Om! The three main objectives self-inquiry - by Atman Nityananda

 

The three main objectives self-inquiry

The three objectives we use self-enquiry is discerning our divine essence from apparent or lower self, investigate the psychological issues and tendencies and maintain conscious contact with our divine essence (the silent space of consciousness within) and be established in it.

1. To Discern our Divine Essence from the layers or 5 sheaths.
2. To inquire into the Psychological structures and tendencies.
3. To Establish our attention in our True Self, that is, in the silent space of Consciousness.

The 5 Sheaths: According the Advaita Vedanta our apparent self is constituted by five Sheaths.

The five sheaths are:
1. Annamaya Kosha (food-sheath),
2. Pranamaya Kosha (vital sheath),
3. Manomaya Kosha (mental sheath),
4. Vijnanamaya Kosha (intellect-sheath)
5. Anandamaya Kosha (blissful sheath).

‘Maya’ means full. ‘Kosha’ means sheath

You can read about the 5 Sheaths in the following text of Swami Sivananda: Discrimination between the Self and the non-self by S. Sivananda  

You van also read the book Vivekachudani: Adisankarcharya Vivekachudamani.pdf

A brief analysis of the different types of self-inquiry

Discerning our Divine Essence from the layers or 5 sheaths

Explore our divine essence beyond the body, energy, mind, intellect, and ego. Self-inquiry reveals the true Self within.

This type of inquiry is based on the teachings of great masters and spiritual traditions that help us to investigate our immediate experience. Based on the knowledge we explore one by one the layers of our apparent existence.

The purpose of this inquiry is to realize that we are not them and to discern our immortal divine essence (Consciousness) from all the layers.

Inquiring into the Psychological structures and tendencies

Dive deep into your psyche. Self-inquiry unveils the layers of your mind, helping you understand, overcome and eliminate egoic tendencies, emotional and mental patterns, false beliefs and overcome psychological issues.

We dedicate time every day at our place to investigate and delve into the issues and psychological reactions and tendencies we have observed during the day manifest in us.

This process allows us to realize their mechanical repetitive nature, their illusory quality, their causes, and consequences. Through this process we realize that we are not these emotional and mental reactions and we become able to stop identifying with them.

Finally, we use certain means, such as prayer, mantras and EFT, to dissolve part of their energy and weaken them as much as possible for the time being.

Short and Long prayer for the dissolution of Ego

However, it is highly recommended this aspect of self-enquiry to be used throughout the day whenever it is necessary to avoid or cease identification with sensory reality or mental and emotional reactions and make them subside.

Establishing our awareness (attention) in the silence space of Consciousness

The self-inquiry is perhaps the most powerful means to cease identifying with psychological expressions and sensory impressions and anchor our attention in the silent space of consciousness.

This type of Self-inquiry is a process by which we withdraw our attention from any objective experience and focus it on the silent space of Consciousness within ourselves. To facilitate this process we use some question or questions such as, “To whom do these thoughts arise?”, or “To whom does this emotion or impulse arise?”, or “To whom does this perception arise?”. The answer is, “To me.” And then we ask: “Who am I?”, or “What am I?”, or also, “What is the source of the Me or I?”.

This aspect of self-enquiry is practiced in both cases, as a seated meditation and as a means of remaining in self-awareness and detached witnesses of the inner and outer world moment by moment throughout the day.

However, this practice can be successfully practiced as the main or only method of practice by mature aspirants who have developed a pure sattvic mind that involves the development of important sattvic qualities or skills such as devotion, self-awareness, detachment, discernment, dispassion, clarity, one-pointedness of mind and steadiness of mind.

Less mature aspirants should follow a more comprehensive practice that will include a variety of practices related to all aspects of our existence aimed at the purification of the mind and heart and vital energy, the elimination of egoic tendencies of all kinds, and the development of the sattvic qualities of mind and heart.

This is the most direct way or method to focus and stabilize our awareness on our essential divine nature and finally establish ourselves in it.

You can read about the practice of Self-enquiry, The Practice of Self-Enquiry Enquiring ‘Who Am I?’ -Ramana Maharshi

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

🌺 Peace, Love, Harmony

ATMAN IS SAT-CHIT-ANANDA - Swami sivananda

 

ATMAN IS SAT-CHIT-ANANDA

Sat, Chit and Ananda are one. Atman is partless and homogeneous. The three characteristics Sat, Chit and Ananda are not distinct from one another. They are coeval and coexistent with Atman. Sat-Chit-Ananda signify the one Atman. Sat is Chit. Sat is Ananda. Chit is Sat. Chit is Ananda. Ananda is Sat. Ananda is Chit. You cannot split up Sat-Chit-Ananda into three separate entities, just as you cannot separate light, heat and luminosity from fire.

 Atman is Sat

Atman is Sat. That which exists in the past, present and future, which has no beginning, middle and end, which is unchanging, which is not conditioned in time, space and causation, which exists during Jagrat, Svapna and Sushupti, which is of the nature of one homogeneous essence (Sada Ekarasa, Sada Ekarupa) is Sat. This is found in Atman. Srutis emphatically declare: Sat only was prior to the evolution of this universe.

 Atman is Chit

Atman is Chit because he shines by himself without the help of any other light and illuminates the entire universe by his own light.

The mind is finite and inert. He has no independent intelligence. He is not self-luminous. The brilliance of him is borrowed from the Light of the fountain. He is subject to various limitations and changes. He is only an inert product of subtle matter. Only the Atman is the source of Chit. The mind is also perceived by Chit. The mind has a beginning and an end.

The external universe, however varied and large it may be, is after all only inert matter. It cannot be the object of our perception unless we cast upon it the flow of light from our consciousness; he can never know us. It is enlightened only by us. It can never enlighten us.

Atman is Ananda

Ananda is that bliss that is eternal, uncaused and incomparable. It is the true nature of Atman.

But the supreme bliss of Brahman has no degrees. It is infinite or unlimited because there is nothing superior to it. The bliss of deep sleep has no degrees.

Brahman bliss cannot be adequately expressed in words. It has to be felt and realized through the direct realization of the Self. Although we experience it, it is not an experience like the enjoyment of an object, because you are then an incarnation of bliss itself.

All miseries come to an end when one realizes (realizes) the Atman. Therefore the Atman must be an embodiment of bliss. Sat is Chit. Sat is Ananda too.

He who has realized this Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman is a liberated sage. He has nothing else to learn, he has nothing else to do, he has nothing else to gain. All his wishes are satisfied. He has obtained all the worlds. He is freed from the clutches of death. He achieves immortality.

In Spanish

ATMAN ES SAT-CHIT-ANANDA

Sat, Chit y Ananda son uno. Atman no tiene partes y es homogéneo. Las tres características Sat, Chit y Ananda no son distintas entre sí. Son coetáneas y coexistentes con Atman. Sat-Chit-Ananda significan el único Atman. Sat es Chit. Sat es Ananda. Chit es Sat. Chit es Ananda. Ananda es Sat. Ananda es Chit. No puedes dividir Sat-Chit-Ananda en tres entidades separadas, del mismo modo que no puedes separar la luz, el calor y la luminosidad del fuego.

 Atman es Sat

Atman es Sat. Aquello que existe en el pasado, presente y futuro, que no tiene principio, medio ni fin, que es inmutable, que no está condicionado en el tiempo, espacio y causalidad, que existe durante Jagrat, Svapna y Sushupti, que es de la naturaleza de una esencia homogénea (Sada Ekarasa, Sada Ekarupa) es Sat. Esto se encuentra en Atman. Los Srutis declaran enfáticamente: Sat sólo era anterior a la evolución de este universo.

 Atman es Chit

Atman es Chit porque brilla por sí mismo sin la ayuda de ninguna otra luz e ilumina todo el universo por su propia luz.

La mente es finita e inerte. No tiene inteligencia independiente. No es auto-luminosa. Su brillo lo toma prestado de la Luz de la fuente. Está sujeta a diversas limitaciones y cambios. Sólo es un producto inerte de la materia sutil. Sólo el Atman es la fuente de Chit. La mente también es percibida por Chit. La mente tiene un principio y un fin.

El universo externo, por muy variado y grande que sea, después de todo es sólo materia inerte. No puede ser el objeto de nuestra percepción a menos que arrojemos sobre él el flujo de luz de nuestra consciencia; nunca puede conocernos. Es iluminado solamente por nosotros. Nunca nos puede iluminar.

 Atman es Ananda

Ananda es esa dicha que es eterna, incausada e incomparable. Es la verdadera naturaleza de Atman.

Pero la dicha suprema de Brahman no tiene grados. Es infinita o ilimitada porque no hay nada superior a ella. La dicha del sueño profundo no tiene grados.

La dicha de Brahman no se puede expresar adecuadamente con palabras. Tiene que ser sentida y realizada a través de la directa realización del Ser. Aunque la experimentemos, no es una experiencia como el disfrute de un objeto, porque tú eres entonces una encarnación de la dicha en sí.

Todas las miserias llegan a su fin cuando uno realiza (se da cuenta de) el Atman. Por lo tanto el Atman debe ser una encarnación de la dicha. Sat es Chit. Sat es Ananda también.

Aquel que ha realizado este Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman es un sabio liberado. No tiene nada más que aprender, no tiene nada más que hacer, no tiene nada más que ganar. Todos sus deseos son satisfechos. Ha obtenido todos los mundos. Está liberado de las garras de la muerte. Alcanza la inmortalidad.

OM! THE SILENCE - Atman Nityananda

The Silence
by Atman Nityananda /blog

Mysterious is this silence, magnificent is this silence, untouched is this silence and yet ever present, peaceful and blissful.

This silence is What You Are!

If you are attentive you will see that this silence has no beginning, no end; it is limitless. It neither begins nor ends. It neither comes nor goes. It is motionless, changeless, formless, timeless. It is ever present, peaceful, silent and full. It is not disturbed when the mind or emotions are disturbed. Bodily, energetic, emotional and mental movements neither touch it, nor affect it.

You cannot touch it, dominate it or manipulate it, it is out of your control. You can neither move away from it, nor approach it. It is always with you, it never leaves you alone. You are intimately one with it. You are It!

But… watch out! You (the person or the I, what you think you are), are not it. That (the silent presence) is what you are!

You can meditate repeating the phrases below (all or two – three of these affirmations, the ones that resonate most with you), or make your own personal affirmations based on these concepts.

Om, Om, Om, Om I am pure consciousness, Ommm
I am silent emptiness, ever peaceful and luminous, Ommm
I am silence, always peaceful, full and blissful, Ommm
I am silence, full of infinite peace, light and love, Ommm

Om peace, Om light, Om love
Om, Om, Om

Repeat these phrases, becoming aware of the inner silence. At the end (after a certain time) stop the phrases and continue to feel the silence without making any effort. If the mind is distracted, say softly: May I be aware of the silence in me? This will carry by itself your attention in the silence without any effort.

Read also
Silence by Swami Sivananda

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

 Peace, Love, Harmony

Om! Self-surrender ¬ Atman Nityananda

Self-surrender 

 Surrender to God's will is the most powerful means to accept life just as it happens (what life brings us to experience), to live in peace, love and plenitude, to dissolve the ego (all egoic tendencies) and to attain God-realization, i.e., to establish ourselves in conscious union with the Absolute Consciousness or God.

 Surrendering to God (self-surrender) means offering our body, mind, intellect, heart and ego to God and taking everything as God's will. It is keeping our mind and heart steadily focused on Him through repetition of His name or otherwise. When we take life experiences as God's will for our benefit (I am not referring to our ego benefit but our spiritual growth and the realization of Oneness with God and life), it becomes easier to accept the challenges, difficulties and adversities. By accepting moment by moment what happens, we do not give space to the ego to react and make us identify with its mental and emotional reactions and be under their dominance. As a result, egoic tendencies are weakened little by little and we enjoy the silent peace within us.

 Of course, complete self-surrender from the very beginning of our journey is not possible since the rajasotamasic ego is very strong and we identify with it. Self-surrender is gradually developed through purity of mind, the increase of sattvic quality in the mind, the development of sattvic virtues and skills, and the development of devotion, love and faith in God. In the measure that purity, sattvic virtues, love and faith in God develop, our surrender becomes deeper and firmer.

Have perfect trust in God. Do total surrender unto Him. Place yourself in His loving care. Do this with your whole heart and mind, with perfect confidence and faith. Worry not about your future, about money, about your health. He will take care of you. You will have plenty, immense strength and wonderful health.

Egoism and desire are obstacles to self-surrender. Slay these two enemies of self-surrender ruthlessly.

    ~ Swami Sivananda

 

258. The self-surrender is truly made by him who always has the feeling, ‘Let all things happen according to your will. In all respects, I am bound to you.’

262. The ripe devotee must pass his time, patiently enduring whatever happens to him, whether pleasant or unpleasant or otherwise, without yielding to sorrow or joy, with his heart absorbed in Him.

263. When the ego dies, having been swallowed by divine grace, the devotee’s self-surrender becomes true and complete.

~ Excerpt from the book ‘Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad’ -The Supreme Science of the Self, taught by Sri Ramana’

 

Om! A pure mind is Brahman itself ¬ Swami Sivananda

A pure mind is Brahman itself

¬ Swami Sivananda

A pure mind is Brahman itself. Just as camphor in the presence of fire is turned into fire and absorbed in fire when burnt, so also a mind when purified becomes of the nature of Brahman. Just as water in the presence of salt, when a lump is placed in a basin of water, becomes saltish, so also mind in the presence of Brahman, when purified, becomes of the nature of Brahman..

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Brahman is Absolute Consciousness. Brahman is Satchitananda (Absolute Existence, absolute Consciousness, absolute Bliss)

Om!.The essence of Non-duality (Advaita Vedanta) - Atman Nityananda

The essence of Non-duality (Advaita Vedanta)
by Atman Nityananda

There is only one absolute non-dual reality (without parts, form, time, space and cause). There nothing else beside That nondual reality. This nondual dual principal it is called Brahman and in relation with the human beings it is called Atman.

This Atman or Brahman is pure Being, pure light of Consciousness and pure Bliss. This nondual reality is what we really Are.

The identity of the apparently individual Consciousness (called Atman) with the absolute or Universal Consciousness (called Brahman) is clearly affirmed by the great sentences -Mahavakyas of Upanishads):‘Aham Brahmasmi’ (‘Brahman I am’), ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ (‘That you Are’), ‘Ayam Atma Brahma’ (‘Atman is Brahman’).

We are That reality doesn’t mean that we as an ego entity we are That nondual reality, but that We, as the apparently individual Consciousness are the absolute nondual Consciousness (the nondual reality).This non-dual reality, is self-existent, self-luminous (awareness itself and aware of itself), indestructible, changeless, immovable, without beginning and end, ever present, peaceful, blissful, free and complete. It is called also as Sat-Chit-Ananda (absolute Existence, absolute Consciousness and absolute Bliss).

The innate power of this nondual reality called Maya creates this multiple universe of innumerable forms and the Jivas (embodied souls, human beings).

Sattva, rajas and tamas are the fundamental powers (qualities or gunas in Sanskrit) by which Maya creates the universe and all forms. The nature of Maya and the nature of the nondual reality are incomprehensible, beyond description and mental concepts.

The universe created by Maya is a superimposition on That nondual reality which is unperceived by the senses, but fully experienced in a pure awaken sattvic mind. We are in essence this nondual reality. The apparently individual Consciousness We are, is identical with universal or absolute non-dual Consciousness.

The factor that creates the illusion of separation and duality is the ego and the rajas and tamas qualities that operate through the ego and the mind.

The lower rajasotamasic ego veils the non-dual reality and makes us identify with the instruments (body, prana, mind, intellect) and regard as our self the physical body and what there is in the body (vital energy, mind, intellect / prana, manas, buddhi).The lower rajasotamasic ego causes a mutual identification between the nondual reality or Consciousness and the instruments.

Due to this mutual identification, the qualities of the body, prana, mind and intellect are superimposed on the nondual reality and the ‘qualities’ of the non-dual reality are superimposed on the instruments.

So, when the body is hungry, we feel that We are hungry, when the body is tired, we feel that We are tired. Οn the contrary, although we as a body we are going to die, we feel that this body will never die because the deathlessness of our essential nature (the non-dual reality) is superimposed on the body.Similarly, the states of the mind are superimposed onto our essential non-dual nature and the opposite.

Due to this superimposition, we take the states of the mind as our states, thus we think, I am clever or stupid, I am miserable or happy and in the contrary we take the awareness, the bliss and the love of the Consciousness that belong to the mind (and the body as well), so we feel as a body mind entity, I am aware, I love, I am blissful.

Self-realization or liberation is the disidentification from the instruments, the realization that the nondual reality is our identity (what We really are) and the cessation of the illusory perception that we are different and separate from the nondual reality, created by the ego (i.e. the cessation of duality).

Liberation or Self-realization happens by the complete dissolution of the egoic mind and the ego itself and the equality of buddhi with the Consiousness due to continuous identification of the mind with That (by meditation or Self-enquiry /Vichara).

In the state of liberation, it is experienced, in all places and all circumstances, effortlessly and without a break the peace, bliss, plenitude and freedom eternal of oue essential nature.

Nirvana and ego - Sri Aurobindo

Nirvana and ego

What then is Nirvana? 

In orthodox Buddhism it does mean a disintegration, not of the soul – for that does not exist – but of a mental compound or stream of associations or saṃskāras which we mistake for ourself. 

In illusionist Vedanta it means, not a disintegration but a disappearance of a false and unreal individual self into the one real Self or Brahman; it is the idea and experience of individuality that so disappears and ceases, – we may say a false light that is extinguished (nirvāṇa) in the true Light. In spiritual experience it is sometimes the loss of all sense of individuality in a boundless cosmic consciousness; what was the individual remains only as a centre or a channel for the flow of a cosmic consciousness and a cosmic force and action. Or it may be the experience of the loss of individuality in a transcendent being and consciousness in which the sense of cosmos as well as the individual disappears. Or again, it may be in a transcendence which is aware of and supports the cosmic action. 

But what do we mean by the individual? What we usually call by that name is a natural ego, a device of Nature which holds together her action in the mind and body. This ego has to be extinguished, otherwise there is no complete liberation possible; but the individual self or soul is not this ego. 

The individual soul is the spiritual being which is sometimes described as an eternal portion of the Divine, but can also be described as the Divine himself supporting his manifestation as the Many. This is the true spiritual individual which appears in its complete truth when we get rid of the ego and our false separative sense of individuality, realise our oneness with the transcendent and cosmic Divine and with all beings. It is this which makes possible the Divine Life. 

Nirvana is a step towards it; the disappearance of the false separative individuality is a necessary condition for our realising and living in our true eternal being, living divinely in the Divine. But this we can do in the world and in life.

CO! SENSUAL PLEASURE & SPIRITUAL BLISS by Swami Sivananda

 

 

SENSUAL PLEASURE AND SPIRITUAL BLISS 

by Swami Sivananda

 

This article is a chapter - Happiness-  from his book "Bliss Divine". 

 

 

"At the doors of large granaries are placed traps containing fried rice (Moori) to catch mice. The mice, attracted by the flavour of the fried rice, forgets the more solid pleasure of tasting the rice inside the granary, and fall into the trap. They are caught therein and killed. Just so is the case with the soul. It stands on the threshold of Divine bliss, which is like millions of the highest worldly pleasures solidified into one; but instead of striving for that bliss, it allows itself to be enticed by the petty pleasures of the world and falls into the trap of Maya, the great illusion, and dies therein".

- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

 

INTRODUCTION

Man wants happiness. He shuns pain. He moves heaven and earth to get the happiness he wants from sensual objects, and lo, gets himself entangled in the extricable meshes of Maya. Poor man! He does not know that these objects are perishable and evanescent, finite and conditioned in time, space, and causation. And what is more, he fails to get the desired happiness from them.

Sensual pleasure is tantalizing. There is enchantment so long as man does not possess the objects. The moment he is in possession of the object, the charm vanishes. He finds that he is in entanglement.

The bachelor thinks of his marriage, day and night. He thinks he is in imprisonment after the marriage is over. He is not able to satisfy the extravagant wants of his wife. He wants to run away from the house to forests. The rich but childless man thinks he will be more happy by getting a son, goes on pilgrimage to Ramesvaram and Kasi, and performs various religious ceremonies. But when he gets a child, he feels miserable; the child suffers from epileptic fits and his money is given away to doctors. Even then, there is no cure. This is Mayaic jugglery. The whole world is fraught with temptation.

A SPECTACLE OF SORROW

A worldly man is always drowned in sorrow. He is ever struggling to get something, some money, some power, some position, and so on. He is always anxious as to whether or not he would get it. Even when he is in actual possession of the thing he so passionately longed for, he is very anxious lest he should lose it.

A rich man has great wealth, but he has no children. And so he is pained at heart. A poor man has fourteen children, but he has nothing to eat, and so he is miserable. One man has wealth and children, but his son is a vagabond, and so he is worried. One man has riches and good sons, but his wife is very quarrelsome. No one is happy in this world.

The session judge is very discontented. He thirsts to become a high court judge. The minister is also discontented. He longs to become the premier. A millionaire is discontented; he yearns to become a Croropati (Billionaire). The husband is discontented; his wife is black and thin; he wants to marry another wife with good complexion. The wife is discontented; she want to divorce and marry a rich, young husband. A lean man is discontented; he wants to put on fat and gulps cod-liver oil. A fat man takes antifat pills. No man is contented in this world.

A doctor thinks that the advocate is very happy. The advocate thinks that the businessman is more happy. The businessman thinks that the judge is more happy. The judge thinks that the professor is more happy. No one is happy in this world.

An emperor is not happy. A dictator is not happy. A president of a state is not happy. God Indra is not happy.

Who is happy then ? A sage is happy. A Yogi is happy. He who has controlled his mind is happy.

Happiness comes from peace of mind. Peace of mind comes from a state of mind wherein there are no desires, no Moha, no Vishaya, no thoughts of objects. You should forget all ideas of pleasure before you enter the domain of peace.

PLEASURE IS MIXED WITH PAIN

You cannot have pleasure without pain. Wherever there is pleasure, there is pain. You vainly seek pleasure in gold, in women (or men in the case of women), in this mundane existence. You cannot have absolute happiness in a relative physical plane of pairs of opposites. The pairs of opposites rotate in their turn. Death follows life. Night follows day. Light follows darkness. Pain follows pleasure.

One part of pleasure is mixed with fifteen parts of pain. Pleasure that is mixed with pain, fear and worry is no pleasure at all. If you carefully begin to analyze this one part of pleasure also, it will dwindle into an airy nothing. You will find that it is mere play of the mind.

Pleasure and pain are relative terms only. They are not two entities. They are obverse and reverse sides of the same coin. The difference is not in kind, but in degree only.

Pleasure and pain are two names for one thing. They are two aspects of one thing. For a worldly man without philosophical knowledge, they appear as two different entities.

PLEASURE AND PAIN LIE IN THE MIND

What is pleasure for you is pain for another. What is pleasure for you now is pain after some time. The first two cups of milk gives you pleasure. The third cup induces disgust, nausea and retching. Milk does not give pleasure during fever. Therefore, pleasure is not in the objects, but in the imagination or inclination of the mind.

Pleasure and pain, beauty and ugliness, are all false imaginations of the mind. Mind is a false, illusory product. Conceptions of the mind also must, therefore, be false.

Pleasure and pain are in the mind only. It is subjective. Things, when longed for, are pleasant; but are bitter if not longed for. Desires are the cause for pleasures.

You can convert pleasure into pain and pain into pleasure by thinking, by Bhavana, by imagination. Many vegetarian students who have gone to England to prosecute their studies have become inveterate meat-eaters. Meat was very repulsive to them when they were in India. Mere sight used to induce vomiting. How is it they are able to relish meat with avidity, cupidity and stupidity now ? By simple change in thinking.

Ignorant persons attribute their pleasure to external objects. That is a serious blunder, indeed. Really, there is no pleasure in objects. There is neither pleasure nor pain in objects. It is all mental creation, mental perception, mental jugglery. It is only the mental attitude or a certain kind of mental behaviour towards objects that bring joy or grief, pleasure or pain. Maya has her powerful seat in the imagination of the mind.

When you are in acute agony, a cup of coffee, milk or tea does not give you any pleasure. When you are in acute agony, the whole world which appeared to you to be full of bliss while in good health, appears quite dreary. The world loses all its charms while you are seriously ailing. A real thing must give pleasure for everybody at all times. Is it not ?

PLEASURE IS THE CAUSE OF PAIN

The cause of pain is pleasure. The man who is addicted to taking tea, and is in the habit of taking fruits and milk after meals, feels very miserable when he cannot get tea, or fruits and milk, in a certain place. When the wife dies, the husband is drowned in sorrow, not because of the loss of his loving partner in life, but because he cannot get sexual pleasure now.

The cause of pain is pleasure. The cause of death is love for sensual life. Give up all sensual pleasures, if you do not want pain. Give up sensual life, if you do not want death.

Enjoyment cannot bring satisfaction of desire. On the contrary, it aggravates and intensifies desires and makes the mind more restless through sense-hankering or Trishna, just as the pouring of ghee or oil aggravates fire. The fewer the wants, the greater the happiness.

Many rich persons, in spite of their immense wealth and possession of two or three wives, are extremely miserable and unhappy. I have come in contact with several rich landlords. They are all discontented, restless, peevish and very miserable. It is evident, therefore, that happiness does not lie either in money, objects or woman (or man).

THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS

There is no happiness at all in any of the objects of the world. There is not an iota of happiness in objects, because they are insentient. Even the sensual pleasure is a reflection of the Atmic bliss only. It is sheer ignorance to think that we derive any pleasure from the sense-objects or from the mind.

When there is a desire in the mind, the mind is filled with Rajas. It is in an agitated condition. It is restless and unpeaceful. It will be restless till the desired object is attained. When the object is attained and enjoyed, when the desire is gratified, the mind moves towards the Inner Soul. It ceases functioning. It is filled with Sattva. All thoughts subside for a split second; the mind rests in the Soul within. The Soul's bliss is reflected in the intellect. But the ignorant man thinks that he is getting the happiness from the object; just as the dog which is biting a dry bone imagines that it is getting the pleasure from the bone, that the blood is oozing from the bone, whereas in reality, the blood comes from its own palate.

REAL HAPPINESS IS WITHIN

Real happiness is within you. It is in the Atman. It is subjective. It manifests when the mind is concentrated. When the Indriyas are withdrawn from the objects outside, when the mind is one-pointed, when there is Vasana-kshya and Manonasa, when you become desireless and thoughtless, Atmic bliss begins to dawn, spiritual Ananda begins to thrill.

The musk is in the navel of the deer, but it runs here and there to smell it. The chain is in the neck of the damsel, but she runs hither and thither in search of it. The precious diamond is within you, but you run after the broken glass-pieces in vain. Even so, the ocean of bliss is within you; the fountain of joy is within you; and yet, you run here and there in search of it. The Sun of suns is ever shining in you, but your blind eyes cannot behold it. The eternal sound is ringing within you, but your deaf ears cannot hear it.

Go wherever you may, to Gulmarg or Pahalgam in Kashmir, to Darjeeling in Simla, to Vienna or the Alps. It is all the same. You will not find any real rest. The charming scenery may soothe the retina for a second. Raga, Dvesha, jealousy, passion and greed are everywhere. You will find the same earth, the same sky, the same air, and the same water. And you carry with you the same mind. Imagination and change of place have deceived not a few. O man! Be contented. Live where you may, but discipline the mind and the senses. Meditate on the Inner self, the Antaratman, ceaselessly. Here you will find everlasting peace. Mind will stop deceiving you now.

Raja Bhartrihari, Raja Gopichand, Lord Buddha deserted kingdom and all pleasurable objects, palaces, music, children, wife, etc., to attain Atmic bliss which is everlasting. They attained immortality. They are not fools. Had there been real happiness in objects, they would have stuck to this world. The difficulty is that the worldly men with gross Vyavaharic Buddhi are not able to understand or comprehend a supersensual spiritual bliss that exists beyond the senses, mind and intellect.

SENSUAL PLEASURE AND SPIRITUAL BLISS

Spiritual bliss is the highest bliss. Spiritual bliss is bliss of one's own Soul. It is transcendental bliss. It is independent of objects. It is continuous, uniform and eternal. It is enjoyed by the sage only.

Sensual pleasure comes out of emotion. But bliss of the Soul is self-delight. It is the innate nature of the Atman. Pleasure is temporal and fleeting. Bliss is eternal and everlasting. Pleasure is mixed with pain. Bliss is unalloyed happiness. Pleasure depends upon nerves, mind and objects. Bliss is independent and self-existent. There is effort in attaining sensual pleasures, but there is no striving in experiencing the bliss of the Soul. The drop joins the ocean. The Jiva floats in the ocean of bliss.

Purify the mind by Japa, Satsanga, charity, control of mind, self-restraint, selfless service, study of the Gita, the Upanishads, Yoga-Vasishtha, Bible, Koran and other religious scriptures, practice of Yama and Niyama, Pranayama, Vairagya and Tyaga. You will then get a proper instrument for meditation, a calm, sharp, subtle, one-pointed mind. Start meditation with the help of this instrument for three hours in the morning and three hours at night. Then a new kind of indescribable Ananda will dawn in you. You will be convinced of a supersensual spiritual bliss. You will have to feel this spiritual Ananda yourself. You will have to eat it yourself. Can you explain the sexual happiness to a boy of twelve ? Can you explain the happiness of sugar-candy to a boy who has not tasted the same ? No, you cannot. The boy himself must eat sugar-candy. He must, when he has grown up, taste the carnal pleasure.

Worldly men think they are quite happy because they get a few ginger biscuits, some money, and a woman. O, if they would just taste the nectar of immortality, what should be the intensity of happiness they should feel!

The body is an abode of misery and disease. Wealth brings a lot of trouble in acquiring and keeping safe. Sorrow springs from every connection. Women (or Men) are a perpetual source of vexation. Alas! people prefer this path of misery to that of spiritual enjoyment.

Enough, enough of your tea and coffee, enough of soda and lemonade, enough of father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister and relations. You have had countless fathers and mothers, wives and children in the past. You came alone. You will go alone. None will follow you save your own actions. Realize God. All miseries will come to an end.

Though surrounded by pleasurable or painful objects to disturb your equilibrium of mind, remain immovable as a rock, receiving all things with equanimity. Be always cheerful. Laugh and smile. How can a mind that is gloomy and dull think of God ? Try to be happy always. Happiness is your very nature. This is termed cheerfulness. This spirit of cheerfulness must be cultivated by all aspirants.

Keep the mind in state of moderation or happy, golden mean. Never let it run to excesses. People die of shock from extreme depression as well as extreme joy. Do not allow Uddharsha to crop up in the mind. It is excessive merriment. Mind always runs to extremes, either to extreme depression or extreme joy. Extremes meet. Extremes bring about reaction. Mind can never be calm in excessive joy. Let the mind be cheerful, but calm.

This world is a mere appearance. Mind and the senses are deceiving you every moment. You have mistaken pain for pleasure. There is not even an iota of happiness in this sense-universe. Abandon these selfish struggles and schemes for amassing wealth. March directly to that wire-puller who is moving these toys of fleshy human bodies, who is keeping up this big show. In Him only you will find lasting happiness and perennial joy. Merge in Him by practicing daily meditation and japa.

Om! La quintaesencia del trabajo interior momento a momento! - Atman Nityananda

 La quintaesencia del trabajo interior momento a momento

Métodos para desidentificarnos de las tendencias egoístas, impulsos. deseos, emociones, pacificarlas y reducirlas y conectar con la paz silenciosa interior.

Para vivir momento a momento conscientemente y trabajar con nuestra psicología hace falta estar en alerta, auto-vigilancia, auto-consciencia y autoobservación consciente.

Para mantener el estado de vigilancia, atención plena y auto-consciencia (estar en conexión consciente con el silencio interior), profundizar en el silencio y purificar la mente nos ayuda repetir un mantra con el nombre de Dios ('Om Namá Shivay' por ejemplo),  repetir afirmaciones de nuestra naturaleza verdadera ('Soy Brahman', Om Brahman', o 'Soy Conciencia, Om Conciencia', etc.).

Para estar más atentos y más conscientes, para evitar repetir mecánicamente el mantra o la afirmación  y profundizar  en el silencio, nos preguntamos de vez en cuando: ¿Soy este momento consciente del silencio interior? ¿Vivo aquí y ahora la paz interior? ¿Dónde está mi atención? ¿A Quién surge todo eso, Quién Soy?

Aún así  ya que el ego sigue vivo en nosotros es cierto que las tendencias egoístas  (emociones y pensamientos negativos, deseos, impulso, etc.) seguirán expresándose según las circunstancias.

Mientras intentamos mantener la calma mental-emocional y vivir atentamente y en conexión consciente con el silencio y la paz interior, cada vez que se manifiestan en nosotros pensamientos, una emoción o una tendencia egoísta hacemos lo siguiente:

1. Notar y tomar consciencia de los pensamientos, emoción, sentimiento, o deseo que se está expresando en nosotros. Cuanto màs atentos y presentes somos y más pronto nos damos cuenta de que se expresa algo en nosotros, más fácil será no identificar con esto y tomar medidas para pacificarlo y disminuirlo.

Sí somos bastante establecidos en el silencio y atentos, el mero hecho de atestiguarla sin Identificar es bastante para hacerla desaparecer.

2. Aceptar, no resistir y no reaccionar a lo que surge en nosotros, especialmente a emociones fuertes, defectos y debilidades que tenemos dificultad a aceptar que existen y se expresen en nosotros. Esto es un paso importantísimo que nos ayuda a no identificar con la emoción (o cualquier tendencia), no permitir suceder cualquier reacción por esta emoción y  identificar con ella (por ejemplo enojo, vergüenza, miedo) y conectar con el silencio interior. 

Para facilitar la aceptación podemos utilizar las siguientes preguntas:

¿Puedo darle la bienvenida?

¿Puedo aceptar que se expresa en mí?

¿Puedo sentirla sin criticarla, enfadarme, evaluarla?

Sí hemos desarrollado bastante la conexión con el silencio interior y el sattva en la mente la aceptación y la no identificación se hace más fácil o sin la necesidad hacer algo.

3. Profundizar en el silencio. Podemos conectar más profundamente con el silencio usando los siguientes métodos:

Sintiendo el cuerpo y el Yo Soy. Nos faciliten hacer esto las siguientes preguntas:

¿Puedo sentir mi cuerpo?,

 ¿Puedo sentir que Soy?,

¿puedo sentir el silencio interior

Preguntando directamente

¿puedo sentir el silencio interior?

A través de la auto-indagación ¿Quién Soy?

Nos preguntamos:

¿A quién surge esta emoción? A Mí.

¿Quién Soy? Y conectamos con el silencio.

o ¿Soy la emoción o lo que percibe la emoción?

Repitiendo el mantra 'Om, alargando el sonido, 

Oooooommmm..., Oooooommmm..., Oooooommmm...,

Recordando y afirmando nuestra naturaleza verdadera repitiendo afirmaciones de tipo:

No soy esta emoción, Soy pureza, paz luz y amor.

No soy esta emoción, Soy Conciencia pura, lucida y pacífica, etc..

4. Sentir cuidadosamente y plenamente la emoción. Sentimos plenamente la emoción, con curiosidad inocente para ser plenamente conscientes de ella y conocerla.

Podemos ayudar esto utilizando la siguiente pregunta:

¿Puedo sentirla plenamente?

¿Puedo amarla? Amar la tendencia que surge en nosotros tiene también el poder de disminuirla y calmarlas.

5. Atención alternativa. Para impedir la identificación y debilitar la emoción podemos 'jugar' con la atención. Alternativamente prestamos atención a la emoción (o cualquier tendencia) y al silencio interior. Al final sentimos la emoción arraigados lo más que sea posible al silencio.

6. Negar la  realidad y la veracidad de los pensamientos. Para desidentificar de los pensamientos nos ayuda dudar y negar la realidad y la veracidad de los pensamientos. Nos ayuda a darnos cuenta que los pensamientos no son una realidad contemplar las siguientes preguntas.

¿Esto que pienso es una realidad o solo pensamientos que suceden en mí?

¿Si no pienso sobre esto dónde existe?

O decir,'estos  son solo pensamientos'.

O cuestionar lo que pensamos a través de preguntas como por ejemplo: ¿Estos pensamientos es mi elección o suceden por sí mismos? ¿Son verdaderos realmente?

¿Porqué pienso en ello, o en el o ella, me ayuda esto de alguna manera vivir en paz, amor y felicidad? ¿Me benefician a mí o a él/ella de alguna manera?

7. Afirmar y enfocar en la naturaleza verdadera de la persona que nuestro ego quiere criticar, comentar o identificar para sentir placer.  Podemos impedir la identificación y la expresión de la emoción y los pensamientos afirmando que la persona que vemos es paz, luz y amor. Podemos conseguir esto repitiendo lo siguiente:

'Te mando paz, luz y amor, Eres paz, luz y amor y te deseo vivir con paz, amor, salud y felicidad'.
'Eres paz, luz y amor, soy paz, luz y amor, todo es paz, luz y amor, solo paz, luz y amor existen'.
Om paz, Om luz, Om Amor, Ooommm, Ooommm, Ooommm'.

8.  Hacer indagación enfocada y discriminativa para evitar la identificación, la seducción y disminuir la tendencia: Por atención plena y discernimiento separamos los pensamientos, imaginaciones e impresiones de la emoción, (o el impulso o cualquier tendencia) y nos damos cuenta de la proyección ilusoria de las emociones a los pensamientos o a las impresiones (las impresiones en realidad son también formas mentales creadas por y en nuestra mente).

9. Cambiar la impresión o la imagen mental para impedir la identificación y la seducción. Podemos impedir la proyección de la emoción en la imagen mental o en la impresión sensorial, la identificación y la seducción, creando en nuestra mente una imagen que no permite la proyección de la emoción en la imagen o la impresión sensorial. Por ejemplo, en vez de ver la apariencia de una mujer, creamos una imagen mental que la mujer aparece vieja o imaginamos el interior de su cuerpo y en vez de ver su apariencia vemos huesos, sangre, órganos, etc.

Podemos también contemplar en preguntas como estas: ¿Su pelo en si mismo tiene placer? ¿La imagen que veo en si misma tiene placer? ¿O es una proyección de mi lujuria al pelo o al pecho, etc.?

10. Soltar la emoción contemplando, en el hecho que todo final va a pasar. ¿Qué importancia tendrá esto después de unos días o 30 años? Nada. ¿Por qué no lo dejo ahora?

11. Soltar la emoción contemplando nuestra decisión y voluntad vivir libres de esto, utilizando las siguientes preguntas:

¿Quiero seguir con esto o ser LIBRE ?  ¿Prefiero esto o la PAZ? 

¿Cuándo quiero ser libre de esto? AHORA..

12. Finalmente reducir la emoción por la oración*, el mantra (Om, Om Hring Nama Shivay, Om Sri Durgaye Namaha, Om Krim Hrim, Srim,  Durgaye Namaha, Om Sri Jesucristo Namaha, etc.) y afirmaciones positivas.

Observación importante 

No es necesario utilizar en cada ocasión todos estos pasos sino todos aquellos que nos parecen más adecuados para conseguir los importantes objetivos del trabajo interior momento a momento.

Los importantes objetivos del trabajo interior momento a momento son:

1.      Estar atentos, vigilantes, auto-conscientes*, atestiguando todas las reacciones psicológicas, corporales y energéticas y acontecimientos exteriores. No dejar los sentidos conectar con lo que nuestro ego quiere.

2.      Notar los pensamientos y la tendencia egoísta que se expresa, (deseo, impulso, emoción negativa, imaginación lujuriosa, crítica, quejas, etc.).,

3.      Evitar la identificación y la seducción,

4.      Aceptar, no reaccionar a la tendencia egoísta,

5.      Conectar lo más que sea posible con el silencio,

6.      Sentir plenamente y cuidadosamente la tendencia, 

7.      Pacificarla y disolverla.

8.      Regresar a la calma mental- emocional y la experiencia consciente del silencio y la paz interior, mantenerla y profundizar lo más que sea posible en ella,

9.      Seguir atentos, vigilantes, auto-conscientes, atestiguando todas las reacciones psicológicas, corporales y energéticas y acontecimientos exteriores. 

10.  No dejar los sentidos conectar con lo que nuestro ego quiere.

       Comenario

   *Estar atentos, vigilantes, auto-conscientes: Para mantener el estado de vigilancia, atención plena y auto-consciencia (estar en conexión consciente con el silencio interior), profundizar en el silencio y purificar la mente nos ayuda repetir un mantra con el nombre de Dios ('Om Nama Shivay' por ejemplo), repetir afirmaciones de nuestra naturaleza verdadera ('Soy Brahman', Om Brahman', o 'Soy Conciencia, Om Conciencia', etc.).

Para estar más atentos y más conscientes, para evitar repetir mecánicamente el mantra o la afirmación y profundizar en el silencio, nos preguntamos de vez en cuando: ¿Soy este momento consciente del silencio interior? ¿Vivo aquí y ahora la paz interior? ¿Dónde está mi atención? ¿A Quién surge todo eso, Quién Soy?

La práctica en nuestro lugar

1. Meditación o auto-indagación (Vichara). Para desarrollar la capacidad de estar atentos y vigilantes, profundizar en el silencio interior y establecernos más y más en él, hace falta (es imprescindible) hacer diariamente (por la mañana y por la noche) en nuestro lugar meditación o auto-indagación (Vichara). Empezamos por un tiempo de 15 minutos por ejemplo y aumentamos el tiempo de la práctica gradualmente por 2-3 minutos cada mes hasta alcanzar meditar al menos 2 horas en cada sesión.

2. Introspección, investigación y disolución del ego. Para conocer y comprender más profundamente las tendencias egoístas y disolverlas hace falta hacer cada día una investigación y indagación más detallada y profunda en nuestra casa y utilizar métodos para disolverlas que no podemos aplicarlas en los momentos que se manifiestan.

3. Repaso de nuestra práctica durante el día. Al final del día es importante hacer también un repaso para evaluar nuestro esfuerzo durante el día, para ver que dificultades teníamos de mantener la vigilancia y la autoconsciencia, de evitar la identificación y pacificar las emociones, los pensamientos y las tendencias egoístas, así como que métodos nos ayudaron más a tener éxito en todo eso y también notar defectos y debilidades que nos impidieron a hacer con eficaz todo eso y tomar medidas para superarlos.

4. Para la purificación de la energía vital y la mente y el desarrollo integral de las cualidades sáttvicas se recomienda incluir una variedad de prácticas en el programa diario que hacemos por la mañana, la tarde y la noche en la casa. Unos de ellos son: Pranayama, relajación, repetición mental de mantra, cantar mantra y himnos devocionales, oración, afirmaciones positivas, asanas de Hatha Yoga, estudiar libros y reflexionar en sus ideas, ver videos con enseñanzas espirituales, hacer meditación caminando, comer de una manera meditativa (Hrani Yoga, -Omram Aivanhov).

Comentario

por la oración*: Una manera eficaz hacer de la oración para disolver el ego es el siguiente:

Interiorizamos nuestra atención dentro, nos conectamos con el silencio interior y decimos desde el corazón:

´Madre Divina (o Jesucristo, o Dios mio) elimina esta energía de la vergüenza y libera mi mente de la emoción de vergüenza e imprégname (o llena me) con paz, luz y amor´.

´Soy paz, luz y amor´, ´Soy luz, paz y amor´, ´Todo es paz, luz y amor ´, ´Ooommm, paz, luz y amor´, "Ooommm paz, luz y amor´, "Ooommm, Ooommm, Ooommm´. Mientras decimos estas palabras, profundizamos en el contacto con el espacio silencioso y la paz interior. Enfatizo que es muy importante sentir lo que decimos (no decir palabras vacías) y estar profundamente conscientes (lo más que sea posible en cada ocasión) del silencio interior.

Ensayos relacionados
La práctica de introspección y auto-análisis para la disolución del ego - Atman Nityananda

LA DISOLUCIÓN DEL EGO MOMENTO A MOMENTO