From Yogi Aaron

This is a beautiful teaching given to us by Christ.  Below is a fabulous interpretation given, that when analyzed closely, makes sense and becomes very practical for everyday living.

Please enjoy this teaching and may it help you to flourish in your life.

Blessings

Aaron

THE BEATITUDES
Pravrajika Baradaprana

Pravrajika Baradaprana is a senior nun of the Vedanta Society of Southern California at Sarada Convent, Santa Barbara, California. She has contributed articles for various Vedanta journals. The article below is from a class given in the Vedanta Temple in Santa Barbara.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full,” Christ said as recorded in the Gospel of St. John. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” The teachings of Christ are imbued with this feeling of joy and love for God and all humankind.

In the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount opens with the Beatitudes, teachings which were given to the close disciples of Jesus. They contain the essence of spiritual life, applicable to followers of any faith.

When I was studying the Beatitudes for a class presentation, I found that the exact meaning in several of the verses was not clear to me. This led me to do some research, and I found several books which examined the Gospels in the perspective of the old traditions of the Aramaic language. Aramaic, like Sanskrit, is rich in many connotations of the same word.

As many of you know, Aramaic was the Semitic language used in Palestine during the Roman rule, and this was the language spoken by Jesus and his disciples. The New Testament was first translated from the Aramaic into Greek and later translated into English from the Greek rendition.

For this presentation I am using the translation of the Beatitudes from the King James Bible because of its beauty of language and the added value it has of mantra shakti. For hundreds of years, saints and worshippers of Christ have repeated these verses with great devotion and that has given them a special power.

I will first try to analyze the spiritual content of each Beatitude and then discuss some of the ways we can apply these principles in our daily lives.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Poor in spirit is a traditional Aramaic idiom which connotes humility. The root of the word for spirit means the soul, or the cosmic breath of life. One of the connotations of the Aramaic root of the word for poor is to devotedly hold on to something of great value in the sense that one would be poorer for the lack of it.

This conveys the idea that we should seek God with devotion and humility. The kingdom of heaven refers to the divinity within, for Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is within.

The spiritual aspirant should approach God and the spiritual teacher with humility and eagerness. The disciple’s mind needs to be receptive to the spiritual teachings in order for them to take root. This presupposes that certain preparations have already been made, such as acquiring truthfulness and purity of character.

Humility is a characteristic that we find in truly great persons in any field and it adds a charming dimension to their character. Perhaps they feel humble because they are aware that their inspiration comes from God. Humility does not mean to demean oneself in any way, but to be confident without egotism or pride.

How do we overcome egotism and pride? By identifying ourselves with God and having a feeling of unity with the whole universe. Those who are in tune with God do not push themselves forward, ahead of others.

We can work on our pride by trying to see the best qualities in others, sincerely giving them credit for all their achievements.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Taken at face value, those who mourn for the loss of a loved one and turn their minds toward God in prayer, shall be comforted.

In Aramaic the word mourn also connotes deep longing for something. Those who truly yearn for God with all their hearts shall be comforted. The word comforted in Aramaic has another connotation which means seeing the arrival or seeing the face of something one longs for. When there is a deep spiritual longing for God then his or her grace will be experienced.

On another level, this Beatitude suggests that one who turns to God in any kind of distress or unhappiness will receive comfort.

Most of us feel a lack of fulfillment in our lives, but we forget that the cause of this lack is forgetfulness of our true nature. We cut ourselves off from our connection with God, who is our true Self and the source of all happiness. We continually try to fill the void with transitory pleasures, objects or distractions. We may want to find God eventually, but not quite yet.

Because we falsely identify ourselves with our limited egos, we are unaware of the divine spirit which gives life to our body, mind and senses. Therefore we should always make an effort to feel this divine presence, not only at the times of meditation, but whenever we can during the day.

Ignorance of our true nature will be completely removed when we have the direct knowledge of God. This revelation will come when we have uninterrupted longing for God. Sri Ramakrishna said we must yearn for the Lord with a longing heart and we shall surely see him.

How do we acquire this longing for God? An easy way is through inner prayer. We can talk to the Lord or Mother who dwells within the heart and pray that we may have longing for God. One can pray for divine grace and for the vision of God. Intensity of prayer brings concentration of mind and then meditation follows naturally. When we truly want nothing but God, divine grace comes, and then like a magnet, God draws our mind to that higher consciousness.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are the meek is an Oriental proverb, which is still commonly used in Aramaic-speaking countries. A translation of the word meek from the Aramaic is “gentle,” one who is non-aggressive. The word also indicates one who has surrendered to God.

The Aramaic word for inherit can also mean “to receive from the universal source.” God provides for those who truly surrender to him.

To be meek does not mean to be wishy-washy, but to be gentle and non-aggressive from a position of wisdom and strength. Meekness implies a lack of egotism, and non-assertiveness—to be free from the sense of “I and mine.” We have to give up the idea that we can possess anybody or anything. Everyone and every thing belongs to God. This attitude can bring a great sense of freedom and contentment.

We may have possessions, but they do not possess us. We don’t acquire more than we need, and we are careful not to damage the earth and the atmosphere around us. This is all part of non-assertiveness. By surrendering our ego to God, by claiming nothing as our own, we gain everything. We inherit the earth, as it were.

A passage in the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali supports this idea: “The person who is confirmed in non-stealing becomes the master of all riches.” Non-stealing means giving up the idea that we can possess anything, for it all belongs to God. By giving up attachment we can enjoy our possessions without the worry that attachment brings. Non-assertiveness also implies being thoughtful of others and not being pushy or demanding. This quality is much appreciated, both in the workplace and in the family or group situation.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness:
for they shall be filled.

The hunger and thirst which Christ speaks of here is not only hunger for moral virtues, but a hunger and thirst for the knowledge of God. The greater our hunger, the greater will be our fulfillment.

Righteousness, which includes all of the moral virtues, is the basis for spiritual life. Qualities such as truthfulness, kindness, unselfishness, and integrity are the foundations of spirituality. We must be established in those qualities first before real spiritual progress can be made.

Most of us have not yet developed a real hunger and thirst for God. But even a slight interest in realizing God can be strengthened by spiritual disciplines until it grows into a real hunger for God. Regular practices—such as discrimination between the eternal and the transitory, meditation, selfless work and directing our love and prayers to God—are necessary in order to awaken this longing for God.

Often the blows we receive in life force us to go deeper into the meaning and purpose of life. We come to realize that everything we see or experience in the world is of a transitory nature and that God alone exists forever. We have heard that others have had the direct experience of God and so we also can have that experience.

When we can direct all of our thought and energy towards God-realization, the mind becomes one-pointed and filled with the righteousness that Christ speaks of. Then the vision of God is not far away.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

The Aramaic word for mercy connotes pity, love and compassion, radiating from the depths of the body. The root of the word mercy is associated with the womb, indicating a motherly feeling.

There is a verse in the Talmud which says, “Whoever has mercy on others will obtain mercy from God.” God is the mirror of the soul and we receive what we give. This follows the natural law of karma.

The merciful are kind-hearted, forgiving and sensitive to the feelings of others. We are naturally more attuned to the problems of those with whom we come in direct contact, but we should also feel for the miseries of people all over the world, for we are all united in God. In our meditations we can pray for the welfare of others and pray that none should suffer.

The spiritually evolved person is happy at the good fortune of others and genuinely sympathetic with their misfortunes. Envy, jealousy or dislike of people stems from our ego-sense that makes us feel separated from other beings. We cannot be jealous of anyone if we truly feel love for them. Every thought of hate we have towards someone brings a wave of hatred and evil into our own minds. This increases our bondage and ignorance of our true nature.

When negative thoughts arise in the mind we should become aware of them and try to analyze why we are reacting in this manner. Sometimes we can shame ourselves out of negative reactions or we can try to counteract the thought with the opposite thought. For instance, hatred can be counteracted by seeing the reality behind the object of hate. Instead of feeling jealous, we can substitute gladness for someone else’s good fortune and try to feel oneness with them. When we pray for someone and try to feel the presence of God in them, then it becomes easy to love.

When someone hurts us, we should learn to forgive as we would like to be forgiven when we inadvertently hurt someone else. If we want to receive the mercy of God, we must first cultivate mercy, love, and sympathy in our own hearts. Then we shall obtain mercy—the grace of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

This is probably the most important of the Beatitudes and certainly the most quoted in our tradition. Swami Vivekananda extolled this Beatitude saying: “This sentence alone would save mankind if all books and prophets were lost. This purity of heart will bring the vision of God.”

The word heart in Aramaic is “lebhon,” which connotes “the center from which life radiates.” The word for see means not only sight, but also has the connotation of “inner” vision or “sudden” insight. In Aramaic, the word see is more accurately translated in the present tense. Those who are pure in heart see God. The root of the word for God (Alaha) means the One and relates to the cosmic force that is everywhere, pervading the soul and every living being.

Purity of heart is the primary requirement for God-realization which is taught in every religion. What is purity and how is it attained? The pure mind has been compared to a crystal clear lake, with not even a ripple on it. The ripples in our minds are the desires, distractions and evil impressions from our past karmas.

An example has been given of threading a needle. If there is the slightest fiber sticking out, the thread will not go through the needle. In the same way, as long as there are distractions and desires in the mind, the mind will not become concentrated and ascend to a higher state of consciousness.

We have to work through our desires and past karmas to reach a point of evolution where the main desire in our life is to realize God. When all the necessary preparations have been made and the mind becomes completely absorbed in its object of meditation, through the grace of God the divine vision is revealed.

Ignorance of our true nature is the initial cause of the impurities in our minds. Instead of being aware of God, who dwells within and without, we see a concrete world which we take to be real. The mind is naturally outgoing—our senses seek the pleasant, while our ego asserts its “I-ness.”

We instinctively cling to this surface-consciousness, even though we know it is limited and often miserable. We don’t want to give it up because it is all that we know. It is said that even when the vision of God is about to be revealed, there is a momentary drawing back for fear of losing this surface life and consciousness.

Therefore it is important for us to discriminate between the eternal and the temporary things of life. The more we can think in this way, the less the mind and senses will be drawn outwards. We can train ourselves to think more and more of God—the Reality which gives life to everything else in the universe.

How can we purify our minds and hearts in order to see God? The impurities of the mind that we have acquired through many births can be replaced by pure and holy thoughts. The more we think of God, the purer our hearts will be; other desires and cravings will lose their hold on us. Then the heart becomes desireless and God is the uppermost thought in our mind; when this happens we can be sure that the vision of God is not far away.

The performance of selfless and dedicated work, without any attachment to the results, is an easy way to purify the heart. We all have to work and if it is done in the right spirit it helps to unwind our karma without creating new karmas. Unselfishness and loving kindness to all beings is a paramount way of purifying the heart.

Repeating the name of God is said to purify both the body and mind, and this can be done at any time or place throughout the day.

Purity is our basic nature. In our meditations we can affirm this innate purity and divinity. The more we think of purity, the purer we become.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

The Aramaic root of the word for peace, Shlama, calls up the image of planting and tilling the ground or of one who is committed to the act of sowing peace. It also connotes uniting all parties in peace. Shlama is related to the Hebrew word for peace, Shalom.

Christ wanted us to be peace loving, openhearted, kind and compassionate. Such people he called the children of God. Those who create peace within and without become integrated inside. When we create peace in our own hearts, we also send a vibration of peace for the whole world.

A beautiful passage in the Bhagavata says: “He in whose heart God has become manifest brings peace, and cheer, and delight wherever he goes.”  This gentle quality of peace is evident in illumined souls who create an atmosphere of peace, joy and harmony which is tangibly felt by others.

When we think of God we feel peaceful within, and when we can sustain that feeling of peace, others around us will feel it at least to some extent. In our daily lives we can promote peace by making the effort to be harmonious with others and with our physical environment.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Jesus presented in these verses a realistic picture of the society of his time, which was suspicious of a new prophet and would finally crucify him. He knew that the followers of such a prophet would be persecuted for holding to their beliefs. Therefore he assured his disciples that they would receive their reward in another realm, the kingdom of heaven.

We may not be faced with this kind of persecution today, but there are times when we may need to stand up for our beliefs—especially for defending the ideals of religious freedom, harmony, kindness and tolerance for diversity of race and ethnic cultures.

If people want to criticize us for any reason, they will criticize us no matter what we do or say. As long as we have done what we know to be right, we need not be concerned about other people’s opinions.

When someone speaks ill of us, our natural reaction is to be offended and to retaliate. This is a reaction of the ego. When we react in this way we lose our balance and cut ourselves off from our connection with God. Criticism and unfair invective offer us an opportunity to discriminate, reaffirm our true nature, and pray for those who speak against us. Sometimes adversity has a positive effect, by forcing us to turn to the Reality for composure and understanding.

The kingdom of heaven lies within each one of us. The illumined soul has found that heaven within his or her own heart. Our reward will come when we reach that state of perfection when our minds always dwell in God. Then we will remain even-minded no matter what befalls us.

The people on our planet are not standing in a straight line,
Look closely. Everyone is really standing in a circle,
holding hands. Whatever you give to the person
standing next to you, it eventually
comes back to you.

© Vedanta Society of Southern California. All Rights Reserved.

by Swami Rama

The aim of life is Self-realization. The saying, “Know thyself,” was written on the temple of the oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece. This is where East and West meet. Both East and West agree on this goal, though they might hold different ways of attaining it.

The one important part of life is ignored by the educational systems at home, in society, and in the colleges and universities: “Know thyself.” You need to understand yourself on all levels. You don’t need much external information; you already have true knowledge within. You need to learn how to apply the knowledge that you have.

All the practices, therapies, remedies, and all the exercises whatsoever, are not really meant for the body or the soul. The soul is perfect; it doesn’t need any exercise or meditation. The soul needs no improvement. If you meditate, there will be no change in the Spirit. You need to meditate and you need help, not for the soul, but for your mind. As the great Upanishads say, “The mind is the instrument that can become either a means of liberation or a means of bondage.” Thus, you should understand the nature of your mind. It’s easy to say that, but it’s not so easy to actually know it. When you want to study the mind, how do you actually do it? You don’t have any external device or instrument to use to study the mind, so you have to train one of the aspects of your mind to study the totality of the mind. You have to train a part of the mind, so that all the functions of the mind can be studied through the use of that one part.

The first real step of development in life is to know yourself, not to talk about knowing God. This is a journey within; you are trying to explore who you are, so that you can function well in your life, understand your habit patterns, and learn to live happily in the world. To learn that, you need to study your own self of three levels: action, speech, and mind.

Studying the sayings of the great sages does inspire and support a student. But studying one’s own thoughts, emotions, deeds, and actions is the real study. We intellectually know many things, yet our ignorance is not dispelled. By self-study we experience directly that which dispels the darkness of ignorance. Only when one has carefully learned the study of his own internal states will the true knowledge of the Self begin to dawn.

The human endeavor and purpose is not actually to attain God. You already have God; God is omnipresent. What you don’t have, what you have not attained, is yourself. So your endeavor should really be to attain yourself. When you truly know yourself, when you realize yourself, then you will understand that you have also realized God. That which you call God today, you will understand fully when you know yourself on the deepest level. Do not disturb your practice of religion, but also learn to know yourself on all levels.

You do not become or attain God, and even if you could become God, you’d be sorry, because if that happened, you would no longer be understood by anybody. Strive instead for one goal, and that is to understand your Self; know how to know the Self. If you do not know yourself and you are trying to know God, it is not possible to do so. Don’t hanker after God; know about yourself first. You are fully equipped to know yourself; you have all the means and tools to do so. You are not searching for something outside yourself that is difficult to find. You are searching for someone who is already within you, so it is actually easy to find. The day that you see the Source face to face, you have accomplished your work as a human being—that is your human endeavor.

The external world is like a wheel. The spokes are like the various faculties of mind. Reality is your center hub, but to know that inner cause of all your movements, you first have to know the nature of these faculties of mind which make you move. There are three aspects of yourself to understand: that which moves, that through which it moves, and that which is the cause of movement. You have to clearly understand these three aspects to fully understand yourself. The nature of the hub within cannot be imagined with the mind, because your mind is conditioned by time, space, and causation. Your human effort is to know your entire Self, all three aspects—the self that moves, the subtler self that motivates us to move, and the subtler Self that is the cause of movement. This is why you should distinguish between the mere self and the real Self.

You have to know yourself by first understanding your internal states; you cannot know the center hub unless you know the wheel. This wheel of the mind rotates because of its spokes, and these spokes rotate because of the hub. If you want to know the hub of your own nature, it’s a very simple principle to understand. These spokes are the four functions of mind, and inside, at the deepest level, there is the hub. These functions operate and these spokes rotate because of the hub, the Center of Consciousness. All power comes from the Center. The world only inspires or motivates the mind. Everyone should learn to understand their own mind. Whenever you perform any action, ask your buddhi to tell you whether it is right or wrong.

I know this will disappoint you, but it is the truth: no one outside you can give you salvation. Don’t trust or depend on anyone to do that…. the truth is, we have to enlighten ourselves. You have to light your own lamp; nobody else will give you salvation. The simple method to enlightenment is to first know yourself. Learn to work with yourself; don’t give up in that. Give up on anything else, but don’t give up that goal.

When you understand the functions of the mind, you can establish inner coordination. But if you are not coordinated, you stumble, and inner stumbling creates a serious conflict for human beings. Inner conflict is the mother of all problems, because if there is conflict within, there will always be conflict without. How to be free from conflicts within and without is the only question in life. On the inner path, you will always get help from the center of truth, for the quest of truth is always helpful. We are all children of truth and immortality and eternity. But before you can understand and realize this, you must learn to analyze yourself. It is your mind and personality which prevent you from experiencing that finest level of yourself—the Center of Consciousness within.

Slowly you should prepare yourself for the advanced level of teaching. Knowledge will come of itself, but all knowledge really comes from within. It is already within you. The world outside only gives you facts to relate to that particular knowledge that is already within you. Never forget that the source of knowledge is within you. Learn to depend only on inner knowledge.

This is a system of commitment, not commandment. You are committing to yourself, to your path, and to the goal that you will know yourself. This is your commit¬ment; it is not a commandment from outside you, that you must know yourself. If you don’t want to know yourself or don’t care to know yourself, then no one can force you. But as you grow you will come to a point where you will want to know your deeper Self, and then you become committed to the idea that you will know yourself in this lifetime. You want to know yourself on all levels.

Learn to know yourself; you have sufficient time to accomplish that. Don’t use the excuse that you don’t have enough time. You may say you not attained anything. Are you sure that you have been doing meditation? Did you sit and sleep or dream or think? Maybe you have been thinking about many things in the name of meditation. Maybe you have sat for years in meditation but did not really meditate, and then have complained that nothing has happened to you. Do not give your mind space to wander when you meditate, but go step by step in the process.

Examine yourself sincerely and ask yourself if you want to meditate, to explore, to know yourself, and to choose your habits. Presently you are a stranger to yourself. How can you live in the world and tolerate such agony? Many traditions say to the student, “Know thyself,” as the first step. To know yourself, there are only three schools or methods: prayer, meditation, and contemplation. In the process of meditation there is expansion in the waking state. You are facing yourself in that waking state, and your thought patterns are coming. You have stored them in the unconscious, and when you relax your conscious mind, the thoughts come forward. Learn to allow your thought patterns to let go, and then develop introspection.

The waking state is actually only a small part of the mind. The waking state can be expanded. It can become a means for us. Any state of mind—waking, dreaming, or sleeping—can be used as a means to attain the goal. The waking state can be expanded, but even if you do not want to expand it, then you should still learn how to make your mind one-pointed through meditation on a focal point. This requires only a small part of the totality of the mind to bring your waking state into balance. However, the yogis say to expand your consciousness during the waking state. When you expand yourself, what will happen? Through expansion of the waking state you can attain turiya, the fourth state, beyond waking, dreaming, and sleep.

If anyone wants to be a student of the interior world, of the path of light, if he wants to do inner research, he will have to understand this point: one must have a purified, free, and one-pointed mind to know and examine the interior Self. For conducting research within, one should be truthful, sincere, and free from prejudices. Research should not be shaded by social and cultural norms or religious fanaticism. It requires a totally independent and unbiased mind. In doing research within, we have to completely forget our prejudices from the past, and we have to remain true to ourselves; otherwise our research will be incomplete.

Also, we must start training the mind to be inward. We must train the mind to go inside to our personal world, so that we can understand those needs, motivations, desires, those strong powers within us that move us to do something in the external world. We want to know their nature. We want to know why we act and feel the way we do. We ourselves have created our miseries, and if we want to understand this truthfully, we will have to turn the mind inward. The mind must be trained to go inward and examine itself because it is not accustomed to practicing a technique of inwardness.

One can discover a great deal about the inner life by studying body language. So when we start turning within, we do not have to ignore the external world, nor do we have to make any radical change in our external life. We simply have to be ourselves and create a strong desire to know ourselves from within. That desire is the first requirement. If one doesn’t understand the importance of spirituality and meditation, then he should not waste his time and energy with it. If one is not convinced that meditation is a technique that is helpful, if one is not prepared, then he should not apply that technique. So first, to research the inner world, one needs a burning desire to know his inner potentials and states.

The yogis say that you can analyze the whole universe and know everything about it by understanding yourself and your mind. You want to know about the universe, and to know about it, you will have to know the miniature universe that is yourself. You are becoming a scientist, and you want to know about the universe, yourself, your relationship with the universe, and all the mysteries of the universe. You want to learn everything, but to do this you need to understand yourself and your mind first.

On this path, you yourself are a laboratory for research. Your internal states contain many instruments for research. Your internal states contain many instruments within you; you have to learn to use those instruments to understand the Consciousness that flows from its Center, which is already within you. Nothing external is going to help you in your quest.

The meditator really becomes an internal explorer and investigator, who is studying the internal reactions and processes of the mind, on both the conscious and unconscious levels. The meditator is an interior researcher, and what is brought out is creative intelligence that can be used in the external world. Meditation helps you to fully know and understand all the capacities of the mind—memory, concentration, emotion, reasoning, and intuition. Those who meditate begin to understand how to coordinate, balance, and enhance all these capabilities, using them to their fullest potential. Then they go beyond the usual states of mind and consciousness.

Many people think the mind can be controlled. That is not a useful idea. Like the monkey, the mind can never actually be controlled; it can only be directed. If you want to try to control your mind, you will regret the results. Forget the word “control” and learn to direct your mind and energy on all levels.

There have been many scholarly commentaries on the Yoga Sutras but all the commentaries miss something very practical. Such commentaries can only satisfy the intellect, but do not actually help you beyond that: “yogash chitta vritti nirodah”—yoga is the control of the “modifications” of the mind. Nirodah means control; there is no other English word for it. Control does not mean suppression, but channeling or regulating. You use this word “control” everyday, without knowing why you are using it, resulting in confusion. The mind can be understood in many ways, but even if you know exactly what the mind is, you still don’t have control over your mind. Mere knowledge will not give you control over your mind. Control means knowing the way in which to direct your mind. Control does not mean preventing the mind from functioning, but being aware of the mind and having a choice about the way it is directed.

That which separates you from your real Self—the whole and real—is your ego. You may wonder how you can cut down that ego or may try to tear it down or forget it, but that is not possible. Instead, you have to learn to polish or train your ego. When the ego becomes aware of the Reality, it is trained, and then the ego is useful. If the ego does not remain aware of the Reality, then the ego becomes unhelpful; it is then harmful or an obstacle. The mind is a great tool that you can learn to use when you know about the various faculties of mind. As long as there are conflicts in your mind, it means that you have not resolved certain things. Such conflict creates misery and then you experience the misery. You can resolve your conflicts yourself. No one else is going to resolve them for you.

You first need to be de-hypnotized, to understand free thinking. Free thinking will come when you fully understand all the faculties of mind and the modifications of your mind, when you understand each part of the whole wheel of the mind separately….I know I am telling you something that is hard to understand, but I have to, because otherwise you will not make any progress on the path.

The purpose of fear is to lead you to question and understand why you have that fear in the first place. As you examine your fears, you will learn that all your fears are somehow false and based on misunderstandings. There is no truth or reality to your fears. Many fears remain buried within you, and you never really examine them, so you remain at their mercy. In fact, you are afraid to examine your fears, but you should learn to examine each fear, one by one, and to encounter them and then be free of their control. This process is very important. To fear and try to escape from examining one’s thought process is a serious mistake for a student to make.

All your fears should be examined so that you can remain fearless as long as you live. There is no charm in a life full of fear. You should not accept this fearful sort of living. Fearless living is possible when you have understood the way to do your actions in the external world and when you have learned about your internal states.

All your actions leave some impression in your unconscious mind, and those impressions then become your samskaras and control your life. To make progress, your samskaras need to be purified. You can do that in meditation if you ask all the impressions in your mind to come forward, so that you can examine and burn them. You can consciously bring forward all the latent, buried impressions during meditation, telling your mind that you are ready to face them, and if you have built that kind of determination and willpower, you can allow those samskaras to be burnt mentally. They are all mental impressions, there is nothing solid or material there. All these past impressions can be burnt, and then you can be free from them. The goal is to expand the conscious aspect of mind so that there is no unconscious.

If you want to understand intuition and the path to inner wisdom, you must first understand the avenues through which you receive knowledge. This includes the processes of perception and conception, instinct, as well as intuition. Deep within you, within the recesses of your being, lies the library of intuition, but you do not know how to reach it, and you don’t have access to its wealth. We are all rich, deep within. Great people receive a small fountain from that knowledge, and that’s why they become great. The knowledge of the mind, the senses, and instinctual knowledge do not help in this. All those kinds of knowledge, all those resources, are important and we need them and can use them, but the highest of all knowledge is intuition.

Intuition does not require any evidence at all; it does not need to ask if something is right. When you have intuition, you don’t have to ask about it, because you know it’s right. That knowledge helps you see things and know things as they are, and then you no longer see things incompletely and partially.

All things happen in the inner world long before they happen outside. If you concentrate and watch silently, you can know what is going to happen to you in the future, but usually your mind remains busy in the material world. Everything happens in the subtle world long before it takes place externally. If you know how to, you can take precautions.

When your mind becomes aware that the Spirit is everywhere, then the mind surrenders. The mind learns that although it thought it knew all things, Spirit is everywhere and the mind is nothing. Mind learns that all the power it has is due only to the Spirit, the Source of life, the Source of Consciousness. Then the mind surrenders. That is the meaning of true surrender; such self-surrender is the highest of all yogas. Your mind surrenders when you reach such a height that the mind doesn’t function any longer. Mind is still there, but as it becomes aware of the Reality, its ego vanishes. When you fully understand the functions of mind, you will know how to work with yourself.

We need to inspect our thinking process. We must recall that what is going on in our minds is produced by us. We should inspect it and always recognize it as our own product. Each person’s thinking is his own creation. We begin by learning to inspect and analyze our own minds. First we find that we do indeed have minds because we think. We come to realize that we are not the same as our thinking process and our minds. Through analysis, through introspection we learn to discriminate between the thinker and the thinking process. The first step to control and liberation is self-observation.

One can easily understand that the center of consciousness, Atman, is overlaid by many coverings. The aspirant should apply the exact scientific methods taught by the ancient scriptures and teachers to attain an understanding of each covering. These methods enable the student to comprehend both the mere self—body, breath, senses, and all the dimensions of mind—and to help him go to the source of consciousness. Before one reaches the fountainhead of life and light from which consciousness flows spontaneously, he has to understand the various realities that exist. He can then conceive of the idea that the human beings have many subtle bodies within the physical body.

In the path of sadhana no effort is in vain; all sincere efforts bear their fruits in the unconscious mind according to the inevitable law of karma. Even a little sadhana practiced with sincere effort leaves deep imprints in the unconscious mind. Those impressions help and guide the sadhaka whenever he goes off the path. The conscious part of the mind is but a small part of the whole. It is helpful in communicating with the external world but has very little use on the inward journey. If the conscious part of the mind is trained not to create further barriers, then sadhana is useful.

Yoga sadhana alone has explored all the unknown levels of life and is thus useful for knowing the levels of the unconscious and for training the totality of the mind. Sadhana alone is the way of knowing, understanding, and analyzing the internal states and one’s relationship to the external world. While treading the path of the inner world, the sadhaka comes in touch with those potentialities that guide him unconsciously, or sometimes through dreams, and at other times consciously. Fearlessness thus increases, and self-reliance is strengthened. He is fully protected by the finer forces that exist, although he is not aware of them because of his extroverted nature. No danger can ever befall the sincere sadhaka in his exploration of the inner realms. The sadhaka is completely protected if he is fully dedicated to the goal of Self-realization.

Attention is the first step on the ladder to develop one-pointedness of mind. One must pay wholehearted attention to all of the things he does from morning until evening. If one forms the habit of attending fully to whatever he is doing, the mind will become trained, and eventually concentration will become effortless. Thousands of thoughts remain awaiting to be entertained. The purpose of sadhana is to attend to those thoughts in a systematic manner so that they do not create unrest in the inner world.

You need to examine honestly what is in your mind. Be honest with yourself. Do not meditate if you are being hypocritical and are just sitting and punishing yourself. There should be only one desire, the desire for meditation, the desire to go deep inside. At first, you will fail to achieve it, but that does not matter; you should not give up.

Start to work with yourself: when you work with yourself, do not waste energy observing what others are doing. Appreciate what they are doing, and do not condemn or criticize what they are not doing. Otherwise, you spend your whole life in celebrating or in mourning. What is important is that you constantly work with yourself, no matter who you are. The thought, “I am going to enlighten myself,” should not make you egotistical. You should not isolate yourself; this thought should make you more creative, because withdrawing yourself from the world is not your real motive; it is not life’s purpose. Your life’s purpose is to live in the world and yet remain above it.

Above all else, remember this one thing: it is easy to meet that Infinity within.

That most familiar of asana sequences, Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is as rich in symbolic and mythic overtones as it is in physical benefits.

By Richard Rosen

In many cultures, light has long been a symbol of consciousness and self-illumination. “The world begins with the coming of light,” wrote Jungian analyst Erich Neumann in The Origins and History of Consciousness (Princeton University Press, 1995). “Opposition between light and darkness has informed the spiritual world of all peoples and molded it into shape.”

Our primary source of light is, of course, the sun. When we look at our closest star, we may see nothing more than a big yellow ball. But for thousands of years, the Hindus have revered the sun, which they call Surya, as both the physical and spiritual heart of our world and the creator of all life itself. That’s why one of Surya’s many other appellations is Savitri (the Vivifier), who, according to the Rig Veda, “begets and feeds mankind in various manners” (III.55.19). Moreover, since everything that exists originates from the sun, as Alain DaniŽlou wrote in The Myths and Gods of India (Inner Traditions, 1991), it “must contain the potentiality of all that is to be known.” For the Hindus, the sun is the “eye of the world” (loka chakshus), seeing and uniting all selves in itself, an image of and a pathway to the divine.

One of the means of honoring the sun is through the dynamic asana sequence Surya Namaskar (better known as Sun Salutation). The Sanskrit word namaskar stems from namas, which means “to bow to” or “to adore.” (The familiar phrase we use to close our yoga classes, namaste—te means “you”—also comes from this root.) Each Sun Salutation begins and ends with the joined-hands mudra (gesture) touched to the heart. This placement is no accident; only the heart can know the truth.

The ancient yogis taught that each of us replicates the world at large, embodying “rivers, seas, mountains, fields…stars and planets…the sun and moon” (Shiva Samhita, II.1-3). The outer sun, they asserted, is in reality a token of our own “inner sun,” which corresponds to our subtle, or spiritual, heart. Here is the seat of consciousness and higher wisdom (jnana) and, in some traditions, the domicile of the embodied self (jivatman).

It might seem strange to us that the yogis place the seat of wisdom in the heart, which we typically associate with our emotions, and not the brain. But in yoga, the brain is actually symbolized by the moon, which reflects the sun’s light but generates none of its own. This kind of knowledge is worthwhile for dealing with mundane affairs, and is even necessary to a certain extent for the lower stages of spiritual practice. But in the end, the brain is inherently limited in what it can know and is prone to what Patanjali calls misconception (viparyaya) or false knowledge of the self.

History and Practice
There’s some disagreement among authorities over the origins of Sun Salutation. Traditionalists contend that the sequence is at least 2,500 years old (perhaps even several hundred years older), that it originated during Vedic times as a ritual prostration to the dawn, replete with mantras, offerings of flowers and rice, and libations of water. Skeptics of this dating maintain that Sun Salutation was invented by the raja of Aundh (a former state in India, now part of Maharashtra state) in the early 20th century, then disseminated to the West in the 1920s or 1930s.

However old Sun Salutation is, and whatever it may originally have looked like, many variations have evolved over the years. Janita Stenhouse, in Sun Yoga: The Book of Surya Namaskar (Innerspace Map Studio, 2001), illustrates two dozen or so adaptations (though several are quite similar). Our sequence here consists of 12 “stations” composed of eight different postures, the last four being the same as the first four but performed in reverse order. In this sequence, we’ll start and end in Tadasana. (Station 12, not pictured, is the same as station 1 on p. 91).

The eight basic postures, in order of performance, are Tadasana (Mountain Pose), Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute), Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), Lunge, Plank Pose, Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose), Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose), and Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose).

The transition from posture to posture is facilitated by either an inhalation or an exhalation. As you move through the sequence, watch your breath closely. Slow your pace or stop and rest entirely if your breathing becomes labored or shuts down altogether. Always breathe through your nose, not your mouth: Nasal breathing filters and warms incoming air and slows your breathing down, thereby lending the sequence a meditative quality and reducing the risk of hyperventilation.

To perform the sequence, start in Tadasana, with your hands together at your heart. Inhale and lift your arms overhead to Urdhva Hastasana, then exhale while lowering the arms down and fold your torso into Uttanasana. Then inhale, arch your torso into a slight backbend with the fingertips or palms pressed to the floor or blocks, and exhale while bringing your left foot back into a lunge. Inhale forward to Plank, then exhale and lower yourself into Chaturanga Dandasana. On an inhalation, arch your torso up as you straighten your arms into Upward Dog. Exhale back to Downward Dog; step the left foot forward on an inhalation into Lunge. Swing the right leg forward to Uttanasana on an exhalation, then lift your torso and reach your arms overhead on an inhalation to Urdhva Hastasana. Finally, lower your arms on an exhalation and return to your starting point, Tadasana.

Remember, this is only a half-round; you’ll need to repeat the sequence, switching left to right and right to left to complete a full round. If you’re just starting out, it might help to work on the poses individually before you put them together. (Visit www.YogaJournal.com for more how-to information.)

Many of the variations of Sun Salutation begin in Tadasana with the sacred hand gesture mentioned earlier. Most students know it as Anjali Mudra (Reverence Seal), but—in honor of the ancient yogis—I like to call it by one of its other names, Hridaya Mudra (Heart Seal). Touch your palms and fingers together in front of your chest and rest your thumbs lightly on your sternum, with the sides of the thumbs pressing lightly on the bone about two-thirds of the way down. Be sure to broaden your palms and press them against each other evenly, so your dominant hand doesn’t overpower its nondominant mate. The pressing and spreading of the palms helps to firm the scapulas against, and spread them across, your back torso.

Since the sequence is, in essence, a humble adoration of the light and insight of the self, it’s essential to practice Sun Salutation in a spirit of devotion and with your awareness turned always inward toward the heart. Make each movement as mindful and precise as possible, especially as you near the end of your rounds, when fatigue can lead to sloppiness.

Deepening the Practice
The sequence itself is fairly straightforward, but beginning students often stumble in two parts of it. The first of these is Chaturanga Dandasana: Lowering from Plank, students who lack sufficient strength in the arms, legs, and lower belly commonly wind up in a heap on the floor. The short-term solution is simply to bend the knees to the floor just after Plank, then lower the torso down so that the chest and chin (but not the belly) lightly rest on the floor.

The second sticky part is in stepping the foot forward from Downward-Facing Dog back into Lunge. Many beginners are unable to take the full step smoothly and lightly; typically, they thump their foot heavily on the floor about halfway to the hands, then struggle to wriggle it the rest of the way forward. This is a consequence both of tight groins and a weak belly. The short-term solution is to bend the knees to the floor right after Downward Dog, step the foot forward between the hands, then straighten the back knee into Lunge.

Success with Sun Salutation, as with all aspects of yoga practice, depends on commitment and regularity. An everyday practice would be best, but you might at first aim for four times a week. If possible, don’t skip more than a couple of days in a row, or you might end up back at square one.

Traditionally, Sun Salutation is best performed outdoors, facing east-the location of the rising sun, a symbol of the dawn of consciousness and jnana. This might be a perfect wake-up routine in India, where it’s usually warm outside, but it’s probably not feasible in Michigan in late December. Nowadays, Sun Salutation is used mostly as a preliminary warm-up for an asana session. I do 10 to 12 rounds at the start of every practice—or after a few hip and groin openers—and a few more on each equinox and solstice to acknowledge the change in the light. On days when only a quickie practice is possible, an intense 10-minute Sun Salutation and five minutes spent in Savasana (Corpse Pose) will do you just fine.

Launch your practice slowly with three to five rounds, gradually building up to 10 or 15. If this seems like a lot, remember that the traditional number of rounds is 108, which may take you more than a few weeks to work up to. You can pace the sequence briskly to generate heat and cleanse the body-mind, or more moderately to create a moving meditation.

If you’re looking for a more vigorous Sun Salutation, consider the approach of the vinyasa traditions such as K. Pattabhi Jois-style Ashtanga Yoga, which uses a jumping version of Sun Salutation to link the individual poses in their fixed series.

Variations of Sun Salutation are legion, and because of the sequence’s malleability, it’s easy enough to cook up a few of your own. For instance, you can make things more challenging by adding one or more poses: Insert Utkatasana (Chair Pose) after Urdhva Hastasana, or from Lunge, keeping your hands on the floor, straighten the forward leg to a modified Parsvottanasana (Side Stretch Pose). Let your imagination run wild and have fun.

Richard Rosen is a YJ contributing editor.

Return to http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/928

Ever wonder what you’re chanting during a yoga class? Nervous about chanting the wrong thing? The Yoga Journal Guide provides translations, historical information, and audio clips for common chants.

1. AUM

The Primal Shabda
Om, actually pronounced “Aum,” is an affirmation of the Divine Presence that is the universe and is similar to the Hebrew “Amen.” There are many ways of chanting Aum, but this is an approach that will initiate you as a Shabda Yogi, one who pursues the path of sound toward wholeness and higher states of consciousness. Listen to Aum

2. Lokah Samastha
A Chant for Wholeness
Lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu.
May this world be established with a sense of well-being and happiness. Listen to Lokah Samastha

3. Gayatri
Being Illuminated by Sacred Sound

Om bhur bhuvas svaha
Thath savithur varaynyam
Bhargo dheyvasya dhimahih
Dhyoyonah pratchodhay-yath

We worship the word (shabda) that is present in the earth, the heavens, and that which is beyond. By meditating on this glorious power that gives us life, we ask that our minds and hearts be illuminated.Listen to the Gayatri Mantra

4. Om Namah Shivaaya

Om Namah Shivaaya, Namah Shivaaya, Nama Shiva
I bow to Lord Shiva, the peaceful one who is the embodiment of all that is cause by the universe.
Listen to Om Namah Shivaaya

5. Bija Mantras

Seed Mantras

In the “seed” (bija) mantras each seed is conceived of as the sound-form of a particular Hindu deity, and each deity is in turn a particular aspect of the Absolute (Brahman). It’s said that just as a great tree resides in within the seed, so does a god or goddess reside in each bija. When we chant the bijas, we identify each syllable with the divine energy they represent.

Lam
Curve the tip of your tongue up and back, and place it on the rear section of the upper palate to pronounce a sound like the word alum without the initial a.
Base of the spine

Vam
Place the upper set of teeth on the inner section of your lower lip and begin with a breathy consonant to imitate the sound of a fast car. Pronounce the mantra like “fvam.”
Genitals

Ram
Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of the front section of the upper palate, roll the r as in Spanish, and pronounce the mantra like the first part of the word rumble.
Abdomen

Yam
Inhale audibly through your mouth, and pronounce the word hum (as in humming); allow the breath to extend beyond the resolution of the consonant.
Solar Plexus and Heart Area

Ham
Inhale noiselessly through your mouth, and pronounce the sound like the word yum (as in yummy); allow the sound along with your breath to fill your mouth and throat cavity.
Throat
Om
Inhale audibly through your nostrils, and direct the stream of air to the point between your eyebrows. Pronounce the sound along with your exhalation as a subtly audible whisper, allowing the sound and breath to resonate in the cranial area.
Point between the eyebrows

Awareness of the ida and pingala nadis can help you develop a balanced practice and clear the way for your spiritual growth.

Balancing Act – Alternate Nostril Breathing

By James Bailey

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A student of the great Indian poet Kabir once asked him, “Kabir, where is God?” His answer was simple: “He is the breath within the breath.” To understand the profound implications of Kabir’s reply, we need to look beyond the physical components of breath, the oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other molecules that stream in and out with our every inhalation and exhalation. Beyond this breath, yet within it is prana, the universal vital energy that is quite literally the stuff of life.

For those of us who practice yoga, the challenge is to harness this energy so it can fuel our physical, mental, and spiritual development. To do this, we need to look deeply into the mysteries of the mind and the subtle body. Fortunately, the early practitioners of Tantra voyaged into this inner landscape, mapping the many ways energy circulates within us. Among their most important discoveries were the nadis, the vast network of energy channels that makes each individual an integrated, conscious, and vital whole.

The Sanskrit word nadi derives from the root nad , which means “flow,” “motion,” or “vibration.” The word itself suggests the fundamental nature of a nadi: to flow like water, finding the path of least resistance and nourishing everything in its path. The nadis are our energetic irrigation system; in essence, they keep us alive.

{sidebar id=2} According to many Tantric texts, the human body contains 72,000 nadis that channel prana to every cell. Some are wide and rushing; others are a mere trickle. When this system flows freely, we are vital and healthy; when it becomes weak or congested, we struggle with poor mental and physical health. The practices of hatha yoga are so effective because they strengthen the flow of prana in our bodies, invigorating the current so that it carries away obstructions that block the free flow of energy.

Because nadis like the chakras (psychoenergetic power centers), prana, and other aspects of the subtle body don’t show up under microscopes, medical science has relegated them to the realm of the merely metaphorical. But traditional yogis believe that the subtle body is real, and that understanding it and working with it complement and counterbalance the emphasis on gross physical anatomy that predominates our current yoga culture.

Night and Day

Three nadis are of particular interest to yogis. The sushumna (most gracious) nadi is the body’s great river, running from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, passing through each of the seven chakras in its course. It is the channel through which kundalini shakti (the latent serpent power) and the higher spiritual consciousness it can fuel rises up from its origin at the muladhara (root) chakra to its true home at the sahasrara (thousandfold) chakra at the crown of the head. In subtle body terms, the sushumna nadi is the path to enlightenment.

The ida (comfort) and pingala (tawny) nadis spiral around the sushumna nadi like the double helix of our DNA, crossing each other at every chakra. If you visualize the caduceus, the symbol of modern medicine, you’ll get a rough idea of the relationships among the ida, pingala, and sushumna nadis. Eventually, all three meet at the ajna (command) chakra, midway between the eyebrows.

The ida nadi begins and ends on the left side of sushumna. Ida is regarded as the lunar nadi, cool and nurturing by nature, and is said to control all mental processes and the more feminine aspects of our personality. The color white is used to represent the subtle vibrational quality of ida. Pingala, the solar nadi, begins and ends to the right of sushumna. It is warm and stimulating by nature, controls all vital somatic processes, and oversees the more masculine aspects of our personality. The vibrational quality of pingala is represented by the color red.

The interaction between ida and pingala corresponds to the internal dance between intuition and rationality, consciousness and vital power, and the right and left brain hemispheres. In everyday life, one of these nadis is always dominant. Although this dominance alternates throughout the day, one nadi tends to be ascendant more often and for longer periods than the other. This results in personality, behavior, and health issues that can be called ida-like or pingala-like.

Ida-like individuals have lunar, or nurturing, qualities but may lack the verve to sustain a strong yoga practice. They are full of potential, but unless they develop their pingala side may never manifest that potential in either worldly affairs or spiritual development. Pingala-like individuals have solar qualities: type A personalities, lots of creativity, abundant vitality. But unless they develop their ida side, they may lack the quietude, introspection, and receptivity necessary to yield to the grace of spiritual awakening.

Creating Equilibrium

Bringing ida and pingala into equilibrium is a major focus of hatha yoga is so important, in fact, that the term hatha symbolizes this balance. Although the word hatha literally means “forceful” in Sanskrit, it is composed of ha and tha, two esoteric bija (seed) mantras that have arcane meaning and power. Ha represents the solar qualities, the vital force, of pingala; tha represents the mind and the lunar qualities of ida. Balancing sun and moon, or pingala and ida, facilitates the awakening and arising of kundalini, and thus the awakening of higher consciousness. In fact, some yoga teachings hold that as long as either ida or pingala predominates, sushumna stays closed and the power of kundalini lies dormant.

The most powerful method of balancing ida and pingala is Nadi Shodhana, alternate-nostril breathing. (Literally, the Sanskrit means “nadi cleansing.”) This practice is effective because the ida nadi is directly connected to the left nostril, and the pingala nadi to the right. A few rounds of this basic pranayama technique at the end of an asana practice are an excellent way to help restore equilibrium between the two nadis and to compensate for any imbalance you may have inadvertently caused during your practice.

Coming into Balance

To practice Nadi Shodhana, sit in a comfortable meditative position. Make a fist with your right hand, then partially reextend your ring and little fingers. Lightly place the pad of the thumb on your nose just to the right and below the bridge; lightly place the pads of your ring and little fingers on the corresponding flesh on the left side of your nose. Gently pressing with the ring and little fingers to close the left nostril, exhale fully through the right. Then inhale fully through the right, close it with the thumb, release the left nostril, and exhale through it. Inhale through the left nostril, close it with the fingers, release the right nostril, and exhale through it. This completes one round of Nadi Shodhana.

In addition to using Nadi Shodhana, you can experiment with using the asanas themselves as a method of balancing ida and pingala. At the beginning of a practice, sit and observe your breath to see which nostril and, hence, which nadi is dominant. (If you can’t tell, try a few rounds of alternate-nostril breathing-it should be immediately clear which side is freer and which feels more inhibited). If the left nostril dominates, ida is in charge, and you might consider focusing your attention on invigorating asanas such as backbends, standing poses, inversions, and twists to engage the pingala nadi. If the right nostril dominates, the cooling, calming energy of seated poses and forward bends might be most beneficial.

You can also bring awareness of ida and pingala into any asana practice by pausing between poses to notice which nadi dominates your breathing. Notice your mind-states as well; you will find they closely correlate with which nadi is ascendant. Are you agitated and active (pingala-like) or calm and receptive (ida-like) Through this checking-in process, you can begin to identify which poses activate one nadi or the other, and which are particularly effective for you, at least in creating physical and emotional equilibrium. You’ll also be developing your awareness, deepening your practice, and clearing the way for your spiritual growth.

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