7. Create Lightness In The Mind And Body

Podcast by Shri.

Create lightness in the mind and body.

We have been discussing over the last few podcasts the eight steps to self-realization or enlightenment.

This week we're up to number seven.

So there's this week and next week or next podcast will be number eight.

So just to review the six that we've done so far which will bring us into the one for this week number seven.

The first step,

Know the peace in deep sleep.

Peace is unchanging,

Mind is changing.

So we start off right away with something that everyone experiences every night.

Every night when you go to sleep there are two states that occur while you're sleeping.

This is the dream state when the mind is very active but it's illusory creating all kinds of images and ideas and situations that are not present in the waking state.

And there's also the deep sleep state when the mind is not active at all.

Yet you are still there when you're asleep.

If someone were to call your name that would wake up your mind.

If someone were to tap you on the shoulder or on the foot that would wake up the mind.

But while you're asleep you're still there,

You're not dead and the mind isn't active.

So every night you experience a state of peace,

Of ease,

Of freedom from pain,

Of freedom from any problems that you might have in the waking state.

So why do you say that the waking state is you when every night when you're in deep sleep you're fine.

You're problem free,

You're pain free,

You're peaceful.

So we come to see right away with this one that you are the one when the mind isn't active you are at peace.

So it's only when the mind begins to become active that you say you woke up and then the waking state begins.

Then we move into number two,

Know the knower of your mind because the problem exists only in the waking state when the mind is active.

We want to bring in the awareness of that deep sleep state where you're peaceful but yet be able to function in what we call the waking state.

To do this we bring in the awareness of the knower that you are the one who is forever free,

Forever peaceful,

Forever easy like you were in deep sleep.

And by bringing your attention to yourself as the knower of your mind rather than becoming mixed with the mind as you will become mixed in the waking state.

So as soon as you wake up from deep sleep and the mind is active this occurs with this mixture this San Yoga happens where the knower of the mind now becomes mixed and rather than knowing yourself as the knower you become your thoughts.

So you take on now the sense of identity I am this person I have these qualifications I have this set of problems and challenges this amount of joys this amount of people that I love this amount of people that I don't love and so on and so forth.

So we want to undo that mixture which if you've studied the Patanjali course the essence of Patanjali the system of yoga science then you'll know that this mixture can be undone which is called Vyog to undo this mixture of the knower and that which is known with the knower and the mind and to tune into the knower.

This is what we do in meditation.

So number three is to meditate on the knower and not on the mind because if you meditate on the mind you'll remain in San Yoga in the mixture state and your experience will be of a waking state person.

Now because you have been trained to live in the waking state you forget that you are the one who is also there in deep sleep where there's no problem where there's no trouble but there's also no joy and there's no experience.

So we want to still have the experiences that are there in the waking state and yet we want to be free.

So this comes from meditating on the knower from keeping on bringing your attention to that knower in meditation.

Number four be aware of the mind and of the self what is division and what is oneness.

So when you meditate on the knower you start to become aware of what is your mind.

The mind borrows the power from the very knower from the very self and begins to think that I am this mind I am this body I am this person and these are my challenges these are my difficulties.

So we want to make that distinction between what is your mind and what is the self.

The mind divides as soon as you wake up and you become this I person individual you're in division.

But when you meditate on the knower when you know yourself as that purity then you're in oneness and you're not the doer.

If you think of this in another way the breath is happening whether in deep sleep dream state waking state the breath continues the digestion happens on its own the blood moves through all the veins on its own.

So what is this power that makes this human system function the power comes from the self you're not doing you're not making yourself breathe the breath happens on its own.

But it's the very breath when you wake up in and out that keeps you focused on your body and your mind.

We say the body and mind is as one unit because the mind is the body it's not confined to one part of the body it's the whole body.

So mind body term is used.

So now you become aware that because the breath is going in and out you're focused on yourself in this physical form as the doer because that power that makes you breathe which comes from the absolute pure existence pure knower now becomes localized in your body and you say I am doing.

Number five choose the self or peace and not the mind and its thoughts.

So the mind sometimes will work to get you what you want to achieve your desires your aspirations and sometimes you will fail success and failure the mind will see good and bad the mind will see black and white.

So we see that this limited form body mind is very limited compared to the vastness of the absolute.

So we want to choose the self choose that vastness choose that pure free forever being just like the sky that permeates everywhere which is the fourth state of consciousness we've discussed the other three states dream waking and deep sleep but there's a fourth state that permeates all the other states and that is forever present.

So that's why we say you are already realized you are already enlightened just been covered with this mind and body.

So it's as if the mind and body were put in the full realization in the full awareness of it all this small vehicle is there and because the breath is happening in this vehicle which we call life then you feel as if you're limited.

So number six is trust in the self as the solution and not the mind.

So because of this sannyoga mixture of the self with the mind and the power of the self goes in the mind the mind thinks it knows everything and yet the mind and the senses are actually filters that filter out the vastness the completeness of the self the infinity the omniscience of the pure being and say it's limited to these thoughts and beliefs that I've acquired throughout this life through my learning the information that I've taken in and now and through the senses that which I see and hear and taste and touch but we can see that you can only even when you open your eyes you only see what's in front of you you can't even see what's in the back of your head you only hear what's in your hearing range can only touch what's in the range of your touch so as a mind body you're very limited and if you trust in that you know what the experience is in the waking state of what we call life.

So now we're saying trust in the self that all the solutions come from the self every great inventor or scientist has said that their inspiration came in a flash didn't come because the mind was thinking and trying to figure it out that can come later after the inspiration comes the mind is a useful tool or vehicle to make it fit into the parameters of society of science or of any field that you're involved in but the inspiration comes from the vastness of the self so if you limit yourself to this mind and body the solutions will not all be there but the solutions will be temporary so to find the ultimate solution we say trust in the self the self is Amaramham Madaramham is the immortality and bliss that you are the self vast ocean of possibilities the vast ocean of consciousness.

Now this brings us into number seven I placed this carefully as number seven because when trying to do these practices that we've talked about these six other steps you'll notice that sometimes in the morning when you wake up there's a sense of lightness there's a sense of ease there's a sense of peace carried over with you from deep sleep that makes these practices of yog sadhana of meditation even to just be done with ease but other times there's a tamas there's a real heaviness in the system and because of that tamas the mind can become very negative so it's not your choice to be negative it's not your choice to suffer you want to be happy you want to feel light you want to feel inspired and high even but because of the heaviness of the mind due to maybe overeating the day before maybe from your lifestyle not being that conducive staying not getting enough sleep whatever it is there's a heaviness eating wrong foods so because of that heaviness it's very difficult to meditate it's very difficult to do these practices and the mind will take over that power from the self goes into the mind the mind has that heavy quality in it tamasic state has taken over you can barely move you can barely think even of anything higher and you're caught in it sometimes due to hormonal changes in the system different times of the month different at different ages this can take over or or its opposite quality which is rajasic that rajas takes over and then there's too much activity I remember when I was teaching meditation in the west regularly people would say that they can't meditate because their mind is too busy too much rajas is in the system too much agitation which creates anxiety fear worries doubts all that comes from this quality in the system of rajas too much activity so these two tamas and rajas they're opposite to each other and they interact with each other and you can be more in one or more in the other so what is the solution for the yogi is to bring in the quality of satva which is the lightness which is the equilibrium the sum the even state of the of the physical system so it really helps for the practicing yogi to create a sattvic environment so the house is kept clean not too much clutter the diet is pure mostly whole foods not eating animal products and live foods if possible sprouts are added to the diet salads purifying foods that create more sattva rather than the heavy meats and animal products that create a heaviness a tamas or some people live on a lot of sugar and a lot of stimulating spices and they love to live caffeine they love to live that rajas state where there's they're just go go go go go and that creates that so there's anxiety and worry and too much tamas there's depression there's inability to function so we want to use the whole system of yoga and of course the types of thoughts in your mind can also be rajas sattvic or tamasic if the thoughts are negative that creates tamas if the thoughts are of say the siddhis and powers and and jubilations then there could be too much rajas too much idea of your own greatness your own ego gratification this can be seen sometimes if you've won an award or were recognized for something the ego is puffed and there's a lot of rajas in the system feeling your own greatness again nothing's wrong this is how the human system functions but for the yogi that's aware of this the one that wants to have that lightness in meditation that one that wants to transcend the physical system and know yourself as the one who's not caught or limited to this body to know yourself as that source that knower but yet the body's not allowing you to go there because there's so much heaviness or so much over activity in it you want to create sattva and again the system of yoga ashtanga is geared towards that proper thinking proper acting yoga asana doing hot yoga practices so that your body is limber and able to sit in meditation pranayama controlling the pran because you can become aware that you can become aware that the breath is happening on its own you're not the doer making yourself breathe but the very breath keeps you locked into this physical system so the pranayama exercises pranayama techniques have been designed to help rise or raise the pran from the lower chakras up into the sahasrara the crown of the head so that you can be freed from being identified with this physical body so the whole system of pranayama is developed to allow you to know the knower to allow you to meditate on your being and not be locked in this physical system which happens automatically because you're breathing all the time the very breath keeps you locked you can see when you pause the breath you pause the thoughts you pause the mind so the breath keeps you thinking keeps you functioning keeps you living nothing's wrong it's necessary for this physical system to function but who's doing it if you think you're the doer who's making you breathe so from this you can see that it's the self power that's coming through your body and then you say you're doing but without that self power which is forever the self also non-doer just that power mixes with the mind and the thoughts and then you say I am doing they're my thoughts this is my body so the pranayama bring is the closest link to free you from the identification with the body and again you can see that in just the kumbak or the pausing of the thought which brings you right to the knower so for number seven when you've tried to practice or you've practiced the other six and you come to see that sometimes it's easier and sometimes it's harder you want to remember the ashtang yoga eight limbs yam niyam asan pranayam pratyahara dharna dhyana and samadhi that to get to that concentrated dharna aware state and to move into dhyana meditation and then the samadhi that total evenness of being you need to first have the foundation so that pratyahara the inward turning of attention can occur because your system has become more satvak from yam and yam and asan from the proper acting and thinking and the physical exercises to keep the body fit and easy so we can see how important it is to create a satvak lightness in the body and the mind through the yoga practices but you don't want to get caught in this one because the nature of the human mind is going to always be I'm not doing enough I'm not doing it good enough I should do my hatha yoga every day I should do my pranayam every day but the mind doesn't do that it doesn't come from forcing the mind into it it comes from enjoying that being that samadhi that's why we bring you to that actually first to know the knower because when you know the knower you love the knower you love the love which is you your very own purity because you love that love then you want to do that which will sustain that will support that sometimes you might do more hatha yoga sometimes you might do less sometimes pranayam will come to you other times you'll go through phases maybe with not out doing it it's all okay it depends on what suits your system but certainly to learn all these techniques to practice them so that they'll be there for you when you need them the mind's very agitated you can immediately start to do the yogic breath the deep three-part breathing diaphragmatic breathing you'll have that as your tool you can do the kumbak to pause your breath and to remember these other steps that we talked about so that you're aware that the solution comes from the self and not from the mind next week we'll move into the eighth step and that will conclude our eight steps to enlightenment and I'm sure that if you practice these seven steps that we've discussed so far in your daily life that that which you already are that mon that quiet being that's always there the samadhi that evenness that you can see in the stillness of a lake the pebble is thrown in the lake and the ripples occur but the water still remains at its still quality underneath the ripples so that stillness that some that realized being self-realized enlightened being you already are we're just through these practices moving all the coverings all the clouds that cloud over your sky space which is amaram immortality madhiram bliss forever pure and free so thank you for listening and for inspiring these words to come through this vehicle to your vehicle so that we can know we have always been that purity that freedom and that bless amaram ham madhiram ham happiest of new year to you and to all and may you all come to know that which you've always been pure free and forever.