Patanjali Yoga Sutras #5

Strength and purity is the purpose of tapas.

Svadhyaya: Self study, observing the self: Looking into the motives behind your actions. Often you don't go for things yo really want. You never looked into yourself. You are swayed away by fleeting thoughts, desires. Your desire is not even your desire.

Are you your thoughts, mind?

Self study eliminates misery and suffering of mind. Fears, anxieties.

Buddha has said this so beautifully. 

1. kaayanupaschana, observe the body.  
2. Vedanaanupaschana, observe the sensations in the body. 
3. Chittanupaschana, observe the mind, the impressions in the mind, the thoughts in the mind. 
4. Brahamaanupaschana, observe your very nature. Observe the dharma, the very nature that you are. 

Svadhyaya can eliminate all the mental or emotional impurities or fears, and Ishvara pranidhana, love of God, surrender to the Lord will complete the process.

How can love for God can blossom in you?

First step is to see Lord as separate from you. Lord of all virtues, and I am nobody. In this 'nobodiness' happens. Second step is to surrender.

Realize that it's all you, you (the Lord). This body, this universe is yours. This mind is yours. All mind's conflicts are yours. All the mind's beauty is yours. This offering itself is a technique which brings you back home.

Offer every breath, thought, moment of life. Anything. Offering all the negativity, positivity, you become free. By offering all the negativity, you will be free. By offering all those positive virtues you think you possess, you become free. You will not become arrogant. Virtues make you arrogant. Virtues make you behave as though you are special. 

It is your drawbacks which pull you down and make you feel bad about yourself . If you start feeling bad about yourself, you become unconnected to the divine. 

There is nothing to make you connected to the divine. It's up to you to feel close to the divine. To anybody for that matter. Even if they don't feel close, you can start feeling close. This is because nothing else can convince you that you are dear to the divine other than your own self. 

You just start feeling, that you are the most closest. Whatever seed you sow, it will start blossoming. 

To bring about samadhi in life.

What root causes of misery in life? 

Panch klesha. Ignorance is the root cause. What is ignorance? To think that which is not permanent as permanent. That is which not joy as joy.

A fixed idea about who you are, stops the growth and destroys you. Limits your possibilities.  You do not know who you are, that should be the right attitude. You are changing every moment and you have kept the possibility of change open. 

Asmita is one-ness of our intellect and our self. Inability to see the powers of the instrument as separate.

“Asmita or ego is thinking that the self or the intellect and the instruments of perception are one and the same.”

      

Patanjali Yoga Sutras #4

Kriya Yoga: Yoga of action.

Action is part and parcel of this creation. There is activity in everything atom, sun, moon, stars. Nothing is stable. There is absolutely no silence at all.

In every activity there is silence too. How do you see it? It needs sharpness of awareness. Keen-ness. 

Kriya Yoga has 3 parts:

Tapas - endurance, acceptance, willingly do something that is not easy. Focus is on physical body. If you had a choice you won't do it. This is tapa. Without grumbling willing accepting something that'd you rather not. Because you know the result of this action is v good.

Svadhyaya - self study, or study of mind

Ishvara pranidhana - devotion to the lord or the self

They all reduce the suffering, misery in life. And give rise to samadhi.

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/intro-yoga-philosophy-tap-heat/

Fire sustains life. 5 types of fires

Bhutagni: Physical fire. With which you heat your home and keep yourself warm. This sustains life.

Kamagni: Fire of desire or lust or passion. It is because of this that life continues on this planet. This has potential to make you alert if this is kindled properly. 

Jatragni: Fire of hunger and digestion. It affects your balance, health. When you fast, every cell of your body becomes alive. It's a very good therapy. Allow this fire to come up in you. It can purify you, remove the toxins from your body. It can make your feelings better. All religions of the world prescribe fasting and prayer. Fasting touches the deepest sanskara in you from ages. However it should be done with an understanding. Extreme fasting is not good either. 

Badabagni: Fire of social criticism. When people criticize, it wakes you up. As a social animal man must abide by code of conduct. It generates fear of getting punished, and keeps up the morals in you. If you are concerned too much what people will say, it may limit your freedom and you are missing the point. 

Premagni: Fire of knowledge or love. It takes you totally. It can lift you up from fire of criticism. You do not mind what people say. Fire of love begins with intense longing. Only in human birth can this fire be experienced. It moves onto the full blossoming. 

Sattvic tapas is of 3 kinds:

1. Physical Tapas: Having a say over senses, and the body. Remaining in self.

2. Vangmay: Tapas of speech: Speaking such words that do not excite people in wrong sense. Speaking truth, with pleasant expression of truth. 

3. Manomay: Tapas of mind: Maintaining pleasantness in mind is big tapas. You feel pleasant and very soon you can drop it if not maintained. Calm and composed, sensitive to your surroundings. Silent mind. Remaining in the self.

On path of yoga your words become powerful. If you call someone fool, they may become fool. Your words have power to bless and curse.

Normally we think mind is within body. But body is within the mind.

Ten times bigger than your physical body is your body of prana or the energy body.

Ten times bigger than your pranic body is your mind body, your thought body. 

Ten times bigger than that is your intuitive body. 

Ten times bigger than that is your bliss body. Ten times means infinite times bigger is our blissful body. Boundless is our bliss. Blissful body.

Patanjali Yoga Sutras (contd.) #3.2

Looking at a sunset, and you are in Samadhi. Mindy is steady. Senses are steady.

Steadiness is dignity, is the strength, is dispassion.

Experiment this. For a few moments keep your eyes, body steady. Almost immediately the mind will also become steady, stand still. And breath will become stand still too. This is where the time stops. Death stops. Immortality begins.

Before the time swallows you, the earth swallows, gulps you, you wakeup. You swallow the time.......that is samadhi.

Samadhi is the state where you feel you can stay like this for a million years, where the mind freezes. Secret of youthfulness, secret of bubbling enthusiasm, secret of renewal of life.

Every experience of your senses what you see becomes very bright, colorful and complete. Keen-ness of observation.

When you are happy you feel an expansion. Bloating. Awareness is expanding. You are relaxed. But you cannot be alert.

To thread a needle (to do something v minute) it needs keen-ness of awareness. You can't be relaxed. You need to be alert.

To have both -- is Samadhi. Both relaxed and keen/alert awareness. 

When you are in this state, you have heightened senses (you hear better, you see better).  

Samadhi enables sensitivity to other feelings too.

When you become sensitive (your instrument eyes, ears), nature becomes sensitive to you. Natures listens to you.

Seeing things as they are is Samadhi. Seeing through comparison is no samadhi. Seeing a mountain -- it's beautiful. But calculating mind compares -- it's like the other mountain.

When the self, and the senses, the object are in harmony. That is samadhi.

When you are eating food, and aware of every bit of it as you eat.

There is another type of samadhi, where you simply know you are. The feeling that "I am". This is nirvichar (thoughtless, hollow & empty) samadhi.

This is eyes close meditation. More and more of thoughtless samadhi, brings grace of the divine. . Mastery of hollow and empty leads to spiritual awakening. Innermost comes forth and blossoms.

The knowledge that comes from the depth of the being, is different from what you have heard, guessed. It is very special, flawless, beyond time, full of truth (ritambhara). This is pure knowledge. The impression from this deep consciousness removes/erases all other non useful impressions of the mind. It makes you new, renews you. Again and again. That is why you may feel a different person after meditation every time.

The goal is in every moment. Yet the path is long. There should be enthusiasm, with patience. Balance.

Patanjali Yoga Sutras (Contd) #3.1

There is no 10th obstacle.

Imbalance of breath is the side effect of these obstacles.

When you are happy,  joyful, incoming breath is prominent, longer. You are not conscious of out-breath. 

When you are sad, out-coming breath is prominent, longer.

To get rid of them just do one thing. Beat the bush. One pointed attention in one thing. 

What happens when you keep doing one thing? Boredom comes, restlessness comes. They take you to a peak. That brings clarity. This is the only way out.

Our mind is troubled because it has choices. Dwelling on duality. Divided mind is misery. One pointed mind is joy.

When you are happy, mind becomes total.

Attending to one principle. Could be God, Self, Guru etc. Anything. EkTatvaAbhyasa - practice one thing. Then you get over all these 9 obstacles.

It's all me only. See the ONE THING in everyone. 

Friendless with all people those who are happy. Feel they belong to you. You cannot be jealous of someone dear to you.

Be compassionate with un-happy people. Have sympathy for them. Don't be friendly as it'd drag you down.

Breaking the natural rhythms of the breath. And sustaining the breath in different rhythms. Clue for Sudarshan Kriya.

We are bringing breath in a conscious definite particular rhythm. Modulating the prana. By this also mind becomes calm and one-pointed.

Though any one object of senses, the mind can be stilled. After Gazing/Kirtan/Singing the mind comes to a still.

Patanjali Yoga Sutras (contd.) #2

There is no pleasure that dispassion cannot give. 

Every moment is a peak experience.

Vitarka: Realization of definite irreversible logic/irrefutable understanding of reality. Everything is empty. 

Samadhi: After kriya. Meditative state in which you are in ecstasy.

Just I am. Fourth state of Samadhi.

By doing something/making effort you cannot achieve the samadhi state.

Only by practice of deep resting consciously. Meditation is you resting on your own.

Samadhi is not just this existence. It goes into the other worlds. People who do not have body can also get affected by meditation. You are influencing all levels of creations. Subtle bodies. Also in past and in future.

Asmita (I, me) is cause misery. That is why we do hollow and empty. We exist like space.

Your own idea in the mind gives your misery. Having a separate identity.

5 kleshas:

1. asmita (ego)
2. raga (strong craving) 
3. dvesha (aversion, hatred)
4. abhinevesha (fear)
5. avidhya (ignorance)

Deep down in the very center point of you, there is no misery, none of 5 kleshas.

4 types of karma

1. merit, 
2. demerit
3. mix of merit+demirt
4. devoid of both merit+demerit (go for a walk in evening, has no merit or demerit)

vipaka: fruit of karma

The lord is every beings heart. Free from klesha, karma, vipaka.

The central core of life remains a virgin. Remains untouched by any events, happenings in life.

A circumference collapses into the the center.

There is no difference between God, Guru, Yourself. 

The core of your being rules the entire creation. Totality of consciousness.

The seed of all knowingness is present there. In that state of consciousness. How do you address it? Om is the nearest sound that it could be addressed with.

When you say OM prana is total, complete. All religions have a word close to OM. "

All other names are just the periphery.

There is enormous activity this very moment.

Just the memory of the lordship, can remove obstacles on your way. 

9 obstacles

https://yogalife.co.za/2018/10/18/9-obstacle-of-the-yogic-path/

Styāna: Illness in the body.

Styāna: Illness in the mind. Apathy, lack of interest and enthusiasm, boredom

Samśaya: Doubt of the self worth or ability. Doubts about the teacher.

Pramādā: Doing something wrong with an intention (knowing too well). Or not doing something that is needed. Negligence. Carelessness.

Alasyā: Heaviness in the body.

Avirati: Being engaged in any one of the sense objects and not coming out of it. Obsession.

Bhrāntidarśanā: Hallucination. Delusion.

Alabdhabhūmikatvā: Doubting progress & ability to succeed. One feels stuck.

Anavasthitatvā: I feel all the bliss, but it goes away. I have all good intentions. Very soon it is all gone. It doesn't stay. Not getting stabilized.

These obstacles bring dukha. Sadness. Bitterness. Lack of co-ordination in the body. irregular breathing. Shaky.

What do we do to overcome them?

Patanjali Yoga Sutras (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) #1

When it comes to enjoyment, no discipline is necessary.

Where is discipline needed? When something is not enjoyable, not charming to begin with. It is primarily to calm down the mind.

That pleasure that comes after discipline is long lasting, authentic and sattvic pleasure. 

Discipline should not be for no reason. Purpose of discipline is to attain joy.

Being here total this moment is abhyasa.

Mind may bring all justifications, fantasies to go out of the moment.

Coming back to the center, to the seer, this moment, again and again, and again is abhayasa.

Vairagaya/Dispassion is necessary for meditation. For these few moments I sit, I don't care for anything. Putting a stop for all cravings.

Shatter all dreams and fantasies. Burn them down. What great happiness you want? You'll be finished soon. For sure. Under the mud. It is all going to end. 

Carefully look at each craving you have, and see what is in it. All objects of sense have limitations. 

Become free before earth eats you up.

Desire makes you unhappy. Craving for happiness brings misery.Happiness is just an idea in our heads.

Skillfully come to present moment. Defeat all objects of senses.

Once you know the nature of the being -- total bliss, total pleasure.

Become centered. The essence is dispassion. Abhayasa and Vairagaya.

Dispassion is like doing something for the first time, without connection to the past, or worried of the future.

What pleasure the dispaasion cannot give? Because it puts you 100% in the moment. Every moment is a peak experience.

Dispassion centers you. Gives you strength.

You cannot increase your awareness or intelligence by effort. This can only be achieved by relaxation. You must learn to relax. Conscious resting. Practice of deep rest.

Dissolving oneself with the nature is also meditation. PrakartiLaya Samadhi. Like watching ocean waves, or sunset.

Faith integrates the consciousness. Doubt disseminates it.

Smriti/Memory of joy/samadhi/self brings back to your self.

Equanimous mind gives rise of heightened awareness.

Very EASY for someone who gives it first preference. Then spiritual growth is more easy. Tivr Samvagana Aasana. Rest of things in life have second preference. First commitment is to be with the truth. 

Just by one pointed devotion to God.

The very center core of life is ruled by love. Beyond all changes, the very center of consciousness, there is love.

A flower blossoms because of love. Young ones are cared for because of love. Love is inbuilt in the creation. God is love. Love is God. Synonymous.

Inner journey

Doubt until you find something un-dubitable.

Move inwards -- this is meditation.

Take 3 steps:

1. Observing all your activities: Body and it's acts. Remain a witness

2. When you have become capable of witnessing your body, watch the activities of your mind. Thoughts, dreams, imagination. Just remain a witness. As if you are standing by the side of the road. You are not part of this. Reflecting without any judgement. Just like a mirror. Become pure witness. As witnessing grows, thoughts stop in the same proportion. 100% witness => no thoughts, pure nothingness. This is the door to the last step.

3. In this step, witness the moods, feelings, which are more subtler than thoughts.

After this there is suddenly a quantum leap, where it happens by itself. You are thrown at the centre of your being. This is the end of the inner journey. You've come home.

Osho on three steps of Awareness

Question: Beloved Master, Is Maturation an ongoing process? How is maturation related to awareness? Please explain.

Osho: Yes. Maturation is an ongoing process. There is no full stop, not even a semicolon anywhere... it goes on and on. The universe is infinite. So is the possibility of your maturing. You can become so huge.... Your consciousness is not confined to your body. It can spread all over existence and all the stars can be within you. And there is no place where you will find a plate that says, ”Here ends the universe.” It is just not possible. It never begins; it never ends.

And you are part of it. You have been here always and you will be here always. Only forms change, and forms don’t matter. What matters is the content. So remember that particularly in America, containers matter more than the content. Who cares about the content? The container has to be beautiful.

Remember, the container is not you. You are the content. Forms change, your being remains the same. And it goes on growing, maturing, goes on becoming more enriched. And you ask, ”What is the relationship between awareness and maturity?” Awareness is the method; maturation is the result. Become more aware and you will have more maturity; hence, I teach you awareness and don’t talk about maturity. It is going to happen if you are aware.

There are three steps of awareness. First, become aware of your body – walking, chopping wood or carrying water from the well. Be watchful, be alert, aware, conscious. Don’t go on doing things like a zombie, like a somnambulist, a sleepwalker. When you have become aware of your body and its actions, then move deeper – to your mind and its activity, thoughts, imagination, projections. When you have become deeply aware of the mind, you will be surprised.

When you become aware of your bodily processes, you will be surprised there too. I can move my hand mechanically, I can move it with full awareness. When I move it with full awareness, there is grace, there is beauty. I can speak without awareness. There are orators, speakers.... I don’t know any oratory; I have never learned the art of speaking, because to me it looks foolish. If I have something to say, that is enough. But I am speaking to you with full awareness, each word, each pause... I am not an orator, not a speaker.

But when you are aware of speaking, it starts becoming art. It takes on the nuances of poetry and music. One man, a Western journalist, wrote a book, the new Mystics. His name is Aubrey Menen. He introduced me to the West. He has covered other mystics, but I was on his front cover. And the things he said, I could not believe myself. He said that he has listened to Adolf Hitler, who was a tremendous orator. He has listened to Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, who could hold millions of people while he was speaking.

He mentioned Kennedy – President Kennedy, who was a great speaker. But I was surprised: he said that listening to me, he felt a tremendous difference. ”Certainly this man is not trained in oratory or speaking, but whatever he is saying is reaching directly to people’s hearts. It was not the case with Adolf Hitler, Jawaharlal Nehru or President Kennedy; they were just repeating words like parrots.”

This is bound to happen if you speak with awareness. Then every gesture, every word has a beauty of its own. There is grace. When you become aware of the mind, you are in for a greater surprise. The more you become aware, the less thoughts move on the track. If you have one hundred percent thoughts, there is no awareness. If you have one percent awareness, there are only ninety-nine percent thoughts – in exact proportion. When you have ninety-nine percent awareness, there is only one percent thought, because it is the same energy.

As you become more aware there is no energy available for thoughts; they die out. When you are one hundred percent aware, the mind becomes absolutely silent. That is the time to move still deeper.

The third step: to become aware of feelings, moods, emotions. In other words, first the body – its action; second, the mind – its activity; third, the heart and its functions. When you move to the heart and bring your awareness there, again a new surprise. All that is good grows, and all that is bad starts disappearing. Love grows, hate disappears. Compassion grows, anger disappears. Sharing grows, greed disappears.

When your awareness of the heart is complete, the last surprise, and the greatest surprise: you don’t have to take any step. A quantum leap happens on its own accord. From the heart, you suddenly find yourself in your being, at the very center. There you are aware only of awareness, conscious only of consciousness. There is nothing else to be aware of, or to be conscious of. And this is the ultimate purity. This is what I call enlightenment.

And this is your birthright! If you miss, only you are responsible. You cannot dump the responsibility on anybody else. And it is so simple and natural, that you just have to begin. Only the first step is difficult. The whole journey is simple. There is a saying that the first step is almost the whole journey. Okay?

Source: https://www.messagefrommasters.com/Meditation/Awareness/three_steps_to_Awareness.htm

From the masters...

Consequence of being silent: When you are in tune with existence, love arises in you, life becomes abundant, and laughter for no reason. Just because the whole existence is so hilarious. So laughter arises spontaneously.

Everything is available in the now. But you have to be present.

Try: be present to this moment, and see what happens.

Life is itself its own goal. There is nothing outside life that you have to achieve.

While living live. Only dead people have goals. Be a little kind to yourself. And live intensely and totally. Live a little Hot. Sip a Gold Spot.

Existence is not moving towards a goal. Because sooner or later if there is a goal, it will be achieved, then what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8MeqJxs4iM&pbjreload=101

My DSN experience

DSN has profound secrets on how to break one's very own personal barriers. And become free from limitations of mind. This is no easy task and requires you be 100% into it.

For myself, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and explore being a leader, which I always avoided in past.  The course presented situations where I could  opt for leadership role that required me to be very open contrary to my nature.  At first, I wasn't ready and all my fears, past habits weighed down upon me. But eventually I overcame such barriers. The course is designed to make sure everyone navigates their barriers (whatever it is) and emerges out successful. 

The course infuses you with lot of energy. Enabling you to be bold and confident. Like saying yes to things you are most afraid to, but want to do. Developing that inner iron strength to be okay with the uncomfortable. Removing all analysis-paralysis feverishness (not listening to the no mind). Helping you become aware of your own resistance to change that you want. And when you become aware of it, transformation happens. It's very subtle. 

The course taught me to take action with pure intent for whatever I want above anything else. And then go with it. And the hardest part to learn is to ignore the no mind (all which tells you it can't be done, can never be done, how can it happen). And many participants realized to their own amazement what wonderful goals they could achieve when equipped with such knowledge. 

So one may think this knowledge is sufficient. But all of it happens with Guruji grace throughout the course who makes sure you have exactly the right things happening for you at every step. So that you get it in you, not just mentally understand it.

Besides directly overcoming my own barrier, there was a indirect transformation in me by observing all others expressing their personal barriers and experiencing great transformations. It was truly overwhelming. This surely led to multi-fold transformation in everyone who participated.

I believe the course is sure to wake up and ignite anyone who participates. There is a lot of potential within us, just lying below the surface to help us reach any goal we want, create anything we wish!

JGD

Divya Samaj Nirman (DSN) : Art of Living

Attended 4 day DSN course, and it was amazing!


DSN is a very unique course at Art of Living. It pulls you put of where ever you may be stuck navigating this complex life, and self-created barriers. And empowers you from within to conquer fears, inhibitions, and take action in the present moment, right now. You drop everything and become like a child again with no fear, no inhibitions.  And jump into doing something now (DSN).

Our nature:

Our fundamental nature is to expand. More money, more power, more fame, more this, more that. We feel contracted in our current state. We want to expand from it to something bigger. This expansion brings us closer to our true nature and we feel good, at home when we are expanding.

Responsibility:

We usually don't take responsibility because of:

1. Fear of failure.
2. Habit of being in the comfort zone.
3. Even if we overcome #1, #2 we don't know our own capacity if we can do it.

However taking responsibility magically expands, and stretches us.  Power and valor follow responsibility. One expands in proportion of responsibility one takes. Bringing one closer to his/her true nature.

So the wise man follow the path of more responsibility.

And we have infinite capacity to take on.  That we are unaware of.

Ironically the bigger the responsibility gets, the more the effortlessness happens. Instead of being limited to 1 thing, you can expand to doing 10 things. So if 1 thing is stuck, you can go do something else. And it is likely that while you are doing something else that 1 thing that was stuck resolves itself (bringing effortlessness from divinity). Whereas if you are only doing 1 thing, you will be 100% stuck even with 100% effort.

Mind Play:

There is subtle YES and NO mind, when faced with a real world challenge.

The YES mind, or all inclusive consciousness accepts everything and ends all conflicts. It calls for expanding and stretching you to meet whatever challenge there is.  Bringing PEACE, and dropping all barriers. When you Just start doing it with YES mind the whole universe/divinity welcomes and supports your action.

The NO mind is start of conflict, self-doubts, self-barriers. It makes you small,  contracted. Prevents you from taking action.  So observe this, and stop this from taking over.

Action:

We should be like a LION in taking an action without any doubts, fears at all. With 100% of oneself into it. Then the universe starts doing it for us. Melting down the barriers, making the impossible possible.

There should be no feverishness in taking action.

Take the action with full confidence. The confidence behind action is more important than anything else that is needed for it to happen.

The occurrence of odds during a taken action only signal lack of purity (doubts, conflicts) in intention or attention in the action. 100% of one's intention and attention is all that is needed, coupled with full confidence.


Defensive Consciousness:

Whenever we have failed at something we should avoid going into defensive consciousness. It's makes us small, taking our prana down. Falsely makes others or situations more powerful than us.

We should rather accept what is. Take full responsibility of it. In doing so we keep the prana high, and it helps us stretch and expand.

Commitment:

There is lot of energy with us and commitment gives direction to that energy which otherwise would be randomly dissipated. Just like lot of water can just go nowhere, or it can become a river.

Commitment is everywhere. In a family husband and wife are committed to each other. As parents they are committed to their kids. The kids are committed to education, to their parents. Eduction is committed to having a better society. And so on...

Commitment forms a solid structure to make big things happen, allowing divinity to come help us in form our hidden talents, dormant energies that rise up in face of challenges, obstacles when we are committed to make something happen.

The Law of Nature:

Nature/Divinity supports you in your responsibility. The more you take, the more it gives. Its the law. And more will come only if you take on more. Not if you don't.


Total Surrender:

Surrender is realizing that great things happen not because of your effort. But when we totally completely surrender to the divine.

In total surrender we acknowledge that we can only do so much with our small minds, and then let the divinity take care of the rest.

And we gotta surrender it all, the good, the bad everything that we have. Offer it back to divinity.

Seva:

Our existence is not useful if we don't do Seva.

Seva is true seva only if nothing is expected in return. Nothing at all.

If seva is done as part of an organization then it is even more impactful, more powerful. As one's seva can build on top or in collaboration of others seva.

Five Fires:

There 5 fires driven by:

Hunger
Desire, Obsession, Lust
Social criticism by others.
Knowledge
?


Tools:

When in doubt or in face of challenges do the follow things:

1. Extra Sadhna,
2. Ashtavakra Gita
3. Prayer with complete Surrender.
4. OM Namah Shivaya
5. Get into ACTION

Great book on meditation (Ajahn Brahm)

Greatly simplified.

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books11/Ajahn_Brahm-Mindfulness_Bliss_and_Beyond-Chapters1-5.pdf

Other books:
http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books11/

Mind, as seen outside of itself :)

Osho_What you did after enlightenment?

Meditation

Source: http://templeofinnerwisdom.org/philosophy-3/meditation/

Meditation means ‘Silencing the Mind’.
It is about ‘Emptying the Mind’ of all thoughts, wanted or unwanted..!

Meditation means being aware of the present and of oneself at every moment.

The ancient practice of quietening and calming the “thinking” mind is Meditation.Meditation is a state. Not a process.It is a state of being in touch with one’s own divinity.

Meditation on Breath trains us to be aware of the present moment with each inhale and exhale of our breath. Everyone can experience the benefits of Meditation irrespective of whether they have attempted it before or not. It teaches us to “Watch the Breath” with full awareness. Daily meditation energizes us through the ‘Prana’ or Life force that we are inhaling. We notice the melting away of mental and emotional toxins, thus enabling us to tap into higher levels of energy fields and consciousness. Internally, as a man begins this practice, he experiences changes such as greater focus, creativity, self-awareness and a peaceful and calm frame of mind and ultimately leading to the Awakening.

How to meditate for beginners at home

Praise of the Great Hanuman!

Attachment to Body & Mind. Sadhguru

Sadhguru's enlightenment... in his own words

Ten Mental Perfections (Buddha)

The 10 Mental Perfections (paramis = paramitas) are:

1: Generosity (Dāna) 
2: Morality (Sīla)
3: Withdrawal (Nekkhamma) 
4: Understanding (Pañña)
5: Enthusiastic Energy (Viriya)
6: Patient Forbearance (Khanti)
7: Honesty & Truthfulness (Sacca)
8: Resolute Determination (Adhitthāna)
9: Kind Friendliness (Mettā)
10: Imperturbable Equanimity (Upekkhā)

Source: http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/The_Ten_Perfections.htm

Determination (Buddha)

Only determination can completely fulfill the other mental perfections!

Its characteristic is an unwavering decision, its function is to overcome
hesitation, and its manifestation is unfaltering persistence in this task...!
The proximate cause of determination is strong willpower to succeed!
Only the power of resolute determination lifts any praxis to perfection...

When the Future Buddha placed his back against the trunk of The Bodhi
Tree, he right there made this mighty decision: 

"Let just the blood and flesh of this body dry up and let the skin & sinews
fall from the bones. I will not leave this seat before having attained that
absolutely supreme Enlightenment!" So determined did he invincibly seat
himself, from which not even 100 earthquakes could make him waver. 

Whose mind is like a rock, determined, unwavering, immovable,

without a trace of lust of urging towards all the attractions,

without a trace of aversion of pushing away all the repulsive,

from what, can such a refined mind ever suffer?

Source: http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/Determination_Determines.htm

Determination is the Door (Osho)

One and only one moment of determination, of sankalpa, of complete determination is enough, whereas a whole life without it is nothing. Remember it is not time but determination that is the important thing. The achievements of the world are accomplished in the realm of time and those of truth in the realm of determination. Sankalpa, determination, must live in your sadhana.

So what shall I say to you today? We shall be separating tonight and I see that your hearts are already heavy at the prospect. It has only been five days since we all came together here in this lonely spot. Who thought of departure then?

But don't forget that parting is inherent in coming together. They are two sides of the same coin.

Although they appear to be different they always go together. Because they show up separately and on different occasions we are deluded into the false belief that they are not connected. But if you go a little deeper you will find that meeting is itself a parting, that happiness is also grief and that even birth itself is death. Indeed there is hardly any difference between coming and going - or rather, there is no difference at all. It is the same in life. You have hardly come when the process of going begins, and what appears to our minds to be staying on is merely a preparation for leaving.

Really, what is the distance between birth and death? The distance between them can be endless. If life, if this distance between birth and death, becomes a pursuit for self-realization, this distance can have no end to it at all. If life becomes a sadhana, a journey to self-realization, death can become moksha, liberation. While there is not much distance between birth and death, the span between moksha and death is infinite. That distance is as great as the one between body and soul, between a dream and the truth. That distance is much greater than all other distances put together. 

No two points are greater apart than moksha and death.

The illusion that "I am the body" is death; the realization that "I am the soul" is liberation, salvation, moksha. And your life is an opportunity for the realization of truth. If this opportunity for the realization of truth. If this opportunity is used properly and not wasted in vain, the distance between birth and death becomes infinite.

As well, there can be a great distance between your coming here and your departure - a tremendous distance, in just the few days we have spent here. Isn't it possible you will not be the same when you return as when you came? Isn't it possible you may return as entirely new and changed people?

If you want it, this revolution or transformation can take place in a moment. Five days are too many.

If even five previous births have been too few, why talk of five days? Just one moment of will, of complete determination is enough. A whole life without determination is nothing.

Remember that determination and time are the important things. The achievements of the world are made in time; those of truth, in determination. It is the intensity of sankalpa, of determination, that gives a fathomless depth and an infinite expanse to a moment. As a matter of fact, in the intensity of sankalpa time ceases to exist and only eternity remains.

Determination is the door to liberate you from time and unite you with eternity. let your determination be deep and intense. Let it pervade your every breath. Let it be in your memory, asleep or awake.

Only through it can a new birth take place, a birth which knows no death. This is real birth. There is a birth, the birth of the physical body, that inevitably ends in death but I deo not call this real birth.

How can something that ends in death be the beginning of life?

But there is another birth that does not end in death. It is the real birth. Its fulfillment is in immortality. It was for this birth I invited you here, and to this birth I have been calling you for the past few days. We gathered here for that very birth. But merely coming together here is of no value. If you become whole, if you become one and call from the thirst of your own being, then the determination of your entire being will take you into the presence of truth. The truth is very near but you need determination, you need will to approach it. The thirst for truth is there in you but determination is necessary as well. This thirst becomes a sadhana only when it goes hand-in-hand with determination.

What does "determination" mean?

A man once asked a fakir the way to attain God. The fakir looked into his eyes and saw thirst. The fakir was on his way to the river so he asked the man to accompany him and promised to show him the way to attain God after they'd bathed.

They arrived at the river, as soon as the man plunged into the water the fakir grabbed the man's head and pushed it down into the water with great force. The man began to struggle to free himself from the fakir's grip. his life was in danger. He was much weaker than the fakir but his latent strength gradually began to stir and soon it became impossible for the fakir to hold him down. The man pushed himself to the limit and was eventually able to get out of the river. He was shocked. The fakir was laughing loudly and he could not understand his behavior.

After the man had calmed down the fakir asked him, "when you were under the water what desires did you have in your mind?" The man replied, "Desires! there weren't desires, there was just one desire - to get a breath of air." the fakir said, "This is the secret of attaining God. This is determination. And your determination awakened all your latent powers."

In a real moment of intense determination great strength is generated - and a man can leave the world and enter truth. By determination alone one can pass from the world into truth; by determination alone one can awaken from the dream to the truth.

At this time, at the hour of our parting, I want to remind you of this: determination is needed.

And what else? Determination is needed, plus continuity in your sadhana. Your sadhana must be continuous. Have you ever seen a waterfall coming down from the mountains? It is a continuous stream of water that can even break huge rocks. If a man constantly endeavors to break the rocks of ignorance, those rocks that seemed impossible to break in the beginning will one day turn to dust.

And then the man will find his way.

The path is there to be found, without a doubt, but don't try to locate one that's ready-made. You have to find it yourself, by your own efforts. And what dignity this brings a man! How much to our credit it is that we attain truth by our own efforts! Mahavira wanted to convey this when he spoke of truth attained by labor.

The truth is not alms given in charity, it is an achievement. You need determination, continuous effort and one more thing: infinite patience. Truth is infinite, endless, and therefore in waiting for it infinite patience is necessary. God appears only after endless waiting. Those who have no patience cannot attain God. I wanted to remind you of this as well.

Finally, I am reminded of a story I will pass along to you. Although quite imaginary, it is perfectly true.

An angel passed a spot where an old sadhu was sitting. The sadhu said to the angel, "Please ask God how long it will take for me to attain moksha, to achieve liberation." Near the old sadhu a very young, newly-initiated sannyasin was living. He was sitting under a banyan tree. The angel also asked the young sannyasin if he wanted him to ask God about his moksha as well. But the sannyasin did not say a word. He was quiet, calm and silent.

After some time the angel returned. He said to the old sadhu, "I asked God about your moksha. He says it will take three more births." The old man grew furious and his eyes became bloodshot. He threw away his rosary and said, "Three more births! It's atrocious!"

Then the angel went to the young man and said to him, "I also asked God about you. He said you will have to practice your sadhana for as many births as there are leaves on the banyan tree under which you are sitting." The young sannyasin felt very happy and his eyes filled with tears of joy. He jumped up and began to dance. "In that case I have attained! There are so many trees in this world and so many leaves on each of them! and if I will attain God in only as many births as there are leaves on this small banyan tree then I have almost attained him."

This is how the crop of truth is harvested. And do you know the end of this story? The young sannyasin kept on dancing and dancing and that very moment he became free and attained to God. That moment of tranquil and infinite love and patience was everything. That very moment was emancipation. This I call infinite patience. And he who has infinite patience achieves everything here and now. This mental attitude itself is the final attainment. Are you willing to wait this long?

With this question I bid you farewell.

Source: http://oshosearch.net/Convert/Articles_Osho/The_Perfect_Way/Osho-The-Perfect-Way-00000010.html

http://oshosearch.net/Convert/Articles_Osho/The_Perfect_Way/Osho-The-Perfect-Way-index.html

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Ram Dass speaking on Reality, Consciousness and Meditation

How breath can lead us to freedom? ...A story from swami Vivekanand

There was once a minister to a great king. He fell into disgrace. The king, as a punishment, ordered him to be shut up in the top of a very high tower. This was done, and the minister was left there to perish.

Minister had a faithful wife, however, who came to the tower at night and called to her husband at the top to know what she could do to help him. He told her to return to the tower the following night and bring with her a long rope, some stout twine, pack thread, silken thread, a beetle, and a little honey.

The good wife obeyed her husband, and brought him the desired articles.

The husband directed her to attach the silken thread firmly to the beetle, then to smear its horns with a drop of honey, and to set it free on the wall of the tower, with its head pointing upwards.

She obeyed all these instructions, and the beetle started on its long journey. Smelling the honey ahead it slowly crept onwards, in the hope of reaching the honey, until at last it reached to top of the tower, when the minister grasped the beetle, and got possession of the silken thread.

He told his wife to tie the other end to the pack thread, and after he had drawn up the pack thread, he repeated the process with the stout twine, and lastly with the rope. Then the rest was easy. The minister descended from the tower by means of the rope, and made his escape.

In this body of ours the breath motion is the silken thread; by laying hold of and learning to control it we grasp the pack thread of the nerve currents, and from these the stout twine of our thoughts, and lastly the rope of Prana, controlling which we reach freedom.

Source: http://www.hindu-blog.com/2009/07/story-by-swami-vivekananda.html

Lighting up the here and now

By the POWER of your own willingness simply!

That is the engine that powers electric current of your inner bulb lighting up your now.

It simply requires a firm, un-shakable push from within. That you don't even listen to your mind, your own cultivated self. And that is why it is different from mind, and comes from the recesses of within.

That something which no matter what, knows it is might strong. Just knows. And it is irrationally, un-understandably positive. And will have its way. Because it knows that there is.

The power has to be exponentially pushed (every obstacle helping it along the way) so that it becomes a immense gravitational force that sucks in all obstacles.

Willingness Is the Key to Spiritual Awakening

The further along I go with this awakening that has happened and continues to unfold, the more it becomes apparent that the real key to waking up is wanting to wake up. I know it is a radical idea, but it just so happens to be the truth of the matter. Technique is almost always given top billing in the world of spirituality, but the “how” will always come whenever you are truly willing. But willingness, that’s the crux of the issue.

You may already think you are willing. That’s why you meditate, read books by the spiritual giants, read this blog, talk to your friends about spirituality and awakening and enlightenment, go to retreats, all that good stuff. You have a very convincing case to prove how willing you are. But the truth is, if your willingness were electricity, you wouldn’t have enough to power a night light. 

A firefly could outshine you. Sorry, but it is true.

Look inside for a moment. Feel into this subject of willingness. Can you feel the resistance? Can you feel how much “you” don’t want to really wake up? Something inside of you knows this awakening thing is going to be different, really, really different, and it is frightened about that. Something inside wants to feel better about life, but it doesn’t really want what awakening entails.

Why not? Because the “something” resisting all of this, the “something” that is not willing to awaken, is the very thing from which one awakens! The resistance you are feeling, the UN-willingness, is simple the energy of thought, the “mind” as it were, resisting what is its eventual undoing. Well, maybe undoing is too harsh. Let’s just say that the mind gets to go from being the dominant player in your awareness to being second fiddle.

So there is a massive resistance to awakening. The natural question to ask at this point is “what do I do about it?” Ah, good question. But the question itself is just more resistance. Notice that the question is about doing and about “I”. The “I” is the very thing doing the resisting! The doing is how it resists.

Going beyond this resistance, becoming more willing, is the simplest of things: let it happen. What you are wants this awakening to happen. It is what is waking-up to itself. It IS awake, and is looking for this awakeness to transform everything. So, simply pause and let it happen. It will anyway.

Source: http://tomstine.com/willingness-is-the-key-to-spiritual-awakening/

The Kingdom of God is within you

Jesus was once asked when the kingdom of God would come. The kingdom of God, Jesus replied, is not something people will be able to see and point to. Then came these striking words: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)

With these words, Jesus gave voice to a teaching that is universal and timeless. Look into every great religious, spiritual, and wisdom tradition, and we find the same precept — that life’s ultimate truth, its ultimate treasure, lies within us.

As Jesus made unambiguously clear, we can experience this inner treasure — and no experience could be more valuable. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” he declared, “and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). From this interior plane of life, he is saying, we will gain all that is needful.

Aristotle

This inner treasure of life has had many names. Plato refers to it as the Good and the Beautiful, Aristotle as Being, Plotinus as the Infinite, St. Bernard of Clairvaux as the Word, Ralph Waldo Emerson as the Oversoul. In Taoism it is called the Tao, in Judaism Ein Sof. Among Australian aborigines it is called the dreamtime, among tribes of southern Africa Hunhu/Ubuntu. The names may differ, but the inner reality they point to is one and the same.

In every case, it’s understood that this inner, transcendental reality can be directly experienced. This experience has likewise been given different names. In India traditions it is called Yoga, in BuddhismNirvana, in Islam fana, in Christianity spiritual marriage. It is a universal teaching based on a universal reality and a universal experience.

Over the past 20 centuries, leading Christian figures have written extensively on this inner kingdom of God and their personal experience of it. This category of experience forms a vital current in the history of Christianity. Here are just a few brief excerpts from a collection of many:

St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–394 • Turkey)

Gregory of Nyssa, an early Christian theologian, was one of the four great fathers of the Eastern Church and served as Bishop of Nyssa, in the center of modern-day Turkey.

[The soul] leaves all surface appearances, not only those that can be grasped by the senses but also those which the mind itself seems to see, and it keeps on going deeper until by the operation of the spirit it penetrates the invisible and incomprehensible, and it is there that it sees God. The true vision and the true knowledge of what we seek consists precisely in not seeing, in an awareness that our goal transcends all knowledge. . . . [1]

St. Augustine (354–430 • Algeria)

St. Augustine, regarded as one of the towering intellectual geniuses in history, wrote more than a thousand works on philosophy, psychology, theology, history, political theory, and other subjects. HisConfessions, from which the following passage is taken, has remained a popular and influential work for almost 1,600 years.

I entered into the innermost part of myself. . . . I entered and I saw with my soul’s eye (such as it was) an unchangeable light shining above this eye of my soul and above my mind. . . . He who knows truth knows that light, and he who knows that light knows eternity. Love knows it. O eternal truth and true love and beloved eternity! [2]

And I often do this. I find a delight in it, and whenever I can relax from my necessary duties I have recourse to this pleasure. {I experience] a state of feeling which is quite unlike anything to which I am used — a kind of sweet delight which, if I could only remain permanently in that state, would be something not of this world, not of this life. But my sad weight makes me fall back again; I am swallowed up by normality. [3]

St. Gregory the Great (540–604 • Italy)

Born into an eminent Roman family and heir to a large fortune, Gregory decided to become a monk. After he became Pope at the age of 50, he devoted himself to social causes, the first pope especially known for doing so. He reformed the mass and introduced the ritual plainsong known today as the Gregorian chant. He was also a noted theologian. His book, Morals on Job, from which the following passage is taken, influenced religious thought for centuries.

The mind of the elect . . . is frequently carried away into the sweetness of heavenly contemplation; already it sees something of the inmost realities as it were through the mist . . . it feeds on the taste of the unencompassed Light, and being carried beyond self, disdains to sink back again into self. . . .

Sometimes the soul is admitted to some unwonted sweetness of interior relish, and is suddenly in some way refreshed when breathed on by the glowing spirit. . . .

When this is in any way seen, the mind is absorbed in a sort of rapturous security; and carried beyond itself, as though the present life had ceased to be, it is in a way remade in a certain newness [it is refreshed in a manner by a kind of new being . . . ]. There the mind is besprinkled with the infusion of heavenly dew from an inexhaustible fountain. [4]

Johannes Tauler (1300–1361 • France)

Johannes Tauler was one of the most influential German spiritual writers of the 1300s. Martin Luther honored Tauler as a primary influence, and Tauler has exerted a profound influence on religious thought ever since. As one scholar remarked, “Tauler presents the Christian tradition in its purest form.” [5]

The soul has a hidden abyss, untouched by time and space, which is far superior to anything that gives life and movement to the body. Into this noble and wondrous ground, this secret realm, there descends that bliss of which we have spoken. Here the soul has its eternal abode. Here a man becomes so still and essential, so single-minded and withdrawn, so raised up in purity, and more and more removed from all things. . . . This state of the soul cannot be compared to what it has been before, for now it is granted to share in the divine life itself. [6]

St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582 • Spain)

St. Teresa was one of the greatest women of the Roman Catholic church. Her books are considered masterpieces. St. Teresa initiated the Carmelite Reform, which restored the original contemplative character of the Carmelite order. In 1970 she was Doctor of the Church — one of just 33 individuals, and the first woman, to be so honored by the Catholic church.

My soul at once becomes recollected and I enter the state of quiet or that of rapture, so that I can use none of my faculties and senses. . . .

Everything is stilled, and the soul is left in a state of great quiet and deep satisfaction. [7]

From this recollection there sometimes springs an interior peace and quietude which is full of happiness, for the soul is in such a state that it thinks there is nothing that it lacks. Even speaking — by which I mean vocal prayer and meditation — wearies it: it would like to do nothing but love. This condition lasts for some time, and may even last for long periods. [8]

Thomas Merton (1915–1969 • United States)

After completing a masters degree in English at Columbia University in New York, Merton entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in Kentucky, as a monk. He was later ordained as a priest. He published more than 15 books of spiritual writings, poetry, fiction, and essays, and participated in movements for social justice and peace. He took great interest in the religions of the East, particularly Zen, for the light they shed on the depth of human consciousness. From the seclusion of the monastery, he exerted a worldwide influence.

In the following passage Merton describes the experience of “contemplation.” He uses the term not in the current sense (thinking intently about something) but in its older sense, to describe the experience of transcending thought:

The utter simplicity and obviousness of the infused light which contemplation pours into our soul suddenly awakens us to a new level of awareness. We enter a region which we had never even suspected, and yet it is this new world which seems familiar and obvious. The old world of our senses is now the one that seems to us strange, remote and unbelievable. . . .

A door opens in the center of our being and we seem to fall through it into immense depths which, although they are infinite, are all accessible to us; all eternity seems to have become ours in this one placid and breathless contact. . . .

You feel as if you were at last fully born. [9]

Source: https://www.tm.org/blog/enlightenment/kingdom-of-god-is-within-you/