Last night, I went to a Nanaimo Metaphysical Network meeting, where they had Professor Deborah Hearn from the VIU Physics Department speak about Quantum Physics and Consciousness. It was a great talk, and it brought up some things for me I wanted to talk about here in an article while it’s fresh in my mind.

Fundamentally, my main issue with the way that this science is presented in general, I will go into specifics later, is the startling lack of grasp of what REAL scientists, philosophers and so on have always known: India is the mother of all science, religion, myth, mysticism and mathematics. Here are many many pages of quotes from the most esteemed of these:



Ignorance Explained
To start with, I’d like to restate an obvious point: the main problem in human life is ignorance. Ignorance is a result of the presence of tamas in the mind. Tamas is heavy, dark and results in one-half of the psychological phenomenon known as The Shadow. Keeping aside a more correct explanation of tamas than is provided by Wikipedia, I’d like to say that tamas, as a guna, creates as a side effect, ignorance.


A Different View of Intelligence
John Dosbon, the inspiration behind this post, said it like this:
“For any cosmological model in which the Universe is considered to be "actual", the problem of the origin of sentiency and intelligence is insoluble. But if the Universe is apparitional, sentiency is in it from the word "go". Even the atoms are "sentient". We have senses for the perception of gravity, kinetic energy, radiation, electricity and magnetism, because the individual protoplasmic cells can respond to these same five kinds of energy. And the cells can respond to them because the atoms respond to them. The atoms themselves respond to gravity, kinetic energy, radiation, electricity and magnetism. The plumb bob "knows" where the Earth is, and the electron "knows" where the proton is. Sentiency is in this from the word "go", because the underlying existence is "involved" in what we see and must show through. It is hopeless to expect that something like sentiency or intelligence, or anything, for that matter, could arise by "evolution" (as a rose evolves from a bud), unless it was first put in by "involution". The reason the oak tree can "evolve" from the acorn is because it was first put in the acorn through "involution" by the parent trees. But in the case of the tree and the acorn, the involution is by transformational causation, parinama. Whereas, in the case of the underlying existence and the Universe, the involution is by apparitional causation, or vivarta. What underlies the Universe is involved by apparition in us and what we see. And since what underlies all this is infinite, there is no knowing what may evolve. (1)

The expectation that sentiency and intelligence might arise from "inert matter" is contrary to all the experience of our race. But matter is not inert. It is "ert", (it moves by itself) because what underlies the apparition shows through. And the notion that what is more might evolve from what is less is beyond the domain of reason.”

The implication of this is that being ignorant goes against nature. I happen to agree. We live in a time and culture that raises ignorance in every form up to something which is somehow desireable!


Before The Greeks
It seems that ALL science books I read refer back to the Greek civilization as a beginning point, the seed of all modern knowledge, exclusive of ANY other cultural influences. There are many articles (and indeed whole books) which talk fairly explicitly about what cultures did what BEFORE the Greeks. This new trend of so-called “superstar” scientists on their own holy war regarding science-as-religion (Richard Dawkins and his proteges)- they are the worst offenders in a long line of eurocentric scientists who sound more like ego-centric, rather than euro-centric scientists in the end.

Eurocentrism Defined Is Deconstructionism
At some point, this focus on the Greeks forgot all about one of the most prominent of Greek philosophy: Plotinus. One may debate whether Plotinus was a non-dualist or a monist as this man does, but I am in line with Ken Wilber on this one- he was a non-dualist, or at the very least was taught and influenced by non-dual thought from the East, as many philosophers were during his time.

In general, however, an ego-centric view is seen to be had by many deconstructionist scientists and this Mr. Hines is the least offender- if you want to be really offended, try debating (or just listening to) so-called comedian (and Dawkins protege&rsquo Bill Maher. Bill Maher is essentially a television bully- interrupting, name calling and so on. Because Bill Maher agrees with gay marriage and holds some other humanistic opinions doesn’t give him a free pass to ignore all science and philosophy that came before the Greeks just because he believes in a currently successful materialistic philosophy. He’s a slave to his left brain as much as any other bully egotist.

Quoting from Mr. Hines, the author of the monist view of Plotinus in the last link above:
“obviously I don't know what ultimate reality is like. Nobody does, Ken Wilber included. All we can do is look at evidence and come to the best conclusions we can. I've got a strong scientific bent. It seems to me that understanding the observable universe is the best first step (and maybe the last step) toward grasping unseen mysteries.”

So, the conclusion that ONLY science holds the answers seems to be come to by MANY scientists- and I’ll point out that Deborah Hearn was NOT saying these things in an intentional way like Bill Maher or Richard Dawkins, nor was she on some holy war like they are- but rather she was brought up and her perspective is largely informed by a culture devoted to (and enslaved by) the left brain.

The left brain has a tendency, along with how we’ve been taught (that is key) in a Cartesian method of thinking that essentially says everything is separate. The subsequent success of this divided approach is apparent in modern technology. Still, we’re slow, as a culture to catch up to the implications of Quantum Mechanics. Looking back, it takes between 50-100 years to begin to grasp the implications societally of what our highest minds are achieving in science and pre-eminent thought. We lack the cultural precedent that Indians have to learn from their vast heritage, and our is almost entirely borrowed.


Check Your Assumptions
The conclusion is the NO ONE CAN KNOW these mysteries, and concurrent with that, another thought also is there almost automatically: NO ONE EVER HAS KNOWN.

The left brain is a seductive and logical taskmaster, especially when one’s perspective becomes too reliant upon it. Lacking a schooling system and a culture of thought that informs the individual about the right brain’s function, I can see how this ignorance arises, especially in science.

Everyone I’ve talked about here MAKES ENORMOUS ASSUMPTIONS regarding all this, and we (the public) buy it hook line and sinker, every time, as we’re surrounded by it constantly. It’s not any LESS ignorant than the idea that there is a vengeful God awaiting us after death, and maybe we’ll go to Hell.

Now, I do believe a great deal of science is good. It’s brought a tremendous amount of both good and bad things to the human race, according to the level of ignorance had by it’s users (see sign above). However, assuming that ONLY science can help us is a fallacy. A facile thought.

Why? Because eventually things taken apart begin to reveal their interconnectedness at very small levels and this is EXACTLY what was found by the founding fathers of quantum mechanics.



If you read Quantum Questions by Ken Wilber, you’ll see that EVERY ONE of these major scientists in the field of quantum mechanics was ALSO writing and had deeply held beliefs similar to Eastern mysticism, then you start to realize the impact of working at this level of understanding even in science. In other words, consciousness catches up to you.

An example: Two sorts of truth: trivialities, where opposites are obviously absurd, and profound truths, recognised by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth. -Neils Bohr

What you also see is that most of these scientists has little understanding of how to relate directly through experience what they were running into. I believe that this is because they has little training that would assist them in understanding it.

Why Does The Particle Have To Be There?
Another amazing ego-centric assumption I was reminded of last night was brought home by a famous double-slit experiment in quantum physics that has (in the minds of scientists anyway) an amazing conclusion about their lack of control in experimentation and measurement.


Why I was so amazed at the level of assumption here was that in yoga and Vedanta philosophy, the main aim is to remember at every moment that you are not separate from anyone or anything. All yoga practice is, in some way or another, supporting this experience. It can be logically argued for, as the great Vedantic teachers have shown, or experienced directly through meditation or devotional practices. There are MANY MANY examples in Indian culture that support this, and the largest scriptural bodies of work (which are a tiny fraction of the actual teachings of these great Masters) on earth support this conclusion also.

East Meet West

Hello. We’re yogis and we’ve been resolving paradoxes for thousands of years. Nice to meet you.

I am just astounded at how cultural assumptions forgot over time how Greek myth and methods were derived. Yes, the Egyptians were there, but ultimately it’s all come from India. As you learn just a little Sanskrit, it’s amazing how the etymology of words in English come from Sanskrit. In Greek myth, Dionysus is remarkably similar to Lord Shiva in the Indian tradition and so on. Scientists who reference Greek thought as the end-all-be-all should look to the root of Greek myth and logic. In the end, knowledge has come from the Vedas. Yes, it’s been expanded, but let’s not forget who your mother is. The Mother of Modern Civilization was NOT Greece, it was India. Indian astrologers understood that the Earth went around the sun 5000 years ago. We forget this because people in Europe had a flat-land mentality at some point.

In the above picture, there appears to be only one direction to head in. Only ONE POSSIBLE CONCLUSION. Welcome To Flatland
Ken Wilber uses this term to describe a theory which lacks the cohesive and cross-discipline connections Art, Morals and Science had before they were split up into their pieces by Modernists:

“Modernity, on the other hand, did manage to differentiate the Big Three of art, morals and science, on a large scale, so that each began to make phenomenal discoveries. But as the Big Three dissociated, and scientific colonialism began its aggressive career, all ‘Is’ and all ‘we’s’ were reduced to patterns of objective ‘its’, and thus all the interior stages of consciousness – reaching from body to mind to soul to spirit – were summarily dismissed as so much superstitious nonsense. The Great Nest collapsed into scientific materialism – into what we will be calling “flatland” – and there the modern world, by and large, still remains.
 
Our job, it thus appears, is to take the strengths of both premodernity and modernity, and jettison their weaknesses.” Integral Psychology Pp 64-65

We’re SO Shocked
What I wondered was: Why do we assume that the particle CANNOT be influencing another particle across great distances? Why do we assume that the particle must be acting like a particle and not a wave- like in the above experiment? Why do we make all these assumptions about what a particle does or does not do? Ignorance. The particle itself knows it’s own self more than we do, it seems! Why is it that it’s on the particle to demonstrate consistent behavior?

Why do we assume separation between each of us as people or us from animals or us from the environment (and everything else, while we’re at it)? Why would science? Why do scientists? This is why I started off this article talking about ignorance.

Most startling (to scientists) was the assertion that the two slit experiment shocked so many people. She even put up a famous quote from Niels Bohr, of which there are many, that said:

“Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.” - Niels Bohr

What is so shocking? What makes anything so shocking? Well, any fact that contradicts your cultural conditioning. Think about it. Truth has a way of doing that. What is nice is that Niels Bohr himself kindly provides some eloquent quotes that show he has in fact understood the implications of his theories:
“How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.”

“There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature...”

Paradox IS Philosophy and Self-Realization
In both, he demonstrates a mystics understanding of the place where metaphysics begins, and philosophy also. These men were clearly great men, and really approached their field with an utmost seriousness and rigor to be so profoundly affected by their own understanding of their discoveries. In our current science-oriented culture where charlatans who claim to know merely propagate the ignorance they hypocritically deride society for having- or worse, don’t understand their own ignorance of how to “make progress” according to Bohr himself, one who really DID understand.

Ultimately, technical or intellectual understanding is far inferior to practical understanding. Here I speak of the practical understanding of ourselves such that we can easily grasp how paradoxes work, as a result of having deeply considered them within ourselves. The yogi or mystic who has considered these things within themselves could easily grasp without being “shocked” the apparent paradoxes of quantum mechanics, even if on a relatively superficial intellectual level.

Grasping how to move in the world, free of paradox ENTIRELY is something else besides. Freeing one’s self of dualities in totem is the ultimate desire of all spiritual aspiration, if indeed it is sincere.

Yogis ARE Scientists
Given that “an ounce of practice is worth tons of theory” (- Swami Sivananda) then, the practical inner work that would enable one to live in harmony with what the limited mind or intellect can grasp AND what is beyond that mind lay the superior practice of Yoga. The ancient method of Yoga says that ALL your concerns should rather be of that which is practical. Yoga is non-theistic and rather points to a systematic resolution of intellectual, emotional, physical, and metaphysical paradoxes.

In this way, yogis have been approaching, scientifically (in both a left-brained and right-brained manner) for thousands of years (that we know of) the practice of Yoga. Nothing is left out in Yoga and Vedanta. Indeed Vedanta is translated as the “end of knowledge”. Yet, Vedanta is a balanced viewpoint. Even Jnana yogis who study scriptures in an almost anti-social modern university sort of way are understood to be inferior to those who reform their personality in a more complete fashion using all four paths.

Summary
I hope I have shown the fallacy of ignorance based in science. I see it in so many places. The ignorance of the origins of knowledge (inside us) the ignorance of the great realizations and experiences of saints and sages of the past, especially in the East, the ignorance of the MASSIVE body of work produced by thousands of years of yogic scientists, both left and right brain oriented, and lastly the responsibility we have to really pay attention to the information we’re being given and the assumptions behind it. I hope I’ve been clear and thorough.

Tags: niels bohr, quantum mechanics, Ken wilber

Sometimes seen as independent forms of devotion by some, while others regard them as stages leading to ever higher forms of devotion. The nine different bhavas or attitudes reflect the differences of temperaments and approaches in the devotees. However, the intense love for God is the common factor in all of them.

The nine forms of bhakti (devotion) are:

1. Listening (shravana): Listening to devotional songs, recitations and scriptures can arouse feelings of devotion and love in the listeners.
2. Chanting (kirtana): Praising the Divine in its various aspects by singing simple songs which are either stories, prayers, divine names or mantras. This is a way of joyfully keeping concentrated on the Divine through music.
3. Remembrance (smarana): Smarana means to constantly think of the Divine by either recalling the glories and leelas (stories) of the Divine or by constantly repeating the Divine names in a process called japa. Smarana is directly linked to the first step of shravana, listening.
4. Service at the feet (pada sevana): Worshipping the feet can be a part of the ceremonial worship of a living teacher (guru) or it can also be meant as an attitude of surrender to the guru. The latter has traditionally been outwardly expressed by bowing and/or touching the guru’s feet.
5. Ritualistic worship (arcana): This is the performance of prescribed devotional rites.
6. Prostration (vandana): This stage can either be taken literally or symbolically. In the latter case, it would describe an attitude of surrender towards the Divine. As the former, it can be seen as a physical exercise meant to lead to the inner attitude of surrender.
7. Servant attitude (dasya): This is the stage where the devotee does every act out of service to the Divine Mother or Lord.
8. Friendship (sakhya): Sakhya describes a very intimate, close state of association with God as the result of long, sincere devotional practice.
9. Self-offering (atma-nivedana): This is a stage of complete surrender, where the devotee worships and loves God without any thought of reward or personal gain.

The ultimate aim of Bhakti Yoga (as with all four paths of yoga) is the mergence of the individual soul in the Divine Absolute. By merging in the ocean of divine love through the practice of devotion, the devotee attains union with the Divine and is liberated from birth and death.

Tags: Bhakti, Devotion

Why Understand The Mind In Yoga?
Even the translation of “yoga chitta vritti nirodha” can be confusing- “yoga is the suspension of the modifications of the mind”. This article will hopefully cover why this is relevant in yoga.

The mind must be described properly to be understood. You describe it so that one can become aware of it's various aspects in order to bring it under control. Since the point of yoga is to suspend the modifications of the mind, then it's clear one must grasp how the mind works.
The mind NOT the brain
It's important to note here, we are not referring to the brain. The brain is considered to be the receiver and physiological "antenna", if you will, of the Mind. The subtle being more powerful than the gross, the mind is considered to 'cause' the brain, not the other way around.

Understand Using Simple Metaphors
The way the mind works can be summarized using metaphors to describe it's various "personalities". At no time are there no thoughts, except in highly advanced yogis.

It is the nature of the mind to create thoughts, like waves lapping on the shore; the waves of thoughts are gradually eroding or depositing on this shore, depending on the nature of what they contain, and how strong the wind is.

The metaphors are as follows:

1) Mind Is Like Water

if one is looking for an accurate reflection of reality, one must have a calm lake of a mind.

Lake, Distorted By Strong Emotions

If one has large distortion, as in the case of strong anger, hate, jealously or other outsized emotions, one will see nothing but huge waves on the mind-lake caused by emotional disturbance. If you can decrease the wind on the lake by controlling the breath, then the amplitude of the waves will decrease.

Beautiful Seashells or Garbage?
This is one goal of yoga to make the lake of the mind like a mirror, free of distortions. As these waves connect to the shore of your life, what they contain can help or hinder like in the metaphor above- they can add or remove material from the shore of your life. They can leave garbage or beautiful shells and rocks. The water can be clear and you can see the life flowing in it well, or it can be silty, muddy and rancorous.

2) Mind Is Like A Monkey


Thoughts often can jump like a "Drunk Monkey Stung by a Scorpion" in the words of Swami Vishnu-devananda:



The thoughts go anywhere they please in delight of their utter freedom one habitually has given them. Squawking and making a great noise all the while, utterly unfocused and random, these thoughts leave you in a state where one can never really say where one is, what one is doing, and what one's priorities are.
One's subconscious mind is filled with information which is bubbling up in emotions caused by the past, some imagination and often is forever allowed to have it's way with one's conscious mind as it likes in this random fashion.

This tendency is exacerbated by our culture of computers, driving, quick-cut television, and persistent cultural drug use (just visit any convenience store- they are like mini drug stores- every sort of caffeinated beverage is available, plus now even more substances are widely in use like guarana, ginseng, etc, etc...)

3) Mind Is Like A Wild Horse


The Mind can be like a wild horse which likes to run in a particular direction in a vast territory and do as it likes. Being large and powerful as it is, it can often feel overpowering and dominating. However, even wild horses can be tamed with patience and a firm yet gentle persistence. I like to think of Seabiscuit in this way. An excellent article on "spirited children" talks about this topic in the same way.

One has to let the animal nature have some part of what it wants as one gets to know it. One must first allow the animal nature represented by the Wild Hose Mind know you are there, then know your intentions, then gradually guiding it to the direction you want it to go.
It will rebel at too many restrictions too quickly, so one must be careful as to not get kicked. If this happens, one is likely never to go near the Wild Horse Mind again, and then many chances are lost and time wasted in making real progress that is only enabled by this discipline. One method to control this is the "little,little" method of Swami Sivananda. One makes a small achievable change and makes it stick. Gradually, those small changes amount of what appears to many to be a complete change with time.

Speaking for myself, I had to treat my mind (and still do when good habits fall away and need re-establishing) in this same clear consistent way. As a coach, I understand the need for this when coaching others, yet I had never considered doing this with my own mind until my fellow ashramites suggested it to me. Thanks Uma Shankar and Anita!

4) Mind Is Like A Shy Lady



The mind hides it's true nature when you examine it, and it looks at you while one is looking away or not paying attention to it. The subconscious mind is full of these sorts of sneaky habits and it has been used to running things on your behalf for a long time. It will trick you in this way often as you work through your unconscious. The point of these yogic practices are to make much of the subconscious conscious, then increasing the super conscious awareness also, so naturally there will be a resistance to unveiling this shy lady and to look at her 'eye to eye'. Yet, it's only through this can the pernicious habits be uncovered.

5) Mind Is Like A Music Record with Grooves



When a record is scratched, the needle must be picked up and placed back at the beginning for the sweet music to begin playing again. Sometimes, doing so can be difficult, as the grooves of these scratches can be quite deep-

yet at the same time, so can the grooves that play sweet music. The grooves get deeper each time you play through either the scratch or the music, so therefore reinforces the problem or positive habit.



5) Mind Is Like A Fan



The mind, when switched off, or if one takes the time to really think about what one says and does- in Buddhism this is called mindfulness, one can slow down the mind. Similarly, when a fan is moving slowly, one can see the individual blades that make the air move, but as it moves faster, one has more difficulty in discerning between one thought, or blade in the metaphorical sense, and another.

Other Functions
The mind has other functions that aren't easily described by a metaphor or cut across several of the above metaphors. Below is how they practically work.

6) Strong Connection To Body/Breath/Senses

• Mind has a strong connection to Body: In Yoga, we use asanas (yoga postures) to learn to control the body and therefore the mind.
• Mind has a strong connection to Breath: In Yoga, we use pranayama (breath exercises) to learn to control the wind on the lake of the mind in a similar fashion to asananas with the body.
• Mind has a strong connection to Senses: The senses rule the mind quite often and provide fodder for the imaginations and memories of smells and so forth, giving rise to many of the above metaphors and their interplay. The senses can only see/hear/touch/smell the names and forms of Maya (the cosmic illusion of duality we all experience).

That which is beyond names and forms cannot be conceived in the mind and therefore cannot free us of the bondage of the sensual world, or provide a respite to it. Often we are drowning in sensual input from the world, TV, etc. and through concentrated practice we hope to get past them into something more real- more real meaning more subtle in the sense that our human material creations come first from the mind, then are constructed in what we term "reality". Following on from this, we find increasingly subtle states of existence.

7) Mind Thinks In Words & Pictures (Names & Forms)
Words are symbols that we have represented in our minds as a way of learning language. Pictures are the way the mind thinks, and therefore makes a strong reference point from the beginning of life towards the senses. It is impossible to imagine an object without a word coming up to represent it. We have therefore, since the creation of language, there is a propensity toward thinking that all of our representative symbology is reality, while reality itself is FAR more vast and subtle.

In our culture, we hardly even know where our words come from, what they mean, or what the history of language and words are, much less the reality behind them. If we do, we are often in a very very elite segment of the population. We, and by we, I mean the masses, spend much of our mental energy in pursuit of the mere representations of words or images, both spoken and visual, and this has trapped our minds into a very narrow version of "reality". Further, our reality is shaped by the mass media into even narrower ways of thinking.

Even the internet medium I am speaking to you on now is made more appealing (and a lot more time consuming for the author!) by the inclusion of photos.


8) Mind Is Fast & Powerful
The mind brings about thoughts, which are the fastest things in the universe, even faster than the speed of light. Being this way, they are incredibly powerful. The problem is that the faster the thoughts move, the less easy it is to see it rushing by (as in the fan metaphor above).
Therefore, we must learn to slow down the mind by retreating using various methods: meditation, yoga asanas, mouna (silence), etc. to limit the input and distractions so we can examine and focus strongly on each thought to become aware of them much more intimately.
This also means that just like sunlight concentrated through a magnifying glass, limiting the thoughts also produces much power and therefore responsibility. There are various allusions to this sort of thing in Hindu scripture and mythology.

9) Mind Keeps ONLY One Thought At A Time- The Key
If we can limit the input and distractions to the senses and therefore the mind, we can then use this fact to take some more control of our minds.

Mantras are one way of doing this. To read further about mantras, read Swami Vishnu-devananda's great and detailed book- Meditation and Mantras. An example is when you intensely focused on something- a good book or movie, or hard work, sports, etc. one can shut out all senses, pain, and other sense awarenesses towards the focus. This is a major tool of the yoga practice and so using this to counteract the quickness of the mind, and giving it many different ways of seeing god- chanting, mantras, focus point during meditation, karma yoga, etc. all of these give a specifically considered thought to the mind so it can have something to do, and then we focus strongly on that. After some time, this can lead to increased peace and eventually control of the mind and senses.

10) Mind Functions By Association
The mind functions by linking things together that remind you of something else- another time place, smell or other sensual reference. Understanding this and controlling it are important so that you don't spend lots of time reliving the past or imagining the future. Imagination functions largely from this associative place. This association function, left uncontrolled becomes the monkey mind.

11) Mind Is Habitual
The mind and the subconscious are often a mass (or mess, depending) of habits. These habits have been learned (in other words things you didn't necessarily choose, but rather adopted) and therefore can be unlearned. You can make choices about every interaction and every reaction to a stimulus. Seeing that habits are simply learned, one can also identify where one learned certain things and get to the root of problems by looking closely at where you adopted these behaviors, or opting out of them entirely so as not to reinforce them. When you operate out of habits, one is basically behaving as if one was in yesterday or some past time instead of operating out of the present moment or context.

This can be done by metaphorically "not watering" your old undesirable habits- i.e. paying attention to other aspects, and allowing these weeds of the mind to slowly die.

In summary, these are the mechanics of the mind. I have read and heard of differing psychotherapeutic perspectives on this theory, most of which closely resemble what I have outlined here.

Tags: Brain, Monkey mind, Mental health

The Fundamentals of Stress Management, as a topic, is one that can be covered simply in three steps:

1. Slow to Moderate Movements (Asanas, or yoga postures)
2. Breath Control & Mindfulness (Pranayama & Withdrawal of the Senses)
3. Meditation (Withdrawal of the Senses and Concentration)

We will cover them one by one.

Symptoms of Stress

Many people come to us asking about how to relieve stress or to tell us that their lives have become unmanageable for one reason or another. The feedback they have begun to get from their friends and family is that they are stressed out- or not treating people with their accustomed manner.

They may have any number of accompanying physical symptoms of this as well; these range from anger, anxiety attacks, and elevated heart rate to pinched nerves, pain in various parts of the body, etc. They also may have a difficulty in digestion, inability to concentrate, difficulty sleeping, sensitivity to light or noise, short temper during driving, or a need to always have some form of stimulus going in the background- like music or TV- sometimes even during sleep.

Slow to Moderate Movements

By moving slowly and with attention, like the tree sloth above , accompanied by keen breath awareness, one begins to solve the puzzle of stress. In a way, you trick the mind from it’s normal jumpy nature into concentrating on small details of movements and moving toward an ability to match up the inhale and exhale of the breath with those movements.

By connecting the slow/moderate movements to the breath, one can then begin to really observe the breath and it’s relationship to muscular tension. It’s often surprising to people to note how much tension they can observe in muscles that they weren’t even aware of. As practice continues, the extra effort that seems to be made constantly in unfamiliar ranges of motion slowly disappears.

Often people find themselves sweating quite a bit more than they imagine for moving so slowly, and a clearer picture of how much extra effort it takes to hold so much tension in the body.



At the start, one’s challenge is to learn one’s limits and realize where extra tension lay in the body. Additionally, there is often pain caused by the extra tension, and so one must be careful to not be ambitious about how many postures or how far one can move in them. It’s best to not look around overly, but rather to keep one’s attention focused on one’s own body and breathing.



Stress is taken away by forcing the movements to become much more deliberate and gradually the connection to the breath can come. This tends to have an effect on the stress level by raising the energy level. This happens initially because tension inhibits the natural balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems to emphasize the sympathetic. Since all muscles come in pairs, one muscle’s controlling nerves are meant to relax while the other contracts. Stress makes tension exist in muscles even when it’s appropriate for them to be relaxing, so the body fights itself, using extra energy in each movement.



Breath Control and Mindfulness
While breathing and mindfulness are a part of slowing down movements, when we have learned how to move and the basics of the postures, this stage take real significance.


You will know you have reached this part of your yoga practice because one will no longer be able to do any yoga postures without really integrating and aligning the breath. Your yoga teacher will be telling you about what to do, and you will begin to really feel your way around the pose, as the breath begins to guide the movements, instead of moving somehow in spite of it!

It is at this point, the practical effect of pranayama (breath control exercises) is to erode one’s stress by making one focus clearly on the control of the flywheel of emotional life. As a man breathes, so he conducts his affairs.

Mindfulness is a part where one then begins to take the subtle nature of one’s breath awareness and apply it to your emotional states during postures. Sometimes we want to push to learn a pose, or move too fast. We will have a subconscious reaction to holding a challenging pose and begin to work through those. Those with back stiffness or issues can often feel difficulty holding sitting forward bend or half-spinal twist. Since yoga is about balance, one begins to gain an understanding of the parts of your personal yoga practice that don’t contribute to holding the balance in postures, then finally inside one’s mind and emotional being.



Meditation
All of the previous activities in yoga are necessarily having an end in meditation. Meditation is the final culmination of all other ethical, movement, breathing, sense withdrawal and concentration activities found in intermediate to advanced yoga practice.



Far from merely sitting without doing anything; meditation is action in inaction. According to the Bhagavad Gita:
In verse 18 of Chapter 4, Lord Krishna proceeds to explain action and inaction. He says ­“ One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.”

This principle can also be called, according to Taoism: Wu Wei. Doing without doing.



Many are the benefits of meditation, and in all areas of life. Even though initially, meditation as we think of it isn’t really meditation in a technical sense. Meditation in a technical sense in an unbroken flow of thought toward the silent infinite.

We CAN gradually calm our thoughts down, however, through physical silence. When we first start to sit in silence, our task is to calm down our body and with this will follow a sense of calm in the mental realm as well. We follow this, as above, with breath awareness and gradually slowing the breath to an imperceptible rhythm. Like the lake above, without wind, the mind will not arise with waves- and the mind of the lake will be as calm and beautiful to experience as the photo promises.

With repeated practice, one can call upon the depth of the lake’s treasure at a moment’s notice and relieve stresses, even in the most difficult situations. This is all trainable and possible to everyone. You can see a good demonstration here of meditation:


We hope you can join us in learning, as we have, of this depth awaiting you in yoga.

Om,
DurgaDas and Leila

Tags: Breath, Breathing, Stress Management

fitness |ˈfitnis|
noun
the condition of being physically fit and healthy : disease and lack of fitness are closely related | [as adj. ] a fitness test.
• the quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task : he had a year in which to establish his fitness for the office.
• Biology an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment : if sharp teeth increase fitness, then genes causing teeth to be sharp will increase in frequency.
wellness |ˈwelnis|
noun
the state or condition of being in good physical and mental health : when you come right down to it, stress affects every aspect of wellness.

health |helθ|
noun
the state of being free from illness or injury : he was restored to health | [as adj. ] a health risk.
• a person's mental or physical condition : bad health forced him to retire.
• figurative soundness, esp. financial or moral : a standard for measuring the financial health of a company.
• used to express friendly feelings toward one's companions before drinking.
ORIGIN Old English hǣlth, of Germanic origin; related to whole.

The above are dictionary definitions, yet if you take a look at the descriptions for health, they are ALL in relation to illness(!) or, in other words, health merely being the state of non-illness; even though the Germanic origin says it’s related to being whole. If one can see that language is an indicator of what is motivating our way of expressing we can see that even the dictionary definition of health is speaking for our culture’s generally negative viewpoint of the importance of health.

A Different Definition According to Yoga
We would add to this definition that deep fitness (our word invention) really comes from feeling unified as a person. Our favorite expression of this is in the form of a question:
Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?" -Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Swami Vishnu-devananda said: ‘Health is Wealth, Peace of Mind is Happiness, Yoga Shows The Way.’

Swami Sivananda said: ‘Health is a state of body when all the organs function perfectly under the intelligent control of the mind.’
By organs, Swami Sivananda is referring to the:
5 organs of action (karma indriyas)

1. mouth
2. hands
3. feet
4. anus
5. genitals

and the:
5 sense organs (jnana, or knowledge indriyas)

1. Sight (eyes)
2. Sound (ears)
3. Smell (nose)
4. Taste (tongue)
5. Touch (skin)

Yoga, Just A Good Workout?
Many people now are doing yoga for a “workout” or “to get fit”, yet Yoga is a holistic and far-reaching and systematic path to health (this meaning according to Sivananda’s definition) that encompasses not only physical yoga postures, but also accounts for a way beyond mere physical ‘fitness’. Indeed, breathing exercises, withdrawal of the senses, concentration and meditation are awaiting exploration to those who would avail themselves of it. Physical fitness is seen as a mere side-effect or stepping stone to further fitness and wellness opportunities.

It is in this context we would like to speak. Consider these two photos- both of which have made the rounds to many a yogi’s email inbox:


Yoga, A ‘Workout’ That Integrates the Mind
Now we would like to challenge the reader’s mind with the idea of fitness being the art of controlling the mind such that one can have the mind in the body or out of it. By passing out, the person who has drunk far too much in the first photo has left their mind behind through the use of a drug. BKS Iyengar, pictured above, is in the same posture, but has done so through years of training in Yoga. While we don’t advocate the use of props as shown here, except where needed for infirmity of some type, it’s clear enough that one can choose one’s presence of mind in the body through concentration and training. Yoga in the intermediate stages moves into this phase.

So, fitness then comes to mean that one can consciously release or place tension into the muscles as one sees fit; yet generally as practice continues, one discovers that one is holding far less tension in the body in general. Many people think of fitness as being increasingly aerobically or anaerobically efficient - like with lifting weights, swimming, running, cycling, and so forth. This is merely half the picture. By focusing exclusively on the doing nature of exercise, one can easily forget that the body, by design, contains both types of nerve impulses: sympathetic and parasympathetic. There are entire sections of nervous system anatomy, for example, devoted to the just the inhibition of muscular activity, as in the case of the golgi tendon organs.

Yoga vs. Physical Culture
Indeed, there are great differences between Yogic exercises and Physical Culture, and therefore how fitness is defined is quite different.
Click here for a table of the differences in a new window.


Both of us here at Silent Motion Yoga & Coaching have spent many years becoming very, very familiar with the effort side of the physical culture, and in so doing explored deeply how to allow one’s capacity in this sympathetic aspect to grow and expand. While the ability to focus the mind in a one-pointed fashion and that meditative states are experienced by athletes, both elite and otherwise, this is not something that is typically trained, nor are the fitness gains in sport done with a long term lifetime perspective in mind. One large area of spiritual discipline that we have consequently become familiar with is the consequences of such a short-term and narrow focus from our own mental attitudes in the long term and post-sporting life. It is through the discipline of Yoga we have discovered our way back to a more peaceful and harmonious feeling in our bodies AND our minds. It is this process we have undertaken and lived through that motivates our balanced perspective on our teaching of Yoga.

Elite Physical Fitness, But Something Is Missing
In the training of the mind to control the body in our sporting pursuits, we experienced an inner attitude that most athletes would be familiar with. It was encouraged by society, our peers, coaches, mentors and by everything we read. Our passion towards pursuing these reinforcements and our success at doing so earned us praise and congratulations, medals and so on. It was an attitude that said willpower, focused onto a small set of movements or events could allow us to succeed.

In Order To Finish First, One Must First Finish
This athletic maxim applies also to whole of life. One’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual peaks and valleys must be gradually shallowed so that one’s overall set point is quite high, yet ups and downs are generally minimized and the effect of circumstances tends to be reduced also. This allows one to first finish be spreading one’s considerable resources and energy out over time.

It's not how fast you can go
The force goes into the flow
If you pick up the beat
You can forget about the heat
More than just survival
More than just a flash
More than just a dotted line
More than just a dash
Marathon from the album Power Windows by Rush
Type A’ personality that uses mainly willpower- needed when one’s main focus is furthering the same narrow activity through endless, grueling and monotonous efforts- and thus one comes to believe that ALL effort in life will go one’s way if one can only apply an extra helping of willpower to the pursuit. The idea of working ‘harder’ as a requisite for success becomes ingrained in athletes, and Westerners, from a young age. Indeed, many Westerners would have a hard time understanding a context that didn’t contain, and that is widely known as the ‘Type “A” Personality’ that we personified, eventually on the behalf of the groups who would praise us so heartily.

Business owners, those seeking to get ahead in life or a corporation, athletes, parents who see their children as projects; we all fall into some form of this disconnect through the overuse of willpower subject to the whims of ego. If ego makes the heist of the mind happen, then it’s willpower that is the engine driving the getaway car. Here is an exposition on how this process happens.

Still, when one departs from such a narrow, repetitive, mechanistic (we do live in the Iron Age, after all) focus, we find that real humanistic life cannot be viewed any longer in the small focus that such a willpower-driven set of blinders has given us. The narrowed division of labor in our real-world jobs and the endlessly repetitive and mechanical ways in which we are often expected to live out our lives doesn’t fulfill us and make us fit for all that we can be, much less have the capacity to be.

Burnout
For us, following on from our athletic careers- we found that our interests became focused on wider pursuits. Wider and wider those pursuits became until we saw a spiritual light at the end of the tunnel. A place where we could reside in some peace and contentment. We began to look toward pursuits where much broader skills are used in conjunction with other people (whom often, disappointingly, do NOT succumb to our willpower exertions!). Additionally, there are often wider technical, mental and manual skills that go into bringing about the successful conclusion of a project or goal, especially spiritual goals. The learned discipline certainly helps in other pursuits, if one only can maintain it.

Being so narrowly focused can often lead to a desire to never be so focused again- or complete burnout that affects many other areas of life. This is also the case with the work addict to spends too much time at work and without his family, for example, just as much as it could apply to the elite athlete. Since burnout tends to be diagnosed by observing mental behaviors and attitudes, it’s useful to examine this in light of fitness.

Training The Mind To Be Whole
So, is there anything we can do to train the mind differently? Can we experience a deep fitness, one whose base is far broader and more comprehensive than mere physical exertion? Can we avoid the trap of being so narrowly focused on one thing that we forget our wholeness?

It can be challenging to recover from so many years of this Type A kind of thinking. One scarcely knows what attitudes or gentler methods of speaking or approaching a subject or how to “get things done” where the mind isn’t pushing one to achieve at all costs the goal. When one shifts from this thinking, one finds that relationships can build more naturally and things can still get done.

Removing doer-ship is a key spiritual skill in being fit for life after retirement from the ‘ALL WILLPOWER’ team. Gaining this perspective on life changes it’s fundamental context and small incremental changes are possible with an ease that many have never been felt before. Since larger changes consist of small incremental changes, then all things become possible in a really nourishing way- and fitness for a greater range of skills, attitudes, and competencies arrives.

Yes, and yoga shows the way. One needs a holistic system of training the mind back to this wholeness. Yoga provides this kind of system. Once the mind comes or goes, the body moves along with it. We have experienced this ourselves. Many aches and pains that we once had have slowly faded away with time. Imbalances become balanced with meditation, one pointed concentration and relaxation. More than this, these practices create a unifying force for the body/mind/spirit connections we often miss by plowing ahead in pursuit of something.

It’s really excellent because it’s trainable, although this kind of change is not any less challenging that any other goal one might take on. In fact, it’s more challenging because the very assumptions one has been making must be examined and consciously chosen differently and reinforced over time, along with the physical changes that happen.

Emotional Fitness & Wellness
Still, the goal is to become fit and well over the other areas of one’s life, not merely the small area one might have made important in the past. Practicing a unifying method, rather than one centered on a small goal to the exclusion of other things, one is also gaining back a greater perspective in emotional fitness as well.
another blog post on New Year’s Resolutions, especially in emotional life, evening out one’s ups and downs assists one with the maintenance of motivation and the power of intention that is the REAL power behind mere will.


This most silent and yet most powerful force in life, intention, is activated by practicing unifying conduct- whether physical, mental or spiritual.

Operating then from a space of intention gains one’s view into your own creativity, feelings of kindness and lovingness, understanding and views of that which is beautiful, expansiveness and abundance, and the ability to adapt, adjust, and accommodate everyone you meet.

This then means one is TRULY fit and well and healthy.

Tags: Fitness, health, wellness, Yoga, exercise, Mental health, training, Power of intention, Intention, health

Here is a bit of writing we did in answer to the WikiAnswers question- “where did yoga originate?” The Answer I saw there was “india”. I thought it could use some more exposition, so I wrote the following instead and thought it would be good to post here:

As in all cultures, it takes an event or personality behind a philosophy- the release of a book, a political event or some art form to push something to the forefront. Sage Patanjali was this for yoga as a system with the release of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. Here is a book written by Swami Satchitananda, a disciple of Swami Sivananda about these Sutras:

• Yoga - the process of union of individual consciousness with universal consciousness
• Vedanta - knowledge of Self, universe and God.
• Sankhya - philosophical and largely dualistic classification of the universe
• Vaishesika - analysis and characterising of the universe
• Nyaya - logic. Essentially the 'Aristotelian logic of India', it is the fundamental logical basis upon which Indian philosophy has been built
• Purva-Mimamsa - laws of formal religion, sacrifices, etc. The emphasis here is on correct action (orthopraxy) rather than correct belief (orthodoxy).

India is the simple answer geographically, but it was more formalized and systematized after the publishing of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras that describe the 8 limbs or rungs of progress or; asht(8)-anga(limbs) yoga that caused the general absorption of Sankkhya philosophy into Yoga and Vedanta.
This is a more accurate way of saying it, rather than saying that, for example, rock n roll music originated in America. Rock music was popularized by Elvis Presley, even though his way was cleared by Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and completed by the Beatles, Rolling Stones and others subsequently.

In the same way, the strongly dualistic manner of presentation of philosophy present in Sankhya philosophy is subsumed into the larger and more encompassing Vedantic context it exists in now.
Vaishesika and Nyaya have very large consistencies between them, although Currently, the general presentation of yoga in the world's consciousness can be described as fitting in well with a world view known as Smartism.

With the rise of Adi Shankara and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras these six views have largely been integrated into either yoga or Vedanta or both. Major forces in the rise of these yoga philosophies has been Swami Sivananda and his many influential disciples (particularly in the West), Sri Ramakrishna and his disciple Swami Vivekananda (Vedanta), and the various other more body-focused schools like the Bihar School of Yoga, The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, Integral Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga via Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his guru Krishnamacharya, BKS Iyengar, etc.

Tags: Origin, yoga philosophy, Vedanta, Sankhya, Vaishesika, nyaya, logic, Religion

In our experience, we have noticed that many people use yoga as exercise or for flexibility or even maybe some spirituality ‘lite’. DurgaDas was trained for some time in a classical monastic tradition, and both DurgaDas and Shakti took their yoga teacher training from a Classical Yoga organization- the Sivananda organization. Fundamentally, this method of teaching, therefore, follows in the vein of Smartism.

Even though our perspective is informed by other traditions and methods, the core of our teaching could be summarized as follows:

• An ancient system of knowledge based on the Vedas and Yoga scriptures. The understanding transmitted is larger than any individual.
• The method of transmission is through a lineage of spiritual teachers (masters/gurus) to students (disciples) in the Gurukula system; literally "in the house" (kula) with the remover (gu) of darkness (ru). What is transmitted is beyond mere information, but also attitudes and spiritual energy.
• It is a complete system. Yoga teachings are not intended to be partial; the yogic teaching system includes body/mind/spirit unifying practices including yoga postures, diet, austerities, ethics, meditation and much more.
• It is a discipline and the training is rigorous: it is not a quick fix and takes time. The student needs to be consistent, persistent and put effort into it.
• It is universal - not sectarian: the teachings are good for all, irrespective of cultural, religious backgrounds and other social conditions.
• It is selfless - spiritual knowledge can not be sold. All teachers are expected to behave with a spirit of karma yoga, detached from the fruits of their efforts.
• The goal is inner peace or Self-realization: i.e. realization of one's highest potentials.

Tags: Yoga, yoga philosophy, Vedanta, Guru, Discipline

This article is based on our observations of modern Western society and a desire to expand the understanding of how the philosophical nature of Eastern thought can help the pragmatic Western mind understand itself.
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift".
Einstein
Another excellent treatise on this from a logical basis is found in the Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnu-devananda in Chapter 10, The Origin and Evolution of Prakriti.


We post this knowing full well that even in those feeling separated according to this below text are actually not separated in any way, except in their own perception, and therefore the perception of others around them. The kind of Vedanta that is the most holistic is called Advaita Vedanta- literally, “Not Two” and the main proponent of this historically was Adi Sankara. Again, meaning ‘one without a second’. This is the philosophical underpinning we espouse on this website.

The following seven steps can be applied to any undertaking where one finds ego. Ego, using willpower from a narrow focused mechanistic manner of thinking pushes us along this path of separation through misunderstanding. Here is a funny example of this:


This is a description of the ‘process’ of ego manifestation. One finds this in all walks of life, including, sadly religions. This is so prevalent now that many Westerners have come to believe that religion is synonymous with control, and reject it on the basis of that reactively. Silent Motion Yoga teachers and practitioners always are seekers of the middle way between such polarizations and it is in this spirit we present you with this.

1) God-understanding (Self-realization, Samadhi, Nirvana, etc.)

One with everything, lacks separateness or identification with body, mind, etc., holistic in nature, compassion, kindness, and love are  present. Internal focus sees all external things as mere reflections of internal reality.
Right brained, as in infants, or God-realized people (although Self-realization give one the capacity to think fully on both sides of the brain, while maintaining a root in the right brain). Varying degrees of capability regarding left brain function ranging from genius level intelligence (for example, Swami Sivananda could keep 16 minds busy at one time transcribing his thoughts) to unconscious switching into Samadhi, to the point of needing constant caretaking (for example, Sri Ramakrishna).

2) Misidentification As Separate From God


"God is dead."- Nietzsche
The main misidentification being the feeling/thought/idea that one is separate from God, Nature, other people and things, etc.; focus and energy changes from identifying with internal to the external now being considered real; left brained, still can maintain some varied periods of balanced internal/external understanding.
Ego becomes present, which is structurally contained in the left side of the brain. The need to be different than one is in the face of parents or social stresses tends to exacerbate this problem. Ego then drives all remaining distinctions hereafter, perpetually arrogating it's left-brained, or separatist, agenda. This is usually based on inherited shame from parental figures and a growing body awareness, reinforced by society, friends, and excess of media input and advertising.

3) Attachment

Narrowed EXTERNAL focus onto few objects or one as "mine", like the body or possessions, left brained, begins a denial of one's internal reality of Self, or interconnectedness with others. Shame inherited becomes more deeply and unconsciously rooted. What becomes important now is "my land", "my wife", even "my guru" or "my God".
Clearly, battles among religions, or even within religions(!) are found here. Battling nation-states and patriotism are also found at this level and are carried forward into the idealism stage, when one "identifies" with some religion.

I must note here that even gangs use this attachment or "brotherhood" feeling of belonging to carry out their agendas, later found to be a patho-ideal.

What I am pointing out here is not a value judgement, but rather a statement of observation of the reality of the human mind's journey, that later must be reversed.

4) Idealism
Creation of personal or group "rules" for maintaining attachment/ external focus in a personal or external mythology. This patho-myth tends to lack the recognition of how the external focus is changing the internal landscape of one's thoughts, leading to almost exclusive focus on left-brain, facts, details about facts, etc.
Because these rules never meet with reality and one's focus has previously been narrowed unnecessarily, one can strive harder to meet the constraints of this idealism, ironically motivated by the stress of further separation from one's True Self.
Our Western culture is chock FULL of examples of this. It is our single prevalent influence now. Everything from Apple Computer's computer cult to people pledging allegiance to certain brands of clothing falls into this.
It's the driving force behind advertising and people's difficulty with religion, corporate structures and the general malaise of meaning we find ourselves in today. NO IDEALOGY FITS YOU. So one feels left out by a constant stream of idealisms to choose from and nothing seems to just allow you to be yourself.
Ideals never fully meet the reality of this illusory and phenomenal life that has many gray areas and is constantly in flux and changing.
Even where some things do not change, it can be argued that our current culture very rarely recognizes such lasting things. Especially in view of the constant bombardment with factual information. One's reality can be skewed to think that all information is of equal value, thereby lessening the value of any unchanging experiences one might have, even where that experience is satisfying and relevant.
Even where one is apparently seeing the world in a specific way and this is socially acceptable, there tends to be a continuous and outsized reinforcement mentally and socially of one's identification in a narrow area (being Catholic or other religion, gay, feminist, left-ist, Mac user, PC user, etc.). These influences, by their heavy-handed (and to my view unneeded) reinforcement they tend to produce control behaviors.

The real problem here is one of mixing up weakly expressed versions of personal internal ideals or ways of behaving with "similar" (but not the identically same) external strategies employed by others, some of which may be strongly (i.e. healthily) expressed.

5) Control
Idealism breaks one's ground floor of compassion and seeing one's self as the other, one gains an ability to de-humanize others now. From there, it's possible subject them to your personal expression of the Control Disease formed by idealisms (perfectionism, fanaticism, etc.) as a way of maintaining stability for what you have identified as yourself, which is essentially as a messenger of the Idealism you imagine.
The deeper one aligns with idealism, the more one must re-inforce the narrow view presented by the chosen idealism; excluding, ridiculing and eventually punishing those whose ideas are outside this view.

A very common symptom of cult activity (and just listen to your evening news to see how prevalent this is in our Western news media) is to imagine the horrible fate of the "fallen" former believers and talk amongst the "still faithful" about how terrible it must be to behave in such a way. This is a re-expression of control that implies going beyond the mere personal relationship one might have had with the formerly upright member. Now the "fallen" former member assumes a sort of 'cosmic inhuman' quality, where not even God could love this fallen personage.
I expressly don't want to confuse here positive control with negative control. Negative control is seen here as one where the rajasic nature of the mind projects one's ideals onto others, or even everyone. This can include languages or behaviors.

6) Addiction
Addiction comes as a last resort to failed or imperfect Control Behaviors, a lack of integrating and accepting choices or resistance from those being controlled (including one's self). One then goes back and re-affirms and re-establishes another or several other attachments to the tenets of the chosen Idealism. A total lack of understanding of the motivations of those who would not feel or subscribe to the same narrow viewpoint is had and repetitions of such behaviors begins.
Even where the person sees that this or that former idealism (such as drug, sex, or alcohol addictions) didn't serve them, they tend to assign the problem to the idealism chosen rather than the choice of idealism and then the control behaviors that follow it in a general sense.

7) Destruction
The essential result of this addiction, which is fed by addictions in various guises, be it drugs, war, profit or anything else. Often, this destruction can come in the form of destruction of one's relationships or one's own self physically, materially; or they can be "externalized" into the environment in the form of companions personally or in political terms. It can also happen in terms of one’s own destruction and death. One can dig one’s self into a hole that one cannot escape, like this man:


Expansion and Contraction
Throughout modern life, we will move in cycles between all these states. The cycle of separation can never sustain itself infinitely or it leads to a destructive impulse to the world around (like in the case of a Hitler or a Pol Pot) or one's self. Still, given the nature of our underlying spiritual lives, we can often learn enough to reverse this process again and head back up the ladder. The systematic process of undoing these phases of separation is called Yoga, and it has eight states or maturities.

With Yoga, these phases can begin to happen in the reverse order from what I have described and in a more effective manner; gradually undoing the negative direction this article has described as time goes on. Maturity sets in. When enough time has progressed to begin to see the madness and insanity of what these phases are doing we have realizations that lead to greater understanding of ourselves personally.
In a larger impersonal and political sense of the world, it appears that we operate in general in these cycles of expansion and contraction, influencing each other, learning as we go along, and developing ourselves toward a greater understanding even as we apparently destroy ourselves and others.
It is the hope of Yoga and my teachers before me, that we can, one person at a time, undo these cycles of separation so long understood by the ancient Yogis and spiritual aspirants across the globe.

Om Shanti,
DurgaDas

Tags: ego, Separation, Control, Control behaviors, Addiction, war, Destruction, Attachment

Western Aspirants in Eastern Spiritual Practice; How Cultural Conditioning Affects Our Practice

"When we fall into another day
hiding the things we've lost
the secrets to gather
nothing's forever
miles under frozen dust
a diamond vein don't know what it is
and this is the main reason for the victim of the circumstance
can we decide to shine down the light
inside all the darkness out what we are"
song: Garden of Stones by Vanden Plas, album: The God Thing

The Question
I was asked to answer the question "If I could help one person........" what would their attributes be? What is an apt description of them?

To Be Free of Conditioning
As I thought about this question, I saw that my own conditioning, and the arising desire to be free of that same conditioning, was at the root of my own spiritual practice that began many years ago as a child before I even became aware of "spiritual practice" as a term or endeavor. I decided when I was ten years old that I would go about this goal, and have pursued it ever since. The key that unlocked the door of spiritual practice for me is found in The Answer at the bottom of this article in the voice of Richard Harris with the words of Kahlil Gibran.

Root Causes of Spiritual Stress
In so doing, I have attempted to understand some root causes of difficulty for Westerners in Eastern modes of spiritual practice, and I have discovered some key aspects to our Western cultural conditioning that seems to impede us. Swami Sivananda offers many key understandings of these kinds of impediments to spiritual practce, and you can learn this is you take the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course about the 8 Impediments to Spiritual Practice and I would refer you to his words on this subject. Still, he was a Swami in a very traditional Indian culture at a time in history when that culture was more traditional than now.

You may want to take a look at my article on The Seven Phases of Separation to grasp what is behind what I have written here.

Key Aspects of Western Conditioning
A key attribute of people I would assist in spiritual practice or improving their lives are born and conditioned culturally in a Western manner. There are many things one might imply when one says this; such as overriding belief in science, fractured religious history, the belief that life and philosophy of the world began in Greece, proceeded through Rome and then spread to the rest of world from there, with the odd and apparently unrelated trip to Egypt for some pyramids!

It is as though Eastern culture and Native cultures didn't exist at all, according to the general sense of things, even though the philosophy of Native American cultures had a great impact upon the writing of our U.S. Constitution. Most people don't know this.
For a great book about our educational system, I recommend "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by Dr. James W. Loewen. In general, there is a real arrogance and entitlement to our Western cultures that doesn't exist culturally nearly as much as it does in Eastern cultures, and even more so in America, where I live.

Much of our Western culture is predicated on "being an individual", and in America we seem to have a need to pretend we are "pioneers" of some sort, still out riding the range on horseback! The reality is that we have a fairly narrow range of choices, and even our counter-culture movements are all co-opted and promoted on television. Everyone has a uniform, and when you where that uniform, you belong, so the theory goes. In this rather ill culture, you hear about co-dependency, counter-dependency, addictions and control behaviors far more than in Eastern cultures.

“There is a prejudice against the spoken lie, but none against any other, and by examination and mathematical computation I find that the proportion of the spoken lie to the other varieties is 1 to 22,894. Therefore the spoken lie is of no consequence, and it is not worth while to go around fussing about it and trying to make believe that it is an important matter. The silent colossal National Lie that is the support and confederate of all the tyrannies and shams and inequalities and unfairnesses that afflict the peoples - that is the one to throw bricks and sermons at.” - Mark Twain

Cultural Relativity
Much of my statements are a valid observations, and yet many valid cultural observations are much MORE valid depending on the which culture one is referring to. For example, almost all Indian culture is based in family. All one needs to do is travel there to be convinced that the entire country of India is fundamentally, irrevocably co-dependent, yet remarkably lacking in the sort of addictions we observe here, on the whole. This is their social norm. This changes the perspective on making value judgements based on such observations. As cultures around the world become "Westernized" there is a tendency toward control behaviors, which are at the root of addiction.

Teachers Must Teach Based on Types of Conditioning
So considering the type of person I would want to assist in spiritual practice must be considered in the light of the cultural conditioning of the place where they are, my own experience and struggles within the framework of that, and then examine the type of cultural background the spiritual practice was rooted in. Yoga is rooted in an Eastern way of thinking, which has far different assumptions, and in general is more balanced with left and right brained modes of thinking and holds closer one's own personal skepticism.

The famous back and forth "maybe" head nod of Indians is used when they for example don't want to be seen as saying no, but don't want to say yes, either. Saving face is paramount in Eastern cultures, so modes of instruction is also rooted in allowing both teacher and student to save face.
Even Eastern languages are spoken differently depending on the relationship the speaker has with the hearer. In Vietnam for example they need to know how old you are and what your role is to be able to address you properly. I have witnessed Vietnamese people addressing my old spiritual teacher like she was a Buddhist nun, and she herself was Vietnamese, so she would tell me about how she was being spoken to was different depending on her role as a sister, daughter, or what have you.

Even as we understand that the sort of physical problems we in Western culture develop don't manifest in the same patterns (for example, in the West, the implications of sitting in chairs that creates much back and hip tension, shortening of the hamstrings, etc.) in India and Asia because that culture simply moves, and sits very differently as a part of their cultural conditioning. We must understand also that the approach to practice for a teacher of a Western student is far different than that needed to deal with a Taiwanese student, for example; while the physical, mental and spiritual principles underlying the practice remain the same.

The Role of the Teacher
First, I would like to address also my role as a teacher. Neil Postman is a key figure in commentary about our schools, and his perspective- one that I believe in deeply- is that schools should function as a "thermostatic" factor in addressing the cultural stresses found by it's students. If a student is too "hot" or too "cold", so to speak, schools can address this by their curriculum.

Therefore, as a teacher, I think that my role is to teach "thermostatically" with respect to how the student's culture (in most cases in the U.S./Canada, the Western viewpoint) operates and provide a way for the student to achieve a middle ground, physically emotionally and intellectually at the outset and spiritually ultimately.

So in attempting to teach effectively to a Western audience of students Eastern philosophy, we must still address the student with whom FEELS more comfortable with philosophical approaches, yet their entire context of culture is based in pragmatism. This strain by itself will often spin a Western student out of Eastern spiritual practice.

The Western Pragmat-ism
To summarize the key factors I would like to discuss here regarding Western conditioning, I would like to say that North American culture is based fundamentally in pragmatism.

From the dictionary:  Pragmatism:
1  : a practical approach to problems and affairs
2  : an American movement in philosophy founded by C. S. Peirce and William James and marked by the doctrines that the meaning of conceptions is to be sought in their practical bearings, that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth is preeminently to be tested by the practical consequences of belief  

Much of our pragmatism comes from our curriculum. Curriculum as I mean it here means two things:

1) The First Curriculum: Television and Media (now, including the internet). A wonderful treatise on the effects of the first curriculum (although with statistics from 1979) can be found in one of the best books on teaching: "Teaching as a Conserving Activity" by Neil Postman. This topic is too in depth to cover here.

2) The Second Curriculum- our school system. Much of the structure of our school system comes from the influence of John Dewey, who is considered a key figure of the Pragmatism movement, after Pierce and James mentioned above. Prior to 1950 or so, most of culture was in the hands of public schools. So what was being taught in schools was and is essentially pragmatism, only now often even more narrowly focused. As a result, many other types of holistic schools like Montessori and Waldorf schools have arisen in popularity in recently years.

What Does It Buy Me?
What the pragmatic approach has done is to promote on every level the desire for a result. "What will it DO for ME?" is the key question. This requirement of external things to DO something then means one must require one's self to always also be doing something. Even our downtime, what little of it we give to ourselves is found in movies, television, music, theater and entertainments of every sort. "Work hard and play hard" is the motto. "Just Do It" is a very popular slogan by Nike because it resonates in the heart of this pragmatism.

"patience is just another word
under the old man's tongue" song: Garden of Stones by Vanden Plas, album: The God Thing

Even our Silence is Taken
We then have no silence in our lives. No space where there is a spot in between likes and dislikes where to can rest our weary selves from all the effort we are required to put out. If we don't put out constant efforts, we are lazy, undisciplined or going through a burnout or breakdown. Even burnouts and breakdowns are to be handled as quickly and efficiently as possible! We're busy!

We watch TV to relax, but this merely agitates and reinforces a monkey mind! When we exercise or do any activity, we tend to do it in this gung-ho manner that leaves us so tired we finally can see fit to give ourselves a break, if only for a moment and a protein bar.

Doer-ship
Doer-ship is the law of the land in Western cultures. *I* and doing this and *I* am doing that. ALL Eastern culture's spiritual practices rail against this self-arrogating doer-ship. "Action in inaction and inaction in action" as a concept is found in the Bhagavad Gita. "Action-less action" is in the Tao Te Ching, and so on. The flute of Krishna symbolizes the spiritual aspirant who is being an instrument of God, being transparent. As a teacher, this is always present with me and something I learned at the ashram.

Punishments/Rewards
Additionally, the Western system often uses a punishment/reward stimulus for achievement, in spite of it's clear failure as a method (see Alfie Kohn's book, Punished by Rewards, for a research-supported treatise on this topic). Therefore, the so-called "good" students who adopt this pragmatic approach early on avoid those punishments, and not only reap rewards that are intrinsic to the field of study but also reap the rewards of social acclaim.

I Just Need To Understand!
Required also is understanding before taking a step. It is somehow seen that every action in life is like building a house or assembling a new piece of furniture. The left brain requires this, because it's been trained in this way to respond without any involvement of the person. TV exploits and trains this, as does years of rote memorization of topics throughout school and the requirement of obedience.

Instructions must be read and understood before any step can be taken. At every step, Western students want to know the "why" behind the experience they have yet to have, without taking the time to experience it more fully and allow the teacher to then explain what they have been going through, so one can come to an understanding.

The famous "wax on, wax off" example in the Karate Kid is a typical response. At every step the ego must have advance knowledge of what is to come next, because the mind has been conditioned to be mild and obedient, even though that SAME mind would bristle at the mere suggestion of such a thing. Maybe yours did too when I mentioned it just now!

The 30 Second Life Change
Even so, we have a mythology about Western students undertaking Eastern training in movies and TV constantly. I have seen many movies where a person undergoes a 20 year process in a week under the tutelage of some Eastern Master and subsequently dispatches the forces of evil with his profound and expanded awareness. This "30 second" solution is another subconscious construct CONSTANTLY re-inforced by commercials that will allow for you to get a gorgeous woman or man through the mere purchase of a certain product. TV shows present moralistic resolutions to life-changing problems every week in 30 minutes or less.

Thus, we have a society that arrogates it's entitlement to a result at every opportunity- even before the process has begun. This is clearly the case in the U.S. This pragmatic approach has left those of a more philosophical mindset to feel left out of the general social educational milieu, especially if one's style of preference is to understand how the context in which one's actions and efforts of learning are to give meaning to one's life.

These contexual questions are answered only the realm of philosophy and experience, and a huge supporting sub-culture of psychologists, coaches, gurus, spiritual teachers, self-help books and so on have grown up to fill the need to address the void left over from the narrow view of pragmatic (in idealistic terms, pragmatism) thinking. We will examine this in the next section.

The Eastern Philosophical Approach
In Eastern cultures, the teacher, and in many cases this means also elder (and the older the more respect is given for one's life experience) holds a singular position of respect. This is the cultural norm. Eastern teaching takes, in general, a philosophical approach. By seeing all the activities of life being taught by the teacher in the context of this general philosophy, the student can integrate emotional development as well as academic scholarship. In the context of a more wholly regarded teacher, student and person, respect is given to the effort to learn and to the experience of the teacher as a means to that end.

For an Eastern student and teacher, it's self-evident what being a good student gives to the person so the entitlement we see in the West is usually not  a factor. The study and discipline of learning contains it's own rewards and these are what is generally accepted as true without a need for punishments and rewards.

In general, this Eastern approach is a more balanced and multi-sided development structure. It is an approach shared amongst most Eastern cultures, except where the influence of British methods of teaching still hold sway.

East Meets West
Many of the difficulties we have seen with the arrival of indian gurus in the West in the 1960's, and Western students (even if high level Swamis) of Indian and other Eastern Masters of Buddhism, Taoism and the like comes from a difficulty of integration in these cultural aspects.

Who Is Meeting Who and Where?
Western students wear their difficulties with schools, teachers and teachings much more "on their sleeve", so to speak. Challenging a teacher is commonplace, and requiring the teacher to meet the student where the student is, is commonplace. An Eastern student would never consider such a thing, however their skepticism about a teacher or teaching is kept much closer to their chest. It's expected that an Eastern student be given only the principles and philosophy behind, and their job as students is to work this out internally for themselves. In other words, to meet the teacher where THEY are at instead. The teacher's role is to put a student through processes that allow for their growth and realization of their own earned experiences.

This is seen to be the role of the student in the first place- to come UP to the level (hopefully) of the teacher. Only by following the instructions and processes of the teacher can this be done. When a student has some difficulty with a subject, then it's meaning to the student is what matters and the student also knows the teacher grasps this. These factors are assumed also by teachers. Therefore, Eastern students develop a healthy discriminatory and questioning method without having a need to challenge a teacher on so many point of discipline or content and they will feel supported in their growth and expanding understanding.

Addicted to Praise
A Western student is often addicted to praise, and so doesn't feel like progress is made without external acknowledgement of performance or achievement. A gold star must be given for all minor progress. An Eastern style teacher often will not give so much of this, except where resoundingly appropriate, with the understanding that too much praise will bring about a mental weakness for students.

This can be a challenge for a Western mind to accept. Western teaching divides the student from the teacher and subsequently the present subject matter at hand. It's all about the content and it's repetition and not it's application or what it means to the student is forgotten. Students often do not feel supported in their learning, nor do they get any sense that how they feel about their learning is of any consequence.

Western students often struggle to apply specifics to the general principles at hand, lack a habit of discriminative inquiry or "trying on the concepts", and as a result can be easily deceived by teachers who ask them to submit to learning in an "Eastern method" but only end up being taken advantage of. For example, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had an airplane with gold fixtures in it. This shows some considerable lack of discrimination on the part of his followers.

Simply listening without the attendant discriminatory, analysis and thinking skills is a recipe for difficulty. It can take up to a year to begin to be comfortable with this way of learning initially, yet it's ultimately rewarding since learning changes for the student and their world opens up to them. 

Since all relationship is a co-creation, one must develop some way of seeing and understanding so one can see the differences between teachers who would lead you to the threshold of your own mind vs. asking you to follow them, or merely accept what they say.

Western students have a need to be in control of their own practice and decisions regarding every item, if it to be accepted. 

The Spiritual Tourist
There is a tendency to exaggerate the misunderstandings found in these cultural disconnects to the end of not wanting to grasp the mechanics of how learning is done in the Eastern way of teaching and thus we have the rise of the "spiritual tourist". This is a person who is interested in Eastern modes of spiritual life, but thinks that the best way to do that is by "shopping around" for spiritual insights. Or, they may take the alternative route into one or another of the Western "workshops" like The Experience or Landmark. 

Surely, so the thinking goes, that if I take a little from each spiritual teacher, then I will get the "best" of each of them. Swami Sivananda described it this way, to paraphrase the story:

"When one is in the desert and one wants to seek for water, if you can find a shady tree and dig a deep hole, you have the best chance of finding water. When one digs many shallow holes, one is not likely to find water."

The guru or teacher is the shade tree. It is only growing because of the presence of water. The shade tree you see off in the distance is an illusion, and if you attempt to go to it, then often you will never find it and be further still away from your original shade tree.

The Value of One Approach
Because of the nature of television (by this I DON'T mean it's content) the Western mind is conditioned to regard all data as more or less equal. Even where the information might be resonating or relevant, it's often still regarded as "just another piece of information". We have, in Western spiritual culture, literally become spiritual tourists with a large photo collection of gurus and ideas that have no cohesive, living embodiment with with to talk. 

The benefit of the sacrifice of all these ideas and memories from one's 'spiritual vacation' means to sit in front of a single teacher and learn in the way THEY teach you. This provides a fundamental building block of consistence and persistence.

It's the nature of really being a student. It's a simple mechanical thing. Why does all water flow toward the ocean? Because it's the lowest. Simple gravity. To be a student, one must put one's self in the lower position to be able to get the water of knowledge.

Food & Social Activities
We in the West live in fear. We live with a constant lingering feeling of lack that drives us because of the nature of our monetary system and it’s intended consequence which is consumerism. In this constant and unnamed fear, we stuff more and more food (and belongings) into and onto our bodies to drown out the perceived lack. When spiritual practice begins, we struggle to heed the call of the teacher/coach/guide that might give us ways to replace our fears with something more substantial and nourishing, our own and different thoughts. Right thinking can replace this fear of lack.

“And what is fear of need but need itself? Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?” -Kahlil Gibran

This ‘unquenchable thirst’ is precisely what almost everyone EXCEPT a spiritual teacher wants for you. Everyone on television, radio and advertising is out to create this lack, which can be overcome by toothpaste, or perfume, or a new car. Our material lives are largely based on making money from someone else’s fear of lack. The “Keeping Up With the Jones’s” mentality recedes further and further into the distance and is replaced by contentment, a natural side-effect of all real spiritual practices, whatever form they might take.

For those in lack, the easiest way to get fulfillment is to go back to the most fundamental nourishing feeling we can get externally and that is the feeling of eating, which triggers your unconscious ‘suckling at the mother’s bosom’ feeling.

The Western aspirant’s first spiritual challenge is related to food. This one topic is a magnet for ALL of the categories of above listed difficulties. All of society points at the need to indulge one’s self in the various veils that cover the understanding of one’s Real Self. We are almost always in some form or another using something we put into our mouths to ‘self-medicate’. In the West, we simply have more of these self-medicating options available to us than in other cultures. This fact has made us mentally, physically and spiritually weak, as a culture.

The nature of these obscuring veils have not changed too much since the dawn of time, yet the average marketer’s/politician’s/television/radio executive’s understanding of the nature of this same mind, and how to manipulate it has increased tremendously, as has the reach of broadcast technologies into our lives. We are marketed almost constantly, even to the point of having an appreciation for commercials as an art form.

In this fearful environment, we gather up all our indulgences into our perception of what goes in our mouths. We often don’t feel good unless we have eaten something to drown out our spiritual stress. Even those who claim to be spiritual struggle with it in this context.

We smoke, we drink, we eat too much food, we endlessly discuss the nuances of food and how it’s cooked, eaten, found, and grown. The cook who feeds people day after day is HIGHLY complimented, even more than is needed. We know more about the specific contents of our food than ever, yet understand less it’s effects on the subtle nature of the mind. Everything points to enjoyment of the sensual nature of food and drink. If we understood these subtle energetic effects, we would have FAR less ADD and so on from eating so much sugar, and less of almost every disease.

As an antidote for this, read about “Proper Diet” from the Sivananda.org site.

“The vast majority of people dig their graves through their teeth.” -Swami Sivananda

I have found it to be the case when teaching or coaching that people will easily speak to me in an unkind fashion if I begin to talk regarding food. Working with athletes for many years I found this to be the case, and it’s also the case as a teacher.

This point is quite interesting because in India, people generally eat together but do not speak. This is especially true in spiritual places like ashrams. I often wondered why this might be, aside from the obvious struggles that I myself have dealt in my mind when restricting rather strongly my own diet. Through this experience I have discovered that food and sexual impulses are very related in the Western mind, and see that when one’s “right” to eat whatever we want, or to enjoy sensual input in that particular manner is inhibited, there come triggers for people. If a spiritual teacher would advocate restricting one’s food for spiritual reasons (a form of tapas or austerity) then people begin to deconstruct my own food choices (vegan, wheat-free, dairy-free).

Usually they want to know my reasons for it, so they can find out whether or not they should judge my reasons strongly or harshly. This pre-condition for “reasons” plays against the above-mentioned “need to understand”. We must grasp that enjoyment is a luxury. We spare very little thought to those who eat simply for nourishment, or have very little food to eat in general.

And we talk. And talk. And talk during the eating of food, disturbing our digestion.

We make decisions as to whether or not to stand on principles like non-injury (ahimsa), the fundamental principle of yoga practice because we might run into social difficulty when ordering food in restaurants! We “eat around” the meat in meat dishes to avoid complicating matters for our friends who aren’t vegetarians, thus robbing them of the our steadfast example of what it might be like to stand on principle without having to make a fuss out of our diet choices.

People everywhere, meat eater, vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian, flexitarian, or whatever they all take pledges of allegiance to being a certain “type” of food consumer. Those who identify with it too much tend to wage little tabletop wars with others not of their ‘faith’ and thus embarrass and create bas social situations for everyone. We live in fear of choosing something different than our so-called friends because of this perception. If one really adheres to the principle of ahimsa, one’s best choice is to be a vegetarian (whatever this means to you) and not make a fuss about it. The best spiritual work is done with ZERO recognition.

I am a vegan, wheat-free, dairy-free eater partly due to allergies (from eating too much sugar as an endurance athlete) and partly because of principle. However, I promise not to make a fuss (unless I am your teacher, and even then not in public situations, except where warranted) by your food choices.

One’s karma is one’s own. I have no need to take on yours or wage a war about food against you or anyone else. I let my example be my best instruction.

What Students REALLY Want
What Western students of Eastern method REALLY are looking for, in my experience, is a connection with these apparently "lost" parts of themselves, that are not reinforced by the culture in which they were raised.
Specifically:
1) Like Minded People. Company with people who regard each other as whole, wise, capable, and resourceful- FROM THE OUTSET. There is an assumption of wellness and completion. One's internal perspective can be heard externally and thus validated. In Buddhism, this is known as the sanga, one of the "three jewels" of that practice. In Yoga, this is called satsanga, or company with the wise or with truth.
What It Does:
Convinces the mind that other people are doing it, so I can too. There is a reassurance in groups that is a natural consequence of the herd instinct in the mind. One's perspective is shared and through the act of sharing and hearing other people share, one's division from one's Self is lessened.
2) Consistence and Persistence. The key to meditation practice is threefold: time, place and space. These are the key components to any ongoing and sweeping change or practice and the teacher and the student must be given the opportunity to explore the realms of deep understanding and trust between them.
What It Does:
Convinces the mind by overcoming the Wild Horse nature of the mind and allows grooves in the record of the mind to be established by hearing the same thing said from several different people and perspectives.
3) Challenge. A key to growth. Specifically, in a physical sense, a change in the plasticity of the brain is found when going outside on one's established patterns.
What It Does:
Breaks Patterns. Tests willingness. Promotes maturity. Since spiritual practice takes on increasingly transcendent reflection, forms and expression, one always has a place to challenge the conditioning of one's mind. Spiritual practice is one that leads one closer to one's understanding of the internal reality and subsequently the external reality changes as a result. In the West, we are taught that external aspects are more important to put energy into, and so a lasting challenge for a Western student of Eastern teaching is this internal facing energy concentration.
4) Integral Philosophy. A watery approach that gives meaning and emotional reinforcement to their thoughts, deeds and actions, a way to allow to die old, separating thoughts. By watery I mean that it has a depth and percolates into the dry spaces
What It Does:
Convinces the left brain with facts about the structure and function of endeavor undertaken in the emotional realm. Gives the ego something to think about and do while balancing habits are formed that can slowly attenuate it. Provides lifestyle alternatives that support this. Logical conclusions support right thinking about the ultimate nature of the mind, the phenomenal world and can be read about in advance of experiencing it for one's self. Motivates one to continue on the path by providing a road map and context of practical efforts.
5) A Real Teacher. The spiritual energy of someone simply living their high thinking nature is felt by the student, even when the student doesn't "understand" why from a logical perspective. The teacher's words are important, but in the end the teacher's excellent example and internal/external congruency is the foundation of their teaching method. Nothing is so powerful as that singular example.
What It Does:
Provides a template of living conduct, energy, ethics, kindness and loving nature to emulate. This is far more rare in the West than in the East, although poor or charlatan teachers are found everywhere.

The Answer
So all this to answer the question "If I could help one person........" what would their attributes be? What is an apt description of them?

I want to help those who are having any of the difficulties of facing real Eastern spiritual practice as I describe it above and have experienced this struggle myself.  I want to work with people who understand what the below verses by Gibran mean.
I want to work with a person who can see my real faith in the possibility of their progress to whatever end they desire in this context of earnest spiritual practice, and will persist in .
It requires the adoption of a way that goes beyond a call to action. If what you need is a call to action, I am happy to bugle it out for you, yet most people in our society need a context I believe that this is what a teacher is meant to do. I believe also that this is what most Western people are missing in their lives. Without context, lives lose meaning over time. 

I want to work with people in the way Kahlil Gibran describes below, and I think it applies here, for me. To those with whom these things resonate, I am ready to work with you.

On Teaching
"No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise, he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding. The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.

On Work
You have been told also life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.

And I say, that life is indeed darkness, save when there is urge, And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge, And all knowledge is vain save when there is work, And all work is empty save when there is love; And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

And what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house. It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.

It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit, And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching. Work is love made visible."

Let us work together.

Tags: Pragmatism, John Dewey, Culture, Conditioning, Yoga, Spirituality, Spiritual Practice, Philosophy

20 SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS By SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA

NOTE: Please understand the context. These instructions were for a 1940’s-1950’s Indian monastic audience.

These twenty instructions contain the very essence of all Yoga Sadhana, Karma, Bhakti, Jnana and Yoga will all come to one who follows them whole-heartedly. They are the unfailing keys to quick and effective development and culture of the physical, mental, moral and spiritual self of man.

1. BRAHMAMUHURTA

Get up at 4 a.m. daily. This is Brahmamuhurta which is extremely favourable for Sadhana. Do all your morning spiritual Sadhana during this period from 4 a.m. to 6:30 or 7 a.m. Such Sadhana gives quick and maximum progress.

2. ASANA

Sit on Padmasana (lotus pose), Siddhasana (adept's pose) or Sukhasana (any pose you like) for your Japa and meditation for half an hour, facing east or north. Increase the period gradually to three hours. Practice Sirshasana (headstand) and Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) for maintenance of health and Brahmacharya. Take light physical exercises as walking, etc., regularly. Do twenty rounds of easy, comfortable Pranayama (breathing exercises). Do not strain yourself while doing Pranayama.

3. JAPA

You can repeat any Mantra (sacred syllable), such as pure Om or Om Namo Narayanaya, Sri Ram, Sita Ram, Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram, Om Namah Sivaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Saravanabhavaya Namah, Hari Om, or Gayatri (a sacred Vedic Mantra), according to your taste or inclination, from 108 times to 21,600 times daily. Devotees of Christ may repeat the name Jesus or Hail Mary, Mother of Jesus. Parsis, Sikhs and Muslims may select a name or Mantra from the Zend Avesta, Granth Sahib or Koran respectively.

4. DIETETIC DISCIPLINE

Take Sattvic food. Give up chillies, tamarind, garlic, onion, sour articles, oil, mustard, asafoetida. Observe moderation in diet (Mitahara). Do not overload the stomach. Give up those things which the mind likes best for a fortnight once or twice in a year. Eat simple simple food. Milk and fruits help concentration. Take food as medicine to keep the life going. Eating for enjoyment is a sin. Give up salt and sugar for a week or a fortnight. You must be able to live on rice, dhal and bread without any pickle. Do not ask for extra salt for dhal, and sugar for tea, coffee and milk. People taking non-vegetaraian diet should try their best to gradually give up flesh-eating as completely as possible. They will be immensely benefited.

5. MEDITATION

Have a separate meditation room under lock and key. If this is not possible then a corner of the room should be set apart with a small cloth screen or curtain drawn across. Keep the room spotlessly clean.

6. SVADHYAYA

Study systematically the Gita, Ramayana, Bhagavatam, Vishnu-Sahasranama, Lalita-Sahasranama, Adityahridaya, Upanishads, Yoga Vasishta, Bible, Imitation of Christ, Zend Avesta, Quran, the Tripitakas, the Granth Sahib and other religious books from half an hour to one hour daily, and have Suddha Vichara (pure thoughts).

7. ELEVATE THE MIND

Get by heart some prayer - Slokas (prayer verses), Stotras (hymns) and repeat them as soon as you sit in the Asana before starting Japa or meditation. This will elevate the mind quickly.

8. BRAHMACHARYA

Preserve the vital force (Veerya (seminal energy)) very, very carefully. Veerya is God in motion or manifestation (Vibhuti). Veerya is all power. Veerya is all money. Veerya is the essence of life, thought and intelligence. This instruction is not for bachelors only. Householders also must follow it as far as possible. They must be extremely moderate in their marital connections with their spouse. This is very important.

9. CHARITY

Do charity regularly, every month, or even daily according to your means. Never fail in this item. If necessary forego some personal wants but keep up this charity regularly.

10. HAVE SATSANG

Give up bad company, smoking, meat and alcoholic liquors entirely. Have constant Satsang (association with holy people). Do not develop any evil habits. Deliberately exert to develop positive virtuous qualities.

11. FAST

Fast on Ekadasi (11th day of the Hindu lunar fortnight) or live on milk and fruits only. Christians must fast on alternate Sundays, Muslims on alternate Fridays, and Parsis on a suitable day every fortnight.

12. JAPA MALA

Have a Japa Mala (rosary) around your neck or in your pocket or underneath your pillow at night. This will remind you of God. Twirl the beads during your leisure. You should repeat the Name at all times, whatever task you may be engaged in.

13. OBSERVE MOUNA

Observe Mouna (vow of silence) for a couple of hours daily. Do not make gestures and inarticulate noises during the period of silence.

14. DISCIPLINE OF SPEECH

Speak the truth at all cost. Speak a little. Speak sweetly. Always utter encouraging words. Never condemn, criticize or discourage. Do not raise your voice and shout at little children or subordinates.

15. BE CONTENT

Reduce your wants. If you have four shirts, reduce the number to three or two. Lead a happy, contented life. Avoid unnecessary worry. Be mentally detached. Have plain living and high thinking. Think of those who do not possess even one-tenth of what you have. Share with others.

16. PRACTICE LOVE

Never hurt anybody. Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah (Non-injury is the highest virtue). Control anger by love, Kshama (forgiveness) and Daya (compassion). Serve the sick and the poor with love and affection. This is service of God.

17. BE SELF RELIANT

Do not depend upon servants. Self-reliance is the highest of all virtues.

18. HAVE SELF-ANALYSIS

Think of the mistakes you have committed during the course of the day, just before retiring to bed (self-analysis). Keep a daily spiritual diary and self-correction register as Benjamin Franklin did. Maintain a daily routine and resolve-form. Do not brood over past mistakes.

19. DO YOUR DUTY

Remember that death is awaiting you at every moment. Never fail to fulfil your duties. Have pure conduct (Sadachara).

20. REMEMBER GOD

Think of God as soon as you wake up and just before you go to sleep, and at all other times whether engaged in any work or not. Repeat His Name always. Surrender yourself completely to God (Saranagati).

This is the essence of all spiritual Sadhana. It will lead you to liberation. All these spiritual canons must be rigidly observed. You must not give any leniency to the mind.

Tags: Food, love, happy, Content, Ahimsa, non-injury, Sadhana

Sadhana Tattwa
Click here for a link to all books written by Swami Sivananda


SEVEN-FOLD SELF CULTURE BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

NOTE: These instructions were for a 1940’s-1950’s Indian audience. Please see the context.

(a) An ounce of practice is better than tons of theory. Practise Yoga, Religion and Philosophy in daily life and attain Self-realisation.

(b) These thirty-two instructions give the essence of the Eternal (Sanatana Dharma) in purest form. These are suitable for modern busy householders with fixed hours of work. Modify them to suit your convenience and increase the period gradually.

(c) In the beginning take only a few practicable resolves which form a small but definite advance over your present habits and character. In case of ill health, pressure of work or unavoidable engagements, replace your active Sadhana by frequent rememberance of God.

1. HEALTH CULTURE
1. Eat moderately, take light and simple food. Offer it to God before you eat. Have a balanced diet.
2. Avoid chillies, garlic, onions, tamarind etc., as far as possible. Give up tea, coffee, smoking, betels, meat and wine entirely.
3. Fast on Ekadasi days, take milk, fruits and roots only.
4. Practice Yoga Asanas or physical exercises for fifteen to thirty minutes everyday. Take a long walk or play some vigorous games daily.

2. ENERGY CULTURE
5. Observe silence (Mouna) for two hours daily and four to eight hours on Sundays.
6. Observe celibacy according to your age and circumstances. Restrict the indulgence to once a month. Decrease gradually to once a year. Finally take a vow of abstinence for whole life.

3. ETHICAL CULTURE
7. Speak the Truth, Speak little, speak kindly, speak sweetly.
8. Do not injure anyone in thought, word or deed. Be kind to all.
9. Be sincere, straightforward and open hearted in your talks and dealings.
10. Be honest. Earn by sweat of your brow. Do not accept any money, thing or favour unless earned lawfully. Develop nobility and integrity.
11. Control fits of anger by serenity, patience, love, mercy and tolerance. Forget and forgive. Adapt yourself to men and events.

4. WILL CULTURE
12. Live without sugar for a week or month. Give up salt on Sundays.
13. Give up cards, novels, cinemas and clubs. Fly from evil-company. Avoid discussions with materialists. Do not mix with persons who have no faith in God or who criticise your Sadhana.
14. Curtail your wants. Reduce your possessions. Have plain living and high thinking.

5. HEART CULTURE
15. Doing good to others is the highest religion. Do some selfless service for a few hours every week, without egoism or expectation of reward. Do your worldly
duties in the same spirit. Work is worship. Dedicate it to God.
16. Give two to ten percent of your income in charity every month. Share what you
have with others. Let the world be your family. Remove selfishness.
17. Be humble and prostrate yourself to all beings mentally. Feel the Divine
Presence everywhere. Give up vanity, pride and hypocrisy.
18. Have unwavering faith in God, the Gita and your Guru. Make a total self-
surrender to God and pray : “Thy will be done : I want nothing” .Submit to the
divine will in all events and happenings with equanimity.
19. See God in all the beings and love them as your ownself. Do not hate anyone.
20. Remember God at all times or, atleast on raising from bed, during a pause in work
and before going to it. Keep a Mala in your pocket.

6. PSYCHIC CULTURE
21. Study one chapter or ten to twenty five verses of the Gita with meaning, daily.
Learn Sanskrit atleast sufficient to understand Gita in original.
22. Memorise the whole of the Gita, gradually. Keep it always in your pocket.
23. Read the Ramayana, Bhagavata, Upanishads, Yogavasistha or other religious
books or on holidays.
24. Attend religious meetings, Kirtans and Satsanga of saints at every opportunity.
Organise such functions on Sundays or holidays.
25. Visit a temple or place of worship atleast once a week and arrange to hold kirtans
or discourses there.
26. Spend holidays and leave periods, when possible, in the company of saints or
practice sadhana at holy places in seclusion.

7. SPIRITUAL CULTURE
27. Go to bed early. Get up at four o’clock. Answer calls of nature, clean your mouth and take a bath.
28. Recite some prayers and Kirtan. Practice Pranayama, Japa and meditation from five to 6’o clock. Sit on Padma, Siddha, or Sukha Asana throughout, without movement, by gradual practise.
29. Perform your daily Sandhya, Gayatri Japa, Nithyakarma and worship, if any.
30. Write your favourite Mantra or Name of the God in a notebook for ten to thirty minutes, daily.
31. Sing the Names of God (Kirtan), prayers, Stotras and Bhajans for half to one hour at night with family and friends.
32. Make annual resolves on the above lines. Regularity, tenacity and fixity are essential. Record your Sadhana in a spiritual diary daily. Review it every month and correct your failures.

Tags: Swami Sivananda, Culture, Yoga, Food, Asanas (Postures/Poses), Sadhana, health, energy, will, ethics, Sanatana Dharma, psychic