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Raj Yoga Meditation |
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SOUL |
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The Physical and the Non Physical
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Is there more to
me than I see in the mirror? To see how
there is more to me than an assembly of
physical organs, we have first to define the
Living and the Non-Living, not merely in the
biological senses, but in a deeper,
spiritual context.
THE LIVING - is
that which has AWARENESSS of its own
EXISTENCE and also that which is able to
create its own thoughts. These thoughts form
the basis of feelings and emotions and only
'I the living' am capable of these.
The living is
also that which has the ability to JUDGE:
Right from Wrong, Truth from False Hood,
Reality from Illusion. I the living also
have unique personality, which is totally
incomparable to that of any other being.
Individual uniqueness exists because every
living being is carrying the full record of
all its past experiences, which determines
the personality. We observe that of another.
The living is
also that MEMORY. On the basis of this
unique quality, a person can establish a
relationship. As I remember meeting others,
the relationship grows.
The Living is
also that which DESIRES. These may be
limited materials ones, which tend to lead
one soul into mental degeneration, or
desires of the highest, altruistic,
spiritual kind, that led the soul back to
its original state of excellence. These
desires form the motivation of all actions.
THE NON-LIVING -
if I relate the qualities of the Living to
those of the Non-Living, I can see the vast
differences between 'I the Living Being',
and all material objects around me.
Similarly, let me apply these criteria of
the living to my own physical body
Thinking of the
body as a separate instrument, is there any
part of it, which is experiencing, judging,
or deciding? I can see that none of the
physical organs, such as my hands or feet,
eyes or ears, or even my head, have these
faculties. There is something apart from
these organs that does these things. |
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Let us take an example:
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Whatever action
I perform, although I will use various
instruments, I am totally separate from
them. For instance if I use a knife with my
hands to chop some tomatoes, throughout the
operation the knife makes no decision.
If I lose
concentration, and cut my fingers with the
knife, neither my fingers nor the knife
became emotionally disturbed - they were
purely instruments.
It is easy for
me to see the knife as an instrument. But
I'm so attached to these hands, that It is
very difficult to dissociate myself from
them, and realize that they too are only
instruments, and really nothing more than
this.
I have had this
pair of hands for as long as I have had this
body, and I knowthey are the only one pair I
will get. So not only personal attachment to
my hands, but to the whole of my physical
body, is something so deep, so intense, that
I have totally forgotten my real identity.
THE MISTAKE -
Ever since the moment when I came into the
physical body, I have been labeled and put
into compartments according to my physical
classifications. It has been instilled into
my conscious that 'you are a boy' or 'you
are a girl', so that I grew up absolutely
committed to this idea. And in fact if
someone were to question this today, to
question the identity of being a man or a
woman, a person would probably consider it a
great insult. But is that what I am? An I be
accurately labeled 'young' or 'old', 'man'
or 'woman', 'fair' or 'dark'? Is there a
real indication of who I am simply through
this?
Yet this is the
mistake we have been making not only have
others made this mistake about me, putting
me into a bodily compartment, but I have
also been guilty of this same error. Not
only I have put others into compartments,
but I have done this to myself. I have
totally identified myself with the body, and
I have cut out all other possibilities my
consciousness has become quite restricted by
the color, the age, the nationality, the
religion, the culture, into which the BODY
has been born. |
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The Rediscovery of "I"
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I am the living,
I am not physical. I know I am not because I
can experience things beyond physical
limitations. My body cannot go back to
childhood, but I can. Within a second, my
mind can race back to days of my youth. It
can even race forward to the days of my
probable old age. Past or future, both are
equally easy for me to travel in. I travel
through the three aspects of time without
any hesitation at all. I am able to travel
across an distance in a split-second, as my
thoughts carry me across to America, to
Australia, to India. Where there is a pull
of, my thoughts will take me there. And all
this while my body has been seated in one
specific place. So my body is physical, I am
not physical, I am metaphysical, unhindered
by the physical limitations of time or
distance.
Just as I grew
up with natural instincts such as eating,
breathing etc. related to survival in a
physical body, I also grew up with my own
personality which, has been mentioned, is
absolutely exclusive to me. My own subtle
characteristics are quite different even
those of my physical parents, and so I must
have gained this in an existence even before
this one.
Also, I am
definitely invisible. A mirror will show me
only my bodily features: the shape of my
face, the color of my eyes. But all these
exterior things tell me very little about my
real self. I, the being within this physical
frame, am invisible. Now I can see all these
things: that I am metaphysical, eternal,
invisible.
FORM - what am
I? When I dissociate myself from my physical
costume, and search for my true identity,
there is a strange detachment from the body,
but also uncertainty, because I don't as yet
fully now who I really am, and I'm leaving
behind territory which was familiar. So let
me go one step further, and think of myself
in a non-physical form: a tiny point of
light, a minute dot of invisible luminous
energy. Can this really be true? Such a
strange thought to have… for so long I have
thought of myself as a female, Or male, and
now I am thinking of myself as a tiny dot,
as light. |
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Let me examine this
further…. |
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As you think
deeply about this, you will become aware of
yourself as a subtle energy, minute, yet
full of power, so small it cannot be broken
down any further. EXPERIENCE - Let me
experience with this….
Yes, it is a dot
that is eternal, unique, unhindered by time
and space. A point that has no geometrical
dimensions. The dot - invisible. Just with
this concept of my deepest identity, and
experience myself a point of light, located
directly at the center of my forehead. I
have this incredible sensation of this
lightness, of freedom, of peace, of subtle
power, because I am now aware that all this
is within the point. |
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POSITION - where am I
located? |
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I the soul am
located in the center of the forehead near
the organs of the control for the body, and
near the organs of communication with the
physical world, since it is from here that I
can exercise total control.
PERFORMANCE -
the brain is an instrument operating by
means of electrical impulses. I, the soul,
make a decision and the decision reaches the
brain instantly. It is translated into
activity via the entire body system. Stimuli
come in through my senses, and reach the
brain. From the brain, impulses reach "the
soul". Thus from outside, I am stimulated
into further thought, and possibly further
action. The intellect makes this decision. I
the soul am the controller, and the brain is
the control room through which I operate.
THE THIRD-EYE -
this is also where the third eye of wisdom
has been shown, Which was once thought to
have existed physically. However it is
nothing physical, because wisdom is not
related to any particular part of the body.
It is the soul that seeks wisdom, and the
soul that retains wisdom. So when we speak,
in spiritual terms, of the 'opening of the
third eye', we are referring to the
awakening consciousness, a new awareness, or
a soul consciousness.
People only
stumble around at night when they cannot
see. The eyes deceive the mind, and the
intellect can only make a wrong decision
when its knowledge is incomplete. Knowledge
is like daylight, it opens the third eye,
and the dark immediately becomes light. With
my third eye open, I can see what I should
be doing. Up to now, I have been using these
two physical eyes, which can only see
physical dimensions, and nothing further.
With my third eye I can see beyond the
physical, and, being able to see, I can now
become the complete master of myself. |
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Driver and Vehicle
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It will sound
obvious to say "only when a driver is fully
conscious, can he use his vehicle accurately
to take him to his destination". But if we
now look at ourselves using this analogy, we
can see clearly just what an enormous
difference there is between being 'in
control' and being asleep at the wheel.
The driver of a
car can go anywhere, as long as he remembers
what is he doing. If he is travelling along
the road and suddenly looses concentration,
allowing the mind to drift off even for a
moment, he will plunge straight off the
road. Accidents happen when people forget
what they are doing. In exactly the same
way, if someone looses their self-control,
even for a moment, there is an accident (an
outburst of great anger for instance) which
causes sorrows for the self and sorrows for
anyone else involved. Even onlookers who
simply saw the accident are very upset by
the damage done to the occupants of the
vehicle. So, awareness of and harmony
between both the soul (the driver) and the
body (its vehicle) is essential. Just as the
driver must be aware of his vehicle and in
harmony with it, the soul must be in total
control of its body. And yet I have gone to
sleep, I have not been aware, and so there
have been many, many accidents. I have
caused myself, and those around me, so much
grief. But now with awareness, the driver
wakes up, assumes control once more and
begins to use his vehicle in the correct
way. UNDER CONTROL - in the conscious of "I,
the soul", I can now see the benefits of
using my senses to pick out the good from
the bad, the useful from the useless, and
translate it all into positive actions,
which helps others and elevate my own
conscious as well. Being aware of myself, I
became the master of my physical senses. It
is so strange to realize that I have been
using so little control over my senses, that
my eyes and ears are pulling my mind in
different directions for years, making me
literate into a slave of there every whim.
It really is the situation of the cart
before the horse, putting the body before
the soul. Knowledge is power, and wit this
knowledge, I can re-establish my true state
of sovereignty over the physical body.
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How the Soul Works |
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Having seen, and
experienced, the effect of forgetting who I
am, let us examine what is happening inside
the pin-point of light, this spark of
conscious, that is the soul. Each soul has
three separate faculties. As they are
described, you will be able to see not only
how so many accidents have come about
through lack off understanding but also the
method of gaining control once more.
Although we can give each faculty a
different name, it is actually the same
energy functioning on three different levels
- these are: the mind, the intelligence, and
the impressions.
THE MIND -
through the mind, one IMAGINES, THINKS, and
FORMS IDEAS. Our thoughts are created in the
mind. The thought process is the basis of
all EMOTIONS, DESIRES and SENSATIONS. It is
through this faculty that, in an instant,
thoughts can reach anywhere, or relive a
past experience and produce happiness or
sadness. The mind is a subtle organ, which
should not be confused with the heart, which
is merely a physical organ that maintains
blood circulation. Through Raja Yoga … The
Mind Is Controlled THE INTELLECT - the
intellect is then used to ASSESS thoughts.
This is the Faculty that understands. Our
capacity to understand is perhaps the single
most crucial ability of all. With the
deepening and broadening of the intellect,
clear understanding of anything is possible.
…the Intellect is developed and elevated In
addition to understanding, the intellect
REASONS, MEMORIES, DISCRIMINATES and TAKES
DECISION. As with all faculties of the soul,
it is subtle and spiritual, not physical, so
it should not be confused with the brain.
The brain is merely the physical focus of
the nervous system and acts as the control
of the soul. Through this physical control
panel, "I, the soul" am able to regulate the
functions of the different organs of my
body. "I, the soul" am able to alter the
pulse and respiration of my body, simply by
reacting to an external situation, which I
decide makes me overjoyed or very upset. So
my intellect is not part of physical brain,
but the subtle faculty of judgement and
understanding of "I, the soul"
THE IMPRESSION -
any action that has been performed leaves an
impression on the soul. We will refer to
impressions as: "SANSKARAS", which is the
precise Hindi word used. HABITS, TENDENCIES,
EMOTIONAL TENDENCIES, TEMPERAMENTS,
PERSONALITY TRAITS are all SANSKARAS
imprinted on the soul through each action it
has performed. All the thoughts that occur
in my mind are the direct results of my
SANSKARAS. So my most fundamental features
as a soul, my personality, is determined by
these SANSKARAS. Each action I do either
creates a SANSKARA (this is how a habit
begins), or re-enforces an old one if the
action is a repetition. This enables us to
understand that the SANSKARAS contain the
COMPLETE RECORD of all my mental and
physical actions i.e. all my experiences up
to this moment. Any thought that arises in
my head will be due to the influence of one
more than one SANSKARAS. This makes it clear
that I, and I alone, am alone responsible
for my own thoughts, although we tend to
deny this responsibility and blame external
situations instead. If an action is repeated
often, it becomes a deep SANSKAR. Rather in
the same way that the more one digs a hole
the deeper it gets and the more difficult it
will be to erase all trace of it. Old habits
die hard for this. ….and, with Raja Yoga ,
the SANSKARAS are purified and become
sovereign.
THE EFFECT OF
SANSKARAS ON THE MIND AND INTELLECT -
Imagine yourself as the detached observer of
a car accident. A number of people will
arrive on the scene, but although it is the
same sight for each person, their different
SANKARAS will produce quite different
reactions to the chaos. For example, one
person is examining the injured and I can
see that he is a doctor. One is calmly
questioning the onlookers and I can see that
he is a policeman. Someone else is
unhurriedly looking at the damaged vehicles,
while another person is completely
overwhelmed with emotions. The unhurried one
is a mechanic and I can see that the other
probably has a relationship with one of the
injured. The stimulus is the same, but their
reaction are totally different. Different
SANSKARAS lead to different reactions.
Equally, I know from past experiences that
my own state of mind control my thoughts.
For instance, one day many things go wrong,
and yet a great deal of inner strength
enables me to remain calm and peaceful. On
the other day I may lack the stability and
the slightest word out of place can annoy
me. It wasn't the fault of the person who
spoke, but my own state of being that
created the reaction. |
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Where We Find Ourselves Today |
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Gradually, as
impure SANSKARAS were formed and were
allowed to reinforce themselves through
repetitions, this instinctive voice gave way
to the powerful influence of my physical
senses.
The strong pull
of these senses spurred my emotions to such
a state that I overruled the decisions of my
own intellect.
Consequently,
when a similar situation now occurs, the
weakened conscience has even less influence,
and in due course it stops speaking
altogether. As the conscience was ignored,
ignorance inevitably followed.
And so we find
ourselves often uncertain of separating
right from wrong. We may even deny the very
existence of right and wrong. The
distinction between selfish and unselfish
action has become clouded in the intellect,
so that a state of a morality prevails.
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