I am responsible for Sufferings and Peace in my life -1

Being Other Oriented vs Other oriented
All sufferings and pain that I experience in my life is part of Ignorance.
Ignorance is unconsciousness. Unconsciousness is part of cosmic ignorance that entered into us at the time of our evolution from animal to human beings.
When I say and experience that
• I have pain
• You are responsible for my pain and sorrow
• You have cheated me and created chaos in my life.
• You are responsible for my failure

The other oriented vs self oriented
Our mind is other oriented. This “other oriented” is the cause of all problems and sufferings in life. As we are searching Happiness and Peace outside our frame. It cannot be attained in life. This “other oriented” created a vicious circle in the mind that stops going within. This mind stops becoming aware and even if it becomes aware, it always becomes aware with reference to either pain or the event or person or conditions.

As long as one does not become self-oriented, one cannot become aware of oneself, deep within. Discovery cannot take place and ignorance will continue forever. That is why even after understanding intellectually, we deceive our intellect and start holding responsible people, events outside for our sufferings and pain and sorrows in life

Who is actually responsible? How –contemplate, Reflect and become aware
1. I live with you. You live in your own way and I live with my own. You are attracted with me. this attraction has come from unconsciousness. I never worked with this attraction. I never created this in my being, mind, or intellect. I consider it natural that has come from within me and I get attracted.
2. You are attracted to me but I am not. I am aware and consider this attraction as part of evolution in life. I had seen, experienced this attraction during the course of my evolution. I understand it and consider your attraction to me as part of your own evolution. But you feel as if I also attracted towards you. But this is not true. However, your conclusion came from I being the passive observer and Seer.
3. You move into this attraction and I make you aware of this attraction in life. However, you conclude again from your unconsciousness that I agreed and give consent to your attraction. Instead of meditating and reflecting upon this attraction, your unconscious mind is moving in attraction. There comes the social problem.
4. You are attracted and I create a moral wall around myself and tell you that nothing like attraction works in my life. Morally I am right, but spiritually I am wrong in life. Morally right because, I have followed the social laws and ignored to evolve you further. While ignoring, I have considerations of fear that society will not accept this attraction even when I am not for it. I do not want unconscious attraction to work in your life too. That is how spirituality becomes wrong in the society. That is why many people chosen the path to go into solitude and do not work in the society. Nevertheless, if they work, they have to face these challenges. These challenges becomes problem at social level even when spiritual awareness is never polluted.
Awakening is an answer
1. Awakening from attraction is an answer and only answer. If you are awakened, I become a good teacher, and if you are not awakened, you blame me, held me responsible for all your sorrows and sufferings in life.
2. When you are awakened, you become free and independent of attraction. This attraction is replaced by humility, peace, awareness and energy deep within. Because awakened mind moves in humility and peace, I become a great teacher. But when you are not awakened, I become a bad teacher and you hold me responsible for all your sufferings. How that is possible. Nevertheless, society makes this responsible to a person who has done nothing, who has never been attracted. I am simply moving in peace and awareness and in being passive, working upon you so that you get awakened. This passivity is again considered as problem as it becomes a strong tool for your mind to move into the unconsciousness and you become other oriented and held me responsible for your sufferings in life.
Examples in my life
3. I had many of these events in life but mentor says , “WALK ON” and transcend all of them. I asked one of my students to get married to one woman. After 10 years, woman came back to me and said,” How come you thought and allowed this guy(his husband) to marry me. He is stupid and made my life hell.” I listened to her talking for over an hour. When she calmed down, I asked her,” why did she come after 10 years and complaining against his (his husband) now. You did not come in the beginning of your married life as you were unconsciously enjoying physical relationship. You discovered that your husband is passionately busy in his work , and that too for you but you always wanted to pursue the life of cravings’ and passion. He changed from being a physical to mental person. He has become mature. But you consider this maturity as he lost all the attraction for you. You also experience that there is no emotional relationship as you are still pursuing your physical cravings from him. You are living consciously and he has started living consciously now and contemplates that life is much more than physical relationship. He knows that existence stands on integration of physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual layers but you are still a physical person and never thinks and moves beyond it. How long you think you will continue to have physical relationship with him. When you will have no strength, still, you will want to live with excitements by drugs and other medications. You sit at home and do nothing except daily works of cooking and washing and other physical works. Your consciousness is very involved into body and does not want to come out of it. It is imprisoned in the body. The Sanskrit name of animal is “pashu” meaning imprisoned. How long you will remain animal, as you have already seen the physical relationship now for over 10 years. You need to move on, evolve to being an emotional and mental person so that relationship will and can be given a new , fresh meaning.” She was listening to me patiently and but tears have started coming down from her eyes. She was drying up her tears but constantly looking into my eyes. I further said to her,” there is a choice with you – to live with him but start evolving from today. Do whatever you want to do for your evolution but evolve into emotional dn mental person that always keeps an eye on the progress. Progress is change. Change means rising above the physical consciousness. Set your goal to change until you discover the love for him. Change until you feel attraction for him again but beyond physical. Change until you discover peace and harmony within you. Change until you discover that you have found new meaning to life. This is yoga and spirituality in life.” After few months , she came back again . I saw smile on her face. She said to me ,” I was totally unconsciousness about me and my husband when I came to you. Now when I succeeded in dropping my unconsciousness even a bit, I discovered that my husband is doing his best in life not only for me but also for him. He is a fine person with caring heart and sharp head. He is the same but my perception has changed about me only because I set a goal to change in my life as told by you.” They both wanted to touch my feet but I held them in my arms. They both hugged me and tears started flowing out of their eyes. I said to them, “ this is just the beginning , you both now work and start meditation until you discover that you are both evolving together and there is nothing that causes any concern against each other.” They looked at me and left the house with peace and harmony. This couple lives in India. they have two beautiful kids. They have beautiful home and ever increasing wealth. They enjoy. Anyhow, they have also not forgotten me as they both talk to me every week for an hour as they feel that it evolves them both. I am aware they are still attracted to me as I am still moving in the same way I was moving towards them over 10 years ago. What relationship you name between them and me. Did I change? But they claim that I did not change but they are evolving. Everything changes in life with a touch of spiritual consciousness.

To be continued …………………………………………………….

Suffering and Authentic Yoga –1
Why am I suffering in life? Did we ask this question consciously or happy with answers offered by the society, culture, religion and science.
Suffering and Authentic Yoga –2
If I continue to ask this question to society, relations, friends, books, scriptures, science, suffering will continue to exist in life.

Suffering and Authentic Yoga –3
If I always seek solutions of the problems of my life from the Outer Space – world, society, religion, science, money, profession, etc. I will always be defeated and will never be happy in my life.

Suffering and Authentic Yoga –4
This Seeking and Asking solutions of the problems must stop , what Authentic Yoga says , “Parang Chetna” or outward moving mind. This mind will never be able to find any answer of existential problems outside.

Suffering and Authentic Yoga –5
The very Seeker of the Solution is The Problem. Mind is the Problem. This is the barrier and the helper. If mind is the barrier – nothing and none in this world can ever help you to solve miseries of your life, even if a person /guru is enlightened one, if you are a billionaire, if you are most powerful person in the world.

Suffering and Authentic Yoga –6
Mind is the creator of all problems and miseries. Mind is seeker of solutions. Mind claims that it knows .This is ignorance.

Suffering and Authentic Yoga -7
Mind is the creator of all problems and miseries. Mind is seeker of solutions. Mind claims that it knows .This is ignorance. Mind had been conditioned by the external world —to Seek, To expect, to crave, to ask and to solve. However, none of them is the faculty of mind, as mind is only an instrument and not the master.
To become aware of this truth is the beginning to make this Mind a helper, guide
Suffering and Authentic Yoga -8
How to make this mind a helper? By asking the Mind to study the mind itself.
Let the Mind study itself in present and consciously here and now. You are reading- ask yourself – who is the reader? Whom is the seeker within? Is the reading bringing knowledge or liberation?
What is this mind? Why mind is after all? What mind says about YOU and not the world?
Suffering and Authentic Yoga -9
To know the mind first as an instrument is the beginning. Body is gross while mind is subtle. I am not the Mind and nor Mind is Me. Nevertheless, I possess this mind. Become aware that you are the possessor of this Mind. In this field of awareness, ask,” if mind is the instrument and I am not the mind, then who is this “I” deep within and beyond mind.” Who Am I?
Suffering and Authentic Yoga -10
Let YOU ask this question,” Who Am I.?” while taking the mind deep within. Let no thought interfere in asking. Let awareness take this question beyond all past, memory, and conditionings. Let me know what happens : what answer you get in this state?
Suffering and Authentic Yoga -11
I suffer due to this mind, which claims, as helper but never helps. This claims that it guides but always misguides. If mind is so intelligent in understanding the problem, then your mind should never enter into stress, sufferings, and problems at all. If mind knows where the problem is, then mind must solve it here and now.
The knowing of this mind, its nature, its movements, and its transformation is authentic yoga and the solutions of all problems and sufferings of life.

To be continued

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-1

Meditation is a state of consciousness. This consciousness is independent of Body, Breath, Brain, Mind, Emotions, and Ego.  Learn meditation from Acharya Girish Jha

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-2

What do you want – To allow meditation to embrace your entire life or to allow your life embrace meditation? The first is possible and second not possible.

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-3

To transcend the mind is to be in meditation as if darkness disappears the moment there is light. Light is not absence of darkness but darkness is the absence of light.

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-4

You do make efforts with darkness to disappear but your effort is allow lightness to manifest is termed as Sadhana (spiritual practices)

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-5

But who does meditation – your body, mind, intellect, ego, emotions or anything else- none of them can take one to meditation. However, each of them are required like car to take you to home but car does not enter into the home.

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-6

Only YOU – beyond body, breath, mind, emotion, ego enters into meditation. This YOU is always in meditation. Only we need to become aware of this truth.

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-7

As we never think of garbage after throwing it, we also never identify with Body, Breath and Mind , once meditative state is attained.

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-8

Concentration is an effort while meditation is effortless like swimming is concentration and floating is meditation. To know and become aware that YOU are floating into consciousness is meditation.

Live, Move and Act in Meditation-9

Sitting in a steady posture may be helpful in meditation but if mind does not awaken to body as a barrier to meditation even if one sits for hours together, will not help.

The edited version of the article was published in Weekly NJ newspaper last year. Even though I was not happy with editing as it left many details, article throws some light about its journey

By ACHARYA GIRISH JHA, Mentor and Guru

www.shreyasyoga.com

www.yogameditationonline.com

Life is in flux. How can one write a profile? But one can point out what did manifest, what is manifesting and what would probably manifest. I am a humble student of yoga, science and spiritu¬ality. Research is my passion, both experimental and experiential. Exploring human consciousness is my habit. Self giving at anytime and anywhere is now my living. I began the search for knowledge and personal identity about 30 years ago under the tutelage of a Himalayan mentor, which incorpo¬rated the study of a traditional master-disciple system with physics, chemistry, biology, psychol¬ogy, physiology and other modern sciences.

I was brought up in a traditional, highly religious Brahmin family. At 18, I left all religious studies and became highly aggressive and wanted to join the Army, failing to do so due to my mother resistance. Soon I became very depressed and stressed, and did not find the answer in modern science. At 20, I left home in search of myself – learning Tantra, Vedanta, Judaism, Buddhism, and Jainism under many mentors. I still did not find peace and continued my search. At 28, I dis¬covered my mentor in the Himalayan Mountains. Under his tutelage, I remember experiencing won¬derful changes – I needed only one hour’s sleep or no sleep at all, no food for days together, and the feeling of joy, peace love, and bliss. I had nothing, no possessions, no money. I lived on three dol¬lars a month for more than 3 years. My teacher taught me to discover truth in silence. That silence still pervades all around me at all time. A new paradigm of living took birth.

Having discovered my real self, I went on to work for the government of India for 25 years, engaging in man¬agement, research, train¬ing, education, adminis¬tration, organizing seminars and conferences, and speaking to different platforms. I feel that my purpose here in the U.S. is to help others achieve hu¬man excel¬lence – the reality for modern man beyond all dogmas, beliefs and religions, what makes him live, move and act in the pure consciousness that dwells in every animate and inanimate being.

Yoga represents a philosophy comprehensive enough to embrace knowledge in its entirety — everything that was, is and must be. Yoga is the master of all sciences. By integrating the material and transcendental divine, yoga enables one to lead a balanced life with the optimum level of physical, mental and spiritual well being. Yoga is also the greatest and most difficult of all the arts. It is the discipline in life of coming in conscious contact with the divine or ultimate consciousness — the source. Yoga calls for self-conscious human beings to understand its philosophy, and practice it as a systematic path to experiencing a new level of consciousness that in the end results in enlightenment.

History of yoga in India

The birth of human civilization took place in the Indus Valley. This Sindhu-Sarswat tradition dates back to 5000 B.C. The oldest text Rig-Veda is considered to be written around 3100 BC. Here’s a quote on yoga from this ancient text: “When a yogi has control on his five organs of action, five organs of perception and mind through the power of yoga, in this way when he does meditation, then he sees God” – (Rig Veda Mantra I, Sukta 93, Mandal 9). Around 900 ancient texts followed the Rig-Veda to about 300 AD — in which references about the philosophy, practices of yoga were explained in detail. These texts are classified into two groups — Shruti and Smriti. Together these texts documented the continuation of the yoga tradition during a period of over 5000 years.

The following Shruti texts have many references of philosophy and practices of yoga:

Four Vedas — namely Rig Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sam-Veda and Atharva-Veda;

Aryankas (texts written perhaps in forests by masters) — especially Aiterya and Shankhayana;

Brahman Granthas, and Upanishads.

The following Smriti texts refer about Yoga practices : Dharma Shasta, Mahakavyas (the Epics; they include Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Bhagvad Gita, the most famous part of Mahab¬harata has 30 million copies printed in over 30 languages of the world. Then there were eighteen Puranas (fables or writings), and about a hundred Sutras (proverbs or aphorisms) – all these dealt with yoga.

These texts dealing with yoga can be sub-categorized into nine catagories — six are known as followers of Vedic principles while remaining three are non-followers, namely Jainism, Bud¬dhism, and Charvaka. In addition, many great masters during the period beginning from 700 AD until present time have immensely contributed and written very authentic texts on Yoga. Kabir, Rai Das, Meera, Sahajo Bai, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Mother, Telanga Swami, Swami Rama, Osho, Mahrashi Raman are few of many names who influenced the entire humanity through the science of yoga.

Yoga in America

Pioneers like Swami Vivekananda in 1893, Mastmuni in 1919, Paramhamsa Yoagnanda in 1920, Indra Devi (Russian Born) in 1947, and Maharshi Mahesh Yogi in 1960 are a few of many who popularized yoga in different forms and styles in America and awakened the American con¬science to think beyond its own set of life para¬digms of life. Swami Vivekananda’s 1893 speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago marked the beginning of American interest in In¬dian, particularly yoga. The first ever yoga center was established by two monks of Swami Vive¬kananda, known as Vedanta Society of Chicago. Today, according to one estimate over 17 million Americans practice yoga 2-3 times weekly. In fact, yoga has become a $20 billion dollar industry and is increasing at the rate of 30% annually.

Yoga: A science of making a better person

After a lecture I gave in Indonesia, I was asked “I am a Christian… can I practice yoga?” I had answered, “If you are a Christian and practice yoga, you become a better Christian.” Yoga is a path to self-improvement. If you are a teacher and practice yoga, become a better teacher. If you are a husband, practice yoga and become a better husband.” Yoga helps one discover the real self (which dwells within every human being) and attain peace, harmony, love, delight and wisdom. And when one discovers these attributes, one evolves consciously – dropping all inhibitions and awakening inherent latent traits and talents, besides attaining physical, mental and emotional well being. That is why yoga is also termed as a way of life that harmonizes every layer of human existence — body, life and mind

“When a yogi has control on his five organs of action, five organs of perception and mind through the power of yoga, in this way when he does meditation, then he sees God” RIG VEDA (MANTRA I,

SUKTA 93 MANDAL 9)

“Yoga helps one discover the real self (which dwells within every human being) and attain peace,

Harmony, love, delight and wisdom.”

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