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Part 5

  Chapter 5 - Karma- Yoga 1.       Self-realization or achieving the Truth is difficult without cleansing your body internally. 2.       Therefore, one must follow a two-step process – (a) Kriya yoga, followed by (b) Meditation. 3.       The spiritual reality on getting down solidifies to become the sthul sharir by the time it reaches the mooladhar. The journey of descent passes through the six chakras, one-step at-a-time. From the formless to the body form, from the unaware to the awareness, from the nirakar (formless) to the newly born, from Shiva to Shakti. 4.       To reach the Real self, the upward climbing will have to start, from Shakti to Shiv, from mooladhar to Ajna chakra, from ignorance to knowledge, from darkness to light, from limitations to infinite. 5.       Kriya yoga is the process of cleansing by practicing a certain kind of pranayam that steadies the breath and the mind. The kriya involves entering the breath through the sushumna and putting pran vayu into apana vayu
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Part 4

  I am confused. The Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali and most scriptures of Hinduism say that the final stage of spiritual growth is Samadhi (a state of intense concentration achieved through meditation). A stage at which union with the divine is reached. So, when union is achieved – the individual identity is merged into the Divine, where one’s personality or individuality is lost. But the Divine has given us life and created a person, an identity for a particular role in the Universe. If we attempt to merge with the Divine, are we not shirking our role and defeating the purpose of our birth? Samadhi cannot be the final step. Meaning of life needs to go beyond Samadhi. After we access and merge with the vast Divine Consciousness, we have to bring this power back to one’s life and use this immense consciousness to do selfless service. So, my formula of spiritual life is CCMSSS. C ~ Clarity of purpose of existence C ~ Cleansing of body to prepare to accept the Divine energy M ~ Meditate to a
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Part 3

  The Gita and the Vedanta thought process leads from ignorance to knowledge. A knowledge that teaches escape from the cycles of births. Understanding of a journey that starts from the lower consciousness but leads to the highest consciousness and beyond for salvation. This intellectual understanding while extremely important, would still be only speculative; it could not have any spiritual value. Like reading a recipe without experiencing food. Thus, it is not by “thinking out” the entire reality, but by a change of consciousness that one can pass from the ignorance to the Knowledge. For direct experiencing of Reality, this knowledge will have to be converted into spiritual experience by intensive sadhana of Yoga and Tantra. Deep and intensive practice can lead to opening of chakras or inner consciousness. And on opening of chakras, the journey from lower consciousness to higher to supreme consciousness begins. This journey of evolution gives access to the Divine Intelligence or Divin
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Part 2

 We are always in activity, even in inactivity. Most of the voluntary activity that we do is determined by the mind. The mind generally runs towards sense gratification increasing attachment and greed. How can we make it work for service to others? Existence is the unfolding of the Divine plan. This process or flow is fuelled by Divine intelligence and energy. From the vast Universe to the cell, from the material world to the human race, from the smallest unit to the infinite, from the Big Bang to the present, the flow of the Divine Plan is intelligent, evolutionary and cyclic. This flow is not independent of us; we are a part of it, as participant not just observer. The Divine plan, flowing from millenniums, seeks to enhance the lives of those in existence. Being a part of the Divine, we need to plug into this plan, and thus it becomes our function and duty to work for the betterment of others. An analogy would be that the Divine flow is like a river and we are the small fish in that
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Part 1

 Every microsecond of our lives, we are in activity. There is action even in inaction. Breathing, thinking, working, motor activity everything is going on all the time. Activity cannot cease, for if it does, we shall cease to exist. Therefore, considering that action is inevitable, the question before us is twofold– what should be the purpose and intent of the actions and consequently, what the nature of activity is. People generally work for the satisfaction of the five senses, and getting some comfort from it, one gets attached and binding increases, wishing for repeat performances of that act. Not being successful, one grieves. This constant striving for fruits of action creates the unending cycle of happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain.  We increase our load of work mostly due to attachment and greed, and till the end of life the burden makes us over-worked and over exhausted. The mind is the ruler of the senses. Wherever the mind goes, the senses follow it. If the mind runs to
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