Monday, 16th Feb 2009

Why do you feel that there is some truth in Yogasutra? This is the question to ask to the followers of Yogasutra. There are still people who doubt the importance of Yoga. There is a question for them as well. Are you not convinced with the teachings of Yogasutra? Those who believe in its teachings and those who doubt it are listening to it. Why are you interested to listen to Yogasutra? Let’s try to find out the answer to these questions.

Human beings have a natural connection with the supreme source of energy which is beyond the ordinary understanding of the human mind. It happens through our self which serves as an opening for the ultimate wisdom to come down into the level of daily activities. All human minds are not quiet enough to listen to the calls of the ultimate wisdom. But some minds reflect the light from the beyond. S/he begins to feel a kind of mystery in her/is thoughts. S/he asks her/imself, why do I feel that something from the beyond is calling my attention. S/he wonders what that irresistible inner vision is by which I am dragged away to something which is not known by my conscious mind. You are forced to follow this inner quest. Who is there to help you? Who is there to guide you? Who is the Pramaana? Who is the authority to say that ‘Yes, I can explain your experience, listen to me’?

My inner experiences were explained by Yogasutra. When I read and tried to understand the teachings of Yogasutra, I could see the meaning of my own inner experiences. I understood the words of Yogasutra as truth by my own experience. And Yogasutra with its teachings, leads me to further ones.

Only those who have the glimpses of the super wisdom, and who have the quiet mind to see through the self, will be interested to read and study Yogasutra.

Monday, 09th Feb 2009

Whether you know it or not, you have an aim in life. Some people feel that there is no aim for their life. Still s/he will have one. S/he is not aware of it. That is all. Human mind cannot exist without an aim.

Aim of your life means your understanding about life. Some people feel that making money is the most desirable thing in life. They feel that making money will make them happy. Some others feel that being famous is the way to be happy. Some want to enjoy sensual pleasures to be happy. And very few people think that knowing the nature of true self is the most important thing in life. Yoga is meant for such people who are serious about their self enquiry and be satisfied only in experiencing the bliss of inner silence.

When you see that life is not just eat, sleep and make merry, you can put forward higher aims in life. On the contrary, when the needs of the body become desires and lust, they lead you to a value system which is destructive to the peace of mind. Making violent noise in the mind is the purpose of those people who want to make merry in the world. They cannot see the value of silence at all. Those who consciously discipline the self in order to develop an inner silence for the self vision and for the growth of wisdom, can experience peace ultimately. Only those who have realized the importance of inner silence are interested in practicing Yoga.

Yoga is meant for developing the skills of human mind in creating inner silence for the higher experience. He who has realized that the purpose of his life is to bring down the Chittavritti-s and to live in the inner silence for the ultimate Wisdom, will be ready to practice Yoga.

Monday, 02nd Feb 2009

Nature has given the human beings the power to create and destroy Chittavritti-s. Chittavritti-s are the actions or movements in the mind. Most of the human beings are not able to control the Chittavritti-s. Some people can control some Chittavritti-s. Through actions and thoughts, or in other words, actions of the body and mind, Chittavritti-s are created and subdued. This increase and decrease of Chittavritti-s in the human mind is the reason for the discovery of the system of Yoga.

The instinctual beings like animals and birds need not do any Yoga for their happiness because they never create unwanted Chittavritti-s in their mind. They live according to the laws of Nature. It is when you break the law of Nature that you need to come back to it. Human beings break the law of Nature by creating unwanted Chittavritti-s in mind. The desires for illogical pleasures are the reason for the unwanted Chittavritti-s. For satisfying the lust, human beings go beyond the Nature, which is the reason for all unhealthy tendencies in human mind. The unhealthy Chittavritti-s for each one varies according to his/er situation. For subduing the unwanted Chittavritti-s and to develop positive Chittavritti-s, human beings are needed to practice Yoga.

Monday, 26th Jan 2009

Yogasutra of Patanjali is a text that suggests a way of life for attaining the ultimate peace, the inner silence with full of meaning.

Yoga is the name of a system of philosophy meant to be learned and practiced along with a well defined style of living. The Sanskrit word Sutra means a phrase, in which a vast amount of interpretative knowledge is interiorized in an unusual manner as a result of the special usages of Sanskrit grammar and linguistics. Yogasutra means the Sutra-s on theory, practice and effects of Yoga. Yogasutra contains 196 Sutra-s in four chapters (51, 55, 56 and 34). The four chapters deal with the right knowledge about the functions of the mind, proper action for pure self awareness, the power of concentration and the freedom from the known respectively. It is the spotless awareness of the life and its functioning that gives you permanent happiness. Whatever be the amount of knowledge and experience gathered by the Yogi, it is continuously being subdued by the black tendencies of the ignorance of human mind. This is the nature of it. To regain the forgotten wisdom, in each and every moment in life, one has to be vigilant. Doing proper action is the way to brighten up the self awareness time to time.

Life of an individual can be envisaged as a chain of actions, executed by her/im mentally, verbally as well as physically. Action contains both actions and reactions. An action becomes proper action when it is backed by right knowledge. The after effect of a proper action is, again, the right knowledge. In the first chapter, Yogasutra deals with the right knowledge, the theory part if it. And it is followed by a chapter on action, the practice of the theory. The first and second chapters give a strong and logic foundation for the Yogasaadhana (the practice of methods suggested by Yogasutra, for peace, for the freedom from the known). The third and fourth chapters talk about the higher experiences one definitely will go through once s/he has mastered the foundation steps in the practice.

The growth in the practice of Yoga can be measured through the development of the inner vision of the Yogi. The human mind works through observation and understanding. The Seer in you, observes the outer world, then the inner world and finally, meets Itself. The observer is observed by the observer Itself. The teaching of Yogasutra starts with this point of observation, grows through this point and culminates in this same point. Yoga teaches how to observe, learn and understand your body, inner systems, mind (which is the control panel of the senses), various activities of the mind, intellect (who appears as the observer) and so on.

Just reading or listening to Yogasutra has nothing to do in regard to the practical effect of it in life. What you have absorbed into you as an idea, by seeing or listening, should be practiced. A lesson can be said to be learned only when that lesson is appeared in practice. To express your knowledge through your action is called Yoga. Your thought from the subtle space should come down into the physical, visible level. The actions of a Yogi should signify the philosophy as it is. This is the first lesson in Yogasutra. Only s/he, who is able to do so, is eligible to start the practice of Yogasaadhana