'Consciousness....."

Volumes and volumes have been written on this mystical subject but it still remains an enigma. With great humility i wish to share my understanding of this ubiquitous entity called Consciousness. There has always been a debate as to whether the brain came first or Consciousness? What do we mean by the term Consciousness? Many attempts have been made to define it. What Does Physics have to say about it? Looking at it from the Scientific perspective, it is the very “ground of being” says Amit Goswami, the famous physicist, and this “being” includes both mind and matter. He further adds that ‘consciousness is the mediator of the interaction between mind and body.”According to Schrodinger it is a “singular without a plural”. It was with the advent of Quantum Physics that Consciousness received its due and we need to go into some detail. Nick Herbert in 1993 said ‘The world exists not as a solid actuality but only as shimmering waves of possibility…….Whenever someone chooses to look at it, the atom ceases its fuzzy dance and seems to ‘freeze’ into a tiny object with definite attributes, only to dissolve once more into a quivering pool of possibilities as soon as the observer withdraws his attention from it. This apparent observer induced change in an atom’s mode of existence is called the collapse of the wave function or simply the quantum jump.’ It then became clear that something new must be added to ‘collapse the wave function’. John von Neumann concluded that the only known entity fit for this task was consciousness. He said that ‘the world remains everywhere in a state of pure possibility except where some conscious mind decides to promote a portion of the world from its usual state of indefiniteness into a condition of actual existence.” The term ‘collapse’ basically means the change from possibility into actuality. Our Sages concept of Consciousness: Our sages have called it “existence-awareness-bliss” which we know as ‘Sat-Chit-Anand”. Here ‘Chit” stands for Consciousness. As we are aware there are three states of Consciousness…..Jagrat, or Conscious, awake or wakeful state, Supta or Subconscious or sleeping state and the Sushupta state, also called the Superconscious state, Krishna Consciousness or Christ Consciousness. According to Swami Jnaneshwar Bharat, the Aum Mantra denotes four levels of Consciousness and three transition levels. Each of the three sounds of the Aum Mantra (A, U and M) symbolize specific states of Consciousness after which there is silence which is the Fourth State and is Consciousness or awareness itself, while in between are the transition states. (Kindly refer to my earlier blog for more details http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/mysticism/atma-and-satchitananda) Sri Paramhans Yoganandaji has called it ‘primordial awareness” Consciousness basically arises from God. ‘God the Father and Cosmic Consciousness are synonymous; Christ, the Son and Christ Consciousness are one and the same. God the Father emanated from Him His son, Christ Intelligence and Cosmic Energy, the Holy Ghost.”As we are aware Holy Ghost and the word “Aum” are one and the same. Holy Ghost , Aum or Shabd is the vehicle for union with God the Father. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj feels that “awareness is primordial, which is the original state , beginningless, endless, unsupported, without parts, and without change.” According to him “Consciousness is on contact, a reflection against a surface, a state of duality. There can be no consciousness without awareness, but there can be awareness without consciousness as in deep sleep. Awareness is absolute ,while consciousness is relative to its content” he further says that Consciousness is partial and changeful while awareness is total, changeless, calm and silent and is the common matrix of every experience. According to Yoga, God Consciousness is called ‘Kaivalya”, which means touching Ultimate Reality. Samadhi is the technique to achieve it. In this state God is seen differently at different times and in different “forms” depending upon the karma of the person seeking Him. How has Cosmic Consciousness ‘descended’ to permeate all matter? Sri Paramhans Yogananda has given a beautiful narration….’As a mighty river that brings fertility to the plains has its source in the mountains high above, so the source of the river of consciousness is Cosmic Consciousness, Spirit, the ever existing, ever conscious ever-new Bliss that transcends creation. Descending into creation –into every particle of thought, life energy, and matter constituting the causal, astral and physical realms-Cosmic Consciousness is called Christ Consciousness. Flowing into the soul and pure mind of man, it is called superconsciousness. Carried on the current of life energy down through the subtle spinal centres (chakras), losing its divine awareness in body in body identification, it is called subconsciousness, operating the body-mechanism through the life energy in the physical brain, spine, and viscera. Descending further, out into the muscles and senses, the river of consciousness settles in the level of the ordinary waking state ,enlivening the muscular and sensory activities of the body, and creating desires for and attachments to material experiences.’ As long as consciousness is identified with the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch it makes us conscious of matter. But when we meditate, we withdraw our consciousness from the five senses and gradually attain superconsciousness. The internal consciousness of ordinary people operates only from the lumbar, sacral and coccygeal centres. Those who love the Divine work from the heart centre, but the calm, unshaken yogi operates from the cervical centre. Someone who can feel his presence in the entire vibratory creation has awakened his medullary and Christ centres, while the illumined yogi functions in the cerebral centre of Cosmic Consciousness. (Sri Paramahans Yogananda). What this translates into is that those whose consciousness is focused on the lower three centres are predominantly tamasic, when related to the Anahat Chakra, Rajasic. When, however, people whose consciousness is focused on the higher centres are either Sattvic …or have moved beyond. How Does Consciousness Manifest? Consciousness is the ground of reality, of the reality which connects one reality to another…..it pervades everything in the universe, the link between ‘matter” and what is unmanifest, between the various sheaths or the five koshas, body, prana, mind, intelligence and bliss. It is the driving force which initiates all processes……acts as the ignition for all chemical processes in our body, initiates all thoughts and thoughts into action, it is the ‘primordial awareness” and if i may say, it is the “awareness of being aware”…it is always present even when ‘unconscious’ as that stage is the stage when we are not aware of being aware…but all functions continue as if by remote. It is the very foundation…’mula-adhar’ of not only our being but also of the entire Universe…remember the Muladhar chakra, the four petals of which denote ‘Mana’, ‘Budhi:, ‘Chita” Ahankar”? Consciousness is that subtle reality which is present between all of us…present in all beings and links us all by merging into each other….i am you and you are me at the same time being him/her….it is like a loving mother whose love is always enveloping us whether we are in her physical presence or not. It is that Divine Light permeating all of the manifest or unmanifest worlds, it is the vibration which initiated all of creation…..it is the Aum/Shabd/Amen….continuously creating, maintaining and ‘destroying’……changing form and recreating the same into another form…the moisture in the cloud…the rain drop….which drops on the ground, loses its individuality as the drop, merges with the earth …..only to change form again as it is the energy which cannot be destroyed nor created. It is that ‘prana’ which is present in all, the energy responsible for keeping us alive. It is consciousness, the energy which changes form to carry out the myriad functions required for the functioning of the entire Universe. When the One became conscious of itself it gave rise to the entire created and manifest or umanifest universe (s). It is the very thought which comes in our mind, initiates an action, seemingly disappearing but remaining in the ether only to initiate another action elsewhere or in someone else’s mind and the process goes, on ad infinitum. It is the initiator of the thought, the thought itself, the action culminating from the thought, the after effect of the action, the consequence…it is the feeling i have whether of love, kindness, compassion, forgiveness or dislike, jealousy….. It is what makes us ‘see’ a sound, as it is what initiates it, is present in it and still remains when the sound has disappeared….so also with our hearing…….it is consciousness which makes us “see,” “hear” , “talk”…….the external organs for these being essential only till we retain the body …after which we can still continue to do so without these ‘appliances’…all because of consciousness. During advanced stages of meditation as described by sages, consciousness is ‘felt’ as the divine light descending down into one’s being from the head going down to each and every cell and atom of the body in its brilliant silvery sheen or golden splendor, perfusing every nook and cranny of the body, emanating out, expanding the body aura multifold, going out in to the Universe to merge with all its surroundings…..the Universe and I become one. Sri Paranmhans Yoganadaji has described it ever so beautifully ‘The yogi learns to expand his being into Spirit and Its cosmic consciousness……the yogi’s soul not only feels the cosmic consciousness in all creation, but beyond it, to the farthest reaches of the vibrationless sphere.” The yogi being one with God, beholds His consciousness appearing as the sapidity in waters, the luminescence of the moon and the sun, the cosmic sound and light roaming in the universes and the eternal ether, the perception of all sentient beings and saintly souls, and the Aum or truth vibrations of the Vedic Scriptures …… How can we experience it? As is obvious Consciousness is everywhere..it is in front if us, behind us, above us, below us, it is both inside us as well as outside us……..in fact we are totally immersed in it but are not aware of it. We need a teacher, a realized Guru to first make us aware of its existence and then to help us experience it and to finally merge with it completely. A Guru does this by making us learn to open our Third Eye at the centre of the eyebrows after which we come face to face with our atma and our ‘Nij ‘mind disengages us from our bonds with our ‘Pindi’ mind, which is keeping us stuck to the dictates of our senses…takes us higher and higher finally dropping off itself and bringing about a merger of the Atma with the Paramatama. The three components of Consciousness namely knower, knowing and known become one! Sources: God Talks to Arjun …The Bhagavad Gita” and “The Second Coming Of Christ” by Sri Paramhans Yogananda “Quantum Doctor” by Amit Goswami “The Spiritual Science of Kriya Yoga” by Goswami Kriyananda

I Had A Dream....

Dear Friends, Am taking the liberty of sharing with you the truly wonderful dream i had this morning, still so vividly imprinted in my mind. They say early morning dreams come true! i saw an exquisitely beautiful little lamb, absolutely white in colour, nuzzling up against me, seeking attention. She emanated vibrations of pure love…..i caressed it affectionately and she curled up ever so close to me giving me that wonderfully warm feeling of Divine Mother’s loving “sparsh, which i cannot forget. That touch full of love still lingers.i said to her ‘May God bless you”. A strange thing happened, the beautiful lamb became a small smiling little child, a glowingly beautiful one, laughed …and said to me ‘God bless You”! Then i saw a little monkey on the ground, trying to jump on to my shoulder…but however hard it tried, it did not succeed. Then a dog came along, a small, quiet, good looking one with very deep and beautiful eyes full of love for me and just kept looking up to me in all earnest as if all that mattered to him was me! When i woke up with a smile on my face….it was with a feeling of tranquility and profound peace and happiness….all the three images had left an indelible mark with their messages…..the lovely little lamb had shown me pure divine love, the little monkey told me not to let my mind rule me and the faithful little dog was there to tell me about faith in Him. Let us live our lives bathed in Divine love and faith in Him and not allow our notorious mind to dictate to us……the mind is like a bewitchingly beautiful child, full of ‘beans’, naughty, almost impossible to pin down…..it is always running away from us, like a playful child, laughing and enjoying itself but beyond our reach!

"Atma And Sat-Chit-Anand"

What is the relationship between the Atma and Sat-Chit-Anand? Let us first try to understand what Sat-Chit-Ananda is since we hear and talk about it so often…. Sri Paramhans Yogananda has described it as “the Sanskrit word for God that expresses the essential nature of Spirit as eternal Being or truth (Sat), infinite consciousness (Chit) and ever new Bliss (Ananda)” “Sat” stands for Truth and since the only real truth is God it means the highest level of Cosmic Consciousness which is free from all negativities of ‘raag’, dvesh’ or any faults. There are many other names too like, Being, God the Father (the Christian Bible),Par-Brahman of the Bhagavad Gita and Vedantic philosophy, Paramatama of the Yogis. Para –Purusha and Transcendental Spirit , and Sadhguru. All these names mean the same. Sat is also the supreme pure essence of Cosmic Consciousness “Chit” stands for Consciousness, while “Ananda” is bliss. Consciousness itself needs some further clarification. As we are aware there are three states of Consciousness…..Jagrat, or Conscious, awake or wakeful state, Supta or Subconscious or sleeping state and the Sushupta state, also called the Superconscious state, Krishna Consciousness or Christ Consciousness. According to Swami Jnaneshwar Bharat, the Aum Mantra denotes four levels of Consciousness and three transition levels. Each of the three sounds of the Aum Mantra (A, U and M) symbolize specific states of Consciousness after which there is silence which is the Fourth State and is Consciousness or awareness itself, while in between are the transition states. “A” represents the Waking State and is also called the Conscious, Gross or the Vaishnavara state, followed by the transition stage called Unmani. “U’ represents the Dreaming, Unconscious , Taijasya or the Subtle states, followed by the transition stage called Aladani. “M” is representative of the Subconscious state also called Prajna, and Causal state. This is then followed by the transition stage of Samadhi. Consciousness has also been classified as Conscious, Subconscious and Superconscious which has been subdivided into Individual (Soul) and Universal Superconscious states (God). Bliss is part of the Causal Body. (Our body has three parts, the physical, made of matter, called the Sthula sharer, the Astral or Sukshma shareer (the pranmaya and manomaya koshas are part of this ie prana and mind) and the Causal Body comprises of Intelligence (Vigyanmaya kosha) and Bliss or Anandmaya kosha). If we look at the Nature of Sat we realize that it has no beginning, middle or end, has existed in the past, is present now and will exist in the future, is changeless, is not conditioned by time , space or causation, exists during Jagrat, Swapna or Sushupti, it exists as one homogenous essence (Sada Ekarasa and Sada Ekarupa). All these qualities are present in Atma as well. Hence Atma is Sat (Swami Sivananda). Swami Sivananda further elaborates that ‘Atma is Chit for it shines by itself unaided by any other light and illuminates the whole Universe”. He explains that “this lamp of body filled with oil of Karma, the fire of Atman igniting the wick called mind acquires the name of Jiva and removes the darkness of Ajnana. This power is really in Atman and not in others.” According to him, Atma is Ananda as well! “Ananda is that bliss which is eternal, uncaused and unexcelled” which is the real nature of Atma also. It, therefore, becomes clear that Sat-Chit-Ananda are not three distinct entities and not different from one another either and that Atma is the same as Sat-Chit-Ananda. To achieve a stage of Sat-Chit-Ananda we need to connect with our Atma or the Self. (http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/god-and-i/godselfand-the-connection may be referred to) How do we experience Sat-Chit-Ananda? This can happen only by the opening of our Third Eye, situated a little deep to the centre of our forehead. This is also called the Agya Chakra. The Atma can be appreciated only after the opening of the Third Eye, which opens to the inside and not out as our ordinary eyes do. It is here that the three nadis, namely, “Ida”, “Pingala” and ‘Sushumna’ meet, which is why it is also called “Triveni”. Normally the Sushumna, a part of our astral body, is non functional. It is only when we manage to shift our consciousness from the “outside” to the ‘inside” that out sushumna starts functioning and takes our consciousness to the Agya Chakra. The Agya Chakra controls the manomaya kosha and the intelligence sheaths ie mind and intelligence and its qualities are Sat, Chit and Anand. When we go beyond the mind and intelligence we experience bliss, or , in other words, when the mind and intelligence sheaths are exposed the bliss sheath is visible, which is the same as connection with the atma or the Self. Till such time the Third Eye is not opened our consciousness remains lower down. (According to yoga it is awakening of the kundalani which takes the consciousness upwards). My blog http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/meditation/kundalini-risingwhat-is-the-best-method could be referred to. One need not wait for this to happen, however, if one can learn to connect with the Shabd or Aum as taught by a Realized guru, who after initiation can bring about the opening of the Third Eye directly without taking recourse to the kundalini. As we are aware, the Shabd or Aum is that vibration (comprising of sound and light) which is responsible for the creation of the entire universe and is the direct ‘link’ to God beyond creation. (kindly refer to my blog http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/meditation/aum-and-gayatri-mantrastheir-deeper-meaning for more details) When the Third Eye opens with the appreciation of “Aum”/”Shabd” it results in the appreciation of Sat or God which is associated with a sense of bliss also. The atma then must travels through five stages or Khands……namely dharma khand, karam khand, saram khand, gyan khand, and sach khand for complete merger with Him. Let us all try to achieve a state of Sat-Chit-Ananda and become one with that scintillating brightness which no one has ever been able to describe fully.

Spirituality.....The Secret of Well Being and Good Health"

It is said that ‘we are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a physical experience” (de Chardin). It stands to reason, therefore, that to remain healthy we need to be spiritual. Ayurveda believes that we become ill because we have lost our connection with Divinity . Forgetting our true nature is the root cause of disease leading us to commit “Crimes against wisdom”. What is good health? This a very pertinent question….we normally assume that since we are not suffering from any ailment, we must be healthy but this is not true! As defined by the WHO” Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” Unfortunately even this definition does not give a very clear picture of good health. A much better term is ‘Swastha” which means “established in the self” as envisaged by our ancient rishis. ’Swa” means self and ‘Tha” means established …..Hence swastha clearly tells us that being healthy has to have a spiritual component. How is our body related to Spirit? When the One decided to be many the The Lord covered our soul first with an idea body, then encased it with a very fine or subtle light(the astral body)and finally an illusionary fleshy form. The physical body is made of blood and flesh; the astral body is composed of life force and mind; and the causal or ideational body is woven together with wisdom and ever new bliss. The dense physical body is the result of solidified vibrations, the astral body of energy and mind vibrations, and the causal body of nearly pure vibrations of Cosmic Consciousness. Sri Paramhans Yogananda has said that when we are tasting, smelling, touching, listening, or seeing, we are working principally through our physical body. Visualizing or willing, we work mainly through our astral body. When thinking or diving deep in introspection or meditation, we are relating to our causal body. He goes on further to say that when we dream we remain in our astral bodies while when our sleep is deep and dreamless, we transfer our consciousness to the causal body. Our physical body is made of matter and is called the Sthula Sharir. The astral component of our ‘body’ comprises of Energy (Pranashakti) and Mind (Manas) and is called the Sukshma Sharir. The part derived from the Causal Body consists of Intellect or Budhi and Soul or Spirit. According to Yoga our body consists of five koshas based on their derivation as described above. The physical body is called the Anamaya Kosha, the Pranamaya kosha is the Energy body, while the Manomaya Kosha is the Psychological body. …both being parts of the Sukshama Sharir. The Vijanamaya Kosha is the Intelligence body followed by the Anandmaya Kosha or the Bliss Sheath, both being parts of the Causal Body. It is, therefore, clear that there is a cohesion between our Mind, Body and Spirit and all three must remain in balance for us to remain healthy. All these three are forms of energy. This further translates to the fact that for us to be healthy, there must be a free flow of energy (pranashakti) in our bodies along with a relaxed mind. Where has this energy come from? It has come from “Pranashakti’ (life force and a part of Cosmic Energy) which has been given different names in different religions eg The Holy Spirit, Christ Consciousness, chi(Chinese)ki (Japanese),etc. It is “prana shakti” which helped us to take form and shape inside the womb and brought “life’ to us. It, however, becomes dormant at birth as it has finished its job till that point. This has also been called Kundalini shakti and dwells at the base of our sushumna or spinal column or muladhar chakra from where it controls the entire physiological system through a network of 72,000 nerves. At the external level this prana shakti operates through the senses. Our physical body is sustained by a body of energy and contains a series of “energy centres’ located in the spine and head. These are actually five subtle vibratory forces into which the Creative force differentiates itself. Each of these ‘chakras’ or wheels are responsible for the functioning of different organs and systems of our bodies. (For more details about the chakras kindly refer to my blog http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/wellness/mantra-meditation-on-the-chakras-and-their-health-benefits The Movement of energy is normally from the brain down to the spine, through the peripheral nervous system and then from the extremities back to the spine and brain through a series of nerve centres. In a healthy person the flow of energy is unimpeded and positive throughout but if it is sluggish, blocked, damped or negative in one or more energy centres then the health is likely to be poor . Dr Richard Gerber, in his book, “Vibrational Medicine” has said “The body is a dynamic energy system where the mind and body are true sources of consciousness and emotions and spirit can influence via energetic and neurohumeral connections among mind, body and spirit” Our mind, therefore, too plays a very important part. Our Conscious Mind has birthed out of the Universal Superconscious mInd from where all thoughts arise, come to the Individual Superconscious (Atma), then to the Subconscious Mind and finally to the Conscious. The Universal Superconscious Mind is the same as God. It is clear that all thoughts arise from the Cosmic Mind. When we are in tune with “ourselves” we are in tune with the Cosmic mind. How we react to our thoughts is decided by our free will and to the Gunas of Prakriti, namely Satva, Rajas and Tamas. These gunas decide our psychological nature and the way we behave. If we are Satvic in nature we are more likely to have Divine qualities of purity and virtue because of which we are more likely to be healthy. If we are Rajasic we would be associated with wordly activities and passions, resulting in a greater likelihood of disease. A Tamasic temperament means laziness, inertia etc which is contributory to development of disease. From the above it is clear that we essentially have a Mind, Body and Spirit. A balance is necessary between the three for our wellness and wholeness. The soul or atma being part of God has godly qualities of universal love, compassion etc and teaches us to be good and constantly tries to take us back to Him but our conscious mind is always looking for sense pleasures and a tug—o-war ensues…the soul whispering to us about goodness and the mind shouting for pleasure…the net result is stress and disease. It is said that “Stress causes 50% of what kills us and 50% of what chronically disables us”(Dr Levy) When we face any stress(we experience a lot of it at the present time) ,our brain responds by secreting a lot of chemicals/hormone which leads to the “fight or flight” response. As a result blood flows more to the heart and large muscles and less to the digestive system and other vital organs. The immediate effects of this are a dry mouth, sweating, palpitations, increase in blood pressure, mental anxiety, enlarged pupils and sleeplessness. Along with there is an increase in heart beat, increased flow of blood and blood pressure, rapid respiration, more production of glucose from glycogen as a result of which more energy is available, while non essential actions like appetite, sleep, sex activity etc get reduced. When this happens day in and day out as a result of chronic stress, it leads to the development of Hypertension, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, peptic ulcer, poor digestion, autoimmune problems, glandular disease, poor healing, decrease in sexual drive, headaches, palpitations, loss of appetite, constipation etc. which in turn cause other complications. It can, therefore, affect almost any system in the body. Negative emotions like anger, jealousy, hatred, envy, worry, anxiety, depression, are harbingers of disease and have a lot to do with stress:”Negative emotions, persisting over a long period of time, can impair the immune system, thus lowering the body’s defenses against disease”(Norman Cousins). ”Peace of mind sends the body a “live’ message, while depression, fear and unresolved conflict give it a “die” message (Bernard Seigel ).He goes on to add that “the immune system simply can’t stand chronic gloom” Anger, hostility and depression play an important role in the development of Coronary Artery disease. We , therefore, create both good and bad. God has given the gift of ‘free will’ which we need to exercise for good use. This is where spirituality comes in. We know that the human body is a hologram of the universe, each part of the hologram contains the whole. Plato has said “The part can never be well unless the whole is well”. Gibran too says something similar ”In one drop of water are found all the secrets of the ocean”. To remain healthy we need to conform to Nature/Universe/Divinity. This wholeness is reminiscent of the famous Sanskrit Shloka: ‘Om purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat purnam udacyate Purnasya purnamadaya purnameva avasisyate” Meaning: ‘that Om (the Supreme Self) is full and wholeness itself. All that is around us is as full and whole (meaning ‘that’ and ‘this’ are really the same) From the wholeness comes out this wholeness. And after this whole is taken out from that whole what remains is also full and wholeness itself” To remain ‘Swastha’ we need to be spiritual. Spirituality means to know who you are. The original ‘you’ is full of compassion, kindness, universal love, empathy, wisdom, and free from any negative emotions due to the spark of Divinity in you. True healing, can occur only when we are close to ourselves. In the end i would like to add that when diseases do occur, it may be worthwhile to integrate(wherever possible) the “Complimentary Systems” of Medicine, namely, Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Energy Healing, and various practices of Meditation, Visualization and Forgiveness techniques, all of which are spirituality based, in addition to Western Medicine…..which only ‘treats’ as compared to the spirituality based systems which help in ‘healing’ and “cure’. We must, however, take into account that each of the systems have their plus and minus points.

"Faith In The Guru"

Thisincident occurred almost fifteen years back and much before i had any idea about gurus and their grace. Now that i am on the path, my thinking has changed completely. A gentleman came in for admission for severe Coronary Artery Disease and needed grafting of two of his arteries. His ventricular functions were quite bad, placing him in the high risk category. i was to operate on him the following morning. While examining any patient before surgery him, it is customary for us surgeons to explain the procedure and to answer any queries he/she may have. Mr Kumar’s (name changed) question surprised me…he wanted to know whether we had generators in the Operating Room! i was taken aback as even in those days it was routine to have not only generators in the OR but also uninterrupted power supply as a backup for most of the important equipment…hence just laughed his question off. The operation started off well enough. In those days almost all heart bypasses were done by the conventional method in which the Heart Lung machine is used, based on the principle of draining all the impure blood from the heart, cooling and purifying it by oxygenating it and then pumping it back into the heart. The heart is “arrested’ electively, which means that it is made completely still by injecting certain solutions into the heart arteries, to facilitate the operative procedure. During this period the patient is virtually “dead’ …in very very deep sleep. Once the grafting is done, the heart usually comes back to ‘life” either by itself or is “shocked” back to life. ( At this point of time most of us operate using the“Beating Heart technique” in which the use of the Heart Lung Machine is dispensed with) The operation proceeded well till the grafting of the last coronary artery commenced. The heart was absolutely still , considered a very good sign of arrest, had completed about half of the anastomosis (suturing of the conduit to the lower end of the coronary artery) when suddenly the lights went off! There was total darkness in the OR and the generators failed to kick in! Pandemonium reigned. To make matters worse, the uninterrupted power supply also failed! At this point the patient was completely dependent on the heart lung machine for much needed blood to his brain and the rest of his body…but the machine had stopped working! There was no way he could survive. Another shock awaited me….the crank which can work the heart lung machine manually was nowhere to be found! Chaos reigned in the OR for God knows how long…i tried to complete the anastomisis with the help of a flash light…for whatever it was worth. After a few minutes, which appeared to be hours, i felt the patient’s heart start beating gently…ever so gently…i wondered whether i was confusing it with my own heart which was galloping like a horse! Soon the lights came back and the operation could be completed. Mr Kumar was shifted to the Recovery (an ICU where operated patients are nursed intensively). Though the operation had been completed, there was an extremely high possibility of serious of damage to his brain, kidneys and practically all organs of the body as none of them would have received adequate blood supply during the shutdown. Bracing myself for the worst i went to see him the next morning…lo and behold, i saw a smiling Mr Kumar lying comfortably in bed none the worse for the ordeal he had gone through. When enquired as to how he felt he asked me if the generators in the OR had worked! He then took out a picture of his Guru and asked me to keep it in my pocket at all times! i obliged him for many years till i found my own Guruji (or rather till my Guruji found me)! God does have a sense of humour when it comes to bringing non believers on to the ‘Path”!

Yog Nidra…..the art of complete Relaxation

To be able to relax completely is an art. So many methods have been described, from just sleeping, to sitting in silence, to listening to music, just closing one’s eyes, counting down from 30 to 1 but what is not talked about much is the method taught by our sages of yore…Yoga Nidra, which is a method in which one is fully conscious but relaxed completely. This is how it differs from sleep. Sleep may not relax us fully since the very moment sleep dawns, the dream state starts, the mind remains active and is not at peace. It is only during deep sleep that we achieve rest but how much of deep sleep do we manage to get? Yoga Nidra, on the other hand restores the mind to a state of tranquility and profound peace. Yoga Nidra is also known as ‘Chetan Nidra” and, in my experience is the best method for achieving complete relaxation. i, therefore, wish to share it with all of you. Yoga Nidra literally means “Sleeping Consciously” and is a state in between wakefulness and dreaming during which our subconscious and still deeper layers of our mind open up. These, as we are aware are very powerful levels of the mind, indeed. It thus brings about deep relaxation at all levels namely physical, psychological and mental and results in a higher level of energy in the body. It is at this stage that we become more amenable to suggestions and the subconscious mind, the obedient servant it is, ensures its attainment. Incidentally this is the stage which is used for “Hypnosis’ by Psychiatrists during ‘Hypnotic meditation” or Regression. During Yog Nidra our consciousness travels from one layer to another resulting in wonderful experiences. The Method: First Stage…resting in “Shavasana” Lie on the back, with the legs spread one and a half feet and arms a little away from the body and palms facing up, fingers spread out. Relax the body completely, close your eyes gently, and breathe slowly and deeply. Second Stage: Start observing the body with the mind’s eye…..as if a person standing way from you is observing you lying on the floor (it is like your atma observing your body). Direct your “mind’s eye” to the great toe of the right foot, followed by the second toe, then the third, the fourth and finally the fifth…all very very slowly. Look at the sole of the foot, the upper part, the calf of the leg, the thigh and the buttock. Turn your attention to the left foot and very slowly follow the same sequence from the big toe to the buttock. Keep relaxing the part or organ which you see with your mind’s eye. Now look at the centre of your abdomen, which is the seat of ‘Saman Pran” followed by all the internal organs, namely the stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, intestines. This should then be followed by the right lung, the left lung, the pulsating heart, the right side of the waist, the left side. Then look at the spine from the lower to the upper end. Remember to relax whichever structure you see. Look at the right thumb of your hand, the second, the third, fourth and fifth fingers, the upper part of the palm, the wrist, front of the arm, elbow, the upper part of the arm and the shoulder. Similarly observe the left thumb, fingers, palm, arms etc in the same order. Divert the gaze of your mind’s eye to your throat, chin, teeth, the two nostrils, right and left ears, right and left eyes, right and left eyebrows, the space between the eyebrows and the crown of the head. Keep concentrating on each relaxed part of the body. The Third Stage…..Meditation on the Five Elements: You now need to meditate on the Five Elements or “tatvas” starting from the earth Element. Feel the heaviness of the bones, flesh, muscles and the skin. These represent the Earth Element. Basically there is no difference between the Earth element and the parts of our bodies represented by it. Try to appreciate the smell of the earth. Now think of the blood flowing in your arteries and veins flowing from the great toe to the crown of the head. These represent the Water Element. There is basically no difference between the outside water and the fluids flowing inside our bodies, therefore try to visualize the taste of water also. Come to the Fire Element now. Concentrate on the warmth (better expressed as “oonshrata”) present in your entire body. This is representative of the Fire Element. Body heat does not differ from the heat present in the environment, therefore, try to feel this warmth. Now gently concentrate on you inhalation and exhalation as this represents your Air Element which does not differ from the air you breathe. Feel this connection between your body and the environment. Gently observe the spaces in your body representative of the Space Element. Our body is completely “saturated” with space and does not differ from outside space. Try to feel the connection with the inner and outer space and also to appreciate the inner primordial sound, carried by the Space Element. Fourth Stage…Meditation on the “Super”Element: This “Super” Element gives rise to all the other Elements which are ephemeral in nature while this is permanent. Try to stay in this stage of Divinity for some time. Imagine a beautiful white (or golden) light surrounding you and feel it travelling down your entire body. The longer you can stay with it the more peaceful and relaxed you get. Fifth Stage….Meditation on your breathing: Concentrate on the process of breathing. Breathe deeply, draw the breath from the “foot” to the “crown” of your head while inhaling and vice versa while exhaling. Do this 6 to 7 times, and gradually sit up. It is important not to go to sleep during Yog Nidra as it would deprive you of all the benefits. Yoga Nidra is very similar to the process of feeling energy internally. As you observe every organ or part of your body, it is possible to observe and feel whether that part or organ is energy depleted or not. If so it indicates the presence of disease in that area, which can easily be “replenished” by transferring “cosmic” energy to it by the different methods of Energy Healing. It is like scanning your bodily energies from the great toe to the crown of your head. i have found it Yoga Nidra to be an extremely good tool for relaxation as well as meditation. It is also a great method for managing stress which is plaguing our lives. Since it relieves stress and anxiety it is greatly beneficial in heart disease as well. Those who practice Yoga Nidra find that their need for sleep decreases significantly. It is a wonderful method to practice for all of us. Source: ‘Asan And Yog Vigyan’ published by Bhartiya Yog Sansthan Seventh Edition 2008, “Miraculous Health” by Dr Rick Levy 2008,and The Internet.

"God...Self....And The Connection"

YesWe are always being taught that if we wish to connect with Him we need to connect with our selves. Even Jesus Christ said “Know Thyself”…but what is this “Self”? Most of the time we stumble since we ate not sure what this elusive “Self is! What is it after all? Volumes have been written about it but us most do not know what it is or whether it exists at all! We have been told that “The Self is one. Ever still, the Self is Swifter than thought, swifter than the senses. Though motionless, he outruns all pursuit. Without the Self, never could life exist”…….and further “The Self is everywhere. Bright is the Self, Indivisible, untouched by sin, wise, Immanent and transcendent. He it is Who holds the cosmos together” ( Isha Upanishad). It has been considered so important that even the gods have found it difficult to understand it…what to say about us humans !This is brought out very clearly in the Chandogya Upanaishad, which i am briefy recapitulating. Prajapati, the great teacher said "The self is pure, free from decay and death, free from hunger and thirst, and free from sorrow. The Self desires nothing that is not good, wills nothing that is not good. Seek and realize the Self! Those who seek and realize the Self fulfill all their desires and attain the goal supreme. When Indra learned about this, he along with Virochana approached Prajapati, lived with him for thirty two years as they wished to realize the Self....but by the end of it they still felt that the self was the body. Prajapati told Indra should live with him for another thirty two years and that he would teach him more about the Self...this went on for many years till Indra had lived with Prajapati for a hundred and one years when he was taught that (among other things)"Those who know this Self and realize this Self obtain all worlds and all desires" The above mentioned quotes from the Upanishads are so beautiful but still we fail to translate them into their practical meanings. The following story as told my Respected Guruji makes the predicament we are facing abundantly clear. There was a lion cub which got separated from his mother. As luck would have it, he was then picked up by lambs and reared by them…he started behaving like a lamb as he had no concept of being a lion’s offspring and grew up like a lamb. One day a full grown lion passed by and was surprised to see this ”lamb” and went to it and tried to remind it that he too was a lion like him but the grown cub refused to accept it. The lion then took him to a pond and asked him to compare the reflections of both and told him that both of them looked alike. He then roared and asked the cub to do the same…when the cub roared himself he understood that he was not a lamb but a lion. This is the situation of most of us as we do not realize our true potential since we see ourselves as small while in reality we have immense spiritual power as we have been made in the image of God. This power only needs to be harnessed! So how did the Self come into being? The “Self” is integrally associated with the ‘Spirit”, which as we know is the same as God beyond Creation. Spirit has always existed, it has no birth, no death as it is immortal, it cannot be destroyed, is all powerful and just exists. When the Spirit , which is ONE decided to become many, it created this and so many other Universes, with a part of it in everything created. Hence there is a part of this spirit inside us too, our soul, or atma which is, therefore the reflection of Spirit inside us. This “atma” or soul is our true essence , a reflection of the Spirit and, therefore, our” core” which has all the “ingredients’ of the original spirit of which it is a part. It stands to reason, then that if we wish to merge with the Almighty, we need to realize that this atma is a part of God and that to find God we need to “connect” to the core of our” self”, the atma. It has been rightly said that “we are spiritual beings having a physical experience and not physical beings having a spiritual experience”….de Chardin Hence basically there is no difference between the Spirit and our Atma (read ‘Self’) except that we are not aware of it. The reason why we are not aware of it is because of our Ego (There are two types of egos which exist....the first is the Cosmic Ego, which has been given to us as a part of our evolution as for us to exist as humans we need to have an individuality, but when this sides with our body rather than the self, it creates the sense of separation...this is called the body identified ego ….a deterrent to spiritual evolution). Where is the Atma located? Our “Self” or Atma is located at the Third Eye or the Agya Chakra in between the two eyebrows. It is contained in five sheaths or “koshas” as described in yoga. We have an “Annamaya Kosha’(the food sheath), Pranamaya Kosha ( the Energy Body), Manomaya Kosha (Mental Body) Vijnamaya Kosha ( Intelligence Body) and finally the Anandmaya Kosha (the Soul or bliss body) . The agya chakra controls the Manomaya and the Vijnamaya Koshas and is related to the mind. The Agya Chakra, as we know has two petals (all chakras have a certain number of petals, each symbolic of some important aspect or the other). These two petals in the case of the agya chakra indicate “Atma’ and “Paratama”…..indicative of union of the two. What is this mystical “Third Eye”? We are aware that the human body has nine orifices…..two eyes, mouth, two nostrils, two ears, the excretory orifices, all of which open to the outside. The Third eye, however, is the tenth also called the ‘Daswa Dwar”, and opens to the Inside. When this actually opens to the “inside” meaning , the Manomaya and the Vijnamayaya Koshas have been transgressed and Atma is” layed open” in the “Anandmaya” kosha, the last sheath. Hence the Third Eye, is the flimsy veil which covers our “Atma” or “Self”. When this veil is “lifted” the Atma is free to go on its onward journey to merge with the Supreme Being or Paramatama. This Third Eye is also called “and”(the “a” here is pronounced as the letter a as in ‘anda or ‘egg”)’the border of human consciousness and Divine Consciousness. The chakras below this are associated with the body or “pind” while anything above the Agya chakra or the Third Eye is called ‘Brahmanda’. How does the Third Eye open? In order to achieve this four paths of Yoga (Union) have been described . Gyan, Bhakti, Karma and Raj Yoga. Unfortunately , a lot of controversy exists as to which path is the best, whether reading the scriptures alone, praying, doing action (Karma Yoga) or Meditation is the best. All the four paths lead to Union but as i understand, Raj Yoga is the best. No matter which path one follows ultimately one practices all four. If one sees someone becoming enlightened or becoming ‘Realized’ ( it means that he has “realized” or understood what “truth’ actually is and has achieved the connection with the Divine Being) by the other three methods…..this is because of him having meditated in his earlier birth and to have been born again in an advanced evolved stage and full realization occurred by any one of those methods in the present birth. Dhyan or Meditation, is the most effective method for opening the Third Eye, as taught by a Realized teacher. What happens when the third eye opens? The opening is associated with the “hearing” or appreciation of “Aum” or ‘Shabd”. This is the primordial sound which brought about the creation of this and all other universes and comprises of sound and light. When the Third Eye opens this “unstruck” sound or “Anhad Shabd” is “heard”…..this may either be appreciation of the various “sounds” or divine music or beautiful vistas may open up. As the atma travels higher and higher beyond the Third Eye through five different stages or “Khands”, namely Dharam Khand, Gyan Khand, Saram Khand, Karam Khand and finally Sach Khand……the sounds change along with the beautiful vistas and different coloured bright lights finally culminating into union with the Divine. The path travelled by the atma is simply beautiful and virtually impossible to describe. It is just like asking a dumb person to describe the taste of honey! The Shvetashvatara Upanishad describes some of these experiences as ‘They may see within them more and more light: Fireflies, lightning, sun, moon. These are signs That they are well on their way to Brahman” All the above experiences are associated with tremendous changes both in the human body as well as temperament. One becomes calm, wise, love for all beings becomes more and more pronounced, one becomes all powerful as one rises above Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mad and Matsya and one becomes “ONE” with everything and everyone, more and more humble till ego dissolves completely, the last “bastion’ so to speak, and the atma merges with the Parmatama and one loses oneself into Him …to remain in this state or, take on a form of a Being guiding and helping humanity from afar or come back again to act as beacons for seekers for their onward journey! “Aum”, “Shabd” or the “Holy Ghost” is the link between the self and Him…..and this connection is what we need to seek. Sources: “The Upnanishads” Eknath Easwaran, “God Talks to Arjun the Bhagwat Geeta” by Sri Parmahans Yogananda