwise. They all came through this Samadhi.

The Asampranjata Samadhi on the other hand is on the void. It is the one you need to follow if you want to know the secret of life.

Samprajnatha Samadhi is further divided into,

1. Vitharka ( discursive)

In this Samadhi we use the analytical mode of meditation. This is the lower level of meditative state

2. Vichara (thoughtful)

We meditate on the object in exclusion to everything else- This is naturally the next higher step in the meditative process. But note that there is an element of possessiveness in it even then.

3. Aananda (Joyous)

This state of meditative experience is what we call awareness nowadays. We become aware of the object of meditation as it is and is and would be feeling the joy of realizing it in that manner.

- This of course is a still higher state of meditation on an external object.

4. Asmitha (Asmita is the feeling of 'my own' ).

You finally realize your unity with the object of meditation. You are not any different from it. You are the same and hence it becomes your own.

Some have even further divided Samprajnatha Samadhi into:

1. Discursive( Savithrka) and non discursive( Avithrka) -that is analytical and non analytical

You begin with the analytical mode and pass on to the non analytical necessitating the next stage

2. Thoughtful( Savichara) and non thoughtful( Nirvichara)

You start thinking about the object of meditation and move on to a non thoughtful understanding about it. It yields the next stage.

3. Joyous

You reach awareness.

and

4. with the feeling of my own

You realize the unity of the object of meditation and yourself

This last stage would push you up to the next level of meditation, that of Asamprajnata Samadhi. Real meditation only begins then. You graduate from the total identification with the object of your meditation to the meditation of your true self.

You begin to ask yourself, what is this thing which identifies with everything else, what’s its nature?

That’s where the Sambavi Mudra comes in. All the other practices are only of technical interest to the real seeker of the self.

I have pointed out a way to bypass all of them and concentrate on your own true self, it is the Raja Yoga and there is nothing to surpass it. Only a keen interest and a minimum level of knowledge in the art of concentration is all that is required. There are no strings attached to it.

So be brave and start working on it. I can promise you this, no one is going to teach you any better technique, this is the only technique that there is. Others might lead you on a devious and often interesting route but if they know the truth, they will have to ask you to do this in the end. Why waste precious time.

Go forth and conquer the kingdom of truth.

Isticheit ( isness) of Meister Eckhart

2009-06-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

The 13th Century German (Dominican) Mystic, Master Eckhart is after my own mind. He follows the true tradition of the Vedanta though possibly not knowing anything about it.

He took the “I” from the “I am That I am” of the Moses (God is said to have spoken that to him as per Exodus III, 14) and made it a universal spiritual currency. Christianity has always gone the other way. It glorified the God as creator and everything else as created. But Master Eckhart would have none of that.

He maintained “I am what I was, what I will remain. What I am now and ever. In that break through I become so rich that God is no more sufficient”

This was a brave move. I think he was saved from the stakes because of the abstruse nature of his philosophy. He was accused of heresy and was tried by the papal court, but seems to have escaped inquisition by the intervention of his death.

He based his theory on the analysis of three things.

1. Who is real god

2. Who am I

3. What is time?

As I stated before Eckhart believed that a person supersedes god in the trueness of one’s awareness.

To the question of Who am I? He answers one is the uncreated essence and ‘was’ and ‘will be’ eternally.

Eckhart doesn’t deny God in the real sense. He is said to be the ‘Act pure’ which combine all the three dimensions of time into one, the eternal present.

He also comes near the Kena Upanishad statement (Yasyaa matham…etc) that “those who think they know truth remains ignorant and those who think they don’t know it becomes knowledgeable about it” in his following statement.

''a man ought to be empty of his own knowledge, as he was when he did not exist”

May be he was the only one who came near to truth in his times in Europe and perhaps even much much later.

Checking the properties of the inner space

2009-06-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Meditation is the easiest of all practices if you are interested in it.

The best way to meditate is by fixing your mind at the Chidakasa, or the inner space. To do this you close your eyes, and visualize the darkness inside your forehead. I know if nothing happens anyone would become dispirited and stop doing it altogether.

To avoid that let us try some tricks with it.

When you close the eyes and think of the inner space there would only be darkness in front of you. Just forget that you have a body.

Most likely the darkness would be close, that is, you would feel as if you are shut inside a very small dark space.

Let us check its properties.

For this first imagine that you are in the middle of that darkness, as a point if you want. Now push forward, see how far forward you can go like that. Do it for say fifteen minutes.

Now think that you are the center point in that darkness. Look around, below, above towards the back, to the front, towards the sides. Push the darkness away from all the sides till you feel that you are sitting in the middle of a vast sphere.
If you can’t get out of the attachment to any form of divinity, like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna or any one, you can try to picture them inside this space and even pray to them.

This is not necessary at all but might help some in remaining concentrated.
While practicing Sambavi Mudra some may become distracted and might not know what they are doing with it.

This is a good way to keep your mind at the inner space for some length of time. That is all needed.

Dharana to make Sambavi Happen

2009-06-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

To me the ‘outer limbs of Yoga’, as Pathanjali called them, are not very important. Real yoga begins at the practice of Dharana, or retention of mind. Dharana turns into Dhyana (meditation) and then dissolves into Samadhi (absorption).

This is not something alien to us. We do the three all the time.

We are reading a story, we become interested in a character, we forget the outer world ( this is Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses from everything else to our chosen object) , the character retains our intense interest ( This is retention of mind or Dharana) we follow everything he or she does, this is a form of Dhyana or meditation, for meditation is the constant flow of attention on something, then slowly we become totally absorbed in the character, his pain becomes ours, his troubles become ours, his happiness becomes realized within us. This is absorption or Samadhi.

Knowledge occurs when these three merges together into one. This is called Samyama by Pathanjali. Everything that we know really well in our lives is the result of this Samyama. It’s difficult to translate the word Samyama. Let us say that at the stage when the Dharana, Dhyna and Samadhi merges together the state called Samyama is reached.

We only need to do these together to reach our real self and our work is done, it is as simple as that. As I have stated again and again the Sambavi Mudra is the only method to reach the state easily and faultlessly.

Let us now try to learn how we can bring Dharana into the practice of this Mudra. Close your eyes, try to sit erect and visualize the darkness in your forehead. You will immediately see a point of light appearing and going away, then several things would appear as I stated in my post on Sambavi Mudra. If they come just watch them without intensely concentrating on them and without thinking about them, just be a witness. To some the light may not even appear at first, don’t get agitated, visualize the darkness alone.

Don’t give up.

If the light refuses to appear watch what your mind is doing, it will be constantly shifting thoughts. Soon you will realize there are two parts to your mind, one creating the thoughts or receiving them and one watching this process all along. This is not anything new, you have been always aware of it, though unconsciously. You need to pick on this watching portion of your mind and stay with it. It is the real you. It is the ‘I’ part.

As you stay with it you will feel yourself as awareness. The mind will emptied of thoughts and will starts to feel that you are knowing yourself as ‘I am’ and finally that you are nothing but this ‘I Am’. Even this will pass on to a state of pure ‘Is’ ness, where the ego or “I” would also disperse into your real being.

You will then realize yourself as existence.

At this point a vast, deep black hole might appear before your mind’s eye, covering your entire existence and about to swallow everything in you. If you become frightened at this point you will come out of the deep meditative state you were in. But if you can be brave about it and face it you will be absorbed into Samadhi.

Some might fear that they will never come out of it. Don’t heed to it, what if you never come out of it even? That is the ultimate state of being, that’s the state of bliss as those Rishi’s of yore said.

It is the State of Sat Chit Ananda. Then nothing remains to be attained. But don’t worry you will come out of it. Your physical vehicle would have something to do in the world still.

Following the Nada

2009-06-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Once I had tried to practice concentration through various methods, they were all effective in achieving it more or less.

One of them was following the Nada which is inside you. The technique is quite simple, insert your forefingers into both the ears and block all sounds from outside, close your eyes. And listen, at first you would only be able to hear the chirrup of the crickets, some practitioners say that it is coming from within, but I have my doubts on it. It could also come from outside, their noise being penetrating and persistent.

So seal your ears more closely, if possible think of the chakra called the Mooladhara. You need not visualize it or think about its properties. Think of the base of the spine and continue listening. Soon the noise of the crickets would be replaced by a humming sound as if you were near the sea. This of course is the effect of the blood coursing through your veins in that area.

Continue your effort. Very soon there would be a faint strain of music, just like the music made by the mosquitoes; if you can hear it then you have achieved some progress in your effort at concentration. There would soon be other sounds as well; I used to hear the beating of drums and other instruments inside. If you do it for some time everyday when you are quite and alone you will soon start to hear this inner music clear enough so that you can distinguish it easily from others.

If you continue with the practice you would be able to hear the music going on within you even without closing your ears and at all times by thinking about it. It is said that the AUM resides at the root chakra and is audible to the inner ears of the Yogis, so practicing this technique also may be a way to reach the state of yoga.

I have suggested this as an easy exercise to achieve concentration. Everyone is curious to know what really goes on inside us and would normally be more enthusiastic to check it out.

Listening to the Anahata Sound

There is a variation to this practice. It is aimed at hearing the Anahata Dwani or the pulse coming from the Anahata Chakra or the Heart Chakra. This practice doesn’t involve closing of the ears. Instead it tries to tune in to the Anahata Dwani by doing Nadi Sudhi Pranayanma or making the nerves clean.

I have explained the practice of Nadi Sudhi Pranayama elsewhere I think. If not here is it. Close the right nostril and inhale through the left for say 12 seconds. Then close the left nostril and exhale through the right for twelve seconds. Now inhale through the right as before and exhale through the left. This completes one round of Nadi Sudhi Pranayama. You can keep count by counting one two three if you want.

Some say five rounds like this in morning noon evening and night for three months would enable you to hear a particular sound in the right ear. This is not taken as the Anahata sound but a forerunner of it. If you concentrate on it the sound would appear like that of cricket and then change into that of a humming bee.

With the deepening of the concentration it would change to the sound of a bell or a conch. Also this sound is likely to shift to the back of the head from the right ear and might feel coming from the back bone later. The real source of this sound is said to be the heart or the navel.

If you want to follow this practice you need to close the eyes and sit erect while following the Nada.

The acquisition of Mental Culture ( Samskaras)

2009-06-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

(I need to update my notes on Pathanjali’s Yoga Sutras, but I am finding it difficult to kick myself into gear after the month long break. So here are some general thoughts on meditation)

The world has changed and our awareness has changed drastically. There is no mystery connected with spirituality any longer. The atheist talks about spirituality more warmly than the believer. Our life has entered a subtler plane than it had ever before in the human evolution. None finds things like meditation and Yoga esoteric now. These have become a part of life to most people. Most of you must be doing something to keep mentally and bodily fit and that is a sort of yoga too.

But real meditation is a little different. It aims at the almost impossible, of knowing the truth. The seekers of truth are truly brave people; they step over Maya with determination, not an easy thing to do under any circumstances. Those who have done that would not mince words.

Bodhidharma who introduced Zen in China must have shocked most of his Chinese contemporaries by the irreverence with which he held many things. The Chinese are great sticklers for form. This man had none of that. The Chinese seemed to have tried to ‘civilly’ end his life by poisoning him thrice because of their chagrin over his conduct. But he survived.

They thought that doing something for the world would reserve them a place in the heaven. May be it would or may be it wouldn’t. But to a true seeker the show the world puts up would feel like a charade, insignificant and worthless. External tools can only do so much. Penances, charity, humility, compassion for the suffering, service etc are a means to an end rather than the end itself.

The end is to find yourself. You do not have to run around the world to do it. You are always available to yourself are you not? But the problem is, none of us wants to face ourselves. Don’t take this lightly; it’s behind most of the failures in the practice of meditation.

The actual practice (that is if you are doing the Sambavi Mudra) is very simple. You only have to keep the mind at one place for some length of time. But there are mental obstacles to it.

There are fears that you can’t speak of and there are things that you don’t care about, within you. There are phantoms inside you that you would rather not acknowledge. These may come up hindering your progress.

But stop worrying, everyone is like that. Everyone has sinned so to speak, with mind and body. It’s nothing new, also it is nothing important. These sins and good deeds are the products of your mind and environment; they have nothing constant in them. They hold nothing against the practice of meditation.

The technique I speak of would liberate even the devil. The only need is application. If you can keep a constant flow of consciousness on the place described, you are there. To some it may occur within no time to some who can’t be constant to that extent it would take a little bit more time. But it would come, once you enter this path there is no turning back.

You will be brought back to it by the mental culture ( Samskara) you have acquired during your practice.

THE MAHA VAKYAS

2009-06-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

I mentioned two of the Maha Vakyas (Master sentences) of Vedanta in my last post.

Aham Brahmasmi (I am the absolute)

And

Tat Tvam Asi ( You are that)

But there are two more such sentences which lead you towards light.

Sarvam Khalidhwam Brahma ( All that you see is truth)

Ayamatma Brahma ( That or this soul is truth)

To a Vedantin the instruction begins in this fashion. First he approaches a person who has realized the self and seeks his help.

That person has to be certain of his realization. As I said in the last post he should be able to declare without the least bit of doubt the he is the truth.

Aham Brahmasmi. I am the absolute. It’s only this knowledge that qualifies him as a teacher of others. Such unflinching belief in his knowledge is what the disciples seek in him. Once they become aware of this they are ready to learn at the feat of the master.

Then as I mentioned the master can advice them that they are nothing but the truth.

Tat Tvam Asi.

But all the same this is terribly difficult to realize. Some may realize it intellectually, but may not be able to go further inwards to experience it. Unless one experience what reality is in its full there is no liberation.

So the Master advises them further making clear what he has said.

He points to everything in nature and tells them “ Sarvam Khalidhwam Brahma” . All that you see in the nature ( both internal and external ) is the truth. Even this may appear vague to the disciples. So he further elucidates the point.

Ayamatma Brahma.

The soul that you witness in yourself and that which you see in the cosmic is nothing but the truth.

It’s a step by step course of instruction. It begins with the most inner’ Aham Brahmasmi ( I am the absolute) and spreads out till it reaches everything in the universe and includes them in its compass. The disciple has to follow this line back to the final most truth of his own absoluteness. This cannot be accomplished by mere intellectual understanding.

So to make it possible meditation is prescribed.

To me this is the only practice that is real. All the others are just steps leading to it.

The Vedanta advices an easy posture for meditation. Sit erect in any comfortable pose and place your mind at the Trikut or at the middle of the forehead. Though the Vedanta asks you to repeat Aham Brahmasmi while meditating, I don’t think it is required. As a very witty acharya said once. When you are drinking port, you don’t have to repeat to yourself that “I am drinking port ” to make the experience any more sweeter.

To me the only thing needed is to place your mind at the abode of truth within you and you will become so as your absorption grows.

Mastering the feeling of mastery.

2009-06-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

My kind friend AlekSandra told me that she wants to be her own Guru and asked me whether I think it is possible for her to be so.

I have little doubt on the subject; it’s the honest truth that everyone is their own Guru as long as they exist as conscious entities and there is also no other mode of existence.

No one can teach you anything that you do not know already. But you need to realize that you are that.

May be someone can just point the way to it.

Thus the one who know the truth has to first assert that they are nothing but the truth.

“Aham Brahmaasmi.”

I am the absolute.

If he cannot say so who can? As some mistakenly believe, there is no ego in the statement. It’s a statement of fact. It’s not usurping the power of God; it is going beyond that.

It’s becoming the truth itself, even the god’s bow before those who can say so.

Then if the knower wants he can tell others that they are that too.

Tat Tvam Asi

You Are That.

If it falls to the ears of one who is ready for it, it will be realized.

Anyway realizing your own guruness could also be the realization of guruness of others. I will relate an amusing but nonetheless true parable instead of being dry and esoteric to make it clear to you.

A guru taught his disciples that they are nothing but the final truth and everything else in the universe is so too.

One disciple was returning home afterwards and an elephant in a very bad mood was coming that way knocking everything down in its path. The mahout on its back was yelling at everyone to get out of its way. But our man in the freshness of his knowledge thought, my guru has told me that everything is Brahma (The Absolute truth). So I am truth and the elephant is truth, what has the truth to fear from the truth?

So he stood his way and the elephant knocked him over.

Later when the guru visited him at the hospital he complained bitterly to the guru.

It’s because of you that I am in this state. I believed every word you taught me. You told me that everything in the universe is nothing but the truth, and one has nothing to be fear from anything because they are the same as you. You see what that has led me into, an elephant knocked me over, and I am lying here with broken bones. You should never teach something which can’t be proved practically.

The Guru was not displeased. He asked.

Was the elephant coming alone or were there other people around it or were there any mahouts around?

The disciple said grumblingly.

There was a mahout sitting on the elephant. But what has it to do with your teaching and my condition?

The guru smiled.

Wait a second, was the mahout saying something the while?

The disciple was not pleased at this useless discussion but nonetheless replied grudgingly.

I remember now, he was shouting at the people to move away from the path.

The guru shook his head.

Why did you not move away when the mahout was shouting at you to do so? You only included the elephant in your conception of the truth. Was not the mahout truth too? Did I teach you to exclude him from truth? Wasn’t he directly telling you to what to do and what not to do in the situation? Why didn’t you heed his advice? Wasn’t he the expert around there? If you had heeded it you would not be in this state now.

That finally opened the eyes of the poor disciple.

The point of the story is easily obvious. Realizing truth in you is realizing truth in everything else. The knowledge doesn’t inflate your ego and lead you into blunders, but it technically erases the ego completely. Thus to the knower of the truth everything becomes his guru, and he in turn becomes a guru to everything, if they seek his help.

Real mastery is not the wielding of the absolute power; it’s the mastery of mastery itself.

And it is also useful to remember that there is no use in reciting the gospel into the ear of a beast which is out to attack you. If you can’t get out of its way, you have to restrain it so that it won’t harm itself, you and others.

In such cases you may need to show your mastery after all(Wink). You see, the spiritual is not always the ‘not practical’ as some suppose it to be.

It’s something to meditate on, isn’t it?

(This tale belongs to the Vedanta tradition of enquiry. But you may want to know that it also prescribes meditating on the third eye (middle of forehead and not the pineal gland) for realization after the initial instruction)

About updating etc

2009-06-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have been neglectful in updating the blog. I might do it in the near future. But there is little time to do so now.

In the meantime Aleksa has been nice to join the blog. Well Aleksa, you are very welcome to my blog.

I liked those words I saw in your profile when your name appeared in my blog.
They were touching and beautiful.

As you said one could call it a poem.

Pathanjali (contd)

2009-04-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

Pathanjali begins his Sutras with a simple statement:

1. “Athha Yogaanusaasanam” –

that is, “Then begins the instructions on Yoga”.

This word ‘then’ has some relevance in old Indian texts. A student who approaches any definite system of thought has to have certain qualifications. I am not speaking here of the Sambavi Mudra. It calls for no such thing. But Pathanjali’s system is different. It is a complete course on Yoga and its philosophy. You need to have the basics right before you venture further into it.

Hence the student of Yoga is thought of as having studied different systems of thought and engaged in their practice before they come to the teaching of Yoga. He is here because all the other systems have failed to lead him further towards the truth. The desire to learn is there, the commitment is there, the basic knowledge is there. He is ready to be instructed. When such a student appears yoga is taught.
After thus inviting the student to his system Pathanjali defines Yoga in the very next aphorism.

2.Yoga chittavritti nirodha

Yoga is the inhibition of the waves of Chitta (or mind)

Pathanjali does not mince words, he does not beat around the bush. He defines his terms from the very outset. To him the root of Yoga (‘Yuj’ = to yoke etc) does not matter. He defines Yoga as the inhibition of the waves of mind. Other definitions the student learned in the past might stay wherever they are. This is a system where words have a definite meaning and purpose.

If such integrity was shown by many of the other thinkers in the world they would not have much to write about.

With the very second aphorism Pathanjali has actually said it all. He has defined what Yoga is and what its purpose is and has subtly outlined the practice as well.

Pathanjalis usage of Chitta instead of the more common manas has intrigued many thinkers over the years. He uses the word throughout in his treatise. Chitta actually is not mind. It can be taken as the reflected ( or individual) consciousness that we carry within ourselves.

The Samkhyas and the Yogis of India see chitta as containing 3 components. Manas, Budhi and Ahamkara.

These three, the Manas (psyche), Budhi (intellect) and the Ahamkara ( Ego) and their functions are easily understood. Let me illustrate it for you.

Consider you are at the sea shore and a great wave rises and is coming towards you.
The first one to notice it would be the mind. It is the receiver of impressions. It co ordinates the impression that are received through our five senses. It would tell you:

There is something shapeless and big moving over there.

The intellect (It discriminates impressions based on the already existing information) would immediately say:

It’s a giant wave and it’s moving towards the shore and it looks ominous.

The ego (It makes every such impression as its own individual information) would shout.

It’s moving towards the place where I am standing and is going to hit me.

After moving to a safe distance the ego would then proceed to say:

My, I had a hair-breadth escape. Now I know what such a wave can do. There may be others who haven’t experienced this. Hence I may consider this experience as mine own.

(This illustration is not entirely my own, I have adapted it to suit my purpose as it’s humorous and graphically illustrative)

The chitta is the integrator of these three elements.

All actions of the chitta are classified as Vrittis of the chitta. The popular analogy of the vritti is that of the waves created by any disturbances on the face of water. Every wave thus created does not merely modify the face of the water itself. It also modifies the shore and even the bottom of the water body. We have seen how the mind receives impressions from the outside world and how the intellect classifies them and how it is converted into individualized knowledge by the ego. Every such bit of information creates a pathway inside the mind. By repeated action this indentation becomes more and more strengthened. Characteristics are formed this way.

Every such mental incident reinforces your separateness and your bondage. As long as you continue in this state there is threat and danger and insecurity.

Its only through stilling this ever emerging vritti’s that you can perceive your real self.

3. Thadaa Dhrushtu swarupEvasthhaanam.

Then (when the waves have become inhibited) the seer (the one who sees) becomes established in his own real self.

To me the word Dhrushtu ( the one who sees) is significant. The mind according to the Indian thought is not sentient. It has no independent existence and is Jada (inert). It appears to be alive because of its nearness to consciousness. I know this is a bit difficult for the modern student to digest. We normally associate mind with consciousness. In the western thought it is considered as a part of consciousness and those who have received western education elsewhere takes it to be so.

Now according to the Samkhyans, Purusha alone is sentient. Even the Prakriti from which all else evolves is inert and Jada. As long as we treat mind as conscious there is no conquering it. The moment we take it for what it is, an inert substance on which we have full control, things begin to change and our effort at controlling mind becomes infinitely easier.

(To be continued)

Pathanjali ( Contd)

2009-04-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

Let us now return to Pathanjali and his system.

More and more people are becoming interested in Yoga as time passes. But most of them think of Hatha Yoga when they talk about Yoga. It has its benefits but is not the whole of Yoga.

Then what is Yoga?

Some of you are aware that the word yoga means to join or to yoke. But what does it aim at bringing together? Certain people say it unites the universal soul ( Brahma) with the individual soul( Jiva). But I think it aims at solving the mystery of duality and eliminating fear.

The ancient texts say:

Dwitiyaat toh bhayam Bhavati

The presence of duality causes fear

This is so true a statement if you give it some thought. Every one is afraid to their very core. It is no use saying that we are not. The totally dumb might think so. But the moment some thing goes wrong in their lives they are the loudest to scream and go into tantrums. I have seen people breaking under real stress. I have seen groups of people reduced to a shaking mass of fright. I am living with some of them. They stick together because they are afraid to stand alone.

They think together, they plan together and they call each other up and try to enlist the help of everyone because they are turned into ninnies with uncontrollable cowardice. You might think that this is an example of solidarity, their togetherness. But it is not out of love that they stand together, it’s out of sheer fear. Every single moment of their lives this fear gnaws at their heart and leaves them shaking.

You see, standing close to the cowards are not going to grant you any freedom. Yoga doesn’t aim at establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat in the world; it aims at establishing the dictatorship of your consciousness over everything else. If you want to make it happen you need to eliminate fear. Because you can’t conquer that which you fear. But one can’t eliminate something without understanding it and knowing what it is.

So what is this fear, where does it originate?

From the outside, from the ‘other’, from that which is considered by you as alien.
Think of something that you fear most in your life, be it a man or woman or a thing or event. Don’t pretend that you don’t fear anything. It might wash among your friends but not before your mind. Why do you fear this man, woman or thing or event? Because you perceive them as different from you. You believe that you would not understand their actions and their motives and their tendencies. They are alien; they are not a part of you.

Do you fear your limbs, your eyes or your nose? You do not! Why? Because you know they are part of yourself and you don’t have anything to fear from them. You see, it is the other that frightens you. The moment you see duality (or something other than yourselves) the fear originates.

But what about mind? Don’t we fear our mind? Should we fear it as it is ours? Is it not the most fearful thing in the world, our minds?

It truly is. None is capable of facing it alone as those who have tried to do so would tell you.

But why is it so? This thing is yours, it has to protect you, and then why does it not?

Because it is not your own.

It is the alien that you have within you.

It is the true originator of all differences in the world. The mind can only operate within the sphere of duality. It revels in it. The duality is its very own element. Hence it encompasses the whole of the dual universe. Your physical body is defined, delineated and secure, but the mind extrudes into the rest of the universe creating innumerable divisions and the illusion of separateness. It has no boundaries. It makes you perceive the other.

So the fear is caused by your mind and its preferences. It can only exist in fear.
Once you have grasped it the course of action to get rid of your fears becomes clear. You need to control this thing that you call your own but have never been.
All the practices of yoga are about controlling the mind.

We will examine the Yoga Sutras one by one as we go along.

Being liberated and being entangled

2009-04-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

This again is one of the posts I wrote in the other blog. I present it for what it is worth.

LIBERATION

Strange as it may seem, there are certain very ordinary events in life which leaves their trace on our psyche irrespective of their relative unimportance at the time of their happening. These imprints may not be evident at the time of their occurrence; they may not raise any ripple in the mind at all. But then in the course of other events these insignificant incidents assume a sudden importance and stands out in clear perspective before the inner eye.

There is this incident in my life which seemed quite absurd when it happened. I was visiting an interesting mystic on the suggestion of my cousin. He (the cousin) had stayed with the mystic for over three years. I don’t know who it was that suggested that the wife and I go visit him and ask his blessings. Well I had never visited any god men up to that point. I was totally against going too I believe, though I have this inner belief that I may have caused it in some way.

Any way we went and he had a strange glow in his eyes (some mystics have this, it’s a result of long hours of meditation, I believe. Some who practice Trataka (gazing at an object without blinking your eye for hours on end) also seem to posses this peculiarity of the eye. All the same it was impressive; you have heard of piercing eyes, these eyes went beyond it. They seemed to enter into your very being and to see everything inside.

When we were there, there was one other couple in the long room that he was sitting in. The place did not especially show any opulence and everything looked frugal. The man in the couple seemed completely under the spell of the mystic. He was obviously being controlled and was acting as if in a trance. He looked very stupid too, I am sorry to say. Anyway they belonged to the upper classes of the society and their children seemed very affectionate towards the mystic. This seemed to be in answer to my doubt that the mystic had a sort of 'low level' following. This also intrigued me. He could obviously read thoughts, even the thoughts of those who were coming to visit him unannounced!

The couple departed after some time and the mystic began to talk to us and I must say that I was impressed by the manner he began to drive me to the wall by strange but seemingly innocuous references to my past life. He would not say something directly but would construct an image with words which alluded to some thing that happened. The mystic seemed clairvoyant. He was smoking a long cigarette at that time. I thought it strange for we have certain conceptions about such characters.

He suddenly asked me. Why did you stop it? What’s the harm in continuing it? I was confused. I asked. Stop what? He indicated the cigarette. Now, I had quit smoking some four years back and was still regretting it every minute of the day. I was a moderately heavy smoker. It was hard to stop it and I was struggling hard to keep at it. Hence his question intrigued me. But I did not say anything about it. It was a hard won victory for me and I had secretly prided in my force of will which made it possible.

Then he began to ask about this and that and it always seemed that he knew more about me than myself. Was it a trick or something, I was beginning to wonder. Then he suddenly told me. Don’t become a sanyasin, she would be heart broken. I was stunned. It was true that I had practiced meditation and mantra yoga for a long time in my life. But I had been slowly becoming absorbed in other things after my marriage.

At the time I was speaking of I didn't have the faintest inclination towards that way of life. The request (or was it a command) seemed utterly absurd to me then. I was more into the tradition of tantriks than the sanyasins. My belief then was that one could achieve liberation while going on with ones ordinary life. That is the true tantrik tradition. We soon left. I laughed all the way back.

To her too it did not seem real. Anyway I had absolutely no intention of becoming a sanyasin at all. Years passed, I forgot my meeting with the mystic and was enjoying my life.

Then one day while meditating some inner change occurred. I was suddenly illumined. I saw everything clearly as if I was always aware of it, I realized the futility of human life and was filled with immense love for everything that there is in the universe. I had suddenly forgotten that I had a wife and parents and I was this person and had these things in life. I felt suddenly liberated, I was no more bound, I was no more a prisoner of my senses, and I knew what evil and good really was. I saw everything as child’s play. No ties existed for me; I had no relatives, no name, nothing.
I saw myself as the core of everything, I had nothing to do further, and my body was a mere appendage which had no importance. I had finally given up everything. I had really become a sanyasin. At that time I was doing the Jnana meditation, its final destination, if I could call it that, is the realization of the one reality behind everything. Such realization would not bring any 'sidhis' as they are called in the world. In fact the jnana looks down on all such things as spurious. Hence you must not assume I had become like a god with great 'powers' as they are called. I had gone beyond that.

Even before this state was reached I had observed in my meditative states that all the gods were paying me their respects. They all came unasked for and would leave after bowing to me. I should say here that this intrigued me no end. I thought that they were making fun of me.

All the time I was having these experiences I was leading a normal life otherwise. I had the same pettiness, irritations, joys and hatreds. I did not find any change in me other than in the inward meditative states. But once this stunning revelation happened I was another being altogether. I knew that I had become liberated and even that did not seem to be of any importance. From that moment I just did not exist as a human individual, I had the body yet; I knew that it would last for some time still. Other than that I had become one with existence.

I stood up and decided to leave then and there. The loose dressI was wearing at that time fell off from my body as I rose and I was standing wearing only what was underneath. It did not seem to matter, I started out. I was leaving everything behind. I could visualize my wife and my mother sleeping inside the house. That also did not matter. I felt compassionate towards them but no more connected. As I was leaving a single thought surfaced.
She will be heart broken.

I stood for some time listening to it. What did it mean? My mind was completely without thoughts then. I struggled hard to capture this thought. It seemed distant, meaningless, and unimportant. What makes me listen to it, I wondered. Was there something yet for me to do in this life?

Then I remembered her that I took for my wife. But I could not recall any special feeling for her, she was like my child, even my mother appeared like a child to me, playing in the shadows, not seeing anything beyond. Why this thought. I had to struggle hard to recall my past life. It appeared like a figment of imagination, nothingness. What do I have to do with it?

Then the thought came again. She will be heart broken. I realized it to be true. I do not know why, but she has always doted on me. I am the world for her and she is a simple and childlike soul. If I left her she might go crazy with grief. But should that detain me? These are mere fancies of a life non-existent. But the thought had stopped me. I sat down and began to meditate on her. Her life of simple faith in me became immediately revealed to me. I could see what would happen to her if I left. My mother might take it in her stride, but not this one. She was still young; it would destroy her life for ever.

I knew that even that would not touch me. I was beyond all that. I had become spotless, purged of everything that was worldly. If I had to remain in it I may have to force my consciousness to accept this world back. It seemed so useless to do so. I was beyond death and sorrow, should I receive them back? I began to meditate on the world, and on relationships and on Maya. They were all distant, inaccessible. I decided to try to bring them back.

They came dead slowly and unwillingly. As I went on trying I managed to bring back some feeling for her. I latched on to it and began to think, there is still my body, it has to run its course, and that course is within the world, why not spend it with her, even if I can’t bring back the old feelings for her. She has terribly strong feelings for me and I knew that she would never let go of them. I decided to give it a try. It was a long battle but I remained and attracted the world back into me. It came.

Now years after the Maya has come back with a vengeance. I no longer rule her but she has supreme authority over me. It is strange how she does it. She is the great enchantress; she has got me back in her mesh and is wreaking real havoc. Well perhaps in reality nothing matters.

POORNAMADA POORNAMIDAM.

Both are whole. Both are real, this world of delusion and that one of reality. Both exists in relation to each other. They are mutually inclusive rather than exclusive, for the one generates the other. To those who know they are the same. To others both may become the cause of sorrow.

Is there anything to be taught at all

2009-04-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

This is an old post I did on my other blog. I think it may have some relevance here

Ramana and Yati

-Somewhere in his books Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati recalls his experience of meeting Sri Ramana Maharshi for the first and last time of his life. Yati had received his initiation into the order of sanyasins and was still troubled by his lack of insight into the real and the unreal. To any one, whether he has received initiation or not, this is a hard task.

Yati’s belonged to the school of Jnana Yogi’s. They seek the real by stripping the delusions away one by one till they reach the indivisible one. Only the very strong could do that, though the teaching could be condensed into a posture of silence. Many things could hinder one from realizing it. Mere intellect or hard work at meditation would not make it happen. There has to be some inward change, it could be likened to a purification of sorts, though in reality there is nothing to be purified about. What is needed is a change in perception; this could happen in a single moment or after years of struggle or not at all.

Yati was suffering in soul. He hit upon the hardest course he could pick on to bring on the necessary change in him. He went on a journey on foot through the vast Indian sub continent. He slept where ever he could at nights and ate whatever the people gave him when asked. There were occasions he went completely hungry on for days, merely subsisting on water.

Many including the great Vivekananda had performed this “rite’ in their time. It was on this journey he visited Ramana Maharshi at his Ashram. Ramana had left home at sixteen in search of truth and had become enlightened after spending years in meditation at Arunachala, a holy mountain in the south India. He rarely spoke and as Yati found out had the habit of not looking at others most of the time.

The tradition of Guru is very strong in India, the seekers of truth believe that if the Guru or a real liberated individual sets his eyes on the aspirant that would egg him on his way towards the truth. Yati waited for days, he saw others being considered by the great Guru but when he was near the Guru would be immersed in a blissful state a would not even glance at him. This grieved him. He was physically not well at that time; his journey was taking its toll on his frame. More than that he was not at peace with himself, it seemed that the truth was eluding him.

The utter neglect of Ramana cut him to the quick. At last he decided to depart. He went to say good bye to the great guru. The guru was still immersed in inner bliss and seemed as if not aware of Yati at all. Yati rose to go after prostrating before the guru and then for a fleeting second Ramana’s eyes rested on his eyes. Yati felt a shock coursing through his entire being. He was stunned and stood rooted to the spot. Then Ramana looked away and that was that, there were no advices, no instructions, no other communications.

To me Ramana looks like a perfect example of a Jnana Guru. He taught only one thing. “Seek what you are”. He knew it would lead people towards truth and liberation. Narayana Guru also taught in similar manner. “There is nothing in Vedanta to learn. What the waves are to sea- so are we to reality” But alas, the simpler the truth is, the harder it is to digest. Some might even think that these great souls are putting others on. They were telling the honest truth, there is no seeking, no quest, no complexity. What you seek has already been obtained. The only need is for a change in perspective. Some are so entrenched in their perishable lives that they would not dare look at the truth squarely even if it’s held aloft for them to see.

On the Third eye

2009-04-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

Temporarily breaking from what I was discussing, I have decided to post this today. It might be of some help.

I like a practical approach to things and it doesn’t go away when I am talking about meditation. All the help you can get on the front should be welcome considering the nature of the quest. Take the case of music which is intended to get you to the alpha and theta levels, why not go for it, provided it does what it boasts about? But all the same, in my experience, (as being one one who has some experience on the alpha and theta states) most of the claims are just words and the programs would hardly get you where you want to.

But that should not discourage you. Listening to binaural beats now and then is not such a bad thing. It at least calms and strengthens the mind. Of this I am very certain. They quieten the mind and curb the tendency of the mind to wander. Don’t play the music too loud though. Silent sound and beach sounds are very refreshing in my experience.

Honestly they are much better than the kind of music that you hear around normally.

In the same manner I am interested in videos on meditation too. But there are not many good ones on the net on it. When I did a search on the sites like the google video, metacafe and you tube the only promising ones I found were those by the people I told you about in the last post. I learn that there are some 11 or so videos by them about meditation. I have seen some of them and I must say that I am impressed.

http://www.voobys.com/search/search_video.php?q=meditation#

They are the most reliable videos that I saw on the internet on the subject. They don’t advice you to do the impossible and nicely explain about the experiences during the process. Basically these are helpful bits of information for the seekers. My only concern is that they are aiming a little low in them.

Hence I am not in total agreement with some of the things that they say, but that could be because my emphasis is on the subtler aspects of meditation rather than what is described by them . To me the entheric, astral and even mental and bhudhic bodies are off no importance. Following their development is rather useless if you are aiming at real knowledge. Unless you can raise your consciousness to the level of self you are still running around in circles in the sphere of duality.

Naturally that is not the effect I am aiming at. Health and meditation ( that is, the truer aspects of meditation) has little in common if any at all. Repairing our etheric body and controlling our astral body is a little inferior in the scale for me. These may naturally come or not. Better not concentrate on it.

But their video on the third eye was not bad, though it’s doubtful whether such information is really necessary to those who are trying to meditate. The talk about the placement of the third eye for example. That should have been avoided at all costs.

As they say the position of third eye roughly corresponds to the place of the pineal gland in the head. But it is neither necessary nor advisable to meditate on that spot. It might bring in a lot of harm rather than any good.

Pineal gland is not the third eye as some believe. It’s a remnant of our animal past. If stimulated it might give us a kind of sixth sense and some amount of clairvoyance. But, with it might also come in possession and outside influences.

This was known to everybody who has ever thought on the subject. So the advice has always been to place the mind strictly at the point in between the eyebrows and not at the pineal gland. Those who are following my post on Sambavi Mudra would be well advised never to think or meditate on the pineal gland. There could be any number of people who encourages doing so. They are totally in error in this regard.

I have never been a great proponent of Hatha Yoga and the reason is this. Both the recognized texts on the subject “The Hatha Yoga Pradipika” and “The Gheeranda Samhitha” provides some methods to get at truth even without the acrobatics that is contained in them otherwise. What they say on the Nada Yoga and Sambavi Mudra etc are worthy of note. Both are simple and effective practices to follow. Even Atmarama ( Of Pradipika) and Gheranda ( of Gheeranda Samhita) has not advised any place other than the middle of the brows to place the mind. Both of them swears on the effectiveness of the sambavi Mudra in exclusion to everything else.

“Sathyam, sathyam punah sathyam
Sathyamuktham Maheswara!
Sambavim yo vijAniyath
Sa cha brahmam na chAnyatha”
( Gheranda Samhita , Advice 3- 15)

Its the truth, the truth, and truth again
And you spoke the truth Oh Lord
The man who knows the Sambavi
He becomes the truth itself, there is no other way.

But there are enough ditches in them for people to fall in. They talk of all sorts of practices like the Khechari Mudra for example. It involves cutting away at the web below your tongue which connects it to the mouth and making it longer to so that it can go up to the third eye in the roof of the mouth. You could waste years in trying to make it happen. May be they were only listing certain practices which were in vogue at the time.

Anyway be like a swan which is supposed to have the ability to distill milk from water, throw away the unnecessary and accept the best, even from me.

On Pathanjali and Yoga

2009-04-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

Some believe that the ancient Indians knew very little about human mind. A careful study of the Mandukya Upanishad might lay such notions to rest. The analysis it provides on the inner workings of the mind is not easily understood without detailed commentaries. The Upanishad itself is difficult; Gudapada’s carika on it is almost insurmountable. So we may leave them to the very tough minded.

But there is another text which is definitely accessible and comparatively easier to understand-The Yoga Sutras of Pathanjali. Of course it has not delved deep into the mysteries of the sub conscious and the unconscious which are in hot favor everywhere after Freud. But we normally deal with the conscious and resort to it to solve the riddles we face in life. No one apart from Jung has taken the stand that the solution to all our problems lays in the submerged segment of the mind, whatever its size compared to the conscious portion. All our attempts to understand the world is centered on its conscious portion, and that is all that is needed.

Its here Pathanjali and his Sutras stand apart. The Yoga Sutras provide us with an exhaustive analysis of our working mind; I might go as far to say that no work on the globe has done it in a similar manner. Perhaps it is the single most talked about treatise in the world now. The problem in understanding it lies with its structure. It is constructed in the proven Indian method of Aphorisms-Somewhat similar in intend to the method used by Spinoza in his Ethics. The similarity only goes as far as the intent. Spinoza’s geometrical style otherwise has no resemblance to the aphorisms.

Aphorisms was a technique employed to preserve the original texts on a subject in the most precise and condensed form so that they could be transmitted verbally without damaging the original content. This practice had to be adopted since writing materials were limited in the distant past. Aphorisms are just threads of thought or mere outlines of thought which are easier to memorize and reproduce later when required.

The system was practical; it preserved the texts intact and also let the commentators integrate their practical knowledge of the subject while it was taught. It has its pitfalls, for different Adhikari’s (that is authorities- Adhikari is not exactly authority in the western sense. The term is used to denote the level of awareness and the intellectual slant of the persons concerned. We may take this up later) interpreted it in the light of their knowledge and the advice they received from their teachers.
The interpreters had different orientations. Some followed the tradition of Vedanta, and have tried to present the Sutra’s in a fashion suitable to further their teachings. I must say this has done more damage to the teachings of Pathanjali than anything else. The Yoga sutra’s follow the philosophy of the Samkhya’s. It is quite useless to bring Vedanta and its conception of single reality into it, whatever the reasons are. The Samkhya’s were dualists. Their conception of the genesis is completely different from that of the Vedantin’s.

To them, the world is caused by the interaction of two primary forces, the Purusha and Prakriti. We may translate these as the Consciousness and Matter of today-Purusha being consciousness and Prakriti being matter. This analogy may not be exact but it simplifies matters to a great extant for us. But the problems for us do not end there. To the Samkyan’s the Purusha or the Consciousness is not single but innumerable. They were shrewd to realize that every conscious being has its own particular states of experiences which have nothing to do with others at the moment of their occurrence.

For example Mr. X may be in a state of joy at present but his friend Mr. Y might be feeling grieved for the same reason. Mr. Z on the other hand might be planning to murder both X and Y at the same time. As you can see every conscious being is undergoing different emotional, intellectual, psychical and bodily states which are often quite opposite or at variance with that of others at the time. We can’t possibly argue that it was Othello himself who put Iago (naturally himself according to the non dual theory) to cause Desdemona (again himself) to be murdered.
Hence the Samkya’s assumed that there are as many consciousnesses (Purusha’s) as there are conscious entities. This is logically unshakable and the Non Dual camp had to take recourse to the theory of MAYA to solve this hitch in their system. Undoubtedly the theory of MAYA of Sankaracharya is the shrewdest piece of argument that was ever proposed in the philosophical thought. If the world is a delusion and is the play of one being then Othello, Desdemona and Iago is the same being taking on different roles and playing with itself.

Mighty exposition, though none of the texts of the principal Upanishads on which Sankara based his arguments contained a germ of evidence for MAYA. The only Upanishad which spoke of it was the Swetashwatara and it does not have the same eminence as that of the other ten. Anyway, philosophy had reached its zenith with Sankara and it can only go down from there. The west has not fully realized what Sankara had done to philosophy. You might hide behind categories like Materialism (Vulgar, subjective or objective) or behind idealism of different hues. You may even take protection behind philosophic dualism. But as the matter stands, after Sankara there is no place to go. He had found and exposed every single system of philosophy and laid them to rest for all time to come.

But our concern here is not with Sankara but with Kapila and his system. The Yoga Sutra’s can be called the practical aspect of Samkhya philosophy; it only differs in minor respects. The most important of them being its stance in relation to god. The Yogi’s recognize a being with enough powers to be called so for a Kalpa. This is not the god of devotees. He is just a helpful being with powers to guide you.

(To be continued)

Meditation ( Contd)

2009-03-29T03:22:00.000-07:00

My Motive

Naturally people look for a motive when somebody comes up with something generally useful. In our world, nothing is given for free. If it is it is not taken as such. People imagine that there are hidden strings attached to it.

Well I too have a motive. Not of making money or of starting a movement or a separate system. Honestly I am too lazy for all that. Even if I could do that I doubt my capability in running the thing for any length of time without making it into another such organization in the world. Every august body gets corrupted in the passage of time.

Even the greatest organization of the Buddha dwindled into tantrayana in the hands of his deluded disciples.

What if my followers (that is if I can gather any) convert this simple truth into something esoteric and totally reserved for the initiated? That would be the end of it and might deprive the world of this method forever.

Start a movement indeed! As if I don’t have enough things to worry about in life!
Then what is behind my seemingly innocent advices? Mind you they are not even ‘advices’ as such, they are just suggestions; you are not forced to accept them or practice them. They are put out so that everybody can access them and do something about their lives.

And don’t worry, they are innocent, the ‘seemingly’ is for those souls who wouldn’t believe the truth when they see it. We can’t blame them, they have been cheated, swindled, hood winked and taken for a ride by certain interesting elements in society to believe in any thing genuine without paying for it. For a price they have been allowed certain ‘luxuries’ and so naturally they have a high notion about money and what it can do.

I shall tell you why I do this, but I doubt whether it might satisfy you, nevertheless here it is:

I too have wandered in the wilderness of the soul seeking enlightenment. There could be others who have done more than me to find the meaning of life and reach truth. But I have done my stint at different alters. I must have recited billions of mantras, I have tried to awaken the sorry force called Kundalini (not a sorry force to real power mongers though) and had some success in it, I had tried my hand at vedanta, stripping myself of every trappings of individuality and finally arriving at the intellectual conviction that I am only pure consciousness and nothing else. I have practiced tantric sadhana and had even obtained the grace of my deveta. I had followed the Nada for some time and I had practiced intense Pranayama too for a short period of time. I am talking about years and years here.

None of this had brought any enlightenment to me. They brought in troubles. I was not at peace with myself and with the world.

Tell me what do we seek in life? Only the unintelligent would say that we seek power, money, position etc. You can’t have enough of them. The more you have them the more you feel troubled by them. Your interest shifts from your inner to the outer.
If you can’t achieve peace nothing matters. Peace is the only quality that you need and seek. You inherently know this to be true. But you think it can be achieved by something external to yourself. Before long you would realize that it is not so.

It is not that I have failed at any of the systems that I practiced. IT is that they have failed to lead me towards knowledge. If you achieve peace you have achieved liberation, this is the real knowledge and it can only be reached by the Sambavi Mudra. Don’t be deceived by the Indian name. I use it because it is convenient. It is the method that matters.

And it is universal.

If there were not enough unselfish souls to point out the way to me I would not have achieved it even with the practices that I told you about. Those practices do not lead you to liberation. This is the only true technique that there is and there can’t be any others as easy. It came to my mind because others kept it alive in the world. I am doing the same. I am trying to keep the knowledge alive. Those who are ‘too intelligent’ might not realize its true significance because it appears simple. And some brilliant souls who intuitively know of this truth would play it down and conceal it from public because it would be the death knell to their famous systems.

I have now explained my motive in putting it out to you. I am paying my debt to those kind souls who kept the truth alive. Even if it doesn’t reach anyone among the billions in the world today and even if it creates no impact in them that has seen it, that does not matter. In the very act of putting it out I have achieved my aim of making it tick. If it did not enter your mind, you will carry it in you and bequeath it to the next generation.

I am hopeful of it. Truth can’t be obliterated, not when there are so many seekers.

Mediataion ( Contd)

2009-03-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

Meditation first and foremost is an internal activity. Whatever object you fix your mind on would have to dissolve into the underlying reality before you can claim that you have experienced reality. If you fix your mind on anything material like an image it is difficult to dissolve it in to what lies underneath.

Sri Ramakrishna found it be so when he was attempting to meditate as his guru Totapuri suggested. He would start meditating on the third eye and would start seeing his goddess Kali there at all times. She would not willingly go away. He needed to step over her to reach truth. His attempts to do it without destroying the image of goddess failed completely. He could only do so with a heart rending effort by cutting the goddess down to pieces with what he called the “ Sword of Jnana” . This could be an unnerving process for the ordinary devotee. It might make him or her mad.

Images become dear to us in the progress of our spiritual unfolding if we have taken their assistance. Devotees cling on to them afraid to let them go when they are no more needed. This is a hindrance. If you keep away from fixing your mind on anything material and start witnessing your inner world by meditating on the Ajna Chakra you would see every single image that you once cherished on the inside. They may not appear in the manner you expected them to appear.

I once had experienced the presence of Christ during meditation. Now the image of Christ embedded in my mind up to that point was that which you see in statues and pictures of Christ all over the world. It’s the image of a person of considerable physical and spiritual beauty, sleek and slender, with those great mystical eyes looking at you with love and compassion and tiredness and tenderness. But I found Christ to be somewhat different in physical appearance from that. I would not go into all that for fear of destroying the beautiful image that we have of him now.

In mediation you know what you see. The moment he appeared everything about him was evident to me. There could be no mistakes in such states.

My point is, you can experience Christ in the manner you chose if you are mediating on a picture or image of his or otherwise. As the concentration on your chosen image heightens you would start to see and feel him as he is pictured by you. You could even get the stigmata. Such meditation follows the tradition of Ashtanga yoga of Pathanjali, especially his methods of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Your intense emotional and mental concentration creates Christ for you. The Tantrics say that such manifestations are the children of the practitioner. This is a true statement.

You can even attain Samyama (total identification with the object of meditation) on him and be one with him.

But you need to go beyond that to find truth. Truth is not divisible. It is not an image you mentally create for fixing your mind. It is your true nature. That can only be revealed to you by meditating on your own self. It is much better done without any restricting images in you mind. And as I told you before the only effective practice of doing it is through Bhrooh Dhyana. It is simple fast and easy. It never fails.

Think, do I have anything to gain by telling you an untruth? Or did I tell you of anything which you can’t do? Did I suggest to you something which would land you in trouble? And did I sell it for a price and act as a guru? (If I really wanted to, I would be a much better guru than the thousands of gurus that abound now in the world for I speak of a simple and unfailing method which would liberate even the devil. The devil? Yes even the devil. It takes some confidence to say so, don’t you think? If I can’t say so who can? This is the sort of confidence you gain by knowing the truth.)

Ask yourself these questions. If you find them easy to answer you are on the right path to liberation. I did not invent this technique. It is as available as the sunlight and air that is around you. But there are people, both in the west and in the east, who are not satisfied with the simple and easily obtainable liberation. Because of their delusions they need an intricate system to believe in. If some one is ready to teach you the method of Kundalini raising you run to them. Goose pimples rise on your skin when you hear about the chakras, their properties, and the way the force raises through them, the diagram’s, the Shaktipat, the rituals associated with it, the presence of energy within you, the powers that it grants you.

When the foolish practice finally breaks you down, you still remain elated that you have gone through such experiences and you are ‘more’ blessed than others. There are no blessings to come from without, you bless or damn yourself by your own actions. If you believe that you are one with the truth, you are.

(To be continued)

Meditation

2009-03-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

I have stated that you can meditate on anything and everything in the world. The reason for this is that there are no divisions in the universe. The blazing sun that you see overhead as well as the smallest grain of sand which you find attached to yourself is connected and forms an inherent whole. To the modern mind this should be obvious. But what masks this apparent reality?

These divisions are in the mind.

That is why quelling of the mind is attempted by every people who have ever thought and acted on the subject of finding reality.

It’s the mind which decides that there are divisions. That there is you and me and the other person. In reality nothing is that far away as it seems to us. The mind being what it is would not easily let go of its fields of involvement. To make it do so you need to fix it on something. That could be anything in the universe, the sun, moon, stars, ocean, and even a speck of dust. I have found that if you meditate on anything intently it would take you to the final truth. There is nothing else other than the truth you see.

But then why am I insisting that we should place our mind at a certain place inside our body to meditate, namely on the trikut? Well for one thing, reality is as evident in your body as it is everywhere. There is nothing wrong in meditating inside as you can see. To a normal man, because of his chosen limitations his own body feels nearer to him than anything else. The seeker of truth need be sensible before everything. If you chose a place outside your body to meditate, which one would you chose? Perhaps you would choose the finest and best specimens that you can find around. It may be a beautiful place, an interesting object or a godly soul like Jesus Christ or Rama or Buddha.

There is nothing wrong in meditating on them. You can do it and realize the truth in that manner too. But the amount of work you need to do to achieve it and then finally destroy the image could be tremendous. How would you meditate on Jesus for example? Would you obtain a picture of him or would you construct an image of him in your mind. Who can say that these images conform to Jesus as he was when he was in body? Or would you like to meditate on an idea, something abstract? If you do, you would soon feel dispirited by the effort. The philosophers have been meditating on the finest of all percepts for ever so long. Have any one of them claimed to have found the truth?

If they have the world would have been a different place by now.

( to be continued)

Sambavi Mudra. The Do’s and Dont’s

2009-03-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I had finished with Sambavi Mudra in that post of mine. It doesn’t seem to be so anyhow. So here is some more stuff about it! Is this really needed? But who knows, my firm belief was that every one was qualified to learn the Sambavi Mudra, but if some thinks otherwise, what can one do?

My post on it might not appear much, but I gave you the whole truth there. Refer to that post for technical details.

http://sambaviyoga.blogspot.com/2009/03/sambavi-mudra-explained.html

There simply is no other technique to rival it. I have tried all ( mantra, tantra, yantra, Kundalini, ashtanga yoga, vedanta you name it) and found this as the only true method. If somebody says there is anything else they are either ignorant or are trying to lead you astray, you would be well advised to keep away from them.

The procedure, as you may note, is the simplest of all. Just keep your mind at the place between your eyebrows. This can be done at any time at any place and in any kind of circumstances. Eat what you like and do what you normally do. But practice the mudra whenever you get the time. The hottest noon is as good as the coldest night.

The filthiest place is as good as the purest spot.

Keep at it, persist and everything will follow.

Of course a quite place all to yourself and the night time might be beneficial in the beginning. I would not advice the mornings, you might be in the alpha initially, but beta is knocking at the door persistently. Meditation is serious business. There is no one-second meditations. There are only split second realizations. You prepare yourself for it.

Yet not every one can chose places and times can they? If you can, meditate near water, that is, near a lake or pond, it seems to help some. I have only rarely done that though.

Really the only need is for being sensible about it. I used to sit on a card board piece or lie on a wide wooden plank while meditating to negate the ill effects of the cement floor on which I sat. If I did not do that I would have found it very hard to move my limbs after wards.

Some advise sitting on tiger skins (There are no regular tiger skins any more. Those that you see around are all fakes. You may have to go and hunt for one if you need it badly. Naturally you would spend the rest of your days meditating inside a prison cell from then onwards in most of the countries) .And some advise sitting on woolen blankets, or in open places, on hill tops and in the shade of the trees.

Woolen blankets may be good, but open places etc might not be. What if some poisonous thing starts meditating on you? Consuming sweet and nourishing food and avoiding spices and everything that tastes bitter, avoiding using oil on the head and not bathing in day time all seems prescribed for the yogis by some shrewd yoga practitioners. Follow them if you like. Even otherwise you would develop. You need not be told to avoid extremes in all cases do you?

All these are only external things. As long as you have not achieved the state of yoga you might take sensible care of your body. That is all there to it.

Even forget the eye positions. Be only aware of the point between the eyebrows.
The sensation of touch might assist you in this regard. Touch the point in between the eyes and close your eyes. You will feel a tickle at the spot and that would assist you in keeping your mind there. There is no need for intense concentration, just place your mind at the spot. That is all that is required. The truth is where the mind is placed the prana becomes still at that place.

After some practice you would begin to have experiences. They would lead you further on.

Want to know whether this was done by others?

Totapuri, the guru of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa picked up a broken glass piece from the ground and pressed it firmly on the forehead of his disciple just above the joint of the eyebrows and told him to meditate on that spot. (Now, don’t do that to yourself, you may cut yourself and bring up a scar on your forehead)

Dakshinamurthy (Shiva) is seen to sit in meditation all the time, turning his sight inwards.

I think I have quoted the following lines somewhere in one of my earlier posts. It’s a rough translation of a Sanskrit verse.

“Here is a sight under a banyan tree
The master looks young and the disciples wizened.
The master’s silence is the explanation
And the disciples seem bereft of doubt.”

You see the mouna (Silence) could be an explanation in itself too.

Buddha, when asked about meditation, once picked up a flower and held it aloft and sat looking at it for a while without saying a single thing. None understood it save Kasyapa in the audience. Buddha smiled at him and entrusted him to teach others what meditation is.

Why a flower? Well as I have mentioned before the mind can be placed on the internal as well as external objects. In fact you can meditate on anything. But The Trikut (third eye, Ajna chakra, and spot between the eye brows) is the most effective of them all. It leads to immediate liberation.

It is curious that some Zen masters consider even the long line of Buddha’s as their vassals! It is not mere ego on their part; they have even gone beyond the principle of Buddha. Gautama the Buddha was great, but self is greater still.

Watch how the Buddha is depicted in his statues. He is in the Sambavi mudra constantly.

I mean, that is all there to it.

Even a great master can do only that much, to show where and how to place the mind. The rest should be done by those who have seen it done.

It might be difficult for some to do it open eyed. If so shut the eyes and imagine that you are looking through the Ajna chakra. To some it may even appear that they can see with their eyes closed. That’s a bit of clairvoyance for you.

I will once again say this. There are no do’s and don’ts in this technique, namely the time of day or night, places, situations you are in , your food habits, purity of mind, astrological signs, state of health, belief systems, geological conditions, whether you are men , women, aborigine, civilized, young, old, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, communist, capitalist etc etc. If you intend to get all these solved before you start practicing yoga, you would never get around doing it.

Let me tell you all liberated souls everywhere have ever practiced this. If you want to, you can search for and locate it in your own belief system. It could prove a hard task anyway. Even in India it is obscured and put under a veil by the vested interests.

Why go to all that trouble while a totally secular method is available. Try it and find peace. Life is short, time is precious and we do not know what would happen in the very next moment.

So start practicing right away. All the changes that you require would come to you in the course of your practice.

Realization is really a change of focus in awareness. It is achievable at this very moment. Some latch on to the truth the minute it is spoken. To some others it might take a little bit of time.

It is said that Swetaketu was advised 9 times by his father and guru on the truth of “You are that” ( “Tat Tvam Asi”) before he realized it. Getting at the truth in that way is hard. It’s like walking on a razors edge- Pretty perilous. You have to rip away all the misconceptions one by one. It might even unsettle you. Even those that have done so have to practice Dhyana. Vyasa has so stated in his Brahma sutra.
So you see, learning is not enough, intellect is not enough, studying sruti’s and smriti’s (Recorded knowledge) is not enough. Even Vichara dhyana ( reflection) is not enough. You need to practice meditation.

If so then do it the easier manner.

That is why I suggested Bhrooh Dhyana (Meditation on the Third eye). It is the easiest way that exists and honestly it is the only way that exists as long as you inhabit the human body. It has no ill effects. I can promise you that it would make you a Yogi in no time. But please note this promise does not include ashta sidhis! (The celebrated eight or so powers of the yogi’s) though. To some they may come to some others they may not.

But those are material phenomena; they have to do with matter and this universe. You are looking to supersede that.

Let me tell you that you can supersede all.

Good luck to you. Find peace

My experience with Kundalini

2009-03-22T03:25:00.001-07:00

After reading a lot of silly things about the power called Kundalini on the net I began to think about my experience with the force. When I started on Yoga I was inexperienced enough to think that awakening this demonic force would be good for inner growth. Nothing could have been farther from truth than that. This force, or force’s to be exact, as there are innumerable such powers’ in your body and in the nature, is the residual energy contained in things. It is this force which gets released when we achieve fission inside an atom. It is much better left alone than explored for it floods you with a fake awareness of reality and draws you away from your real self.

My attempts to awaken this power were through pranayama. The actual practice I adopted was easy enough. While doing pranayama I mentally directed the flow of energy towards the base of my spine and visualized it rising through the sushumna to the bindu which is just a little over your head. (Giving a mental slap to the snake at the base would be helpful.) Some knowledge of the etheric, astral, and mental bodies can also be useful in your visualization. On the return journey I tried to spread the energy all through the body to avoid the force getting fixed at some nerve centers which are called chakras. This could have been an error too, arising out of the little knowledge that I then had on the subject. If it is fixed at some centers it could lead to awakening the properties related to that level of awareness to a morbid extent.

Well this was the practice that I used to do at that time. It is a little more detailed than given in the above description but as it is not relevant here we will skip those.

I had stumbled on the system in my youth and was not at all well informed on the subject then. Not that I am now, other than I have done some reading on it since and have had some personal experience on the subject.

My grandfather was a true Tantrik and was the last disciple of one of the great Tantrik’s of his time. Though I was an atheist at that time, I believed that we can’t dismiss any system of belief unless we have at least personally tried them out. I was out of collage and was yet unemployed. I had a lot of spare time and no girls to worry about, for that sort of things wouldn't do in a village in our land. I must have had enormous amount of libido and no regular outlet for it. I was always restless then. May be that is why I ventured into Yoga with the help of his brief notes on the subject and certain other books he had including Shad Chakra Nirupana, a wonderful little treatise on Chakra’s.

The only guru I had then was my mother, who was given Mantra Diksha (Mantra initiation) by her father and was otherwise quite innocent of all the practices of yoga and was absolutely incapable of giving me any guidance in the matter. She had initiated me into the mantra yoga in the manner she was taught by her father and from then onwards I considered him my Guru and went on with my personal mystic adventures till I found some one else.

I have to mention that as far as the serpent power is concerned Pranayama is not the only method to release the energy, but it could be the the most pedestrian and the easily understood of all practices. Any one can attempt it provided there is someone who has gone through the grind before to help them when it is needed. As I have explained before in my posts, pranayama alone releases energies which might cause harm if they are not utilized properly. If you couple it with this wicked force the harm could often be irreparable.

I did not have any immediate awakening of the force during this practice. Some authors like W.C. Leadbeater of the Theosophical Society have claimed to have awakened it within 40 days. I do not know if that is possible. He has stated that it was the result of intense practice with the assistance of a great master. Anyway I did not practice that hard and was even doubtful whether it would awaken at all. But I went on doing it day in and day out. This little visualization trick, while doing pranayama, soon became a habit only with me and I slowly began to drift towards other practices which interested me then. I would be doing this thing in morning and in evening and then would forget about it.

After a period of time I began to notice subtle changes inside myself. I became intensely conscious of what was going on around me. But it always had a weird aspect to it. I could sense the feelings of others, but unfortunately it always came from their bad side. It was as if none around me had a good thought in them. This began to trouble me a greatly. My level of concentration had become heightened and I would feel a shock if a minor noise was heard. Every sense was alert, touch, smell, taste, sight, sound all came to me in purely digital quality as we say now. I was compelled to adopt certain postures while lying down or sitting though I have never even cared for them in the first place. In fact I only learned the names and the nature of those while reading up on them subsequently.

While meditating I would become suddenly conscious that I am doing the Moolabandh and Uddiyan bandh and Jalandhara bandh unconsciously. The breath would suddenly cease or become very thin and I would be sitting in that posture sometimes for a long while without being conscious of it. All this, while I was only doing Vichara Dhyana which is in the Jnana Yoga tradition and quite distinct from the Hatha Yoga or Raja Yoga practices. In it you think of your inner self and try to raise your consciousness through thought discarding everything other than your awareness of yourself or the “I”. I had never thought much of the Hatha Yoga practices other than Pranayama and my interest was limited to mostly Nadi Shudhi pranayama. I was only extending Nadi Shudhi pranayama even while trying to raise Kundalini. Other and more vigorous sorts of Pranayama never interested me much.

As the feeling heightened I became deeply worried, for I could not stand the sight of my friends, family members and people in general. It was as if whenever they came into my presence they brought the whole of evil with them. I was never conscious of evil in that sense before. My intuition developed and with it my troubles increased, for I would start seeing something in my mind all of a sudden and that would happen in the immediate future, mostly bad. I had to wage an intense battle within me. All the demonic forces in the universe was rising up against me, I would feel bestial urges and desires and they would take hold of me completely, I would be completely buffeted with all sort of sensual promptings ceaselessly.

Yet there was no visible sign of the force awakening inside me. No one I knew then could have helped me in my predicament. I became a recluse, barely venturing out because all the damned badness inside the mind would be triggered the moment I set eyes on anything. As no one could be found to help I resorted to reciting my given mantra incessantly to keep out of the clutches of the vileness I found in myself. I would be reciting it even in my sleep. Would wake up like that and would continue like that all through the day. What a change from a true atheist!

Before venturing in to the practice of this stupid yoga I was just like any youth of that period. If not an extrovert I enjoyed company and going out. I was not a bad athlete and had represented my colleges in Cricket. I was fanatical about working out everyday. Enjoyed all kinds of board games, including cards, caroms, chess and had also some talent for writing.

I never missed a local festival in the neighborhood, took pleasure in reading and had some intellectual friends (me being the least learned among them) and we discussed Plato to Sartre, roshomon to seventh seal, Sophocles to Brecht, Karl Marx to Mahatma Gandhi. I could stand my drink and even had smoked pot occasionally (very spurious kind, none of us had any money to go for anything better. It rarely got us into a mood; we did it for the thrill of breaking rules rather than anything else)

I had even directed a drama at that time. As my father used to say, I must have been the Jack of all trades-their cessation and my withdrawal into myself was sudden and surprising for every one.

My habits were also beginning to change. I was never fond of vegetarian food. But I suddenly found myself more inclined towards lighter food stuff. In fact I could not use spices in my diet at all. I became thin and would eat less and less. I did not get much sleep at night, and while sleeping would be at the strangest of places in the world.

And then one day this happens.

I was lying on a wooden cot at night trying to fix my mind on the ajna chakra, I went into a stupor then, the next thing I knew was this unbelievable noise inside me. It was as if hundreds of oceans were roaring within me. My entire frame began to shake as a giant force seemed to be travelling upward through my spine. I could watch it ascending, ripping the centers within and rising further up. By then I had become certain that if it got fixed at some point at the navel (the swadhishtana for example, considering my base urges at that time) I would be a goner as far as the world is concerned.

I tried to fix it at the Ajna chakra for what I was worth. The commotion was tremendous. If I was a little braver I would have followed its course through to sahasrara, but I was more concerned about getting out of the state than doing anything with it then. I must have cried out to my grand father to help me, the force rose and wrung my chest and then went further up filling the whole of head with a terrible din. Then my sahasrara chakra seems to have opened up and it began to pour out, it lasted for some considerable time. I thought it would never stop. Then I went out completely. I would never know whether it returned or ebbed out of me fully.

When I became conscious again my mother was standing besides me and she seemed to be in some sort of trance. She would not answer any of my questions and soon went off to her room. The time was past midnight and usually she would be sound asleep by then.

I had aches all over my body for some days afterwards. I felt curiously relieved after the incident. Although I stopped the practice altogether after this, I still haven’t recovered fully from its impact.

That which happened to me might have been the release of a minor portion of the coiled up energy in me. I have never seen it described exactly like this by any one. Most of the practitioners goes with the force, ascending with it and is said to have experienced ecstasy. One yogi has somewhere stated that a case like mine could happen when the emotional part of the force rises. May be he is right.

Emotional or not I did not feel any better for it. I became much worse perhaps. I firmly believe that it is truly a destructive force as far as inner realization is concerned. My experience tells me that it is absolutely unnecessary in seeking truth. Kundalini is this world, it is Maya, you can’t achieve true knowledge with this force. It would make you smug, make you look down upon the rest, you might even obtain ashta siddis with it, but that would only count within the world. That is why the great Buddha never spoke of this though it was known to all in India from the time immemorial.

Not for nothing did Christ decline the offer of Satan of the kingdom of this world, and it is not for nothing that Satan is depicted as the serpent.

Every people knew of this power and its destructive quality. It is much better to leave it alone. The yogis of the middle ages in India rediscovered it because they were cowardly. They should have never done that. Political subjugation can not be overcome by psychical feats. If that was the case the world would have been a better place long ago.

Amrita Bindu Upanishad

2009-03-22T03:23:00.000-07:00

This is a translation of Amritabindu Upanishad, as faithful as I can make it, no attempt is made to interpret it in any manner. I have always felt that the study of the Upanishads should be done without relaying on their commentaries to ensure your personal participation in the study. Otherwise you would be following the ideas of others regarding the Upanishad rather than the Upanishad itself. That way lays bondage which the texts are trying so hard to get you out of.

I have omitted the “Santhipatham” of the text beginning with “Bhadram Karnebhi…” from my translation. It is a prayer to various deities or an invocation of peace to help the seekers achieve their objective of learning the ultimate truth without any hindrance.

Enjoy the text and meditate on it. It will give you an insight into what meditation is all about.

1. The mind is chiefly spoken as of two kinds, pure and impure. The impure mind is desire-ridden, and the pure is free of desire.

2. Undoubtedly it is the mind that is the cause of man’s liberation and bondage. The mind that is attached to sense objects leads to bondage, while that which is free from them leads to liberation. So they think.

3. Since liberation is for the mind free from sense-objects, the mind should always be made clean of such desire, by the seeker of truth.

4. Once this is accomplished and the mind is fully controlled within the heart (the heart chakra is one of the favorite centers of meditation-Translator) it realizes its own essence. Then the supreme state is obtained.

5. The mind should be controlled till it gets fully merged in the heart. This is Jnana (realization) and this is Dhyana (meditation) also, all else are mere talk and word play

6. The supreme state is neither to be thought of (as it is beyond thought), nor unworthy to be thought of (as it is the only method of release), nor is It to be thought of in any other manner than the essence of the ever visible, timeless, supreme bliss itself. Truth which is free from all entanglement is reached in this state.

7. First concentrate on OM with its letters( that is on AUM, the meaning would be roughly like this A= creative force, U= sustaining force , M= destructive force or in essence the visible reality in all its aspects contained in the word OM- Translator), then graduate to OM without regard to its letters. When the later form of meditation becomes fruitful, the idea of non-entity is attained as entity.

8. that alone is Reality, without component parts, without doubt, and without taint. Realizing I am that Reality one becomes immutable Reality

9. The Real is endless, beyond reason and analogy, beyond all proofs and causeless; knowing which the wise person becomes free.

10 The highest truth is that pure consciousness which realizes, “ There is neither control of mind nor it is coming into play, neither am I bound, nor am I a worshipper, neither am I a seeker after liberation, nor one who has attained liberation.”

11. Actually the soul should be known from its states of wakefulness, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. For him who has transcended the three states there is no rebirth.
12. Being the only One, the universal soul is present in all beings. Though One, it is seen as many, like the moon in the water.

13. Just as it is the vessel which being moved from one place to another which changes place and not the space enclosed in it, so is the jiva which resembles that space.

14. When the various forms like the vessel are broken repeatedly the Space (Akasha /ether) does not know them to be broken, but He knows perfectly

15. Being covered by Maya which is a mere sound, it does not know Space (The reality), through darkness, When ignorance is shredded, It by virtue of being Itself, only sees unity in everything.

16. The OM as Word is first looked upon as the Supreme reality. After that (the word idea) has vanished, that timeless reality remains. The wise person should meditate on that imperishable reality, if he desires the peace of his soul.

17. These two kinds of learning ought to be understood, the Word (physical) Reality and the Supreme Reality. Having mastered the Word Reality One attains to the highest Reality

18. After studying the Vedas (that is recorded knowledge) the intelligent person who is solely intent on acquiring knowledge and realization should discard the Vedas altogether, like the man who discards husk to obtain rice?

19. The milk is always white even though cows are of diverse colures. The intelligent person regards Jnana (learning) as the milk and the many branched Vedas as the cows.

20. Like butter hidden in milk, pure consciousness resides in every being. That ought to be constantly churned out by the churning rod of the mind.

21. The Supreme reality should be brought out like fire by taking hold of the rope of knowledge. “I am that Reality, indivisible, immutable, and calm”, thus it is thought of.

22. In whom reside all beings, and who resides in all beings by virtue of his being the giver of grace to all- I am that soul of the universe, the Supreme being, I am that Soul of the Universe the Supreme being.

This Upanishad is often linked to Yajurveda (one of the four Vedas) or more precisely to Krishna Yajurveda. Yet the “Santhipatham” (prayer at the beginning) belongs to Upanishads originating from Atbara Veda.

Considered from the point of view of the subject matter this is an Upanishad on Yoga, it is also a comparatively new Upanishad. Other Upanishads belonging to the same category are Varaha, Yogasikha, Yogathathva, Kshurika, Sandilya, and Hamsa.

Tao Teh Ching and Upanishads

2009-03-22T03:20:00.000-07:00

The Tao Te Ching and the Upanishads are so similar that they seem the same to me often. I do not know whether there have been any such comparisons before in these lines, but it seems more than likely, for the likeness are so pronounced. These are the thoughts which came to mind when I recently looked into them again. To me it appears that the two systems have lot in common though they evolved at slightly different geographical regions and cultural backgrounds of the Asian mainland.
From the very first declaration of Ching the striking resemblances jumps to our eye.

“The Tao that can be told
Is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.”

It is not much different from “na vagachathi, no mano” (1.3) of Kena Upanishad. What the Upanishad says is this “the final truth is not reached by the words and it can not be reached by the mind.” The opening lines of Tao Te Ching almost replicate it.

There are other similar references in the Upanishads of this quality of the unqualified too. “Yato vacha nivarthanthe aprapya manasa saha.” (Taitiriyam. Anuvaka 4.1) is one such. It translates this way. “Where the words turn back, that which can not be approached by even the mind.” You can easily replace Tao with Brahma in any of the Ching verses. Such are the similarities that I often mistake some verses of Tao Te Ching to be that of the Upanishads when I see them out of context somewhere.
And again in the later verses it is said:

“Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.”

In the same manner the Upanishads presents a picture:

“Here is a picture at the base of a pepul tree.
The master looks young while all the students seem wizened.
The silence of the master is the interpretation
The students sit with their doubts removed”

Then again the Ching echoes the Nasadeeya Suktha of the Veda’s. First here is what the Ching says:

“Reach, and it can’t be grasped.
Above, it isn’t bright.
Below, it isn’t dark.
Seamless, unnamable,
it returns to the realm of nothing.
Form that includes all forms,
image without an image,
subtle, beyond all conception.”

And here comes a loose translation of the Suktha:

“There was neither reality, nor unreality
There was neither energy nor breath
Who has covered the immense space?
Who has shrouded the sky …?”

And so on. I have always felt goose pimples rise all over my body whenever I go through the Suktha. Try to get a translated version of it and if you are a sensitive human being as I take you to be, I vouch that you would also feel it. The imagery is stunning; it would propel even the most unimaginative and practical of souls towards worlds unknown to them. You would not fail to guess something is happening within the words and within yourselves.

This is the real magic of mysticism

Pranayama

2009-03-22T03:17:00.000-07:00

Though I do not care much about the intricate systems of Pranayama's that are advised by Hatha Yoga texts, a general understanding of the subject might not be a handicap to you. That is the only reason to include this here. Every text ( modern and ancient) comes with a detailed description of the practice and its methods. But all of them relays more or less on this basic technique.

This is the Nadi Sudhi pranayama which awakens the force called Kundalini. Knowing it might also be of use. If you want to awaken it try picturing the base of your spine as triangular in form and Kundalini as dormant in it while doing pranayama. (I have experience that the Kundalini would awaken through the Nadi Sudhi pranayama alone)

To do it you take in the air through the left nostril and hold it in then lets it out through the other nostril. Then the reverse, take the breath in through the right and holds it and releases it through the left.

As you breath in visualize the prana going down to the triangle at the base and tapping the kundalini awake and sending it upwards. It would awaken sooner or latter. I would not advise the practice though. But some are adventurous and might want to try it.

There are several Chakras or subtle centers in its upward journey. Like Swadhishtana, at the lower abdomen ( its primordial, possibly contains the basic body related unconscious urges. It is dangerous if the Kundlini gets fixed there. Some say that you would become a veritable demon. A Mr. Hyde like charecter)

Then there is the Manipoora above that which is just a little farther removed from the basic side our nature. If this centre gets influenced all sorts of fears , external influence( mostly of an emotional and basic nature) might result they say

Next comes Anahata. This is said to be the seat of pure emotions. I have seen one guy who practices dhyana at the heart chakra. I do not know if he has his kundalini awakened. But the poor man seems to be in the throes of intense emotions at all times!

That is not advisable too.

The force getting fixed on the Visudha is also not very good. It still is a basic chakra.

My advise, if you want very much to awaken this force( I have no opinion about it I must say) try to fix it on the Anja chakra. It might save you if the force gets awakened and starts create havoc within you.

So place your consciousness on the Anja Chakra in normal meditation so that the force would ascend to there if you want to awaken the Kundalini.

Well any way the following is the basic practice of Pranayama. It would bring you the scarce state breath called the the Kevala Kumbaka. This is enough to take you places. You don't need Kundalini for attaining liberation. Possibly it hinders liberation. Here is what you do to get Kevala Kumbaka.

Pranayama has been categorized into three types. The following description may lack finesse, But it might give you a general idea what to the ancients the practice was.

1 Rechaka Pranayama 2. Pooraka Pranayama 3. Kumbaka Pranayama .

Rechaka Pranayama

Rechaka means to expel. In this Pranayama the practitioner expels all air from the lungs and blocks the breath on the outside without letting the air in to the lungs.

Pooraka Pranayama

Pooraka means to fill in. In this the air is taken in slowly till all your nadis( nerves) are filled with it. You might wonder how we can “fill” the nadis( nerves) with air. In the science of Yoga Prana is not merely air, it contains universal life force . It is this life force which is supposed to fill the Nadis.

Kumbaka Pranayama

Kumbaka means to block. This consists of blocking the air from going out once the lungs are filled with it. It is not really that different from Pooraka Pranayama. Kumbaka Pranayama is off three types

1. Sahitha Kumbaka and 2. Kevala Kumbaka

Sahitha Kumbaka

Sahitha means “with”. The meaning in the context is ‘Kumbaka with effort”. There is Pranayama or kumbaka with effort and without effort. This will become clear in the next section. Here it would suffice to know that blocking Prana (air) outside or inside your body is called Sahitha Kumbaka. Thus as you can see there are two types of Sahitha Kumbaka. Rechaka Kumbaka and Pooraka Kumbaka.. These are the same as Rechaka Pranayama and Pooraka Pranayama.

Kevala Kumbaka

This can not be “practiced”; it would have to “happen’ to you. I will explain it. In this Kumbaka or Pranayama the breath gets blocked without any effort either inside or outside of your body . This occurs after practicing Sahitha Kumbaka for some time, some considerable time mind you. It is the most natural outcome of the Sahitha Kumbaka. To me it happens all the time. Some times I would be sitting without breathing for some time before I become aware of it. To make it ‘happen’ you need to practice both the Sahitha Kumbaka’s for some time, the Rechaka variety and the Pooraka variety. Rechaka Kumbaka is a little difficult. You can not block air out side your body as long as you can block it inside.

There are two other types too within the above Pranayama’s .These are called the 1.Sagarbha Pranayama and 2.Agarbha ( Vgarbha) Pranayama’s. Let me explain these futher.

Sagarbha Pranayama

Sagarbha means included. In the context it means the practice of Pranayama with internal recitation of Mantra and taking count of the length of time you do the Pranayama. This is the Pranayama which is practiced with the recitation of OM. The practice is like this, you recite Om for 16 times while expelling the breath through your right nostril. And then fill in the air through left nostril reciting OM for 32 times. Then you hold in the breath inside reciting Om for 64 times. While holding the breath thus you also should think about the meaning of OM.

Agarbha ( Vigarbha) Pranayama.

Agarbha means not included .In this you do the same as above minus the count and the recitation. You expel air through the right, inhale through the left and hold it inside all without any count or recitation of Mantra. There are no rules in this Pranayama. You can practice at your pace. Expel, take in and hold in the air as long as you can.

As far as I know this is the best technique to make the Kevala Kumbaka ‘happen”. In the earlier technique the counting and recitation takes up all our attention and thus defeating the very aim of the practice, that of gaining inner knowledge.

Sambavi Mudra Explained

2009-03-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

Raja yoga is the easiest of all practices. I shall explain it to you in the simplest possible manner, whether you want to make anything of it or not is your business.

There are several misconceptions about the practice, I know, but those are created by people with vested interests, so don’t be confused. I shall be very plain here; this is the only method which matters. If you are willing to stick to it you would be a Yogi in no time.

But are there any hitches? Yes, only one, that you might gradually lose interest in the world around you and might want to be in the Yogic state always. Yet if you want to be involved in the world and be a yogi too, that is also possible, but your heart will pine for the true state of happiness you will be in otherwise!

Here is the technique, shorn of all trappings:

Fix your mind at some point inside your body. You can place it anywhere inside the body and even outside on any thing if you want, but the most effective spot would be the place between your eyebrows.

It is the easiest of all methods and a proven one. There are two types of experiences you will go through while you keep at it- The Tharaka and Amanaska states. I will explain them below:

Tharaka Yoga

When the point at which you have placed the mind starts to glow with inner light it is known as Tharaka Yoga. The first thing you see inside would be a star ( tharaka). Hence the name.(tharana the root of tharaka means "to cross" . Its theoretical , let us not go into all that)

Amanaska Yoga

When the mind is completely dissolved in yogic experience, it is called the Amanaska Yoga. “Amanaska” means without mind, that is, the mind completely disappears in the inner illumination.

Now a little more about the actual practice:

THE THREE “EYE POSITIONS”

In the perception of truth (that is in your meditation) there are three “eye positions” that you might adopt. The “Ama”, “Prathipal” and “Poornima” eye positions (These eye positions are likened to the phases of moon, the Ama being the Moonless, Pratipal being the Half moon and Poornima being Full moon phases).

Here are the explanations.

Ama (fully shut) eye

When the eyes are completely shut while meditating it is known as the Ama eyed position of meditation.

Prathipal(half moon) eye

When the eyes are only half shut it is called the Prathipal eyed position of meditation

Poornima (full moon) eye

When the eyes are fully open while meditating it is called the Poornima eyed position of meditation.

All the three techniques of meditation are equally effective. I have done them all and found them true, great Yogis’ have also stated thus.

And for those who wonder how the open eyed meditation is done, that is how one could keep one’s eyes open and meditate at the same time; well you do it all the time. It is called the reverie, and yes, it is also a kind of meditation, it involves the three techniques of Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (absorption) described by Pathanjali in his Yoga Sutra’s. When you do all the three together it is called Samyama (total identification with the object of meditation). Samyama is Yoga, but if you do Samyama on anything other than the true essence of your being it only achieves that much. For instance, in reveries you unconsciously meditate on vacancy and you achieve that state of “bliss” for the while it lasts.

The Yoga Sutra’s of Pathanjali is a technical treatise on the subject of Yoga.
Studying it is not absolutely necessary to practice yoga; it lays out the different stages and experiences the Yogi goes through in the most scientific way. It is very useful in understanding what happens when you practice Yoga and also if you can wade through all the commentaries and the Sanskrit text it might even lead you to Yoga. But why go to all that trouble when you can have it in the most simplest of forms.

Now something of utmost importance:

The full moon eye position or the Poornima eye, though difficult is the greatest of all Mudras, or seals (signs). It is the subtlest of all secrets, the incomparable Sambhavi Mudra. Once you attain it you are a Yogi. In your open-eyed dreams you achieve it for a little while on the spurious of things. But in conscious application of this mudra on the essence of reality you surpass everything else and become aware of your own true nature.

The Mudra is described as follows in Sanskrit:

“Anthar lakshyam bahir netram
Nimishonmesha vivarjitha
Esha sa Sambhavi Mudra
Sarva thanthreshu gopitha.”

“Aiming inwards remain open eyed, without moving the eyelids. This is the Sambavi Mudra, which is disguised and concealed by all Tantra’s (texts on Yogic practice)”
By the term “aiming inwards” the definition allows you to place your mind anywhere inside the body but as I pointed out earlier the spot between the eyebrows is the most effective one to achieve Yogic state. There are several reasons for this, going into all that is not very relevant here. The spot between the eyes is known as the Ajna Chakra and it is the most harmless of places to keep your mind at.

You might now ask. But what about Yama, Niyama, Pranayama, Prathyahara, Dharana, Dyana and Samadhi? How can one achieve Yoga without these? Well Pathanjali has not considered the first five as having any importance other than as a discipline to prepare you for Yoga, though much is made of them by others. The state of Yoga is not something alien to you; it is already within you as pointed out by the great master himself. He has divided Yogic samadhi into Samprajnata (with objects before mind) and Asamprajnata (without objects). For instance Newton discovered Gravitation and Einstein discovered Relativity while they were in the state of Samprajnatha samadhi (absorption of mind with some objects as its aim) we also do it normally on much smaller scales ourselves.

Then why conceal it from everyone and prescribe an elaborate technique to study Yoga? Well it had its purposes. Yoga grants you many powers. The system of Pathanjali actually is an elimination procedure to weed out the unfit that would otherwise throng to study Yoga hearing about the powers it would give to them.

-But what about the problem of having to meditate on subtle reality of your own true nature which is not cognizable? Would you not feel dispirited and soon stop practicing altogether? Well, that is not going to happen my friends; if you practice what I have outlined above you will soon start experiencing things yourself. As your mind become absorbed in Ajna Chakra you will probably see various things like , the moon , the sun, the fire , lamp lights, lightning, luminance, sky, star, blue yellow and red colors inside your self. It may not occur precisely in this order, but you will see them. I would not say so unless I had such experiences myself. Also there would be instances of ringing of bells, drums, thunder and sounds of other instruments.

Once you experience these you would not want to quit, even if you quit, that experience would stay with you from then onwards, saving you.

Technically you need a Guru to point to the place on which you are to meditate by touching it with his/her hand; in this fashion the meditation would yield faster results. But not every one can find a real Guru can they? So do the best you can, be your own guru, because Lord Buddha has kindly allowed thus:

“Be a light unto yourself”.

After those kindly words no other sanction is needed for any one to practice meditation on this globe.