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 towards sense gratification, then all senses will get activated for want or greed of various sounds, touch, beauty, taste and smell. If the mind wants to go towards service to others, then the indriyas (senses) will also start activating themselves on that path.

As the army becomes victorious when the king is captured, similarly, if the mind is controlled, all indriyas will follow suit. As the sun is invisible if covered by clouds, but can be visible as soon as the clouds have passed, similarly the mind which is covered by passions, become clear as soon as passion has left. As the light of the sun is always present in spite of the clouds, similarly the true knowledge in the mind is always present, one just needs to unveil the curtains of “false concepts or knowledge” that has sullied the mind.


So what is true knowledge and how does one act ?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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
Read more

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
Read more

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
Read more