The target.

Visualize all world events presented to the mind on a graph with cross-hairs.

On the horizontal axis, positive is attractive causing rAga, negative is repulsive causing dveSha.

On the vertical axis, positive is what is perceived as good or puNya or what is perceived as dharma, and on the negative is what is perceived as bad, or apuNya or adharma. 

The mind should ever rest in the center, the cross hairs, the target, Om.

The world is Bliss, provided...

As long as you go through the world experience not expecting the senses to always be satisfied and the ego to always be stroked, then the world is nothing but a homogeneous mass of Bliss.

Resonances between sAttvic aspect of the mind and the apparent other minds generates joy, while interaction of sattva with rajas or tamas is productive of pain and ignorance, respectively.

By cultivating dispassion to the very guNas (parA vairAgyam), one can cross the ocean of samsAra and see it as an ocean of Bliss.

But undoubtedly this is not easy, at least for this one...!

When we have all emerged from the same Source...

When we have all emerged from the same Source and will return to the same Source and exist even now in the same Source, why this feeling if difference and not loving everyone and everything?

This is a marvelous revelation of the BG verse 2.28:

AvyaktAdIni bhUtAni

The difference arises because guNas play with the guNas. 

Forget the arcane Sanskrit allusions, Yoga is really simple...

Recently a friend asked to view this blog. As I was preparing to send the link over, it suddenly struck me that most of the posts are full of Sanskrit terms that probably make this blog a challenge to access and appreciate for those who do not have any familiarity with the Sanskrit language and the terminology used in the texts that are referred to. This got me to reflect that while many of these references enrich the blog for those who are familiar with the context, it also detracts from the underlying simplicity of the message.

The simplicity of the message of Yoga does not require a deep understanding of Sanskrit or the rich allusions to various scriptural texts, although one may in time come to appreciate and enjoy those as well.

The message of Yoga is simply this: Everyone wants to be blissful and everyone would like to exist eternally in this bliss.

Yoga is simply to rest in that stillness where one simply Is, devoid of thought. In that stillness one is aware of one's true nature that is Pure Consciousness. It is that cloth from which the variety of the world garment is formed. Only peace is productive of this true Bliss, which is one's nature.

No wrongs need to be righted. But accepting the wisdom and power of the Lord (which in Yoga is simply the pure form of this Consciousness that is devoid of the taints of action) opens one up to receiving the truly right things that are productive of the highest Bliss both internally and externally.

When the mind is made thin by prANAyAma ...

When the mind is made thin by prANAyAma it should be killed quickly then and there.

Vasu, Rudra and Aditya

In the early stage of ignorance of the jIva's mind, VAsudeva as Lord and abode of the Vasus will be worshipped; in the intermediate stage Rudra and in the final stage Aditya. These can also correspond to the three divisions of human lifespan.

The path of rAvaNa

The path of rAvaNa, though it may sometimes seem attractive, in the sense of being able to generate and concretize all desires through samkalpa as powerful as BrahmA, should be eschewed through jnAna vision. Even though rAvaNa managed to physically possess sItA for a while, he could not enjoy her love. Those who truly love do not try to possess. If love comes naturally to one by the will of Brahma it should be accepted and not rejected. But pursuing it as rAvaNa did, without Brahma's sanction, leads to pain. Wisdom lies in seeing that the object of desire is nothing but a projection of the Self itself. Seeking it through the outgoing senses weakens Purusha who becomes deluded by His own Power prakRti. Seeking inward the Union of Purusha and prakRti who are in truth identical leads to Eternal Bliss.

The body is merely an imperfect means of apprehending One's True Self...

The body is merely an imperfect means of apprehending the world, which is nothing but One's True Self that simply Is and is non-different from anything else. It simply Is and is all-pervading and is the state of ultimate peace and Bliss. Its Power being Shakti that manifests as the three guNas, play, and all that is perceived is merely a play of these three guNas. See the same Self in everything or see God in everything and know your true nature is non-different from God or the Self. The seeming passage of time, which is nothing but the mind's forgetfulness of Shakti, and the experience of objects and life are merely for bhoga (experience) and liberation from ignorance. Recall Yoga SUtra: Bhoga apavargArtham dRShyam.

In fact, trying to perfect the body reveals the ignorance from delusion arising from annamayakosha. Trying to perfectly cleanse the nADis and cakras through prANAyAma is ignorance from delusion arising from prANamayakosha. Trying to perfect the mind is ignorance from delusion of manomayakosha. Yet all these are necessary and only by purifying the non-existent mind, by situating oneself in the imaginary vijnAnamayakosha, and practicing dhyAnam is all this to be known. Only then can Anandamayakosha and the Self at its core without distinctions be known. 

Blissful experience of sleep.

Don't forget the blissful experience of sleep. How we forget that and focus on day's events!

But to be aware of tamas overpowering awareness of Self in sleep is the goal.

Samadhi is sleepless sleep.

Cremate the ego in the jnAna fire now!

Cremate the ego in the jnAna fire now. How does it then matter if the inert jada body is dropped in uttarAyaNa or dakshiNAyana? The body is inert, jada, has no intelligence of its own, being composed of the panca bhUtas. As long as prANa animates it, it jerks around like a marionette; a puppet on a string. Once the prANa leaves the body no one holds it close. It decays into its constituent elements.

Homam, agni and significance of the gAyatrI sAvitrI mantra.

In the homam one prays to jAtaveda to take the offerings to the devas and to the kravyAdamagni to not take these offerings. This has a wonderful significance and is related to the significance of the gAyatrI sAvitrI mantra.

We are offering all sense inputs into our agni in various ways at all times. When we eat we offer food to the jaTarAgni (the digestive fire). When we process sense perceptions and thoughts we are offering these into the jnAnAgni (the fire of wisdom).

Agni resides in the maNipUraka cakra. Cleanse lower two cakras of both gross and subtle object perceptions through the fire of jnAna. Invoke jAtaveda, the fire that takes the offering upwards from bhUloka through bhuvaloka to svarloka (the abode of the gods of the senses). Process world experience through samAna vAyu. Discard negative thoughts by apAna. Use positive uplifting thoughts from world experience to invoke udAna and take consciousness upward. That savitR who is Pure Consciousness, the source of all senses, may it cleanse my intelligence, buddhi, to realize this.

Make the trimUrtis your friends...

Make the trimUrtis your friends. Spend time with them often. Don't be overly in awe of Brahma etc. Even they are subject to dissolution at the end of a Kalpa. So if you truly seek parabrahman you must access the trimUrtis frequently since they are nitya jnAnis.

If you see adharma in the world, in some instances it is wiser not to fight it...

If you see adharma in the world, in some instances it is wiser not to fight it. The criterion being if there is no hope of wisdom dawning in the other party through this action.

Slowly you will become more friendly with vyAsa and VasiShTha. Your consciousness will ascend. Problems of bhUloka will not trouble you as before. You will transcend your desires of wealth, wife, and  progeny in bhUloka, of the offerings in pitR loka, of desire of sense pleasure in deva loka, of dharma and veda and tapas in tapaloka. Then you will consort with the trimUrti. They will teach you how to go beyond.

First give up adhArmic desires.

First give up adhArmic desires.

Then you have to give up even dhArmic desires!

Such as fulfilling the role of a father etc.

Then give up all samkalpas.

Even dasharatha had to suffer greatly...

Even dasharatha had to suffer greatly by witnessing the adharma done to rAma by kaikeyi on account of his foolish lust and delusion under which he gave her boons. Indeed, desire is the downfall of many a virtuous man who even momentarily succumbs to lust for a woman and falls into the pit of delusion like a majestic tusker.

Every false heart has to be broken until one discovers the unbreakable true Heart!

Every false heart has to be broken until one discovers the unbreakable true Heart that has love of God as its source and that drips with the lifeblood of jnAna. This unbreakable Heart loves all equally even when rejected or accepted, and is the same as Hanuman's heart. When a jnAni's false heart is broken it drips with the blood of wisdom of the Self that purifies the perception of the true Heart until that alone remains and the jnAni becomes a jIvanmukta: liberated while in the body. So heartbreak of the false hearts, which are nothing but delusions of the mind, is good! Welcome them and embrace them wholeheartedly! They are rapid means of spiritual progress!

Do not ever feel you are being subjected to any special adharma or difficulty...

Do not ever feel you are being subjected to any special adharma or difficulty in Kali Yuga. These misconceptions are if course of the dunce mind inhabiting this body and not of the true Self. This is why the story of RAma is so inspiring. If the Lord Himself in His divine incarnation in TretA Yuga was seemingly subject to so many unjust acts, what can an ordinary jIva complain about with all his prArabdha? Just take as an example how cheerfully and wisely SrI RAmacandra bore his lot and remained established in Atma jnAna. Emulate that. That's why SrI RAmacandra is the maryAda purushottam. Note also that he too in his later years lived separated from SItA.

Just as action requires no doer, so too thought requires no thinker!

Just as action requires no doer, so too thought requires no thinker. Thought arises naturally as the svabhAva of Brahman through Shakti. As long as the 'I ' thought does not creep in, there is Bliss (cf story of Dama, Vyala and Kata in the Yoga VasiShTha). There the implication seems to be that repeated thought or performance of action without constant control leads to the 'I' thought. Without the notion of I there is no problem of praise or censure, and no expectation either. So it is liberating. There is simply 'natural ' action playing out prArabdha. The potter's wheel spinning before it comes to rest after all pots have been made. But ashubha vAsanAs should be eliminated by practice and shubha VAsanA allowed but they too die of their own accord in time. Sattva purified dies of itself.

Name and fame....

Name and fame and adoration of anyone in the world is actually a curse in disguise. Generates further karma that has to be endured or transmuted to bliss by jnAna dRShTi. Less karma the better.

The blanket or field of bliss above sahasrAra is slowly brought down through vijnAna.

The blanket or field of bliss above sahasrAra is slowly brought down through vijnAna. First finding it is jnAna. Then each cakra is fully cleansed and all karmendriyas and jnAnendriyas only experience bliss. Poison of world objects is transformed to nectar by self-restraint.

Above the sahasrAra is a field of Bliss...

Above the sahasrAra is a field or blanket of Bliss, but out of ignorance the jIva falls through the vidhRti (cleft or the fontanel that is the focus of the sImantonnayanam samskAra ceremony; see also Aitareya Upanishad for how Purusha entered the body) through the brahmarandhra and suffers human existence.

Avoid these holes of the ego- some are deeper than others.

Householder's life and cessation of thought which is Yoga

This one's purpose was to live as a householder. As RamaNa has said, certainly even getting a thought out is an effort after samAdhi but a householder has to continue actions. So Sri KRShNa's instructions in BG are more relevant- when thoughts arise and actions are performed see the world as Shivashakti; dRShTim jnAnamayIm kRtva pashyet brahmamayam jagat (Through the vision of wisdom perceive the world as Brahman).

Did space arise first or time?

Last evening a question arose in meditation. Did space arise first or time? It was quelled by the question, "Who is the I that asks this?"

Bliss of samadhi

The Bliss of samadhi is incomparable. Once tasted one will only want the mind to rest in Om always.

Here's a simple formula:
Pain=ignorance; wisdom=bliss

The body is a cage of pain. To identify with it is ignorance.

Living outside the body is sheer bliss. 

Why does the bliss of samadhi not appear to be permanent? On account of the mind's forgetfulness of Devi. She is the power of Om, the Shakti. Time continues as long as the mind won't rest permanently in Om. This apparent division of Self into time is merely for other memories to be purified and replaced by Om. 

This body is a memory of the mind. Constant sense experience reinforces viShayAnanda (bliss of objects) and viShayAsmRti (memory of objects). This concretizes the 'I am the body ' idea. 

Constant experience of samadhi controls this memory (recall YS: tajjah samskArah anya samskAra pratibandhi) and replaces those with memory of the true Self through Om (again YS: tasya vAcakah praNavah), which is the same as Ishvara. 

These observations can be mis-interpreted as rejection of the world experience but that is not the import. Once the world is seen as the play of the Lord, everything is the play of the One and Its Power to be Many. Everyone is realized. Everyone is God. Shiva coming to interact with you through Shakti. All experience is vibration of Om. Even the so-called inanimate creation is simply the mind presently overpowered by tamas that in time will be seen as the Self alone. It is only the angle of vision that has to change: jnAna dRShTi with jnAna cakshu. Vision of wisdom through the eye of wisdom.