Benefits of yoga

 

The benefits of yoga are multi-fold. The first is that it improves your health. Yoga provides us tools and techniques to lead a stress-free and tension-free life. Yoga is also the greatest wealth of humankind. What is wealth? The purpose of wealth is to bring happiness and comfort. Yoga is wealth in the sense that it brings absolute comfort.

A violence-free society, disease-free body, confusion-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, trauma-free memory, and a sorrow-free soul is the birth-right of every individual. Parliaments all over the world are striving to achieve this goal of human existence – happiness! We all want happiness for our people and yoga is a way for that much-needed happiness factor in life. We think yoga is some sort of exercise.

In the ’80s and ’90s, when I would tour the world, yoga was not easily accepted in mainstream society. Today, I am glad that there is an awakening and people have recognised the importance of yoga. The world over, yoga has become synonymous with relaxation, happiness and creativity. Even big companies in their advertisements put people sitting in a yoga position or in meditation pose to depict inner peace. Whether we like it or not, we are all born yogis. You do not need a yoga teacher if you observe a baby. Any baby in the world, from the age of three months to the age of three years, does all the yoga postures. The breathing, the way they sleep, the way they smile, everything is yoga. A baby is a yoga teacher, a yogi. That is how a baby is stress free, there is happiness – it smiles 400 times in a day.

Another important benefit of yoga is that it changes the behaviour of a person because behaviour depends on the stress level in a person. It creates a friendly disposition and a very pleasant atmosphere in people. Yoga helps to improve our vibes. We convey a lot through our presence, even more than our words. Speaking in terms of quantum mechanics, we are all emitting vibes or wavelengths. When communication breaks down, we often say, “Our wavelengths don’t match” because our ability to communicate depends on our ability to receive communication from others. Here, yoga helps us to have that clear mind.

Yoga also helps in developing skills within oneself. The propounder of yoga, Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagwad Gita: “Yoga is skill in action”. Yoga is not just an exercise, it is how skillfully you can communicate and act in any given situation. Innovation, intuition, skills, and better communication: all these are effects of yoga. Yoga always promotes harmony in diversity. The word yoga itself means uniting; uniting all diverse aspects of existence, of life. Now, whether someone is a businessman or a public figure or a private individual, we want peace, we want to smile, to be happy. Happiness is only possible when we look into the root cause of unhappiness. Unhappiness is due to lack of vision, stress and tension. The world has been talking a lot about GDH. From GDP, we are moving towards Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH). Here is something that can aid that and be a very useful tool. A large percentage of our population today is suffering from depression. Just popping a Prozac or anti-depressants will not help. We need something that is natural, as natural as our breath, that we can use and elevate our spirit.

The purpose of yoga is to put a smile on your face in spite of all the stress, tension and situations we face in our day-to-day life.

Karma and reincarnation

 

Reincarnation is coming again into the body. Our mind is energy and, by the law of thermodynamics, energy cannot be destroyed. So, what happens to this energy when someone dies?

Death is almost like sleep. If you understand sleep, you’ll understand death also. While sleeping, the whole consciousness, attention, mind shrinks and one is shut off from outward experiences and moves inward into a void. When you wake up in the morning, the same energy, the same consciousness starts expanding and you wake up. If you carefully observe the mechanism, the last thought that you get just before falling asleep becomes the first thought when you wake up. This gives you a clue to reincarnation.

The mind that is full of different impressions leaves the body. But the impressions remain with the mind and wait for a proper situation for the same mind to come down. So it is the last thought that is more important. If you are happy the last moment before you leave the body, then you get a better body the next time. Karma is that which propels reincarnation. Stronger the impression, the nature of next life could be that, predicted by that.

You might have heard of a tradition in many countries where people would name their grandsons or great-grandsons the same name as that of the grandfather. And you will find in many cases that the grandchildren behave in the same way as the grandfather, even though they are born several decades apart.

This is because when someone dies, the strongest impression in their mind is of their children or grandchildren. This strong impression creates such a karma. So, often you become like the person you hate, and you also become like the person you love. This is because love and hate are the same, one standing upside down. Distortion of love is hate. And the way to get beyond love and hate is through knowledge, through awareness. That something, which is beyond hate, is true love.

Guru Purnima celebrates love and devotion

 

What is the significance of Guru Purnima? Guru Purnima is called the day of the Master. Actually, it is the day of the devotee. 

As a student you probably went to primary, middle and senior school. You collected information; you learned about the mind, about computers, mathematics, how two plus one is three. A student collects information. Information, however, is not knowledge; it is not wisdom.

Then there is the disciple who follows the example of the Master. But a disciple is with the Master to imbibe wisdom to help improve his life, for the sake of attaining enlightenment. He has a purpose, a cause, so he is not just collecting information. He goes a little deeper. He is trying to bring about transformation in his life. He wants to make sense of his life. That is a disciple. A disciple is still centered on himself, so he grows gradually and one day might get enlightened.

Then, there is the devotee. A devotee is not there for wisdom only. He is simply rejoicing in love. He has fallen deeply in love with the Master, with Infinity, with God. He doesn’t care as to whether he gets enlightened or not. He doesn’t care as to whether he acquires a lot of wisdom or not because every moment he is immersed in divine love: That is enough for him. A devotee is difficult to find. Students, there are in abundance, disciples are a few, but devotees are rare.

Everything is God, who is present in everything, so it is great to become a devotee. Do you see this? Everything, whether you want it or not, is already God, but when love and devotion has flowered in you totally, you become a devotee. Attraction is everywhere, love is somewhere, but devotion is rare. Devotion is beautiful. A student comes to the Master with tears in his eyes. There is so much pain and when he leaves, he is carrying the same tears, but the quality of the tears is different, they are of gratitude, of love. Entire creation is longing for only one thing, the transformation from salty tears to sweet tears.

The Buddha’s disciple Sariputra, got enlightened. The Buddha told him, “Now go ahead, go into the world and preach, teach and do the same work I do. Carry on my work”. Now Sariputra left, but he was crying and people asked him, “Why are you crying when you are enlightened?” He said, “Who cares about enlightenment, it could have waited, I would have waited. I didn’t even bother about it or ask for it because the joy of being at the feet of the Buddha was so great. Being a devotee was so great, now I am missing it. I would have preferred that to enlightenment”.

When Krishna was leaving his body, he spoke to his friend Uddhava with tears in his eyes. “These Gopis are so beautiful and I cannot bear the amount of devotion they have for me. Go and tell my devotees that only they can free me of their gratitude and of their love”. He rejoices, “Go tell them that where my devotees sing, I am right there”. Love is something that even the Divine rejoices in. Infinity longs for you as much as you long for it. It is waiting to receive you. God is as anxious as you are to be close. So when a devotee flowers on this planet, God is happy. That is why Guru Purnima is the day of the devotee.

Understanding Ahimsa

 

There is a beautiful sutra mentioned in Patanjali Yoga Sutras that says, Jatidesha kalasamayanavachchinnaha sarvabhouma mahavratam meaning ‘the great vows are universal and are not limited by life, state, country, time or circumstances’.

These words are applicable everywhere, all the time and to everyone. The sutra mentioned above is universal. An animal does not go into violence for no reason. Wild animals hunt only when they are hungry and when they want to eat. Humans hunt out of pleasure. Human beings have no qualms about killing in the name of God. Mindless violence is prevalent in the world in the name of country, in the name of religion, in the name of race. This is total lack of viveka or wisdom. A violent person cannot listen to anybody.

Why does violence arise? Frustration is the answer. The mind gets frustrated and frustration builds up. The question ‘why, why, why?’ transforms into violence and becomes contagious, so to speak. A crowd commits violence. Individually, a person may not be able to do that violent act, but when that person is in the crowd he joins hands. Viveka is when a person takes to non-violence saying, “I will not kill any animal or any life on this planet consciously or unconsciously.” Already without your knowledge you are destroying many creatures. You walk and many ants are dying under your feet. You are not killing anyone. It is just happening. But an intention to destroy something, an intention to do violence can destroy your very basis, your very root. Dropping this intention for violence is ahimsa.

What is the effect of ahimsa? Patanjali Maharishi gives a beautiful explanation in Sutra 35: Ahimsapratishtayam tatsannidhau vairatyagaha, which means “When a person is established in non-violence, then violence is dropped in his or her presence.”

If you are established in non-violence, in your very presence, violence will be dropped by other creatures. For example, someone comes to attack you. As soon as they come near you, because your vibrations are totally non-violent, they drop down. They stop being violent. Lord Mahavira emphasizes on ahimsa. It is said that whenever he walked, twenty kilometers around him, people would stop being violent. The story goes even to that extent and says even the thorns would not prick anybody but would instead become soft.

Ahimsa gives rise to tolerance. Have you ever felt like hitting somebody? Why is that violence arising in your mind? What is the source of the violence? As you watch the source of violence, you will see that violence disappears, dissolves and peace dawns. Yoga brings that inner peace which in turn establishes non-violence. Practice of non-violence is two-way traffic. Ahimsa or non-violence brings about the union of the mind or peace of mind and when you are peaceful or calm within, you naturally become non-violent.

God is felt in the depth of your heart

 

What is God? What is not God? What is the definition of God, if there is one? The moment you define by a word, you already have a concept about it. What do you think is God?

You describe it as that which is everywhere; which is all-powerful; which is responsible for this creation, for its maintenance, and for its dissolution; which is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.

You say “I want to see God” and when you want to see God as something, as an object, then it’s not everywhere. The moment you see God, there is a distance between you and God; then you are not God. You want to see God, and this wanting to see God as separate from you is again an illusion; and if you are seeing God, then God is not omnipresent!

Like love is felt in the heart, so is God’s presence. You cannot see air, but you simply feel the air. You cannot see heat or cold, but you just feel it. So in the same way God cannot be seen.

If you see God, then He is outside there; He is away from you and isolated. God is never an object of isolation. God is the sum total. When you dissolve, God remains. When you are there, there is no God. Either you can be there, or God can be there, not both. So when you meditate, you become one with God. You are God. That is why, it is said, ‘tat tvam asi’, meaning, “thou art that”.

So, God is to be felt in the depth of your heart. In deep meditation when your mind is still, calm, hollow and empty, you suddenly feel, “I am not there. There is only one big existence.” So, don’t worry about God. First know yourself then you also know what is God, almost simultaneously.

Who are you? Do you know about yourself? Just find out about yourself first. If you think you are just the body, it is not possible, because body has its limitations. If you think you are the mind, that’s also not possible because mind has its limitations, it’s another layer.

If you know that you are silence or you are space, then it is possible; God is also space. Space is God. Can you see space separately? There are three types of space: bhootha aakash — outer space in which all this universe is hanging. Chitta aakash — in your mind, there is a world with impressions, thoughts, dreams; you live in that world, all the visions come in your mind. Chida aakash — it’s the sky of consciousness that is all permeating; the consciousness, the basis of all creation, that is divine, that all knows.

Lord Rama himself had asked a question once. He was curious to see so much love, devotion and dedication in Hanuman that he wondered and asked Hanuman what it felt like being Hanuman? Hanuman told Rama, “When I am in body consciousness, I am your servant; when I think I am an individual, I am in soul consciousness, I am a part of you; and when I am in my being consciousness, when I am in myself then I am you; there is no difference between me and you.” 

It’s the same when somebody blames your child; you take the blame don’t you? There is so much oneness; in fact, there is really nothing other than God. God is that which is present everywhere, all the time.

Don’t worry too much about philosophy or descriptions of atma (self) — Paramatma (God). Let’s forget about God and observe this moment; this moment has a mind of its own. The whole existence has a mind of its own. Like you have a mind and it has such intelligence, that’s why it keeps everything orderly. Similarly, this moment is seen by this mind. This mind you can call it atma or God and that is what you are. Yesterday is not here right now, tomorrow is not here but the present is here, now!

Respect this moment, adore this moment. See, this moment is not flat; it’s very deep. When you accept from the head, you can have the horizontal idea; from the heart you experience the depth; and both together bring true wisdom and knowledge.

Why we dance

 

There are two things that make you dance in life:
1. Your desires
2. Love

Desires make you dance all your life. When one desire of yours gets fulfilled, then you get another ten desires. This run to fulfil one desire after another keeps you going on the merry-go-round, or the misery-go-round. It keeps you on tenterhooks.

Then there is another type of dance, that which comes out of joy and love. Deep love makes you dance. The dance that comes out of love does not make you tired.

But in love, you don’t get shaken - you shake the world!

What is the purpose of life?

 

Certain questions indicate the maturity of our mind. They are: What is life? What is the purpose of my life? Why am I here? What do I want?

These questions are vital. Where am I? Are you aware you are on this planet Earth? Have you ever thought “I am on planet Earth and this planet is in the solar system”? So, I am in the solar system. The solar system is just a dot in the Milky Way. So, I am in the Milky Way. This expansion of awareness to the macrocosm and being aware of where you are in this body is important. Just sit with your eyes closed and ask yourself “where am I in this body”? Am I in the head, in the nose, in the heart? Where am I in the body?

Then the sharpness of the mind happens, awareness happens. You are able to perceive that you are nowhere and you are everywhere in the body. A shift in the quality of awareness happens instantaneously. And it is this awareness that can eliminate stresses and sorrows from life. This awareness is called wisdom.

When we raise our consciousness, we become more aware of the sensation that is happening in the body and we see that the sensations change. An intense sensation that is pain and an intense sensation that is pleasure, both become pleasurable. Love and pain, they are very closely related. The symbol of Jesus on the cross means that the cross is pain and Jesus is love. One is with the other. The transformation of this pain into bliss, the love into bliss is what happens with awareness.

Without awareness the mind shrinks. When the mind shrinks, the joy diminishes. Whenever we are happy, we feel that something in us is expanding and the expression of sadness is the contraction of mind. Meditation is a technique using which the mind expands and relaxes. And whenever we are relaxed, we are expanding automatically.

It is worth knowing this expansion because then nothing can disturb us or take our smile away. Otherwise, small things can throw us off balance. It is not worth letting your mind or your life undergo such suffering and misery.

The three aspects of Guru Tattva

Life and the Guru are inseparable. Life itself teaches so many things. When you consciously reflect on it you can distinguish the things you have done right and those which were clearly wrong. The wisdom that allows you to differentiate is the guru principle that resides in each one of us. 

What is the role of a Guru? Doing all that you can for someone else’s growth and development without expecting anything in return is being a Guru. Have you played this role to at least one person with a pure heart and clear mind? When you are guiding someone not wanting anything in return from them know that the Guru Tattva or Guru Principle is working through you. 

There are three aspects of the Guru principle or Guru Tattva. The first one is in its absolute form which is all-permeating and exists beyond time, then it is in the form of knowledge and the thirdly in the physical form. 

When we are ignorant of our true nature we become miserable. When our mind is miserable we look for the cause, which could be a situation, a person or an attitude. This is a cycle of ignorance. Our identification of the Self is limited by thoughts or emotions. So instead of blaming a situation or person for your misery wake up and see that you are caught up in small things, having forgotten who you really are. The knowledge of the Self burns down all karma and brings you closer to the cause of all the causes which is your being. Experiences keep changing but the unchanging experiencer remains at the centre. Again and again, make the effort to know the one who is experiencing.

A Guru’s job is not to fulfil materialistic desires. These are just accessories of life that will happen effortlessly when you have your eyes on the real goal, which is to seek liberation and which is not possible without a Guru. Only he can make you recognise the beauty of inner freedom and the light within. 

In Sanskrit, a disciple is called antevasi - one who dwells within a Guru and in whom the Guru resides. The one who has realised that there is nothing other than the all-permeating Guru principle that surrounds him is called a disciple. This ‘feeling of connection’ with the infinite is made possible by the presence of a Guru alone. When you feel connected to knowledge, wisdom and to the Guru, there is no lack in life, celebration happens instantaneously.

There have been many great souls who have walked the path of true knowledge and have shown that it is possible to attain the pinnacle of life’s purpose through surrender and devotion. Their lives serve as an example for humankind.