Video - The four dimensions of our Life! 12-8-23

 https://atmannityananda.org/

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)

Building Emotional Awareness - Positive Psychology

Building Emotional Awareness

A way to explore, know and become familiar with your emotions

By Seph Fontane Pennock και του Hugo Alberts / Positive Psychology Toolkit.

This exercise invites you to become aware of your emotions. It’s your chance to really get to know your emotions. By practicing emotional awareness in this way, you can build your emotional intelligence.

Step 1: Emotional awareness meditation script

1. Find a comfortable seated position. Either sitting on a cushion on the floor, or in a chair. Allow your spine to be straight and long, and let your shoulders drop. Gently close your eyes, or, if you’d prefer, simply gaze down in front of you with a soft focus.

2. As you sit here, notice where your body is making contact: your feet touching the floor, perhaps your back on the ground, your sit bones on a chair...

3. Notice your breath. For the next five or so breaths, follow each inhale and exhale, feeling or imagining the breath flowing into and out of the body.

4. Now, shift your awareness from your breath to your body, and begin to scan through the body slowly from

head to toe, observing any feelings or emotions that are present.

5. You might detect numerous feelings or emotions throughout the body. For the purpose of this exercise, choose

one feeling or emotion to focus on for now.

6. Notice where in your body this emotion located... so what part of the body is holding this feeling?

7. How big or small is the feeling?

8. Where are its edges? Are these edges sharp or soft?

9. Does the feeling have a color? And if so, is the color changing or remaining the same?

10. Is the feeling heavy, or light?

11. Is the feeling moving, or still?

12. Is the feeling hard or soft? Is it rough or smooth? If I could touch this feeling with my hand, what would its texture be like?

13. Now, if you were to give a name to this feeling or emotion, what would it be? Can you identify it? Can you give it a label?

14. If a name for this feeling doesn’t come to mind, that’s OK. Be kind to yourself, and continue to observe the feeling in the body with curiosity and without judgment, until the nature of this emotion becomes clearer to you.

15. Continue to get to know this emotion for another five or so minutes. When you feel that you have reached a level of comfort with and understanding of this feeling, gently open your eyes and bring your attention back to the room you are in.

Step 2: Reflection

In the space below, write about your experience in Step 1 in as much detail as possible. Writing about your experience of this emotion will enhance your understanding and familiarity with it.