Satsang by Swami Satyananda Saraswati ... If we want to make the mind infinite, we must cut and polish it just as we would a diamond. They say that tamas makes a man lethargic, rajas makes a man violent and sattva makes him balanced. Therefore tamas and rajas have to be overcome by sattva and this is accomplished through the process of dhyana yoga. Dhyana has been translated as meditation but actually it means awareness. Thus dhyana can be attained through raja yoga, bhakta yoga, jnana yoga, laya yoga, mantra yoga, and many other yogic processes. The mind is not thought or emotion. Thought and emotion are patterns of mind. Happiness is a state of mind and so is depression. Mind is consciousness, awareness. Mind is a storehouse of energy, shakti. Pure mind is pure shakti. The mind can be purified and corrected through the practice of dhyana yoga by following the methods most suited to our personality. Those who are very strong can take up the path of kundalini and kriya yoga. For those who are not so strong and who havent yet developed much understanding of yoga, there are other ways like mantra yoga or japa yoga. Mind is much more than thought or feeling. Mind is like an iceberg - only a small portion is visible, the remainder lies submerged under the ocean. According to modern psychology the mind exists in three spheres: conscious, subconscious and unconscious. In Vedanta we call them sthula sharira, sukshma sharira and karana sharira. The unconscious mind is very powerful. The word unconscious should not be misunderstood. The unconscious mind is like a storehouse. All disease, success and tragedy in life originate in the unconscious mind. The experiences that you have had in life, the important as well as the unimportant are all registered there. There they are stored in seed form. This process starts right from the time when the child is in the womb of the mother. From the fourth month of pregnancy, children have certain experiences which are embedded deep in the unconscious mind. Every action, every thought, every place is an experience. A satsang is an experience. Even an ordinary experience can become very consequential in later life. There are so many types of karma. Charity is one karma and plundering someones property is another. Even if you dont do these things, still you are making karma. In the Gita, it is said that there is not one moment of life in which a man is free of karma. Only in samadhi can you completely do away with karma, otherwise not. Modern psychology and yoga agree that even during deep sleep when you are not aware of time and space, name and form, your mind is still working. Remember the unconscious mind is the storehouse of all past experiences or karmas not only in this life, but in our previous lives as well. The unconscious body is called hiranyagarbha, the golden egg. Through the practices of kundalini kriya and laya yoga, the unconscious mind can be exploded. By the practice of mantra sadhana we can penetrate it deeply and eliminate all kinds of karmas, one by one. That is why they say that by the practice of mantra one becomes free from the entanglements of karma. Every action is born of a deep karma. Every thought, movement, success, failure is a re-enactment of one of our previous experiences. Simple childhood experiences can cause so many problems! Many good people suffer unnecessarily because they are unaware of their karmas and how they fructify. During the practices of meditation, especially japa and antar mouna, a lot of things come up in the mind which would not come up otherwise. The usual response is to suppress these thoughts - a thought comes, we push it out, another one comes and we push it out. But this is incorrect! We do not want to avoid karma but we want to eliminate it. Therefore, it is necessary to observe each thought and let it pass of its own accord. Over a period of months both significant and insignificant memories of the past flash into our mind. These memories should be seen very clearly if we want to purify our mind. Every experience which we have during mantra practice or meditation has an important bearing on our life. According to yoga and psychology, we must observe, analyze and respect whatever thoughts or experiences come into our mind while practising japa. The science of yoga aims at perfecting human life. Every ordinary person has extraordinary potential, but to develop this a strong and well-trained mind is necessary... from rikhiapeeth.net ; 2011
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 11:07:04 +0000
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