生 活 的 藝 術 之 南 境 知 識 棧

        Human consciousness is like a seed. The seed has the possibility of a tree, of the leaves, of the branches, of the roots, of the flowers, of the fruits, of the multiplication. So also is human mind. A seeds needs a proper ground, proper conditions and sunlight, water, proper soil for it to sprout and blossom. Isn’t it? Same is the case with the human consciousness, human mind. Either the seed can be dormant for years together, keeping its possibility within itself or start blossoming, start sprouting. The sprouting of the seed of human consciousness is viveka, discrimination, wisdom. Freedom comes with viveka or discrimination. All other species in this creation are governed by nature totally, they don’t need discrimination nor do they have freedom. So they never break the laws of nature. Human consciousness, human mind have this possibility of freedom, has been given freedom so it is also given discrimination. It is through this viveka, wisdom, discrimination that a human mind, human consciousness can be governed to progress or to remain where it is. You will not find any animal over eating, generally. If they are sick or perverted, they may do anything. Normally animals, they just eat or mate in time, they eat in time, rest in time, they have no choice but human being have this freedom to eat wherever they want, to do whatever they want. This freedom is given along with discrimination, along with the wisdom, along with the consequences of action, knowledge of consequences of action. So that a human can use and live its life with freedom. Are you getting what I am saying? Specialty of human life is governed by viveka, wisdom, discrimination and how we should come up? How this has to be enhanced? How to make the seeds sprout? How to make the sapling? Once the sapling has come, they will keep me watering again and again, it works. A seed has the possibility that if it is not watered, then the possibility remain a possibility. It doesn’t manifest. Here Patanjali steps in and says,

yoga-anga anusthanad-asuddhi ksaye gnana diptir-a-viveka khyateh

        By practicing the limbs of yoga, by observing the limbs of yoga, through yoga the impurities get eliminated and the viveka, the wisdom shines forth. The husk is gone, the sprout moves though its membrance and comes up.

        What are the limbs of yoga?

        There are 8 limbs of yoga. They are: -

1) Yama        

2) Niyama             

3) Asana               

4) Pranayama              

5) Pratyahara              

6) Dhyana             

7) Dharana          

8) Samadhi

        He goes into the details of each, and what is the result that you can expects from each one of them. Yoga has 8 limbs, like a chair has got four legs, yoga has 8 limbs, or legs. Each one is connected with the whole. So you just pull one, everything else will come. If you pull one leg of the chair, whole chair comes. See, when the body develops, the whole body develops together, organs develop together, isn’t it? Not that nose develops first and then ears come. Simultaneously all the aspects, all the limbs of the body develop, that’s why Patanjali says, they are limbs of yoga. Unfortunately people think these are all stages, one after another, we have to achieve. This is where a wrong understanding or misconception has crept in, in yoga. The 8 limbs of yoga.

1)     Yama  is the first limb. What are yama. There are five yamas.

a)      Ahimsa - nonviolence

b)     Satya - truth

c) Astheya - non stealing

d)     Brahmacharya - moving in Brahman, moving in the bigness

e)     Aparigraha - non-accumulation.

jati desa kala samaya anavacchinna sarva-bhauma mahavratam

    These are the greatest because it is applicable in all time in all places for all people throughout without an interruption. There are certain laws that can apply just to certain people, certain places, at certain time which are not universal, but these are universal. These five principles:-

a) Ahimsa: -

    An animal does not go into violence for no reason. Animals hunt, even the wild animals hunt only when they are hungry, when they want to eat. They just don’t go on hunt or bite anybody out of pleasure but human being does, they go for hunting for no reason. A paital eats one rat a month and sleeps the rest of the month. Just one rat a month is good enough, though it’s scaring and dangerous. If it swallows a goat or something bigger, it can stay for several months doing nothing and it will not harm or kill any other animal but human brings is the name of God and in the name of Love, they kill each other. Mindless violence is prevalent in the world in the name of country, in the name of religion, in the name of what not. This is absolute nonsense. This is total lack of viveka, total lack of wisdom. A violent man cannot hear to anybody, his ears are gone, they are sealed off. Why violence comes? How does it come? Due to frustrations. Mind gets frustrated and frustrated? And the frustration builds up and a big question mark comes up and that very question turns into violence. Why? Why? Why? And it catches on to the surrounding. A crowd commits violence, individually a person may not be able to do the violent act, but when a man is in a crowd, he joins hands. Viveka can dawn when a person takes this vow of non-violence. I will not kill any animal, any life on this planet consciously, unconsciously. I mean, without your knowledge already you are destroying many creatures. You walk and many ants are dying underneath your feet. You are not doing, you are not killing them, it is happening. But an intention to destroy something, intention to be violent can cut your very basis, your own root. Dropping this intention of violence is ahimsa.

b) Satya: -

    Is to be with what is right now. To be with something that is not changing. To know that something deep in you is not changing. Satya does not mean just speaking truth. Do you see what I am saying? Satya is total commitment for truth. It’s not just the words. Unfortunately people mistake satya to be just speaking words, just speaking things, being blunt many people consider I’m truthful. Do you see what I am saying? What is the effect of ahimsa?

ahimsa pratisthayam tat sammidhau vaira tyagah

    If you are established in non-violence, in your very presence violence will be dropped by other creatures. Someone comes to attack you, and as soon as they come near you, because your vibrations are totally non violent, they drop down, they stop being violent. A contemporary of Buddha, maybe you have not heard his name very much in the west, his name is Mahavira, the promoter of Jain Religion, is another religion – Jainism. His emphasis is more on ahimsa and he said wherever he will walk, up to 20 kms around, people will all drop their violence and the story go to the extent that even the thorns will not prick anybody. The thorns shall become soft and they all lie down. (Ahimsa pratisthayam tat sammidhau vaira tyagah). Establish in non-violence in your presence violence will be dropped by other creatures.

satya-pratisthayam kriya-phala asrayatvam

    Satya is established in truth, your action will become fruitful, any act you do that will become fruitful. See, many people do their action but their action does not bring results because there is no truth consciousness inside. When there is truth consciousness inside, established in truth, then the fruit of action will follow the action immediately. (kriya-phala asrayatvam) Success in action comes. Do you see what I am saying? And truth is not just words again, it is quality of the consciousness, of straight forwardness – even if you are telling a lie and you are bold enough to say, “I am telling a lie right now”, then you are speaking truth. When you tell a lie, your consciousness is not solid, it is not straight forward. It’s all wishy-washy. There is no strength behind it. Isn’t it? (Satya-pratisthayam kriya-phala asrayatvam) A person who is committed to truth who is committed to what is – the presence of being – for him success comes easily, not that he will not encounter failure, he may encounter failure but he will win. (Satya mev jayete) the slogan like, “We Trust in God” is what is written in American dollars; in India it is said that truth alone trumps. This is the slogan – truth will definitely win! Truth will definitely win though intermittently it may appear to be not winning.

   There is a story. The king of Delhi, the emperor of Delhi. India was a collection of many small states. The emperor in Delhi had a wise minister called Birbal. The emperor used to make funny laws and rules. Once, he ordered, said in this country anybody who says a lie will be hanged. This was the law. Said this law is going to be implemented. Because kings, they would make their own law, it was all up to their fancies, there was no parliament, there was no congressman to sit and debate to pass the law. So he made a rule from tomorrow, anybody who speaks a lie, he heard a big lecture, talk on truth and he was all enthusiastic. Ok, I am going to make everybody speak truth. So as he announced this law.

    Then in the market place, there was a big commotion. What was the commotion? All the lawyers gathered together. Said, what is this law! This is stupid law. It will just flatten our whole business; our whole profession will be finished. This is an insult of the Supreme Court. If we make this law, then where is the question of debate? All lawyers are out of job. They all met together. The bar association said we have to do something; this cannot go on like this. And in another corner, all the merchants gathered together, all the salesman, said what is happening? Our king is selling our country. This is disastrous. How can we sell anything? We know our product is not the best but we claim this is the best product. We buy things for 3 pennies and sell it for 13 pennies and we say we are just making margin, no profit. We are actually giving you all free, take it. All this gimmicks of business. They would all go flat. They said this is outrageous, we cannot go. Do something. And then all the astrologers gathered together and they said, finished! We are finished! No more clients to us. And all the priests gathered, same story and the doctors gathered. They said, oh! We have to migrate to some other country. This law is too dangerous. Because doctors promise their patients – don’t worry, I’ll cure this, you’ll be fine tomorrow. I am here, you won’t die. They ensure their patients.

    They all approached this wise minister in the kingdom, called Birbal and said, “Come on Birbal, you have to do something. What has happened to our king? He needs a psychiatric treatment. Said anybody who speaks a lie will be hanged. Anyone who doesn’t speak truth will be hanged. This is outrageous.” Birbal said, “Ok, I’ll do something.” So next day Birbal, this minister entered king’s bedroom, he was trying to enter, then the guards stopped him. Asked him, “Where are you going? You cannot go in.” He said, “I am going to get hanged.” Now this is a lie. Because the minister, one of the top minister of the cabinet is getting into king’s court, into his room and saying I am going to get hanged. That’s not the place where you will be hanged. So they said, “Ok, he spoke a lie, so take him.”

    Now, he was brought in front of the king. If he is hanged really, then he didn’t speak a lie, whatever he said was truth, then you punished an innocent man for none of his crime. This is a big crime. If you don’t hang him then the law becomes obsolete. Then what to do? Then all the pundits were called, all the ministers were called and there was a big debate, now what is truth? What to do? Should we hang him or not hang him? If you hang him, you will violate the law and if you don’t hang him then also you violate the law. King was in a fix and everybody was in greater fix and they asked Birbal, you yourself suggest, what to do? Then Birbal said, “See truth is not what is spoken. Anything you speak becomes a lie, the moment you open your mouth, you are distorting what is.” And what is, is truth. And to be with what is, to be truthful in one’s life, one’s heart is following satya, not the words. Your intention, is it truthful? Your intention, is it straight forward? Your intention, is it clear? Or is there something else behind that? There are some other hooks you are keeping in, that indicate the truth, second principle – truth and the clarity in your intention, straight forwardness in your approach, the truth is the second Yama.

c) Astheya : - Non-stealing.

    If you look at somebody and say how nice if I had a voice like them, you have already stolen their voice. You look at someone beautiful. Oh! How nice if I were looking likes that. You have stolen. Do you see what I am saying? This creates jealousy. Why people steal? Mine, mine, I want. Astheya eliminates jealousy – non stealing. People steal many things, someone else’s poem, techniques, things. This thing doesn’t work. People who steal remain poor. The effect of non-stealing - if you are committed to be sincere, non-stealing, (Sarva ratna upasthanam) all the wealth comes to you effortlessly, all the wealth comes to you. A little intention to steal can keep you poor. Do you see what I am saying? Most of the time poverty is itself made. A person wants to be sneaky and try to grab as much as you can that is where this luck goes down the drain. Non-stealing – bring all the wealth.

brahmacarya pratisthayam virya labha

d) Brahmacharya: - usually said as celibacy.

    Celibacy brings you strength, a lot of strength. But brahmacharya has a deeper and bigger meaning than just celibacy. Brahma means the infinity and charya mean moving in the infinity. Knowing your vast nature not thinking you are just a body but you walk like you are a glow of light. You move in the world as though you are the space. Celibacy naturally happens. Do you see what I am saying?

    When you are sitting in deep meditation, you don’t feel you are a body, you are a lump of a heavy weight – 80 pounds or 90 pounds to 100 pounds body, you don’t feel you are 60kg sitting there solid. You feel so light, you feel as though like a feather. Isn’t it? When you walk how do you feel? You don’t feel the weight of your body. You feel you have more space. The more joyful you are, you don’t feel the body, the more you are infinite consciousness, the least you are feeling the tension or the physical bodily weight. That is Brahmacharya. Our consciousness expanded to the infinite, moving in the infinity in our true nature, the nature that is space brings a lot of vigour, valour & strength in you.

    A person who is always small minded, always looking at who is good looking? With whom I can have sex? You will see his energy is so low, so dull and nobody goes nearby such a person. Person who is obsessed with sex is so unattractive, isn’t it? And he creates such a dull and thick vibration around him or her that there is no strength, there is no vigour, there is no commitment, and nothing comes out of them. Have you noticed this? If you have noticed in all those places where such people gather, in bars etc, you can find them here and there in one of the streets, such a think, lust loaded minds and they have no strength at all. They just go anywhere, go behind anybody without even knowing where they are going.

   There is a story about Mullah Narsuddin. Mullah Nasruddin was watching a dance in the movie screen. So that actress was dancing and Mullah was watching the dance, waiting, waiting and suddenly Mullah went flat on the floor. His wife asked what is this? What are you looking? He said, I want to see the dance of this lady more closely; I am waiting when she will sit down. The mind goes in such a craze that there is no strength left behind and it’s limited, then all jealousy, anger, agitation, frustration, everything comes, and when this storms of negativity has come in the mind, I tell you that is the weakest and poorest mind. All the truth, all about existence, everything disappears. When your mind is obsessed with such a load of negativity about any person, you cannot even observe the beautiful nature you are in, isn’t it? (Brahmacarya pratisthayam virya labha) Great strength comes when Brahmachaya is established in you, that is when you are seeing yourself more than the body, you see yourself as consciousness, as Brahman. Hmm…

aparigraha stharirye janma kathamta sambodha

e) Aparigraha: - Non-accumulation.

            When you do not accumulate, then you get the knowledge of previous birth, knowledge of different species, the communication in you improves. Do you see what I am saying? When a person thinks more for me, more for me, just me, me, me, and then he is obsessed with fear. One does not know the eternal value of life. Life has been there from ages and will continue for ages to come.

            Non-accumulation simply means confidence in one’s existence, confidence in one’s ability, knowledge of oneself. When you know how to make bread and you know how to earn your bread, then you’ll not make bread for a week and store it for whole year. You know it will become stale. Things go stale. In China, there is a proverb is “ What you give, you gain more, whatever you scatter, you have it all and what you have, hold on to, you lose that also.” When you scatter, it all comes to you, everything is yours, you are all over. Who is very stingy? Who is so afraid of himself, who has no idea of his strength? A person who is very selfish, stingy, he stores and stores and accumulates.

            There is a story. A gentleman was dying, he was on his deathbed but he was with the phone, looking into the share market, how much I will make. He is going to die any moment but he is concerned about what the share prices are, how much I will gain? How much I lose? What is he going to gain? It is inevitable, we have to leave everything here and go. If the money transfer were possible, people would transfer all their bank balance up there before going. Lawyers will be left free from writing wills, they would transfer all their property up, take it with them. Fortunately or unfortunately it’s not possible.

            People accumulate and accumulate and then they die. It does not mean you should not save money, but he says what is the effect of it? (Janma kathamta sambodha) You know when you give things to people, it brings back something to you, that are some good vibration, and that makes you happy. If you are very unhappy and that day you give away something, give some gifts to somebody, you will see your consciousness will change, shift. Have you experienced this? And sometimes you accept things from someone, when you accept certain gifts or certain things, you feel unpleasant, unhappy. In ancient days, they know this very well. When someone accepts a gifts, then the giver should be thankful. The giver is always thankful “Oh! I am so thankful because you accepted what I gave.” That is called dhakshina. People call wise people to their home or to their places they are living and give them food and whatever and when they accept all that, just to thank, to show their thankfulness for having accepted their offering, they give one more offering that is dhakshina. The giver is thankful because it is not just taking something, they are giving back their mind, taking away certain impression or karma of the past.

            Non-acceptance or non-accumulation of objects or things is aparigraha. For a person who is always receiving, what this person will give, what so and so will give? This is parigraha – receiving. You can try this as an experiment- ok, for some days, for one month, don’t accept anything from anybody, you will feel a different view. In the world, this is practically not possible. There are people who practice this to the extremes. Don’t have to go to the extremes but be aware of this fact, it would be useful. These five are the Mahavratas, the great rules. To whatever extent you practice, that extent they yield these said results.

vitarka badhane pratipaksa bhavanam

            Suppose your mind says I don’t care of these things, I want to do what I want to do, I want to be violent means I want to be violent then what you do? (Vitarka badhane pratipaksa bhavanam). Get the opposite side of it. Before mentioning this, he also mentioned the Niyamas, what are the Niyamas? There are five Yamas and five Niyamas.

sauca-santosa tapah svadhyaya isvara pranidhanani niyama

2)     Niyamas : - What are the niyamas. There are five Niyamas.

a)     Shaucha

b)     Sautosha

c)     Tapas

d)     Swadhaya

e)     Ishwara Pranidbaneye

a)      Shaucha: - Purity. Physical purity.

    Keep oneself clean. People who don’t take bath for several days, just put on the perfumes. This is no cleanliness. Water should run through this body, both inside and outside. You have to drink enough water and let water run through this system. Water is greatest purifier of spirit and physical body. Cleanliness in the atmosphere, in the environment. If you are used to be unclean, you don’t feel it is unclean. You can see that, in 3^rd world countries, in the slums, the people they don’t feel anything wrong, they feel perfectly ok because they are so unclean. Cow dung is there, this there, garbage there, it simply doesn’t register in their consciousness. They get used to it. In the same way, you get used to be unclean, keeping your room unclean, yourself unclean. How it starts is, oh! I will wear the same clothes, doesn’t matter if I don’t bath today. You are busy, keep yourself engaged and 2, 3, 4 days you don’t take bath and you don’t notice how foul you are smelling but somebody else is so bothered by your being there and worst thing is you use perfume over it, so you don’t even notice that smell. Bathing, keeping personal hygiene is very essential. Saucat and mind also clean.

saucat-sva-anga jugupsa parair-asamasarg

     Outer cleanliness and inner cleanliness, mind being free from tensions.

b)     Samtosad: - Contentment, happiness.

samtosad-anuttamah sukha-labha

    Happiness again is an attitude, if you are used to be unhappy, in best of situations you’ll still grumble and be unhappy. Nothing can make you happy in the world. Do you see what I am saying? You know, you did this exercise this morning keeping a smile and breathing and just enjoy your breath. Did you notice? See when you are happy, what is happening? When you are smiling, what is happening? There is so much relaxation in the face, in the muscles of the face, in the head everywhere, there is freedom, there is joy, there is relaxation. And if you train your muscles and your nervous system being unhappy, that same thing continues. There are knots and stresses on your face, stiffness on your head, stiffness in your body and you remain unhappy irrespective of situations, surrounding whatever.

    Samtosad is a practice, being happy is a practice, unconditionally happy is a practice, come what may today I am going to smile. Anyway everything is going to die, everything is going to vanish and disappear, so what! Who care! Let me be at least happy, smile this moment, enjoy my very breath if not nothing. If something else is wrong, never mind, at least you can breath happily; nobody is going to hold your nose. You are free there. You sell your happiness for peanuts; you sell your smile for pins. I tell you it is not worth. The entire world is not worth your smile. Even if you are made king or Emperor of the world, it’s in not worthy giving away your smile. This is niyama, the rule, and condition of yoga, one of the rule - Samtosad, being happy. What is that there to be unhappy? Haan? You are losing million of dollars that makes you unhappy? So what! You are going to lose this body which is going to enjoy those millions of dollars. So many people have millions of dollars, they all die. What you are unhappy about? Your friend leaving you? You own body is going to desert you, why you are so worried about your friend deserting? Good, one thing gone, finished.

    You know, sometimes people lose things one by one, sometime they lose everything together. This is the only choice. Either to lose everything at one time or one by one you keep losing. So, when you lose a friend, think ok, I lost one thing, anyways body is going to lose after sometime, doesn’t matter. I am in the second category, losing one by one. Isn’t it? You’re not going to die along with your friend. You are not going to take them to heaven even if they don’t want to come. Everyone has their ticket, their own time, their own place booked where you cannot say I want to sit next to so and so; you cannot demand for your roommates there. Why not be happy now? Strength of your happiness is measured by the adverse situations you are in. If everything is smooth and you give a big smile, it’s nothing, that smile is worth nothing. But if you could smile through any situation, through any event, so what! I keep a big smile. Let the world die and disappear, I am not going to sell my smile, I am not going to be unhappy. This strength in you is samtosad. This is an attitude you develop.

   Again another Mullah Nasruddin story. Mullah Nasruddin used to grumble all the time. He is a farmer. He would grumble, oh! There was no rain in California for so many years. Oh, there is no rain and no crops are coming and it’s so difficult. He was grumbling, and that year there was very good rainfall and he had great crops in his field; and people thought that Nasruddin this year he will not grumble, his crops have come so nice so good, so there is no problem and he must be happy. So people went to greet him. Oh! Mullah, how are you? And you seem to be doing very good, lots of crops, your field is simply so flourishing and so attractive. Mullah had the same long face, said, yes, I have so much work to do now! All these years I didn’t have to do anything, there was no crop. Now, so much crop, I have to do this and go to market, sell them, it’s a big headache. Still grumbling. Whether there is crop or not, his grumbling continues.

    Same way in your life, you are unhappy about things you have and you are unhappy about things you don’t have. Isn’t it? Someone doesn’t have a car is unhappy because he doesn’t have a car. Someone who has a car is unhappy because he has to maintain that car, it’s such a big headache, pay the tax and do this. Sometimes will get a ticket, so many things… He says I would simply do take a public transport and go before. Do the servicing to this car, go out and keep it somewhere, the battery goes down, do something about it, 101 things about it. Samtosad – develop the habit to be happy. You have to do it, nothing else can give it to you, nobody else will do it for you. If anything, anybody else does it, it will be very temporary. You take a step, Samtosad is my rule. Cleanliness and happiness.Tapah svadhyaya isvara pranidhanani, this we had discussed.

c)     Tapas: - A little tapas, endurance, patience

d)     Swadhyaya: - Self study

e)     Devotion to God, devotion to the Lord. There are five rules.

vitarka badhane pratipaksa bhavanam

        When the opposite of this bother you, when the mind rebels against these principle rules, then you bring up the feeling which is the opposite of it and what is that?

vitarka himsa adiyah krta karita anumodita lobha krodha moha purvaka murdu-madhya-adhimatra duhkha agnana ananta phala itu pratipaksa bhavanam

        Violence and truth and all these, the opposite values. Whether done by us, or we make someone else do it or we agree with somebody who did it. There are three types. Either you directly indulge in violence, or you have someone else to do that job because you don’t want to do it or when someone else does it, you just agree with that, or you approve that, approve someone else action. These three come from (lobha) greed, (krodha) anger, and (moha) delusion. When you are greedy, you make someone else do the action, which you want to do. It’s out of greed, violence or untruth or all these negative principles thrive. When a person is greedy, he doesn’t see things as they are. Also when a person is angry, obsessed with anger, person is discrimination, mind gets clouded, discrimination disappears, he doesn’t know what he does. So when you are acting, or approving some actions, see behind is the anger which is making you do this job or is it not my attachment, my entanglement, my delusion that is stimulating me for this action? This could be mild, medium or excess. What do they give? They bring (duhkha) sorrow, (agnana) ignorance, chain of sorrow and ignorance. This is what the opposite of this will come. When you know this, this is only going to cause more pain, more suffering, you will shrink away, shy away from these acts, you will adhere to the rules.

        There are millions out there in the world who are engaged in violent activities. Why? They do not even know those activities are going to bring them more pain and suffering. They are ignorant of the pain, they are ignorant of suffering because it is not palatable, it is not pleasing to anybody in the world, not even an ant want to suffer, not even a cockroach likes suffering. No human being wants to suffer but why so many people are engaged in