SATHYA SAI BABA = THE LEGEND = WHOL IVES IN A "ENDLESS" CITY (ANANTAPURAM) = IN A HOME FILLED WITH ETERNAL PEACE (PRASANTHI NILAYAM) = LEAVES US ALL

SATHYA SAI BABA

PASSES AWAY

SATHYA SAI BABA has passed away at the age of 85.

It is difficult to recount his innumerable compassionate deeds towards his disciples on the one side, and towards the many unknown and unrelated people on the other side.

Philanthropy, thy name is Sathya Sai Baba! No body can do so much of silent, pride-less, timely, philanthropic work at so many places across the Globe, like Sathya Sai Baba.

His disciples will always remember his  extraordinary words of simple wisdom, and be guided by them in all of their lives.

The infusion of Bhakti, of this ultimate level, into so many lakhs (and crores) of disciples, is perhaps unparalleled in the history of any living human legend. 

I have not heard of any other human legend with so much of bhakti towards him from so many people, when the legend is  still alive.

He lived in Ananta puram district – which literally means the place with no ends at all, or, the place of GOD himself.

He will continue to live in a different “Ananta” puram, now also.

His abode was called Prasanthi Nilayam – a home filled with eternal peace.

He will continue to live in another Prasanthi Nilayam now as well.

“Sambhavaami yuge, Yuge” said Lord Krishna in his Gita.

He came in the form of Sathya Sai Baba and accomplished so many super-human deeds.

He will certainly keep his word and come back again.

But, till then, Sathya Sai Baba will continue to live in those hearts of his disciples, which are kept as “Prasanthi Nilayam” for him. There is absolute inner peace in their hearts.

And, there are lakhs and crores of such disciples.

Sathya Sai Baba’s compassion has crossed all boundaries of nations, religions, regions, and races – and has extended to the whole of humanity.

May his grace live in all of our Hearts.

=Yours

Vijayamohan. V

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PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS = POST-16 :VERSE.16 = DISCOVER SELF = BY KNOWING & CONQUERING 3 GUNAS

PATANJALI

YOGA SUTRAS

POST-16 –VERSE.16

CHAPTER.1 : SAMAADHI PAADHA

CONTINUED…

Patanjali prescribes 2 methods for mind control (1) abhyasa or  repeated practice and (2) vairagya or non-attachment.

But, repeated practice of what?

Simple; Just be a witness to your mind functions or Chitta Vritthis.

The moment, you, as witness, start watching – the mind’s power comes down drastically.  When you are not the witness, you become the thought your self and become the slave of the mind. Either you are the thought, or, you are the witness.

Witnessing  requires great care, caution and consistent practice. This practice (of being a witness to mind function) must be done (a) for a long time,(b) without interruptions, (c) steadfastly with great devotion and dedication and (d) in right manner, before it becomes firmly rooted in you and gain a deep foundation – for success in Yoga. As we analyzed in last post, we found that these are the Standard Success Principles for any great effort.

There is no bigger success in this world, than success in controlling one’s own mind. Each stage of success in this effort will give you greater and greater, true Joy. So, Sadhaka will have sufficient incentive to continue his Sadhana all the time. 

Vairagya (or, non-attachment) is that state of mind, in which the mind loses all desire for all such objects, even those mentioned in tradition or scriptures as worth possessing. Mind now has neither attraction nor aversion for any object or matter.

We saw in last post that desires and possessions have 3 major draw backs: 

(i) all desires are mixed with sorrow 

(ii) all desires  / possessions create bondage / slavery and

(iii) all possession / desires have a finite, temporary existence period.

Non attachment is actually a state of blissful desire-less-ness.  You start desiring less and less because, your interior is getting filled with more and more bliss which needs no external support. We will now see Verse.16: 

APHORISM 16

thath param

purusha khyatheh

guna vaithrshnyam

Ø  thath = that

Ø  param = superior, supreme

Ø  purusha =  consciousness, Self

Ø  khyatheh = knowledge, perception

Ø  guna = elements, qualities, attributes

Ø  vaithrshnyam = freedom from (the three gunas of nature)

Purusha is your innermost self, the in-dweller, the real ‘You’.

Your mind is like a contact lens for the purusha to look at the world. The five senses are the mind’s power. The body is its carriage.

You, as purusha, are always looking at and perceiving the external world through the mind, which acts through through its five senses, which are carried by the body.

If, at some time, you are not looking at the external world, you are looking at your body and assuming that, the body is real you. You spend a lot of your 

life, protecting, beautifying, strengthening, displaying or covering your body. Most of your pleasures and pains stem from your body.

If you are not bothering much about the external world and your body – then, you will spend your time with and within your mind, thinking deeply, widely, critically, creatively and so on and creating their associated emotions as well. The balance of your pleasures and pains therefore stem from your mind. Actually, All pleasures and pains, wherever they stem from, are felt in the mind.

The external world is a very gross world, with gross forms of life and non-life. You can see them, hear them, touch them, smell them and talk to them too (in case of live beings). You can, eat them, drink them, taste them, break them, throw them out or in, cut them, join them and do many other things – because they are gross things available to you in the external world, and you feel, free to use them in all these ways. The external world also includes your parents, spouse, children, friends, neighbours, your house, furniture, bank balance, and all that is outside of you. It includes the distant stars and galaxies too. This external world is made of the Pancha Bhoothas or the five gross elements of space, air, fire, water and earth.

But, your body – is what you consider as yours ,or, even, as YOU. YOU – are your body. You point to your body, when asked to point to you. This is your personal identification. Your identification marks are a few scars on your body.

Therefore, you care for your body a lot more. All the outside world – exists to take care of your body, its hunger, thirst, breath, comforts and so on. This body is a little more subtle, compared to the world outside of you. And, it is also made from the Pancha bhoothas only – from what you eat, drink and breathe.

But, most of the time, your interaction with your body and the outside world – is happening through your five senses – eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin – each of which carries just one particular type of sensation to your mind (or, brain).

All the knowledge gained through the five senses are processed in the mind (or Brain), synthesized therein and arranged in the form of knowledge – or “thought patterns + associated emotional patterns”.

The mind (or brain) is much more subtler than the body – but is still made up of the same Pancha bhoothas.

Your thoughts plus emotions – what do you think of them – they are the subtlest parts of your body, part of the manomayakosa, and they are also made up of the same Pancha bhoothas.

What you are not yet conscious of, is your real, true, self – and is called the purusha, the real you.

This real you is – not made up of the Pancha bhoothas.

There are so many layers of the Pancha Bhoothas which you have to transcend, or, go beyond, before you can experience your real self.

You must become totally free from the constituents of the Pancha Bhoothas!!

And – all of them  consist of the Sathva, rajas and thamo gunas, which they retain as their characteristics.

We are yet to discuss the Sathva, rajas and thamo gunas in detail – which we will do in a later Post.

The whole universe is filled with the Pancha bhoothas and the Pancha bhoothas are filled with the three Gunas of Sathva, rajas and Thamas.

You must get over the three gunas – to discover and to uncover, your true self, the purusha that is you.

There is a trick here. You don’t have to get over the three gunas in the whole universe. You don’t even need to get over the three gunas in your body, though this will help.

You only need to get over, or transcend the three gunas in your mind, first and foremost. The primary method, for it, again, is ‘WITNESSING’. This is such an extraordinary method.

BE A CAREFREE, DEVOTED, CONTINUOUS, CONSCIOUS WITNESS – of your own thoughts and emotions!!

Yet, a knowledge of the three gunas, their composition in you, their treatment by you etc will give great insights to you and be of great help to you in the process of witnessing; in the mastering of your mind and in discovering your true self.

We will discuss all these in the next Post.

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PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS = POST-15 :VERSE.15 = VAIRAGYA = WHAT IS IT REALLY? = 2 STORIES = 3 UNCHANGING CHARACTERISTICS OF DESIRES / POSSESSIONS

PATANJALI

YOGA SUTRAS

POST-15 –VERSE.15

CHAPTER.1 : SAMAADHI PAADHA

Summary

Patanjali prescribes 2 methods of mind control (1) abhyasa or  repeated practice and (2) vairagya = non-attachment or  dispassion.

But, repeated practice of what? Being a witness to your mind functions or Chitta Vritthis. The moment, you, as witness, start watching – the mind’s power comes down drastically.  When you are not the witness, you become the thought your self and become the slave of the mind. Either you are the thought, or, you are the witness. 

Witnessing  requires great care, caution and consistent practice. This practice (of being a witness to mind function) must be done (a) for a long time,(b) without interruptions, (c) steadfastly with great devotion and dedication and (d) in right manner, before it becomes firmly rooted in you and will gain a deep foundation – for success in Yoga.As we analyzed, we found that these are the Standard Success Principles for any great effort.

There is no bigger success in this world, than success in controlling our own mind. Each stage of success will give you greater and greater, true Joy. So, Sadhaka will have sufficient incentive to do his Sadhana all the time. 

APHORISM 14

drista anushravika

vishaya vithrishnasya

vasheekaara sanjna vairagyam

Ø  drista = seen, perceived

Ø  anushravika = listened, scriptural testimony

Ø  vishaya = matter, objects, experienced things

Ø  vithrishnasya = free from desire or craving

Ø  vasheekaara = supreme, mastery, total control

Ø  sanjna = awareness, consciousness, knowing

Ø vairagyam = non-attachment, without attraction or aversion

The Attractions in the world are too many, for the mind.

Certain attractions, mind develops on its own, as its habits; certain others are cultivated by looking at others and following their example; and certain others are cultivated because they are considered superior or lofty, having been mentioned in one’s own culture as superior and lofty, or having been mentioned in some respected scriptures (like the Vedas) as worthy of possession, enjoyment etc.

But, vairagya (non-attachment) is that state of mind, when the mind loses all desire for all such objects, even those mentioned in tradition or scriptures as worth possessing.

In Vairagya, you do not have either deep desire for such objects and things; and you also do not have any aversion for them. Your mind is neutral.

As we have said earlier also, for vairagya also, we are not going to fight with mind. Patanjali has not given us any other method so far – except witnessing. And, witnessing, without involvement, results in vairagya.

STORY :

One farmer was walking at the edge of the road, with some bag-loads on his head. His foot stumbled against a small, strong stone and his foot got hurt. He was angry with the stone – and pushed it angrily further into the middle of the road, muttered a few abuses against it and went away.

A soldier came that way, saw the stone, pushed it to the edge again with his sword and went his way.

A sage came that way, looked at the stone, knew that the stone was a big diamond, but smiled and went his way.

Finally, a diamond merchant came that way, saw the stone, picked it into his bag, went fast to his house, with great fear of being robbed of it.

The farmer stumbled against the stone but did not know the value of the stone. He got hurt, cursed it, pushed it to the middle of the road and went away. But, that’s all. He did not suffer beyond that.

The soldier saw it, pushed it back to the edge, and went away with some satisfaction of having done his duty to the passers-by. He got some satisfaction from doing his duty – but the stone was not of any consequence to him.

The sage saw the stone, knew it as a diamond; but his mind had no attachment or aversion to diamonds. He has no use for it, since the joy in his heart from his “abhyaasa and vairagya” and the consequent mastery over his mind – is far superior to any pleasure that any diamond can give. His mind knows the pitfalls that all desires possess inherently. His “joy” remained undisturbed on seeing the diamond and on leaving it on the road.

The diamond merchant knew the diamond and its material value and hence, avaricious as he was, he picked it up, put it in his back, took it home, secured it from robbers, kings and others, thought he had become very wealthy; but, in reality, his suffering only has increased; without he becoming conscious about it. If a robber, or king takes it away, he too will lose some of his happiness and not gain an iota more.

We really do not know the inherent disadvantages of all of our desires , which are briefly mentioned below :

(i)                  Mixed with Sorrow : No desire and No pleasure is an unmixed blessing. It always comes mixed with some sorrow, which we are unable to see. But, we will have to go through that sorrow, fear, anger - or lack of happiness, on account of our desires for any Possessions. There is fear or sorrow when we try for it, when it actually comes, when it is secured by us, when we are using it, when it is depreciating or getting damaged and when it goes away.

(ii)                 Bondage : Every desire and every Possession creates bondages. We become a slave to it, in some way. Buy a car. You will no more use your legs. Get married. Your wife or husband creates untold bondages, which take away your earlier freedoms. Addiction to sex is a bondage.

(iii)                Temporary : None of our possessions and desires can be permanently with us. They are all temporary. Their temporariness itself makes you go on revolving around it to repair, maintain, keep in good health, and do many other things to – just prolong their stay with us. This list includes external possessions and also our own body and mind too.

STORY :-

Once a King gave a gold vessel to a sage, in token of his gratitude for the sage’s teachings.

When the sage was meditating, a robber came to his cottage and tried to steal the gold vessel.

The sage opened his eyes and told the robber to take whatever he wanted. The robber took the gold vessel and went away.

After 3 days, the thief came back, gave back the Gold vessel  and told the sage – I don’t want this gold vessel; I went through so much fear and sleeplessness these 3 days, because of this gold vessel; not knowing when some body will steal this away or even kill me because of it.

The sage smiled, closed his eyes and went back to his meditation again. The arrival, departure and re-arrival of the Gold vessel was of no consequence to the sage. He had neither attachment nor aversion for the Gold vessel. This – is vairagya. Vairagya must never be confused with AVERSION. It is not.

It is a state of blissful desirelessness. You don’t suffer because of vairagya. You become more and more joyful because of vairagya. 

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PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS = POST-14 :VERSE.14 = 3 SUCCESS PRINCIPLES = FOR WITNESSING = FOR MIND CONTROL PRACTICE

PATANJALI

YOGA SUTRAS

POST-14 –VERSE.14

CHAPTER.1 : SAMAADHI PAADHA

Summary

Our mind is too strong and fickle for us to control. It doesn’t easily obey us. Then, how to make the mind obey us? Patanjali (and Lord Krishna in Gita and Adi Sankara in his writings) give us 2 methods : (1) abhyasa or  repeated practice and (2) vairagya = non-attachment or  dispassion

But, repeated practice of what? Patanjali has already indicated this: Be a witness to your mind. Stand behind the thought-filled mind and watch what the mind is doing. The moment, the witness starts watching – the mind’s power comes down drastically.

When you are not the witness, you become the thought your self. Mind is so powerful. Either you are the thought, or, you are the witness. Witnessing  requires great care, caution and consistent practice.

APHORISM 14

sa thu deergha kaala

nairantharya sathkaara

asevithah dridha bhoomih

Ø  sa = this (practice)

Ø  thu = and

Ø  deergha  kaala = for a long time

Ø  nairantharya = without interruption, continually

Ø  sathkaara =  devotion, sincerity, right action

Ø  asevithah = assiduously pursued or  practiced

Ø dridha-bhoomih = firmly rooted, of firm ground

In last aphorism (13), we saw that abhyasa or practice is required to control the chittha Vritthis. We also suggested that the practice of controlling chittha Vritthis is essentially - done by the process of witnessing.

Now, the next aphorism (14) states that, this practice (of witnessing) must be done for a long time, without interruptions, and steadfastly with great devotion and dedication, before it becomes firmly rooted in you and will gain a deep foundation – for success in Yoga.

Mind or Chittha is a very strong force to contend with. It always tries to  master us, enslave us and lead us behind it – in a stream of unending thoughts. The effect is – we lose track of our life and our goal. We will never find our true self. We begin to assume that the mind itself is our self.

To get over this perennial problem – we identified WITNESSING the mind and its Vritthis as the main weapon to control the mind.

But, mind does not accept defeat before our efforts to master the mind and accept our true mastery on it - in the very short time, or with a few small efforts of witnessing.

Patanjali is actually warning us of this great problem in this aphorism.

The practice (of witnessing, and other methods to control mind) must be –

(a)        done for a long time

(b)        continuous and uninterrupted, and,

(c)         done with great devotion

Only then, the practice will become deep rooted in us and will have a firm foundation – which means, witnessing and enslaving the mind become effortless, after such a long time, continuous, devoted practice. Let us look at the 3 conditions of success once again here, with consequences of not adhering to them :

(1)        Interruptions will put the clock back. We will be back at the first step, each time there is an interruption. In fact, Mind instantly tries to gain enormous strength to stop our efforts, by inducing laziness, giving us the inducement of comforts and so on. We will never know that our mind is silently stopping us from controlling the Chittha Vritthis

(2)        Casual approach is of no use. Devotion and dedication is essential. Every loop hole in our approach is taken advantage by the mind to put its mastery back on us.

(3)        Practice must be done for a long time too. We will find that mind is frequently rebelling against our efforts. It is a battle with our own mind. Therefore, it does take a long time.

For how long? As long as the practice gains firm foundation in us. As long as the mind retains even the slightest resistance to our practice – we must continue. The 3 conditions mentioned, as we can easily see, apply to SUCCESS, in any field of human Endeavour, and are not special, for Yoga.

These are normal, well-known success principles.

Take any Field of Human Effort - these are the standard SUCCESS PRINCIPLES, WELL RECOGNIZED BY ALL OF US TODAY.

Patanjali prescribed them - thousands of years ago - for YOGA.

Lord Krishna says in Dhyana Yoga, that your practice of Yoga (Dhyana) will never go waste. It will aid you in future practice. It will even come with you into your Next birth too.

Not only that – at each stage, you will gain small, small successes, and this must spur you to greater efforts.

There is no bigger success in this world, than success in controlling our own mind. Each stage of success will give you greater and greater, true Joy. So, Sadhaka will have sufficient incentive to do his Sadhana all the time.

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PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS = POST-13 :VERSE.13 = TOOL.1.FOR MIND CONTROL = PRACTICE = DON'T FIGHT THE MIND = BE A WITNESS = HOW GANDHI USED IT

PATANJALI

YOGA SUTRAS

POST-13

CHAPTER.1 : SAMAADHI PAADHA

Summary

Be in the Now; Because, now starts the discipline of yoga. Practice Yoga as a Discipline. Be a devoted disciple of the discipline of Yoga. Yoga is mastering of the mind. Do not remain the servant or slave of  your mind.

Become a witness to all that the mind does.  This automatically restrains your wayward mind. Then, you, as your own true self, arise in your true form.

Your Mind works in five ways; some times, these are painful and some times, painless. These are (1) right Knowledge having valid proof; (2) wrong knowledge without valid proof; (3) Delusion / fantasy (4) deep (dreamless) sleep and (5) remembering or recall.

This implies that Chittha Vritthis are – (i) Storage processes for right  knowledge and wrong knowledge (ii) Swinging between past memories and future fantasies and (iii) Deep, dreamless sleep.

All these actions of mind ignore the Now – the present moment and tend to run away from it. The mind refuses to stay in the present. In the present, it only sleeps. But, it is in the Now, that the yoga discipline lies.

Our mind is too strong and fickle for us to control. It doesn’t easily obey us. Then, how to make the mind obey us? Patanjali (and Lord Krishna in Gita and Adi Sankara in his writings) give us 2 methods : (1) abhyasa or  repeated practice and (2) vairagya = non-attachment or  dispassion

But, repeated practice of what? Patanjali has already indicated this: Be a witness to your mind. Stand behind the thought-filled mind and watch what the mind is doing. The moment, the witness starts watching – the mind’s power comes down drastically.

Vairagya is also a much misunderstood word. To achieve non-attachment also – just be a witness of your mind. Do not run after your thoughts. Do not create fresh thoughts by your efforts. Just remain a witness.

When you are not the witness, you become the thought your self. Mind is so powerful. Either you are the thought, or, you are the witness. Witnessing  requires great care, caution and consistent practice.

When you are the witness, non-attachment to thoughts, their sense objects etc is almost automatic. This becomes easier – if you adopt a saathvic mind-set, eat saathvic food and speak saathvic words . We will see more of these 2 weapons going forward.

APHORISM 13

thathra sthithau yathnah abhyasah

§  thathra = there;of these;(practice and dispassion)

§  sthithau = stability, steadiness,

§  yathnah = persistent effort, sustained endeavour

§  abhyasah = repeated practice

We are now defining abhyasa. It is continuous, repeated practice by us to keep the mind stable and steady.

Keeping the mind stable and steady needs constant practice. Later, Patanjali gives us some useful tips for practicing abhyasa. But, for now, let us stick with our “witnessing” method.

There should be no great effort in witnessing. Easy continuous witnessing of the mind itself makes the mind stable and steady after some amount of witnessing is done.

Are you going to fight with your mind? Your mind really wants it.

It wants a fight – either with some thing or some one outside – or with you, if no one is available.

You don’t have to fight the mind. In any fight, the Mind wins! In a fight, you lose - always.

But, if you are a non-fighting witness – you win. The mind will call you for a fight, when you are the witness. Or, it will try to run away with some thoughts. And, it will ask you to follow it and catch it.

Don’t do either of these two things.

Stay as a non-moving, steady witness. Then, mind also stops. It loses all its thought-power, which is its only power to defeat you and enslave you.

When the thought power becomes weak – it also becomes a stable, steady servant of you.

Yes. This requires, repeated, constant, continuous practice.

As you go on this path, the mind loses all its habits, good and bad both, which turn you around them and enslave you all your life.

The practice, the abhyasa,  is – to become free of all thought processes, of all habits, which are all Chittha Vritthis. The tool is – witnessing.

Mahatma Gandhi was himself a Great Yogi - and he adopted this non-fighting, active witnessing stance - to control the minds of all people, not merely his own. Whether, it is your mind, or, others 'minds, the tool is same. 

He may have called them as Love and Non-violence, but, these are tools that Patanjali himself indicates at different places in Yoga Sutras. These are various forms of Abyasa and Vairagya. 

Of course, later, Patanjali gives many useful tips to strengthen the witnessing process - all of which were effectively used by  Mahatma Gandhi.We will see them as we move forward.

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