Contemplation and Compilation ~ Patanjali Yoga Sutras 1:21 - 1:41

Our success on any spiritual path or any other path depends on how committed and regular we are in our practices. 

If we are mild, we see mild results and if we our commitment is intense we see sustainable progress. 

To stay free of physical, emotional and mental distress which can become a huge obstacle in any path, it is very important to surrender all good and bad and stay free of suffering.

Suffering arises when 

1. We can get trapped in ignorance and give importance to something which is not important or which is not worthy of importance. 
2. When we think too much about me n I~ Always thinking what people think about you, living with the superiority or inferiority complex. 
3. Having strong cravings, aversions or hatred and fear for anyone or anything. 

Our consciousness is pure love and devoid of all these miseries, karmas, fruit of karma and latent desires or impressions or opinions. 

There are 4 types of Karmas ~

• Karmas that brings us merits, 
• Karma that brings us demerits, 
• Karma that brings both merits and demerits and 
• Karma that's devoid of both merits and demerits

Though our supreme self is all knowing and knowledge itself, a Guru is necessary to help us go within and understand ourselves. 

The supreme Purusha or Ishvara or the first Guru that existed is addressed by the sound OM. 

When we are still in our senses, emotions and breath we can feel the humming in our body, the Pranava. 

The Anahata is the unsaid sound of OM that can lead us into deep meditation. 

The Anahata is Ajapa, the one that need not be repeated, it is always going on and just needs to be noticed.

If we are thinking continuously and churning on the thoughts we can not get attuned to this never ending vibration. 

What we think we become, knowingly unknowingly we are imbibing the qualities of our thoughts. 

Japa or Mantra meditation is the simple technique that can help us make our mind steady and transforms it in the qualities of the mantra. Repeating mantra there comes a clarity in our thoughts and feelings. 

By holding on to this infinite sound from mantra one can overcome 9 obstacles. 

• Physical disease, 
• Mental sickness, 
• Doubt in oneself, 
• Doubt in teacher or the path, 
• Doing something wrong willfully (careless) or not doing what you are supposed to do, 
• Laziness, 
• Obsession with the sensual objects and not being able to let them go, 
• Hallucination, 
• Feeling that you are going no where with practices or one has not attained any state, 
• Instability in spiritual experiences where the feeling of good experiences vanishes and leaves one craving, and when our body is not obeying us anymore, we want to do something but unable to anymore. 

The 5 signs that we are overtaken with these 9 obstacles are 

• Sadness in heart and soul,
• Bitterness, 
• Disturbed inhalation and exhalation, 
• Unstable thoughts, confusion and 
• Confusion and distraction

Our patience, perseverance on one pointed path whatever we have chosen can help us get over the obstacles and the symptoms. 

Our goal in life is to keep the serenity of our mind. 

In this world we come across 4 types of people and the guide to deal with them is through~ 

• Happy people ~ Friendliness
• unhappy people ~ Compassion
• the virtuous people ~ Delight and disregard
• the wicked people ~ Be indifferent

When we do so we are not disturbed by the people around us. 

You can also bring the stillness in the mind by focusing on the breath and by breaking the natural rhythm of the breath, through concentrating on any object of senses, focus on your past experiences in meditation or deep sleep and finding the right spiritual Guru who can guide you. 

Our regrets, fears, anger, anticipation memory, wrong knowledge, fantasy, judgments, thoughts, feverishness, calculations does not let us see the things the way they are and does not let us be in harmony or Samadhi. 

Our eyes, senses, behavior, ambitions, words reflects what we are deep inside and when we polish ourselves through steadiness they also become devoid of all the colors and become clear like crystals. 

We are able to see things as they are without adding anything to them. In Savitarka samadhi there are some thoughts that come and go but they do not disturb the peace of mind and harmony. 

When the mind, soul, the object of senses and memory through which the object of senses are held are in harmony the samadhi happens.

The goal of Samadhi is physical and mental silence, knowledge dawns on us that is beyond the learning's of our limited mind. 

You do not need to study the scriptures the knowledge and the wisdom filled with truth and awareness comes to you~ Rtambhara Prajna makes a yogi Jivan Mukta ~ the one who lives with liberation and without personal attachment.

Contemplation and Compilation ~ Patanjali Yoga Sutras 1:12- 1:20

For any practice to become firmly established and successful in our lives it needs to be done ~

Continuously, without any gaps, with patience, honor, respect, faith, gratefulness, enthusiasm and without any attachment or personal desires. 

Mere practicing for a long time is not sufficient. Some people practice for a long time and they still stay bound, unsettled, restless, disappointed and disturbed. The reason is that they stay attached and result oriented in their practices which makes them anxious and impatient. They lack honor and respect which when practiced brings quality, stability and steadiness.

It is our constant craving and desire to be happy all the time that makes us miserable. Happiness is our nature but wanting to be happy is a creation of misery.

Our mind is continuously gathering things to satisfy its desires through our senses and it also has a tendency to stick and remember only negative things experiences and words. The wisdom is to learn to discriminate what is good for us or what is not and to learn to apply restraint before the mind goes and grasp as it wants. 

Practicing dispassion or non attachment (vairagya) helps us understand this pattern and helps to put an end to this vicious cycle of misery by bringing heightened awareness, stability and  steadiness that helps us be more peaceful and centered amidst the emotional turmoil and storms. 

Dispassion helps us be free from the regrets of the past and anxieties of the future and lets us be completely centered and 100 percent in the present moment. 

Detachment of mind from its desires and enjoyment is vairagya which is on the sensory level and detachment of mind from memory, past impressions and sanskaras is param vairagya which comes after we learn to repose and rejoice in our true self. 

Samadhi is the steadiness in prana, state of equanimity and a process of going inwards which can be achieved by being completely aware and present in the moment. There are 2 kinds of samadhi

• Samprajnata or Sabeeja samadhi or Savikalpa samadhi 

Samadhi which you can experience during an activity. We have often done this as child, looking with depth and becoming one with the object. The depth in our eyes indicates the steadiness and stability in our soul. In sabeeja samadhi we are totally relaxed and happy with heightened awareness and sharp intellect. 
The past impressions, thoughts, memories and  sanskaras are still buried on our mind in this state and can pull us in the worldly experiences through thoughts.  The practice of Vairagya, non attachment helps to dive deeper into the experience.

Guided meditation is an example of sabeeja or samprajnata samadhi.

4 stages of Samprajnata samadhi

1   Savitarka ~ accompanied by reasoning - In this samadhi mind contemplates on the gross object, sound, or a mantra. The contemplation on single object makes mind steady, focused, quiet and relaxed. 
2.  Savichara ~ accompanied by reflection - In this samadhi mind moves from outer layer of object to the inner realms and contemplates. You experience Tanmatras and through practice gain great control over Tanmatras. Example of Tanmatras are seeing lights, divine, hearing chants, or other extraordinary experiences while meditation. They key is not to get attached to the Tanmatras and observing them as just an experience on the path of Samadhi. Many people get entangled at this stage. Vairagya or non attachment is needed here to achieve the next stage.  

3.  Sa-ananda ~ accompanied by rejoicing or ecstasy

4.  Sa-asmita ~ accompanied by contemplation on I-ness, you are there and you are aware of nothing else. Prakriti Leya 

• Asamprajnata or Nirbeeja samadhi or Nirvikalpa or Nirvichara 

After mastering the 4 stages of Samprajnata samadhi one can get into Asamprajnata samadhi, Param Vairagya where no impressions and no feeling of I-ness exists. The one who has attained this state is called Jivan Mukta, the one who lives but at the same time is liberated.

We have existed before and we will exist after, when we practice meditation we are not only bringing harmony within ourselves but influencing all the subtle layers at different levels of existence in the creation in the present birth and future births.

Mokshabhekso Bandah ~ Even the desire of liberation is a bondage in itself! 

The minds nature is to desire then how do we get over this bondage?- Turn your desires into greater causes. Think, how can you contribute and be useful to society and planet, what is the purpose of your life and how can you be of service. Any desire that does not have a personal or selfish motive will never bind us but will help us channelize our energy. 

Contemplation and Compilation ~ Patanjali Yoga Sutras 1:1-11

Introduction - 1:1-11 

Our soul is like a seer, and the nature of seer is pure joy, ecstasy, bliss and happiness. 

Our mind is generally content but It is the desiring mind, the manas that gets attracted to the outside worldly things through 5 senses and disturbs the peace of the mind.

There are 5 vrittis or modulations or activities or thought forms our chitta or mind gets stuck in and disturbs our inner peace. When we are lost and stuck in the loop of the modulations, it only brings us pain, misery and suffering.

• Pramana - the mind is continuously engaged in arguments of wanting proof or trying to analyze and verify the right knowledge 

There are 3 types of Pramanas

1. Pratyaksha - direct perception, when you understand by seeing or experiencing something yourself.
when you are experiencing something yourself and you do not have a doubt. 

2. Anumana- inference or assuming - you see smoke and assume there is a fire, its not obvious but you guess from your past understanding, knowledge and experiences.

3. Aagamana - We believe in something because a reliable authority or scriptures tell it or state it.

Our mind is continuously looking for proof. Truth can not be understood through proof. What can be proved can also be disproved. 

• Viparyaya - mind gets stuck in misconception or incorrect knowledge or false understanding and thinking that is the truth. When our mind is stuck in Viparyaya all logic fails and only wrong knowledge prevails.

• Vikalpa - baseless fears, joyful or pleasurable fantasies, paranoia, imagination or hallucination or a verbal delusion - you form an opinion about someone or something  from what you have heard but there is no truth or reality in that, you are creating impressions in mind that are not true based on someones perception or ideas.

• Nidra - sleep or impression left in mind upon waking up of an experience of deep sleep or nothingness in sleep

• Smriti - memory, experiences create impressions on our mind that surface when we want them in form of day dreams or when we do not want them as dreams.

If only we can learn to gain a control over our senses and mind there is nothing in the world that can bind us.

Through the practice of yoga and self study we can learn to become aware and befriend our mind and understand the thought forms its stuck in.

How do we control our mind when our mind seems to be controlling us all the time?

When we realize that we want more control and understanding of self that is when the anushasan or the self discipline of yoga begins. 

The extraordinary experience we gain by controlling the thought forms or modulations of mind is Yoga and it teaches us - 

• Vairagya, dispassion which helps us bring our mind skillfully back to self, honoring all the object of senses and not blaming them.
• Abhyasa, the continuous practice of becoming aware when our mind is getting stuck in modulations and bringing it back to the present moment again and again.

Yoga Chitta Vriti Nirodah~

Gently observe the fluctuations and plays of mind, don't become them! One has reached the goal of Yoga if this restraint is achieved!

We often feel tired not because we have done too much, but because we have done too less of what sparks a light of joy in us!

"The path isn't a straight line; its a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths." – Barry H. Gillespie

Joy spreads by sharing ~ A Mothers Day we are thankful for!! My heart is poured with so much love and joy as my daughters celebrated this special day caring for 100 beautiful moms in Nursing home! A very special shout out to Trader Joe's for generous flower donations!!!

Service is the expression of love. Serve in whatever possible manner you can. Ask yourself, "How can I be useful to people around me, and to the whole world?" Then your heart starts blossoming and a completely new level begins. Otherwise we're always thinking, "What about me, what about me?" It's nothing! Ask, "How can I be useful, how can I give to the world?" The best seva is helping someone to understand this eternal nature of life. -- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

When someone is negative, angry and vents -know that they are struggling within! When a plant is dying we nurture it and not blame the plant for not blooming. People who suffer are also the victims crying for help. Instead of taking an ego filled rage trip yourself and suffering...show compassion and think how you can be of help!!

Ekam sat, vipraha bahudha vadanti - The truth is one; seers express it in many ways - A beautiful thought to ponder upon for a peaceful world!

I say my prayers on beads of love, strung together with everlasting threads of devotion. I hold to no single Name—God, Spirit, Brahma, Allah, Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, for All are Thine.

I invoke Thee sometimes as Christ, Krishna, Shankaracharya, Mohammed, Buddha, Moses and other prophets; for I know Thou has delighted, and will ever delight, in revealing Thyself in different forms.

Anyone who says, "My master is the greatest incarnation of God, or the only liberated master," is unquestionably ignorant. The yardstick of judging fully liberated masters is possessed only by fully liberated disciples. A liberated disciple is completely loyal to his master, the guru who had shown him the way to liberation, but he always respects other avatars and masters.

🌹Paramhansa Yogananda