Om! Sattvic living ~ Atman Nityananda

SATTVIC LIVING

The sattvic living is the foundation of a healthy life as well as of the spiritual path. To live with peace, light, love, wisdom, creativity and harmony is possible only when the sattva guna predominates in our mind.

Therefore one of the fundamental goals in the spiritual life is to increase the sattva guna (quality) in our mind. The sattva guna is the quality of light, intelligence, virtue, clarity and harmony and helps us develop the superior capabilities of the mind and heart, (like discernement, intution, compassion, love etc.)

When  the sattva guna predominates in us, we create the foundation on which all divine virtues and spiritual practices can easily flourish. The ability to discern the true of the false and the ability to be detached from the objects, thoughts, emotions semsations and exteral situations can be developed fully in a sattvic mind. 

Our capacity for concentration, meditation and self-inquiry, which are the most important practices for self-realization, can be developed highly only when the sattva guna predominates in our mind.  The sattva guna makes the mind, quiet, calm, sharp, luminous, focused, introverted and aspire for truth, peace and eternal bliss.

On the contrary when in our mind prevails the rajas guna, it becomes extroverted, restless, distracted and turbulent and therefore we cannot concentrate steadily into the space of silence within (or any othe object of meditation). The mind by defoult in rajas guna mode is seeking sensual experiences, action and pleasure. 

When the mind is under the dominion of tamas guna it becomes inert, sleepy, dull, lazy, and thus it becomes very difficult (or quite impossible) to remain alert enough and vigilant, in order to pay attention, concentrate and meditate as well as it isn't capable to learn, discern and understand.

In order we to increase the sattva guna in the mind, we must keep sattvic associations or relations at all levels of existence. That means, that the sensory impressions (sounds, colors, sights, smells), the meals, drinks, relationships, activities, actions, words, thoughts, emotions, the environment in which we live and work etc. must be of sattvic nature.

Our meals and drinks should be sattvic (read here about sattvic foods) as well as all sensory impressions (read sattvic  books, listen to music and songs sattvic, make relations with sattvic people and spiritual teachers, have contact with nature etc.)

Of course, our self, (the lower rajasotamásic self, the ego) with its selfish tendencies, the mental and emotional patterns and conditioning, and its habits wants to keep repeating the same things mechanically and compulsively. 

Our rajasotamasic ego resists greatly the changes we want to make. And here is the importance of the spiritual guidance, which can be the spiritual teachings (from books, videos, internet), a spiritual center or a spiritual teacher; their support and knowledge can be a great help for us to overcome  the obstacles, the resistance as well as our habits and subconscious patterns. Of course they cannot practice for us. Although the external help is of great importance, 'we have to make the effort, 'we are the most important factor of our transformation; only 'we can change ourselves, none else. Only very rare ripe souls doesn't need much help from outside.

It is also certain that we cannot change everything in ourselves at once; But if we do our spiritual practices regularly and diligently, with determination, faith, self-confidence, patience, tenacity and perseverance, we can undoubtedly overcome all obstacles and develop all necessary capabilities to transform ourselves. We will finally transform ourselves in beings of love and light.

It is only a matter of faith, practice and time.

It is obvious that several times we will find ourselves in situations that are not sattvic as well as in difficult conditions in which it will be not so easy to act according our intentions and goals. If this is the case, we must accept what happens and do our best to alleviate the situation until it will possible for us to change external things and situations. In this case, the difficulties and the challenges can be either opportunities for us to develop capabilities or occasions for complaints and suffering.  Depends on our attitude, maturity and capacity to maintain our inner equilibrium as much as possible and learn from these challenges. 

It is certain also that we cannot always avoid pain or difficult situations but suffering depends only on our state of consciousness, mental purity, psychological skills and mental attitude.

Our transformation is a continuous process to discard the tamasic and rajasic qualities, patterns, tendencies, habits, emotions and beliefs and increase the sattvic ones until our mind and intellect become completely sattvic. The final step is to go beyond even the sattva and rest permanently in our essential nature (Atman, absolute or pure Consciousness) which is beyond the three gunas (gunanita).

Om! HOLISTIC PSYCHOLOGY - What does a human being consist of? Atman Nityananda

 

HOLISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
What does a human being consist of?

The two fundamental aspects of our human nature

1. The true Self – Consciousness (Self, Divine Self, Soul, Essence, Atman).

2. The apparent Self – Body-mind-ego (which consists of the physical body, vital energy, mind, intellect, subconscious, causal body)

Our True Self (Consciousness)

Our true Self, what we really are, is pure Consciousness and it is identical with the Universal Consciousness which is the Highest principle of the universe (what we call God). The Universal Consciousness (Brahman, God) manifests through us as the seemingly individual Consciousness (Atman) which due to ignorance we mistakenly identify with body and mind, that is, we believe that Consciousness belongs to the body and the mind.

Our true Self (Consciousness) is experienced in us as the timeless, formless, immovable, unchanging, ever-present silent presence, peace, plenitude, freedom and bliss.

Our true Self is untouched, unaffected and uninfected by anything. No one and nothing can touch, affect or harm our divine Self (Consciousness); It is untouched by what happens to the body, the mind, the senses and the vital energy (prana), and by everything that happens in the outside world as well. Other people, physical phenomena and weapons can harm our bodies, they can slander us, they can deceive us, they can insult and despise us, many things can happen to our body and mind, but none of all these things can affect our glorious, immortal Self (Consciousness).

Although it is always present in us and can be experienced any moment, by paying attention in the silent space within us, it can be fully experienced by a pure-sattvic mind in profound meditation and samadhi.

The goal of human life is to realize fully its divine nature or essence (Consciousness, Soul, Spirit, Atman).

The three qualities of Nature (Gunas) - Sattva-Rajas-Tamas

The three qualities and the Nature

The three gunas and the mind

The apparent Self – Body-mind-ego

1. The causal body: The veil of ignorance, seeds of psychological tendencies, 3 modes of happiness (priya- moda- pramoda). When it is pure sattvic reflects the bliss of our true nature

2. The mind – the quadruple internal organ or instrument, (in Sanskrit Antahkarana).

The 4 aspects of the mind and its capacities

1. The external mind (Manas in Sanskrit): the sensory mind, the emotional mind, the basic thinking faculty.

2. The intermediate mind, the Intellect and intelligence (Buddhi in Sanskrit): reasoning, intelligence, discernment, understanding, will, the conscious part of the mind.

3. The inner mind, (Chitta in Sanskrit): the consciousness limited by egoic tendencies, the subconscious.

4. The Ego, (Ahamkara in Sanskrit): the ego makes us identify with the body and mind and creates the illusion that we are the body, that the body is our self. The ego identified with the body and mind is our illusory identity.

Although the mind is one, it has different aspects and levels (Manas, Buddhi, Chitta, Ahamkara). Each of them does their own special work, but all of their parts function as a whole. Because of the Rajasotamic lower ego the mind is not harmonious, balanced and healthy and its higher capacities are not developed.

The outer mind (Manas)

· Thinking mind

· Emotional mind

· Sensory mind

· Motor mind

· Practical mind

The 5 centres of the sensory organs in the mind (Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tongue, Skin)

The intermediate mind (Buddhi)

· Higher intellect or Intelligence: Decides, Cognizes, Reasons, Reflects, Discerns between the real and the unreal, the Self and the non-Self. It is related also with intuition, perception of reality

· Lower intellect: Decides, Cognises, Reasons, discerns but in a lower capacity, because is distorted by the ego and its tendencies (lust, passion, lower emotions,, anger, fear, jealousy, envy, etc.).

The inner mind, (Chitta in Sanskrit)

· The heart of mind, The inner heart

· The consciousness limited by egoic tendencies.

· Intuition,

· Feeling

· The Subconscious mind,

· The memory,

The Ego - our illusory identity identified with the body

Ego causes the sense of individuality and has two aspects:

1. The higher or sattvic Ego. The sattvic ego and the sattvic aspects of the mans, buddhi and chitta are the instruments of our Soul causes. The sattvic ego causes the individuality and help us live in unity and harmony with our true Self (Consciousness) and all other beings and the world as well as with our true Self.

2. The lower rajasotamasic Ego (the desire soul) which makes us identify with the physical body and fell that we are the body. It creates the sense “the body is me’.

The Ego (Ahamkara) or I is what we think we are and it makes us erroneously believe that we are the body and separate individuals limited by the physical body and the mind. The ego is the one that causes the sense of I-ness and Mine-ness in relation to the body and mind and objects respectively.

Because of the ego (the egoic tendencies energies and vibrations) we do not experience the freedom, peace and bliss of our essential nature. We can live in unity, love, harmony, peace and happiness as well as the freedom, bliss and plenitude of our true Self if we are willing abandon the false beliefs and illusions of our limited egoic self, to dissolve the egoic tendencies and the egoic field of energy (kama-manas), its desires and passions that give us a little pleasure or joy and a lot of suffering.

The aspects of the ego in relation to the vehicles of our existence

The ego identifying with the body, mind, heart, senses, and intellect (intelligence) fnctions as:

· The Physical Ego,

· The Vita-emotional Ego,

· The Mental Ego

· The Intellectual Ego

and respectively we become:

· The Doer by identifying with the body,

· The Enjoyer, Sufferer, Feeler by identifying with outer and inner heart,

· The Thinker by identifying with the mind and intellect,

· The Perceiver and Observer by identifying with the senses, body, manas, intellect and Consciousness as well) we become the Perceiver and the Observer of sensory objects and the psychological structures

The psychological structures (Desire, Selfish tendencies, patterns, programming, emotions, impulses, beliefs…)

· Memorized sensory impressions, imagination, thoughts, emotions

· Associations,

· Desire and attachment.

· The pairs of opposites. Its nature, its aspects and its mechanisms

· The emotions. What are, how do they work, managing emotions, dissolving negative or inferior emotions.

· Selfish tendencies. How they are created, grow and are empowered. Experience, identification, recording, conditioning of the mind,

· Programming, Mental, Emotional patterns and Habits (mental, emotional, physical),

· The beliefs, the importance and their effects. Investigate all beliefs and change wrong, harmful and limiting beliefs for true and beneficial ones.

3. The Vital energy or prana

· Psychic prana

· Physical prana

The physical prana provides the energy for all physical actions and functions and the subtle psychic prana provides the energy for all psychological functions.

The five pranas: Prana, Apana, Udana, Samana, Vyana

The energy channels (Nadis)

· 72.000 Nadis

· Ayurvedic and acupuncture meridians

· The important nadis: Ida-Pingala, Sushumna and Brahmanadi.

The 7 psychic centers (Chakras) and the Shakti-kundalini

1. Primer: Muladhara or Root chakra.

2. Second: Swadisthana or Sacral chakra.

3. Third: Manipura or Solar Plexus chakra.

4. Fourth: Anahatha or Heart chakra.

5. Fifth Visudda or Throat chakra.

6. Sixth: Ajna or third eye chakra.

7. Seventh Sahasrara or crown or light chakra, (literally, “thousand-petalled lotus”)

Nadis (energy channels)

The three subtle energies

· Ojas
· Tejas
· Prana

The three bio-energies (doshas in Sanskrit)

· Vata (Air, Space)
· Pitta (Fire, Water)
· Kapha (Earth, Water)

4. Sexual energy

The Sexual energy is the most fundamental expression of cosmic energy, because thanks to it the entire universe is born and exists. In our bodies it also has a very important role, which is the reproduction of the species and the experience of pleasure. But sexual energy is very important for spiritual development as well.

5. Physical body

The physical body is the base the receptor that allows all the cosmic energies and the Soul to function through it. That is why the body is called the temple of God. The physical body is born, grows, changes, decays and dies.

The physical aspect of the 5 senses and 5 organs of action

· The 5 sensory organs (Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tongue, Skin)
· The five organs of action (Hands, Legs, Tongue, Genitals, Anus)

Om! The Gayatri Mantra! Atman Nityananda

The Gayatri Mantra

Gayatri is the Divine power which transforms man into a divine being and endows him with the brilliant light of supreme spiritual enlightenment. Whatever one's favourite Deity is, regular repetition of a few Mala (rosary of 108 beads) of Gayatri Mantra daily will give one immeasurable benefits and blessings. Its purifying power is immense. It eradicates all sins. It gives wonderful health, beauty, strength, vigour, well-being and magnetic aura to the person. It eliminates ignorance and makes man strong and of supreme intelligence. Its repetition ultimately leads to the realization of Universal Consciousness (Advaita Brahman) as a unity.

It is suitable for the whole world as it is a sincere prayer for light addressed to the Almighty Supreme Spirit.The nature of the Gayatri mantra is such that you can repeat it as you meditate on whatever form of God you like. 

Gayatri is the most prominent of all the mantras because the deity to whom it refers is none other than Parabrahman himself. But many repeating the mantra meditate on Goddess Gayatri with the five faces. Every word, every letter of the Gayatri carries upon it the supreme Vedic concept of the absolute supreme truth.

Hairakan Babaji had instructed his disciples to learn the Gayatri mantra, which is included in the Arti worship ritual that disciples perform to Babaji morning and evening in the Hairakan Temple.

Om- bhur bhuvah svah-

Tat savitur varenyam-

Bhargo devasya dheemahi.

Dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat-

Om- bhur bhuvah swaha-

Tat savitur varenyam-

Bhargo devasya dhimahi...

Dhiyo yonah brachodayat-

As we pronounce it there is a slight pause at the places where hyphens have been placed

Meaning: "Let us meditate on the Creator (God) and His Glory, Who created the universe, who is fit to be worshipped, who eliminates ignorance and all sins. May He enlighten our intellects."

Note:There are several different versions of rendering the meaning of the mantra with minor differences not essential because the words contained in the mantra can be rendered with more than one meaning.

Find a quiet place or sit in the meditation room if you have one, or outside in nature just before sunrise. Sit in your asana and mentally repeat the mantra as many times as you can, but no less than 108 times, and feel steadily that you are receiving light, purification, and wisdom. Those who do not have the time can repeat the mantra three times at least, at sunrise at noon and at sunset. Finally one could repeat it while lying down, walking, sitting, etc.

Explanation of words

Om : symbol of Parabrahman

Bhur : natural world

Bhuvah: astral world

Svah: divine world

Tat: Brahman, Parabrahman

Savitur: the creator

Varenyam: it is fitting for him to be worshipped

Bhargo: he who eliminates ignorance and sins, glory, splendour.

Devasya: brilliant, radiant, shining

Dheemahi: meditate

Dhiyo: the intellect, the Bodhi

Yo: who

Nah: us

Prachodayaat: illuminate, guide

Om! Best recipe for success is doing the uncomfortable job! ~ Atman Nityananda

 

Best recipe for success is doing the uncomfortable job!

The ego naturally lives in resistance and avoids doing what makes it feel boring, unpleasant, uncomfortable or threatening, even if it is beneficial to our health, well-being, peace, freedom and happiness.

The ego especially resists doing anything that is not enjoyable or requires regularity, such as morning and evening meditation.

So accept it and ignore the ego's discomfort and resistance. Just do the uncomfortable job and enjoy the results.

Also, to free yourself from these negative emotional tendencies investigate and dissolve them through prayer, God's name, EFT, Spiritual Code, Bach remedies, positive affirmations and visualizations, dissolution at 49 subconscious levels.

Om! The Spirituality in essence! - Atman Nityananda

 The Spirituality in essence!

Spirituality is to live in peace, freedom, freedom, wholeness and happiness in conscious union with Being and unity with all and everything.

Plenitude, freedom, peace and bliss is a matter of high vibration and consciousness.

High vibration is acquired by externally contacting and feeding on high vibrations at all levels of our being (physical, energetic, sensory, emotional, emotional, mental, intellectual). 

At the same time, avoiding or neutralizing low vibrations when we come in contact with them and cleansing them. 

Cultivate and develop high vibrations internally through a variety of exercises and conscious contact with our inner Being.

And at the same time avoid cultivating low vibrations and eliminate the causes (egoic tendencies) that cause them.

Consciousness is developed and awakened by ceasing to identify with what we are not and living in conscious contact with our inner Being. A deep, stable connection with Being is the most effective means of raising our vibration.

The repetition of God's name through a mantra is the most effective way to keep our attention and mind on the silent  space of the divine essence within us.

Om! Happiness is a matter of high frequency vibration! - Atman Nityananda

 

 Happiness is a matter of high frequency vibration!

Happiness is a matter of high frequency vibration and not of understanding and knowledge.

And a high vibration depends on purity of mind and heart.

The best way to raise the vibration and purify the mind and heart is through Satsang with enlightened beings, mantra repetition, prayer, discrimination between the Self (Consciousness, Being) and non-Self (mind, ego, body) and non-identification with non-Self and meditation.

Om! The ego is illusory but not non-existent! - Atman Nityananda

The ego is illusory but not non-existent!

Who or what identifies with the body or with some object? Who or what desires pleasure? Who or what wants to avoid pain? Who or what decides to stop or keep thinking? Who or what decides to give in or not to a desire? Who or what causes such havoc on human beings, individually and collectively?

No matter how many times we deny the existence of the ego, the ego is there, functioning in our psyche. It is the central factor of our apparent existence.

It is true that the ego is illusory, but the whole universe and the forms (gross and subtle) in it are illusory, since everything in the universe is composed of the same fundamental powers or energies (gunas in Sanskrit), i.e. rajas, tamas and sattva.

Everything that is made of the three gunas is illusory, that is, it has a temporary existence, it has a beginning and an end, it is not sef-existent (its existence depends on something else, - the consciousness), it is not self-conscious, it does not appear in all states of consciousness (states of wakefulness, sleep, deep sleep).

The idea that when we look for the ego we do not find it is false. We can certainly observe the ego as any other egoic tendency, thought or emotion. The idea that the ego is the identification with the body or thoughts is also false. It is the ego that identifies with the body and thoughts. Without the ego there is no identification with the body, thoughts, ideas, emotions, objects or any form whatsoever.

The ego is the agent of our volition, thinking, feeling, decision-making and acting. Depending on the nature of our mind and ego and the way our mind operates at any given moment, there is mechanical thinking, emotional thinking or conscious thinking. Therefore, it is not appropriate to generalize and talk about thinking as if it were only one type of thinking.

Om ! The conquest of the three archenemies! ~ Swami Sivananda

The conquest of the three archenemies

Lust, anger and pride are the root of all human diseases. They are the enemies of peace and the relatives of all evils. 

Get up in the morning and meditate on the havoc these three wreak in the life of man. If you develop the feeling that they will sap your physical and mental vitality, and that you should eradicate them for your own good, then the conquest of these three enemies will be an easy matter. 

Victory over these three arch-enemies of man is the greatest conquest.

Om! THE LIGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS! - atman

 

THE LIGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS!

As the Sun shines above and beyond the clouds, so the light of Awareness shines above and beyond the body and the mind (thoughts, feelings, desires and ego).

Om! You are not what you think, feel and want! ~ Atman Nityananda

 

You are not what you think, feel and want!

What prevents you from freeing yourself from the ego is that you perceive everything that manifests in you as yourself and as your choice.

In other words, you are fully identified with it.

MOST POWERFUL WAY OF PRACTICE ~ Aan Nityananda

 

MOST POWERFUL WAY OF PRACTICE

There is no more powerful practice than repeating the name of God moment by moment and even more powerful to combine the repetition of God's name with Self-inquiry and afirmations of our true Self!

The necessity to control the senses! ~ Atman Nityananda

 

The necessity to control the senses!

When we allow the senses freely to run towards the objects of the senses then the temptation and desire to posses and enjoy them is easily born within us.

Depending on the circumstances we can fulfill it immediately or it will remain latent in the subconscious mind to be fulfilled in the future.

In both cases our minds become more conditioned and limited by this desire.

~~~

Extracts from Bhagavad Gita 

21. With the mind unattached to the external contacts he discovers happiness in the Self (Atman); with the mind and buddhi engaged in the meditation of Brahman *he attains to the endless happiness."

22. The enjoyments that are born of contacts are generators of pain only, for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna! The wise do not rejoice in them.

23. He who is able, while still here in this world to withstand, before the liberation from the body, the impulse born of desire and anger—he is a Yogi, he is a happy man.

24. He who is ever happy within, who rejoices within, who is illumined within, such a Yogi attains absolute freedom (Moksha), himself becoming Brahman.

25. The sages obtain absolute freedom (Moksha), they whose sins have been destroyed, whose dualities (perception of dualities or experience of the pairs of opposites) are torn asunder, who are self-controlled, and intent on the welfare of all beings.

26. Absolute freedom (or Brahmic bliss) exists on all sides for those self-controlled ascetics who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their thoughts and who have realised the Self.

27. Shutting out(all) external contacts and fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, equalising the outgoing and incoming breaths moving within the nostrils,

28. With the senses, the mind and the intellect always controlled, having liberation as his supreme goal, free from desire, fear and anger—the sage is verily liberated for ever.

29. He who knows Me as the enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds and the friend of all beings, attains to peace.

Hari Om Tat Sat

 Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita,

the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna ends the fifth discourse entitled:

“The Yoga of Renunciation of Action”

~~~

Om! Self-awareness the foundation of liberation. -Atman Nityananda

 

Self-awareness the foundation of liberation 

By being centered in silence we avoid identification with mental and emotional formations, we can manage them and let them go or make them remit and through prayer and the power of the mantra eliminate (diminish) the energy of the egoic tendency (desire, emotion, etc.).

Om! The art of inner warfare - Atman Nityananda

The art of inner warfare

 Effectively dealing with mental-emotional reactions and maintaining Self-awareness in every moment is an art and not just a practice. It is the art of inner warfare.

Om! Our True Nature is Happiness! - Atman Nityananda

 

Our True Nature is Happiness

We are looking for freedom, eternal life and happiness because we are already these here and now. Our essential or divine nature (Consciousness, Self, Atman) is eternal Existence, freedom, peace and bliss but we have to realize it. Our divine nature is veiled by the Gunas and the impure mind.

Rajas and tamas gunas along with the ego and its innumerable desires and tendencies make us identify with the body and mind and veil our divine Self whose nature is Eternal Existence, Pure Consciousness, Infinite Peace and Bliss. Because of it we live as a body-mind entity separate from life and God, we ignore our true Self which is identical with God and we take the external world as the only reality.

When the mind is freed of all egoic tendencies and from the rajas and tamas gunas we will permanently rest in our natural state of Self-awareness. We will dance with life without being affected anymore by any object or happening. In all circumstances, we will rejoice the peace and bliss of our true Self. We will be an embodiment of peace, love and harmony on earth. All our desires and goals will be fulfilled.

Om! The 'secret' to a fulfilled life! - Atman Nityananda

 

The 'secret' to a fulfilled life

The 'secret' to a plentiful life, a life of harmony, happiness and contentment is to have a sattvic mind and to live in every moment in conscious contact with our true Self (Consciousness).

Whenever we have felt plenitude or a higher happiness (peace-bliss) it has been because, albeit unintentionally, we have come in contact with our true Self (Consciousness) which shines as the silent presence at the center of our existence.

Om! Self-realization is attained through elimination of the ego! - Swami Sivananda

 

The tree of ego.

Self-realization is attained through elimination of the ego!

When this ego melts in the cosmic ego (God) you will attain communion with the Lord or Self-realisation.

May you realise the goal of life and attain everlasting Bliss through annihilation of this little ego!
Swami Sivananda

PHOTO
The tree of ego.  - Atman Nityananda
The ego is a multifaceted psychological entity which makes us identify with body and mind and sensory reality.
It prevents us from realizing and living in conscious union with our divine Self which is Absolute Existence-Consciousness-Bliss (Sat-chit-ananda).
Ego is essentially desiring and causes identifications, attachment, pleasure, pain, misery and suffering.

Its dissolution bringsabout liberation and Self-realization

Om! What is this Ego? - Swami Sivananda

What is this Ego?

by Swami Sivananda

Ego or Egoism or Egotism or Ahamkara in Sanskrit is the self-asserting principle or Tattva born of ignorance or Prakriti. Abhimana is egoism. Garva is egoism.

The seed of this ego is the differentiating intellect or Bheda Buddhi. It is the ego which has created the idea of separateness from God or the Atman. It is the ego which is the root cause for all human sufferings and births and deaths.

This ego identifies itself with the body, mind, Prana, the senses. Wherever there is ego, there are mineness, selfishness, likes and dislikes, lust, anger, greed, hypocrisy, pride, jealousy, delusion, arrogance, conceit, impertinence, Vasanas, Trishna or cravings and Vrittis or Sankalpa, clinging to this earth-life (Abhinivesha), agency, doer (Kartha) and enjoyer (Bhokta).

You must have very clear understanding of the nature of this ego, if you want to annihilate egoism. Killing of egoism is killing of mind only. Destruction of thought, desires, cravings, mineness, selfishness, jealousy, pride, lust is really destruction of mind or egoism. Control of senses also is annihilation of the mind or egoism.

This egoism assumes a subtle form. The gross egoism is not so dangerous as the subtle egoism. Institutional egoism is a subtle form of egoism. The man identifies himself with the institution and gets attached to the institution or cult. He has no broad-mindedness or catholicity.

The working of egoism is very mysterious. It is very difficult to detect its various ways of working. It needs a subtle and sharp intellect to find out its operation. If you practise introspection daily in silence you will be able to find out its mysterious ways of working.

This ego likes his own birth place and district, people of his district, own mother tongue, his own relations and friends, his own ways of eating, mode of dressing. He has his own predilections and preferences. He dislikes others' ways of eating, dressing etc.

This ego wants to exercise power and influence over others. He wants titles, prestige, status, respect, prosperity, house, wife, children. He wants self-aggrandisement. He wishes to domineer and rule over others. If anybody points out his defects, his vanity feels offended. If anyone praises him he is elated. This ego says, I know everything. He does not know anything. What I say is quite correct. What he says is quite incorrect. He is inferior to me. I am superior to him. He forces others to follow his ways and views.

This ego will lurk like a thief when you start introspection and self-analysis. It will elude your grasp and understanding. You must be ever alert and vigilant. If you obtain the grace of the Lord through Japa, Kirtan, prayer and devotion you can easily kill this ego. Through Lord's grace only your self-surrender will become Perfect.

When this ego melts in the cosmic ego you will attain communion with the Lord or Self-realisation.

May you realise the goal of life and attain everlasting Bliss through annihilation of this little ego!

Source:https://www.sivanandaonline.org//?cmd=displaysection&section_id=817

Om! Desire is the first child of Maya! ~ Swami Sivananda

Desire is the first child of Maya!
~ Swami Sivananda

Desire is the first child of Maya. The whole Lila (play) of this objective world is kept up by the force of desires.

Man’s environments and circumstances are the materialization of his own desires. The world experience rises or falls in accordance with his desires.

All that you are all that you have and all that you shall be, is the result of your desires. Your destiny is mapped out by own desires.

The objective universe is nothing but a wheel of desire, and momentum is given by the individual mind.

Om! Desire is the enemy of Self-knowledge - Bhagavad Gita Ch. III

 Desire is the enemy of Self-knowledge

41.Therefore, O Arjuna, by controlling the senses first, slay this enemy called desire, the destroyer of knowledge (indirect knowledge of Atman, right understanding) and wisdom (direct knowledge or realisation of Atman)!

Bhagavad Gita Ch. III

Comment of Ramanuja (a great Sage of India)

‘For whatever reason a person is engaged in Jnana Yoga, which is of the nature of abandoning the activities of all the senses, should control this enemy in the shape of desire which turns him away from the Self (Atman, Consciousness) through creating infatuation for objects of the senses. By the same reason, you, which are attached to the activities of the senses, should, at the beginning of the practice, control the senses by the practice of Karma Yoga, which is the practice of regulating the functioning of the senses. And then you must destroy, i.e., slay this sinful enemy, which is in the shape of desire and which destroys knowledge and discrimination, i.e., knowledge relating to the nature of the self and of the discriminative power, which is the means to gain this knowledge’.

Evolution of Consciousness - Sri Aurobindo

Evolution of Consciousness

There is possible a realistic as well as an illusionist Advaita. The philosophy of The Life Divine is such a realistic Advaita. The world is a manifestation of the Real and therefore is itself real. The reality is the infinite and eternal Divine, infinite and eternal Being, Consciousness-Force and Bliss. 

This Divine by his power has created the world or rather manifested it in his own infinite Being. But here in the material world or at its basis he has hidden himself in what seem to be his opposites, Non-Being, Inconscience and Insentience. This is what we nowadays call the Inconscient which seems to have created the material universe by its inconscient Energy, but this is only an appearance, for we find in the end that all the dispositions of the world can only have been arranged by the working of a supreme secret Intelligence. 

The Being which is hidden in what seems to be an inconscient void emerges in the world first in Matter, then in Life, then in Mind and finally as the Spirit. The apparently inconscient Energy which creates is in fact the Consciousness-Force of the Divine and its aspect of consciousness, secret in Matter, begins to emerge in Life, finds something more of itself in Mind and finds its true self in a spiritual consciousness and finally a supramental Consciousness through which we become aware of the Reality, enter into it and unite ourselves with it. 

This is what we call evolution which is an evolution of Consciousness and an evolution of the Spirit in things and only outwardly an evolution of species. Thus also, the delight of existence emerges from the original insentience, first in the contrary forms of pleasure and pain, and then has to find itself in the bliss of the Spirit or, as it is called in the Upanishads, the bliss of the Brahman. That is the central idea in the explanation of the universe put forward in The Life Divine.

Rebirth

If evolution is a truth and is not only a physical evolution of species, but an evolution of consciousness, it must be a spiritual and not only a physical fact. In that case, it is the individual who evolves and grows into a more and more developed and perfect consciousness and obviously that cannot be done in the course of a brief single human life. If there is the evolution of a conscious individual, then there must be rebirth. Rebirth is a logical necessity and a spiritual fact of which we can have the experience. Proofs of rebirth, sometimes of an overwhelmingly convincing nature, are not lacking, but as yet they have not been carefully registered and brought together.

Evolution

In my explanation of the universe I have put forward this cardinal fact of a spiritual evolution as the meaning of our existence here. It is a series of ascents from the physical being and consciousness to the vital, the being dominated by the life-self, thence to the mental being realised in the fully developed man and thence into the perfect consciousness which is beyond the mental, into the supramental Consciousness and the supramental being, the Truth-Consciousness which is the integral consciousness of the spiritual being. Mind cannot be our last conscious expression because mind is fundamentally an ignorance seeking for knowledge; it is only the supramental Truth-Consciousness that can bring us the true and whole Self-Knowledge and world-Knowledge; it is through that only that we can get to our true being and the fulfilment of our spiritual evolution.

Om! How to disarm and weaken ego reactions! - Atman Nityananda

 

How to disarm and weaken ego reactions!

The main means to avoid the impact of sensory impressions on your mind and to restrain the emotional and mental reactions triggered by them, is to withdraw your attention from both (impressions and reactions) and bring it into the inner silence.

Just as the turtle withdraws its legs, head and tail (its limbs) into its shell to protect itself from external dangers, so we withdraw our attention from the senses and mind into the silent space of Consciousness to be protected from sensory impressions and the emotional mental reactions of the ego.

By being centered in silence we avoid identification with mental and emotional formations, we can manage them and let them go or make them remit and through prayer and the power of the mantra diminish the energy of the egoic tendency (desire, emotion, etc.).

Om! The ego is nourished and strengthened when we identify with it - Atman Nityananda

The ego is nourished and strengthened when we identify with it

The egoic tendencies are nourished and strengthened every time they manifest in us and we identify with them; every time we perceive them as ourselves and behave as if we were them.

Because of our identification with the ego and its expressions (egoic tendencies, desires, lower emotions and impulses such as lust, anger, liking, aversion, fear, jealousy, guilt, greed, etc.) we take the ego as ourselves and its expressions as our expressions. 

Liking and disliking, for example, which are expressions of our ego, due to identification, become ‘I like’ or ‘I don't like’. Similarly, identifying with anger we feel and believe that ‘I am angry’, with shame that ‘I am ashamed’, identifying with the ego's desire and passion for sexual pleasure we feel ‘I want to get sexual pleasure’ and so on.

When we identify with anger, we feel it as ourselves and behave under its influence. As a result, anger becomes stronger and will manifest itself in the future more easily, more often and more intensely.

The same applies to any other egoic tendencies (liking, disliking, antipathy, fear, aversion, impatience, lust, gluttony, jealousy, pride, etc.) with which we identify and which we mistakenly perceive as ourselves. Every time we identify with an egoic tendency that manifests in us, it is reinforced and we become more enslaved to it.

And vice versa, when we do not identify with the egoic tendencies, then they are weakened to some extent and we gain more control over them. If, in addition to this, we pray or repeat the name of God or apply any other method that eliminates the ego, then the egoic tendency is further weakened.

The hypnotic frequency of the tamas and rajas gunas and the identifications, projections and imaginations that the ego creates, keep us in a state of hypnosis and unconsciousness. Because of this we live identified with the ego and its tendencies[1], with the body and the mind and perceive the ego and the body as ourselves. As a result, the ego is fed and empowered and continues to dominate us.

Egoic tendencies along with the rajas and tamas qualities cloud the intellect and obscure clear perception and discrimination. Hence, we cannot realise that we are not the ego but the light of Consciousness which is ever-present, peaceful and blissful.

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[1] we live identified with the ego and its tendencies: worldly people are fully identified with the ego and the egoic tendencies. They are a little or not at all aware of ego's ways, plans and intentions. Even those who are involved in Self-knowledge and spiritual practices are also identified with the ego. In their case, their identification with the expressions of ego (anger, fear, greed, gluttony, lust, etc.) depends on their progress and the level of consciousness they have reached so far. Only after awakening, one realises that is not the ego and the egoic tendencies but the silent presence of Consciousness. However, even an awakened can be deceived by egoic tendencies and programming. It depends on the purity of his mind, the work that he has done with the dissolution of the ego, and the development of abilities such as mindful self-observation, Self-awareness, clarity, discernment and dispassion, steadiness and one-pointedness of mind.

I get angry when my opinions and my choices are questioned and rejected! Atman Nityananda

 I get angry when my opinions and my choices are questioned and rejected! 

One of the patterns of behaviour caused by the ego is to react with irritation, annoyance, resentment or anger when others do not approve or accept, ignore, reject, question or dislike our opinions and choices. This is because our ego causes us to perceive it as a threat, a rejection or a diminishment of ourselves and our worth, rather than simply our opinions and choices, and this, in turn, occurs because we identify with our opinions, beliefs and choices and identify them as our self.

Whether we react or not and with what intensity depends on how strong our self-confidence and self-worth are, how significant the subject is to us and how identified and attached we are to it, how valuable that person is to us and our energetic and psychological state at that moment.

It is one thing, for example, to have our religion questioned or not accepted, and another to have a fruit that we like. It is one thing to be challenged and have our opinion devalued or rejected by someone we do not know or do not valye them as important, and it is another thing to be challenged by someone we value and want them to have a good opinion of us or approve our opinions or choices. How we react also depends on how the other person challenges or rejects our opinion or choice.

Don't tell me what to do

It also happens that we get irritated, upset or angry when someone advises us or tells us the consequences of our choices and actions because our ego perceives it as a threat, a rejection, a devaluation and an oppression. 

That is, instead of listening with an open mind to assess whether what we are being told is true and can help us correct our mistakes and avoid painful consequences, our ego feels threatened and reacts irrationally as if it is the words of others that harm us and not our own choices and actions. 

In reality, calmly listening to something (even if it seems false to us at the time) cannot harm us in any way and we can later examine it in detail to see if it has any value to us.