Thursday, December 30, 2010
Mental calmness by breathing exercises
Thursday, December 23, 2010
How we should be with others?
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Single mindedness
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Concentration practices mentioned in Yoga Sutras 34-39, Samadhi pada
Elongation of exhalation: Second, after establishing sound and steady awareness of the breath, allow the exhalation to gradually elongate, such that the amount of time spent exhaling is longer than the amount of time inhaling. The air will move outward more slowly with exhalation than with inhalation. Gradually allow the ratio to be two to one, where the exhalation is approximately twice as long as the inhalation. Pranayama is often translated as breath control. The rootayama actually means lengthening. Thus, pranayama more specifically meanslengthening the life force.
Not rechaka, puraka, and kumbhaka: There are other breathing practices that include rechaka (exhalation), puraka (inhalation) and kumbhaka (intentional holding of the breath). These practices are not the intent here in this sutra, particularly not the practice of breath retention. Though these may be useful practices at some stage of practice, they are not the subject of this sutra in relation to stabilizing the mind and making it tranquil.
The easiest way to practice this is to place your attention in the space between the breasts, the heart center. Simply imagine that there is a glowing luminosity there, about the size of the palm of your hand. Whether or not you literally see with your inner eye is not important; the practice works either way. Maintain an inner attitude that it does not matter what other thoughts, images, impressions or memories might arise in the mind field; you will hold that stance that these will not disturb or distract you. Stay only with that glowing inner luminosity in the heart.
Imagine your own mind free from desire: Another method is to imagine what your own mind would be like if it were temporarily free from any desires, wants, wishes, attractions, aversions, or expectations. It is like a game you are playing with yourself, wherein you see if you can pretend that your mind is in this tranquil state. With a little practice, this works amazingly well.
Virtually everybody already knows this principle of focusing on something enjoyable as a means of stabilizing the mind. However, the relative usefulness of the object chosen is a very different matter. Watching television, playing a game, listening to music, having a conversation, or many other activities may concentrate the mind enough to partially let go of the mental chatter from the activities of the day. While the principle of one-pointedness is in all of these, and may have some benefit, the meditator will learn to choose more refined objects to stabilize the mind for meditation. Remember, in this section and sutra we are talking about stabilizing and clearing the mind, not about deep meditation itself. This level of one-pointedness provides the stable foundation for the subtler meditation practices.
At the same time, however- as has been remarked in sutra 32, - we must limit ourselves to one way of seeking and keep to that ; otherwise we shall waste all our energies in mere spiritual "window shopping." We must never forget, though the Reality is everywhere, we can only make contact with it in our own hearts. As the great saint Kabir says in one of his most famous poems.
I laugh when I hear that the fish
in the water is thirsty.
You wander restlessly from forest
to forest while the Reality
is within your own dwelling.
The truth is here! Go where you will--
to Benaras or to Mathura;
until you have found God
in you own soul, the whole world
will seem meaningless to you.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Power of mind... attained through concentration(Samadhi)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Obstacles to knowledge
Sutra 30: ' Vyadhi - sthyana - samshaya- pramada- aalasya virathi- bhranthi darshanalabdha bhoomikatvanavasthithatvani chitta vikshepa asthe antharayah'
Sickness, mental laziness, doubt, lack of enthusiasm, sloth, craving for sense-pleasure, false perception, despair caused by failure to concentrate and unsteadiness in concentration: these are the obstacles to knowledge.
Sutra 31: 'Dhukha - dhourmanasyaanga mejayatva - swashapraswasaa vikshepa sahabhuvah'
These distractions are accompanied by grief, despondency, trembling of the body and irregular breathing.
Explanation:
It will be noticed that nearly all distractions listed by Pathanjali come under the general heading of tamas. Sloth is the great enemy -- the inspirer of cowardice, irresolution, self-pitying grief, and trivial, hair-splitting doubts. Sloth may also be psychological cause of sickness. It is tempting to relax from our duties, take refuge in ill-health and hide under a nice warm blanket. The body resists all unaccustomed disciplines, and will perhaps try to sabotage them by alarming, hysterical displays of weakness, fainting spells, violent headaches, palpitations, and so forth. This resistance is subconscious. The symptoms it produces are genuine enough. It is no good trying to fight by sheer force -- dragging yourself out of bed and staggering around in a fever. But you can attack you sloth on the subconscious level by quiet persistence in making japam. You are never too weak or too sick for that. And sloth will relax its hold upon you, little by little, when it understands that you really mean business.
When an aspirant enters upon the spiritual life, he naturally does so with great enthusiasm. The first steps he takes are almost always accompanied by feelings of peace and delight. Everything seems so easy, so inspiring. It is therefore very important that he should realize, right from the start, that this mood will not continue, uninterrupted, throughout the rest of his course. Religion is not simply a state of euphoria. There will be relapses; phases of struggle, dryness and doubt. But these ought not to distress him unduly. Conscious feelings, however exalted, are not the only indications of spiritual progress. We may be growing most strongly at a time when our minds seem dark and dull. So we should never listen to the promptings of sloth, which will try to persuade us that this dullness is a sign of failure. There is no failure as we continue to make an effort.