Patanjali Yoga sutras

Patanjali Yoga Sutra: Chapter 1 Samadhi Pada
There are 51 Sutras in Samadhi Pada

Sutra 1 to 11: What is Yoga
Sutra 12 to    : Means to Yoga

• Sutra 1 : Intro :
• Now I will talk about the discipline of yoga
• Sutra 2:  Definition of Yoga
• Yoga is the cessation of the modulations of mind
• Sutra 3: What happens when you are in yoga
• A person established in yoga dwells in his own self. The seer then rests or remains in his own nature.
• Sutra 4: What happens when you are not in yoga
• In all other scenario (when a person is not in yoga), he becomes one with the modulations of mind. You identify yourself with the modulations of the mind all the time and forget your true self (the seer in you)
• Sutra 5: How many modulations does mind have
• There are five modulations of mind. They may be painful or non-painful
• Sutra 6: What are the modulations of mind
• Pramand (wanting proof) ,Viparyaya (lack of comprehension), Vikalpa(imagination), Sleep and memory are the five modulations of mind. 
• Sutra 7-11: Define each modulation of mind
• Sutra 7: The different kinds of proof the mind requires are the obvious proof that one sees or experiences, inferential proof and scriptural proof.
• Sutra 8: Wrong understanding is knowing the unreal in a form that is not its own. Wrong understanding or error arises from knowledge that is based on a false mental construct.
• Sutra 9: Vikalp is a sort of hallucination followed in sequence by mere words or knowledge and which , in reality, is devoid of truth. Imaginations means word knowledge without regard for what actually exists in the real world
• Sutra 10: Absence of thought waves or knowledge is sleep
• Sutra 11: Memory is the recollection of words and experience. Memory is the past which is relevant experience that has not been eclipsed.
• Sutra 12: How to control mind modulations
• Practice and non-attachment are ways to reduce mind modulations
• Sutra 13: What is practice
• Abhashya (Practice) means rsolutely adhering to one's practice of yoga
• Sutra 14:

Shoka 6-11: Definition of each of the five modulations of mind


Yoga is when you drop this search for proof and abide in the Self. Abiding in the self does not need proof. Truth cannot be understood through proof. God is beyond proof. You cannot prove God nor can you disprove God.
Proof is connected to logic and logic is very limited in its purview. This is the same with enlightment, same with love. Love can never by proven or disproved. This is not in the relam of the seer. The seer is beyond the proof.

Most of the time you impose your own ideas, views and feelings on others and you think that is how they are. This is called viparyaya. You have an inferiority complex or you suddenly see someone else behaving very arrogantly. They might not be arrogant and you are not being ill-treated by them. But you suddenly feel that you are being ill-treated. You are not respected because you do not respect yourself. You think that others do not respect you. This tendency of your mind is viparyaya. Suddenly people feel that they are not being loved.

Vikalpa is a sort of a hallucination. Nothing of that sort exists, just mere words which do not carry much meaning hover in the mind. This fantasy is called vikalpa, the third modulation of mind or chitta.

Vikalpa can be of two types. One could be a joyful, pleasurable fantasy and the other could be baseless fears. "What will happen if I die tomorrow? What if I have an accident?" These are all just simply sounds which have no value. Baseless fears in the mind or fantasies.

Random notes

I
 have three powers:
1) Power to decide: Every second/moment of my life I decide what action I need to take (if I do not act on that power, I act according to my tendencies)
2) I have power to focus
3) I have power to unselfish action

• Mind is influenced by time,space and objects.

The idea is to be  focussed on one time , one space and one object at all the time ...
Time: Mind is thinking about the past or the future. The sadhana is to keep the mind focused on only one time : present moment.
Space:


Space:

Objects: The mind is thinking about too many objects


The ocean can become wave ...but the wave ,by itself, cannot become ocean. The wave just needs to know that it is already ocean. It cannot do anything to become the ocean. 

You do worship but devotion happens by itself. You do paranayam but breathing happens by itself. What ever happens by itself does not need effort. It does not make you tired.  The idea is not to do anything but let things happen through you. So, things are happening but due to lack of doer ship, you do not feel tired.

You work by your body, you need to work on your body. You work by your mind, you need to work on your mind. Working on your body is physical yoga ...working on your mind is sadhana.

Desire for enjoyment is bondage. Complete freedom from all desires is freedom.

Am I in body or is the body in me. I exist when I do not experience body during sleep. So, the body is in me ....

Mahamruthanya
https://9dozen.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/maha-mrityunjaya-mantra-and-its-meaning/

Swami Vivekananda:http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/feelings/ten-life-lessons-by-swami-vivekananda-on-his-birth-anniversary/

Plantets and life

In your palm, each of your fingers is connected to some planet. The thumb is connected to Mars. Mars stays alone.
Index finger is connected to Jupiter (Jupiter shows the path, it is the teacher). When you want to show something, you show using the index finger, this is Jupiter. The middle finger is connected to Saturn; Saturn is the servant. The ring finger is connected to the Sun; the Sun is the king. And who owns the jewels? The king, and so you put rings only on the ring finger. That's why it's called the ring finger. And the Sun or a king cannot stay alone, you have to have the servant with him. The President of every country has a bodyguard who is taller, fairer and well built because he has to support the President. That's why it's difficult to separate the middle finger and the ring finger.
The little finger is connected to Mercury. So when you do chin mudra, what is happening? The index finger (Jupiter) and the thumb (Mars) are coming together, that is wisdom and power.

Why is the thumb Mars? It is because whenever you win, what do you do? You put your thumbs up. Thumbs up is a sign of victory. When you lose what do you do? You put your thumbs down. So these gestures are so inbuilt in us.

Similarly, different planets affect different parts of your body. Your teeth are connected to Saturn. Your eyes are connected to the Sun, your cheeks are connected to Venus, forehead to Mercury, nose to Jupiter. I mean this as the connection of microcosm with the macrocosm. It is so fascinating!





Chapter 3: The path of action : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx_Z_T3SkcA&list=SPF1E5C4D5717EC255&index=0
Chapter 4 : Wisdom in action : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjjItG3Tkr0&playnext=1&list=PL3159F35F9DB89152&feature=results_main


Chapter 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAAS5gtLfOs&list=SP7417D22259AD954A&index=0
Chapter 6: Meditation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6P2R_F0vU0&list=SP0960F648DA805C94&index=3


Faith : How to develop

• Flush out negative thoughts
• Satsang
• Fix goal
• Compelling vision

Tamas : 

Obligatory actions, prohibitted actions (action prohibited byyour own conscience)

How to generate energy (Consistency and concentration)

    With your intellect focus on ideal (Self reliazation): Consistent thinking of the goal
    Mind must surrender to the ideal
    Act dynamically with your body
How to not lose the energy:
    Live in present moment
        do not Worry about past, anxiety about future, frenzy(excitement) in the present

Core interest
Commitment
Competence
Cooperation
Consistency
Concentration

Desire is your enemy....Knowledge is vieled by desire
Satva meditation, seva, proper and limited food, right amount of excercise, satsang
Nature comes around and supports us ...harmony in us brings the harmony from nature.


Q: Guruji, What should a person do to become the best in his profession? 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To excel in your profession balance your life. Meditate every day, sleep well, and in the morning do pranayam and meditation and go to work with a fresh mind. Don’t watch too many movies and not more than one hour of television per day. A movie a week should be enough. This is because when our mind is bombarded with so many impressions, it loses its creative abilities and becomes uncreative. Spend one hour with people. Spend time with somebody whom you do not know.




http://www.artofliving.org/wisdom/dont-let-others-judgement-define-you?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+whatsrisrisaid+%28Wisdom+from+Sri+Sri%29

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/f

What is there in my Jukebox

Just wanted to provide info about Swami's that I have been listening to a lot in recent times

• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
• https://www.youtube.com/user/ArtOfLivingTV

• Sadhguru:
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrlzk1AOX0dB9r5nf1TUsFA

• Swami Anubhavananda : 
• https://www.youtube.com/user/smilingswami

• Swami Sarvapriyananda
•  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwxGr_R4cbgn7cDBxWPbHfQ
• 
  

Here are some Adi Shankaracharya's poem that I like to listen to :

• Bhaja Govindam
• Full version
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvdiAiQAoHk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tovb4QMfZaQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox5eB3C2pfE
• Shorter version for chanting
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEPeD3HlKFE
• Shivoham Shivoham
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57XB8U8It2E
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzXzs-DKiec

Isha yoga getting started :

• Upa yoga
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf5qUhz-FVk  (longer version)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjGF2MLdIz8
• Isha kriya
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAD53Ka9AOQ (with introduction)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjOVyCIXvXU (just kriya)

Fundamental questions about life

The four fundamental questions about life are as under:

1) Who am I ?

2) What is this world ?

3) Who is God ?

4) What is spiritual practice ?


1) Who am I :

• I am Sat, Chitt, Ananada. 
• I am self-effulgent. 
• I am one without second.
• I am nir-vikalypa. Vikalpa means choice. The more we move ourselves to not having choice ...accepting the present moment as it is ..the closer we come to ourselves. We should have no choice/preference between praise and criticism, no choice/preference between rich and poor, no choice between health and sickness. 
•  Any question that you have takes you away from yourself. The only thing about which you have no question is yourself. You have no question about your existence (sat). When you ask question, you go away from your existence and hence you become disturbed. That about which you have no question is you, yourself. Abode in that existence.

How do you know if your actions are just karma or karma yoga

The purpose of karma yoga is to purify your inner self.

There are three principles of karma yoga:

1)Whatever action I am doing if for myself only. The world does not care or need any of my action. The world will continue to operate even without me. All actions I do are propelled by my samaskars. I do not have any choice other than doing action

2) No action can give you happiness.By meditating, you need to realize that you are bliss and each action is done in happiness , to express happiness, and not to gain any happiness.

3) Observe your mind before, during and after the actions. If the state of mind does not change during these three phases of action, than that action is considered as karma yoga.

How to deal with thoughts

Whenever you have thoughts in your mind, take a moment to look into your thought and find out what are these thoughts regarding.

Every thought is about a role that you are playing. A mother will have thoughts about her child. A wife will have thoughts regarding her husband. As an employer, you will have thoughts pertaining to your job.

Once you identify that a given thought or a chain of thoughts is pertaining to  a particular role, surrender that role to Divine. Gradually , all thoughts will dissolve and you will be established in yourself.

There are two stages in spirituality. The first stage is to be nobody and the second stage is to become everybody from nobody. We can only work towards the first stage; we can surrender all the roles to Divine and empty our mind from all the thoughts. Once we are firmly established in that stage of being nobody, Divine takes us to the next step of being everybody ...where we become one with the entire universe. Effort is needed to get to  first stage and Divine grace takes us to second stage.
It is only when we give up all the different roles that we have taken up in life that we become nobody and as they say (only) nobody can be happy.


Surrendering the role does not mean not fulfilling your responsibilities associated with that role. On the contrary, it means fulfilling all your responsibilities depending only on Divine without expecting anything from anybody.

What does it mean to be Spiritual

• Spirituality begins when dharma ends. Dharma is about doing the right thing: being kind to others, helping others and doing good to society in general. 
• Spirituality starts after we understand that we are not the body. If we understand that we are not the body, than we give up worldly possessions and worldly relationships. 
• Spirituality is about being in the present moment. Being in the present moment is not about making a choice between being in present moment or oscillating in past or future; being in the present moment is about being in reality. We are in reality only when we are established in present moment. 
• If we learn from mistakes, than we do not create an impression of craving or aversion in mind. For example, during childhood , we probably got burned with fire. With that experience we learn that it is the nature of fire to burn. So, then we use that nature of fire to serve us ; rather than complaining that fire is bad...it burned my finger (or potentially could have burnt me if I had not protected myself.)