Table of Contents

Back Cover
Foreword
Preface
What Is Yoga?
Who Really Is a Yogi?
Who Needs a Guru?
The Path of Knowledge
The Integral Path
How to Meditate
Our Mind and Self-Education
Thoughts to Ponder
Just for Today
The Mystique of Chants
Knowledge through Enquiry
Criterion and Inner
Guiding Values
What Is Culture?
How to Cope with Human Nature
The Buddha’s Way
Yoga and Christianity
Yoga, God and Religion
The Play of the Three Gunas
Ruminations
Six Systems of Indian Philosophy
Thoughts for the Month–I to XV Simple Rules to Remember
Anecdotes I Anecdotes II Some Reminiscences
APPENDIX:
Gayatri Mantra
An Interview with Swami Shivapremananda By Jane Sill
Setting up Your Own Yoga Session By Ronald Hutchinson
Who Is a Swami?
What Is Prana?
Practice of Meditation (Transcription of a Tape)
Stress Management
Know Thyself By John-Paul II
A Window of Yoga in Argentina
By Ana Hosmann de Sarasin
By Oscar Cabos
By Soloman Birman
By Mercedes von Pieschel
How I Came to Yoga
By Renate Rikke Maria Gradenwitz
A Window of Yoga in Uruguay
By Mario Caffera
Yoga in Uruguay II
By Humberto Cairoli
Yoga in Uruguay III
By Sofa Aguiar
Yoga in Uruguay IV
By Olga Gutierrez
A Window of Yoga in Chile
By Anita Palma
Yoga in Chile II
By Hector Calderon
Yoga in Chile III
By Lucila Broughton
About the Author:
Swami Shivapremananda
 Back Cover
Swami Shivapremananda was born in India on 26th July, 1925. After
his studies at the St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta [now Kolkata]
University, he chose the vocation of spiritual ministry in 1945 and
entered the Ashram [The Divine Life Society] of Swami Sivananda in
Rishikesh at the foothills of the Himalayas, where he stayed till 1961.
He studied various branches of yoga, comparative religions and
philosophies while at the Ashram. He was the editor of The Divine
Life and Wisdom Light monthly magazines besides a few other
publications published from there. He was a trustee of The Divine
Life Trust Society.
In 1961, urged by Swami Sivananda, he went to Europe and the
U.S.A. to share his knowledge. He has since lived in the U.S.A.,
Europe and South America and founded and guided yoga centres in
many countries.
At present, Swamiji is the president and rector of the Sivananda Yoga
Vedanta Centres in Buenos Aires [Argentina], Montevideo [Uruguay]
and Santiago [Chile].
Swamiji is the author of eleven books on yoga, philosophy and
psychology in Spanish. His book in English, Yoga for Stress Relief,
has been translated and published in six other European languages. He
has lectured in many universities of Europe and America.
 Foreword
The book An Insight into Yoga is authored by H.H. Revered Sri
Swami Shivapremanandaji who has his field of activity in Yoga
(theory as well as practical classes) and philosophical lecturing in
three South American capital cities, namely, Buenos Aires in
Argentina, and Montevideo in Uruguay, both on the South American
east coast, and the third in Santiago de Chile, the capital city of the
country, on the west coast. He has been doing this Yoga-Vedanta
work for over the past 43 years since the year 1962. His work has
immensely benefited thousands of earnest seekers who are eager to
acquire the knowledge of the science of Yoga as well as its
philosophy, both theory and practice. Yoga and Vedanta are highly
venerated, since they are regarded as a priceless and precious spiritual
gift given to the modern world by ancient India’s great Yoga adepts
and philosophers of a long bygone and hoary era.
The contents of the book cover a wide-range of the area of
knowledge, dealing with more than 115 topics. In its encyclopaedic
all-comprehensiveness the book is a mini-library in itself.
I wish this work the widest possible circulation so that it brings
immense benefit to the reading public.
May the Divine Grace of God and the sacred benedictions of Holy
Master, the late H.H. Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj be upon this
book in their abundance! My fullest blessings are upon this book as
well as its readers.
Swami Chidananda
President
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
Rama Navami
17th April, 2005
 Preface
An Insight into Yoga is a collection of interrelated articles which
formed the basis of my courses on the various aspects of yoga and
other related philosophical and psychological subjects. They were
given at seminars held in Britain and Ireland, and New York,
Antwerp, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Santiago de Chile, from
1962 to 2004.
Chapter I deals with philosophical enquiries as to the search for truth,
the spirit of yoga without being in conflict with religion, and the
definition of a yogi and a guru. Chapter II speaks on the philosophy
and practice of Gyana Yoga or Vedanta, in the light of the teachings
of the Upanishads. Chapter III covers the first steps in Raja Yoga,
such as the ethical values of yama and niyama. Chapter IV
extensively treats of the theory and practice of meditation. Chapter V
discusses the nature of the mind and its control through self-
education, and various criteria for inner balance. Chapter VI gives
some thoughts to ponder, and Chapter VII some resolves to make.
Chapter VIII speaks on chants. Chapter IX deals on knowledge
through enquiry and Chapter X covers the subject of criterion and
inner balance. Chapter XI gives some guiding values of peace and
liberty. Chapter XII is on the meaning of culture. Chapter XIII is on
the problems of human nature. Chapter XIV is on the Buddha’s
teachings. Chapter XV deals on Yoga and Christianity. Chapter XVI
is on yoga, God and religion. Chapter XVII is on the three gunas or
qualities of nature. Chapter XVIII ruminates on many themes in two
parts. Chapter XIX is on the six systems of Indian philosophy.
Chapter XX presents some thoughts for the month. Chapter XXI
relates some anecdotes in two parts.
The Appendix is divided into several parts: the first on the detailed
explanation of the Gayatri mantra, the second on two interviews with
me by Jane Sill, the present editor of the Yoga and Health monthly
magazine, published in the United Kingdom, and the second being by
her predecessor, the late Ronald Hutchinson, when it was called Yoga
Today. I consider both of them personal friends sharing similar ideals.
There is a transcription of a tape on meditation conducted by me at a
seminar in England, and of a lecture on stress management given in
London. Following these, there is an article on Yoga in Argentina by
Ana Hosmann de Sarasin and by three other authors. The article on
How I Came to Yoga by Renate Rikke Gradenwitz speaks on the
same subject. Yoga in Uruguay is described by Mario Caffera,
Humberto Cairoli, Sofia Aguiar and Olga Gutierrez. The main article
on Yoga in Chile is written by the late Anita Palma, which is followed
by those of Hector Calderon and Lucila Broughton. An encyclical of
Pope John-Paul II, under the title Know Thyself, makes a beautiful
presentation of the spirit of Christianity and religion as such, and
respect for other cultural traditions.

THE AUTHOR
 SWAMI SHIVAPREMANANDA
The concluding part of the Appendix describes the formation of the
Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centres in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and
Santiago de Chile by different authors, some of them being quite
nostalgic, and two of them having passed away, Ulrich Hartschuh and
Anita Palma.
The reiteration of some of the themes could not be avoided, as they
were needed under different contexts.
I wish to express my gratitude to H.H. Revered Sri Swami
Chidanandaji Maharaj for writing a Foreword to this book. His
blessings are always very precious to me as the seniormost living
Gurubhai and as I have known him to be the closest disciple of
Gurudev H.H. Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.
I also wish to give my grateful thanks to Sri Kaviraj Nayak for his
editorial and proof-reading assistance, and to Sri Swami
Narasimhuluji for the final revision of the book.
Buddha Purnima
23rd May, 2005
Rishikesh, Uttaranchal
Swami Shivapremananda
 Chapter One
WHAT IS YOGA
SEARCH FOR TRUTH
In Latin truth is veritas, or that which is determined by verification.
The purpose of verification is to be sure about something, a primary
human need for security. In Sanskrit truth is satya. Its root sat means
existence, that of an unchanging reality behind changing forms of
expression. The purpose of sat is also to give security by its principle
of constancy and, in addition, to motivate the search for a series of
inner truths, such as the existence of the physical body being possible
not merely by sustenance through food, a reality in itself, but by the
possibility of assimilation through the biochemical aspect of the
prana, the vital principle, which itself is sustained by a spiritual
presence, the atma, giving life to the body.
To say that the body or the material world is unreal is to indulge in
hypocrisy. The truth is that the grosser reality of the body is
dependent on the subtler reality of the atma, and a parallel truth is also
that the subtler reality of the atma needs the grosser reality of the
body to express itself, not for its existence, but to say that the atma is
a greater reality.
Here arises the question of truth as veritas. A scientific verification of
an energy form as the basis of an element is possible. Nothing can
exist without energy, the cosmic shakti. Behind this macrocosmic
force, the Purusha, the cosmic spirit, gives expression to life by its
presence, for example, in a microcosmic form such as the body as its
atma or soul, and once this subtle entity passes out of it, no
measurable form of energy can revive it. Thus, the temporary
existence of a subtle spiritual presence within a living body is self-
evident. The Buddhists do not recognise the soul but in effect,
disregarding the semantic interpretation, do so by presupposing a
deathless, subtle entity which survives the death of the body and
reincarnates again.

That which is derived from an underlying spiritual reality. sat, giving

a conceptual form to a fact, as apart from an illusion which gives a
distorted meaning to a fact, is called satya. The much-misunderstood
theory of maya is not meant to deny the empirical reality of the life
around but helps to differentiate the relevance of reality and illusion
as per our attitude towards it. A subtle reality is hidden behind a series
of illusions created by our infatuation and expectation, pride and
prejudice, fear and insecurity. The purpose of truth is to remove these
layers of illusion by a discerning search for reality.
The most ugly thing about truth to avoid is the scripture-thumping,
dogmatic passion for truth.
NATURE OF TRUTH
There are two levels of reality, the empirical and what does an
empirical fact signify, both being deeply interrelated. For example:
the inner security of a home, in a loving relationship, within the outer
security of the possession of a house, is the true purpose of a
household. The fact of a title to a property is an empirical reality, its
inner truth being the spiritual satisfaction the owner experiences.
If the spirit behind the letter of a law, or the intention behind
assessing and expressing a fact is not in consonance, there is
distortion of truth.
It is easy to know an empirical truth, and its purpose is always to
serve a common need, such as the denominating factor of temperature
measured by a thermometer. However, the experience of an empirical
truth is plastic, someone feeling warmer or colder than someone else.
In the case of a subtler experience, such as a good or a bad action, the
determining factors being the good through benefit and the bad by
harm, there are many shades as to what it means individually and
collectively.
It is because an empirically verifiable truth does not give us a deeper
satisfaction, we seek higher levels of truth. Through a series of
dreams we seek a subtler truth, not to escape a hard reality, but to
expand its meaning, its relevance, in the fathomless depth of our
conscience, although interacting in a dimensional world.
The Spanish philosopher George Santayana said, "Truth is a dream, if
my dream is true." It means that, apart from the verification of a fact,
a spiritual search for the meaning of life, of the universe around and
our relevance to it, an infinite process in itself, is the higher purpose
of truth.
We are confronted with two basic facts: our human nature with which
we are dissatisfied and our inner longing to be happier, which is
possible only by lessening the degree of our imperfection. Behind the
public truth of a person known by what he does, the promises he
keeps, there is a private truth in the state of his mind, in which he
lives most of the time and which is known only to himself. Behind
this private truth, there is another hidden layer of a deeper truth,
unknown even to himself and which he can only know by a lot of
soul-searching.
The public truth is that which is expressed or verifiable by others, the
private truth is that which is experienced or verifiable by oneself, and
the unknown, inner truth is sat or that which is longed for spiritually.
Sat is a series of dreams meant to be realised, not just to nurse in our
fantasy, but to deepen and widen the dimension of the known, of our
life, in the process of the search for the unknown.
RELATIVITY OF TRUTH
The saying of Andre Malreaux, the French writer, "the truth of a
person is in the first place what he hides" indicates that one is
ashamed of an unpleasant truth due to a regard for a wholesome truth,
as to what one should be. It shows therelationship between a private
truth and sat, or the imperfect state of the I and its dormant spiritual
longing.
The German philosopher Gotthold Lessing said that if God had 'truth'
in one hand and the 'search for truth' in the other, he would ask for the
gift for the 'search for truth' because it gives "an infinite possibility for
hypotheses." The search for truth opens up the spiritual fountain of
life, its meaning, its values, for a mind without curiosity is like a dead
wood, a life without purpose is like a dried-up fountain.
The yogic saying "Truth is self-evident; it does not need
mystification" is very true. We hide our ignorance behind mystery,
our vanity behind transcendentalism. The Western saying that
"politics is an art of the possible and philosophy an art of the
impossible" is rather silly, because why should one try for something
after pre-empting the possibility of its realisation? The saying that
"truth is only relative" is also not quite true, because truth in order to
give individual security must have a permanent consistency and an
unchangeable constancy, and in order to give collective security must
have a universal character.
It is the perception of truth by individuals under different
circumstances that is relative, due to the difference in the manner and
experience of cognition. For example: We arrive at a common
agreement as to the measurement of one metre. Multiplying it by one
thousand makes the distance of one kilometre. There cannot be two
truths about it because its determination is universal, but there can be
several opinions formed by individual experience of the distance,
such as for a healthy young man it is not a long walk but for a sickly
old man it is a long way to go. The difference does not alter the truth
of the distance, and what is relative is the experience of it.
Truth is neither hard, nor soft. It feels hard and hurts because our ego
does not permit us to recognise and accept an unpleasant reality, or
the malicious way we are hit with it bythose who use truth as a
weapon to hurt us. Like God truth is impartial. Like a mirror truth
hides nothing but reflects as things are, beautiful or ugly, good or bad.
Like a mirror truth does not judge and is synonymous with honesty.
Like God truth embraces all, the virtuous and the sinner, and like rain
it washes all, the virtuous of the pride of his virtue and the sinner the
impurity of his error. Truth is the light that is hidden by the dark
shades of vanity and selfishness in our heart.
CRITERIA OF TRUTH
Unity is the spirit of truth and division of untruth. Promoting
individual and collective welfare is the purpose of truth, whereas that
which conduces to unhappiness and harm is untruth. Harmony and
peace are the two basic ideals of truth, and that is why truth is called
beauty because beauty means harmony, and harmony is that which
gives peace. When a bad deed of a person is called an ugly truth, it
means that it ought not to be so, although it is so.
Truth and beauty are interrelated, because beauty is a balance of lines
and contours blending into each other and uniting into a whole. The
Italian writer, Umberto Eco, said that "the wholeness or integrity of a
form (or a work) is called perfection." Ugliness is that which is
unfinished or imperfect. Perfection is the first principle of beauty,
either of a concept or a form, a poem or a painting, a sculpture or an
architecture, of a work well done. The Bhagavad Gita says yogah
karmasu kausalam, yoga is efficiency in action. The second principle
is the balance of proportion or consonance, such as a room is said to
be well constructed when one, sitting inside, is not aware of its walls.
The third is clarity or light refracting into colours and shades, giving
depth and dimension to what is created.
Depth and peace are synonymous, just as superficiality and lack of
peace. Life is beautiful if there is depth of insight, together with
harmony, in its relatedness. Beauty is harmoniousbecause its
expressiveness unites the beholder with the beholden. Ugliness
freezes out the beholder, denying the togetherness, the plasticity of
one's spirit.
The Vedic saying "Truth is one, spoken of variously" means that truth
is universal and that many truths are united by the universality of their
pertinence. When it is said that truth is one, it is hard to disregard how
much blood has been shed in the name of one God, with scripturally-
mandated disapproval of polytheism and idolatry. The relevancy of
any singular entity is, indeed, tied down to doctrinal conformity
requiring one's subjugation to it.
To say that all religions started well and their followers spoiled them
later is to go against the evidence of the built-in imperfection of man
in his search for security and identity, as he revealed himself in the
pages of his scriptures, in the different stages of his evolution.
"Truth is one; paths are many" is a noble saying, evoking tolerance
and upholding the autonomy of the human spirit, but there is no
guarantee that all paths supposedly leading to truth will lead to it. The
freedom to search for oneself, like a bee drawing honey from many
flowers, while maintaining the integrity of one's search, is the
universal spirit of truth.
The Vedic saying "Truth alone is victorious, not untruth," adopted as
a worthy motto in the national emblem of India, is an inspiring and
encouraging ideal, but not necessarily true. Sometimes truth is
victorious and sometimes not when untruth rules roughshod. If
striving for the unity of India, as Mahatma Gandhi did, is an ideal
truth to strive for, which truly it was and still is, he did not succeed.
Religious animosity prevailed, over a million died and untruth won.
One day the truth of religious unity may make division on the basis of
religion irrelevant, but meanwhile who can deny the immense
suffering visited upon the people and the hollowness of the claim that
truth alone is victorious? Any ideal needs constant striving and
nursing,vigilance and protection. By itself truth does not grace the
human nature.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
We may use five guiding principles in our understanding of truth:
1. That which can be verified under different circumstances without
losing its basic permanent character, in order to have security.
2. An effort to widen and deepen our experience of such values that
can make life happier and more meaningful.
3. That which represents freedom of conscience, freedom from any
theocratic or ideological servitude or any kind of dogmatism, and
from ignorance, fear and passion.
4. To promote collective welfare by the mutual identity of our good,
fairness and justice, by knowledge not mystery, by constructive co-
operation not confrontation of selfish interests.
5. To bring a spiritual fulfilment to the individual and harmony and
amity to society.
Whereas denying a fact is a clear breach of truth, exaggerating,
underrating, hiding and distorting are its four contradictions. We
underrate out of prejudice and overrate due to infatuation. We lie
because of three basic reasons: fear, selfishness and vanity. Children
lie due to the fear of punishment and adults due to the fear of shame
Children lie for not wanting to share with other children what they
like to keep for themselves, just as some adults do not like to fully pay
their share of income-tax. Children and adults lie in order to enhance
their self-importance.
Practice of truth does not merely mean not to lie, boast, conceal,
misrepresent or depreciate. It also means to have a sense of duty, self-
respect and obligation; trustworthiness, loyalty and responsibility;
moral courage, commitment andconsistency. It means to be
reasonable, fair-minded and considerate. Practice of truth covers the
whole gamut of ethics. It is, indeed, a lifelong process, a lifelong
effort.
As truth is infinite, no one can have the last word about it. No religion
has an exclusive authority to represent truth. Untruth is behind the
claim of truth which rejects investigation. Untruth is behind all beliefs
and ideologies that do not tolerate the plurality of opinion. A truth
expressed in a scripture is an experience of its author that came to him
as a revelation in his search for wisdom, and which continues to
endure due to its collective relevance. Its main purpose is to serve and
enlighten humanity.
The Buddha said that he was not teaching truth but about truth. The
spirit of yoga is expressed in the saying "a revealed truth is only a part
of the truth," for there is a lot to be learned by the individual in his
search, a long way to go in the limitless land of self-discovery.
MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
Our lives are shaped by two basic forces. One is the need to preserve
the vehicle of consciousness, the physical body conditioned by its
primordial instincts, or the force of self-preservation. The other is the
need to be fulfilled through a sense of purpose, meaning, relatedness
in various roles, a sense of belonging, or the force of self-extension, a
corollary to self-preservation.
When the mind is less cultivated, life functions through physical
instincts, and motivation is directly related to their fulfilment by
material incentive and security, and the exercise of the power of one's
ego over weaker egos, or by submission to stronger egos. However, as
material security does not necessarily create self-confidence, there
remains the anxiety of not having enough or losing what one has. As
ego-sensation in relationship, characterised by self-interest and
possessiveness,
does not give the fulfilment one longs for, it is difficult to get over the
feeling of so many empty pockets in life.
It is these empty pockets or insecurities that conceive philosophy and
religion. Life is woven around myths because people seem to need
them for their ever-shifting sentimental identity and emotional
release, philosophical or religious direction to a good, ethical life not
being enough. We like to live in light and shadow, sometimes to feel
free under the sun and see ourselves as we are and things as they are,
but mostly we soak in the moods of our elongated egos and want to be
comforted in the shadows of the make-belief.
We need superstars like Krishna and Jesus, not as they really were on
this earth but in our own idealised versions, in order to seek help and
be comforted when buffeted by the vagaries and afflictions of life and
failed illusions of our own making.
There are two basic purposes of philosophy. One is to improve the
quality of motivation, so that there is a better capacity to relate,
reconstruct and improve self-expression in conduct, action, evaluation
of goals and make effort for their realisation. The other is to develop
an insight into life, a deeper comprehension of things, an ability to
determine what one really wants and needs, and a capacity to absorb
the essence of knowledge rather than merely remain on the level of
dialectics or the sensation of intellect by induction and deduction.
Philosophy, thus, is a vision of life through a better motivation and
understanding, the Sanskrit word for philosophy being darshana or
vision, just as the Greek meaning is love (philos) of wisdom (sophia).
ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY
Whereas the purpose of philosophy is to give inspiration, idealism and
direction, the role of psychology is to improve self-knowledge and
give an understanding of how the mindworks. Basically, it means a
rational knowledge (logos) of the inner mind (psyche). In Sanskrit,
the word for psychology is manovigyana or verifiable knowledge
(vigyana) of the mind (manas).
In spite of the theological connotation of our soul (psyche also means
soul) being pure, immortal, an image of God, the Greek and the
modern meaning indicates to an individuality of consciousness, both
in its material and spiritual qualities, expressing itself through
tangible instincts and longings and, in the process, being covered by
layers of mental patterns acquired through sense-experience and
thinking.
Thus, psychology is not merely knowing how the mind works in the
subconscious level in order to understand our behaviour, character
moulds, instinctive reflexes and emotional conflicts; its purpose is to
give a better understanding of our spiritual longings, an ability to sift
the true from the false as to beliefs, inclinations and affirmations, and
try to sublimate the negative with the help of the positive (pratipaksha
bhavana). In yoga psychology, it is not enough to know the
underlying causes of one's conflicts, but imperative it is to provide a
regimen for the reorientation of attitude and action to resolve them.
Philosophy and psychology are interrelated, and their purpose is to
search for the truth of our being, both in its material and spiritual
facets. Their purpose is assimilation of knowledge in order to make
the best use of it, and to enhance the depth and clarity of our
relationships and, therefore, identities. The goal is not merely a better
understanding of life and motivation, but to find spiritual security and
fulfilment, deepen the experience of inner harmony and improve our
character.
All search presupposes a want, and all wants are due to a feeling of
isolation. On the physical level, not sensing the body enough by
oneself, there arises the need for sense-experience in contact with
sense-objects. On the mental level, the inadequacyof perception leads
to a search for knowledge, ratiocination, investigation, discovery,
invention. On the emotional level, the insufficiency of self-love leads
to greater dimensions of love in relationship to others. On the spiritual
level, the inadequacy of identity and a lack of fulfilment and security
within the family and among friends give rise to religion and notions
about God.
In trying to make up for this insufficiency we impose our egos on
each other in friendship, in family and social relationship. Since
everyone is doing the same and no one likes the selfishness of the
other, there is mutual dissatisfaction. Out of this arises a sense of
isolation. Isolation is due to a lack of understanding, and a lack of
understanding is because of self-importance. Being isolated one feeds
on self-pity and stews in unhappiness.
 INTERRESPONSE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Consciousness is individual and group-oriented, and it can function
only through relatedness, directly or by the memory of it. The
individuality of consciousness is sustained only by its ability to
interrespond, just as the validity of truth is in its capacity to verify
itself, the Latin word for truth being veritas or that which is verifiable,
and the Sanskrit word is sat or that which truly or verifiably exists,
not in the siesta of a hot summer day! There is nothing called an
isolated truth, or an absolute or ultimate truth. The transcendental
nature of truth means only that anything we know to be true is subject
to improvement, endlessly, for truth is infinite.
Philosophical posturing as to an unseen God being the only reality
(Brahma satyam) and the tangible world, with which one has perforce
to cope, being an illusion (jagat mithya) is not only conducive to
hypocrisy but makes people irresponsible, indolent and irrational.
When thin air becomes an unaccountable reality and the visible is
thought to be unreal, instead of coming to grips with life, one
becomes an escapistand unproductive (except reproductionally) and
tends to exist on the subsistence level alone.
Likewise, the creation being God's lila (play) makes one a fatalist and
blurs the line between good and evil, and what takes over is not divine
inspiration but the peasant's cunning. Sayings like "God does not play
the roulette" or "one cannot know the mind of God" is not convincing
either and makes a cruel mockery of divine wisdom, when the history
of humanity is fractured by genocide, plague (it wiped out one-third
of the population of Europe in the fourteenth century), famine and
holocaust.
Personally, I prefer the definition of (indefinable) God as a
transcendental and immanent source of our being expressed, however
limitedly, through the consciousness of spiritual values, rather than an
unconscionably incompetent or powerless divine ruler. We are what
we make ourselves to be. Spiritual effort, character-building, prayers
(purushartha) serve like a lens through which the rays of the sun
equally dispersed on all, like the immanence of God, are focussed to
gather strength to help us move forward. In the ups and downs of life
that is all we can do. Some lenses being more powerful due to will
and endeavour are more effective, and those of us who are weaker
have to find peace and harmony by coming to terms with the possible,
having done our best.
In the interresponse of life, as the individual consciousness tries to
fulfil itself, finds its reality through the relativity of experience, it is
generally frustrated in the process. Out of this arises a need for
transcendence, a need to reach out into the beyond, into the infinite, a
need to be free from structured ideas.
SECURITY OF EGO
Life functions in this seeming contradiction of dependence on
relatedness and yet needing to rise above this dependence in order to
experience the ever-elusive fullness of our being, forwe are both a
material product and also children of the infinite spirit. Thus, within
the individuality of consciousness there is the built-in urge to dissolve
individuality, just as in the atom the cohesive force coexists with the
decohesive force.
Being incomplete, the individual needs to be whole through a series
of relatedness in the family, religion, regional culture and tradition,
which leads to the acquisition of layers of personality. The Latin word
persona comes from the Etruscan phersu, meaning a mask. To act out
the different roles we get involved in, we constantly put on so many
masks over our elusive soul. Who can really say, deep down within,
what one truly is? As to the sky-scraping claims about the human
being created in the image of God and the soul being ever pure and
blissful, the best that can be said is that they do serve a useful,
inspiring and motivational purpose.
Life begins with imitation and, consciously or unconsciously, we keep
trying to acquire better kinds of persona-sometimes getting stuck with
one for a long time-in order to discard an old and less-satisfying one.
To be gratified, we try to conform to the object of gratification
through a process of possessing and being possessed. Thus, the need
for the security of the ego is at the base of all relatedness.
The security of the ego is sought in the easiest way, such as on the
material base of property and income with which relationships are
formed, sometimes even bought, but the real security comes from the
security of unselfish love and understanding, and it means to
sublimate our egos. Thus, the discipline and education of the self is a
primary concern of philosophy. Without self-discipline and self-
confidence, two cornerstones of character, there can be no, inner
security, and self-confidence comes only through loving and
practising and gaining experience of what one believes in. Formation
of values means to see a little more clearly, feel a little more deeply
andlearn a little more comprehensively, so that one can be more
secure and fulfilled.
IMMORTALITY OF SOUL
The consciousness of individuality or the ego-self leads to attachment
to those objects that sustain such consciousness, such as the body and
the artifacts that make it happy, and this attachment is extended into
the beyond through notions of immortality and such states of
existence in afterlife that would (God willing!) be just heavenly.
Immortality of soul, a direct product of attachment to our individual
self, serves two concrete purposes as a premise of belief. Instruments
of religion such as temples, holy places, prayers, acquiring virtue to
merit such immortality, soften the rough edges of life, provide a place
to seek peace, serve as an ethical restraint in society, and give security
through spiritual identity and hope. The other purpose, consciously or
unconsciously, gives incentive to be remembered after death. Didn't
Baruch Spinoza say that the "author of a tome on humility takes care
of putting his name on the first folio" and don't we build statues of our
idols the world over? But out of this incentive comes leadership,
flower arts, literature and architecture, and out of moral convictions
are formed cultural moulds and national identities. It is the attachment
to one's beliefs, even if they are altruistic and idealistic, that makes
their propagation and, therefore, civilisation possible.
As material success leaves still a part of oneself unfulfilled, and so
does the exercise of power as a leader, or seeking happiness through
human love or good deeds, one is led to ask: Is there anything in life
that would give the fulfilment one misses? Out of this inquiry is born
spiritual search, very often leading to a momentarily blissful escape
into pretty illusions about what is beyond tangible reality, such as
"eternalbliss" (sic, one could get sick of it!) and glorious salvation
from every known and unknown demon.
Yet, this spiritual search alone, in and through the tangible, that
enables the experience of a deeper peace, inner harmony, purity of
heart, sublimity of soul, or whatever one might call it, and out of such
inspiration evolve clarity of vision, a wholesome maturity, a nobler
character, a truer wisdom, a better capacity to cope with life. This
search begins in every little thing that is done, in every little duty on
every level of relationship, in the understanding and direction of every
desire and aspiration, and does not end until the last day of life. There
can be only bursts of enlightenment or sudden encounters with truths
about which a long search had already been going on subconsciously,
but there is nothing called an ultimate enlightenment. God or truth
being infinite, attaining God-realisation or self-realisation in one's
lifetime is a relative goal of seeking spiritual progress at best, even if
thought to be a pinnacle of attainment, and it also serves as a
canonical hat for the purpose of institutional hagiolatry.
In all search there is the extension of the experience of the known into
the unknown in order to expand the dimensions of the known and
encounter truths that were never known. Science does so through
hypothesis, and if it cannot prove itself it is discarded for a new
hypothesis. Philosophy does so through speculation, and if a theory
does not work out a new theory is geared to a desired result. Religion
does so through faith, and if it does not give the believer inner peace
and spiritual strength, two of its touchstones, there is something
wrong with that faith.
If you discard the known in order not to extend the conditioning of the
known and wait for the unknown to reveal itself, it is more likely that
you will be sitting forever and remain the same fool, and what
guarantee is there that what you call the awareness of reality is not a
state of your own mind? That is why it is all the more necessary not to
commit the same escapisterrors that conduce to the deficiency of the
known. Otherwise, there will be no end to the illusions about the
unknown.
WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT?
When I came to New York for the first time in 1961, I was told by my
host, the late John Olin Murrey, then a senior Vice-President of the
Macy's, "In America we have a dictum that if you have not succeeded
in your career by the time you are 40, then you are a failure."
Competitiveness, one of the western ethos, has indeed led to rapid
material progress in the West, but it has also exacted a high price in
cardiovascular tension, psychological stress and family alienation.
There are two types of success, the outer and the inner, and one needs
a balance of the both. For one's peace of mind and happiness and also
of the family, inner success is more important than an overriding
concern in not to miss the career bus. It means to be a decent person:
compassionate, understanding and honest, reliable, patient and
trustworthy. caring, loving and modest, selfless, loyal and pure-
hearted. The purpose of outer success is after all to be happy and self-
confident and make others happy. Its relevance, therefore, depends on
the inner success.
However, it is good to be reminded of the fact that only one person in
10 has leadership qualities in any field of achievement. How are the
rest of the nine to come to terms with not being able to succeed or rise
to the top in a career? Is that not a cause for frustration among 90
percent of those who happen to be egged on by ambitious parents or
wives to be equal to the 10 percent?
Some of us are born talented and the rest are less so. Some are
ambitious enough to stretch their talents and the rest are easy-going
even to find out if they have potential talents or not. Some are alert to
look for and grasp opportunities and astute enough to exploit
circumstances energetically, whereas othersbeing lackadaisical fall by
the roadside. Some have initiative, enterprise and perseverance, all
necessary to get ahead in life, and others do not.
So As the term itself indicates, without motivation one remains
stagnant, but it is necessary to examine the nature of motivation and
come to terms with what is possible and necessary for a useful life
and for one's happiness, and in being supportive to others and
contributive to society, of which we are a part for better or worse.
To reshape our motivation and ethos, it is good to be reminded of a
few pithy sayings that evolved out of the minds of some seekers of
truth, to each of which I have added a one-sentence commentary.
"The path is more important than the goal," for if the path is noble, so
will be the goal..
"Walking is more important than reaching," for if you learn how to
walk sensibly and know where you are going, there you will surely be
arriving.
"Doing is more important than achieving," for if you act intelligently
and diligently, the result will certainly be rewarding.
"Means are more important than the end," for the consequences of the
means will be harvested as well in the end.
"Being is more important than professing," for if your example is
good, your words will surely be more reassuring.
"Learning is more important than scholarship," for if you absorb the
lessons of life carefully, you will indeed avoid many errors in human
relationship.
"Duty is more important than renunciation," for you must first of all
have something significant to renounce, whereas there will always be
duties to fulfil in any circumstance of life.
"Obligations are more important than rights," for only after carrying
out your obligations conscientiously, have you the right to claim your
rights.
"Not offending others and not taking offence are more important than
forgiving," for by not causing trouble to others and make them react,
or by not making yourself vulnerable, you would not need to sit on
the throne of forgiving.
"Being interested wholeheartedly and unselfishly in what you do and
expecting a good result is more important than disinterested action
regardless of result," for how can you improve your action without
giving the best of yourself and learning from the result if it has been
appropriately and efficiently done or not?
"Loving your friends is more important than loving your enemies,"
for it is your friends that care for and make it possible for you to love
them, and your enemies give a damn whether you do so or not.
"Loving God is more important than fearing him," for fear invariably
casts a pall over love and love is a greater liberating force to free us
from errors than fear.
UNIVERSAL SPIRIT OF YOGA
In the Autumn 1988 issue of Spectrum, I found it quite interesting that
the chairman of the British Wheel of Yoga, Pat Chittananda, was
trying to initiate a dialogue with the Christian clergy to promote an
understanding of what yoga is about. What is surprising, however, is
that in a progressive country like Britain it should start so late.
As early as in 1960, as a secretary of the late Swami Sivananda, the
founder of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, India, I was present
when the Catholic archbishop of Agra came to him to enquire about
the spiritual goals of yoga. That was two years before the Second
Vetican Council began. It is known among the Jesuits that their
former superior general, PedroArrupe, practised yoga. In 1963,
Thomas Merton, who was then a director of the Trappist monastery in
Gethsemane, Kentucky, and already a famous author of Christian
literature, invited me to give classes there not only of yoga philosophy
but also of asanas.
Later, in 1968, I gave courses on Gyana Yoga at the Salvador
University in Buenos Aires under its Jesuit rector Father Quiles. Since
then I have done so in many other Catholic universities in both the
Americas. That is why I find it so odd that in Britain Pat has still to
say in the Chairman's Letter that "yoga is not evil" or that no one is
"trying to convert anyone to Hinduism".
Yogic View of Religion: The fact is that, if you are secure in the
moorings of your own religion, no one can take it away from you or
convert you into another, and it is very odd that this anxiety should
arise in a religion famous for its proselytising zeal and then try to
deny others what it itself wishes to pursue.
Yoga is, of course, not a particular religion mainly because it is not
bound to any obligatory dogma, such as Jesus Christ being the only
begotten son of God, but it does respect the beliefs of those who
worship him as a divine incarnation just as the Hindus believe Rama
and Krishna to be so. In yoga, religion is a very private and personal
concern of faith. What it tries to promote is a broadminded vision of
one's personal choice.
To those who practise yoga, life itself becomes a living experience of
religion, both in its highest spiritual and literal sense, for re-ligare, the
Latin root for religion, means a continuous process of re-integration
of the human nature with its potentially divine counterpart. Whatever
means is useful to realise this goal, not in an afterlife, about which
one can only speculate, but during one's lifetime, can be called
practice of yoga. One who is deeply committed to spiritual ideals
while not believing in any particular godhead is, indeed, a better
religious person than a believer lacking in moral qualities.
Religion as a tribal identity is among the most primitive instincts of
man because of ignorance, fear and insecurity, and can be
dangerously divisive in a backward society. However, the general
idea of religion is to unite the masses by an allegiance to a common
divinity through identical beliefs, rituals and cultural habits. The
yogic ideal of union (yuj), as also of re-ligare, retying, evolved
because of the insatiable human hunger for perfect love, peace and
truth, indicating to a spiritual source of one's being, a spark of God
within, by a conscious unity with which it was believed that life could
be made happier. The idea of this possibility also indicates to the fact
that no one can want something of which one has no conscious or
primordially unconscious experience.
Human and Divine Nature: As truth is self-evident, from universal
experience we know that our origins are in both matter and spirit
which coexist in a state of interrelatedness. Energy in a pulsating and
interacting form being the basis of matter, we are a product of the
nature's law of evolution. Having evolved from lower forms of life,
our body and mind are subject to the law of cohesion and decohesion,
adaptive mutation, recombination, development and extinction of the
form.
Early in human existence, a short lifespan made a high birthrate
necessary, uncertain food supply induced greed, the need to hunt for
food made violence imperative, physical weakness before a stronger
opponent conduced to cunningness. It is only since nine thousand
years, since the agricultural revolution, when collective living became
a necessity, that moral codes began to serve, albeit not too
successfully, as a restraining factor on the nature's neutral law of the
bigger fish eating the smaller fish, or the survival of the fittest, or the
ten percent of the more efficient among us having more rights than
the ninety percent of the less capable, which we are still adhering to
under the veneer of civilised norms of society.
However, being unhappy with natural laws, we became aware of a
potential spiritual source of our being some three thousand years ago,
when Vedanta philosophy spoke of man to be basically divine and
also, at about the same time, the Old Testament declared that God
created man in his own image. As identity has to be upward in order
to give security and make evolution possible, harping on our monkey
image is hardly helpful, and this clarion call to measure up to a divine
image became the highest motivation that morality bestowed, rather
than merely providing a balance of mutual self-interest.
It was among the most intelligent philosophical devices that helped to
civilise society, and it had to come from the mouth of God in order to
be acceptable to the primitive mind in awe and fearful of the
supernatural, and also to inspire the more refined minds to raise
themselves to their spiritual source. This image of God, or the
Vedantic concept of man being potentially divine, in spite of his
enormous capacity for wickedness, was no myth or an invention
either, but a self-evident truth as we all know that our peace and
happiness lie in the restraint and sublimation of the ego, love of truth
and compassion, in goodness and purity of heart, and not in their
contradiction. This is a basic ideal of yoga.
BASIC UNITIES
Unity of Life: Not only are the problems of suffering, selfishness and
aggression similar everywhere, but also the need for justice, love and
security. There cannot be a greater motivation for social justice than
the ideal of not treating others as one would not like to be treated by
others, the basis of Judeo-Christian ethics, and there cannot be a better
inspiration for it than the recognition of the presence of God in
everyone, as in Vedanta philosophy. In the midst of the self-evident
inequality in every aspect of life, holding on to this belief in a
common, spiritually-uniting factor is the best way to promote the
civilising urges in society.
There is also a basic relatedness between man and nature, in spite of
the occasionally adversary relationship. When nature is destructive
and not beneficial, man has to control it to the extent necessary, such
as by building dams and digging canals, but if he overexploits nature,
the basic unity is disturbed and his welfare suffers. Sometimes nature
is harmonious and sometimes not, such as in the case of
overpopulation and epidemics. Nature by itself does not have a
perfect intelligence, as man himself is an unfinished product, but
behind this deficiency in creation there is a moving force of
transcending imperfection. So, the intelligence of man and nature has
to be mutually adaptive. Instead of conquering, man needs
cooperation with nature.
Unity of Knowledge and Faith: Overcoming ignorance is a primary
goal of yoga: ignorance of human nature and the spiritual make-up of
our being, about life ridden by insecurity and attachment, about
differing cultures due to dissimilar habits and appearance, about the
universe we live in with many illusions and superstitions. It is
ignorance that makes us deny the world as an illusion to avoid an
unpleasant reality and seek comfort in the foggy bottom of
speculation, and it is also ignorance that causes infatuation with what
is inherently imperfect.
In yoga there is no antagonism between faith and reason, and their
integration is a basic goal. Faith is the sunlight that lifts the mist of
ignorance. Faith is the fountain of inspiration to search for truth, and
reason is a disciplined effort to make such a search enlightening.
There is neither blind faith nor dry intellection in yoga. No spiritual
search is possible without inspiration, and the fountain of faith cannot
irrigate the field of life well without the aqueduct of reason.
Reconciliation of the material and the spiritual, or man and God, is
another goal of yoga. Out of a transcendental source, of which we
know very little as yet, sprang this universe, andthrough a long
process of evolution out of it rose man, and in him slowly awoke the
need to know the ultimate origin of his origins. Thus, he sketched in
the pages of his scriptures what he understood to be his source, the
multihued imageries of God, reflecting the evolution of his own mind
with its need for protection, emotional fulfilment and search for a
meaning in life, and the clearer and purer his mind became the
brighter the light of his inner spirit shone through it.
Unity of Creeds: In this process, man devised codes of conduct for his
material security, and he wrote and recited prayers to improve his
self-image through a higher identity and also for his protection. Thus,
he organised religions with three basic components: rituals for group
identity and personal sanctity; mythology to bring some colour to his
rather dull life and also to explain a metaphysical meaning by
interesting stories for simple minds; and philosophy to motivate,
inspire and direct individual and collective life.
The last one helped him to define a sense of right and wrong, the four
guiding principles of what is right being: 1) that which promotes
harmony and unity, 2) that which helps to be creative and progressive,
3) that which seeks justice and welfare for all, relating one's own
interests with that of the others, and 4) that which does not need to be
concealed or be secretive about. The wrong is in their contradiction.
It is ignorance that makes us suspicious of each other's religion, and it
is ignorance that confuses religion to be social customs and habits of
prayer, rather than different ways of looking at and reaching out to the
same spiritual source and destination. Yoga regards religions to be
like different rivers rising from and flowing into the same ocean with
different names, rising at first as vapour, then forming into clouds,
becoming springs and snows in the mountains, then flowing as
streams and swelling with rains as rivers to take on thecharacteristics
of the lands they flow over, but ultimately to merge into the same
ocean from which they rose.
Unity of Paths: A medieval sage of India, Appaya Dikshita, asked
God for forgiveness for the three errors he made in the course of his
devotional practices: to give him a name and a form who cannot be
defined or limited to any concept or form; to localise him in a house
of worship who is everywhere; and to praise him who does not need
nor is susceptible to any praise like human beings. Yet he did so, the
sage said, because his limited mind could not think of the infinite,
because he needed a sacred place where he could forget the blemished
world, and that in order not to be vain and proud he needed to
attribute all glory to his divine father. This is the universal spirit of
yoga.
Yoga being union, all its paths are intertwined, although we may be
more involved with one particular path than the others. We cannot
separate the search for truth in our understanding of life, in our
thinking and conduct (Gyana Yoga) from the need to sublimate our
passions and emotions through selfless love and devotion (Bhakti
Yoga), nor from the need to look within, understand our mind and
seek unity with God (Raja Yoga), nor from doing our duty with the
love of the ideal of service (Karma Yoga). Hatha Yoga is not only a
part of Raja Yoga but is useful also to the others by keeping the body
healthy. What objection can Christianity have to all this?

WHO REALLY IS A YOGI?

By definition, of course, one who practises yoga is a yogi. But who
really is a yogi? In India, the image of a yogi is generally of a man
sitting in lotus posture, in deep meditation, bare-bodied, even if high
up in the Himalayas. He seems to have no possession at all. The idea
is that he has withdrawn from the world, is impervious to heat and
cold, has absolute domination over his mind, breath and body, and is
seemingly in a continuous state of transcendental consciousness
(samadhi), or union with God (Ishwara) as Patanjali would say. But
what good is he to his fellow-beings? His followers would claim that
he is helping the entire humankind by his meditation. But where is the
evidence? After all, the first qualification of truth (in Latin veritas) is
verification.
In the West, if someone twists his body in various postures (asanas)
and does certain breathing exercises (pranayamas) regularly, he can
claim himself to be a yogi, just because he practises two of the aspects
of Hatha Yoga. But Hatha Yoga is only a minor branch of yoga, even
though all-important in the West, and Hatha Yogis in India are
generally not highly mainly because most of them tend to be
regarded, overconscious of their bodies and are rather ignorant of the
spiritual side of yoga. There is surely nothing derogatory about Hatha
Yoga, as long as one does not lose the sight of the higher goals that an
optimum condition of physical and mental health may help to attain.
But there are many Hatha Yogis who, in spite of their lifelong
practice, fall sick due to the factors of heredity and lifestyle.
The meaning of the word yoga, of course, is 'union'. A more
significant translation would be 'integration'. It means an integration
of the body, mind and soul, bringing the three aspects of the human
being into a state of balance. The term body indicates physical nature,
dominated by earthly instincts.
What is meant by mind is rational intelligence and by soul unselfish,
idealistic aspiration to realise higher values. Yoga also means unity of
heart and mind, or faith and reason, faith that is love of an ideal and
reason a search to know its reality. It is a folly to separate the two.
Patanjali interprets yoga as a controlled state of mind in the second
sutra of his Raja Yoga, to be acquired through meditation, but urges
ethical and spiritual disciplines (yama and niyama) as the first two
steps because, without a practical application of noble ideals,
meditation will at best be a relaxing experience through a mild form
of self-hypnosis or just an exercise in wool-gathering.
Many traditional books define yoga as "union of man with God." But
who knows what God is? For any two entities to unite spiritually, one
must know the other very well on a tangible, understandable level.
Since we do not know what God is, and what is learned about God
from anywhere is only half of the truth, the other half having to be
completed by each one for oneself, it is better to begin by working on
ourselves.
The highest value of yoga is in the integration of the two sides of our
nature, human and spiritual. The fact that a liar does not want to be
lied to, a hater to be hated, a violent person to be treated violently,
that one finds peace in forgiveness rather than by vengeance, shows
that we do have a spiritual side. The sublimation of the human nature
by awakening the dormant soul within is the basic goal of a yogi. He
starts with bringing his thought, word and deed in a straight line, for
any yogic integration begins with integrity.
FIVE INTEGRITIES
The five integrities that a yogi should seek to perfect are:
1) Integrity of thought means to be honest with oneself and not
indulge in wishful thinking. It means to search for truth by evidence,
rather than a dumb acceptance of what is said justbecause it suits
oneself to do so. It is to measure the validity of a theory by its
consequence through its implementation, and testing on a collective
basis over a long period of time, for truth is not merely a claim
verified but it is a principle of common security and welfare.
It is said that "Dreams are private myths and myths are public
dreams," both being necessary to communicate between the known
and the unknown, between individual and public psyche and the
reality of human nature. The weaving of myths around and about God
is inevitable due to man's psychological inadequacy and dependence,
but as long as they do not mislead people by encouraging irrationality
and are done in good taste, they serve a useful purpose. However, the
yogi should search his heart to find out if he really believes in what he
reads and professes.
2) Integrity of feeling means not to indulge in sentimentalism, which
simply is a form of self-love, either about God or in a human
relationship. It is to deepen sentiments by the purity of devotion. Even
on a human level, a better definition of love is that it is a form of
devotion for the finest qualities and values in a person one loves.
Then, the basic requirement of measuring one's feelings by deeds has
to be met. When the heart moves, the hands also should move.
3) Integrity of speech indicates not merely to desist from lying
blatantly but not to exaggerate, undermine, misrepresent, manipulate
or distort facts to suit one's convenience. It is to refrain from saying
something one does not really mean. It is not to be a panegyrist
without conviction or perform for the gallery for self-enhancement. It
means the supreme importance of keeping one's word. It is to avoid
dripping with fat by flattering a vainglorious person, for a yogi should
not indulge in buttering up others or allow their vanity to be tickled by
it.
4) Integrity of action is to be constructive in deed and avoid harming
others either thoughtlessly or deliberately due tovindictiveness. It
means to have a sense of duty and carry it out intelligently and
responsibly. It is to have the spirit of service and selflessness in
helping someone in need, without making him feel like an object of
charity,
5) Integrity of conduct begins with the Biblical injunction of not to
treat others as one would not oneself like to be treated. It is to respect
the rights of others before thinking about one's own prerogatives. It
needs boundless patience and tolerance and a profound understanding
of the generally complex human nature.
These five integrities are the basis of a yogic life, because it is only
integrity with oneself and with others that makes integration with God
viable at all. The greatness of a culture is directly relevant to the
average level of honesty of its people, just as an abiding honesty and
selflessness are the shining qualities of a yogi. Duplicity cannot sully
his generous heart, and his tolerance for the defects of others is due to
his deep compassion, while his inner detachment makes his sense of
responsibility all the more effective.
OTHER QUALITIES OF CHARACTER
Just as simple peasants cannot distinguish between intelligence and
cunning or between dignity and vanity, the spiritually primitive
cannot differentiate between tolerance and indifference or detachment
and imperviousness to responsibility. The yogi does not live an
unconcerned life but is full of concern for the welfare of those he
cares for and is responsible to, because he is highly conscientious. He
is never impersonal, since his religion begins with the assumption of
personal responsibility in whatever he does, and his ears are surely
sensitive to the call of duty. He never says that he is carrying out
God's will, because he is not conceited enough to think that he has a
private telephone line to God, but prays for guidance and strength to
do what must be done to the best of hisability and in the light of his
understanding, and with the help of God, but knowing well that it is
he alone who must bear the responsibility for his deeds. He knows
that it is imperative to come to grips with the realities of life and
avoids being a philosophical sculptor whose material is fog!
A true yogi is not image-conscious and does not have the distressing
habit of performing for others as a spiritual person, for a self-serving
image, carefully polished up, can be mercilessly contradicted by one's
deeds that will inevitably reflect upon it. One of the main reasons for
not progressing on the path of yoga is the predilection to self-
delusion. It is easy to fool oneself by pretty lies and, if indulged in
long enough and if there are sycophants around to cater to one's
vainglory, there is little to prevent oneself from being addicted to it.
A yogi should not be inclined to a false sense of modesty either and
ought to avoid the habit of an elaborate display of humility to impress
others. Vanity and arrogance are the twin companions of renown and
power, even if they are dressed up in a dubious gesture of modesty, or
in a theatrical claim of fulfilling God's mission or being dragged upon
to do so by the urging of others.
There are two levels of progress in a person's life, the outer and the
inner. Outer progress is a product of ambition and will and an
insatiable hunger for achievement and wanting to be famous. It is a
result of initiative, daring and tireless perseverance, as well as the
capacity to exploit the circumstances to one's best advantage and the
ability to harness other people's talents and employ them for self-
enhancement. It is the result of a burning and consuming longing for
success in what one craves for.
The inner progress consists in the cultivation of a pristine conscience,
in painstaking and arduous crafting of ideals to be guided by in the
sublimation of human nature, and to make oneself useful to others and
in sharing the best one has. For sucha person life is what he does with
it, making the best use of his inner resources and grasping every
opportunity to widen the horizons of his mind by learning in whatever
ways he can, by cleansing his heart through selfless service, by
refinement of his passions and sentiments through love of God and of
those he can relate with. To him the saying that "life is transitory"
means that it is all the more the reason to grasp well and make the
best use of the moment, rather than drift about in lethargic
detachment. To him life is far too precious and the focus of human
relationship too short-lived as to be sullied by little grudges, meanness
and animus.
 WHO NEEDS A GURU?
No one is good enough to be another's spiritual master in an absolute
sense-as a guide surely, but respecting the autonomy of the disciple.
One should try to learn from those who have a superior quality of
knowledge, worthwhile for application. The greatest teacher is God
within, our innermost conscience, which has to be awakened through
spiritual aspiration and, if we are lucky enough, with the help of a few
we can relate to due to the chemistry of spirit, affinity of ideals.
Is a guru absolutely necessary? I would say no. Most great teachers
did not have any. Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, Aurobindo and
Sivananda did not have a guru in the traditional sense. Totapuri's
contact with and initiation of Ramakrishna were informal.
Vishwananda saw Sivananda in a dharmashala (inn) opposite the old
post office of Rishikesh only for a few days (they never met again),
and his token act of initiating Sivananda into monkhood (sannyasa),
on 1 June 1924, was only symbolically meaningful. Aurobindo's
encounter with a teacher, when a professor at Baroda College, was
casual. Ramana Maharshi did not have a guru. Neither was initiated as
a monk. They were self-made gurus. The real meaning of a guru is a
specially personal and long-lasting spiritual bond with a disciple. Few
indeed are lucky to have it. To have masses of disciples is a
contradiction of this meaning.
DEFINITIONS OF GURU
The two most commonly-accepted interpretations of the word guru
are "one who removes the darkness of (spiritual) ignorance" and "one
who clears the obstacles on the (spiritual) path". As the Buddha says,
the teachers can only show the ways for the disciples to choose from
and walk along.
In India, the head of an ashram is called a guru, equivalent to an abbot
in a Catholic monastery. A guru is also one whogives a mantra or
sannyasa initiation. These are institutional and general definitions of
the term guru. There need not be an incompatibility between the
general and personal meanings, but the more general the term
becomes, obviously the less personal its significance is.
That no spiritual progress is possible without a guru and that there is
no need for a guru at all are equally ridiculous assertions. To have an
honest and efficient teacher is a great help, but to be an unquestioning
spiritual slave of another is to deny oneself personal responsibility. A
glass is, of course, useful when it is empty, denoting humility of spirit
and receptivity, but one should also have the choice of emptying what
is let to be put in, if unsuitable.
It is not necessarily true that when the chela (disciple) is ready the
guru will appear. Even supposing the disciple is ready, it is not sure
that the guru will appear by himself. Instead of waiting forever, the
chela should seek out a suitable teacher to learn from.
To learn simple arithmetic one has to go to a primary school first,
then for algebra, geometry and more of arithmetic to a high school,
and for higher maths to a university. One cannot master advanced
mathematics right from the beginning all alone. Then, with a basic
grounding, the erstwhile student progresses with personal research,
while not losing a special bond if it did develop with a teacher.
Looking back, my first five years with Swami Sivananda were most
valuable for gaining maturity of perspective.
One should choose such teachings that, first of all, make sense in
order to find out its usefulness by practical application. The purpose is
to learn as best as one can, select the best and ignore the rest. That is
what I did. The bottom line is not to be a hypocrite and pretend to
follow and prattle something one does not honestly believe in. It is as
simple as that.
GURU IS NO GOD
Along with Swami Venkatesananda, I happened to be in the last batch
who had the benefit of learning from Swami Sivananda's class-talks.
Thereafter, other senior monks did the teaching. We also learned from
his books. What we learned most was, however, from the way he
expressed his thoughts casually, from his attitude, his behaviour, the
way he made decisions, his patience, tolerance, discretion, his
forbearance of the foibles of others.
Meeting Jiddu Krishnamurti years ago, I was nonplussed at his
obduracy in rejecting gurus and dismissing out of hand the ochre
robe. He had a point, of course, there being so many sullied models
swishing around in silken gerua (ochre) habits and, specially in India,
knowing such theatrical hyperbole that connotes the role of a guru.
However, leaving aside bad examples, including irrationally-
dictatorial gurus, there are genuine swamis and decent gurus who
never use their designations with a capital letter metaphorically.
To say that a guru is a visible god is to belittle the vision of the divine.
People are, first of all and after all, human beings. After a lifelong
effort at self-improvement and often with the advantage of being born
with less of imperfection, there can be shining examples of integrity,
compassion, selflessness and pure-heartedness. It does not mean that
they are perfect and incapable of an occasional error of judgment or
conduct due to the force of circumstances. That is why it is fair to say
that saints actually live in heaven (an idealised vision of what they
ought to be) and that they are made on earth by their disciples and
institutions.
The double-consciousness of a jivanmukta (liberated soul while
alive), that is, being in tune with God within and acting outwardly like
others, as it is claimed, is rubbish, because one cannot be a saint
inside and cut corners or behave otherwiseexternally. One should not
only desist from doing what is wrong but ought not to be seen doing
what can be considered improper. Then, again, why the fiat about
liberation? From what? From imperfection? From the cycle of birth
and death? Is it not complaining too much for being fed up with life?
One cannot understand something in order to cope with while
rejecting it, and given the chance one would indeed choose the
imperfect known in preference to the Elysian unknown, for the simple
reason that consciousness is geared to the tangible.
There are people, of course, who are inclined to be dependent, and
some with a special need for a father-figure. For them a charismatic
guru comes handy, although falling into wrong hands it can be very
harmful. A real guru helps the disciple to stand on his or her mental,
emotional and spiritual feet. A real guru does not brag about, or cause
to be bragged about, as a self-realised or God-realised soul for the
simple reason that these are mythical terms, self-realisation or God-
realisation being an infinite process and cannot be worn as a celestial
order. A real guru is also happy to see his disciple surpass him
spiritually and as a teacher. Now you should know who really is a
guru, a very difficult role to fulfil.
 Chapter Two
THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE
PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE OF GYANA YOGA
Gyana Yoga is one of the four major branches of yoga, the others
being Bhakti, Raja and Karma, whereas Hatha Yoga is an auxiliary to
Raja Yoga. If the earlier parts of the Vedas- Samhitas, Brahmanas and
Aranyakas-could be called the Old Testament of India, the
Upanishads, together with the Bhagavad Gita, are the New Testament.
The path of Gyana Yoga evolved about three thousand years ago. Its
foundations are in the metaphysical philosophy of the Upanishads,
which are also called Vedanta or the concluding (anta) parts of the
Vedas. The Sanskrit word for knowledge is gyana, also spelt jnana but
pronounced with the sound ga (as in go) with a slightly nasal sound of
gna. The word knowledge comes from the Latin gnoscere (to know)
which is derived from the Greek gnosis.
The purpose of Gyana Yoga is the realisation of one's spiritual
potentialities and liberation or freedom from illusion, delusion,
superimposition, untruth, fear, uncertainty, anxiety. Aristotle said that
we all have an inherent right to knowledge, the right to know the
truth. The New Testament says that truth shall make one free. The
Upanishads say, satyam, gyanam, anantam Brahma or the supreme
spirit is infinite truth and knowledge.
The second most important of human rights, after the right to life, i.e.,
protection under the rule of law and the right to survive through the
right to work, is the right to knowledge. It means not only the
availability of universal education but the freedom to explore, know
and express the truth after due verification by facts, and their
relevance in the best light of one's understanding, so that people can
be better informed andprotected from exploitation by untruth,
manipulated information and religious and ideological demagogy.
A society remains backward and impoverished because of its
addiction to lie to itself and declare truth by fiat, confuse knowledge
through regimented information such as under totalitarian
governments, befuddle faith through blind con- formity and abuse
liberty through irresponsible licence. It is the controlled manipulation
of knowledge, whether by the state or by a theocratic authority, that
impedes the material, moral and spiritual progress of a nation.
A remarkable saying is: The main obstacle to knowledge, on a
personal level, is the insolent ego and the main corruptor of faith is
passionate dogmatism.
The purpose of knowledge is to know oneself so that the ego can be
educated, desires controlled and passions sublimated. It is to know
each other for improving mutual relationship through sharing of
values and discipline of irrational expectation. It is to know the nature
of the world and the universe we live in, so as to be free from the
ignorance of our surroundings and, therefore, superstition. It is to
learn a vocation to be economically independent and contribute to
society, to deepen one's spiritual and cultural values in the process of
trying to be a better person. It is to strive collectively to create a more
compassionate, just and civilised society.
Even though it is said that Gyana Yoga is practised mainly by
meditation on selected verses of the Upanishads and on maha vakyas
or great sayings of related scriptures, it is actually a lifelong process
of cultivating a philosophy of life and its application under different
circumstances, requiring a lot of wisdom through experience, idealism
and strength of character.
It is a common fallacy to think that techniques and daily routine
alone, such as getting up before dawn, sitting in a cross-legged
posture, closing the eyes and meditating on somemystic symbols,
repeating a secret mantra, chanting hymns from the scriptures and
doing some asanas and pranayamas, comprise the whole practice of
yoga. These are only disciplinary means to a way of life guided by a
state of mind that is shaped and reshaped through profound thinking
and understanding of spiritual values in the anvil of personal
experience.
The real practice of yoga consists in what you make of your life, how
you think, feel, behave and relate, how you handle your emotions,
passions and prejudices, how you cultivate a broad-minded, unbiased
vision, what does God or the spirit of your being mean to you, how
fulfilling are your relationships and, as such, how you form your
overall perspective and, in the process, cultivate yourself.
The term self-realisation covers the gamut of all these, including the
realisation of one's higher self which, according to Judeo-Christian
credo, is called the 'image of God' consisting of infinite spiritual
potentialities identical with the supreme goodness attributed to God. I
prefer not to capitalise the letter 's' in the word self simply because we
know so little even of our little self and avoid indulging in the
bombastics about the higher self, while yet recognising the universal
experience of the flow of the purest of emotions from this spiritual
source.
God-realisation and self-realisation are relative terms indicating a
lifelong quest which does not cease until the last day of one's life.
Human nature being what it is can never be totally free from its
residual dross even in a highly evolved soul. The idealised versions of
a self-realised or liberated soul on earth are to show respect for saintly
persons or for the creation of an institutional hierarchy.
FOURFOLD DISCIPLINES
Shankaracharya, the eighth-century Vedantin, sets down some basic
requirements for a Gyana Yogi in his Vivekachudamani, which are
also elaborated by other teachers as sadhana chatushtaya or fourfold
spiritual disciplines. They are, of course, not the only ones for or
exclusive to Gyana Yogis.
1) Viveka or cultivation of a discerning intelligence: To think by
facts, not indulging in emotional fantasies. To try to know the nature
of reality by uniting the perception of the external with the
understanding of one's relationship with it through an inward search
for its relevance. It is to know the nature of maya or the illusion
experienced when under the spell of infatuation or being a slave of
attachment, passions and desires.
Viveka should make one free from the myth about maya as well
which projects the world as an illusion, in itself an irresponsible
attitude born of unresolved frustration and discontentment on account
of one's foolish attachment caused by self-love. The world is not an
illusion but an empirical, even if changing, reality. Just because
something is subject to change does not make it illusory. The illusion,
or the avoidance of it, consists in one's attitude, perception of
relevance and relationship to life.
Examples: Money as a token of acquiring material objects is not an
illusion, nor are the objects illusory in themselves. It is hypocritical to
deny their reality. Illusion is in the idea that money can buy friendship
or love, although gratitude it can, or that material objects can make
one happy, even if they do make life easier. The chemical property of
the liquid in a £ 50 bottle of perfume is surely not an illusion. Its
molecular reality is undeniable. The illusion is in a silly girl's
imagining that the useof it will make her physically desirable enough
for the eventual purpose of landing a prince charming.
One would be a liar to say that a house, to buy which someone has
worked hard for years, is an illusion. Its reality to give protection
against elements and material security by the title of ownership is
obvious and necessary. But, just as one does not live by bread alone,
one is not happy with a material reality by itself. Behind this external
reality there is an inner reality which one seeks to relate with, for we
are both matter and spirit. It is the reality of having a home which
consists in a psychological experience of love and care, a sense of
belonging to each other through sharing of values, understanding and
support, an inner meaning of a home behind the external ownership of
a house.
As such, whereas it will be irresponsible to deny the reality of a house
by indulging in such inanity as 'snake-in-the-rope' analogy, it will be
even more irresponsible to neglect the nurturing of the greater reality
of a home, wherever or with whomever or amidst whatever
surrounding one lives, even if that be only a temporary home.
2) Vairagya or dispassion is acquired by the application of viveka in
one's daily life. It does not mean a lack of interest or involvement. It
means to free oneself from dependence on others at all levels, but
mainly emotionally as in an ego-ridden, possessive relationship. It
means to deepen one's spiritual love through the sublimation of
physical passions.
The philosophy of vairagya consists in non-expectation while being
unselfishly involved in the welfare of those one loves. It is not a
moribund state of mind, the negative goal ofwhich is to be alive to
nothing, avoid responsibility and vegetate in the dusk between life
and death.
The goal of vairagya is to avoid mistakes by loss of judgment in a
blindly attached relationship. Its purpose is to understand, educate and
purify passions and desires, and acquire mastery over them for a
better direction of one's life. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:
"The spirit of man consists of desire. As is his desire, so is his resolve.
As is his resolve, so is his deed. As is his deed, so is his fate. If a man
regulates his desire properly, he can lead himself to a desirable
destiny."
The ideal is to have a measure of control over one's life. It means: Do
not be resigned to presumptuous, ununderstood karmas of a past life
which cannot be verified anyhow, do not be a victim of an unseen
fate, do not be like a dry leaf tossed about by the gusts of other
people's attitudes, do not be weak. The Mahabharata says, "to be weak
is a great sin".
Vairagya should neither be mistaken for a state of egolessness.
However much one tries, one cannot be free from the ego. You can
only suppress it, hide it. To be unselfish and unassuming is a virtue,
but to be egoless is not a desirable goal. The ego, or the consciousness
of one's individuality, is imperative to making a choice, in order to be
personally responsible. Also, a person with a listless ego can be a
victim of another's strong ego and, thus, be easily manipulable and
exploitable.
It is understandable though how uncomfortable one can get in the
company of self-important persons, especially if they happen to be
stupid. The ideal is to educate, refine and sublimate the ego, not to
throw one's weight around and be obnoxious, not to be vain and
conceited, for there is a lot to learn and much to improve in oneself.
To be modest ought to be a natural virtue. Ignorance and dumbness
combined withpretension and vainglory are malodorous ingredients
for repugnance.
3) Shat-sampatti or the sixfold virtues to cultivate are:
i) Shama or tranquillity is acquired through the practice of
detachment, patience, tolerance and understanding of human nature,
meditation on the qualities of inner peace and freedom, and by
recognising and correcting the causes of restlessness which are
basically due to an excess of the ego, too many desires, uncontrolled
passions such as anger and infatuation, and an absence of love due to
one's selfishness.
ii) Dama is self-control, not through repression or guilt-complex, but
by the love of the ideal behind as to why one should sublimate a
negative instinct such as resentment because one is hurt more by it
than the person resented. It is done by the substitution of a higher
emotion through loving and helping those who need our love and
attention, and by the practice of charity of heart. Patanjali calls this
substitution process pratipaksha bhavana or a counterposing of
feelings.
iii) Titiksha does not mean foolish austerity but signifies endurance of
adverse conditions without complaining, after one has tried
unsuccessfully, to change them. Reinhold Niebuhr speaks eloquently
of this ideal: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know
the difference." It also means self-denial to strengthen will power and
physical endurance to toughen the body and mind.
iv) Uparati is aspiring for an inner satisfaction with the help of a
higher desire in the process of overcoming a lower desire such as
sensual passion through spiritual love, a desire to be famous by a
desire for selfless service. It is also a form of substitution.
v) Shraddha or faith is cultivated, not by conformity or blind
acceptance of a credo, but by a careful examination of thepremises
and motivation of one's beliefs, i.e., if they are a manner of hoping for
what is convenient or wishful thinking, or if they represent a true love
of the ideal on which one's faith is focussed. When faith is love, it
means to search for the true nature of the object of faith. It means
practice of the spiritual qualities represented by such an object of
faith, the person of Jesus to a Christian for example.
vi) Samadhana is resolution of doubts and inner contradictions
through study and contemplation. It also means strengthening of
resolve to do one's best in what should be done and commitment to
ideals, with a mind free from fanaticism.
WHAT IS LIBERATION?
4) Mumukshutwa is the last of the four sets of disciplines given by
Shankaracharya. Some commentators translate this term as a 'burning
longing for liberation'. It is not to be misunderstood, however, as an
escape from the 'cycle of birth and death' as the goal is superficially
thought of by many Hindus, or as some Christians seeking salvation
in order to avoid eternal damnation in the hell, because given the
choice one is more likely to choose reincarnating into a state of
existence known to oneself rather than opting for what is an
unverified promise of a heavenly sojourn for ever.
As of now, personally it matters little to me as to what happens after
death. In order to believe in an afterlife or be afraid of death one has
to be sufficiently attached to the present life. If there is a
reincarnation, as the Upanishads and also Pythagoras and Plato
believed, it makes little difference because the conscious mind is not
carried over to the next so as to remember the past motivation for
striving for a better life.
Eternal heaven or hell, or being hurled into an animal birth, are not
convincing enough for a rational mind, for even the most imperfect
judge would not be so drastic in judging so a person on the dock in
front of him. The soul, on the death of the body,being dissolved in the
universal spirit would be ideal, like the symbolic doll made of salt
dissolved itself as it started to swim in the ocean in search of its
origin. But no one can be sure of one's preference at the moment of
death, if a choice were possible. It is unrealistic to underestimate
attachment to life.
What is more important is the tangible kind of liberation one should
seek in this life, the only one we know enough to cope with, to take
measure of and handle with sufficient care, so as not to hurt others
and ourselves, to make the best of what we have, within potentially
and without circumstantially. Thus, mumukshutwa can be interpreted
as a longing to be free from the defects of human nature each day of
one's life, rather than waiting for liberation or salvation on death.
Mumukshutwa is spiritual aspiration through a life devoted to 1)
understanding, restraint and sublimation of mundane desires and
passions, 2) integrity, honesty and straightforwardness, 3)
compassion, generosity of heart, selfless service and love of one's
fellow-beings, 4) education, discipline and refinement of the ego, and
5) commitment to such basic values as accountability, duty,
trustworthiness, constancy, loyalty, responsibility, reliability and
moral courage. The true meaning of mumukshutwa is to be free from
the contradiction of these ideals in our character. It is, indeed, a
lifelong process and demands attention everyday.
In a similar category of interpretation mumukshutwa can be defined
as a longing for liberation from twelve kleshas or causes of human
suffering: 1) ahamkara, ego, 2) swartha, selfishness, 3) darpa,
arrogance, 4) mada, intoxication by pride, 5) moha, infatuation, 6)
kama, lust, 7) krodha, anger, 8) lobha, greed, 9) matsarya, jealousy,
10) irsha, envy, 11) dwesha, hate, and 12) dambha, hypocrisy.
Far from being a dry intellectual pursuit, Gyana Yoga is a practical
philosophy of life.
Gyana is a mental vision formed through a search for reality and
strengthened by its application in daily life. It includes faith and
devotion, mental discipline and meditation that inspired the teachings
of Bhakti and Raja Yogas. The basic line, however, is liberation from
avidya or ignorance and maya or illusion due to the ignorance of
reality. Vidya or knowledge of reality in following the path of truth as
per one's best understanding, however, is the primary concern of
Gyana Yoga.
Transcendental knowledge is its goal, but it should not be taken to
mean jumping out of one's mind into an airy state of blissful loftiness.
The term is indicative of an ever-widening dimension of knowledge.
As knowledge is infinite, any revelation is subject to a better
revelation, any transcendental knowledge is geared to a greater
transcendence. To transcend something you must know well what you
are transcending. As knowledge, in order to express itself, has to be
defined, there can always be a better definition. As such, Gyana Yoga
is free from dogmatism characteristic to revealed religions.
The first step to Gyana is the awareness that one does not know
enough. The Kena Upanishad says: "He who knows not [that he]
knows not, knows not. He who knows [that he] knows not, knows."
The second step is to find its validity by application, so that
affirmations like 'reality is Brahman' or 'that thou art' do not remain
figments of imagination. It is more important to know the truth of
'what am I' and start working on oneself from that level than jump
into an ineffable 'that thou art'.
Like perfection, love, faith and devotion, truth has to be ever
progressive and subject to verification in order to be acceptable as
truth rather than an opinion. The Latin word for truth is veritas and
the Sanskrit satya (truth) comes from sat or that which exists.
Whether God as a deity exists or not is not a question of truth but of
faith, and the reality of faith is in the truth of its consequence, i.e., if
the believer has spiritualstrength and security and, therefore, peace
and freedom from fear and anxiety.
WHAT IS GOD?
In Gyana Yoga, personal God such as the heavenly father is regarded
as an idealised and visionary form of the universal spirit, not physical
but spiritual, shaped and reshaped by the individual's devotional
aspiration, which is again conditioned by one's cultural and historical
background. As such, it is not imperative to a Gyana Yogi to believe
in a personal deity but in the infinite spirit sustaining life at all levels,
from the structuring of matter through energy to the expression of
such spiritual qualities as peace and love, integrity and purity of heart,
that are consciously or unconsciously longed for in human existence.
Most religions presuppose a supernatural creator, omnipotent and
omniscient, to psychologically help in the process of survival and
sustain hope that life can be happier herein and, due to attachment to
the herein, in the hereafter. The Vedic religion, by observing the
elemental forces of nature, created supernatural entities behind them.
In Gyana Yoga, these elemental forces were fused into a
transcendental spiritual force, calling it Brahman or the universal
spirit, not a person, not a deity, not a creator but a creative, sustaining,
illuminating and dissolving principle.
By observation we know that a life-giving principle enables
continuity of existence, for example the seed of a tree becoming
another tree, as it is with the animals and the humans, that it
substantiates matter through energy, living beings through the vital
force and the universe, including our earth, through a cosmic force
whether one calls it a combination of the electromagnetic,
gravitational and the cohesive and decohesive forces.
In an earlier age, before the evolution of Gyana Yoga, the instinct of
fear and the desire to be protected and happy created sacrificial rituals
in order to propitiate the elemental forces of nature. To promote a
wholesome outlook, Gyana Yoga postulated that there is a superior
force behind natural forces, that the universe is the body of this
spiritual force or God, that all life is sacred, for there is God in all,
that if you love God you love nature, love animals and love human
beings. This postulation of divine immanence, while yet being
transcen- dental, is a unique contribution of Gyana Yoga to the
spiritual culture of humanity.
The diffidence to and fear of the supernatural gave place to optimism
and love of idealism. Antagonism among the worshippers of different
religious deities was sought to be dissolved by making these gods
various expressions of the same spiritual essence as per the differing
predilections in the cultural backgrounds of the people to express their
devotion and aspiration, rather than subordinate or annul them under a
supremely dictatorial God.
Gyana Yoga speaks of prakriti as the material force in creation,
making evolution possible through interaction and competition,
elimination and assimilation. Behind prakriti, out of which the body
and mind are formed with instincts and passions, is purusha or the
spiritual force expressing itself by love and truth, purity and
selflessness, harmony and peace, in human consciousness.
This spiritual force is the essence of the individual soul that is
identical with the infinite spirit. For example, if the sun is the source
of light, the content of the individual soul can be compared to a spark
of it in a state of embodiment. The physical body is the vehicle,
within it is the mind containing instincts, memories and a discerning
intelligence, and within the mind is hidden the spiritual spark giving it
the light of perception andlife to the body. The mind is like a
lampshade. The cleaner the lampshade the clearer the expression of
the light.
WHAT IS DESTINY?
The interaction of the material and spiritual forces shapes human
destiny. When the spiritual force has a better sway over the material
force, there is harmony and life is happier. When the material force
dominates the spiritual force, there is conflict with its consequent
suffering. In a state of fusion of these two forces the infinite spirit is
transcendent and, thus, impartial and beyond good and evil.
Without the interaction of these two forces emerging from a
transcendental source, consciousness cannot be evaluative. Prakriti or
nature by itself is neither moral nor immoral, such as in the suffering
brought about by an earthquake to both the good and the wicked alike
and, thus, cannot be called an act of God but a consequence of an
evolutionary process in nature.
Our responsibility to both these forces in awakening and tapping the
spiritual and controlling and utilising the natural, within and without,
makes us the hewer of our destiny, although there is always an
element of the unknown which Gyana Yoga tries to explain by the
philosophy of karma. Unlike in many religions, the infinite spirit, God
of the Upanishads, does not reward or punish. One reaches out to it
through holy aspiration and draws strength and inspiration for one's
deeds. It is the individual who rewards and punishes himself through
his deeds.
The philosophy of karma is a rationalisation of destiny as a substitute
to the presumption about God's will and nihilistic pessimism about the
unfairness of life, such as the circumstance of birth, inequality of
opportunity, difference in intelligence, inborn talents and character
traits, the instances of some of those trying to live honestly losing and
some of the wickedwinning. It tries to answer the question why life is
so unequal and full of vagaries.
There is nothing dogmatic about the theory of karma, as also with the
other basic philosophical positions in yoga, but an attempt is made to
promote an understanding of the nature of life. If it helps, fine. If it
does not, search more and find your own solution.
As attachment to life causes notions about afterlife and as reward and
punishment determine the nature of afterlife in heaven or hell, the
idea of one life alone makes divine justice brutal and amnesty brought
about by repentance only rather farcical. The philosophy of karma and
the inevitable reincarnation is an attempt, however imperfect, to make
life fairer.
Love of life is inherent in all and leads to attachment to our existence,
and this attachment to notions of immortality. Immortality
presupposes life after death. As desire for a life free from trouble
assumes experience of happiness, and as no happiness can be
sustained as such without the polarity of experience, a state of
permanent bliss is an irrational expectation.
As everything in creation is subject to change, the Upanishads
presume heaven and hell to be as impermanent as the earth, and are
for a temporary sojourn only for the virtuous and the wicked,
respectively. Symbolically they ought to be regarded as a part of life's
experience right here on earth.
The predilection to reincarnation on earth is an acknowledgement of
the preference of the known rather than the unknown, if one is given
the choice, although the Upanishads speculate about many planes of
existence of higher and lower levels of evolution. Such an idea is
surely not impossible considering that in the galaxy of our solar
system alone there are a hundred to two hundred thousand million
stars.
If a medium-size star like our sun can have an earth among its nine
planets with a life-supporting environment, there could be millions of
others among the billions of galaxies.
Ultimately, Gyana Yoga presumes, when the human being attains an
optimum level of spiritual evolution and when all earthly desires are
satiated and sublimated, there remains only the longing of the pure
essence of the soul to merge itself into its origin, the infinite, eternal,
universal and transcendental spirit. The embodied spirit finally returns
to its source. The doll made of salt loses its embodiment in the salt of
the ocean.
PATHS ARE INTERRELATED
As in other yogas, Gyana requires guidance, ethical conduct and self-
discipline. First is through study and contemplation. It is an individual
search, although with the help of teachers, but spiritual dependence on
any external authority is not encouraged and only guidance sought in
order to improve one's discernment. Ultimately, anyhow, all learning
is through personal experience.
Ethical conduct needs an adequate sense of right and wrong
developed by study and contemplation, and substan- tiated by
practical experience and the evaluation of the results of one's actions.
Self-discipline is best acquired through inspiration of the ideal behind
the act of discipline. If you want something for your good, you have
to love the goal with your heart and soul.
It is a mistaken idea that Gyana Yoga is devoid of emotion, for
knowledge and devotion, which is a higher form of emotion, are two
sides of the same coin. The two cannot be separated. Just as Gyana is
not merely an intellectual vision, Bhakti is neither a flux of
emotionalism. Through devotion comes peace and through knowledge
strength, through devotion grace and through knowledge wisdom.
Brahman, while not being a deity but infinite spirit, is grace that is
love and light that is knowledge. Knowledge is born in the heart
through spiritual aspiration, not in the head. Reason or yukti (literally,
uniting) is learned in the head through intellectual discipline and
Gyana or wisdom is awakened in the heart as a result of absorbing the
essence of knowledge through the practice of spiritual ideals.
In Gyana Yoga, God is neither one nor many but transcendental and
universal spirit. The infinite cannot be particularised as one, or even
absolute (ab, from, solvere, free) because the absoluteness of the
absolute is dependent on the non-absolute and, thus, cannot be 'free
from' or truly absolute. There are no greater or lesser gods but better
and lesser understanding of spiritual values and, therefore, of God.
The immanence of the transcendental spirit gave birth to morality
which Gyana Yoga does not consider as social norms but as a basic
respect for life expressed through disciplines like, as per Patanjali's
rules codified many centuries later, non- violence (ahimsa),
truthfulness (satya), chastity (brahmacharya), non-stealing or honesty
(asteya) and non-covetousness (aparigraha).
Teachings of the scriptures are called threads (sutra) with which one
has to weave one's own garment of realisation. Illusions are not
outside but in our own mind. The changing nature of the material
world does not make it unreal, just as one's ideation about the reality
of Brahman does not make God any more real in life but the practice
of spiritual values attributed to him.
Gyana Yoga respects saints and prophets and acknowledges their role
in the guidance of humanity. It insists on the autonomy of the
individual spirit and personal responsibility for spiritual progress.
Whereas God's grace and the unique role of the personal deity, such
as Jesus Christ for theChristians and Krishna for the Vaishnavite
Hindus, are imperative in Bhakti Yoga, they are not basic to Gyana
Yoga.
Ethical conduct is meant to give a concrete expression to knowledge,
devotion and meditation. It is a common imperative to all yogas, as
also self-denial and self-discipline in order to gain inner strength.
Without integrity and mental clarity (Gyana), love and compassion
(Bhakti), one-pointed and balanced mind (Raja) and righteous and
selfless conduct (Karma) no branch of yoga can be of great
significance."
THE SPIRIT OF THE UPANISHADS
The fulfilment of a sense of belonging is one of the deeper human
needs. In all civilisations, the questions about our origin and the
purpose of existence have troubled thinking minds in search of an
inner security and the reason for being alive. Some forty thousand
years ago, man began to express his relatedness to life around through
his cave paintings and, much earlier, his feelings by blowing into his
bamboo flute. Nine thousand years ago, agricultural communities
were already living on the banks of the Euphrates, Tigris, Jordan, Nile
and the Yellow river. In ancient India, some 6,000 years ago
agricultural communities were thriving in the region of the five rivers
(pancha apas, from which the name Punjab is derived).
Rains and floods, so necessary for agriculture, gave man a sense of
relatedness to nature. His primitive mind was frightened by natural
forces: lightning, thunder, storm, earthquake, death. Man's constant
companion was fear, even as it is today in a reasonable form. His life
was and still is violent, because he has evolved from the brute forces
of nature.
We are individual capsules of thousands of millions of cells, each
with a limited and similar intelligence of its own,bearing the imprint
of not only our physical forms and susceptibility to disease but also
emotional and character patterns, transforming and evolving, adapting
and mutating in relationship to environment through their own
momentum as well as by our individual effort.
The idea that man originated from a divine being came much later to
help him overcome his brutish nature by a higher sense of identity, for
identity serves its purpose, to give security and fulfilment, only when
directed upward. However, those who devised such an identity
extended their own imperfect nature by making the creator, being
disgusted with his creation, which was after all his work, try to
liquidate his creatures by deluge (Genesis). Man transferred his
insecurity and jealousy by making God demand that no other gods be
adored before him and threaten that if idols were worshipped, not
only will such a worshipper be punished but his children and their
children as well, revealing man's vengeful character (the first two of
the Ten Commandments), and his distressing egolatry (Bhagavad
Gita).
The clever among men exploited man's fear for survival by inventing
a series of rites to propitiate supernatural entities called gods behind
natural forces which threatened him, thereby creating a caste for
commiseration between men and gods. The murderous nature of man
expressed itself through human sacrifice, of those whom he did not
like or was envious of. A little improvement in his relationship to the
supernatural we note in the sacrifice of the bull in Sumer, or the horse
in ancient India (Ashwamedha Yagna), or the ram in Judea.
In Vedic India, some 3,800 years ago, poets began to sing hymns in
praise of entities behind natural forces, because man was awed and
frightened by them, such as by lightning (Indra) as well as needed
them for agriculture (Varuna) and survival (Vayu and Agni). Man's
relationship to Jehova was not very different either, being afraid of
and needing him as well forprotection. All these responses show that
we have evolved from the forces of nature, reflecting the violence of
storm and the gentleness of breeze, domination of the powerful and
the submission of the weak.
More than 3,200 years ago, astute and intelligent leaders like Moses
tried to unify these forces into a supremely powerful creator,
demanding the highest from his chosen people (sic) a moral
obedience, which would make them deserving of God's love, and
therefore protection, by overcoming their passions (again the forces of
nature) to which they might succumb by not living up to the goodness
of God in whose image they were created, although Moses did not
explain how God could be as vengeful as man himself.
From the gods we needed power because being powerful we could
survive better, we needed wisdom because being ignorant our life was
full of fears. Thus, Zeus became the powerful leader of the Greek
gods and, to a lesser extent, Indra of the Hindu gods. Jehova became
the only true God for the Jews rejecting all other gods, as Allah for
the Moslems, and the Christ the sole incarnation of God for the
Christians.
MYSTICAL VISION
In the later Vedic period, about the time of Solomon, the Upanishads
tried to unify all the Hindu gods into a mystical, eternal, all-pervasive,
infinite spirit called Brahman who, by becoming all, not rejecting any,
made religious prejudice irrelevant, and it did not matter by what
name it was called. It did not solve social prejudice, of course, but an
attempt was made at theological tolerance. The transformation of a
primordial and transcendental spiritual essence as the universe by its
creative principle (brahma) and its sustenance by its cosmic mind
(hiranyagarbha) through the laws of nature (prakriti) was a unique
idea originating in the Upanishads,although it was not explained how
could a perfect essence become an imperfect creation.
A product of this mystical vision was the Buddha who, 2,500 years
ago, thought that love among people was more important than what
one thought about God. He taught that love was the water which put
out the fire of hate, and said that when one's house was on fire one did
not ask who caused the fire but tried to put it out. So, indeed, it is
pointless to dispute about God when there is so much suffering in life
but more important it is to find ways to overcome it by spiritual effort.
Two thousand years ago, a great reformer arose in a Hellenised
Jewish Society, to whom God was love and his justice was tempered
by mercy. Jesus made loving God meaningful by loving one's
neighbours, and returning good for evil as a way of overcoming the
vengeful human nature. He appealed to the good in us and, like the
Buddha, taught that the retribution of evil can only perpetuate evil,
and the way out of it was to step out and do the opposite.
The Vedic immanence of God by sensing which we can soften
somewhat the coarseness of life, the Jewish ideal of not treating
others as one would not like to be treated, the Buddhist compassion,
the Christian charity and the Moslem brotherhood did not free the
mind from intolerance, of course, but as a positive influence helped to
civilise society.
A mystical vision of the "tree of life" rises in the Upanishads and later
in the Bhagavad Gita, a tree which has roots in heaven and the trunk,
branches, leaves and fruits on earth, the latter being our earthly
existence conditioned by material surroundings, while yet drawing its
sap from the roots projected into our divine identity.
The Upanishads speak of our bodies as a part of the universe, our
minds as sparks of the cosmic intelligence trapped in their opaque
jackets of matter, and our souls as droplets of theinfinite spiritual
essence expressing itself through truth and love, beauty and goodness,
however limited their under- standing be in our finite minds, but they
make morality meaningful and provide a healing grace to life.
The Upanishads underrate rituals and glorify Gyana or wisdom which
is meaningful only when applied on a tangible level in human
relationship. They do not edify suffering but the means to overcome it
through renunciation of attachment and pride, and by truth, love and
self-discipline. They ask for the worship of Brahman by the practice
of three ideals: rita which is a sum total of righteousness, truth, faith
and divine law, yagna or sacrifice of ignorance and selfishness, and
tyaga or renun- ciation of passion, vanity and slavery to the sense-
objects.
Sacrifice is not a diminishing act but a creative process, because
knowledge frees us to be creative whilst ignorance and selfishness
make us limited. By renouncing attachment and pride, passion and
vanity, we learn to love truly and relate better with others. Seeking
truth we improve our understanding of life and can deal with its
problems without being affected by maya or illusion, a product of
perception without wisdom or perception distorted by passion and
attachment, and refrain from the illusion of regarding the world as an
illusion.
ALL-PERVASIVE SPIRIT
The Chhandogya Upanishad gives an all-pervasive vision of God and
man's relatedness to him, which is a typical elan in Gyana Yoga:
The infinite spirit
Is above and below,
To the east and to the west,
To the north and to the south;
Truly, it is the whole universe.
Then comes the teaching in the same Upanishad about dissolving our
isolated egos:
I am above and below, I am
To the east and the west,
To the north and to the south;
Truly, I am this whole universe.
After this message of the relatedness of the human spirit to the
transcendental and yet immanent infinite spirit, a vision of our destiny
is given in the Mundaka Upanishad:
As rivers flowing forward
Find their home in the ocean,
Leaving name and form behind,
So does man, released
From name and form,
Draw near the divine spirit
Which is beyond the beyond.
This inseparability of the immanence and transcendence of God is a
special contribution of the Upanishads to the philosophical and
religious search of humanity. The all- pervasiveness of Isha (Lord or
God) is narrated in the Isha Upanishad:
The unmoving one
Is swifter than thought;
The gods (luminous intellects)
Cannot get hold of it,
As it speeds ahead of them.
It moves and moves not,
It is far (for the ignorant)
And yet near (to the wise);
It is within the whole universe
And yet beyond it.
The Upanishads speak of God interchangeably as purusha (supreme
being), brahman (infinite spirit) and paramatman (supreme soul),
while maintaining that such a being is formless,all-pervasive and
transcendent, of which the soul or the spirit of man is a part, not a part
of the partless spirit but like the formless space within a jar
(ghatakasha) taking the form of the jar and apparently being in a state
of separateness from the formless space around it, the human vehicle
as the body, mind and personality being the jar.
The many visions or ideas about God can be compared to the colours
of a rainbow, as man tries to find his real self through many cultures,
religious posturing and spiritual aspiration, refracting the white light
of his inner spirit in the many hues of his mind. Although they
apparently clash with each other when set apart, ultimately they come
from the same source, the white light.
This is the spirit of the Upanishads which shone for a while in ancient
India. To negate this universal vision and make God a tribal deity is to
use religion as a divisive and obscurant force, which we often do,
rather than a uniting and illuminating influence in life, which its Latin
root re-ligare (reunite) literally means. Religion becomes an opiate
when it sets apart God from the world and makes him a means of
escape from suffering that is a part of life. This does not solve the
problems that cause suffering but anesthetises one to it.
The obvious reality is that man has not found the happiness he seeks
and, in the process of seeking it, has created a God of his imagination.
If the imagination is primitive and merely to serve the need for
protection, the bones of his fear and prejudice rattle in the closets of
his scriptures. If his imagination widens and soars as spiritual
aspiration, he finds the reality of peace and fulfilment, and tries to
make the world a better place to live in, to the extend he is capable of,
by the expression of his higher self. Thus, the meaning of life is
realised individually as to what we want to make of it and are capable
of effectuating. The Upanishads ask us to shape it by three means:
Through loving devotion (bhakti) to what is noble or to spiritual
ideals, the supreme symbol of which is God, without a threat of
having to be accountable to a deity and grovel for mercy, and without
emotional theatrics.
Through contemplative understanding (gyana) of what such ideals
mean in the depth of our feelings rather than through an intellectual
effort, in a pure heart rather than by doctrinaire dialectics.
We make such an understanding of our love meaningful for what we
adore spiritually, in the way we act (karma) and get along and work
with others, in how we love those who are dear to us, how we hope
and manage our desires, how we cope with adversity that may cross
our path, and how we pick ourselves up from the consequences of our
errors, our minds and feelings temporarily bruised but the spirit
remaining unsullied.
THE VISION OF VEDANTA
Is there a meaning to our existence? It is for the individual to make
one. By itself there is none, considering the massive, brutal forces,
and the consequent suffering, through which life has evolved. In the
march of civilisation we have tried to tame our animal nature, and
refine our sensibilities to widen the awareness of what we are and
wish to be, and what is around. Through such an interaction we seem
to seek out a purpose, create a motivation, for being alive. The bottom
line is love of life.
The invention of agriculture nearly ten thousand years ago, having
forced us to live in communities, led to initial experiments in what
should be our behaviour pattern, for the sake of social harmony and
creativity. Out of it evolved notions of justice through retribution and
reward.
Even earlier, the struggle for survival created an inherent insecurity in
our mindset, and initiated the role of shamans who gave the sick
herbal and mineral extracts, and did magical incantations to cast off
the evil eye by imagining and invoking supernatural forces. Millennia
rolled on.
From insecurity came fear, and from fear the need to be saved. Thus
came about the idea of salvation. Few thought that it was cruel to be
damned by the original sin of a mythical ancestor, that was neither
comprehensible nor fair, and then be offered the grail of salvation!
Since human relationship was not all that pretty, the cloud of
unhappiness, not being emotionally fulfilled adequately, drifted in and
out of our consciousness. Thus, fear and unhappiness became the
parents of religion, and tribal identity for group security its jealous
mistress.
Attachment to life as we know, to our body and the objects of
pleasure to make it happy, led to the notions of afterlife minus the
miseries. The urge for happiness and to avoid suffering being
inherent, there rose the visions of paradise and fantasies of eternal
bliss.
Few bothered to think that the intensity of experience wanes through
continuity, and that any psychological experience is possible at all by
its relativity to the residual memory of its opposite. It was easier to be
spaced out in transdimensional fog than to come into grips with
tangible reality requiring personal responsibility.
Being tired of the bipolar swings from excitement to ennui, the
fatigue of the spirit gave birth to the idea of going beyond the mind,
rising above duality, merging in the infinite spirit.
Since we did not want those we disliked on earth to be around in
paradise, and were too weak to punish those who had harmed us, we
invented an appropriate place like hell for them to be roasted in!

As civilisation evolved, the angst of existence produced some real

philosophers-not the stereotype wool-gatherers- who sought answers
to the quirks of life from within, asking thereason why, observing and
learning from experience, trying to free the mind from superstition
and ignorance.
 FAITH AND REASON

Much earlier had formed the second oldest profession, to which in a

way I happen to belong, that of the priests, the successors of shamans
(the spirit inevitably takes a back seat behind flesh). They tried to
cope with a vastly numerous and rather superstitious clientele, by
seeking guidance from above, in their fertile minds communicating
with heavenly deities.

Brahmanas, or the intermediaries between Brahma the creator and his

imperfectly-created beings, crafted karma- kanda in the Vedas, or
ritualistic duties to absolve sin and, therefore, punishment, and ensure
heavenly existence in after- life, and to keep themselves employed
meanwhile!

The rishis or philosophers devised gyana-kanda, or moral duties

inspired by the knowledge of spiritual identity among fellow-beings,
and search for reality behind appearance. They sought the roots of
spirit inside human nature through some basic observations: that truth
gave security, unselfish love fulfilment, and purity of heart peace.
They found that it was a universal experience.

Hebrew prophets like Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Micah and others,

having earlier discovered (if you don't like the subversively-honest
word 'invented') God, as he came to be regarded in Western and
Islamic societies, laid out what conduct should be on the platform of
Ten Commandments. They sought guidance from above by the
fulcrum of faith to interpret what God said through Moses in the
Torah, although other authors also contributed to it after him.

Hellenic philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras and

others sought direction from within in the fountain of reason and
spirited dialogue, thereby enabling personal search and consensus.

Both did so by commitment to ideals they loved, the former through

obedience and the latter by reason. The former had the motivation of
heaven, and the fear of hell. The latter had the satisfaction of the
search for truth, and in being fair to all citizens alike (ignoring the
slaves).
The imperative of commandment is obedience, and the tool of
obedience, in the common mind, fear. The imperative of reason is
mutual welfare, and the tool of discipline the love of the reason why,
or inspiration, rather than manipulating the emotions of fear and
unhappiness, which religion did.

Religion found the individual to be weak-minded, indecisive, selfish

and prone to avoid responsibility. It provided the alternative as
submission to God's will (as if you had a direct line of
communication), while obeying his commandments as the scripture
dictated. The celebration of the suffering of Job, of the virtuous, not
questioning God's wisdom, became the test of faith.

Human nature being more emotional than rational, more lazy to work
on itself than getting emotional about a deity to appeal to for a way
out, religion succeeded and the philosophers failed. You have only to
look at the clientele.

Few bothered to think that Job's case was exceptional in being

rewarded in this life itself. To the suffering individual, the
incomprehension of a divine mind becomes meaningless, as does the
promissory note of reward in the intangible afterlife.

Suffering by itself corrupts and promotes servility, unless one

specifically tries to learn from it before getting benumbed. The
proclamation of its virtue also comes handy in offsetting the
possibility of a revolution by the masses against the minority of the
privileged classes, thus safeguarding their hypocritically much-
maligned filthy lucre.

For some, like Job, faith is acceptance of fate ordained by God. For
the vast majority faith is just a hope. For only a fewfaith is
commitment to the ideals that the deity ought to inspire: purity of
heart, selfless love and integrity; devotion, discern- ment and
dispassion; loyalty, fairness and duty; responsibility, humility and
accountability.

Belief is a bridge between the known and the unknown. It begins with
a provisional acceptance requiring a search in order to encounter the
reality of its premise. If you accept nothing, you find nothing. If you
accept something and do nothing to find its truth, you remain stupid!
If the search is fruitful, the element of doubt inherent in belief
disappears. Then you no longer say "I believe that it is so" but calmly
state "I know that it is so, and yet I have a lot more to know about it.'

Belief by itself means a possibility, even plausibility. If you stretch it

too far, it enters the realm of wishful thinking, if not hypocrisy.

CONSCIENCE

Devising the role model of God is fundamental to evolution, as

identity serves both the needs for security and upliftment from a
deficient state of being. Imagine the shock to self-importance if one is
identified with the monkey! Imagine, again, the sanity of chest-
thumping for being created equally in the image of God, or the
jivatma (individual soul) being identical with the paramatma
(supreme soul), when at every step the inequality of life contradicts it.
The easy way out is to blame it on agyana (ignorance) or the original
sin.

The presumption, however, provided the seeds of human rights and

adult franchise, which took nearly three thousand years to germinate,
apart from individual spiritual aspiration since much earlier, that gave
birth to conscience. The sanctity of life is the basis of democracy.

Conscience is a product of a sense of guilt in giving vent to lower

passions, in the process of surviving at the expense of weaker
individuals. It is evolutionary in nature, and mainlyformed by
education and cultural influence. No one is born with a God-given
conscience for making a choice.

The raw human nature on its own has no conscience, and actuates
itself by the rule of mother nature (prakriti): that might makes right,
that the fittest ought to survive at the expense of the weaklings, that
cheating is inevitable if one can get away with it.
The human spirit, originating in purusha (infinite spirit), however,
feels suffocated by such a rule, and seeks peace by countering it
through self-restraint, self-denial, compassion and fairness to all.

The human nature being a contradiction unto itself, due to the

interaction of purusha and prakriti, falls for the palliative provided by
religion that the creator's wisdom is ineffable, that if you cannot
overcame suffering, you have to bear the burden gracefully.

Few bother to see the contradiction of how can the supreme being be
all-powerful and yet indifferent to the prevalence of injustice, be all-
merciful and yet unable or unwilling to prevent suffering brought
about by war, famine, holocaust, Gulag, genocide and pestilence.

Thus, arises the philosophy, religion's palliatives apart, that life is

what you are able to make of it, tapping the potentials from within,
and making use of the opportunities around, venturing out and
seeking them, to the best of your ability. Only then can you learn from
the quirks of fate. Only by experimenting any premise of knowledge
in real life that you know its reality.

ORIGIN OF VEDANTA

Like the Old Testament, the Vedas speak of the story of a people who
called themselves arya (in Sanskrit the word means noble). The Vedas
are the earliest religious literature extant that have shaped the Hindu
view of life. The word is derived fromthe root vid, to know. About the
time of Abraham, some 3,700 years ago, the Aryans came from the
north-west to the 'land of five rivers,' pancha apas, from which the
name of the province Punjab is derived. They found an already-
existing civilisation in the Indus valley in what is now Pakistan. Its
roots may have existed earlier in Sumeria.

The Aryan tribes got partially absorbed by it, willy nilly, and
extended themselves into the Gangetic plains and the Himalayas
within a few centuries. They were fascinated by nature, and had
already composed many exquisite odes expressing their relationship
with the universe. These formed the early part of the Vedas, and were
called Samhita. The Aryans recited the odes as a part of their religious
practice.

By the time of the early Hebrew prophets, nearly 3,000 years ago, the
philosophers among the Aryans started composing the Upanishads.
These came to be known as Vedanta, and formed the fourth part of
the Vedas, the second and the third parts being Brahmana and
Aranyaka, consisting of rituals and social codes, respectively. The
word anta means conclusion, as well as culmination, of the Vedic
teachings.

In Vedanta, the sages variously expressed the soaring of the human

spirit in search of its identity. Most of the authors of the Upanishads
consisting of succinct philosophical treatises were anonymous,
although some like Yagnyavalkya and Aitareya identified themselves.
Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa reflected the teachings in his Brahma-
sutra and, in the name of Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita. So did other
subsequent philosophers like Gaudapada, Shankara and Ramanuja,
giving different facets to Vedanta, some erudite in treating the nature
of existence, and some sculpted in fog in stretching the doctrine of
maya or illusion!

Vedanta is also known as Gyana Yoga, or the path of knowledge. The

Greek word for knowledge gnosis may have come from gyana, just as
from gnosis the Latin gnoscere, toknow. Although Vedanta
philosophy has its roots in the Upanishads, it has a constantly
evolving and adapting leitmotif, like any other philosophy, or for that
matter religion, to be meaningful to life.

SPIRITUAL GOAL

The awareness of one's ignorance is the first step to knowledge. The

second step is, after learning a premise of knowledge, to apply it in
action. One does not know so much by reading and contemplating but
by doing, through which alone knowledge improves and becomes
useful. Whatever the merits of the awareness of or being one with the
infinite, it has done no good to the world!
Knowledge has two sides: 1) empirical, and 2) the pertinence of what
is perceived empirically. The Sanskrit root for truth is sat, or that
which exists, just as the Latin for truth is veritas, or that which is
verifiable. The pertinence of the verifiable has an infinite possibility
of widening its understanding and applicability. Empirical chemistry
or physics, for example, has an endless relevance to improving the
quality of life, as through a proper vocation the shaping of
perspective.

The purpose of knowledge is to give us a bearing, thus a measure of

security, and direction for a sense of purpose and creativity, thus
fulfilment. The goal of knowledge is to enlighten the mind, free it
from avidya, or ignorance. From ignorance is born fear, anxiety,
superstition, prejudice. As such, ignorance is the worst pollutant.
From fear comes intolerance, and from intolerance injustice and
violence.

The philosophy of Vedanta is to regard the world as a stage, in which

the actors play out a morality play (lila), just as in ancient Greece the
actors put on different masks to act out their roles. The word
personality comes from Etruscan phersu, meaning a mask. Acting out
the roles we give ourselves is tofulfil life, not bear with but try to
overcome suffering and be happy, happiness (ananda) being the
innate nature of the spirit, embodied in an inadequate vehicle, living
in an imperfect world.

Freedom of the soul (individual, pure consciousness, or chit) from

material bondage is the spiritual goal, and its merger in the
transcendental spirit (Brahman) the common destiny. This freedom is
attained through devotion to one's inner spirit (atman) or that which
represents spiritual values, understanding of the various truths of
existence, and a life of self-discipline and self-improvement. It is the
presence of soul that makes progress possible.

Life suffers when it is led by the blind force of impulses and mundane
desires. The purpose of Vedanta philosophy is to understand, educate
and sublimate them. It is done by the cultivation of a moral sense and
its application in daily life by the practice of some basic ideals, not as
commandments but as guidelines to cherish:

* Chitta-suddhi, or purity of heart: to be free from hate, malice,

resentment, vengeance, avarice, wickedness, and imputing bad
motives to others.

* Daya, or compassion: a feeling heart, spontaneous kindness, being

considerate of the needs of others, with matching deeds.

* Satya, or integrity: of feeling or depth of sentiment, rather than

sentimentalism, of thinking, of expression through speech and action,
not hurting, and honesty to oneself and others.

Tyaga, or self-abnegation: not to be selfish, thinking of the welfare of

others before one's own, not to be possessive or a slave of desires,
practising detachment, overcoming infatuation.

* Dama, or self-discipline: sublimation of passions, of lust by selfless

love, of anger by patience and tolerance, of greed by self-restraint.

* Viveka, or discernment: to know the difference between right and

wrong by measuring the consequence, if constructive not destructive,
unifying not divisive, healing not hurting, authentic not deceitful.

* Vinaya, or humility: purification of the ego by practising modesty,

knowing that there is a lot to learn and to improve oneself.

* Mumukshutva, or spiritual aspiration: a longing to be free from

bondage, or dependence, attachment, character deficiencies.

PHILOSOPHICAL POSTULATES

The philosophy of Vedanta evolved as a positive unifying force of

reconciliation among diverging concepts of God in ancient India. Its
other purpose was to make religion (dharma) a practical way of life
by the performance of one's duty (dharma) based on righteousness
(dharma). To the Sanskrit word for religion, Vedanta added the same
for duty and righteousness, dhri being the root, meaning that which
supports.
By the vision of monism, making God a transcendental, all-pervading
spirit, rather than a singular, all-important and the only valid deity as
in monotheism, it took away the inherent sting of intolerance and
iconoclasm. Judaism, Christianity and Islam have a lot to learn from
it, as all religions should from the best in each other.

The broad perspective of Vedanta is expressed in the following way.

* Brahman or the infinite spirit is not a deity or a substance that can

be confined within a conceptual image, but is the spiritual essence in
creation while being transcendental.

Thus, polytheistic differences were submerged by the vision that what

people call God is but a spiritual form of one's devotion, sacred love
and holy aspiration. It comes into shape in the process of trying to
relate to the transcendental spirit.

That is why the Bhagavad Gita says that God comes to the devotee in
the form of his or her seeking. The Kena Upanishad points out that
the devas or the elemental forces of nature have no power of their
own but are able to function on account of the supreme spirit
(Brahman) within them.

* Even though Brahman cannot be defined, the human spirit can

relate to the indefinable through spiritual ideals like love and truth,
but qualified by the adjectives to rise above qualification: 1) infinite,
to expand them constantly; 2) eternal, to provide the security of
permanency; 3) universal, to have the relevancy among all,
irrespective of religious and cultural background; and 4)
transcendental, in order to realise them better ever more.

* The mantra Isha vasyam idam sarvam in the Isha Upanishad, that all
is pervaded by the infinite spirit, created for the first time in human
consciousness a sense of sanctity for all forms of life, not only for the
humankind, and not merely confined to one's own tribes, but respect
for animals and nature as well, which has only recently penetrated
western thinking through the institutions for the prevention of cruelty
against animals (even if they are eaten to satisfy greed!), and
ecological responsibility.
* The three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam,
uphold God as the transcendental, commanding creator, but the
Brahman of Vedanta, while being transcendental does not have a
dictating role. Being the essence of the universe, as energy in matter,
prakriti or the neutral natural force makes evolution possible through
the interaction of atoms (anu) and so also its dissolution. Being the
essence as purusha or spiritual force, it gives birth to
individualconsciousness, evolving as conscience and shaping moral
values.

RECONCILIATION AND UNITY

This vision of the all-pervasiveness of spirit shaped some basic ideals

of tolerance, reconciliation and unity.

* Vedanta sought to reconcile religious antagonism by the epigraphic

comparison of various faiths in search of God as vapours rising from
the ocean and becoming clouds, then by coming into contact with the
mountains and forming as springs and streams, they began to flow
and joined together as rivers, then coursed through different lands,
and acquired their characteristics, but only to meet their ultimate
destination by merging into the ocean from where they had sprung.

Thus, in spite of religious differences and cultural habits, Vedanta

postulated that humanity's origin and destiny are the same. Or, the
simile of a multihued garland of flowers, each one different, but a
common, running thread of the universal spirit holistically uniting
them.

Vedanta spoke of the identity of this spirit as the essence of the

individual soul, like a spark of light being identical with the sun, or a
drop of water with the ocean. Thus, all members of humanity having a
common spiritual heritage should try to rise above religious
dogmatism and extend the law of "thou shalt not kill" beyond their
tribal and national groups and live without warfare.

*The light of the spirit is equally luminous in every soul (an echo of
the Biblical ethos that God created all human beings equally in his
own image), but expresses itself in different degrees of transparency
through one's conscience due to the shades of opacity or impurity of
the covering sheaths, the various layers of the mind, or fails to.
Uncovering the light within, and expressing it through spiritual values
in relationship is the goal of life.

No one should be coerced into following a dictated path of faith, but

each should grow according to the law of one's own evolution as per
personal inspiration, choice and effort. Just as there are many paths
leading to the summit of a mountain, the role of the teachers is only to
show them and provide the expertise of their own experience, but it is
the individual who has to do the climbing and arriving at the peak of
self-realisation (it is better not to be bombastic by capitalising the 's').

*The ultimate goal is the merger of the individual soul in the

transcendental consciousness. This is illustrated by the simile of a doll
made up of salt which wanted to know where it came from and, thus,
entering the ocean began to swim in search of its origin. The more it
swam the less became its form, which finally disappeared, but not its
essence which became one with its source, the ocean.

The mystical vision of God, not referring to a deity, is given in

Vedanta in the words sat-chit-ananda, reflecting the ultimate longing
for the reality of truth (sat), its ever-widening comprehension (chit),
and realisation as supreme love (ananda).

The deity is meant to serve the need of a limited mind to focus on, but
is a superimposition, and no one should be dogmatic about its
supremacy.

OTHERWORLDLINESS

There is a running thread of otherworldliness throughout Indian

spiritual literature. It has caused a structural weakness in the mindset
of the people raised on it, thwarting inventiveness, creativity,
initiative. There have been occasional flashes of excellence in
mathematics, such as in the invention of the decimal before the
common era, and in metallurgy, as in the case of the 1,700 year-old
iron pillar still unoxidised in the complex of Qutab Minar in Delhi.
However, one hardly sees any contribution to science and
engineering, let alone social engineering, to improve the quality of
life. There is nothing like the creativity of the early-medieval China,
or the late medieval Europe. This lack of concern for material things
has been commented upon by some Macedonians who came to India
with Alexander the Great. He took with him to Babylon two Indian
gymnosophists, ascetic philosophers who hardly wore any clothing.

Later, the chroniclers Al Beruni and Ibn Batuta in the courts of the
Turko-Afghan invaders, in the tenth-eleventh and thirteenth centuries,
respectively, made similar comments, in addition to rating the Indians
as irrational, unlike the Chinese.

Yet, in Chanakya's Arthashastra one finds a deep insight into

realpolitik, and so also about social values based on moral principles
to cope with the foibles of human nature in the Mahabharata,
Ramayana and the Panchatantra (all BCE), and later in the Puranas.
But one cannot avoid the deep-rooted antipathy to the world in the
Indian religious lore. Anything rejected remains misunderstood.

Christianity had the same tendency until it became a state religion in

the fourth century. Since then it has paid only lip-service to, and
assiduously ignored, the otherworldliness in the teachings of Jesus.

In India, there was nothing like the age of reason which unfolded in
the UK, France and the USA some 250 years ago, with the
rediscovery of the Hellenic homocentric ideals of the rule of reason,
fairness to and autonomy of the individual, and blending into them the
theocentric Christian humanism.

The age of reason was, of course, blinkered within the tribal identities
of their innovators. The Americans did not condescend to respect the
basic human rights of the native Indians in their own land, let alone
consider citizenship, and contemptuously treated the Negro slaves as
beasts of burden.

The British and the French excluded, in the same way, the denizens of
their colonies from the age of reason. The white man's burden became
an egregiously self-righteous euphemism for the white man's greed. It
took nearly 200 years for the intellectuals in the western democracies
to recognise the selective morality of their ancestors, or the
uncivilised equation in signs such as "Chinese and dogs are not
allowed" at the entrance of the park facing Shanghai's Bund.

The Indians never bothered to cultivate a sense of history. Without the

knowledge of the past, one cannot understand how the present came
about and, therefore, fails to correct its deficiencies, nor can one apply
to the present those measures that had proved themselves in the past,
for projection into the future. When reality is sought in the thin air,
and the tangible world hypocritically dismissed as unreal, stagnation
takes over, and detachment becomes synonymous with indifference
and irresponsibility!

MAYA AND ADVAITA

The doctrine of maya is a later accretion to Vedanta philosophy,

denoting the illusory nature of existence. The original teachings do
not underrate the importance of the world as dharma-kshetra, or a
field of righteous duty. Maya indicates the nature of the mind fooling
itself by its craving and attachment, and forgetting the inner reality
behind appearance, such as happiness being in the possession of
material wealth and experience of sensual pleasure. Happiness is,
indeed, in a state of harmony with oneself and with others.

Maya denotes the temporary nature of life's experience, in the sense

that no infatuation or sorrow lasts forever, and warns that if the mind
conjures up fantasies in a relationship, it should be prepared for
disillusionment. Not to be carried away by wishful thinking and
passions, not to suffer on account of injured vanity, not to be swayed
by pride and prejudice, to bebalanced in success and failure, pleasure
and pain, is what the doctrine of maya tries to teach.

The thread of unity, advaita or non-duality, is emphasised in

recognition of bickering selfishness in human nature, and its
aggressiveness causing so much division and suffering. It is meant to
remind us that the atman, or what the Bible says the image of God, is
identical in all. This assumption is to provide the basis to our moral
values. Advaita is not meant to create a dull uniformity of perception,
or disregard the fact that it is the interaction within multiplicity that
makes progress possible.

The ontology of Gaudapada and other philosophers of his ilk that the
jivatma (individual soul) and the paramatma (supreme soul) are one
and the same (indivisible, advaita) drags down the transcendence of
Brahman. Identical in its content, maybe, but to say aham-brahmasmi
(I am Brahman), or that the spark of light is the same as the sun,
smacks of pompous irrationality, when you consider one's human
nature contradicting such a bombast sooner or later! What relevancy
does it have to real life?

The relevancy of Vedanta is to take the best of its adaptable

postulations to make the journey through life more agreeable,
meaningful, creative, enlightening and fulfilling, rising above
religious differences. Its basic message that life should be lived by
spiritual values rather than rituals or devotional exercises was
astonishingly farsighted, and is even more valid today than it was
nearly three thousand years ago.
 Chapter Three

THE INTEGRAL PATH

FIRST STEPS IN RAJA YOGA

Raja Yoga originated in northern India some 2,300 years ago,

although the system came to be known by that name many centuries
later. Patanjali classified, and expressed in his own way, the already-
existing teachings into eight interrelated parts and called them
Ashtanga Yoga, or the yoga with eight limbs. In his 194 spare
aphorisms (sutras), he laid down a moral foundation by the ten
disciplines of yama and niyama. Then stressed the importance of
mastery over postures (asana) for meditation and regulation of breath
(pranayama), and curiously enough not Hatha Yoga on the whole,
although since many centuries earlier some forms of it, without the
name yoga, were evidently practised. To be fair to him, he may not
have known the benefit of the wide-ranging postures and breathing
exercises like kapalabhati (also a purificatory kriya) on physical
health, or would have been turned off by some weird practices of the
ascetics, the same way as Gautama Buddha who was said to have
observed, "I do not have to twist my body into knots to attain
illumination."

Patanjali emphasised the path of meditation (samyama) through a

combined practice of withdrawing attention from the memory of
sense-objects to conduce to a state of abstraction (pratyahara) in order
to concentrate on (dharana) and be absorbed in one's spiritual ideal
(dhyana). He spoke of the highest goal to be the individual soul's
union (yoga) with the supreme soul (Ishwara), attainable in a
transcendental state, having summed up all the former practices
together (samadhi)..

The oldest of the yogas is Gyana Yoga, or the path of Vedanta, which
evolved between 2,800 and 3,000, years ago, although modern Indian
scholars tend to push back the period by about 500 years, basing their
hypothesis on somearcheological digs found in recent years in the
area of Dwaraka, in northwestern India, the ancient capital of
Krishna's kingdom. The philosopher-king, later worshipped as an
avatara, taught to Arjuna a synthesis of many yogas, which was
recorded in the Bhagavad Gita in a dramatised setting of a battlefield
sermon by Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, giving importance to
fulfilling one's duty through selfless action, or Karma Yoga, as the
highest dharma (religion), and also combining with devotion,
cultivation of virtues and meditation.

Ritualistic practices were universal in ancient India, became even

more prominent in the age of the Puranas, the first thousand years of
the Christian era, and continue to dominate the village life of today,
human nature being very dependent and emotional rather than self-
confident and rational. The path of meditation remained exclusive
among a minority seeking spiritual progress and self-knowledge.
Ancient in origin, Hatha Yoga as a system was outlined about 700
years ago in northern India by Swatmarama, a disciple of Gorakhnath,
the founder of an ascetic sect. Popular in the West, it is practised by a
fewer number of people, percentagewise, in India. In its complete and
extended form, it is a stepping stone to Kundalini Yoga rather than
Raja Yoga, the current contention notwithstanding.

Even if more comprehensive, Raja Yoga is not a royal (raja) path any
more than the three other main branches of yoga: Gyana, Bhakti and
Karma. The four paths are interrelated and differ only to suit
individual temperament, while each being indispensable to the other.
Without discernment devotion can become merely emotionalism, and
without devotion discernment a dry intellection. Without selfless
service meditation can become an escapism, and without an inner
balance and clarity of perspective through meditation service can
become an exercise of the self-righteous ego. Likewise, the eight
branches of Raja Yoga are intertwined. Actually, they are seven parts
to be practised together, samadhi or the eighth beinga culmination of
the seventh, dhyana, rather than a practice by itself.

The first two consist of basic ideals to guide one's life, five restraints
(yama) and five rules for observance (niyama). The following two are
for physical and mental discipline through steadiness of posture
(asana) and breath-control (pranayama), both to facilitate meditation.
The next three, pratyahara, dharana and dhyana, as defined before, are
to submerge mental waves to acquire harmony, a better understanding
of oneself, purify character blemishes and sublimate passions by
pratipaksha bhavana or affirmative contemplation on their opposite
positive qualities, and finally to seek spiritual unity.

GUIDELINES FOR MEDITATION

Although rather overrated in western yoga circles, Patanjali made a

unique contribution to self-improvement by the method of replacing
what is negative through the practice of its positive counterpart, that
is, instead of harping on what one should not do, by meditating on and
doing what one ought to. The mind being a field of energy needs a
channel to express itself. Denying a negative instinct, its energy is
repressed and, thus, complexes are formed. By giving it a better kind
of motivation, its energy is channelled in a constructive way.
Patanjali's insight into the nature of the mind laid a foundation to
future psychological investigation; and his work is probably the
earliest of its kind on the subject.

The purpose of pratyahara is to make the mind abstract by a counter-

feeding process. When the senses are withdrawn as one begins the
practice of meditation, the mind immediately starts to feed on its
memories, wandering from one to another. A memory is sustained as
long as the I is involved in it. It is impossible to think of something
without being a participant in it, such as you would not remember a
billboard on a highwaywithout being interested in what it advertised.
So, one of the best methods of pratyahara may be practised as
follows:

Sit in a comfortable posture, with the back, shoulders and neck

straight without being rigid. Relax the mind by feeling detached. Do
not think that you have to meditate on anything, nor have to stop
thinking or make the mind blank. Forget yourself. Breathe
spontaneously, just being gently conscious of the coolness of the
inflowing breath (puraka prana) deep inside the head, and the warmth
of the outflowing breath (rechaka prana) inside the nostrils. This is to
absorb the mind in a subtle physical feeling. It should be continuous.
From time to time, repeat mentally 'shanti' or peace while inhaling
and 'mukti' or freedom while exhaling, in order to guide a
psychological feeling of an inner calm, a profound peacefulness, and
a deep sense of release from all that is negative.

When a thought drifts in, say to it "I am not interested in you, I am

absorbed in peace". Then gently refocus the mind on the practice. The
thought will drift away, lacking your attention. Thoughts will
continue to move in and out, of course. Do not resist them but bring
the mind back again and again to your practice. As Patanjali says, the
key to success is abhyasa, continuous practice. The counter-feeding
process, replacing wandering, weightier thoughts with subtle, lighter
feelings, is called pratyahara.

After five minutes, pause for a while, unfocussing the mind, breathing
freely, keeping the eyes closed. Then begin the next step, dharana.
One of the best forms of it is concentrating on a slow and clear
pronunciation of a mantra mentally, with or without synchronising
with breathing. If the mantra is 'Soham", repeat slowly 'So' (the
infinite spirit) while inhaling, and 'ham" (I am one with, not I am, for
it is ridiculous for a drop of water to call itself the ocean), while
exhaling. Continue the repetition for five minutes in deep
concentration, feeling that this sense of oneness fills your heart with
sublime love with every inflow ofthe breath and you are being
enveloped by it with every outflow. Then pause for a minute or two,
the mind relaxed, unfocussed, breathing spontaneously.

Now you may begin dhyana, the purpose of which is to be absorbed

in the ideal of the mantra just repeated. There are different kinds of
mantras. The word mantra means to consciously (manas) engrave
(trada) in the subconscious a feeling of one's spiritual identity through
continuous repetition of a sound-form, such as in the case of an ishta
(from Ishwara) mantra. If you have repeated 'Soham' (I am one with
the infinite spirit), or 'Om Namah Shivaya' (I consecrate myself to the
auspicious Lord), or 'Om Namo Narayanaya' (to the Lord who
sustains me), or 'Om Jesus', now begin the contemplative part or
dhyana with the help of the following three phrases.
Repeat mentally "My body is your temple" a few times, slowly. Then
feel the flow of a harmonious energy coursing through the body,
giving it strength, health, a sense of well being, feeling as if you are
inside a house of worship. Likewise, repeat "My mind is your altar"
and visualise a clear sky, an expansive altar of the infinite spirit,
feeling that such is your mind, free from impurity, profoundly
peaceful. Then repeat "My soul is where you reside" and visualise in
your heart a sphere of light, or a yellow lotus, or an image relative to
the mantra, as a symbol of pure love, uplifting you, filling you with
the warmth of a spiritual presence. Thus, dhyana is a process of
absorbing the ideal of meditation. It may be done for five to ten
minutes and can be alternated with japa or repetition of mantra.

When the help of contemplation is not needed to maintain the

awareness of spiritual unity, without crossing of thoughts or body-
consciousness, it is called samadhi, the eighth step, or summing up
(sama) and transcending (adhi) the three previous steps in samyama.

PSYCHOLOGY OF VIOLENCE

The five yamas are: 1) ahimsa or non-violence; 2) satya or

truthfulness; 3) brahmacharya or chastity, the literal meaning being
godly (brahma) conduct (achara); 4) asteya or honesty, literally non-
stealing, and 5) aparigraha or non-covetousness. including refraining
from adultery.

The five niyamas are: 1) saucha or physical cleanliness and mental

purity; 2) santosha or contentment by cultivating inner harmony
through the education and sublimation of the ego and control of
desires; 3) tapas or endurance of adverse conditions without
complaining as well as sensible austerity; 4) swadhyaya or self-
education by study and practice of useful teachings; and 5) Ishwara
(God) pranidhana (dedication to) or spiritual aspiration.

In this article I shall dwell at length on the importance of the first

yama or non-violence, as in the history of humanity no other century
has been so accursed by violence as the twentieth. The instinct of
violence is the product of the nature's law of the strong exercising
power over the weak and the weak seeking vengeance. On the
individual level, three factors coming together make violence
possible: 1) genetical predisposition or which is inherited from
generally one of the parents; 2) the family, social and cultural
environment in which one is raised and lives; and 3) the immediate or
triggering factor of provocation.

Violence is both an impulsive act and a brew cooking in the mind and
leading to verbal abuse and harmful action. The first cause is
resentment or a strong dislike making one intolerant. The second
cause behind the first is the insecure and unfulfilled ego, leading to
loss of self-control. One cannot cure rancour by trying to love the
person resented but by treating the cause, the insecure ego, through
the practice of detachment, non-expectation and understanding of why
the relationshipwent sour. Then the ego has to be educated and
fulfilled in a wholesome way by being considerate, caring and helpful
to those who need you, first of all, rather than the person who has
harmed you.

Violence is possible only when oriented to an object or a person.

Crashing crockery is a result of getting mad at oneself. Most of us like
or dislike a person, not so much due to the individual's values but to
the extent our self-interest is served or denied and egos fulfilled or
troubled, by identifying the good or bad in ourselves. The opposite of
violence is love, but one. cannot order someone to love another just
for the sake of loving. To love is to be less self-centred, which means
to learn to be compassionate, patient and tolerant. Improving a
relationship means respecting and sharing of each other's values. Love
can blossom only in an unselfish heart.

Violence is inborn because of our prehistoric past, when survival was

dependent on killing. After hunger and the urge for procreation,
aggression is the third most powerful instinct, followed by fear. On
the animal plane, violence is a product of fear, just as fanaticism is a
reaction to insecurity. Like most instincts, violence is an emotional
experience and expression, such as procreation through passion, hate
through anger, avarice by jealousy. The higher emotions are
experienced as devotion and selfless love and expressed through
caring, helping and serving. As life is evolutionary, higher emotions
are inborn like the lower emotions but in different stages of dormancy
and dependent on external influence for their development, together
with self-effort. As both are in conflict with each other, the
development of the higher emotions needs the aid of meditation. The
following exercise may be helpful in sublimating the instinct of
violence.

After practising the first three steps given in the guidelines of

meditation, the fourth may be done in the following way. Repeat
mentally, while feeling the coolness of the inflowingbreath inside the
head, "Peace is my real nature" and feeling the warmth of the
outflowing breath inside the nostrils "not conflict". After repeating so
four or five times, breathe spontaneously and feel that with every
inflow subtle impressions of peace are gathering in the inner recesses
of the mind, while untying and emptying the knots of conflicts with
every outflowing breath. Then repeat "Love is my real nature", "not
resentment", and follow the same process. Then "Strength is my real
nature", "not weakness". "Patience is my real nature", "not
impatience". "Tolerance is my real nature", "not intolerance".
"Happiness is my real nature", "not unhappiness".

Pause for a couple of minutes, unfocusing the mind. Now, inhaling

repeat "Peace" and exhaling "only peace", four or five times.
Likewise, "Love", "spiritual love". "Strength", "mental strength".
"Patience", "gentle patience". "Tolerance", "loving kindness".
"Happiness", "inner fullness". Conclude by breathing freely for a few
minutes, feeling peaceful and restful.

TRUTHFULNESS AND CHASTITY

The second yama is fundamental to self-confidence, for satya or

truthfulness means security and strength. We are weak because we are
neither honest with ourselves nor with others. Truthfulness has many
facets. One has to start with oneself. It is not quite easy to deceive
one's superiors, very difficult to deceive one's subordinates, and most
easy is self-deception so goes a saying. Honesty with oneself is the
first step to self-improvement. Without integrity in a relationship
there cannot be any trust and without trust no stability. Without
credibility there cannot be mutual respect and without the respect of
others one cannot have self-esteem. Lack of self-esteem is a basic
cause of depression and self- destructiveness.

Truthfulness is not synonymous with tactlessness but tactlessness and

stupidity are. Thoughtfulness is imperative tothe usefulness of truth.
A measure of truth is in its construct- iveness, just as the mark of
untruth is in its destructiveness. That which promotes harmony and
peace is the criterion of truth. Unity is its goal, not division. It is truth
that makes the mind free from fear. The nature of its independence
makes one free from anxiety, for truth stands by itself without the
support of a second truth, whereas untruth stays in a state of perpetual
dependence on a chain of lies. Truth is neither hard nor soft but
neutral. Hardness is in the intention of the person who uses truth to
hurt another, or in the unwillingness of oneself to accept an
unpleasant fact.

Untruth is due to the fear of a loss of reputation, to which one loses

claim by being a hypocrite. It is also due to selfishness, such as hiding
one's gain, trying not to pay the full share of income-tax, for example.
Its other cause is vanity which makes one lie in order to exaggerate
self-importance. Practice of truth should always be relative to love
and conducive to harmony. It means to be unselfish and to cultivate
humility of spirit, for there is a lot to learn and a great deal to
improve.

Brahmacharya or chastity as a restraint of sexual passion is directly

related to responsibility, faithfulness and integrity. Sexuality is a
primordial means for the survival of the species. There is nothing to
be ashamed about it, for we will' not be here without it. The feeling of
shame or squeamishness, although can be exaggerated due to
religious and cultural hang-up, is ingrained in the human
consciousness. It is because we are both body and spirit. Physical in
nature, sexuality as a means of sense-gratification is to make oneself
self-confident as a body, to be agreeable for its acceptance, partly for
survival and partly for being loved as a person. However, as a spirit
our longing to be fulfilled is bottomless, and the finite means of the
senses simply cannot keep up to their promises, and thus the veiled
disappointment, the squeamishness, the hang-up.

The body, however, is not the person one relates to but a vehicle, and
what is lovable and unlovable are really the qualities of the person
inside the vehicle. Thus, sexual passion by itself is not satisfactory,
much less fulfilling, without mutual harmony of the qualities of two
persons related. By itself it is neither holy nor unholy but like energy
its nature is dependent on how it is used and the consequences it
produces. Being physical, it is limited in its capacity to give the
psychological fulfilment the soul seeks and, therefore, the need for
decency, refinement, responsibility, understanding, care and concern
for the person within the body, to make the relationship more
meaningful. Otherwise, it is a relationship of possessing an object for
ego-gratification through the senses. However, since the person is not
an object, insecurity is inevitable in such a relationship, with jealousy
as its companion.

Like the physical body, sexual passion is neither pure nor impure but
how one keeps it. Like the body needing to be washed, sexual passion
needs to be cleansed by unselfish love. It is lying, deceiving, hiding,
lacking in feeling, callousness and irresponsibility that makes it
impure. In yoga circles in India, as indeed in the Hindu culture
generally, sexuality is regarded more pathologically and
hypocritically while extolling celibacy, as brahmacharya is interpreted
in a narrow sense, rather than as a sublimation of passion through
deeper emotions of loving kindness and affection, the universal
experience being when the mind is drawn closer to the spirit the less it
needs to be gratified by the senses. As in the case of non-violence,
similarly paraphrased affirmative meditation will be helpful.

HONESTY AND NON-COVETOUSNESS

There is no greater morality than identifying one's welfare and rights

with that of the others. This is the basis of asteya or honesty or not
depriving others of what belongs to them. Social justice is promoted
by the right to work and an equitable shareof the benefit of
productivity as per one's capacity, but providing an adequate means of
subsistence with dignity. Stealing out of necessity cannot be justified
because it means violating another's right to keep what he or she has
earned or inherited. In the case of concentration of wealth among a
minority, it is up to a civilised legal process to close the gap of
disparity such as by death duty and wealth levy. A crime should be
regarded as a crime, whatever the cause, and the individual should be
accountable first of all, while society should take the necessary
measures to treat the cause.

Access to education is a universal right but has to be geared to the

individual's intelligence and vocational talent. Whereas the ideal of
compassion should assure survival with dignity, human beings should
not be regarded as objects of charity. Protection of the ignorant and
the less talented from being exploited by the astute and the more
efficient is the ideal of asteya, but it also means educating the ignorant
and create opportunities to express people's talents. Better distribution
of wealth by itself does not solve the problem of stealing but moral
education and a better way of investing riches in order to generate
wealth by productivity, because without productivity by incentive and
good management, distributed wealth will disappear soon and poverty
will be universalised. Selfishness is the root cause of stealing,
deceiving and exploiting all that is to be refrained in asteya by
educating and sublimating egoism.

The morality of non-covetousness, aparigraha, is work ethic, that is,

one must earn the right to have what one desires. Apara means of
another' and agraha 'to crave for'. Thus, aparigraha is craving for what
belongs to another. Envy arises in an empty mind unwilling to
educate and apply itself to useful effort. It simmers in a lazy nature
hankering for gain without honest labour, in a wicked heart resenting
the success of others. Desires like horses need control and direction.
They have to be understood and motivated with the ideals of
creativity, relatingmaterial progress with self-improvement. Desires
have to be measured by one's capacity and the effort needed to realise
them, while considering if they are worthwhile.

Such a person will not be covetous of the success of others. Purity of

heart, right motivation and corresponding effort, not expecting
something for which one has not worked, are the means to counter
covetousness. Envy and jealousy are primitive instincts that need a lot
of education. To be aware of one's deficiency is the first requisite, but
to progress one must love its positive counterpart and practise it.
Ethics is not limited to the five yamas. "Do not treat others as you
yourself would not want to be treated" is the basis of morality.

CLEANLINESS, CONTENTMENT, FORTITUDE

Saucha is both physical cleanliness and mental purity. It also means

keeping one's surroundings clean. It is to bathe daily in a hot climate
and on alternate days in cold weather. Cleanliness has a direct
influence over the mind. Mental saucha is thinking positively. When a
negative thought about a person arises, it should be countered by
remembering an act of helpfulness he or she might have done in the
past. In rare cases, when it is impossible to find a positive
remembrance of a person who has treated you badly over a long
period of time and when resentment thereof keeps welling up,
immediately think of someone you love and respect. It is also
necessary to avoid external negative influence. Meditation, including
affirmative contemplation, helps to purify the mind.

Santosha is a state of contentment which is acquired by replacing a

lower desire by a higher one, such as a desire for a material object by
a wish to learn and do something useful. One has to know the
difference between a need and a want. Needs are physical and mental,
in order to keep the body nourished, healthy and protected, and the
mind occupied with interesting things to do and learn. Wants are
mainly a product of externalstimuli. The difference between a need
and a want is that if you can do without something and yet desire it, it
is a want, and if you cannot reasonably do without it, it is a need. The
reason. behind want after meeting one's basic needs is a desire to be
happy, but happiness is an inner fulfilment that comes by making
others happy.

Santosha is also a personal satisfaction in doing something one likes

to do. It is in learning well what one loves to learn, such as music,
visual arts, cooking, carpentry, literature, history, geography,
astronomy, or whatever helps you to integrate with life. It is in self-
expression through creative effort, such as in serving a worthy cause.
It is a state of inner calm that comes after one has done the best in
what is needed to be done. It is not enough that one prays for the good
of others but in what way one contributes to it. An ego-centric person
cannot have santosha, nor is it derived by ego massage by one's
lackeys. Finally, it is in coming to terms with oneself and the rest of
the world. Total happiness cannot last long, and such a goal is not
only irrational but unethical in the sense that when there is so much
suffering around, one has no right to be exclusively happy.

Tipas should not be understood in the narrow sense of physical

austerity. It is not mortification of the body but self-discipline,
patience, tolerance, not complaining, self-abnegation. It is bearing
with fortitude adverse conditions that could not be avoided after
having tried to overcome them. It is to toughen the body and mind by
not being over protective against heat and cold. As Swami Sivananda
used to say, bearing insult and injury is an exacting form of tapas. It is
to be balanced in pleasure and pain.

SELF-EDUCATION AND SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION

Swadhyaya is self-education, not only by the study of scriptures as the

term is narrowly interpreted, but of any useful literature that is helpful
to self-knowledge and understanding oflife around. It is to guide
(ducere), to teach (docere) and to learn (discere) by oneself (swa)
through studying (dhyaya) great works. No knowledge is possible
without a desire to know, by focussing attention to and loving the
subject, thereby conducing to receptivity. Knowledge does not merely
mean gathering of facts but the perception of their relevance which
produces ideas for understanding. In Greek idein means to see
mentally.

An isolated idea is an opinion, but when it is tested in a collective

experience by different individuals arriving at approximately the same
conclusion, it acquires the charac- teristic of knowledge that can be
made use of by all. The purpose of swadhyaya is to search for truth by
oneself with the help of such ideals that have been realised by the
search of others and expressed in their works. It is said that a revealed
truth is only a part of the truth and the rest of it one has to find by
oneself.

Ishwara-pranidhana is dedication or offering oneself (pranidhana) to

God (Ishwara). It simply means to have spiritual aspiration, which is
first of all wanting to be a better person decent, honest, caring,
selfless, pure-hearted, compas- sionate, free from prejudice, patient,
tolerant, loving, helpful, creative, harmonious. Dedication to God
consists in the realisation of these values and expressing them in our
conduct, rather than how and how long we pray and worship. This is.
indeed, the bottom line of God-realisation. Prayer is a movement of
heart to progress spiritually, no matter how it is directed, but
fundamentally in relationship to what we do, rather than a petitioning
process to a deity somewhere up in the sky.

Some teachers interpret Ishwara-pranidhana to be self-surrender to

God or to divine will, but one has to understand what that really
means. No one can for sure say what is divine will other than in a
manner of accepting what seems to be one's destiny after having tried
to shape it as best as possiblein the light of understanding what one
wants out of life, or accepting stoically an adverse condition after
trying to avert it, or a bereavement for example. Fatalism and
irresponsibility go together and are not synonymous to self-surrender
to God.

Life is a long journey to awaken our spiritual consciousness and

express it in how we live. We are born with partially formed,
innocent-seeming nature. Our rudimentary characteristics come into
focus early in life and begin to develop, both in good and bad ways,
as per the influence of our surroundings and self-actuation. No one is
born like a blank page but with something already written on it, call it
genetical imprint, personal karma, or God's design, or whatever. Then
our parents write on it their share, as do some close relatives. schools,
the church, the society around. Then we start our own writing and
keep rewriting, editing and reediting, as long as we live.
Human nature has an infinite capacity of adaptation, inclusive of
genes. Just imagine a Jewish infant and an Arab infant, after being
born in a maternity ward, separated and misplaced, then taken home
by the Arab and the Jewish mothers vice versa, and the Jewish child
growing up in an Arab home and in an Arab culture, and the Arab
child vice versa. Then imagine the relevance of the Jewish blood and
Arab blood as to the qualities of character. Don't we make a fool of
ourselves by making such a fuss about royal blood and commoner's
blood? In spite of genetical inheritance, we are what we see, hear and
read, where we live, learn and grow up, and above all we are what we
want to be and not to be. I have known an Indian nuclear scientist in
New York. His grandfather was an illiterate farmer and father a semi-
literate greengrocer in a village near Hyderabad, who as a boy
managed to get out of his surroundings.

A spiritual satisfaction psychologically induced by meditation or by

the realisation of a worthy goal is temporary innature. To be long-
lasting, it has to be the result of moral values realised over a long
period of time. However, only a congenital idiot can be forever
satisfied or happy. Peace and self-confidence are a result of fulfilment
achieved through a commitment to worthy ideals. It is self-
centredness that prevents learning from and correcting one's errors.
The primary concern of yoga, as in the steps taught by Patanjali, is to
try to cure this chronic malaise of human nature manifest in various
forms. Only the pure-hearted can call themselves real yogis. In such a
heart alone can peace and love grow and truth and wisdom flower.
 Chapter Four

HOW TO MEDITATE

MEDITATION: A PROCESS OF UNDERSTANDING

AND ENRICHING LIFE

The practice of yoga begins in a spiritual sense with trying to

integrate the various aspects of one's personality: the emotional with
the rational, the instinctive with the intuitive, the material with the
spiritual.

The student of yoga, instead of being a helpless victim of

circumstances or other people's attitudes, tries to shape his or her life
through meditation, or through cultivating self- generated impressions
in the subconscious.

Yoga means union or integration, that is to say, union of the

conscious mind with the subconscious, which leads to a better
understanding of oneself and of each other. It is essentially a process
of self-realisation. In a religious sense it means union of man with
God. In metaphysical terms, it is union of the primordial unconscious
with the superconscious, and of the microcosm with the macrocosm.

GENERAL PATTERN

Everyone is born with a distinct, innate background, characterised by

the particular, inborn impressions of the instincts of self-preservation
and self-extension. This is termed the individuality of the primordial
unconscious, or antar chitta. This level of consciousness is apparent
even when an infant is six months old, as every mother knows well
how different each of her children is, right from early childhood.

As the infant begins to respond to the external world, another level of

consciousness is formed. It is called vahir chitta or the subconscious,
in which the experience of the objects, through the means of the
senses, is particularised as memories. This process goes on until
death.
Whereas the innate impressions, samskaras, faintly influence the
general pattern of our aptitudes, the subconscious impressions that we
receive, beginning through the relationship with mother, father and
other immediate relatives, keep on shaping our lives as we change
from childhood into youth. The world around us, circumstances,
friends, our studies, the news media and the many commercial
embellishments, determine a substantial part of our character.

Whereas it is not always possible to change our circumstances or the

disposition of others, it is within our power to cultivate our will, a
philosophy of life and to adapt our disposition to others and to
circumstances.

I-CONSCIOUSNESS

In order to practise meditation one should have an understanding of

the self.

I-consciousness or the ego is the propelling agent in life. The self

projects outwardly through instincts and inwardly through reflection.
When the I is involved in mundane things, it is called materialistic.
When the I functions through spiritual virtue it is called idealistic.

Mundane or spiritual, the I functions through a state of conditioning.

The instinctive aspect of our consciousness, while preserving the
particularity of our being, involves us in a world of bondage. The
spiritual aspect, through idealism, discipline and sublimation, gives us
a sense of harmony, peace, unity and yet freedom.

In its positive aspect, the I is like Lucifer the angel; in its negative
aspect, it is like Lucifer the devil.

A participatory consciousness such as the I, functions through

movement. Movement is caused by desire, and it is meaningful when
there is a goal to be attained. As movement is the nature of
consciousness, the movement, that is, desire losesits motive power
once the desire is fulfilled; then the desired object becomes less
interesting.
 FULFILMENT

Thus, the I-consciousness fulfils itself through a series of temporary

desires. From the mundane to the spiritual, from dependence on the
external embellishment to the integrity of character, from conflict
within to harmony in relationship to others, the I-consciousness
evolves.

One's state of mind is in accordance with the nature of the identity one
fulfils within oneself. When it is sought through the possession of
material things, one tends to get disappointed, because, for example,
money cannot buy true friendship. It is in the strength of character,
capacity to love and understand, it is in the discipline of the selfish
nature that the sense of belonging is fulfilled.

No one needs to be convinced of one's material nature. We are

continuously influenced by the objects of the senses through
enjoyment in attainment, or frustration in failure. But what is greatly
needed is self-confidence in the experience of the spiritual reality
within ourselves.

Anything in existence is tangible only on the basis of duality, such as

the experience of joy being conditioned by the experience of sorrow.
Both are a part of life and should be taken in their stride as they come
and go, that is, one should neither be swept overboard by happiness
nor be crushed by depression.

Lofty ideals expressed through symbolic words like God, eternal

truth, pure love, indicate how inadequate life is, how insecure is one's
identity in the relativity of experience. The validity of these ideals lies
in their ability to lift one's spirit through a sense of the spiritual, of
duty, of honour, and also by a feeling for, and understanding of, other
human beings.

The thoughts given here would provide some specific themes for
contemplation. However, mere contemplation is notmeditation.
Abstraction of thought, concentration, affirmation of ideals and their
experience, all put together, constitute meditation.
 MEDITATION TECHNIQUES

The following are a few of the suggested techniques:

Sit with your back, neck and head straight, without being rigid. You
do not have to sit cross-legged, but the spine should be relatively
straight. A slack spine or drooping head means mental sloth, and
feeling merely restful or being drowsy does not mean meditation.
Awareness, being wakeful inwardly, is the basis of meditation.

The first step is to cultivate a feeling of mental calm. Thoughts cannot

be controlled without giving the mind a feeling to dwell on. In fact,
thought-control is not implied at all, but the substitution of thought by
a feeling.

The eyes are closed, and you feel totally at peace, with yourself and
the rest of the world. The mind will, of course, wander, but you tell
yourself that the thoughts that pass in your mind are merely
superficial superimpositions on the vastness of your being, not
confined within a form, not tied down by the identity of a name,
representing the body-mind-ego principle, that is, the personality.

DETACHMENT

The spirit within is not bound by the limits of a personality. You feel
as if you are someone different, a detached witnessing agent, not
involved in the thought-process, represented by the participation of
the ego. You feel that you are like the sky in which the clouds pass
by, without affecting the sky itself, and that you are that limitless sky,
in which thoughts come and go without affecting you.

This is called the process of abstraction, pratyahara. Remember,

thoughts function only through the agency of theego, the participator
in memory: "I did this, I went there, that person did such a thing to
me, I enjoyed, I suffered." As long as the ego is not relatively
detached, you do not understand your mind well. You must, therefore,
tell yourself: "I am not this body, not this mind, not this ego, but the
all-encompassing, infinite spirit, in which the thoughts of someone
else (as it were) come and go."
There is another theme: Imagine a vast ocean, without any shores
visible. Immensely deep and profoundly calm underneath, on the
surface of which waves are rising and falling. You are this vast, deep
ocean, and the waves, your thoughts, are only a fraction, a superficial
surface of your being. They do not affect your depth.

RHYTHMIC BREATHING

As you contemplate thus, all the time you consciously sense the
movement of the breath, prana, within your nostrils. The breathing is
rhythmic, not too long, not too short; approximately, three to five
seconds to inhale and the same length of time to exhale.

From time to time, stop the contemplation process, but keep the mind
absorbed in experiencing the breath. When you inhale, feel the cool
air in the nerves above and behind the palate, deep within the head;
then try to extend the feeling, a sensation in the nerves, inside the top
of the head, associating it with the idea of mental calm.

When exhaling, feel the warmth of the breath within the lower nostrils
with a sense of expansiveness and diffusion. Breath and mind (prana
and manas) are closely related. As you experience the breath, the
suggestion before, during or immediately after becomes more
receptive to the mind.

Then, there is the process of spiritual identity, while experiencing the

movement of the breath within.

We are creatures of suggestion, and are affected on the basis of the

ego by whatever the life around tells us to be or not to be. Our egos
also function similarly, based on the memory of sense-experience and
ego-fulfilment. Thus, we have a strong sense of division and
selfishness.

One now counteracts this state of mind by a series of suggestions. As

you inhale, experiencing the breath, feel the thought that "the cosmic
spiritual essence, permeating everything, and representing the source
of life inside all things, is merging with the individual spiritual
essence within me." While exhaling, vice versa. Rising above the
consciousness of the body and the play of the ego through the name-
form-identity process, you feel that you are united in spirit with all,
rising above infatuation and hate, possessiveness and retribution.

RELAXATION

From time to time just relax. Stretch your legs, move the shoulders,
take a few deep breaths, and sit peacefully for a while. Then resume
the experience of the prana (breath) and the process of identity.

After some time, when you have a measure of the experience of

mental abstraction (pratyahara), peacefully watch the movement of
thoughts; all the time telling yourself that you are merely a witness,
not a participant. This is called sakshi bhava, or witnessing attitude. In
the course of time, through this you will be able to understand
yourself better, sort out the complexes and, through subsequent steps
in meditation, such as affirmation and experience of ideals (dhyana),
begin to reeducate your own mind. This is helped a great deal by the
steps in concentration (dharana)."

A GUIDE TO MEDITATION

In the West, the word meditation means a concentrated state of mind

in serious reflection. The Latin root of the word meditation mederi
means "to heal". It is an effort to heal the afflictions of the mind, the
hurt ego, by trying to understand the cause of the problem and finding
a way to solve it, that is, by knowing what countermeasures to take.
To meditate is to deepen a state of understanding.

In the East, however, meditation does not mean thinking at all but
fixing the mind in a spiritual ideal, to be one with it, or the thought-
process dissolving in the consciousness of it. According to Zen
Buddhism, meditation does not involve any concept but is an
awareness of an inner silence. As per Patanjali, meditation is a
combination of three steps: pratyahara or abstraction or withdrawal of
the mind from the sense-objects or attention to their memory; dharana
or concentration; and dhyana or contemplation which, however, is not
a thought- process but an absorption of the feeling of oneness with the
ideal.
Awareness of an inner silence is not something easy to achieve. It can
be confused with a state of dullness or being soporific, which is not
the purpose of meditation. To meditate does not mean to have a good
rest while sitting pretty, and silence is not productive without spiritual
aspiration. On the other hand, few have the capacity to think clearly,
and too much of mental exercise could lead to tension and confusion.

In Bhakti Yoga, meditation is visualisation of the image of a chosen

deity, together with mental repetition of a relevant mantra. For the
Vedantin it is to contemplate on the meaning of selected verses from
the Upanishads or similar scriptures. For the Catholics, it is saying the
rosary, based on mantras like "Our Father which art in heaven," or
"Hail Mary, full of grace." For them meditation also consists in
feeling close to Jesus afterreceiving communion and retiring to a quiet
place, and feel the idea of transubstantiation of the Eucharist.

St. Albert the Great, the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas, observed that
meditation for philosophers is a process of perfecting a thought, and
for devotees of their love of God. Prayers said in silence as a
dedication of oneself to God can also be called meditation, because it
means turning the mind inward to one's spiritual source, leading to
peace and inner fulfilment.

For the Hindus, repetition of a mantra, with or without a rosary, but

with a feeling of spiritual oneness is meditation. A common Buddhist
meditation consists in repeating the mantras: Buddham sharanam
gachchhami, dhammam sharanam gachchhami, sangham sharanam
gachchhami (I proceed remembering the Buddha, the righteous path
and the welfare of my community). The Tibetans base their
meditation on the mantra Om mani padme hum (I am Om, the jewel
in the lotus of my heart). For Moslems, meditation is called zikr or
repetition of selected names of God from the Koran, generally with a
rosary. Feeling the breath, which is a technique in pratyahara, is an
exercise in Zen meditation (the word Zen is derived from dhyana or
meditation), as also counting from one to 20 or more, over and over
again.

WHY MEDITATE?
The two basic goals of meditation are: 1) Spiritual renewal, or the
feeling of oneness with a higher source of life, no matter whether one
calls it the infinite and eternal spirit, transcendental and yet immanent
in everything, or a divine being called God, or supreme truth, from
which flow peace, wisdom and strength. 2) Through introversion,
acquiring a deep state of peace, to search for the basic truths of life, to
separate reality from illusion, to discard illusory ideas about illusion
itself, to acquire a clear understanding of reality rather than confusing
it with a foggy thoughtless state. The first isrelatively easier through
devotion and a sincere dedication. The second needs a long practice,
to acquire philosophical maturity.

Peace of mind is a product of the first goal, which helps in

understanding the problems one faces. An expanded state of
consciousness enables one to loosen the psychological tightness of
attachment and rise above petty reactions by the realisation that there
is more to life than snobbery caused by the insecure ego and
resentment by wounded vanity. A sense of elevation and oneness with
a spiritual source helps to sublimate gross passions and acquire
emotional maturity. The identity of oneself with the essence of one's
being strengthens the will to act according to what one should and
should not do, after having made appropriate decisions.

Clarity of mind, which is a part of the second goal, helps to cultivate a

sense of right and wrong, a basic purpose of education and a litmus
test of any culture. The Greek root, charassein, of the word character
means "to engrave," and its Sanskrit word, charitra, means "to
cultivate." To engrave or to cultivate cherished ideals is what
meditation is for, practised in a state of peace and clarity of mind,
instilling a love of truth, of what one wishes to be, by sowing the
seeds of suggestion through a deep feeling of devotion and dedication.

Purity of heart or freedom from resentment, hate, prejudice and

negative thinking is another objective of meditation. Although it is
said that repetition of a mantra helps to cleanse and enlighten the
mind, there is no evidence that the mental sound-form does so, but the
faith in it and the sincerity to direct one's life by the ideals behind.
Thus, it is wrong to say that mantras are meaningless sound-forms. It
is also advisable to discard the myth that no progress in meditation or
spiritual life is possible without an initiation by a guru, although a
worthy teacher is a help. As the Buddha says:

"By oneself alone is one purified,

Purity and impurity depending on oneself,

As no one can purify another.

By oneself one must walk the path;

The teacher merely shows the way."

WHAT IS REQUIRED TO MEDITATE?

The injunction "let your whole life be an act of meditation," is

nonsense, first because it is impossible and, secondly, because its
value is diluted. Meditation is a specific act by itself, to be practised
regularly. Then it is a process, in order to guide one's life for the act to
be meaningful. Meditation, to be effective, should inspire a
philosophy to guide one's life or a code of conduct to practise. That is
why Patanjali's Raja Yoga begins with two sets of ethics and
regulations, yama and niyama. Practical idealism is the first
requirement in meditation, so as not to make it a hypocritical act, but
to support it by a philosophy guiding one's attitude, motivation, action
and relationship.

The second requisite is a suitable place to meditate, clean and

peaceful, wherein to create the right kind of atmosphere by keeping a
symbol like Om on an altar with flowers and, when meditating,
lighting a candle and mild incense, if desired.

The third is the right kind of posture, whether sitting cross-legged, if

comfortable, or in a straight-back and firm chair, while keeping the
neck, shoulders and back straight, without being rigid, so as to remain
alert by breathing adequately (oxygen helps to maintain lucidity). For
most of the people, even in India, the lotus posture (padmasana) is
symbolic rather than practical, for one can meditate only when the
mind is free from self-inflicted pain in the legs and hips; nor does it
make any sense to let them go numb. The position of the arms should
be relaxed by keeping the palms facing up in the lap, one over the
other, or the hands should be on the knees withthe palms up or down
but fingers loose and relaxed, with the tips of the index finger and
thumb gently touching. If sitting in a chair, the feet should be together
on the floor, with equal weight.

The fourth is cultivating a relaxed disposition before beginning the

practice of meditation. There should be no fighting with thoughts or
trying to stop the mind, as it were, or even a desire to achieve
anything at all, for it is not an ego-trip or climbing the ladder of
success, but an effortless feeling of a deep, inner poise and faith in,
and love for, what one wishes to do: a quiet, absorbing predisposition
to the ideal of the act.

With a relaxed mind one may begin with the awareness of an abiding,
expanding relatedness to all that is around, to the whole universe, and
to the transcendent and immanent spiritual source, which is also the
essence of one's inner being or soul. There should be a feeling of
absorption and envelopment by a deep, inner peace. No doubt
thoughts will come and go, but not to be distracted by a thought
means not identifying with it, because a thought is sustained by the
self's involvement with it. When a thought comes, one may gently tell
oneself "I am not interested but detached and in peace." To begin
meditation, it is necessary to compose oneself in this way for a few
minutes.

The fifth requisite is called techniques that constitute the main

practice of meditation. They are of several kinds, depending on
religious or monastic or ashram traditions. For example, in some
Catholic monasteries there are little books of meditation consisting of
a thought for each day of the year, gleaned from the scriptures, which
is memorised and contemplated upon in solitude, while mentally
repeating the phrases from time to time to guide the meditation. In the
chapel, meditation is done differently, when a monk reads aloud
passages from sacred writings and his brethren sit with heads bent,
eyes closed and fingers crossed, deeply concentrating on what is read.
It will, however, be appropriate to give some basic steps to an integral
form of meditation, combining some practices in pratyahara, dharana
and dhyana. The suitability of techniques varies from person to person
and the choice should be from what is available in books or through a
teacher. However, it should be remembered that, just as the mark of
good journalism is accuracy and the evidence of a serious research, so
also the mark of a good teaching is clarity and precision.

HOW TO MEDITATE?

After a few minutes of relaxation as described in how to cultivate a

predisposition, gradually absorb the breath in the mind, that is, be
aware of the coolness of the inflowing prana deep inside the head, in
the nerve cells, and the warmth of the outflowing prana inside the
lower nostrils, while breathing spontaneously. There is no need to
breathe deliberately slowly, for the concentration in feeling the breath
will automatically make it slow and find its own rhythm. The
important thing is to have a sense of being filled with peace and to
feel free from all tension and bondage. The practice may be continued
for, say, 10 minutes.

The purpose of this form of pratyahara is a conscious experience of

the prana, the external form of which is the breath and the internal
source the soul. The Latin root, spirare, of the word respiration means
"to breathe," and is derived from the word spiritus, the soul's essence
that gives life to the body through the vital principle, prana. By
experiencing the breath through its coolness and warmth, one
becomes aware of its source within by a sense of immense peace
(shanti) and freedom (mukti), the two psychological forms of
expression of the spirit within.

After a month of practice, the first stage can be prolonged by

continuing to feel only the coolness deep inside the head even when
exhaling, and ignoring the warmth of the outgoingprana, and
renewing the cool feeling with the help of each inward breath. The
psychological experience of this exercise is a state of fullness which
can be guided by repeating the word paripurnam or its English
equivalent "spiritual fullness," from time to time. This may be done
for five minutes or more, depending on the ability to maintain
attention.

Any practice in a prolonged state, especially in the beginning, loses its

depth. Thus, after 10 or 15 minutes, detach the mind from the breath,
keep the eyes closed and feel restful for a minute or two. One may
also loosen up the shoulders, neck and the legs, if there is tension.

REPETITION OF MANTRA

The second part of meditation, which is an aspect of internal dharana

(concentration), consists of japa or repetition of a mantra, and can be
combined with dhyana (contemplation). A mantra is a sound-form
representing a basic spiritual ideal, such as uniting with the infinite
spirit (Om), or transcendental truth, knowledge, infinity (satyam,
gyanam, anantam), or a personal deity like Shiva or Vishnu or
Buddha or Christ. A mantra can also be an affirmation of an ideal,
such as Soham (I am one with the infinite) or Hari Om Tat Sat (the
Lord is the infinite spirit, that is the truth). The two well known
Hebrew mantras are Adonai (my Lord) and Elohim (the all-powerful
Lord of all).

A mantra should not be considered a magic formula, for there is no

magic in yoga. Continuous repetition of a sound-form helps to tap
mental energy and focus it into the subconscious in order to plant and
stimulate a spiritual ideal therein. This is the basic purpose of japa. To
call it transcendental meditation is to indulge in hyperbole. There are
various kinds of mantras but for japa its shorter forms are
recommended, such as Om or Soham, or a slightly longer form as
Hari Om or Hari Om Tat Sat.

According to the voluminous Sanskrit-English dictionary by Sir

Monier-Williams (Oxford University Press), the word mantra means,
among other definitions, "to concentrate with", drawing its roots man
from manas or mind or, more specifically, the conscious aspect of the
mind, and tra from possibly trada (see under tra) or that which
"pierces" or as per my inference that which "engraves". Thus, mantra
is a sound-form to "consciously engrave" in the subconscious a
spiritual ideal of identity. Trada also means that which "opens up",
thus inferentially "one's spiritual consciousness". Remotely, the root
tra can also be traced to tras (see under tra) which means "to shine",
thus inferentially the "spirit within illuminating."

The mind is a field of energy. Energy pulsates through a principle or

structure of movement. The mind moves by the pulsation of memory,
latching on to one and then to another. Thus, the energy of the mind is
dispersed. The purpose of repeating a sound-form continuously is to
make the mind move in a tight circle, thus tapping its energy.
Simultaneously, the sentiment of love for the spiritual ideal behind
should be felt deeply within.

One may begin the second part of meditation by refocusing the mind
in the breath, trying to be absorbed in it, as before, for a minute or
two. Then start the mental intonation of the mantra Om, slowly and
concentrating deeply, along with the inflowing breath, feeling its
coolness, and again with the outflowing, feeling the warmth. The
process should be continuous for several minutes. Then have a short
pause, detaching the mind and experiencing an inner silence, and after
which repeat the practice. Continue for a total of 10 minutes in the
first month and then extend by another five minutes or so.

DHARANA AND DHYANA

The psychological counterpart of this exercise, to be contemplated

alternately, consists in feeling a subtle, sacred presence within: in the
body giving it health or physicalwell-being, in the mind enlightening
it with understanding and wiping out the shadows of negativity, and
in the heart or the soul awakening spiritual aspiration. The last means
loving "God with all your heart and with all your soul," in the words
of Jesus. These guiding sentiments are relative to the repetition of
Om, which can be directed in between japa

If the mantra is Soham, the sound So (infinite spirit) should be

mentally intoned with the inflowing breath and ham (I am one with)
with the outflowing, in the same way as with Om. The sentiment or
the contemplative part may be based on the affirmation: "I am one
with the eternal, infinite spirit within and around. The self in me is of
the spiritual nature of my soul, rather than a product of physical
instincts and personality traits. The self in me is purified by this
communion with my soul, the essence of which is the same as the
infinite, transcendental spirit of God."

For a devout Christian the mantra can be Jesus Christ. Although it is

not essential to synchronise the repetition of a mantra with the breath,
the feeling of a harmonious rhythm can be developed by doing so, as
if the mantra is floating in and out, permeating and enveloping
oneself. Examples: repeat Hari Om inhaling and Tat Sat exhaling; or
Jesus inhaling, Christ exhaling; or for those of the Jewish faith,
Adonai inhaling. Elohim exhaling. While doing japa the mind should
be deeply concentrated in intoning silently the mantra with a feeling
of love for the ideal. Combining this dharana (concentration) with
dhyana (contemplation relative to the mantra) is done in the following
way:

If the mantra is Jesus Christ, or Adonai-Elohim, repeat the words for

five minutes, then unfocus the mind breathing spontaneously for a
minute or two, and begin the contemplative part for five minutes or
so. This is done with the help of three phrases. In the case of Jesus
Christ or a Vishnu mantra like Om Namo Narayanaya, the image of
the deity may be visualised inthe mind, or in the case of Adonai-
Elohim a sphere of light as a symbol, but it is not easy and can be
considered optional.

This combined form of dharana and dhyana may be practised for five
minutes each and then extended to an equal amount of time or a total
of 20 minutes, or as long as one wishes. The idea of sticking to one
mantra only is to accustom the mind to its sound pattern, in order to
engrave its grooves in the subconscious, as it were. The choice may
be made by oneself. Experience will tell, given enough time, if a
mantra is suitable to one's psychological make-up through a sense of
harmony with it, or not. There is no rule that a mantra cannot be
changed if the mind resists it.

The preference of receiving initiation from a guru is personal but

there is no dogma that to repeat a mantra one has to be initiated into
it. Sensible teachers try to find out the psychological inclination of the
student before giving a mantra, rather than perfunctorily superimpose
one with a dubious understanding that the former can know what is
appropriate for the latter just by sensing the vibrations. My teacher,
the late Swami Sivananda, never urged anyone to receive mantra-
initiation but, if someone came to him for it, he generally inquired
about the preference, as to how a spiritual identity is sought, before
giving an appropriate mantra.

Whereas a mantra should not be treated frivolously by revealing it to

just anybody, to make a top secret of it is rather silly. All mantras can
be found in books.

AFFIRMATIONS IN MEDITATION

After the practice of the second part a short pause is necessary,

keeping the eyes closed and feeling detached and restful. If there is
tension, move the shoulders and the head a little. Breathe freely for a
minute or two and then refocus the mind in the breath to begin the
third part of this integral meditation, all of it being a combination of
pratyahara,dharana and dhyana. This last part is a process of seeding
the subconscious with some basic affirmations, relative to their
opposite traits which are common to human nature.

The mind is a complex organism susceptible to influence. No one is

born like a blank page on which the parents and others write what is
good or bad. We are all born with innate propensities of character,
even though in a rudimentary state, but each as a distinct individual.
Then the first few years are highly impressionable, marking the
subconscious indelibly through parental influence. Afterwards, in
adolescence and later years, we keep on marking the formative mind
by the influence of our surroundings and by our own positive
endeavour or falling into bad habits, as well as by being susceptible to
wholesome or negative influence of individuals we closely come into
contact with.

The purpose of the following part of meditation is self-educative, as

to what should be our nature and should not be, the "reality" being
what we need for our security and happiness. One may make a list of
affirmations as per individual preference and necessity, and memorise
them. However, they should be few and short. The following six
affirmations are recommended.

While inhaling and feeling the breath, mentally repeat slowly and
with a deep conviction "Peace is my real nature" and while exhaling
"Not conflict". Repeat the phrase three or four times each, then try to
absorb the meaning in silence for about a minute, breathing
spontaneously. Then continue with "Love is my real nature," "Not
resentment"; "Truth is my real nature," "Not untruth"; "Happiness is
my real nature," "Not unhapiness"; "Strength is my real nature," "Not
weakness"; "Freedom is my real nature," "Not bondage."

Then give a short pause, breathing freely and feeling detached. Begin
again, fixing the mind in the breath, and repeatthree or four times
each, inhaling "Peace" and exhaling "Only peace"; "Love", "Spiritual
love"; "Truth", "Only truth"; "Happiness", "Inner fullness";
"Strength", "Mental strength"; "Freedom". "Spiritual freedom". Then
conclude with a pause of at least three minutes, breathing freely.

The best time to meditate is in the morning, but only if one wakes up
fresh. Otherwise, an appropriate hour should be chosen, but not
immediately after a meal. This session of meditation will take from 45
minutes to one hour. In the beginning one may shorten it to 20 to 30
minutes and, after sufficient practice, prolong up to one hour. For
most people a long meditation is not useful and may even build up
tension. The quality is more important than the length of it.

MORE WAYS OF MEDITATION

The purpose of yoga is mind control.

There are two ways of doing this: through some techniques of

meditation and by a psychological process of self-education. Both are
interrelated and should be combined. The following six techniques
may be tried and some of them chosen for regular practice according
to the individual's compatibility.

1. Fix the mind in the breath, feeling the coolness deep inside the head
while inhaling and the warmth inside the lower nostrils while
exhaling. Repeat mentally "peace" or "harmony" inhaling, and
"freedom" or "liberation" exhaling. The idea is to feel peaceful and
free from conflict and anxiety.

2. Breathe alternately, as in nadi sodhana prana- yama, that is,

inhaling through the left nostril and exhaling through the right, and
inhaling again through the right and exhaling through the left, and
follow the same technique as in the first. The thumb and the ring
finger are used to hold the nose. Practise for one month. Then add to
it retention of breath after inhaling, for a few seconds or as long as
one can comfortably,while repeating mentally "inner strength". An
alternate form of autosuggestion can be "will" while inhaling,
"spiritual strength" retaining and "harmony" exhaling. Concentration
on or feeling the breath is important. While retaining, concentrate on
the heartbeat.

3. Breathe freely, that is, not concentrating on the breath but

visualising a green field (a symbol of the sub- conscious), surrounded
by a circular horizon of dark-green trees (the unconscious). Above is
a light-blue, clear sky (the spiritual origin of life). Imagine a gentle
breeze blowing from above and smoothening the green grass (the
conflicts in the subconscious) and then penetrating into the dark-green
woods beyond. Repeat mentally "peace" inhaling, "only peace"
exhaling and, likewise, "love", "only love"; "freedom", "spiritual
freedom". There is no need to retain the breath.

4. Visualise an ocean, with a circular horizon, deep blue in colour, a

symbol of life. The sky above is clear and light-blue, the infinite
spirit, the source of life. The ocean is full of gently rolling waves,
which are individual souls and you are one of them, moving in
harmony with one another, as you feel the gentle rhythm of your
breath. Say to yourself: "I am in peace with myself and in peace with
the world," "the essence of my soul is the same as that of all souls."

5. Keep a candle on level with the eyes at a distance of one metre.

Concentrate on the candle-flame for a few seconds, then close the
eyes and visualise it as a sphere of light within the head. Contemplate
on harmony, peace, fullness and inner strength, repeating the words
from time to time with the inflowing and outflowing breath. Open the
eyes to concentrate on the flame again and repeat the process.

6. Fix the mind on the breath as in the first exercise and practise the
following six affirmations by repeating them half-a-dozen times each,
alternating with a deep feeling of the absorption of their meaning,
while breathing spontaneously,without concentration. After one
month, add retention, with repetition of the relevant affirmation and
concentration on the heartbeat.

a. Inhale peace, retaining repeat "profound

harmony" and exhale conflict.

b. Inhale love, retaining repeat "spiritual fullness"

and exhale resentment or ill-feeling. Likewise:

c. Generosity, charity of heart, selfishness.

d. Understanding, patience, intolerance.

e. Honesty, truth, insincerity.

f. Compassion, selfless love, attachment.

One may formulate other autosuggestions as per the need of the

moment. Each of these exercises can be done for a few minutes,
sitting in a comfortable posture with closed eyes, but with the back,
shoulders and neck straight without being rigid. When tension builds
up or the quality of meditation becomes shallow, discontinue and
resume the next day. A session of half an hour daily, preferably in the
morning before breakfast or in the evening before dinner, is
recommended. It can be prolonged and done in the morning and
evening as per the individual's inclination. Motivation, quality and
regularity are important. As Patanjali says, practice is the key to
success.
 Chapter Five

OUR MIND AND SELF-EDUCATION

We can know our mind by observing our desires and tendencies, and
our reaction to challenge, when the security of the ego is threatened.
Our inclinations, choices as to books, magazines, TV programmes,
places of entertainment and friends give a general indication to our
nature. We also know about the kind of insecurity and lack of
fulfilment by observing our intolerance, nagging, vituperation,
harping on mistakes made by others, nursing of resentment over the
years.

To observe the mind well one has to be impartial, that is, egoless. It is
as if observing someone else's mind as a silent witness, not getting
involved in self-justification, nor self-condemnation, but as a patient,
kindly and understanding friend trying to help, pointing out that
unhappiness is caused by selfishness and self-aggrandisement,
dissatisfaction by superficiality and frivolity, anxiety by attachment
and insecurity of the ego. It is a method called sakshi bhava. Self-
observation and analysis should not be overdone but, in order to
overcome the fear of one's negative shadow, one has to face and come
to terms with oneself, from time to time.

The state of the mind is dependent on the state of the I, as it projects

itself in the process of its survival and fulfilment, through the
archetypal and recent background of race, religion, culture, social
influence and education, and gathers experience by interaction,
thereby forming layers upon layers of memory, one's happiness or
unhappiness always depending on how the I has been treated.

Consciously or unconsciously one envies those who are successful in

their profession due to their motivation, intelligence, endeavour and,
above all, being more alert and, therefore, capable of learning, more
astute to process and make use of knowledge, and more strong-willed
to get where theywish to be. One also admires those who have been
able to realise some spiritual ideals and gathered a measure of peace
and happiness.
However given the choice, one is likely to pursue material success
first and, failing or not being fulfilled by it, would turn to spiritual
values. The reason is that one is oriented more empirically than
philosophically, as survival is a greater priority than one's need to be
happy through a philosophically-induced or religiously-consoled state
of mind. One is hardly aware of being related to a spiritual origin
from which flow security and happiness, security by faith and
happiness by doing something useful and loving the good of others.

Since the infinite spirit is immanent in all, the experience of a sacred

presence within by meditation and as a bonding link to those we can
identify with by a loving relationship of caring, sharing and
understanding, is the only way to lighten the weight of selfishness and
loosen the strain of pride and vanity. This can never be done by
meditation alone but by identifying the good of oneself with that of
those we live and work with.

SELF-EDUCATION

The following guidelines for self-education may be useful: Watch

your thoughts. When you find yourself thinking badly of someone,
immediately remember the good the person had done to you before.
Then think of someone you love. This is one way of overcoming
negative thinking.

Avoid the sin of generalised aspersion. The individual alone is

responsible for his or her guilt or fault. To accuse an entire race or
nation for individual misdeeds and deficiencies is uncivilised.

Watch your behaviour. If you are lying, remind yourself to be truthful

and then make the correction, because trustworthi- ness is more
important than a dubious advantage of the moment.

If you are angry, ask yourself to be patient and then explain to the
person your problem and what you expect, saying that you would
expect the same from yourself.

When you attempt to pass the blame to others, correct yourself and
accept your share of responsibility. Otherwise, you will never learn.
When you think of another as a sexual object ask yourself if you
really love and care for the person. Then be reminded that it is the
human qualities that determine the durability of happiness in a
relationship, not the passion of the moment, nor the physical
attraction.

The following ways of coping with our problems through self-

education may be tried:

1. Identify the basic problem rather than generalise and say that you
are smothered by so many problems, which is a mental trick for not
having to deal with one, because the mind knows that it cannot solve
all of them at the same time.

2. After identifying a problem, such as unhappiness or frustration or

anger or intolerance, locate the main cause. You will find that most
probably it is self-centredness or egoism or selfishness, whichever
way you look at it.

3. Then identify some of the lateral causes flowing from the basic
cause. For example, in the case of unhappiness, they could be: a) self-
pity, b) too many expectations, c) too much attachment or
possessiveness, d) self-importance, and e) lack of spiritual goals.

4. Match each of them with a counterpart to practise specifically in

the following way, which is called the pratipaksha method in Raja
Yoga.

a) Think more of others than of your own problems, be considerate,

listen more and be helpful.

b) Expect more from yourself than from others, expect only when you
deserve, expect only after making it quite clear as to what you expect
in a given situation, and expect after taking into account the
limitations of human nature.

c) Excessive attachment or possessiveness is caused by the insecurity

of one's love. Therefore, it is necessary to think of the good of
someone you love rather than your loving. Understand that such a
good is best achieved the way the loved person wants it to be rather
than on your own terms. Ask yourself if you are doing anything good
or merely proclaiming your love, and if you are concerned about
drawing the attention of others to the good you are doing.
Unselfishness overcomes the insecurity of love and lessens
attachment or possessiveness.

d) If you are vain, know that there is a lot to learn because you do not
know enough. If you wish to be regarded well, you have a lot to
improve your nature. Control self-justification and indirect self-praise
as well as eulogising your children or spouse to others.

e) Write down in bold letters on separate cards and keep them only
where you can see them, in order to be reminded of some worthy
goals such as: Be Just, Love Mercy, Do not Be False, Be Unselfish,
Control Passion, Be Modest, Think Positively.

Even if these may sound rather old-fashioned, they have a timeless

value. The Buddha says: "Do not accept a teaching just because it is
given by your teacher, but find out if it is valid in your own
experience, and only then accept it." All these steps are arduous and
need a lot of faith, discernment, patience and practice. But who has
ever progressed and achieved anything worthy without toil?
 Chapter Six

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

Most of us are creatures of beliefs that are convenient to justify our

desires and longings, allay the basic fears and uncertainties, and fulfill
a sense of belonging. Their usefulness is to the extent they help to
make us better human beings and bring a deeper meaning to our being
alive.

Lofty words like altruism, transcendental truth, God, eternal love are
only indicative of how inadequate our life is and how insecure our
identity in relationship. Their ability to lift our spirit is in their
translation as duty, honour, feeling for and understanding of each
other.

Philosophy is meant to form principles and shape criteria. If you have

no principles then you have no philosophy.

Religion is meant to promote spiritual fellowship among people, not

merely within a particular faith. This is possible only through an
understanding heart and freedom from prejudice. The bigot can never
be religious, much less spiritual.

Justice is meant to promote respect for the rule of law, and a law can
be respected only when it gives equal legal protection to all, while
striving to promote mutual responsibility for social security and
welfare.

Moral norms are not merely social habits but spiritual ligaments in the
body of society and represent not just the outlines of social behaviour
but are meant to appeal to the better side of human nature. They are
not merely to hold people together through a balance of self-interest
but to sustain spiritual responsibility to each other.

People should ask themselves the following basic questions:

How can you expect respect from others if you have no self-respect in
your own eyes?
How can you have self-respect if you lie, deceive and act as a coward
and a weakling, if you are arrogant, vain and selfish?

How can you have peace of mind if you are self-centered and have no
basic integrity of character?

How can you be happy if you are a slave of passion and keep being
attached to those who do not really care for you?

How can you expect the love of others if you are selfish and full of
yourself?

How can you expect success if you do not work hard and try to
acquire the necessary talents to get what you want?

How can you have inner harmony if you have no devotion to spiritual
ideals?

What worth is all the effort to keep yourself and your family in
material comfort if you have failed to find harmony in your heart and
give peace and love to your family and friends?

Spiritual life does not consist in singing the glory of God and chanting
mantras but in the practice of integrity, compassion, fulfilling of
duties and obligations, acceptance of personal responsibility, selfless
service for a common cause that does not enhance the ego of anyone
in particular, and in the sublimation of passions.

A tree can remain standing in spite of stormy weather only if it has

deep roots. Likewise, the tree of life can be stable only through the
deep roots of actions motivated by love, a sense of justice tempered
by compassion and understanding, and unselfish support of those you
care for when they are in need.

The tree of life can have many branches of knowledge and many
leaves of prayers, but without its deep roots it will fall down with its
branches and leaves when the storm comes.
 Chapter Seven

JUST FOR TODAY

Resolve to yourself.

Just for today I will try to live through only this day, putting down the
load of the past and worry about the future.

Just for today I will try to adjust myself to life as it unfolds, my work,
my family, the circumstances as they come, and try not to be upset if
they do not conform to my desires, but accept them as they are, while
gently talking over if there could be a better way of getting things
done.

Just for today I will exercise my body and read something to improve
and stimulate my mind and lift my spirit.

Just for today I will seek out my soul in meditation and feel its inner
calm and expansiveness and, thus, transcend little conflicts and
pettiness that life is heir to.

Just for today I will try to be kind to everyone I meet or work or live
with.

Just for today I will try to rise above resentment if and when it raises
its ugly head, by thinking of the good I received, even as a painful
lesson, from someone I am resentful of.

Just for today I will try to be attentive and helpful to someone who
needs my attention and help.

Just for today I will try to hold my temper, even displeasure, if and
when provoked, and by cool indifference put off the offender.

Just for today I will not tense up thinking of someone who had hurt
my ego but like a duck shake off the droplets of the egos of others
sprayed over me.
Just for today I will refrain from criticising or speaking ill of others,
reminding myself that I have so many deficiencies to overcome.

Just for today I will desist from being a coward and be true to my
principles.

Just for today I will speak less about myself and listen more to what
others have to say.

Just for today I will try to be a little less selfish and find a way to do a
generous deed.

Just for today I will try not to feel sorry for myself and think of how
may I alleviate the suffering of another.

Just for today I will try not to be self-important and recognise the
merits of others.

Just for today I will programme the day and set out things to be done
and when avoiding the two big pests, indecision and hurry.

Just for today I will be unafraid to be happy and enjoy what is good,
beautiful and graceful, and with the sunshine of the positive melt the
fog of the negative.

Just for today I will try to love those I can, drawing from the infinite
love that God is.

Just for today I will tell myself that there are two days I should not
worry about, yesterday with its mistakes and aches and tomorrow
with its uncertainties and apprehensions, but live this today as well as
I can, as mindful of my duties as I can be and as committed to my
ideals as the inner spirit guides me along.

Just for today I will try to practise any or more of the above as best as
I can.

For yesterday has gone forever and over which I have no control, and
while all the regrets in my heart cannot make it any better the only
good it can teach me is not to repeat the same errors.
For tomorrow the sun will rise and it will be just another day, but over
which I have no control either, and I shall take it inmy stride as it
dawns and until then I shall not worry about it, unborn as it is.

That leaves only today, and it is surely enough to fill my plate, for one
can deal with one day at a time only and foolish it is to refight
yesterday's battle and try to tilt against tomorrow's rolling of the
windmill.

So, let me live one day at a time only."

 Chapter Eight
THE MYSTIQUE OF CHANTS

There are three principal reasons for chants: to feel, express and
relate. Life is ruled by instincts and emotions. Reason helps to
understand and direct their expression. Instincts are basically for self-
preservation and emotions are for relating, both with the tangible and
the intangible.

The human being is a body and a spirit, the tangible and the
intangible; functioning through physical consciousness, grasping,
analysing, demanding, giving and relating on a level one can
comprehend and yet reaching out into another level of subtle
consciousness which one does not quite understand but which one
knows to exist deep within oneself and which one tries to fulfil
through a sense of the transcendental, such as in inner peace, in a
higher form of love, in being a part of the infinite.

Nature expresses itself through energy forms and sound is one of the
most expressive ones. Thus, there is music on earth from its very
early history: leaves rustling in the breeze, brooks gurgling through
beds of stones, waves breaking on the shores, wind whistling through
fields. Then, on the animal level, sound becomes a means of
communication and many types of expression and, on the human
level, it finds its vast dimensions.

The history of chants is as old as the human being. Being conscious of

nature around and feeling to be a part of it, man learned to
communicate his needs among his fellow-beings through words, that
is, sound forms. Then he began to feel a lift in his consciousness by
expressing his emotions through songs when he was happy as well as
when he felt the burden of sorrow. He sang when he had a good
harvest and wanted to share his happiness with the other harvesters,
and sought to relate his gratitude to nature. He also poured out his
laments when he lost a dear one, so as to hold on to the memory of the
departed andfind some relief from sorrow and to wish the vanished
soul well, which he thought must have gone to a strange and unknown
world.
There must have been traditions of prayers, chants and other forms of
music in the proto-Dravidian culture of the Northwestern part of the
Indian subcontinent when the Aryans came there between 1800 and
1500 B.C., but hardly anything is known about these. The earliest
references to Sanskrit chants can be traced back to about 1500 B.C.,
when the nomadic Aryans had settled down in this region of India.
There were bards of tribes who sang and recited before their
chieftains the compositions that came to be known as Samhitas, the
first books of the Vedas.

ODES TO NATURE

These were in adoration of nature and expressed a fascination for

natural forces, both in fear and in gratitude. The poets thought that,
behind the brilliance, heat and the consuming nature of fire, there
must be a supernatural power and gave it a name, Agni. Fire burnt and
destroyed, and there was fear. It was also needed for cooking and
providing heat when the weather was cold, and there was gratitude.
The poets felt the breeze and related it to breath and life itself just as
they knew storms and saw the destruction caused by them, and gave
to this elemental power the name Vayu. They slaked their thirst with
the waters of springs, saw the rains soften and make the land bloom
and also were terrified by the force of floods, and called this natural
power Varuna.

Thus were evolved the ways of relating human life to nature. Odes
were composed and chanted to various nature-gods, such as those
mentioned and many others. There were not yet the anthropomorphic
type of gods, nor was there the monistic idea of God which came later
in the age of theUpanishads, after 1200 B.C. These were forces of
nature and were worshipped as spirits with superhuman attributes.

In the course of time, these poetical compositions called Samhitas

were put together in rhetoric and prosody with cadences, and were
meant to be chanted in specific ways, especially in the Sama Veda.
Subsequently, a sense of spiritual identity was further developed in
the liturgy of the books called the Brahmanas, and when a still higher
sense of belonging to the infinite arose in the Upanishads, there came
a different variety of chants with greater dimensions.

The tradition of chants indicates two distinct needs in human nature,

dominated by a profound sense of inadequacy throughout one's
existence. These are: security and fulfilment. Physical security to start
with, out of which comes the anxiety to be protected from all types of
physical threats, including disease, natural calamities, economic
difficulties, wars and anything that endangered one's life. Then there
is the need for psychological, emotional and spiritual security.

NEED TO BE FULFILLED

The other dominant need, to be fulfilled, also begins on the physical

level, such as in anything that would gratify the senses and make the
body happy. Then comes the need to be fulfilled mentally such as
through curiosity, search for knowledge, and the longing to be
fulfilled emotionally by human love, and to be fulfilled spiritually
through a sense of belonging to one's subtle source, not really
knowing what it is and yet being conscious of its presence in one's life
as the immanent infinite through which feelings, emotions,
knowledge and life itself try to become transcendental.

This is how all the ideas of God came about, crude and fanciful,
sublime and wondrous. This is how chants and hymns arose out of the
consciousness of man, whining and dithyrambic, supplicant and
contrite, terrified of harm andlonging for truth and love all these, all
the time, indicating the two basic needs of life: wanting to be
protected and to be fulfilled.

It all started quite early, with the infant crying for nourishment, the
child begging the parents for this or that which will gratify it
physically. The fear of parental punishment was none too soon
imprinted in the child's mind and, in adult life, the fear of the tribal
chief and his cohorts. Thus, there existed these two basic realities:
clamouring for favours and being terrified of punishment by the
physically strong. Out of this came a strange, slimy thing called
flattery which was, later, to be specially reserved for God.
Parents were soon found to be not so powerful after all, either to
reward or punish. The tribal chief, who had a wider authority over his
followers, learnt that there was a better way to deal with the
complaints he could not cope with that were brought by the people
and decided to get rid of the pests currying for favours as well. This
he simply did by asking his bards, who later became priests, to tell the
people that there was someone else, in fact, several of them, to whom
they could go with their difficulties and also hanker for favours.
These were the gods and, later, the personal, monotheistic God, who
fulfilled such a social need.

OTHER FACTORS

There was also the motivational factor: to raise the people to

superhuman efforts in times of stress and danger through beliefs such
as God being on their side to protect them and bring death and
destruction upon their enemies if only everyone would do his or her
best. When natural calamities visited, these became acts of God
because people were not good enough and could do better, and it also
helped them to bear their misfortunes stoically. So, keep praying and
sing all the hymns you can.

There was yet another factor, also based on the need for security. It
was the fear of death, the terror of the unknown. It shows that, as the
consciousness of man evolved, increasingly he could not accept the
fact of his extinction. It also shows that he knew that he was not
merely a body but there was something in him that would not die.
Thus, he clung to the belief that he was a soul as well. The fact of
physical death he knew all too well, and he became preoccupied with
what might happen to the unseen, subtle entity, his psyche, the Greek
word for soul, his atma, after the body died.

Man, of course, did not know what his soul was but he knew a little
about his mind and he was well aware of his body, his physical
instincts. Yet he felt the presence of something subtle in him through
his longing for peace, fulfilment in human love which eluded him
most of the time, and in his need to be fulfilled spiritually. This he did
not know how to do. However, since he knew his body well, he
transferred his physical instincts and ideas of life to his soul and
wanted its continuity under ideal circumstances in order to satisfy
them, and such a place he called heaven.

The fear of death was, thus, due to an excessive attachment to

physical existence. The fear of the unknown was, thus, actually a fear
of losing the known, for one cannot really be afraid of something one
does not know, just as a child would not realise that fire burns until
after getting burnt. This special kind of fear of extinction, or
uncertainty of the continuity of one's existence, played a dominant
role in religions, gave birth to ideas about heaven and was, thus,
interwoven in hymns and chants. Since no one could save man from
death in the world he knew, his only recourse was to ask an all-
powerful spiritual deity to bestow upon him eternal life. In the Katha
Upanishad, life in heaven itself was considered inadequate and the
ultimate destiny of man was in his merger in Brahman the infinite
spirit.

This fear of death did not arise, of course, as long as life continued
normally. However, the explicit fact behind chants and prayers was
that, in a desperate situation, when no tangible help could be found or
was not adequate, the human heart cried out for help and sought to
relate itself to a source of power for support, peace and consolation.
The spirit of man rose from the limited vehicle, his body and mind,
and reached out to the limitless sky and tried to revive itself by
relating to the universal spirit.

This is the mystique of chants, in fact, of all prayers.

ATTRIBUTES OF LIFE

Gods and goddesses are attributes of life itself, through which one
seeks to relate to the infinite which the Upanishads call the
impersonal, transcendental Brahman, a term representing monism,
whereas the same purpose of relating to one's spiritual source by the
adoration of the best qualities of life is served by the Judeo-Christian
concept of personal God, which the Hindus call Ishwara, a term
denoting monotheism, which is but an attempt to fuse all gods and
goddesses together and sublimating their shortcomings, such as divine
wrath and an addiction to praise and power, through the ideas of an
all-encompassing love and forgiveness, the God of relentless justice
becoming the God of mercy.

In fact, the concepts of God are shapes of spiritual aspirations of the

individual and the group, superimposed on the infinite spirit. The
purpose of chants is just that: the movement of one's heart in relating
to the infinite, to one's spiritual source, in various shapes of ideals and
longings.

Chants are of a religious nature, re-ligare or to rebind, not only in

their contents but also there is a considerable significance in their
cadences, intonations and rhythm in relating, integrating individual
consciousness with higher levels of consciousness through which is
felt an inner peace andsublimation of emotions. They even give a
sense of the collective unconscious, such as in feeling one's roots in
the primordial vibrations of the universe.

THE PRIMORDIAL UNCONSCIOUS

Nature itself represents the primordial unconscious, such as in the

principle of cohesion in the molecular structure of an element. In the
rustling of leaves, in the distant, rolling thunder, in the murmuring of
a stream, in the dusk slowly sinking into night and the dawn emerging
out of darkness, in so many facets of nature, there is a relatedness to
unknown or little known human emotions. By humming a tune,
listening to music, singing, playing a musical instrument, through
devotional chants, one is expressing such a relationship.

The universe pulsates with energy, and the human consciousness is its
highest form so far known, even though there is so much more to
know about it. Divine consciousness, transcendental, infinite
consciousness, the universal mind, are all conjectures of the basic
human longing to widen the horizons of one's perception, the longing
to burst out of the limitations of instincts and memories, to experience
a relatedness with the cosmic whole.

Since sound is energy and energy is movement and movement is in

relationship, both with the tangible and the intangible, the purpose of
chants is to fulfil this basic longing. It is specially true when they
represent soaring harmony in sound forms. The chants manupulate on
emotions, exercise and move them, meander and lift them, attenuate
and diffuse them.

In the primitive forms of chants the rhythm aspect is more prominent.

Being repetitive and alliterative, rhythmic and exuberant, they release
pent up emotions and bring about a hypnotic effect. There are people
who go into trance by listening to or doing such chants. By
themselves their spiritual value is doubtful.
Chants also serve another purpose, that of group identity, providing a
collective security, just as denominational religious chants do.
However, their spiritual aim is not to confine people into groups or
divide them but to give a sense of unity and interrelatedness of life, of
joys and sorrows, light and shadow, microcosm and macrocosm, man
and God.
 Chapter Nine

KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ENQUIRY

The first step to knowledge is observation. It is done in two stages: an

immediate assessment, and a relatively long-term perception. For
example, we know the nature of our mind, our character, by our
reaction to challenge: cowardice or strength, self-importance or self-
confidence. The ego is easily provoked in an insecure mind. The gut-
reaction in being defensive shows the insecurity within.

One who is secure in a premise of knowledge would not enter into an

argument when that premise is challenged, after making one's position
known. Religious intolerance is very much indicative of the
unconscious insecurity in one's own faith. You have only to see the
flag-waving syndrome that yoga is not a religion. If you are secure in
your belief, no one can take it away from you.

The second stage is in observing what goes on inside the mind over a
period of time, say, a couple of days or a week: the occurrence of
waves of resentment, daydreaming without the intention of doing
anything about it, the tendency to postpone a decision, work-shirking,
gossiping, making up stories, the lying habit. All these point to our
character pattern, the load we carry on our feet of clay, mostly half-
baked. In the furnace of life, instead of baking them well, they only
seem to get singed!

We have a very short history of seeking self-knowledge. and of the

universe from which we have evolved, and continue to be influenced
by constantly. The quirk of the recombination of particles of energy,
beginning as early as three billion years ago on this planet, through
trial and error of the acon-old evolutionary process, through the
atomic interaction of chemistry and biology, we have at last become
modern humans. Our brains have evolved enough to question what
particles they are made of, and from what source and what for. It is
good toremember that only fifty thousand years ago we were grunting
savages!
Since words became visible as written language less than three
thousand years ago, individual minds began to wake up. and think on
a much wider scale by the stimuli of the minds of others, first
expressed by laborious handwriting, then by movable types, and now
on the computer screen. The more we observed, the more we shared
the observation of others, and the more we learned about the nature of
our mind and our character.

PSYCHOLOGY BEGAN LONG AGO

Psychology did not begin with Sigmund Freud, but some 3,500 years
ago, at first through oral tradition and, nearly a thousand years later,
in written form in the Vedas and the Old Testament. It began as an
insight into human nature. One has only to read in the Samhitas (first
part of the Vedas) how people sought to alleviate insecurity, and feel
protected, by trying to propitiate the forces of nature through hymnal
overtures. Or, Samuel warning David of God's displeasure due to the
king's succumbing to his character flaws.

In the Bible, the Buddhist scriptures and the Confucian and Taoist
texts, in Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Panchatantra and the Puranas,
human nature is graphically portrayed, describing character traits and
how the mind works. It was done mainly through observation, rather
than investigation and analysis as in modern times. Neuro-science had
to wait a long time. But the sooth-sayers, shamans and priests seem to
have done their job fairly well, considering the record of the present
day well-meaning shrinks, in spite of the chemical aids to treat mental
illness.

The mind is a particular field of energy, also called individual

consciousness, which inhabits two spheres of the gray matter known
as the brain. As I do not have any training in neuro-science or modern
psychology, I will keep myadumbration to the yogic points of view,
as indicated in old Indian texts, but in the light of current
understanding, as well as personal observation, experience and
dealing with people under psychological stress.

One cannot say that something is true or real without the necessary
evidence. As in any energy field, the mind has its positive and
negative wave-lengths, and neutral or quiescent state. The term
positive is intended to mean harmonious, and the negative conflictive.
The emanation of this energy is visual, such as in facial expression
and body language, and verbal. But it has a short range outside the
brain, for example, two persons together saying the same thing at the
same time, or one speaking what is in the other's mind at the moment.

There is no evidence of collective consciousness, although due to the

cultural influence our behaviour can be predictable under specific
circumstances. The atmosphere of a place is palpable, of course, as in
the difference between an active and inactive church. It is due to some
contributive factors like wax-burning candles, incense, sonorous
chanting, and the devotional imprint of those who worship there. But
to call it a collective consciousness will be a misnomer, for
consciousness is individual.

In the same way, there is no collective karma. Karma is a

consequence of a particular action, as well as a current one. Collective
suffering due to war, or a group of people dying in an airplane
accident, cannot be called a collective karma, but plain bad luck.
Good or bad luck is a term for an event, the cause of which is as yet
incognito. That is a more honest way of looking at it. To attribute an
unverifiable cause will be dishonest.

IS THERE AN AFTER-LIFE?

Let me digress briefly into the topic of after-life, because it speaks

about the nature of our mind. Since the beginning of human history,
afterlife has been speculated. The Upanishadswrite about transition to
higher planes of existence called different grades of heaven, or the
lower ones of the nature of hell, as per one's meritorious or wicked
deeds, only to reincarnate on this planet to resume the evolutionary
process until the individual soul is merged in Brahman or the
transcendental spirit.

Some texts speak of direct rebirth here on earth, after the individual
consciousness has slept for a while in a disembodied state. The worst
kind of speculation, and the most pagan one (read superstitious) at
that, is the ultimate reward in an eternal heaven, or eternal punishment
in the ultimate hell, after having waited in a limbo indefinitely for the
day of final judgment.

It indicates two characteristics of the mind: the extremes of greed and

vengeance. Having invented the merciful God, such an attitude
becomes an oxymoron.

A mundane judge punishes a murderer with a twenty-five- year life

term, subject to one-third remission for good behaviour. How can
God be worse? Astrophysicists presume that out of two hundred
billion stars in our galaxy, one in a hundred thousand may have a
planetary system, but we do not know if there are evolved forms of
life, higher or lower than that of the earth. Then there are a hundred
billion galaxies of all kinds in the universe, according to the British
physicist Stephen Hawking. Why are we so primitively self-important
in our religious thinking?

The existence of heaven and hell is, indeed, academic. It is for the
scientists to determine the nature of the universe, and the laws that
govern it. What really matters to us is what we do with our life, and
how we understand and cope with it. In a pure heart, with compassion
and integrity, love and the warmth of feelings, decency and fair-
mindedness, we experience the heaven within. By expressing them in
our relationship with others, we create a similar heaven around. In
their contradiction we suffer from hell, both within and without.

REINCARNATION

The same way we can deal with the subject of reincarnation. It speaks
of the nature of our mind. Among Hindus, or those who practise the
Hindu faith, it is almost a universal belief, just as the credence in the
eternal heaven and hell among practising Jews, Christians and
Islamists. However, as the individual consciousness does not carry its
memory from one lifetime to the next, for all practical purposes what
really counts is the life as we know it. Reincarnated or not, every life
is a unique experience in itself. Why speculate about something that
you cannot verify, but just on the basis of hearsay?
Yet, the theory of reincarnation is a far better postulation than any of
the following:

The caprice of chance, or dumb luck, good or bad, in which free will
is irrelevant. Why bother about something in which you have no say?

The will of God who knows what is best for his creation. His mind is
beyond human comprehension. A divine mystery should not be
probed into. So, do your best, and accept your destiny without
complaint. First of all, anything that you do not understand is
unhelpful, and the fiat of mystery can be used to deceive people.

During the past quarter of a century, physics and chemistry have

made giant strides in comprehending the laws of the universe, of
genetics and biology, unlike religion. True science is modest enough
to recognise many areas of knowledge that remain to be explored.
Religion has done little to improve the spiritual quality of life.

Speculation about reincarnation is an attempt to explain the inequality

and inequity of life, with a logical sequence, even if unverifiable.

We are all born with a different quantum of intelligence. Like the

ligaments binding the knees and the pelvic joints, wecan stretch our
intelligence by mental exercise only up to a point, in a limited way,
not drastically. The inequality is due to our self-effort, or the lack of
it, in the past lives. The same rule of recycled self-effort holds good
for inborn talent in audio- visual arts, poetical and mathematical
excellence, and a genius being born in unfavourable circumstances.

In a poverty-stricken family, a child grows up emotionally rich and

with sound character, on account of marvellous parents, and does not
grudge material deprivation. Another child grows up emotionally
stunted and morally rudderless, in a wealthy family. Why this
inequity of birth? An honest person tries to live a decent life of
upright conduct, but runs through a series of bad luck. A wicked
person, on the other hand, seems to be rewarded by fate. Is there
justice in life? Reincarnation theorists try to explain this inequity by
the idea of unrealised retribution and compensation of a debit or credit
balance in the past life now being recuperated. The present karma,
however, will have its consequence, in due course.

As we cannot relate the present with an unknown past, the philosophy

of reincarnation is just a philosophy of life. It is a doctrine of
redeemable accountability, of assuming responsibility for one's fate. It
is meant to pick up the haversack, and soldier on, rather than pass the
blame on to the parents, society or God for one's bad luck. It is a
manner of reconciling with an unjust world, and coming to terms with
fate. It is a philosophy of making God a constitutional monarch, and
oneself the author of one's destiny.

Also, accountability to an invisible God after death is not a deterrent

to evil deeds, and has little meaning as to shaping our actions, rather
than accountability to our fellow-beings, and social institutions
defined by law, and ultimately to our conscience. In the same way, the
hope for a better life in the next incarnation as a result of good deeds
is meaningless, since the memory of the present one will not be
carried over.

The theorists of reincarnation were psychologically perspicacious.

The preference of choice inclines to the known. Given an option
between returning to an imperfect world which one knows, and
having a passport without the certainty of getting an entry visa to
heaven from St. Peter, the human mind would surely choose the
former!

Personally I will be quite happy, when my body is reduced to ashes

and dissolved in the sea or river (apas) and my last breath is mingled
in the atmosphere (vayu), if my soul merges in the infinite spirit, its
individuality gone for ever.

FIVE ASPECTS OF THE MIND

There are two main classifications of the mind according to yogic

tradition. One is called the inner (antar) formation (karana), and the
other five (pancha) sheaths (kosha).
In the inner format, the inmost content of our being is the I-
consciousness (aham). In a state of identity with its spiritual source, it
is known as soul (atma), which the Bible calls the image of God in
Genesis, in which we are supposed to have been created. When
identified with the body and mind, and their orientation with the
world around, it is called the ego (ahamkara).

The yogis thought that the soul is located in the heart, as did the
Christians. It was because the fluctuation of emotions is felt in the
palpitation of the heart, which is but a strong muscular pump to
circulate the blood. The soul can be characterised as the life-principle,
as well as the spiritual side of human nature. It is an energy field
within our mind and body. Gyana Yoga refers to soul as a spark of the
infinite spirit in a state of embodiment (jivatma).

Whereas the Bible gives an exclusively divine nature to the soul as

the image of God, and so do the Vedas, the Greek word for it, psyche,
refers to the unconscious, including both itsspiritual and materialistic
propensities. Modern psychology and psychiatry follow this
definition.

The second layer, which is mostly dormant, is the principle of

transcendental wisdom, or spiritual enlightenment (buddhi). The title
Buddha given to Gautama means the Enlightened One. Now we
know, of course, that there are no layers in the brain, but it consists of
billions of neurons which function through electro-chemical
interaction. The word buddhi is also generally used for intelligence.
Intuitive perception takes place both in the fields of buddhi and the
unconscious.

The third and fourth layers are called chitta, or the base of
consciousness (chit). The word chitta is sometimes used for the entire
mind. The inner (antar) is the field of basic instincts or samskaras
(deep-rooted impressions). The modern term for it is the unconscious.
The outer (vahir) part of chitta or the fourth aspect, serves as a field of
memory (smriti). The current term is the subconscious.

The difference between the two is that the conscious part of the mind
has access to the subconscious in order to think, but not to the
unconscious which serves the role of stimulating desires in the
subconscious.

Our education takes place in the subconscious, primarily by

registering experience through action, or laboratory experiment, or
doing calculus, and secondarily by the study of books and
observation. Whereas the unconscious never sleeps. the subconscious
pulsates from time to time in dream (swapna), releasing tension
caused by stress and playing games by juggling desire and anxiety.
The yogis fantasised that some gurus give mantra initiation in dream
to a select few.

The fifth or the outermost is known as manas, or the conscious level

of the mind. The term manas is also generally used to refer to the
entire mind. It functions through the senses (sight, hearing, smell,
taste and touch), but with reference to thememory field for perception.
Its role is to think, evaluate, select, make decisions, and will to act.

THE FIVE SHEATHS

The second classification is done by wrapping the image of God, or

the spark of the infinite spirit, inside five sheaths (pancha kosha).

The outermost is the physical body called anna-maya, or that which is

sustained by food (anna). The word maya (made of) should not be
confused with maayaa (illusion). It is similar to the Christian concept
of the tabernacle as a temporary habitation of the soul.

Inside it is the prana-maya, or the sheath made of five vital functions

to keep the body alive. It does so by the following process: breathing
(prana), assimilating nourishment (samana), circulating nutrition
through the blood-stream (vyana), eliminating toxin (apana), and
sustaining the mind (udana).

Within the vital sheath is mano-maya, or the shroud consisting of the

three sub-layers of the mind: the field of instincts (unconscious), of
memory (subconscious), and of thinking (conscious).
Inside the mental sheath is the dormant vignana-maya, or the
microcosmic field containing the knowledge of macrocosm. It is
presumed to contain all the laws that govern the universe. Any
scientific breakthrough or discovery of what has been hetherto
unknown, is attributed to this kosha (sheath).

The innermost sheath is called ananda-maya, also dormant, or soul-

consciousness, or a state of blissful union with its spiritual origin, or
God within. It is replete with transcendental wisdom. Within it lies
spiritual intuition.

The paranormal or psychic propensity is in the unconscious layer of

the mano-maya. The term spiritual shouldnot be confused with the
psychical. Spirituality consists in the inculcation of moral values, such
as integrity and compassion, self-restraint and altruism, decency of
conduct and goodness of heart, freedom from malice and humility of
spirit.

The source of spirituality is in the ananda-maya. The spiritually-

evolved mind may not have psychical visions, and the paranormally
inclined may fail to meet the standards of spirituality. Both are
unrelated.

Intuition has two aspects. The subconscious works by itself on a

spiritual value or a scientific problem, in which the conscious mind
has engaged itself for a long time. In a quiet moment, there is a
sudden flash of insight. It is called intuition coming from the
subconscious. However, the yogis presumed another kind of intuition
arising in the ananda-maya or the vignana-maya.

Rare foresight of events through divination is said to take place in the

latter. The success rate is miniscule, but the fact that it does occur
gives credence to the theory that an event occurs in the astral plane
before actualising itself, just as an architect draws a plan for a house
before building it.

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS

The mind is a product of five factors. The yogis presumed them as the
building blocks with which the mind is formed. They are referred to
as karmas, both as a consequence of action and as a process of acting.

The first is called adrishta (unseen) or avyakta (inexplicable) karma. It

is said to be the residual effect of karmas done in the past life or lives,
shaping our inborn nature and potentialities, and deciding the kind of
household and environment we would be born in. Charles Darwin
spoke of the former as inherited traits of character. At present it is
called genetical inheritance from our parents and grandparents,
perhaps further back.

The second is griha (house) karma, or the kind of household we come

to, the kind of parents we have. In the first six months of infancy, and
even earlier during the later period of gestation, we are indelibly
influenced by the mother because of close physical and emotional
contact, the father playing a secondary role.

After six months, in the next three years, the parental influence, or
that of those we grow up with, is still very strong. From the third year
on the child is able to vaguely remember events, and more clearly
further on. The absorption process continues with diminishing
indelibility through adolescence.

We grow up emotionally and characterwise in the field of griha karma

through the security of love, and moral guidance by the forthright
example of what we are asked to obey. If the feedback is negative, we
grow up emotionally and morally insecure.

The third is samaja (society) karma, or the surroundings in which we

grow up, the type of schools we go to, the kind of teachers, family
members and friends we are influenced by, the kind of neighbours we
associate with. The environmental factors shaping our personality
help to fulfil some basic needs: the desire for approval to strengthen
our sense of honour, fear of rejection or disapproval, guidance to
make decisions, individual identity through role models, and group
identity such as belonging to a cultural tradition.
The fourth is swartha (swa oneself, artha interest) karma, or action
motivated by self-interest, self-indulgence, cutting corners to one's
advantage, exploiting those who are vulnerable, abusing the weak,
deceiving the gullible.

The fifth is purushartha karma, or actions motivated by spiritual

(purusha) ideals. It is this building block that decides the
transformation of our character (charitra). The word charitra means
grazing (chara) or cultivating such traits thatwould help us to be
ethically upright, emotionally stable and have peace of mind.

Life is what we make of it by coming to terms with our mind. It is in

coming to terms with life around, the kind of relationship we have at
home and place of work. In any bonding relationship, the
requirements are:

Acceptance of what we and others are, and then working on ourselves

by self-effort, and on our relationship with others through better
communication, thereby improving mutual understanding. By sharing
of ideals we learn to grow up together. Mutual respect due to common
motivation gives us self-confidence. It is, indeed, a lifelong process.

INDIVIDUALITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Aham is the principle of the individuality of a spiritual essence called

atma, which is intangible in the sense that it cannot be measured by an
instrument but a force in itself, and because it cannot be duplicated by
any material energy. Once it departs, the body or the mind cannot be
revived by any means.

The physical body of the mind, the brain, being material, is sustained
by matter or food as well as prana which is preserved both by food
and the pulsation of aham or the I wishing to exist. The mind is not
self-luminous. The pulsating I gives the motive-power to the instincts
in the mind, which generate desires in relationship to objects through
an outward projection, and register them inwardly as memory by
experience, for later reference.
One thinks because the I is in the thought. No thought can be
sustained without being interested in it. The seer and the seen coming
together externally with the objects through the senses. and inwardly
through memory, cause a ripple in the mind. It is called vritti or that
which conduces the experience of pleasure and pain. When the I feels
detached, the thought-process ceases momentarily, but as it relates
itself through a subtle feeling ofpeace and harmony to a spiritual
source in meditation, it is able to control the mind. As Patanjali says
in the second aphorism of his Yogasutras, yoga is the control of
mental ripples or impulses (yogaschitta-vritti Nirodhah).

The psychic materials of the mind are sattva, rajas and tamas, with
which character is formed. It is because they are in a state of
disequilibrium, tamas dominating rajas or vice versa and rajas
overbearing sattva, the need for mind control rises, for no one does
anything without a need. Tamas is lethargy, negativity, selfishness,
self-pity, hate and depression. Rajas is passion, egotism, pride, vanity,
ambition and restlessness. Sattva is peace, love, integrity, positive
outlook, spiritual aspiration and inner harmony. When sattva
dominates, tamas is absorbed in rajas and rajas in sattva and, thus,
they coexist in a state of sublimation. This is the goal of yoga, the
purpose of mind control.
 Chapter Ten

CRITERION AND INNER BALANCE

The word criterion is derived from the Greek krites, to judge, meaning
to "judge or assess a situation". To act well, we must judge the
circumstances and form a criterion. To relate well, we should judge a
person's values, character, which we are all the time doing anyhow,
without saying so. Judging means to evaluate, which is fundamental
to making a decision, not sitting in judgment with a condemning
attitude, the purport of the saying "judge not others".

In Sanskrit, criterion is lakshana, an outlook, or adarsha, an ideal,

formed by vichara (enquiry). Adarsha means towards (aa) a vision
(darsha). Chara means to graze or masticate, that is, to think and
rethink (vi is re). The word for science is vigyana or "research"
through investigation. In Latin scire (the root for science) is to know,
from gnoscere, a word derived from the Greek gnosis, very similar to
an older word gyana or knowledge that is arrived at through a union
of an outer and inner, or an empirical and evaluative perception.
Lakshana is from laksha or seeing.

The word charitra, character, also comes from chara, that is, to
inculcate in oneself moral values, the Greek root for character,
charassein, to engrave, having a similar meaning. The criterion of
character, for example, is formed by such qualities as:

Integrity, trustworthiness and loyalty.

Duty, honour and responsibility.

Moral courage, will and commitment,

Fidelity, discretion and fairness.

The purpose behind criterion is to cope and channel the primordial

urges to survive and be happy. These energy impulses swirling in the
mind can only be dealt with in threeways: by indulgence, repression
or sublimation. Indiscriminate indulgence leads to error and suffering,
repression to tension and complexes, and sublimation through a
higher motivation to a more satisfying inner experience and self-
expression. This is the criterion of discipline.

Among animals, life is a biological process through instinctive effort.

They are not vain enough to give the impression of a struggle, except
when fighting against odds, as humans do even when they are not
really struggling due to self-importance, laziness or self-pity to
dramatise survival. Just look at our habit of grumbling!

If we merely functioned through instincts like animals, we would

probably be making less mistakes. Since we live by our fancies as
well as instincts, fancies about ourselves and others, we are prone to
suffer from mistaken judgment.

No one can live without criterion because we have to work and deal
with each other, whether we like it or not. The question is if we have a
good or bad judgment, as it is intimately conducive to our state of
mind, harmonious or perturbed, happy or unhappy.

INSTINCT, IMPULSE, DESIRE, AMBITION

Survival is through instinct. Instinct is an impulse which becomes a

desire through a thought-process trying to make survival agreeable.
Any desire is oriented to personal happiness, even in the process of
making others happy. Criterion is a means to satisfy this very
reasonable desire to be happy.

When a desire does not have a vision beyond its immediate results, it
is only an impulse for self-fulfilment and, therefore, lacks criterion.
Thus, criterion is a desire with a vision to express ourselves. All
actions, in order not to be impulsive and, thus, capable of causing
harm, must have a criterion.

One cannot and should not be desireless in action but try to be free
from selfishness, so that an action guided by a good criterion can
conduce to a long-standing positive result, and also because interest in
a good result will teach us how to act better in the future and be
responsible for our action. Acting with indifference to result will only
guarantee inefficiency.
Criterion is, therefore, not an intellectual luxury but a daily necessity.
It is needed to prevent mistakes and, thus, suffering to oneself and to
others. It is needed to understand the meaning of life, more than to
prevent mistakes only, and to plan for a better future, to progress
towards desirable goals.

The criterion behind ambition, for example, is to approximate a

healthy motivation with one's untapped talents, combine intelligence
with effort, and find out the limits of possibility to make life
progressive and useful, while not neglecting the need for inner peace
through spiritual values.

To have no ambition at all means to vegetate. Ambition is negative

when it is sought to be fulfilled at the expense of others, or denying
our time and attention to those we are responsible for. Ambition has a
greater role than merely ego-fulfilment. It means to be more useful to
one another, creative and efficient in work and, thus, successful in an
undertaking. With selfish ambition no one has found happiness, nor
the person without any ambition, who has only succeeded to make the
mind opaque by indifference.

Since everyone likes life to be agreeable, we make fanciful

assessment of a disagreeable situation in order not to face reality. We
accuse others of the defects we suffer from, so as not to face them in
ourselves. We like to live in a world of our fancy, all for the sake of
avoiding suffering, which we cannot do anyhow through illusion,
even by the illusion of regarding the world as an illusion. So, the
question is not between a choice of criterion or no criterion, but
between a good criterion and a bad criterion. Look at the errors of
judgment our leaders make!

The birth of criterion is in the saying of Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary

of Jesus Christ, who is said to have observed, "The essence of the
Torah consists in not treating others as one would not like to be
treated by others; the rest is a commentary." Thus, the first step is
consideration for others.

DISCIPLINES TO FORM CRITERION

This means to educate, discipline and sublimate the ego expressed
through selfishness, self-centredness, self-importance, self-pity and
vanity.

Selfishness or meanness through the practice of generosity.

Self-centredness by consideration for and attention to others.

Self-importance by facing the fact that one has a lot to learn and
improve.

Self-pity by not blaming others and recognising one's own fault.

Vanity by filling the emptiness (vanus means empty) through the

practice of modesty and learning to be useful to others.

If one practises these ideals and also the aforesaid qualities of

character, it will not be difficult to have a better judgment, the basis of
which is, indeed:

Do not be false, do not be a hypocrite, and do not say with an instant

reflex, "I am not false, I am not a hypocrite", since the truth will shine
on the image however much it is polished by pretence.

Avoid self-justification. It does not mean that you should not defend
yourself. If truth is on your side, it will speak for itself, and if you are
in error, you cannot afford to justify yourself anyhow, which is a bad
habit and bad manners.

The formation of criterion is helped by the following disciplines:

Do not fail to learn from your experience. There is an old saying,

"The wise learn from the mistakes of others, the intelligent from their
own mistakes, and the fools never learn from their errors and keep
repeating them."

Make your evaluation by facts, not wishful thinking, and remember

that the first premise of truth is evidence, veritas, verify.
Relate your choice of what you do with its long-term effect, rather
than a short-term result. A quick gain by short- sighted selfishness
makes a long-term loss inevitable.

Do not expect from others what you are not yourself willing to be or
do, and make sure to communicate your expectation than be silent
while expecting it.

Any good action with a good judgment is like a capital investment,

that is, it should be able to sustain itself. It means to help one to help
oneself. A good action with a bad judgment is like helping one to be
dependent and irresponsible, and create a sequence of unreasonable
expectations.

Anything that is secretive has a built-in possibility of deception,

whether in a teaching, in an action, or in a relationship. Avoid it.

Respect the opinion, feelings and needs of others when you relate
your own to theirs.

In forming a close relationship, look beyond external charm and

appearance, such as if the person possesses an adequate measure of
compassion (is not hard-hearted), authenticity (is not two-faced) and
responsibility (can be counted on), is not too self-centred, self-
important and prone to self-pity.

Have an open mind, a disposition to learn, because we do not know

enough, pride and superficiality being impediments to learning.

Avoid negative thinking. When a resentful thought about someone

arises, think of a good deed he or she had done to you, thus
countering a negative energy ripple with a positive counterpart.
Remember that resentment harms you rather than the person resented.

Try to be free from prejudice and infatuation. Both are blinding

energy to be abjured: prejudice through fairness and objectivity,
infatuation by reason and being mindful of character traits of the
person infatuated with.

FINDING INNER PEACE

No one has found inner peace by closing the eyes and trying to forget
the world, or by meditating on the fiat that God alone is real and the
world unreal.

Inner peace is realised by the practice of the aforesaid guidelines.

Then, be mindful of the basis of inner peace:

Lowering the level of expectation.

Managing desires you can cope with.

A sense of values as to what is more important, setting a priority of

choice.

Practice of detachment, not indifference, but abjuring possessiveness,

not taking yourself too seriously as to be heavy-laden with self-
importance, because sooner or later someone will make you fall on
your face.

Keeping the mind occupied with something interesting to learn.

Engaging yourself in some useful project, some work to do, places to

go.

Recognising and accepting the limitations of circumstances and

people around. Adapting, adjusting, accom- modating, without losing
your bearing,

Measuring what you can do with what you have within, as to capacity
and motivation, and without as to circumstantial possibility.

Peace is neither exclusively within, as to being united with God, nor

without, as to coming to terms with life around, but in a mixing of
both.

Spiritual exercises such as loving God in prayer and meditation,

repeating a mantra or affirmations as to what is our real nature in a
divine relationship (Tat twam asi, Soham), will conduce a temporary
state of elevation, peace and harmony, and possibly some inner
strength. What will actually help is to keep in mind these disciplines
and guiding principles in order to love and practise them and make
them one's constant companions.

Spiritual exercises like techniques of concentration do not by

themselves improve human nature but the sincerity behind to apply
their purpose and to make us wiser and better persons.

VALIDITY OF BELIEFS

What is the ultimate cause of this cosmos with billions of expanding

universes? Is there a creator, as religion claims? If so, what is his
nature? Is there a great purpose, a supreme wisdom, behind creation?
For the formation of criterion, these questions cannot be answered
merely by scientific investigation, even if modern physics has arrived
at a point of origin of the cosmos well over ten thousand million years
ago, and is beginning to understand the basic material forces
governing our galaxy.

The question about the creator enters the world of speculation to serve
a very specific need for protection, such as by prayer to a deity, in the
process of survival; a need for a moral order through a celestial
commandment for social peace, whenpeople had little access to
humanitarian education; and to have strength to bear our burdens with
patience and equanimity by believing in a divine wisdom setting our
destiny.

The validity of such credence is in not so much if they are provable,

but if they help to serve these very obvious human needs.

Any speculation to be meaningful must make life more agreeable and

provide the motive-power of inspiration. Religion gives us a set of
beliefs through legendary assertions. If they fail to inspire, they
remain sterile. Apart from conformity to help group identity and
cohesion through customs and observances, belief actually means
hoping on a personal level. Hoping for anything makes sense only
when it is related to what is with the plausibility of what can be, to
make up for the deficiency. It loses meaning if the goal is too far-
fetched and, thus, unattainable and if one does nothing about realising
the ideal behind belief, so as to remain forever hoping. Similarly, faith
means commitment to ideals representing the premise of faith, God.
This is the criterion of belief and faith.

There are no revealed truths but individual perception of reality

through spiritual aspiration, which must prove its validity through
collective verification over a long period of time. A prophet's claim at
God-given revelation was meant to make a teaching more acceptable
in earlier times.

Does God exist as an entity? Are there bodhisattwas, heavenly beings,

residing in superior planes of existence? There is no possibility of
verification, but as a life-giving principle the existence of a
transcendental force behind material forms of energy would be foolish
to discount, for that would be like saying all that is there is what we
are capable of determining with our relatively recently-acquired level
of intelligence.

By observation one does not find the evidence of the rule of an

omnipotent power, nor that of a transcendental wisdom. You have
only to look at the amount of suffering in this world, the extensive
physical misery in which a fifth of human beings exist, and the
pervasive psychological unhappiness of both the rich and poor. There
is evidence, however, that by believing in and attuning to a source of
strength and wisdom, one finds an inner poise and guidance that was
lacking before.

SPIRITUAL REALITY

By observation we know that there is a universal preference of good

over evil, truth over deception, love over hate, harmony over conflict,
purity over impurity, knowledge over ignorance, even if the non-
preferable dominate our life due to the force of nature. This evidence
indicates that above our physical nature there is a spiritual reality of
our being, that it is universal and transcendent. This is the best
definition of God as a tangible truth in human existence at least, not
as a deity.

The foundation of wisdom is personal experience, that is, application

of a speculation in a practical relationship. The principal means to
evaluate an experience is reasoning, that is, relating effect with cause,
action with reaction, theory with result, equal consideration of one's
interests with that of others.

Some teachers decry dependence on experience due to one's tendency

to be influenced by other people's experience and urge, thus, the
negation of superimposition. Well and good, but one has to be really
stupid to do so, giving up the personal obligation of determination
through objective evaluation.

Then there is the frustration with the limited horizon of experience

that gives rise to the speculation of a direct perception, abjuring
personalness or any superimposition, to wait in utter stillness for the
pure light of awareness to dawn. What guarantee is there that what is
claimed to be so is not a shaft of perception as a result of the
subconscious workingunconsciously on a series of earlier speculations
over a length of time?

Progress is due to searching, appraising, applying, experimenting,

knowing and re-knowing, improving and learning anew through lesser
results.

Experience is both empirical like heat and cold, and psychological as

happiness and unhappiness. Reasoning helps to understand as to why
one is happy or unhappy and, thus, serves as an instrument of choice.
Determining one's security and welfare in relationship to others, and
formation of motivation for desirable goals is the main purpose of
reasoning and, therefore, having a criterion.

The ultimate purpose of criterion is the cultivation of conscience. To

be conscientious is to be close to God. To be close to God is to
develop an understanding of spiritual values and their absorption in
our conscience through their application in human relationship. A
well-developed sense of right and wrong, without self-righteousness,
and the ability to choose the positive are the result of this absorption.

Imperfect as we are, having been created as if similar to the image of

the devil than that of God, it is a long process, a long struggle of
going against human nature, through education over generations and
passing on the genetical character imprints. Then again through
education in early life at home and school, and by personal effort at
character formation do we develop our conscience and the capacity to
choose.

It is, thus, silly to say that God gave us intelligence, the instrument of
choice, and so we are to be blamed for the mess we have created: First
of all, intelligence is genetically unequal and partly malleable by
environmental influence. Responsible, of course, we are for our fate,
but what a brutish start, what an enormous price to pay for the
progress and happiness we long for!

Blame it on the devil for the mess in creation, who made his first
appearance in the Old Testament's Book of Chronicles, which was
supposed to have been written in the fourth century B.C. The
Christians picked him up and have kept the holy spirit struggling
against him until the return of the Christ to establish the kingdom of
heaven. But when? Spare me, though, your inventive symbolism to
clothe an understandable mindset of earlier times.

LOVE OF LIFE

We need to survive because we love life. In the process of survival we

go through agreeable and disagreeable experiences, and the love of
life makes us choose what is agreeable only. Thus, the necessity of
criterion.

All forms of existence are made possible through the interaction of

different forms of energy. When they are relatively harmonious, there
is a prolonged cohesion. When not, there is decay, disintegration. So
also in human relationship through different aspects of our nature,
such as sattwa or goodness and harmony, rajas, or competitiveness
and passion. and tamas, or inertia and negativity.

The experience of perfect love or harmony can never be continuous

but interspersed with less-than-perfect sides of our nature. The
question is how well can we reduce the widely-varying fluctuations
by a better direction of our energies for greater creativity and balance.
For this we need motivation or love of ideals, and a good judgment to
fulfil them.

The most intense form of psychological suffering is caused by

irrational attachment, which is actually a form of self-love. The more
acute the attachment for a person the more sharp the pain on account
of disappointment. It is caused by selfishness expressed in the form of
possessiveness, an unwillingness to accept the fact of having crossed
the point of no return. To alesser extent this is the case of our
relationship with material objects.

Selfishness is an inborn trait caused by the need to survive. When

excessive, it makes our life empty, preventing the flowing in of other
people's love and not having any resource to give from. The cure for
selfishness is to be considerate and useful to others, restrain
hypersensitiveness by tolerance and detachment, think of and listen to
others more than to think and speak about oneself. These are the first
steps to educate and purify the ego.

Selfless love, even if imperfect but made real through deed, gives a
sense of spiritual relatedness, and this is what gives a meaning to
one's life, to be happy in the happiness of others, in sharing our
values, doing some useful work, in trying to be a better person.

HAPPINESS AND HARMONY

No one can experience a prolonged state of harmony within oneself,

the dullness of indifference yes, but no real depth of happiness, even
of momentary euphoria and temporarily profound meditation.
Happiness and fulfilment are in the realisation of spiritual goals such
as purity of heart and sublimation of the ego, always in relationship to
the welfare of others.

Happiness is also in the widening of the horizon of one's mind

through the study of the experiences of humanity that are available in
the form of well-crafted literature, not blatant acclamations without
the ring of truth. They help to clear and stimulate the mind and
acquire a depth of understanding, conducing to a personal
involvement with ideals and contentment.
Occasional disharmony will inevitably come up because there is an
element of unpredictability in other people's nature, but it is up to
oneself as how to handle such a situation andcontrol one's reaction to
it and, thus, not to be shaken up on account of wounded vanity. Little
disappointments are to be expected, without seeking them, and
accepted as a part of one's education.

Second only to attachment, irrational expectations from others, also

on account of self-centredness, perturbs our peace. First of all, it is
necessary to deserve before expecting anything. then look to the
nature of the person from whom something is expected, before
complaining of disappointment.

Satisfaction should be sought within oneself through selfless love,

devotion to duty, work ethic and pursuit of understanding. It is not
true that in non-expectation alone is happiness, or a desireless person
is really happy, but at best resigned and indifferent, for life is an
onward movement, to be better than one is, to do better than what one
does. Without motivation for useful goals life becomes stagnant and
dull, and an easy prey to unhappiness.

Motivation for irrational goals, such as to be free from the cycle of

birth and death, or attaining the eternal life hereafter, or enjoy an
ever-blissful state herein, can neither be sustained nor fulfilling,
because the hereafter cannot be verified, nor its promises. In reality,
one would choose what is tangibly attainable and rationally viable.
Likewise, motivation for psychic powers cannot last long because the
effort required is too demanding, there has to be an inborn
predisposition, and the result too dubious to justify a useful purpose.
Motivation sustains itself on feedback and attainability of its goal in
the near future.

Religions have guided an understanding of life and its problems,

projected its goals, prescribed moral codes in the name of God. They
are actually structured and restructured by well-crafted teachings of
intelligent, fallible men, revealing the light of their understanding of
the conditions of their times, of human nature and its anxieties and
hopes.
Religions reveal the story of life that shaped the identities of many
peoples. We are to learn from it and reorient our criterion in the
process of adapting to changing times. Scriptures represent the search
for truth and the experiences of their authors. They are meant to
stimulate our own search and deepen the understanding of life.

Otherwise, without the benefit of personal and collective verification

of what is said to be God's revelation in the light of our own
experience, religious teachings become artificial superimpositions and
often conduce to hypocrisy. To progress one has to be receptive to
both old and new ideas, think for oneself, form one's own criteria of
values and verify their truths by practical application.

PRAKRITI AND PURUSHA

The dignity and autonomy of the individual and his or her

corresponding obligations to society are the basis of civilisation. The
philosophy of a nation is the cream of its culture. It is a
conglomeration of ideas about life pulsating in socio-political
institutions and individual and collective aspiration to improve
prevalent conditions.

Criteria are formed by the institutions like the church teaching a way
of life dedicated to spiritual values, universities promoting scientific
research and humanitarian ideals, business organisations devoted to
material welfare and gain, political and labour entities representing
and protecting their constituents' interests and aspirations through
consensus as in democracies, or by dictatorial imposition as in
totalitarian states.

The individual's life is, however, dominated by the need for survival
and coping with one's ego expressing its insecurity through all kinds
of emotions: relating, imposing, submitting, seeking happiness.
Human nature is expressed by the interaction of two kinds of
energies, material and spiritual, theformer springing from prakriti and
the latter from purusha. It is a product of both the forces. We are
neither images of God, nor of the devil, but a hybrid of both.
Purusha as a spark of pure light, the content of one's soul, tries to
express itself through the longing for unselfish love, beauty, harmony,
truth. It is, however, encased in the several layers of the mind, a
product of prakriti, in which vibrate the primordial instincts for
survival: dense, heavy, crude, choking, clashing. The pure light gets
distorted. Seeking companionship with another soul and filtering
through the mind, it becomes sexually oriented and expresses itself as
passion between male and female, for ego-gratification, as also
between friends.

The energy of prakriti takes over, and passion becomes

possessiveness, attachment and infatuation confused as love. When
rejected, it becomes hate. When encroached upon by another, it
becomes jealousy. The pure light trying to focus understanding in the
mind becomes distorted as a dogmatic opinion, the orientation of the
ego or I-consciousness having shifted from soul to mind.

The ego is a product of both purusha and prakriti. It wants its

resonance with other egos in love, knowledge, goodness, in sharing
life's spiritual values. But this urge filters through the mind and gets
distorted by the energies of selfishness, aggression, doubt, anxiety.
Thus, the ego is in a constant need of education, because it mostly
lives in the mind, and is a creature of its moods.

It is in the mind that all education takes place: by the learning and
thinking process, uniting other people's experiences through study of
their books with one's own experience, by seeking harmony within
and identity with purusha or the spiritual content of the self. This
reorientation alone and the consequent refinement of the mind can
conduce to inner balance and harmony in relationship with others.

LOWER AND HIGHER NATURE

Vedanta says "the self is raised by the self', meaning that there are two
sides to our nature, the lower needing the help of the higher. It is a
constant struggle, more in those who are conscientious and less in
those who vegetate by inertia, an interaction in light and shadow. The
I-consciousness or the ego forgets itself when identified with and is in
the light of purusha, is thus purified, and spontaneously acts with
wisdom and harmony, expressing buddhi.

When identified with the mind in its two levels, the antar chitta or the
field of samskaras, deep-rooted impressions, called the unconscious,
and the vahir chitta or the field of smriti, perceptible memory, called
the subconscious, it casts its long and often-distorted shadows. In the
subconscious through memory pulsation the ego is elated and
depressed, flies high excitedly in success and sulks gloomily in
failure, as also in being praised and censured by others.

In the subconscious the ego becomes dogmatic, haughty, self-

important, gets puffed up due to its identity with a race, religion,
national culture, regional vanity, family name, educational titles,
social status. Whether they have any real worth or not is not the point.
The ego likes to be the king or queen in his or her own castle, the
subconscious. In a raw state it is despotic. Through education it
becomes a constitutional monarch. In relationship with others it is
argumentative, pretentious, throws its weight around, gets delirious
when massaged on the right side and vicious when scratched on the
wrong.

In the unconscious the ego becomes impulsively infatuated, jealous,

possessive, narcissistically passionate, neurotically depressive,
resentful and hateful. In relationship with others it becomes abusive,
threatening, violent, sufferingfrom an immense insecurity. In the
unconscious the ego is a creature of the primordial instincts of
survival and the libido.

It is the freedom of the spirit, the freedom to learn, think, teach and
express oneself, always with responsibility to others, the freedom to
be a non-conformist, an atheist or monist, an idolater or monotheist,
the freedom to oppose violence, dogmatism and hidebound
ideologies, and search for truth, always with evidence as a guideline
and never by a religious fiat, that makes society progressive, that
improves the quality of life both materially and spiritually.

EDUCATION IS SALVATION
Social peace is the result of this freedom, out of which come
leadership and political responsibility and wisdom. The basis of it is
education, to create a moral consciousness, a personal sense of duty,
obligation and accountability, a boundless curiosity to learn whatever
is under and within the sky, whatever is within oneself to tap,
develop, improve upon and utilise.

Personal peace, of course, depends on the education, refinement and

sublimation of the ego. It is in the ability to manage our attitude and
conduct, and come to terms with changing circumstances by the
philosophy "even this will pass away, so balance the mind in pleasure
and pain", that "we came with nothing and will depart the same way,
so why make a mess of yourself in between"?

Raw human nature grows like a jungle. Life can be savage if our
untutored nature is allowed to run wild. The idea of a noble savage is
a throwback into the myth of being spontaneous, unhampered by
over-tutoring and wanting to be free from repression on account of
bad tutoring, and be blissfully irresponsible. There is nothing noble in
a savage who is but spontaneously expressing his brutish nature. The
value of spontaneity is in what one is spontaneous about.

Life can be cultivated like a garden if the desirable plants are tended,
cultivated, and the undesirable weeds removed. Like a garden,
individually and collectively, it needs constant care and renewal.
Otherwise, within a few generations, the descendants of a gifted
people can become like the Romans decadent and subjugated by
barbarians, or like Germany being taken over by home-grown Nazis,
as it was.

Education is a mental, moral, technological and cultural preparation

of an individual for a better understanding and control and direction
of his or her life. A just society makes this possible through a
democratic means of its availability, on the basis of intelligence and
aptitude, through autonomous institutions of knowledge and culture,
without the control and interference of state or religion.

Education and' personal experience are the father and mother of

criterion. They should prepare the mind like a vast, frontierless region
for hundreds of philosophers and saintly souls to guide and inspire;
hundreds of scientists, architects and engineers to investigate, invent,
innovate and build; statesmen and idealists to promote justice and our
sense of worth; poets and musicians to recite and sing, painters and
mystics to sketch the facets of life as it is and as it can be.

Education is to make our potentialities come alive to motivate and

fulfil, for in a work well done, a duty well carried out, a love well
sublimated, an ideal well realised lies our inner peace. A society's
progress depends on the amount of investment it makes in research
for the best and the brightest, and in tapping, vocationally training and
making the optimum use of the human resources in the rank and file.

St. Paul said that truth should make us free, indeed from our capacity
to harm ourselves and others on account of the ignorance of our
spiritual resources. A prayer in the Vedas urges, "Lead me on from
the unreal to the real and fromdarkness to light." This search for truth,
to free the mind from ignorance is, after all, the goal of education.

Replacement of anarchy with order and passion by reason is the

purpose of knowledge. Love of, and commitment to, the ideals that
represent the object of devotion are the purpose of faith. Knowledge
and faith are the two wheels of the cart we ride, knowledge that is
understanding and faith that is a deep emotion for the best in
ourselves. The failure of knowledge is in intellectual vanity and self-
righteousness, and of faith in superstition and emotional theatre. The
failure of philosophy and religion is in their incapacity to
differentiate.

The highest meaning of our existence is in what we put into it. After
birth we grow psychologically by receiving from others, such as the
protection of love and guidance through education from our parents, if
we are lucky enough, and by the help of others in later life. What
makes life's journey meaningful is not whether we have received
enough or not, but what we are willing to and capable of putting into
it and transmit to others.

This meaning alone transcends the inevitable death of the individual,

because we continue to live in the memories of those we have
associated with, left our marks on, such as relatives and companions
that survive, and the more gifted among us who have left their traces
in arts and literature, science and technology, social reform and
welfare. Even on a modest scale, the meaning of life consists in what
we have meant to each other within the family and among friends,
through love and understanding, care and protection, help and
consolation. Life is, indeed, what we make of it.

ON EDUCATING THE EGO

The culture of a person is not so much in the knowledge of the audio-

visual arts and architecture, but in his or herday-to-day behaviour. It
consists in the education and sublimation of the ego. It is a lifelong
process.

Some teachers write about the necessity of egolessness, and some

even theatrically exhort to annihilate the ego. If you observe them
closely, you will find in them an enormous ego, clothed in false
gestures of humility.

It is neither possible nor wise to demolish the ego. Egolessness in the

sense of not being selfish or egotistic is a virtue, of course.

The ego is a product of the individuality of consciousness. It is what

motivates survival and, through ambition and competition, enables
progress and achievement. In a refined state, it forms and expresses
the best of criteria. In a repressed condition, it conduces to
indifference and irresponsibility. In a weak-minded person, it
becomes vulnerable to exploitation by stronger and cunning egos.

The mind is a field of energy. Generally speaking, it has five aspects:

1) Ahamkara or the consciousness of 'I am a body, mind and soul'. It
is also called the ego, the id. 2) Antar-chitta or the inner mind, the
stratum of the basic instincts, including the archetype, also known as
the unconscious. 3) Vahir-chitta or the subconscious containing the
stratum of memory, to which the conscious mind has access unlike to
the unconscious, and where one dreams. 4) Manas or the thinking
principle, the intellect, consciously evaluating, determining, desiring,
willing. 5) Buddhi or the higher intelligence, generally dormant, that
intuitively perceives deeper spiritual values when awakened. It is also
called the superconscious or soul-consciousness.

It is ahamkara or the ego that makes any movement in the mind

possible. In deep sleep it enables the prana (autonomous vital
functions) to pulsate to keep the body alive. Through dreams it
releases the tension of anxiety, trauma, unhappiness, desire and
passion.

In the unconscious it gives impulse to the instincts. In the

subconscious it is the participation of the ego that makes thinking
possible. Consciously it gives zest to life by willing and acting out its
wishes. In the depth of our soul it experiences the purity of heart,
unselfish love, the "peace that passeth understanding".

Any energy pulsation caused by the ego can be treated only in three
ways: by indulging in, by repressing and by sublimating. Through
indulgence of the ripple of anger, for example, the ego becomes more
aggressive. By repression it develops complexes. By sublimation of
this energy through the love of the ideals of patience and tolerance,
peace and understanding, the ego gets refined and becomes
wholesome, in the yogic way.
 Chapter Eleven

GUIDING VALUES

PEACE AND LIBERTY

By definition peace is a state of calmness, a sense of harmony, an

experience of tranquillity. However, peace is essentially a
consequence of a philosophy of life in which one comes to terms with
oneself and the rest of the world. It is a result of how we manage our
egos in relationship with each other, how we cope with our
expectations and desires. Real peace is not attained through
renunciation but fulfilment, if it is not to be confused with a mental
opacity or indifference. It is an inner serenity cultivated through a
deep understanding of life and sublimation of passions, by a sense of
spiritual identity.

Peace is a product of security: spiritual, psychological and physical.

Security can never be found in self-centredness but in the integrity
and balance of perspective, altruism and compatibility of values
within relationship. Security is in the capacity to love, in a deed
meticulously performed, in a duty well carried out, in a responsibility
fulfilled with painstaking care. The result is an inner spiritual
satisfaction called peace.

Life is hardly static but a continuous movement, and movement is

either due to the exigency of the circumstances, or ambition, or by the
stimulus of desire, or a sense of deficiency. Peace is a pause, not
merely to rest, but to feel the meaning in the movement of life. As
such, peace is creative only when sensitive to the movement-in love
and compassion, striving and aspiring, caring and understanding. If it
is merely to rest, it becomes dullness when prolonged. Movement
without an experience of its meaning is restlessness, peace without
sensitivity is laziness.

Peace is not a virtue in itself but a vital need to recuperate from

mental and emotional activity, inasmuch as one has todrink water to
quench thirst. Yet, life cannot sustain on something subtle like peace,
just as one cannot live on water alone. Peace is an after-effect of the
fulfilment of one's spiritual goals. The individual cannot grow without
struggle, and society cannot progress without challenge. If one seeks
to avoid challenge, hide from the problems of life, the result can be
mental inertia, insensitivity and self-centredness.

Peace, to be spiritually renewing and effective, can never be

continuous, either individually or collectively. All talks about eternal
or permanent peace are wishful thinking. You can be eternally
peaceful only when you are dead. Whereas absence of war and
subjective awareness of an underlying poise are desirable goals,
individual and social ferment from time to time are nature's means of
renovation and progress.

MEANS OF PEACE

Some basic means of personal peace are:

1) Spiritual security, such as in a religious faith, not in fanciful

beliefs, but faith in the power of spiritual ideals that give strength of
conviction and, therefore, self-confidence. Such a faith is totally free
from dogmatism because it is a continuous search for the truth of
what one believes in and loves. Belief, in order not to be a sheepish
conformity or unproductive wishful thinking, has to be inspired by the
love of the ideal it represents. Its realisation brings peace, even the
mere fact of being involved with it.

2) Psychological security, such as in the understanding and discipline

of desire or ambition, so that we learn to approximate our wants with
capacity and effort, relate expectation with the knowledge of human
nature and with what we are willing to give in a relationship, and try
to live by the philosophy that doing what we believe in and love is by
itself a reward enough rather than the result thereof. However, no
action should beunmindful of its result, because how else can you
know if a deed has been well done?

3) Emotional security, such as in the health of the ego, so that we are

not overburdened with a sense of the self, that there is freedom from
hate and resentment, that we do not suffer from dependence on
infatuated love. It is selfishness that destroys love, thus, inner
fulfilment. Self-love quickly turns into self-pity, thus, one lacks
peace. Love is not only caring but sharing, sharing not only of what
we materially value but spiritually aspire for. In such a compatibility
there is emotional security.

Some basic means of collective or social peace are:

1) Security of justice, or the rule of law based on fairness, which

means freedom from the fear of permissive or random violence, or
demagogy of one group over other groups, or exploitation of the weak
by the powerful. Social peace is a result of easy access to justice, its
promptness, its impartiality and effectiveness for all concerned.

2) Economic security, or the absence of degrading poverty and

uncertainty of material subsistence. Dogmatic harping on distribution
of riches quickly becomes distribution of thin air without
productivity, ingenuity, work ethic and good management. These
cannot be materialised out of the ideological hat but by universal
education vocationally geared, encouraging talent and motivating
initiative by appropriate reward.

3) Security of rights, by educating people to equate the rights of

others with one's own, cultivating a sense of duty and responsibility,
doing honest labour with efficiency, and making it evident in public
service, resulting in good government and stable democratic
institutions. It is a fundamental right of thepublic to expect from them
efficient management and integrity, without which social peace is
inevitably perturbed.

MEANING OF LIBERTY

Liberty basically means freedom of the human spirit. We like to think

that we are born free, but we are not. We bring with us innate,
rudimentary instincts of self-preservation, therefore, selfishness and
possessiveness, and self-extension, therefore, aggression and
exploitation. Through education in our childhood and adult life, we
learn to channel these basic instincts into creative forces. It is the
nature of our spiritual self to long for the limitless inside the moorings
of our earthly self. That is why we aspire for liberty, and do not like
limited conditions.

However, freedom means expression, and the validity of expression is

in what is expressed. Thus, the health of liberty depends on the
quality of individuals who express themselves, so that freedom does
not mean a licence to cause discord or bring out the worst in us, but
encourages to give our best to society for the sake of general benefit.
The reality of liberty is. indeed, in its usefulness.

The bases of liberty are: 1) individual responsibility, 2) respect for

what is generally accepted as permissible, and 3) submission to the
interest of the majority arrived at by a consensus.

Freedom is to deepen our experience of the quality of life. with a

sense of "justice towards all and malice towards none" When the
mind is free from dead habits, warping prejudices, corrosive passions
and suffocating egotism, we experience the freedom of our inner
spirit.

The fundamental rights of liberty are:

1) Mental freedom, to think freely without being bound by ideological

or religious dogmas, to speak freely without the fear of reprisal, and
to express freely in arts, literature and media without censorship.

2) Social freedom, such as to live and move and work without

discrimination and make use of public utilities without apartheid.

3) Physical freedom, or freedom from indignity inflicted on one's

person by a powerful individual, party or state, such as by physical
abuse or arbitrary arrest, and from the indignity of hunger, inadequate
clothing and shelter.

4) Psychological freedom, or the right to live without fear, either of a

secret police, or of organised or random violence and expropriation of
material possession by theft or decree, which means an effective rule
of law in society.
5) Spiritual freedom, or the liberty of religious beliefs and the right to
worship, including the right to be an avowed atheist or to disbelieve in
an established theological or political dogma.

Like everything precious in life, liberty cannot be taken for granted. It

must be nursed, sustained and protected. It is an individual and
collective responsibility, a product of a moral sense. It is essentially a
mark of spiritual strength. In order to be effective, it is an ideal to
which people have to raise themselves. By the fiat of ideology,
without checks and balances, it becomes licentiousness.

Peace and liberty are our basic spiritual rights, without which the
human spirit suffocates. It is foolish to expect someone to transmit
peace to oneself. It has to be cultivated within and in one's
relationship with others. It is also foolish to expect lasting peace in the
solitude of nature or in a sanctuary, because even there one has to
cope with oneself in the long run. Likewise, the libertine has no right
to liberty to harm others.
Liberty without responsibility is only conducive to chaos. There is
nothing called infinite peace or total freedom in life. One can only
strive to widen their dimensions in this imperfect world."
 Chapter Twelve

WHAT IS CULTURE?

The word culture is derived from the Latin root colere which means
"to cultivate" as well as "to adore." Thus, culture is primarily
cultivation of mind through love of ideals.

Just as the Latin meaning of culture is to cultivate and adore the

subtle, its Sanskrit meaning of samskriti, is to create a sense of the
whole within oneself and in society, freeing the mind from narrow
concepts, prejudices and passions. Even though the purpose of culture
is cultivation of mind and to acquire a deeper insight into the soul of a
tradition, a people, a nation, its goal is an integral vision of life, self-
knowledge and strength of character. It means to sublimate our
emotions, free our lives from fears and superstitions, make us better
human beings and create an active individual and social conscience.

Personal behaviour is a measuring factor of the individual's culture.

How society treats its members does, indeed, determine its cultural
level. Bursts of talents in arts and architecture represent the
aspirations of a culture. Democratic institutions, relevancy of rights
and responsibility, social justice, a collective moral sense, even
commercial integrity are all pertinent to the cultural maturity of a
people.

Culture is, thus, a better expression of the spirit in our existence

through the vitality of a creative conscience, for without conscience
there is no culture. Its five principles are:

1) Tolerance, that is. discipline of the ego, of gross passions.

2) Understanding, breadth of vision, depth of perception.

3) A feeling heart, sensitivity, compassion, refinement of emotions.

4) Sense of duty, responsibility, and spirit of service.

5) A wholesome conduct, integrity in human relationship.

Without a desire to learn about and experience the depth of life there
is no culture. Life is an experience and expression of relationship: in
feelings, ideas and actions; with nature, people and spiritual values.
The I seeks its security as a body through sensation and possession, as
a mind by the exercise of opinion and involvement of feelings, and as
a spirit through its sense of being a part of the whole in the
consciousness of the infinite. As the first two bases are inadequate,
one seeks fulfilment in the last, and as the last is not tangible enough,
one goes back to the first two for a reassessment. The purpose of
culture is, thus, an integration of the material and the spiritual.

The determining value of the term "material" is the principle of

possession, because that which is concrete can be captured and,
therefore, meant to be possessed and likely to be attached to. The term
"spiritual" is characterised by freedom due to its subtle,
interpenetrating and transcendental nature. In the same way, the term
"positive" is a state of inner freedom from passions, an experience of
peace, tranquillity, out of which comes fulfilment, from fulfilment
happiness, from happiness a capacity to relate and in order to
integrate. The term "negative" is a state of isolation of the self in
justification of the ego, either through self-pity or resentment.

When a lack of fulfilment of the ego fails to awaken the mind to

reason and, therefore, to think and feel and relate with a deeper
understanding, it is called a state of prejudice and rejection. Thus
rejecting, one becomes rejected, self-loving one begins to hate oneself
unconsciously. It is the self that experiences the innate instincts
through memory-oriented desires, either in preference or rejection,
from which arise the love to possess and the passion to hate the
dispossessor.

Introspection, devotion to spiritual ideals and discernment conduce to

clarity of mind to understand the nature of thingsand their
interrelatedness, and this comprehension helps to subdue passions,
leading to inner harmony. Thus, to be positive is to be free, to be
negative to be bound. Truth is positive because it is a rhythmic,
symmetrical interaction of perception, in which balance is the uniting
principle of the perceiver and the perceived. Love is positive, because
within its fulfilling interaction there is the transcending principle
which frees the individual from isolation and dependence on self-
gratifying passions.

The purpose of culture is to move our life from darkness or ignorance

(tamas) to desiring, experimenting, asserting (rajas), to finding,
understanding, integrating (sattva). From mass to force and from force
to balance. From inertia to movement and from movement to order.
From inhibition to desire and from desire to sublimation of desire.
From laziness to restlessness and from restlessness to equanimity.
From mental opacity to discussion and from discussion to profound
silence.

The ideal of culture is essentially the education, refinement and

sublimation of the ego through self-effort. For, the searching self is
the feeling self, the feeling self the knowing self, the knowing self the
fulfilling self, and fulfilment is in doing what we can to the best of our
understanding of one another. In such a process there is the
diminishing of the gross self and better spiritual integration.

RELATIONSHIP AND CHARACTER

We are all individuals formed and reformed through relationship. Our

happiness and misery are a product of relationship. However much we
may talk about individualism and personal independence, our life is
influenced by collective structures such as the family, place of work
and the general fabric of the society we live in. Relationship means
interresponse, and interresponse is communication. Most of our
problems arise because we have little integrity or
genuinerepresentation in communication other than gratification of
the ego-sense.

Relationship between two persons begins with the awareness of each

other. We have, of course, no problem with sense-awareness, but it is
the awareness of each other's feelings and needs and the willingness
to care for these that enable communication to be meaningful. In
relationship we throw ourselves at each other, our views, physical and
emotional demands, and thus fail to communicate. In the family unit,
although physically related, we fail to communicate because the
gratification of our expectations, our egos, becomes more important
than responding to one another's feelings, problems and needs.

Self-centredness is the basic cause of our feeling isolated, not being

understood. Through selfishness we push ourselves on to, or run away
from, one another and thus fail to communicate. How can we
communicate when by loving we mean to gratify self-love through
another person? Being concerned with the protection of our images in
relationship, which is indicative of insecurity, we tend to be
hypocritical. It is the lack of character which vitiates relationship.

Strength of character never hurts another but lack of tact, which

means an excessive awareness of the rightness of one's position vis a
vis another's and, as a consequence, impatience or outright contempt
through self-projection. However, self- righteousness is not strength
of character. Character is not temperament either, as the Latins
conveniently make out the term to be, such as when referring to the
good or bad character of a person by his or her benign disposition or
aggressiveness, respectively, regardless of moral values. A man of
integrity is surely a man of good character, whether aggressive (mal
caracter) or not. The criteria of character are in the following
integrities:

1. Integrity of knowledge, as to what may I know and how may I

know, that is, not wishful thinking.

2. Integrity of feelings, in what do I care for, in what way does

someone mean anything to me. (Love is blind when one is in love
with the image superimposed and, therefore, unable to see clearly).

3. Integrity of action, in what may I do and how may I act, for the
reality of a relationship is measured by what is done within it.

4. Integrity of self, or the truth in the expression and functioning of

our individuality.

5. Integrity of relevancy, so that the validity of a hope or expectation

is in the approximation of our capacity and effort for its realisation.
 DISCIPLINE AND SENSITIVITY

There are two basic factors in culture: discipline of the raw physical
nature, and spiritual sensitivity. The why of discipline is based on the
fact that life is expressed through energy and our egos are thrown at
one another by the drives of our passions and emotions. The purpose
of discipline is not repression of life's energies. Energy implies
movement and discipline means direction of energies. Thus,
discipline is really a process of attunement which is understanding
and love of the reason why.

Attunement gives health to discipline, repression makes us hurt one

another through its byproducts: intolerance, resentment, peptic ulcer
and hardening of the arteries. Discipline means to cultivate a sense of
integration, to be sensitive, to be aware of life, to be attentive.
Without attention there is no understanding, thus no attunement,
which is the purpose of discipline. One does not get attention through
justification, condemnation and dogmatic conclusion. Without the
ability to inspire interest within oneself, a feeling of one'srelatedness
to the life around, there can be no attention, thus no discipline.

Spiritual sensitivity, one of the bases of culture, is to appreciate the

immanence of the transcendental spirit, the cohesive principle of life
such as we know in the common longings for truth and love, security
and a sense of belonging. Spiritual sensitivity implies:

1. A creative conscience, meaning movement of mind in the clear

spring of reason, and movement of heart in the refreshing breeze of
faith. However, faith does not mean an unquestioning belief in an
authority or institution, for it promotes dependence and retards
initiative, or encourages fanaticism, a byproduct of ignorance, fear
and insecurity. Faith means wanting to know, to feel, to unite, to
experience the essence of life, and conscience is a result of this
movement of heart. Conscience is that which makes this movement
tangible through a grasp of the reality by effective discernment, and
fulfilment of responsibility by productive action.

2. A creative will, wanting to test one's beliefs, experiment with ideas,

ideals, in the field of action so that one learns their relative validity.
After all, an ideal or a dogma is useful to the extent it serves the
human being, promotes commonweal and a tradition is meaningful in
the sense that it gives one an identity in the present and direction into
the future, not to make oneself a fossil. A dogma is meant to serve the
human being, not vice versa. A tradition is to provide one with a
scaffolding to build one's life, not to make one its prisoner. A doctrine
is to give one initiative to think and act, not to encourage spiritual
dependence on a religious order or its interpreters. A human being is
not meant to be a sycophant of unseen deities or super-egos on earth,
but a participant in the life process.

3) Integrity in relationship begins with the family structure. Life is

emulative and the formation of a sense ofvalues begins in the family.
If the parents cannot communicate the strength of truth or of character
by their example, they have already defrauded their role of
parenthood. A new life can flower best where there is mutual
communication, not dark niches in the mind to be hidden from one
another, where one does not use another for self-love or ego-
gratification, where to love is not to make one dependent but instill
dependability, security, loyalty and require these very qualities from
the loved ones.

4) A civic consciousness. A sense of duty should not merely be

confined within the family, but extended to a wider, tangible circle so
that one learns to respect another's rights while protecting one's own,
has a collective sense of responsibility and regard for public property
as much as for one's own. This naturally means self-discipline and a
sensitivity to the life around, for an enforced social or theocratic
discipline without individual initiative becomes a dull, collective
conformity. In such a case society loses its creative vitality through
overdependence on group directive and security.

A civic consciousness is the result of the respect for the right to live.
To live is to experience and express. To experience means to
participate, to express to communicate. To participate means to share,
to give and to receive, to be responsible and make others responsible.
To communicate means to be genuine, not a fraud unto oneself and to
others, to believe in what one says and to be attentive to what is said.
On the animal level communication is through instincts, on the human
by the interaction of reason, and on the spiritual through the purity of
feelings. The purpose of culture is to give a better expression to the
higher levels of our nature.

The average quality of individuals reflects on the quality of society's

values. Social patterns are based on precedence and set and inspired
by leadership, and leadership rises from the people. Thus, the primary
concern of society should be:

1) To make people think for themselves, encourage the element of

curiosity to seek and to learn, to be interested in.

2) To promote initiative by delegation of individual responsibility and

creating motivation through a sense of belonging, thereby opening up
creative urges.

3) To generate a sense of relevancy that all rights are pertinent to

specific areas of responsibility and fulfilment of corresponding
obligation, that no special group in society can dictate its interests
over those of another.

It is the abdication of responsibility that leads to the loss of freedom.

It is the loss of individual perspective and capacity to communicate
and share and give a collective viability to such at vision that
conduces to disorder, stagnation and dictatorship. It is not so much
what one says or believes that matters, but what one is able to do to
make culture an individual and collective experience in the
institutions of society.

To put it simply, the relevancy of a person's culture is not so much in

his or her knowledge of the arts but behaviour, especially to the
underlings, and that of a nation, not so much in its artistical
background but in the fairness of the treatment of its citizens under
the rule of law, especially of its minorities.
 Chapter Thirteen

HOW TO COPE WITH HUMAN NATURE

The main cause of dissatisfaction in our relationship with others is

selfishness and egotism or self-importance. From selfishness comes
attachment which is a form of self-love through the means of another
person. From selfishness comes irresponsibility which is a lack of
consideration for others. One can, of course, be selfish while yet
being responsible but an inculcated sense of duty at least restrains
selfishness by making one responsible.

The ego impedes attention to the opinion and sentiment of others due
to the reason that one feels full of oneself or vain, which is due to
lacking in real substance (the Latin root vanus means empty). This
conduces to pretention and, therefore, being false.

Pride is also a form of egotism. It prevents learning and, thus, a self-

important person remains stupid. National vainglory and pride about
past greatness without relevance to the present, reverses progress and
leads to national backwardness, inefficiency and, therefore, poverty.

Self-pity is a major cause of our dissatisfaction because, when

something goes wrong, we tend to pass the blame to others and feel
victimised, rather than take personal responsibility for what went
wrong.

In addition to these, another cause of our dissatisfaction is weakness

of character. It is conduced by being false both to oneself and others,
the lying habit, the deceiving nature. It not only corrupts oneself but,
when it becomes a national character such as manipulating
information, hiding facts, unwillingness to face unpleasant realities,
wishful thinking, it corrupts the nation and, as a result, the people
suffer.

Shrewdness, without a basic integrity of character, is indicative of

spiritual poverty, for a short-term material benefit through deceit or
exploiting the weakness of the circumstances contributes to
untrustworthiness of the individual and leads to public cynicism and
social resentment in the long run.

Weakness of character also means lacking in loyalty and constancy,

or being only a fair-weather friend and an opportunist. The root cause
is selfishness. Weakness of will is due to laziness, a tendency to shirk
responsibility and be dependent on others, and postpone a hard
decision as long as possible, for will is a product of the experience of
persevering action and action of motivating interest. Will without
consideration of the others is merely obstinacy.

Cowardice is due to a lack of self-esteem, hypocrisy and self-

indulgence as well as not having strong convictions. Through self-
justification when something goes wrong and pretension, one remains
false in the eyes of oneself and of others. Deceit is a primary cause of
losing friendship. An excess of selfishness, arrogance, vanity,
unreliability and irrespon- sibility are the other contributive factors.

TWELVE DISCIPLINES

We may give ourselves the following dozen disciplines when coping

with our problems with others:

1) Do not be impulsive. You can avoid many errors of judgment and

conduct.

2) Think, discern and determine the cause of the problem.

3) Decide what should be done to solve it, such as making a gesture of

understanding, expressing a wish to communicate when tempers have
cooled down.

4) If there is no response, think again as to what appropriate attitude

should be taken such as patience withfirmness, keeping an open mind
free from prejudice, not to repeat the same mistake again which
caused the problem, and then go your own way while respecting the
right of the other person also to do so.
5) Reduce your expectation and accept the limitation of human nature
as you yourself know in your case, and adapt different ways of
relating anew with those you can.

6) Do not forget to fulfil your obligations to others before expecting

others to do so, and also make it clear what is required in a mutual
relationship, life being a two-way street. If there is no success, go
your own way and have as little to do as possible with irresponsible
persons.

7) Through contemplation and meditation generate inner peace and a

sense of belonging to the spirit of God within, sublimating the ego
and dependence on others.

8) Express this inner poise in your relationship through patience and

understanding.

9) Have some useful interests to occupy the mind such as in the world
of books, learning about different cultures and their historical
development, geography, literature, biographies and languages.

10) Learn work ethic and something creative to do, not only to keep
the mind occupied but to gain self-confidence and a sense of being
useful, and express this security in your relationship with others.

11) Do not look backward and lament over a lost friendship, for there
are others who need your attention, understanding, sympathy and
friendship. Lamenting is anyhow a useless sentiment. When the line
of no return is crossed in a relationship, nature automatically sunders
it. Accept the reality gracefully and do not lose your dignity.

12) Keep the body active through some form of physical exercise,
including brisk walks, not only for physical health butalso to make
your thinking less rigid and more lucid through better breathing, so
that you could have a clearer perspective and relate yourself better
with others.

Friendship of mutual convenience can never be deep, satisfactory and

long-lasting. It is only in the compatibility of attitude and values such
as integrity, care, helpfulness, freedom from prejudice and unselfish
love that true friendship endures.
 Chapter Fourteen

THE BUDDHA'S WAY

Just as Jesus was born a Jew and died a Jew, the Buddha was born a
Hindu and died a Hindu. Just as Jesus tried to reform Judaism, the
Buddha tried to reform Hinduism. Paul formed a religion around
Jesus the Christ. Sariputra and Maudgalyana formed a religion around
Gautama the Buddha. Jesus said to Peter, "You are the rock on which
I shall found my church," but the word he used for church in Greek
translation is kyrios or God, meaning relationship to God. There is no
evidence that the Buddha intended to found a religion but he termed
his teachings as the Middle Way, avoiding the extremes of rituals and
asceticism.

His teachings are based on four facts of life:

a) Suffering exists and is inevitable to human experience. One should

learn to prevent it as far as possible, rather than meekly accept it.

b) Ignorance is its main cause, especially ignorance of the human

nature, ignorance that happiness is found through desire for power
and sense-enjoyment as well as attachment.

c) There are ways to avoid suffering, and it is mainly through

understanding of life and its application to attain a balance of
experience.

d) This balance is achieved through the practice of the Middle Way or

the Eightfold Path. It consists of:

1) Positive thinking.

2) Speaking the truth.

3) Constructive action.

4) Right conduct.

5) Sane disposition or attitude to life.

6) Intelligent effort, for self-betterment and general welfare.

7) Honest occupation, in which no deceit or lying or harm to any

creature is involved.

8) Effective meditation or spiritual aspiration, not indulging in

psychic experience or mysteries.

The above is not a literal translation from the Tripitaka, but my

interpretive rendition. In the spirit of yoga, the Buddha says: Do not
accept a teaching unless it is in accord with your reasoning. Do not
accept it merely because it is sanctioned by usage, custom or tradition.

The Buddha says:

No one is noble by birth,

No one is ignoble by birth.

One is noble by one's own deeds,

One is ignoble by one's own deeds.

By oneself is evil done,

By oneself is one defiled.

By oneself is evil avoided,

By oneself alone is one purified.

Purity and impurity depend on oneself,

No one can purify another.

By oneself one must walk the path,

Teachers merely show the way.

For the students of yoga it is good to imbibe this spirit of Vedanta
philosophy, although the Buddha does not identify the above lines as
such.
 Chapter Fifteen

YOGA AND CHRISTIANITY

There are dozens of parallel ideals in Christianity and yoga.

Christianity started as a universal (katholikos, the Greek word for
universal) religion, but the two words are oxymoron, contradictory in
terms, because no religion can be universal.

Idea is a Greek word, adapted to other European languages, which

means to see, or having a conceptual vision.

Ideal is to make that concept real by its realisation through

inspiration, acting upon it and by the consequent experience of its
meaning. Ideal is perfecting an idea in the process of its fulfilment or
embodiment.

The popular idea that a practical person is less idealistic and an

idealistic person is rather impractical is silly. If an ideal is
unattainable and, thus, not meant to be attained, there is no point in
having it, in the first place. It jumps logic.

The moving spirit in doing something worthy is, similarly, the ideal
behind that gives the inspiration. An ideal is the goal of an idea, a
standard of perfection.

A thought-form is the body of knowledge. An ideal is the essence of

that knowledge. To have an ideal is to realise the value of a particular
knowledge, its purpose behind. It means the search for the reality of
an idea by the practice of it and to make it real.

The Sanskrit word for ideal is adarsha which means towards (a) a
vision (darsha), or the aspiration to realise a goal. Drik means
direction, drishta vista and darshana philosophy. Thus, in Sanskrit
philosophy means a conceptual vision.

Religion in practice serves the purpose of tribal identities, linking

emotionally the flock (read folk) to the supernatural, for protection
and succour through common rituals and hymns of adoration, in
common languages. This identity of liturgy andmoral codes, spilling
over into social habits, provides group security.

Thus, sets of dogmas, or rules of belief, are inevitable in any religion,

to keep the flock in line, to conserve tribal identity for the sake of
group security. Even at the dawn of the third millennium, for the vast
majority of people, this seems to be the case.

Yoga, on the other hand, is not a particular religion, but a philosophy

of life guided by spiritual values, a state of mind, freely chosen and
individually formed. Thus, it has no set dogmas but universal moral
ideals and holy aspiration. It has the same goal, a spiritual union, as
the word religion literally indicates, re-ligare, to reunite oneself with
one's divine source.

There are dozens of parallel ideals in Christianity and yoga. One

should not exaggerate external differences between dualism
(Christianity) and monism (Gyana Yoga), but seek common ground,
such as in the saying of Jesus "My Father and I are one" and Bhakti
Yoga's vision of God as the Father of all humanity, just as the Christ
said "You are the children of God".

As long as the individual consciousness is in a state of evolution to

find its unity with its origin, the universal spirit or God, there is
duality. When there is the final merger of the former in the latter,
there being no more the vehicle of individuality, the goal of monism
is realised.

There are three basic ideals common to yoga and Christianity.

First, Christianity envisages a spiritual origin of humankind and the

whole of the creation itself. Yoga also perceives a common spiritual
origin of life (purusha) that becomes the universe, while being
transcendental, by the pulsation (spandana) of its material energy
(prakriti), of creation, sustenance and dissolution, and finds its
heightened expression on the human level.
There is no difference between the biblical and yogic view in this
regard, if one ignores the literary image of God making man out of
clay and breathing life into him.

Secondly, in yoga and Christianity, it is the presence of the spirit

within the individual consciousness, inside the human frame, that
enables evolution. In yoga it is called jivatma (individual soul)
identical with paramatma (supreme soul). In the Old Testament it is
the image of God (Genesis), and in the New Testament the Kingdom
of God within.

Soul-consciousness or atma-gyana in yoga and Christ-consciousness

in Christianity are expressed through higher emotions as selfless love
and goodness of heart amidst the powerful survival and libidinal
instincts, the higher nature appealing to the lower.

The law of substitution is paramount to overcome anything that

hinders one's happiness and progress. It is done by the awakening of
soul-consciousness. In order to be successful in desisting from what is
wrong, it is not enough to keep within the circle of the admonition of
what should not be done. One has to come out of that circle by the
impetus of what should be done and be involved with it.

Repression distorts the mind and sublimation alone clears it and gives
inspiration for creativity. The mind being a field of energy can be
treated only in three ways: either repress it by the fear of punishment,
or indulge in it hedonistically, or sublimate it with the help of the
positive.

In Christianity the appeal is to the higher nature, such as in the

injunction of returning good against evil, not seeking vengeance, not
following the rule of taking an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, but to
purify the heart through love and forgiveness.

In yoga the appeal is the same, such as in the words of the Buddha,
"Hatred does not cease by the retribution of hatred but by the response
of love."

IMMANENCE OF GOD
The third ideal is the immanence of God or the universal spirit. It
means that life can be improved, that human nature could evolve
through seeking and fulfilling of a spiritual presence within (image of
God) and respecting its existence on the level of humankind at least.

That God created all people equally can have any meaning only on
the basis of the commonness of his presence in all souls. Nothing else
is equal in life. On the basis of the recognition of this common
spiritual element can there be the preservation of human dignity and
the possibility of forming a just society.

Apart from providing a balance of mutual interest, all ethical

principles or moral laws are based on the recognition of this common
spiritual presence. In modern democracies, the system of universal
franchise is based on this principle, without the spiritual prefix.

Some Christians find it difficult to accept the immanence of God

because of their orientation of his exclusive existence in heaven.
Being in the universe is a threat to his diminution, who is
transcendental. But God is not a material being whose immanence as
spirit does not affect its transcendence, just as space everywhere
remains the same even if being within the roofs and walls structured
on the ground.

When Jesus says to seek the kingdom of God, it means to find a

spiritual meaning in life, to practise such ideals as truth and love that
represent the image of him within. To seek and serve it more than
anything else is the Christian way.

In yoga the presence of God as universal spirit is explained on five

levels:

1. In matter as a cohesive principle or energy that gives substance to

it.

2. In all living organism, including vegetation, as a life principle.

3. In the animal forms of life as individual minds conditioned by life-

supporting instincts.
4. In the higher forms of life, such as on the human level, as the
power of reason and determination.

5. In an evolved human level as soul-consciousness through spiritual

aspiration and moral idealism.

It is because of God's transcendental nature that there is no limit to the

understanding of truth and the feeling of love even on the human
level.

A common ground about the vision of God in yoga and Christianity

can be found in the words of the Christ to the Samaritan woman at the
well: "God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit
and in truth." (John IV:24)

By worshipping in spirit Jesus probably meant through spiritual

aspiration, and in truth by a life of truthful conduct and in accordance
to the teachings in the Torah.

In yoga God as spirit can be defined by five mystical terms:

1. Universal, therefore immanent or present everywhere.

2. Infinite, thus without a form or being limited spatially, or confined

to a house of worship or place of pilgrimage or heaven.

3. Eternal, thus not being bound by time, or subject to change through

the influence of time.

4. Transcendental, that which alone, as a principle, helps the evolution

of consciousness and, thus, our perception of truth and love, laws and
ideals, in an ever-expansive way.

5. Inner light, that which enlightens the mind with reason and
wisdom, and elevates it by holy aspiration.

TANGIBLE VALUES
However, these mystical qualities attributed to God cannot have
sufficient meaning without some tangible means of realisation. Thus,
the five paths leading to him are:

1. Truth which is determined by evidence, conse- quence, and the

principles of equality such as in common good, liberation (truth shall
set you free), and independence (it does not need any support).

2. Love and devotion for spiritual ideals in a general sense, and regard
and affection for the loved ones on a personal level.

3. Beauty, which means sublimation of lower passions to experience

the depth of pure love, of grace and harmony, to refine our perception
of the outer reality and expression of the inner spirit.

4. Goodness, or purity of heart, which is trying to be free from

resentment and hate, prejudice and pettiness, wickedness and
fanaticism.

5. Justice, or fairness to all, identifying our interests with those of

others, not treating others as we would not like to be treated.

In Christianity these values are overwhelmingly present. The essence

of the teachings of Jesus can be said as: "Love God (or spiritual
ideals) with all your heart, love your neighbour as yourself, and do
not be a hypocrite." Peace and love, forgiveness and renunciation of
worldliness, are the cornerstones of Christianity.

The basis of yoga can be said to consist in:

1. Dedication to, or faith in, or love of spiritual values such as

integrity and compassion, altruism and duty,responsibility and
loyalty, self-improvement and humility of spirit. That is the real
meaning of loving God. Emotionalism is not love but devotion and
dedication.

2. Basing upon them, to develop a keen sense of right and wrong, and
guide one's conduct accordingly. The basics are simple: to harm is
wrong, to heal right; action conducing disharmony is wrong,
promoting peace is right; to cheat is wrong, to be honest is right; to be
crooked is wrong, to be straightforward is right.

3. To consider life as a gift of God rather than a punishment, as

something precious to make it useful and creative, to make others
happy and, in the process, be happy.

4. Our journey through life can be made comfortable through faith

and knowledge. These are the two wheels on which life moves. If
they are well made and kept in a good condition, the jolts on the way
that are inevitable can be better absorbed and, thus, less will be our
suffering.

Faith means a deeper sense of values and love of ideals through which
one matures emotionally and gains a measure of freedom from human
bondage.

Knowledge is to liberate the mind from superstition and fear through

the search for reality and a better understanding of the life around, the
universe we live in. It also pertains to our inner nature, of the
psychological layers of our being, through which to free the mind
from prejudice and fanaticism, and the ignorance of our spiritual
roots.

5. The most fundamental of all is the sublimation of our earthly

nature. It means disciplining and overcoming common human
weaknesses: selfishness, pride and vanity; anger, hate and jealousy;
deceit, greed and envy, covetousness, lust and aggressiveness;
hypocrisy, deviousness and backbiting.

CONCLUSION

The yogic way of life consists less in doing the postures (asanas) and
breathing exercises (pranayamas), or dietetic preferences, but more on
our effort at self-improvement, Karma Yoga or selfless service, and to
have inner strength and harmony through meditation.

In the Christian way, Jesus speaks about it as: Do not pray in the
market place so that others can see you, but in your room so that God
can hear what is in your heart. Ask not God for mundane things, for
he knows what is good for you, but ask him what he wants of you.

It simply means base your life on spiritual ideals and overcome your
weaknesses. Carry the cross (at least a measure of self-abnegation)
and follow me (be inspired by his example to do what is right as best
as you can and in the best light of your understanding).

Life is what we make of it, with our inner resources, with self-effort,
and in relationship to the circumstances, which are, in part, our own
creation, with an element of the unknown. In Christianity it is called
God's will, in yoga the consequence of a past, unseen karma.

What we are is the result of what we have tried to be or did not try to
be, and what we are doing now or failing to do.

We are true or false to God in direct relationship to if we are true or

false, just or unjust, kind or unkind to each other.

In the yogic spirit, worship of spiritual ideals is the worship of God as

spirit, without form, which the individual can as well do through the
conceptual form of Jesus or, as in the Hebrew tradition, Adonai-
Elohim, a supreme father-like mystical figure in heaven.

Prayer is a movement of heart through the feeling of spiritual love. It

is an inner communion. The real meaning of it is the movement of our
life through deed, inspired by that love.

Christian beliefs, such as in its mythology, will largely remain empty

if the above ideals, which pulsate in the teachings of Jesus, do not find
an adequate expression in a Christian's life.

The British author, G.K. Chesterton, said that Christianity has not
failed; it has simply not been practised, having found it too difficult to
do so. I do not entirely subscribe to this view.

Christianity has had a violent past, quite contrary to the spirit of its
initiator. It is still a narrow-minded religion, rather than katholikos.
Yet, there can be no denial of the fact that the Western civilisation is
founded on Christian values, with deep roots in the Old Testament
and the enlightened ideas of the Hellenic civilisation, which were
revived in the age of reason at the end of the eighteenth century.

Yogic ideals went to sleep in India centuries ago. In the middle of the
nineteenth century Raja Ram Mohan Roy initiated the revival process,
which is still ongoing. As in any civilisation, birth, flowering of
growth, decay and phasing out are followed by rebirth, and rebirth
needs adaptation, according to the needs of the age and cultural
environment.

As such, both the East and the West can learn from each other,
without losing their roots.
 Chapter Sixteen

YOGA, GOD AND RELIGION

WHAT YOGA MEANS

Yoga is first of all self-discipline. A state of oneness with one's

spiritual source comes much later, which is a goal. As the root yuj or
yoke suggests, it is to discipline the mind with the love of spiritual
ideals, and direct one's effort towards their realisation. It is only then
that 'union', its purpose, becomes meaningful.

A person sitting cross-legged, with eyes closed, high up on a

mountaintop (good for taking a photograph), is only a romantic idea
to unite oneself with God, or whatever that word might mean. Mostly,
it is an escapism leading to mental atrophy.

Discipline is not an imposition of will, or mind over body, neither is it

repression on account of fear, but a process of learning (the Latin root
discere means to learn, not impose), inspired by the love of the reason
why.

Yoga as physical culture, consisting mainly of asana and pranayama,

is only a minor aspect of it. They are good for physical health, but has
little influence over the mind, in the sense of self-discipline. They do
relax the nervous system, of course, and for a short while the mind
stays peaceful. By themselves they do not conduce peace of mind.

Yoga is a state of mind, a way of life that seeks to integrate the

material and spiritual aspects of it, unite faith with reason, refine
emotions with devotion, discipline and sublimate raw instincts
through moral values, improve human relationship by ethical conduct,
cultivate equanimity in pleasure and pain, success and failure, and
seek out wider dimensions of life.

Various techniques of meditation play a great role in self-cultivation.

Meditation on peace and freedom, and on one's spiritual identity are
the most important themes. It is done incombination with the
experience of breath, and also with the litany of a mantra. Affirmation
of phrases is meant to cut grooves in the subconscious to motivate
attitude and action.

ETHICS IS THE BEDROCK

To be more honest, decent and useful, to appreciate more the happier

moments, and take in stride the unhappy ones without bitterness and
complaint, is the yogic way. To be mindful of the present, and
optimistically look forward to the future, is the yogic way.

The mind of a practitioner of yoga should have wide open windows,

so that the fresh breeze of knowledge sought out from multiple
sources may flow in, to clear the cobwebs of bias and bigotry,
sectarian dogmatism and malice, self-absorption and egolatry.

Just by practising asana and pranayama one does not become a yogi.
It indicates a high level of evolution through spiritual aspiration, self-
control and selfless service. In the West the words 'yoga' and 'yogi' are
generally debased due to vanity, lack of knowledge and commercial
motivation.

To live as best as we can, to think and act positively, and consider life
a blessing rather than a burden to grumble about, not to be judgmental
about the faults of others, oneself not being free from them, to have
charity of heart, not to be stingy of feelings for others, is the yogic
way.

Not to be dogmatic about anything, to learn the relativity of things in

determining what is more important and what is less, to know when
enough is enough, never to think to be a possessor of truth, to know
that its understanding can always be better, never to lose the capacity
of wondering and learning anew, is the yogic way.

WHAT GOD MEANS

The idea of God as an anthropomorphic supreme being high up in the

heaven does not fascinate me. I do not need him sitting in judgment
over me, dishing out reward and punishment. Accountability to an
invisible deity beyond the tangibility of time is spurious, and has not
helped anyone to be a better person. Accountability to be meaningful
has to be to one's fellow beings, and to one's own conscience.

Belief in an original sin is likewise meaningless, since one cannot

relate to it as to when it occurred for no fault of oneself. Neither do I
need to be saved, for no one is threatening me. It seems ridiculous that
I am damned for no fault of mine, and then being offered the holy
grail of salvation, but only if I believe in the saviour. The Hebrew
name of Jesus Yehoshua means Yaweh saves thee'.

Salvation means that I have to save myself from my own errors, from
the deficiencies of my character, everyday of my life. By the grace
and help of God' means through faith in the spiritual resources within
me, and by my own self-effort.

Life eternal does not fascinate me either, for the life as I know it and
have to cope with is plateful enough! What happens after death is a
speculation that is a waste of time. I have a strong suspicion that the
notion of immortality is a consequence of our attachment to the body
and all that is required to sustain and keep it comfortable.

Heaven and hell are here, within and without, in the state of my mind
and the circumstances around. In peace and understanding, with
compassion and kindness in my heart, with integrity and decency in
my conduct with others, with a clear conscience and freedom from
resentment and prejudice, I am in heaven. In their contradiction I am
in hell.

Why speculate about something which you cannot verify? Imagine a

transmigrating Chinese encountering a Caucasian-looking deity
sitting on a throne in heaven, or vice versa, or a European Christian
finding a middle-eastern, Semitic-looking Jesus Christ!

A rational vision of God, although contradicting the word 'theos'

itself, is the universal spirit which is eternal, infinite and
transcendental. This formless spiritual essence of the ever- changing
universe is called eternal for not being a captive of time, and thus
changeless.
It is infinite for surpassing space, universal as the immanent force
giving life to all the forces in existence. It is transcendental for rising
above and beyond them all, and through such a magnetic pull making
evolution possible. No one can deny the existence of the various
patterns of energy out of which has evolved life as we know it, and no
sane person can say that this is all there is to know.

A MENTAL IMAGE

Personalised God as father in heaven, loving and benevolent, is an

idealised, mystical form created by one's devotion and aspiration to
relate to the infinite spirit when desparately needing a spiritual help. It
is a mental image shaped by one's cultural environment and tradition.
It also serves a need for spiritual fulfilment when disappointed in life.

It is more honest to say that the human being created God in his or her
image, rather than God creating us in his image. God being jealous of
a rival, or vengeful, or propitiable by praise and unquestioning
submission to his will speaks more of our human nature as it is, and
yet being merciful and forgiving and full of goodness as we ought to
be.

The atheist is a person who does not believe in a particular heavenly

deity. In reality, however, no one can truly be an atheist, if God means
the essence of all spiritual values, in an ever-widening sense. No one
can deny the fact that we are happy with the positive and unhappy
with the negative. We arehappy when there is peace in our heart, and
are in peace with each other. In compassion, integrity, being
responsible and helpful to one another we are happy.

The word 'atheist' is a stick to beat with those who do not agree to a
limited vision of a heavenly deity devised by scriptures, and thus to be
apprehensive about for not being God-fearing, and as such an unsafe
company.

Out of an original energy particle, as it began to vibrate, emerged this

universe, and out of its forces evolved the human consciousness to
invent the images of God, with all kinds of fantasies, a god that will
not fail us, a god who will not stop loving us, an almighty who will
protect us because we need to Survive, and also because we need a
role model to evolve and be fulfilled.

The image of God in which we are supposed to have been created

(Genesis 1:27) is an ideal, not a reality, meant to shape our moral and
spiritual values, our conscience, with constantly-evolving
understanding. Thus, God to me is a supreme symbol of my
conscience in the best light of my comprehension, always humbly
expectant that it can be clearer, fairer, purer.

My soul is a spark of the infinite spirit in a state of embodiment. The

same spark twinkles as myriads of God's light in the souls of
humanity, awaiting individual discovery and realisation.

WHAT RELIGION MEANS

It is said that in a polite company one should not talk about religion or
politics, because of the tendency to get emotional about such topics.
Whether we practise a religion or not, we are tagged by an
immediately identifiable one, such as by our name. Religion has
always shaped social habits and customs, as well as a moral code of
conduct defining a way of life. I cannot denythat I was born a
Brahmin even though I despise the Hindu caste system by birth alone.

As the word 'religion' indicates, re-ligare in Latin means to retie or

reunite us, imperfect and therefore unfulfilled as we are, with our
mythically perfect creator, and thus regain Elysium. In its enlightened
form religion can inspire the deepest longings in a pure heart:
unselfish love, compassion, fellowship, altruism, moral sense, duty,
responsibility, integrity.

Yet, in an unenlightened mind it can be a dangerous instrument to

manipulate the primitive instincts of fear and insecurity, the need to
survive being a primal cry. When the source of security provided by
religion through a god, or a messiah like Jesus, or a set of beliefs is
challenged, fear born of ignorance takes over. Fear begets intolerance,
and intolerance violence.
No religion has been more responsible in shedding blood in the name
of one almighty God than the three monotheistic ones: Christianity in
the middle ages, Islam all throughout, and Judaism in its inception
immediately after Moses. The partition of India after the British rule
was forced by the sword of Islam to carve out Pakistan or 'the land of
the pure', with inevitable retaliation.

Religion tried to improve the human being by making God the

measure of his or her destiny. It generally failed in this by
manipulating one's fear and insecurity by a supernatural promise of
reward and threat of punishment on the basis of a mandated rule of
conduct. The fear of an intangible hell in an afterlife does not prevent
crime, nor does the embellishment of an unseen heaven promote good
behaviour.

Religion would have had a better result if it had inspired us to be

decent and make our life agreeable here by appealing to our better
instincts, making us responsible to others, and live as best as we can,
rather than emphasise emotional fervour for amythical deity, and
salvation through him or by his delegate or messiah like the Christ in
the hereafter.

The age of reason at the end of the eighteenth century and humanism
in the nineteenth tried to make the human being the measure of all
things, taking into account our material needs, and sought to promote
social justice through collective responsibility, but without God as a
model.

This effort also failed because of the assumption that people behave
best and work better in a collective role rather than primarily out of
self-interest. Modern democracies are devised with a combination of
the both.

The bottom line of the relevancy of religion is ethical inspiration. Its

role has been since time immemorial, from the time human beings
learned to live together since the invention of agriculture some nine
thousand years ago. It began as shamanism to provide succour to
physical ailment by herbal remedies, and to psychic ills through
incantation and the flair of magic which the medicine man or the
shaman did in a combined role.

With the progress of civilisation, religious and spiritual successors of

the shaman continue to fulfil this psychic need, apart from moral
guidance, but basically a need for inner security. The more the self-
confidence the less the relevancy of religion, but for the vast majority
of people the psychic need will continue to be there, and therefore the
successors of the shamans, the religious and spiritual teachers, will
carry on the second oldest profession in the world.

Anyone who loves and practises honesty, kindness and unselfishness,

duty, honour and responsibility, sublimation of passions, moral
courage and modesty, is a 'religious' person in the sense of re-ligare,
whether he or she goes to a church or not, believes in God or not, does
any devotional act or not. Realdevotion consists in how we relate and
are committed to those who are close to us, how we carry out an act
of service with love and care.
 Chapter Seventeen

THE PLAY OF THE THREE GUNAS

Nearly three thousand years ago, Vedanta philosophy speculated that

the universe is composed of three gunas or categories of energy
representing the primordial forces of nature, prakriti, the pulsation
(spandana) of which is the basic principle of creation.

These energy forms are classified as:

1) Tamas. Elemental matter, particles of dust and their condensed

forms like planets. It pulsates as cohesive and decohesive energy. By
itself it has no light. Its quality is opacity.

2) Rajas. It is matter in a state of combustion or fire, emanating

energy in the form of light, motion, expansion, attraction (gravity),
magnetism, as in our solar system. Its quality is power.

3) Sattwa. It consists of invisible, subtle matter called akasha, ether,

pervading the seemingly empty space. Its quality is balance.

Sattwa is the initiating principle of all the elemental forces, rajas

represents their creativity, evolution and multiplicity, and tamas their
density and decay or the reabsorbing process.

The three gunas do not exist independently. They are in different

degrees of interaction, one predominating over the other.

In the vast space, millions of light years across, sattwa is beginning to

manifest matter and a universe is coming into being, rajas and tamas
remaining in latent energy form. In another part, rajas is dominant,
combining, multiplying, expanding and evolving the elements, and
culminating them as human beings in our earth, as far as we know, or
as the Hindu legend speculates, eventually as gods, far more evolved
than us.

In this predominance of rajas, sattwa and tamas coexist with a lesser

force.
Yet in another part of space, tamas or the decaying and reabsorbing
process is predominant, such as in a dwarf star. The end of a universe
is called pralaya or dissolution.

THE SOURCE

The legend Brahman is the source of everything, which the mind

cannot grasp, but in order to identify the original atom, if you wish, a
name (Brahman or the Great Being) is given to say that it is beyond
any name to qualify any entity. Out of it is born Hiranyagarbha or the
'golden womb.

From Hiranyagarbha, in each universe is born Ishwara, the presiding

being with its three aspects: the creative (Brahma), the sustaining
(Vishnu) and the reabsorbing (Shiva). From these three combined
forces, purusha or the as-yet-dormant spiritual energy, and prakriti or
the material form of energy are born. The term purusha also refers
sometimes to a supreme being (paramatma).

Out of Hiranyagarbha sattwa, rajas and tamas are born. Ancient yogic
minds speculated that, after thousands of billions of years, sattwa,
rajas and tamas will fuse together, when all the universes will
disappear. That end of all existence is called maha-pralaya or great
dissolution. Then, after an infinity of time span, there will be another
beginning of another megacycle of existence.

Coming back to our planet, which has evolved from the cosmic dust
or atoms (anu) and become dense matter (sthula), the manifestation of
sattwa, rajas and tamas is reversed. Here the existence began with the
predominance of tamas, whilst rajas and sattwa remaining latent.

The universe is ruled by the law of prakriti, which from the human
point of view has no criterion. The stronger atom absorbs the weaker,
one nucleus combines with another, thendivides and recoalesces as
various forms of matter. Out of such particles of cosmic dust,
countless organisms and sentient forms of life are evolved, constantly
adapting to the surrounding forces of nature. In their survival process,
masses of them have disappeared, as per the law of the survival of the
fittest.
At last, from micro-organism, plant life, lower and higher forms of
animal life, the cleverest of the animal species, the humankind, has
evolved. When did the soul, the spiritual content of our being, as we
identify it, awake in our consciousness? Was it when sattwa expressed
itself as altruistic love?

THE SOUL

The yogic insight recognises this aspect of purusha as soul (jivatma)

on the human and animal level as well, as the spiritual content of
individual consciousness. Out of the pulsation of soul, pure felicity in
altruistic love (ananda) is born, as also transcendental wisdom (chit)
and the consciousness of a deathless state of existence (sat). Out of
the soul's pulsation, a basic moral sense is evolved with the help of
education and spiritual aspiration.

Why is it said that prakriti has no criterion? Because such dubious

acts of God as earthquake and hurricane are but undiscerning neutral
forces of nature. Those who happen to be on the spot, deserving or
undeserving, do suffer with poetic indifference of nature. From tamas
or dense inert matter surged the pulsation of rajas in the form of
tectonic and atmospheric forces, sattwa remaining latent and
expressing serenity for a while before sunrise and after sunset and
when nature is in peace.

Purusha, the spirit within, expresses itself as sattwa in the human

consciousness, and urges that it is not moral that the law of prakriti,
the bigger fish having the right to eat the smaller,should prevail
among people. Even if human nature is a product of prakriti, the
pulsation of purusha within makes us struggle against our baser
instincts.

TAMASIC NATURE

In the vast majority of people tamas prevails, and sattwa and rajas
remain dormant. It expresses itself as lethargy, a dull state of mind,
lack of curiosity and initiative. However, tamas can be quite active in
their lower appetites, such as in eating, drinking, copulating and
sleeping much. Such people have to be led, being indecisive, and are
fit mainly for manual labour. Only through education, rajas and
sattwa can be activated in them.

Tamas exudes in negative thinking, conniving, wishing to harm others

but without the guts to do so, and waiting for the opportunity to strike
when no personal risk is involved. The tamasic people run after
worldly pleasure if available gratis, or are envious of those who have
them. Their character is subterranean. They prefer to be hidden
enemies. They are basically selfish and irresponsible due to being
self-centred.

Dishonesty is natural to the tamasic. They like to daydream without

any sense of reality or willingness to realise their spurious ambition.
They are quick to criticise, find fault and tend to be destructive. They
are possessive as long as it costs them nothing.

No one is, however, entirely tamasic without the occasional, weak

ripples of rajas and sattwa. When a person is called very tamasic,
what is meant is the preponderance of that quality. The same is true
when one is considered rajasic or sattwic. All the three qualities
coexist in all of us in different degrees of manifestation.

RAJASIC NATURE

Rajas represents outgoing nature. When rajas pre- dominates, one

becomes energetic, ambitious, is willing tomake effort to fulfil
worldly desires, is curious enough to expand the horizons of
knowledge, is courageous and does not shy away from risks, is partly
generous and partly selfish, vain, proud and aggressive, and
sometimes violent when challenged. The rajasic type can be
shamelessly egolatrous and spontaneously self-important, is generally
creative but can be destructive when opposed.

Soldier type is the rajasic person, whereas the tamasic is the tenant-
peasant kind. The rajasic provide the business, political and
bureaucratic leadership. They can excel in generalship but not
necessarily as wise rulers. One can recognise them as open enemies.
They are dominating and possessive whilst willing to pay the price
required. They have the A-type personality. Sattwa and tamas are
latent in them.

The ego is a dominant trait in the rajasic. That is why they can be
quite offensive sometimes. Without ego no leadership is possible, for
it provides the motive-power. When the ego is educated by the sattwie
quality of consideration of the interest, feelings and opinion of others,
it becomes inoffensive and serves as a positive, creative force. The
rajasic are proud whilst being clever, whereas the tamasie are self-
important whilst being stupid.

Among the majority of the rajasic people and the relative minority of
the tamasic, sometimes sattwa surfaces fleetingly. The sattwic type, or
in whom sattwa predominates, are very few indeed.

SATTWIC NATURE

The sattwic are pure-hearted, free from resentment, incapable of

hating others, decent, honest and generous without being calculative.
Truthfulness is natural to them, whilst being careful not to cause
trouble to or hurt others. Their benevolence is substantiated by
altruism, and not merely expressed in attitude. They are kind-hearted,
fair-minded, compassionate,patient and tolerant without being
indifferent. Their modesty is genuine, they are free from any kind of
pretention, especially from pretending to be humble.

The sattwic people tend to be rather gullible and, therefore, cannot

provide business or political leadership which requires manipulation.
They are never dogmatic. Ruthlessness that is required in business
and politics is contrary to their nature. They have a keen insight into
the nature of things but their unwillingness to face and tendency to
underrate a negative reality makes them somewhat gullible.

The predominantly sattwic kind can be excellent educationists,

scientists and administrators when autonomous or not being
politically dictated. The philosopher-king being a myth, the sattwic
type can be at best persuasive and impartial constitutional monarchs
or heads of state. Being selfless, they can be worthy servants of
humanity. Being wise and modest, they can be inspiring spiritual
teachers.

The sattwic kind are rare among prominent gurus or heads of religious
institutions, any role of organisational leadership being subject to the
manipulation of the circumstantial exigencies. It is also irrational to
expect those with the preponderance of sattwa to be entirely free from
occasional bouts of rajas and tamas, human nature being never
perfect.

Selfishness and the uneducated ego are the main causes of suffering.
They arise from tamas. As all of us wish to be happy and avoid
suffering through mistakes, it is to our interest to educate and purify
the tamas in us by cultivating rajasic initiative, enterprise, work ethic,
perseverance and creative self-effort. One cannot jump to sattwa from
a tamasic state but has to ascend through rajas. The belief that
repeating the divine name alone will purify tamas is a myth.

Human nature needs a lifelong education. Self- improvement needs a

mix of rajas and sattwa. The body needsthe discipline of Hatha Yoga
or any other form of physical exercise. The mind needs the discipline
of Raja Yoga and the heart of Bhakti Yoga. Selfishness in us needs
the discipline of Karma Yoga and our spiritual aspiration of Gyana
Yoga.
 Chapter Eighteen

RUMINATIONS

[Editor's note: The following sayings have been translated by Swamiji

from his original work in Spanish 'Ventana del Alma', now in its sixth
edition, which consists of excerpts from his class-talks given in recent
years at his Yoga-Vedanta Centres in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and
Santiago, in South America.]

KNOWLEDGE AND SPIRITUALITY

Knowledge can be taught but spirituality is a personal responsibility

and is cultivated by oneself alone, because no one can impart it to
another or trigger it by a magic touch, as it were. A sudden flash of
knowledge is the result of a long search, a long preparation, a long
struggle, a long wait, the soul's energies gathering into an unlit ball of
fire that explodes at a particular moment and rarely through the
instrumentality of a long-expected initiation. But the light fades in the
course of time and has to be nursed back to brightness from time to
time through self-effort.

Integrity, compassion, selflessness, purity of heart, freedom from

malice and hate, prejudice and wicked thinking, sublimation of
passions and humility of spirit are the essential definitions of
spirituality, or who is a spiritual person, much more than asceticism
and prayerfulness.

No one can measure anther's spirituality, and appearance can be very

deceptive. A husband can be most charming to guests and friends, but
you have to ask his wife what he actually is at home. So also, a guru
can have a very holy appearance in public, but you have to ask his
personal attendants what he really is in private.

Ignorance is the worst pollutant of all. From ignorance comes

insecurity, from insecurity fear, from fear intolerance,from
intolerance fanaticism, and from fanaticism violence and
destructiveness.
Knowledge is not the determining factor of a person's culture but
behaviour. One can be very knowledgeable in the fine arts, for
example, but unthinkingly tactless and exuberantly immodest.

Commonsense is surely a misnomer. It is rather uncommon among

people.

The fact that women generally have more commonsense than men is
due to their nurturing role, the practical nesting instincts in rearing
their defenceless offspring, expressing as coumonsense.

The inability to understand the difference between the desirable and

the possible leads to bad decisions, as does failing to approximate
ambition with the talent and effort required.

If the conscience is clear there is no need to justify oneself, if not, it

will be hard to successfully do so.

The tendency to deceive others leads to deceiving oneself through

self-justification.

TRUTH

A revealed truth is only a part of the truth, an insight that comes

through spiritual aspiration and deep meditation of a highly-evolved
soul, that is claimed in the scriptures as revelation from God but in
effect a personal realisation of its author. The rest of it, or other
dimensions of truth, one has to find out by oneself. Ultimately, truth is
infinite and universal. Our search for truth is a spiritual journey which
is very personal, very private, and full of trials and errors.

It is ridiculous to speak of God-given truths and wave the banner of

divine revelation. It is better to speak about self-evident truths.

The Buddha said that he was not revealing truth but speaking about
truth.

Sat (in Sanskrit) means that which exists, really is, and not an
assumption. Satya, or that which is based on an existence, has two
aspects, the material and the spiritual. The material reality of a house
is meant to provide security and the spiritual reality fulfilment
through love, integrity, supportiveness and a sense of belonging
among those who make a home within it.

To speak of material existence as an illusion is not only irresponsible

but utterly hypocritical.

We need truth first of all for security. Integrity in a relationship is the

basis of security.

Universality of truth is another aspect, for the sake of its pertinence to

all, even if it differs in degrees, as for example the truth of a medical
product like aspirin is to alleviate pain even if it is to a greater or
lesser extent individually.

Yet another aspect of truth is its transcendental nature, that it can still
be better: a level of perfection of love, of justice, of understanding
leading to a greater level of perfection. That is why truth is called
infinite.

Infinity is, however, without focus. In order to substantiate its spirit

there have to be definable principles to be guided by To say that truth
is pathless is as silly as to call this universe an illusion.

Freedom is the consequence of truth, to set the mind free from

anxiety, just as bondage is the outcome of untruth.

Independence is the nature of truth, that it can stand on its own, just as
dependence is the result of untruth, one lie needing a series of lies to
prop up the original and the following ones.

No one can reveal us the truth but only speak about it in the light of
one's realisation. Psychic experiences have nothing to do with
spirituality or realisation of truth.

The Buddha said that he was not revealing truth but speaking about
truth.

Sat (in Sanskrit) means that which exists, really is, and not an
assumption. Satya, or that which is based on an existence, has two
aspects, the material and the spiritual. The material reality of a house
is meant to provide security and the spiritual reality fulfilment
through love, integrity, supportiveness and a sense of belonging
among those who make a home within it.

To speak of material existence as an illusion is not only irresponsible

but utterly hypocritical.

We need truth first of all for security. Integrity in a relationship is the

basis of security.

Universality of truth is another aspect, for the sake of its pertinence to

all, even if it differs in degrees, as for example the truth of a medical
product like aspirin is to alleviate pain even if it is to a greater or
lesser extent individually.

Yet another aspect of truth is its transcendental nature, that it can still
be better: a level of perfection of love, of justice, of understanding
leading to a greater level of perfection. That is why truth is called
infinite.

Infinity is, however, without focus. In order to substantiate its spirit

there have to be definable principles to be guided by To say that truth
is pathless is as silly as to call this universe an illusion.

Freedom is the consequence of truth, to set the mind free from

anxiety, just as bondage is the outcome of untruth.

Independence is the nature of truth, that it can stand on its own, just as
dependence is the result of untruth, one lie needing a series of lies to
prop up the original and the following ones.

No one can reveal us the truth but only speak about it in the light of
one's realisation. Psychic experiences have nothing to do with
spirituality or realisation of truth.

Self-realised or God-realised souls are institutional creations like

saints, no doubt highly evolved, but to claim that they are perfect
beings is to go against evidence.
 WHO ARE WE?

The content of our soul is transcendental love and truth, beauty and
goodness, peace and harmony, purity of heart and clarity of wisdom,
that the universal spirit within us reflects in our consciousness. Thus,
the individuality of the consciousness of the spirit within can be called
a soul, and the content of it the universal spirit. As such, if God is the
ocean, a drop of it is a soul; if God is the sun, a spark of the light of it
is a soul.

We are a contradiction unto ourselves. We are both spirit and matter,

light and shadow. The pure light of our soul is veiled by many layers
of our personality, revealing it in various hues and according to their
transparencies, sometimes obscuring it, sometimes shining a facet of
it through. We are in this world to cleanse these layers, not deny them
by fiat, to harmonise and sublimate them with the help of our inner
light, not repress and make them atrophied.

Until the day we die, we will be both spirit and body, the mind
serving as a bridge between the two. We are happy when the
consciousness is closer to the spirit, in and through and beyond our
relationship with others. We are unhappy when it suffocates inside the
ego in the relativity of its negative feedback from others.

We cannot understand the world if we reject and curse it. To regard

this world as an illusion is like brushing the dirt under the carpet, not
cleaning it.

We cannot learn from the mistake of a past life, granting a belief in

reincarnation, because the memory of the mistakes is not carried over
to the present one, but can only learn from what we do now and what
we remember.

TREE OF LIFE

All of us on this earth are different from each other, just as each leaf
is different from the other while belonging to the same tree. Thus,
individually apart, we all belong to the common tree of our species,
drawing the psychological sap from the same mixed source of
creation, from the reservoir of good and evil, positive and negative.
God and devil coexist within us.

Our fears and anxieties, hopes and disappointments, desires and

frustrations, all have a common streak in each of us. They well up
from the same primordial psyche that is being shaped and reshaped,
refined and tarnished, anchored and let adrift for a while by the forces
of history, with religions and ideologies serving as handmaidens,
popping up a litany of ideas, some intelligent and some pure bromide,
as to who we are, what we want to be, where we have come from and
where we want to go.

If you ask me where I have come from, all I can honestly say is from
my mother's womb.

Each of us should grow according to the law of our own spiritual

growth through personal effort in the light of our best understanding.
The human being is not like a clod of earth to be kneaded into a shape
by the diktat of an ideology, religious or political, neither by a guru
nor a messiah. One can only inspire the heart and mind by the purity
of idealism and clarity of reason, so that the individual may learn to
choose, be personally responsible and walk his or her own path, and
society may do likewise by consensus. Guidance by all means,
imposition never.

Freedom of thought is a basic right to be encouraged. No one has the

right to impose on others a straitjacketed belief or ideology. But one
should learn that every right is imperative to an obligation, liberty to
responsibility, personal freedom to self-discipline, individual choice
to consideration for others.

The scriptures of religions represent the vision of their authors trying

to ensure tribal identities, their minds reflecting the shape of values
and thinking of their times, their souls searching for common spiritual
roots. Yogic texts such as the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, do not
escape the play of light and shadow, as in the latter Krishna
threatening to hurl the sinners to hell, or in the former the author of an
Upanishad praying for a fair-skinned son (the Aryan invaders having
already mixed with the brown-skinned locals)!
Wishful thinking does not even elude Patanjali, such as the yogi
attaining omniscience and omnipotence (so much for modesty!), or
speaking of siddhis or occult powers making the body as light as a
feather or as heavy as a mountain (what for?) in the Yogasutras. The
pathetic syndrome of eternal bliss (too much of it might unhinge you)
or the world being a figment of imagination (maya) only shows how
escapist the mind can be and its reluctance to come into grips with a
hard reality. Life is what you make of it.

ROOTS ABOVE, BRANCHES BELOW

In the following free-rendering of the opening verses of Chapter XV

of the Bhagavad Gita by Sir Edwin Arnold in his Song Celestial,
Krishna speaks of the symbolic tree of life:

"Men call the ashwattha, the banyan tree,

which hath its boughs beneath,

its roots above, the ever-holy tree..."

"If ye knew well the teaching of the tree,

what its shape saith, and whence it springs,

and then how it must end,

and all the ills of it..."

"New growths upspringing to that happier sky,

which they who reach shall have no day to die...

for to him come they from passions

and from dreams who break away,

who part the bonds constraining them to flesh."

HEAVEN AND HELL

Heaven and hell are within each of us and in our surroundings. When
truth and love, goodness and kindness reign in our relationship with
each other, at home and in the community, we experience heaven and
the presence of God. When justice and commonweal, understanding
and tolerance, clarity of reason and purity of devotion rule our lives,
we are indeed in heaven and in the company of God. In their
contradiction we are in hell, both within and without, suffering the
absence of God.

In work ethic, in the aftertaste of a duty well carried out, an obligation

well fulfilled, we experience heaven. In nourishing and tending
carefully a loving relationship, in the inspiration of trying to realise a
spiritual ideal, we are in heaven. Whereas, when our hearts are ruled
by passion and prejudice, and contort with resentment and malice, we
are in hell. When our heads simmer with anger and nerves tense up
with bitterness, when words and looks are used as daggers, and
actions plotted and executed to harm each other, we are in hell.

Eternal heaven and hell are wishful thinking. The roots of

satchidananda (pure being-awareness-felicity) in our souls give an
elusive awareness (chit) of an eternally-existing (sat) of heaven
(ananda) within us. Did not Jesus say, "the kingdom of God is within
you"? But due to our attachment to physical existence we like to make
heaven an abode of happy denizens enjoying forever rivers of milk
and honey. How cloying that can be! Might as well throw in a few
houris and their masculine counterparts.

DESTINY

Destiny is what you have within and without, tapping inner resources,
potentialities, and making the best use of thecircumstances. Thus,
destiny is in a large measure what we do with what we have,
notwithstanding an element of the incognito. Destiny is not sitting
around and saying that it is my karma as to what little I have and how
I suffer, but through self-effort trying to overcome suffering,
deficiencies, and better yourself and the circumstances. It is only after
doing so, accept with fortitude what cannot be overcome. You do not
know what is your destiny without trying to find out what it can be by
self-effort.

Get hold of the first opportunity for anything good that comes by. Do
not wait for a better one to appear the next time, for there may not be
a next time. Be alert, have initiative, keep looking for opportunities. If
you have found a friend or a teacher of integrity, do not let that person
move away through your selfishness or indifference, but sustain such
a friendship by sharing the best in you.

POVERTY AND SUFFERING

Suffering by itself does not purify. Otherwise the majority of us

would be saints. Only when we are willing to correct the cause of
suffering can we learn from it. By sharing the suffering of those while
helping to alleviate it, we purify ourselves. When suffering is
prolonged, we become anaesthetised to it and, therefore, cannot learn
from it. Overcoming suffering is an obligatory goal, and only when
suffering cannot be avoided should we accept it stoically.

Poverty is degrading and dependence demeaning. Economic freedom

is the first freedom because it gives one the freedom of choice,
autonomy. Money is not the root cause of all evil but attachment to it
can lead to many problems. Poverty and wealth can both be bondages
from which we should try to free ourselves. It is not true that the poor
will sail to heaven through the eye of the needle of misfortune and the
rich will stay behind with the camels.

Believing is not conforming. Generally speaking, believing means

hoping in relationship to what is plausible. But if we do not try to
reallse our hopes with diligent effort, we will be forever hoping.
Without searching, testing, substantiating, we cannot know what we
are asked to believe to be true or not. We can really accept, assimilate,
what we know. Thus, to know we must search.

It is sad to see that those who claim to have a revelation through

meditation cut corners, lacking in integrity, and indulge in 'spiritual'
theatre. There being so much unhappiness in life, spiritual teachers
should never be merchants in human misery but be all the more
responsible due to the gullibility of people. There is an old Indian
saying, "the ochre robe hides a lot of dirt." It should never be worn as
a mark of 'swamihood' light- heartedly.

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

Emotionalism in Bhakti Yoga experienced by singing devotional

chants and odes by itself does not purify the heart, although they can
be momentarily uplifting, nor do long hours of saying the rosary
mechanically, nor getting up before dawn to practise concentration
and meditation as per Raja Yoga, nor contemplation on the
mahavakyas (great affirmations) and metaphysical themes of the
Upanishads as per Gyana Yoga.

They are helpful only when combined with a spiritual discipline that
consists in leading a life of ethical idealism and altruism,
watchfulness over one's motives and trying to be free from hypocrisy
and egotism, passion and prejudice. Spiritual life is more a process as
to how we think and express ourselves in attitude and conduct, sense
of values and corresponding action, rather than consisting of
devotional acts by themselves. Without a moral basis spiritual
exercises are like pouring water in a leaking pot.

If anything goes wrong, you are at least fifty percent to blame. So,
accept your share, learn from your mistakes, do not pass on the blame
to others and wallow in self-pity. Not only does it weaken yourself
but makes others dislike you.

Worse than feeling sorry for yourself is to let people feel sorry for
you. Keep your suffering to yourself. Others have enough of their
own load.

Those teachers who tastelessly brag about performing 'egodectomy'

on their disciples have themselves an enormous ego to answer for.

If politics is the art of the possible and philosophy of the impossible

(some sayings can really be stupid), why bother about philosophy at
all? The purpose of philosophy, any philosophy, is to motivate and
guide the individual and society towards recognisable goals, to fulfil
needs and aspirations.

As an itinerant teacher, I feel like a rolling stone gathering no moss. I

fail to understand why should stones gather moss at all. I rather like
them smooth and clean!

To be emotional and demonstrative in public, even boys and girls

spooning in the open, is the mark of a poor breeding. Emotions and
intimacies should be strictly private.

Appreciative exclamations like 'smashing', 'terrific' are indicative of

society's fascination with violence. Exuberant greetings to a casual
acquaintance like "how wonderful" or "marvellous to see you"
(wouldn't have given a damn if that person lived or died five minutes
ago or after) speak of superficiality and addiction to hypocrisy.

Saints are made on earth but they actually live in heaven. Haven't you
heard the joke? Two women met in a park. One remarked, "My
husband is an angel." The other replied somberly, "You are very
lucky, mine is still alive!"

In my sixty years of observation I have found that a spiritual teacher

is really great if he practises some fifty percent of what he teaches.
For most of them it is only ten percent.

In a religious institution when titles, social standing and material

riches of others become a major consideration for treatment, its
integrity is compromised proportionately.

REALITY AND APPEARANCE

In 1964, I was on a Vienna-Zurich overnight express. My companions

in the compartment were two rather prosaic men for the upper berths,
and on the lower was an Austrian actress in her early thirties with
finely-chiselled features, who was gushing forth to make small talk
with charming effect. As I said Gute Nacht, I saw her powdering her
nose with a vanity mirror and wondered whom she was trying to
impress other than her insecure self. She would have looked naturally
pretty without the affirmation of obvious make-up.

As I woke up in the morning nearing Zurich, the men had left and the
lady cheerily greeted Guten Morgen, sitting near and looking out the
window. Her face was a sight! The paint on the plucked-out edge of
the right brow had raised itself into an askance accent and the
eyeshadow had stretched on to the right temple like a kitten's paw.
The false eyelashes were slightly askew and the washed blue of her
irises looked more faded in the morning light. She suddenly got up
and said, "You mustn't look at me until I have done my toilet" and left
for the washroom at the end of the corridor.

I asked myself if a Vedantin, dismissing airily her previous evening's

appearance as an illusion while trying to uphold the reality of
Brahman in his mental fog, would have thought the same way of that
morning's empirical reality of her looks?

Jawaharlal Nehru and John Kennedy, both endowed with good looks
and sparkling intelligence, both married to beautiful women and
having risen to the apogee of their political career,complained that life
was unfair to them. From my observation and personal experience I
know that, barring some twenty-six percent of humanity (according to
a United Nations report) who live in abject poverty and go hungry,
life treats us generally more fairly and kindly than most of us deserve.
We should count our blessings before complaining.

Some years ago, reading about the suspension of the Swiss Jesuit
Hans Kueng from teaching Catholic theology at the Tuebingen
University by the Roman Curia, I remembered the saying of Mark
Twain, "A man is admitted to the Church for what he believes and
expelled from it for what he knows!"

Once I knew a prominent spiritual teacher who greeted visitors with

exaggerated gestures of humility and yet was fond of saying what an
expert he was in doing 'egodectomy' on others. One has to have an
enormous ego to excise the egos of others. Endowed with many
virtues, he was also a paragon of vanity. In all of us, light and shadow
shimmer and hide in our nature.
 PAST AND PRESENT

A knowledge of our past, our roots, is essential to understand the

problems of the present, to know how our societies have been shaped,
even deformed, by the institutions, philosophies, religious myths,
attitude and thinking habit inherited from the past. The evaluation of
the good and bad harvest of the seeds sown in the past should have a
direct bearing on deciding what kind of harvest we would like to have
in the future.

The relevancy of the past is to learn from its errors rather than being
proud of something which is no longer valid, such as "those yon glory
days of the empire" or the "wonder that was India". Instead, we
should try to make our tomorrow better than today with the help of
such ideals that have helped the evolution of our civilisation.

In interpreting the mindset of the past the mentality of the present

projects itself to suit its self-interest. Those who indulge in the
delirium of past greatness which is no longer there, show the
decadence of their character and their unwillingness to face what is
unpleasant in the present, and are at best expressing a primitive urge
for survival. Unless they are shaken up from such a torpid frivolity,
their society will have no better future.

The individual's character is first of all a genetical product of his or

her immediate ancestors and their influence in early life, whose genes
themselves were shaped by the strengths and weaknesses of the
society in which they grew up, either struggled to reform themselves
by personal effort or by the force of circumstances, or simply did not
care and were thus swept to being what they became by the raw
instincts of survival. This lesson should never be forgotten by the
present generation, and the individual must decide what to be and
what not to be.

Evolution is not a continuous process. Through one or two centuries

of effort, civilisations burst out in different regions, then declined into
decay and slumbered for a long time, some died out and some were
reborn in other shapes. Millennia ago in Assyria and Egypt it became
possible to see speech rather than hear it by the invention of writing.
The vision of the infinite spirit as God without form, being immanent
in all, whilst yet transcendental, that dawned three thousand years ago
in India, still sustains tolerance of all faiths in Hinduism.

The seeds of civilisation sown in the classical age in Greece still

dominate western culture. The invention of movable printing blocks
eleven hundred years ago in China gave universal access to learning.
Decentralisation of Church education through Protestant reformation
made industrial revolution possible. Recognition of the common
spiritual dignity (image of God) in all gave birth to human rights and
democracy.

IDEALS TO CHERISH

An open-mindedness, that is, a readiness to learn what life is about,

the nature of the universe, to know our mind and its deceptive ways,
to separate illusion from reality, to think by facts rather than self-
serving presumption, are ideals to cherish.

To be aware of one's and society's deficiencies and to believe in the

capacity to change, to take personal responsibility and never pass on
the blame to others, to have an obligation to search for evidence to
support anything that is claimed to be true, are ideals to cherish.

To know that envy and avarice are corroding acids to be cleansed by

self-effort to achieve what is envied and, if lacking the capacity for it,
to strive for other areas of achievement, to relate one's own good with
common good, are ideals to cherish.

When the mindset that encourages the pathology that ours is the best
society, the best nation of all, the only true religion or God, the
ultimate leader or guru, from that moment the decline of such a
presumed status sets in, even if it seems optimum as to one's
preference in comparison to other options.

I would like to quote here a wise and fair saying of Pope Paul VI.
"There are other ways to God than the Christian path, but for
Christians it is the best way."
Repentance is not synonymous with contriteness alone but its reality
consists in acts of recompense that should follow as a result.

To love one's enemy is only a psychological process of overcoming

hate and desire for revenge. Retaliation when one is stronger than the
opponent and cowardice when weaker are intrinsic to nature. That
being so, loving one's enemy is not to be regarded as a virtue but to
purify one's heart of malice and resentment. In reality, you can love
your enemy only when he or she lets you, and if so, the enemy is no
longer an enemy.

There is nothing divine in pardoning someone who has offended you.

When something goes wrong in a relationship, at least fifty percent of
the fault lies with oneself for causing the provocation or not taking
precaution to let a situation go out of hand. Such being the case and
having accepted your part of responsibility, what is there to pardon?
Self-importance is at the base of being offended.

When weakness becomes synonymous with goodness hypocrisy

prevails.

When personal opinion becomes public policy on the level of

leadership unfairness prevails.

Goodness does not come naturally but is a result of education and

conscious effort, such as being honest when there is the opportunity to
be dishonest, not to think negatively, not to be self-centred.

The insecure individual seeks security through group identity. Group

identity means being different from other groups that do not look like
us, thus creating the us and them mentality. When the us becomes
insecure due to social anomalies like unemployment and inflation,
hating them serves as the demagogue's instrument to bring out the
worst in ethnic or national majority groups.

The more the ignorance of others the more we are apprehensive of

them. Fear makes us insecure, and insecurity conduces intolerance.
Intolerance sickens to fanaticism, and fanaticism leads to violence.
Thus, fear is the mother of violence, oppression and injustice, and
ignorance their grandmother.

For society's ills we always need some scapegoat, some group to

blame, while ignoring that such ills are a result of the inherent
deficiencies of our own culture and poor leadership, for which we are
individually and collectively responsible. Instead of trying to correct
them on personal and leadershiplevel by educational effort and better
policy direction, we like to create foreign devils.

When it comes to prejudice, majority opinion cannot only be unjust

but destructive. Intelligent leadership alone can appeal to the better
instincts in human nature and prevent society to harm itself.

The habitual stereotype of the ugly image that we impose on a racial

or religious minority speaks of an intrinsic weakness of our cultural
and religious background. The more honest we are the better we can
come to terms with and overcome our deficiencies and the less we
will need minority or external enemy groups to blame.

Distortion of truth comes from the imperative of blind obedience to

laws given in the name of God or otherwise by superegos, rather than
exercising one's free will to seek truth within or outside the laws
which religion or political ideology devised to have power over
people.

SHAPING OF CONSCIOUSNESS

"Then even nothingness was not, nor existence.

There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it.

Who covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?

Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?

But, after all, who knows, and who can say,

Vir Whence it all came, and how creation happened?

The gods themselves are later than creation.

So who knows truly whence it has arisen?"

(Rig Veda, X, 129, translated by A.L. Basham)

An unmanifest, transcendental force became the original anu (atom).

Then, "the one became many" (Rig Veda). The many interacting gave
birth to the universe, the immensity of which we have only come to
know this century. It is the pervasiveness of this transcendental force
that makes the existence of matter possible through energy that
science haslearned to measure. Its interaction in atoms, fusing and
dividing, enables the cycles of existence, Purusha through prakriti
becoming vishwa or the transcendental spirit through primordial force
becoming the universe. In the process the spirit does not change.

The spirit in a state of embodiment through the individuality of

consciousness or the principle of becoming is called soul, shaping
matter into body and mind to reside in, and express itself through the
five pranas and five senses and a series of identities, thus forming a
personality to wrap around.

Originally our soul (individuality of consciousness) must have been

oriented to its content, the transcendental yet immanent spirit. That is
why our insatiable hunger for love and truth, the longing to transcend
the relativity of their experience. In a state of balance the mind
experiences the spirit through the subtle emanation of spiritual
qualities such as peace and harmony, unselfish love and fulfilment,
purity and goodness, truth and enlightenment.

The common experience of individual consciousness is through its

orientation to antar chitta, the inner mind or the unconscious, to
sustain and protect the body and extend it to the next generation. Thus
the ego is under the impulse of primordial instincts surging from the
inner mind.

Then the ego is oriented to vahir chitta or the subconscious or the

field of experience above the unconscious, where it determines its
welfare through a sense of right and wrong. avoiding errors caused by
impulses, and developing personality traits. It is here the education of
the ego takes place, the shaping of consciousness.

Then again the ego is consciously active in its orientation to manas,

the determining and choosing aspect of the mind, always functioning
in relationship to the subconscious, planting suggestions in it, sifting
through a flood of influence from thesurroundings, checking and
restraining impulses surging from the unconscious.

At times happy and at times unhappy through its identities with what
is around, sometimes worked up and sometimes pensive in the
subconscious, the ego seeks repose in sleep but cannot altogether
escape its experiences that swirl irrationally in dreams. Then in deep
sleep it comes close to the spirit and remains for a while in opaque
peace.

In meditation the ego seeks out its spiritual identity when buddhi or
soul-consciousness reflects in its awareness, at first as peace
becoming deeper and deeper, then in a state of transcendental
oneness. For a while it is no longer aware of itself, nor its vehicles,
the body and mind, nor its surroundings. Coming out of such a deep
meditation, the ego feels thoroughly cleansed, is at peace with itself
and the rest of the world, until its identities emerge from the mind and
envelop it anew.

The saga of the ego is played out in the mind and expressed in
philosophy and religion, arts and literature, architecture and science.
The instinct of survival of its vehicle and the need for protection gave
birth to religion, seeking individual and group security. Identical
beliefs and resultant customs communicated through identical
languages make individuals secure within the group. Thus is
expressed identical aspiration forming the mindset of a culture.

Yet the ego is not really happy with all that. Happy for a while, of
course, in the fulfilment of its desires, but not quite long until fatigue
takes over through the ups and downs in its journey. Then wisdom
filters in for those who have tried to educate and sublimate it and
resignation rues in those who did not.
Thus, the ego as a liberated soul seeks to dissolve in the infinite spirit
for those who have risen above their desires when it discards the
body. For those who did not, the ego as a boundsoul paints in myriad
hues the imagery of afterlife, reincarnation, meeting God in heaven or
the devil in hell or whatever, until the time of death.

Rest in peace while you live, for life is burdensome enough to add
preoccupation with the afterlife. If you try to sort out what is herein
and make a good job of it with yourself and others, the hereafter will
sort itself out when it is time to go.

WE ARE WHAT WE MAKE OURSELVES TO BE

As we like to improve and renew an object we associate with, such as

a house, so should we try to improve and renew a close relationship.
As we need to wash and bathe, so does our character need constant
purification.

More than the influence of the genes, people leave the mark of their
character in those they closely associate with: their strength and
weaknesses, integrity and deceit, courage and cowardice, selflessness
and egotism, responsibility and carelessness, trustworthiness and
unreliability.

Before departing, when death would separate one another, we should

leave our mark of pleasant and warm memories of love and care,
understanding and support, guidance and dependability. That is what
people feel grateful about, not so much material inheritance.

As life is impermanent, as things of the world are transitory, it is all

the more important that one should make the best use of all that is
good, be wholeheartedly involved in the evolution of both ourselves
and the society we live in, because there is not much time to lose by
being unconcerned, careless, irresponsible and selfish, indulging in
the fantasy about the unreality of the world.

Instead of worrying about the problems of life, it is better to worry

about doing something useful.
Love of God is actually a love of spiritual ideals. God-realisation is a
process of realising them.

Fear of God is ridiculous in whatever way one might interpret it, for
fear by itself is a cowering instinct and, therefore, negative. You
cannot love someone you fear.

Common opinion is not necessarily common sense, just as common

sense is not that common at all.

Apart from learning a vocation, education means helping to develop

oneself, to tap and develop all that is best within, and make use of the
best around, as per the circumstances. Education is to motivate,
inspire, discipline and guide.

A true scholar should be eclectically erudite and polymathic in his or

her interests.

What people presume to be God is what religious leaders in the past

have chosen to make of him, and they themselves choose to make of
him. Whatever the vision, it has served and does help to provide the
psychological prop for strength, solace and hope in moments of
despair.

That humankind was made in the image of God means that we should
aspire for the realisation of and measure up to highest spiritual ideals,
as progress is possible only through identity with role models.
However, what I find unconscionable is, having botched the job, God
decided to liquidate his creation en masse by deluge. He failed again
in spite of those saved in the Noah's ark from the result we see.

God created the universe in six days, and the great work fatigued him
so much that he needed to rest on the seventh day. If one observes the
conditions in this world, he seems to be still resting!

When God evicted Adam and Eve from heaven with spare fig leaves,
Adam turned to Eve and said, "Look, what has happened to us." Eve
responded, "But, darling, we have each other." Adam said Oh! and
kept quiet.
Cause and effect are in a state of coexistence, maintained by the
constancy of change, such as a cause leading to its effect and the
effect, adapting to circumstances, transforming into a cause for a
further effect.

Existence of anything is a consequence of an underlying essence, just

as matter is to energy. Only the essence that is not a substance can be
eternal, not its expressive individual form such as a field of
consciousness or a soul or an idea of the essence itself. Immortality of
the soul pertains to its essence, not its form, for when the individuality
disappears, so does the soul. Can it be that the idea of the spiritual
essence being eternal, call it God or whatever, is an offshoot of
attachment to the individuality of consciousness, faced with the fact
that what it tangibly deals with is transitory?

LIFE IS PRECIOUS

Life is too precious and the focus of human relationship too transitory
to be sullied by little grudges and pettiness.

The main reason for incompetence is self-centredness, either in a state

of foggy satisfaction with oneself, or being too preoccupied with self-
interest and personal problems, so that the mind is oblivious of others
and incapable of having initiative. Another major reason for
incompetence is that one thinks too much of oneself and is
predisposed to self-delusion and, therefore, incapable of learning by
clear observation and objective assessment.

Nothing hurts a nation more than a topsy-turvy view of reality, both

on the spiritual and secular levels of leadership, which inevitably
infiltrates into people's mentality. You can see the harm done by
ideologues and those who boast about past greatness.

A person's character is measured not by how peace-loving or amiable

he or she is but by trustworthiness, integrity, moral courage,
responsibility and a sense of duty.

[Speaking about a close friend] What I liked about him was his
unpretentious nature and that he was not a glory-hopper. [In the
ashram] He was too honest to be a court panegyrist and never
performed for the galleries for self-enhancement. He was level-
headed enough in not to be afflicted by the peculiar disease of saving
humanity, for it is a posture of arrogance in itself and betrays a
shallowness of mind. He never fell for god-incarnates and regarded
them as paragons of vanity. It was distasteful to him to indulge in
such glorification by fiat, since history can have perspective only after
a sufficient lapse of time, and biographies are misnomers, anyhow, if
bereft of the evidence of serious research and balanced scrutiny.

The bodyguards of half-truths and untruths are often employed to

protect the reality of a person sought to be seen in a better light in
history.

Vanity and arrogance are twin companions of renown and power,

even if they are deodorised and dressed up in presentable forms.

Some swamis are like performing holy men and little else; so also
some holy women.

[Writing to a devoted student about to be married] I wish you and

your future husband all the blessings that life can offer in the process
of building two lives together, because marriage is like a career
(whereas a mistress or a lover is only a hobby), in the sense that you
put so much into it: commitment, loyalty, patience, understanding,
forbearance of each other's deficiencies, sharing of mutual values and
also interests. Above all, it is a journey into the unknown, which can
be successful and rewarding only if both try to be better human beings
and stay spiritually intertwined in fair and adverse weather, knowing
well that they love and, therefore, can count on each other for comfort
and support. Best of luck and God bless.

As physicists know, there is no basic order in the universe, even

though the physical laws of nature have an orderliness within a
limited time-space dimension such as in the trajectory of a comet.
However, as to the fate of humanity, the predictable coexists with the
unpredictable. The will of God or divine plan is a speculative
palliative to bear with equanimity adverse conditions.
You may not know what God looks like but would surely know what
he sounds like as he thunders in the scriptures.

After searching for God all my life I found peace in the definition that
he is after all a form of my devotion to spiritual ideals which I should
try to improve all the time.

The visions of a culture narcotised by the fantasies of a glorious past,

cannot serve a useful purpose when they are irrelevant to the present.

Hypocrisy is an inevitable companion of an exaggerated sense of

tradition, family and religion. A common fault of a backward society
is to be pompous, if not ridiculous, about old-fashioned ideas while
not living up to them.

If you dig enough into the lives of those who thump their chest about
moral majority, you are likely to find a lot of dirt. People generally
are halfway decent, that is, upto the way others would let them, and
that is good enough, moral enough, for me. They do not shout about
virtue or morality.

One of the purposes of literature is that it serves as a catalyst to pent-

up emotions and the thinking of the reader.

A primary requirement of fiction is to make illusions convincing, just

as a major role of religion is to make God credible.

If design lacks a balance between aesthetics and usefulness, it

becomes a bore.

The rules of engineering are functional reliability, durability and

structural integrity.

According to the Indian tradition of performing arts, the ten emotions

expressed are: romantic love, heroism, abhorrence, anger, merriment,
terror, wonder, compassion, fatherly affection and holy peace.

The seven facets of our inner being are:

1) The individuality of consciousness through which the ego
functions.

2) Its vague orientation to a spiritual source, expressed through an

inherent hope for selfless love, truth, peace, goodness, purity of heart.

3) Its longing for knowledge, although mostly dormant, of the nature

of our being and the life around, which make psychology and physical
sciences possible.

4) Its strong subjection to primordial instincts of survival and

procreation.

5) Its tendency to dwell most of the time in the field of memory, in

the subconscious, remembering, desiring, resenting, daydreaming.

6) Its coping with the circumstances and problems by thinking,

evaluating, choosing, deciding and willing.

7) Its necessity to act in the process of survival and wanting to be

happy, and learn from experience, however imperfectly.

Education of the ego, which functions through different levels of

consciousness, is basic to avoid suffering.

Instincts function through emotions, inducing action and thereby

experience, resulting in memory. It is in the memory field the ego
learns to educate itself by improving motivation and avoiding errors.

Memory is a result of attention or focus, and focus of interest.

Intention is the result of loving an ideal, leading to its realisation
through action. Motivation is determined by thepremise: truth gives
security in a relationship, resulting in trustworthiness and gaining
self-confidence by being trustworthy.

Since we do not like to suffer, nor look forward to dying, why not
regard life to be precious, meanwhile?

GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION

You love a person truly if you can honestly say that, given the chance
to start all over again, say in another life, you would choose the same
father and mother, husband or wife, son or daughter, brother or sister,
guru or disciple, without any qualification. If the response is hesitant,
that love is rather deficient.

You cannot love a person without liking him or her. Liking depends
on qualities like the goodness of heart, an unassuming and caring
nature. These two and sharing of values like integrity, trust, loyalty,
constancy and responsibility serve as a bonding agent in a loving
relationship.

You can measure a loving relationship by the level of:

Acceptance. Do you still reject the loved one in your heart because of
some aspects of his or her past? Acceptance enables communication.

Communication. Does your heart still have some dark recesses you
find difficult or are still afraid to speak about? Do you speak freely to
each other? Communication improves understanding.

Understanding. It is important to know the depth of feeling and

thinking of someone you love as an individual, in his or her own right,
rather than in the light of your own involvement or expectation.
Understanding helps in the sharing of values, which leads to trust.

Trustworthiness. Can you blindly trust each other? It is the

compatibility of values that holds a relationship together. Without
mutual trust there is no love. Trust inspires respect.

Respect. If there is nothing to adore, there is no love. That is what

makes commitment possible. It is not idealising, but some proven
qualities of character like fidelity, purity of heart and integrity.

Made of clay as we all are, it is this spiritual aspiration that helps in

the making of better human beings.

Close friends regard each other somewhat better than oneself. It is an

honest feeling.
Soul mates or spiritual companionship fulfils oneself psychologically
more than loving God by the means of a religion.

It is essential to mutually speak of difficulties in relationship before

the ego can destroy it.

Marital love is compared to wine. If based only on passion, like a

cheap wine, it quickly turns into vinegar. If based on sharing of ideals,
like a good wine, it becomes richer with time.

Never say no one is perfect. It shows your unwillingness to correct

yourself.

Never say we are all responsible. It shows your avoidance of personal

responsibility.

If you say that you accept full responsibility, immediately define what
you are going to do to correct the mistake.

Think positively. Make it a habit. It is even taught to astronauts and

combat pilots.

Focus on the positive aspects in a relationship and stop feeding the

negative side.

Never take anyone or anything for granted. All relationship needs

renewal.

Life is a two-way street. Forget about loving someone without

expecting the other to learn to love. Otherwise, it is a fantasy in your
head. Loving is mutually teaching each other to love.

Selfless service means you serve a good cause for a spiritual

fulfilment on a personal level. There is nothing wrong in it.

In anything you do, you should be fully interested in its result.

Otherwise how would you know if you have done something right
and if you can do still better?
You need not run after someone to communicate who shuns you.
Practise detachment.

Anxiety and insecurity are due to a lack of love. Lack of love is due to
an excess of selfishness.

Identify the nature of anxiety or insecurity, determine the cause and

treat it. Get involved in doing something useful. Be interested in
others.

Self-confidence is a product of the experience of doing something

right. To do anything well you need motivation. Without loving what
you wish to do, you would not learn to do it well. Interest causes
intention, intention action and action experience. Experience
strengthens will.

When you say that you have no will power to do what you wish to, it
means that you do not strongly love to do what you wish to. No one
has learned to swim without wetting one's feet.

Lack of love in childhood causes resentment. Overcome resentment

by detachment and understanding. If you have not received love, it is
all the more imperative that you do not deny your love to those who
need it.

It is good to remember five abnegations for self-education:

Selfishness by unselfish deeds.

Self-centredness by attention to others.

Self-pity by taking personal responsibility.

Vanity by remembering that there is a lot to learn, a lot to improve.

Pride by recognising merits in others and humility of spirit.

The amorphous emotion called love is substantiated by concern for

the welfare of the loved one, helpful deed, responsibility to, loyalty
and fidelity, commitment and constancy.
Faith in God means dedication and commitment to spiritual ideals, his
image, in which we are supposed to have been created. It is not
emotionalism.

Belief is a bridge that connects the known with the unknown,

projecting from the premise of the known what is possible and
plausible. Without trying to realise its ideal, it is only wishful
thinking.

Belief as a hope is meaningless if nothing is done to realise it, for you

will be hoping forever. To sustain belief there has to be a measure of
experience, such as of peace and inner strength in God's love. It
means to be grateful for the blessings in your life.

SELFISHNESS AND SELF-IMPORTANCE

The two metaphorical legs on which people seem to walk are

selfishness and self-importance. These two human deficiencies are a
natural byproduct of the need to survive physically and
psychologically. We all need to look after ourselves and defend our
position and self-interest. In the process, however, we forget that we
survive better by being mutually considerate and supportive, caring
and understanding.

The saying of the great Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus Christ,

is most appropriate:

"If I am not for myself,

who will be for me?

If I am only for myself,

who am I?

If not now, when?"

Being selfish, we feel isolated, because no one really likes a selfish

person. It is enough to carry one's own load of selfishness, rather than
being imposed upon by another's. Selfishness and self-importance can
be traced to be the two basic causes of psychological suffering. Being
disliked and isolated, we become unhappy. Lacking the nourishment
of love, we fall back into self-love and self-pity.

A selfish person becomes automatically irresponsible, failing to think

of others but habituated to think only of oneself. Responsibility is an
acquired rule of conduct, as also a sense of duty, which help to
restrain selfishness to some extent. Without them the human spirit
remains very primitive. Irresponsibility leads to being distrusted, and
distrust to a lack of self-esteem, which conduces insecurity and
unhappiness.

The me-first syndrome, learning to love oneself, guarantees one to be

selfish rather than gain self-esteem, for which it is justified. First of
all, you have to have something lovable in you to love yourself.
Loving oneself does not need any urging. We all are intrinsically
prone to love ourselves.

Self-esteem is a result of self-effort to cultivate qualities to be proud

of without being vain about them. Self-esteem without substance is
merely vanity. Vanus means emptiness. If you have substance, you
are not vain, inflated.

We should all be good to ourselves, of course, but not forgetting those

who are around, whom we are responsible to. It is a truism, indeed,
that those who live for others are happier. than those who live only for
themselves. It is such a motivation that steers the mental focus from
one's petty problems and makes life more meaningful.

Do not fall for such sayings that you can find happiness only within or
in God alone, for no real happiness can be found without, in this
material world. Happiness is neither entirely within, nor without
alone. It is both within and without. It is in an inner state of harmony
attained through a harmonious relationship with others, in coming to
terms with oneself in the process of managing one's desires, trying to
be a better person.

Happiness is in an action efficiently executed with dedication and

commitment. It is in a loving relationship fathomlessly deepened with
unselfish devotion, in a duty fully accomplished, a responsibility well
met, an obligation well fulfilled. It is not in closing the eyes and
getting blissed out for a while. It is in trying to overcome a deficiency
like intolerance by patience and understanding, resentment by
detachment and forgiveness, prejudice by fairness and objectivity.

The fat ego, specially when lacking the physical and mental strength
to defend oneself, becomes the target of other people's aggression by
unnecessarily getting into an argument with a stronger ego. This leads
to self-pity, thinking that others are to blame and one is but a victim,
which further weakens oneself.

Selfishness with irresponsibility, self-importance with ingratitude,

cowardly nature with laziness, and hypocrisy with character debility,
all conduce to an unhappy life.

Selfishness being a product of the instinct of survival is physical in

nature, whereas the ego or self-importance is an offshoot of the need
to survive psychologically, or as a mental entity capable of knowing
and deciding. It is inevitable that life has to move on these two
metaphorical legs.

Foolish, indeed, is the teaching to cut them off, to destroy selfishness,

to pulverise the ego. If you are foolish enough to try to do so, others
will walk all over you and you will be a victim ofstronger egos. They
need to be disciplined, educated and guided, psychologically purified
and sublimated.

A self-reliant person, thus, becomes less selfish. Being secure in an

area of knowledge, there is no need to get into an argument. Being
self-confident, one does not throw one's weight around. Avoiding
wishful thinking and evaluating by facts, one learns to be fair and
realistic.

There is great wisdom in the Talmudic saying that the essence of the
Torah consists in treating others as one would like to be treated by.
Do so, however, after being sure how others would like to be treated,
not on your own terms alone.
 CHARACTER, HONOUR, PATRIOTISM

A person of character is one who has moral principles, such as

integrity, trustworthiness and courage, an adequate sense of duty,
responsibility and honour, and the will to act. Will without ethical
values is merely obstinacy, which is a sign of lacking in character, for
it consists in being considerate of others. It is generally the weak who
are obstinate.

A civilised society is known by its sense of justice tempered by

compassion; individual and collective responsibility; the way the
public is treated by the authorities; the state of maintenance of public
property, and the individual's respect for it; the status of the minorities
and that of women; religious, political and cultural freedom; and
constant effort to better itself.

Passion is neither faith, nor knowledge, nor can it convey

understanding, but only passion and fanaticism.

Infatuation is not love, but an irrational form of self-love. So also,

blind faith is infatuation with a self-serving belief, a self-centred
emotionalism, and leads at best to fatalism, and at worst to fanaticism
and violence.

The honour of a person is in being honourable. When honour and

vanity become synonymous in a person, he becomes ridiculous, and
by posturing about his country, he makes it look ridiculous as well.

Honour and integrity are synonymous, and their companions are

trustworthiness, duty and responsibility.

Patriotism should arise from hope rather than pride, hope for the
realisation of such ideals that make one's country lovable.

A patriot is a person who represents the virtues of his country rather

than its ugly side; lacking in ethics and responsibility, the tendency to
blame other countries for its problems, being pretentious of an
imagined glorious past while being backward in the present, wishing
to be prosperous while being lazy. A patriot should try to be a better
person, rather than feel good about himself. Samuel Johnson said that
patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Einstein said that nationalism is the worst form of a virus that a nation
can be infected with. Nationalism tries to cover up its fear and
insecurity by fanatical ideas of greatness which is assaulted by
imaginary devils, its problems caused by foreigners; cover up its
inferiority complex about its culture by the supposed threat of
corruption through foreign ideologies, political or religious. It is a
complex like maintaining racial purity.

To love a country you do not have to beat your breast. If you love a
person, you do not make a show of it, but do something useful for him
or her. So also, if you love a country, ask yourself what you are doing
for its good, or if you are a good example of it.

The image of a country is seen through its main institutions, such as

the character and intelligence of its parliamentarians, of the executive
arm from the President andPrime Minister down to the lower levels of
the bureaucrats, of the impartiality and the independence of its
judiciary, and the standard and integrity of its media. A country is
respected for the values these institutions represent and defend.

If religion does not inspire a boundless concern for human welfare,

compassionate justice, personal responsibility, duty, and an eternally-
awestruck search for truth, it is little more than superstitious
emotionalism and generally-ignored moral commandments. Som

You can force obedience out of fear that your neighbours will
disapprove of an unbecoming conduct, for there is hardly any
credence of hell-fire, but you cannot force the heart by dogmas. Since
religion is mainly a question of feelings, and as feelings cannot be
forced, they can only be inspired by love of ideals to fulfil one's
emotional needs.

The awe for and dependence on authority ingrained in early childhood

are fine-tuned and transfered to an almighty deity in adulthood,
instead of inspiring reverence for life around, and learning to be self-
confident, self-reliant and take responsibility for our fate.
The point of any myth is in its usefulness to inspire the search for the
unknown, widen the dimension of the known, and to strengthen the
human spirit.

The choice of what may I do today and how may I do that as well as I
can today, changes our tomorrow. If we expect things to happen, life
will surely continue monotonously.

Part Two

UNDERSTANDING OF REALITY

Reality has two aspects, the spiritual and material, or what can be and
what is: our inherent if unconscious longing for selfless love and
truth, and the actuality of our selfishness and lack of integrity. To
overcome the negative with the positive,untruth by truth, hate by love,
rancour by forgiveness is the spiritual utopia of humanity, even if
reciprocity is found to be the most effective law that rules society.
However, the individual and society have failed to find peace by it.
Tit for tat excites the ego but saddens the soul.

We learn to evaluate and choose through a sense of right and wrong.

Without it the moral development of the individual is incomplete. The
sense of right and wrong is born out of the love of spiritual ideals, and
is more than a social more for mutual self-interest. It is a product of
cultural influence and education, of course, but is learned mainly by
one's own effort. The problem is how the individual's psyche has been
marked, favourably or unfavourably, by parental influence from
infancy to adolescence, in addition to genetical predisposition.

The worst way to treat reality is to make it amorphous, such as the

ineffability of Brahman or of a divine determinism, if there be any.
The search for truth to be successful must have a well defined set of
values to experiment with in real life, to know their truth. However,
through such a process, when one arrives at the door of what seems to
be a perfect truth, of goodness or justice for example, a new door
opens up farther on, revealing a greater horizon, for the nature of truth
is essentially eternal.
Political and socio-economic philosophers have sought to perfect their
theories as to what an equitable society should be through the
profession of, say, dialectical materialism as in the case of
communism, and of nationalist fascism with racist overtones, since
the early part of the twentieth century, but only to end up as disastrous
experiments. The social democrats, also since about that time, have
been trying to soften the hard-heartedness of capitalism by making
their theories more workable, but having results only in the developed
and productive societies.

Capitalism took into consideration a basic truth tapped by Adam

Smith that only through the manipulation of greed, albeit with a
minimum of regulatory restraint, a society could be made prosperous.
It could be done by the equation of initiative and industry with profit-
motive and social advancement, thereby opening up the vast energies
of the fittest to compete in a free market of enterprise. The social
democrats tried to counter this by getting the state involved in the
competition as well, and providing a safety net for the weaker
sections of society.

The religious, or rather spiritual philosophers, tried to provide a

counterbalance by their theories of commitment to the ideals of social
justice through compassion, on the basis of the credo that we are our
brother's and sister's keepers. It was, of course, inspired by the
speculation that we were all universally related to each other through
the image of God, but had to be limited for practical reasons to tribal
(read national) groups.

This theory was workable only in efficiently-managed, productive

societies, but had to be diluted for an obvious. reason. Human nature
being what it is, charity without a corresponding obligation becomes
liable to exploitation to the hilt, and the recipient's dependence
perpetuates itself. You have only to see how the social democrats are
vying with each other to veer to the centre of their socio-political
spectrum.

The scientists kept their faith in the hypothetical search for reality, but
had the integrity to discard an unviable hypothesis and try new ones
to arrive at their truth. The motive-power of truth is security,
reliability of its premise, and its inexorable imperative is evidence, for
the nature of truth is measured by its consequence and universal
applicability.

Some speculative philosophers, however, presumed that reality was

beyond this world, which they dismissed as illusory, but only to
remain fogbound and unproductive through the centuries, and were
prone to be hypocritical due to the duplicityof human nature, like the
paragons of morality in Victorian England.

Altruism is the basis of morality, but can sustain itself only through
mutual helpfulness. Love can and should be selfless, but the fountain
of this emotion is bound to dry up without reciprocal nourishment.
The investment of love enhances future security, such as that of the
parents in their children, serving as an insurance for their old age. In
prosperous societies, social security takes care of that, of course, but
only to some extent, for in times of need the aged would only turn to
their children, and they would reciprocate, even if some of them
uncaringly, depending on the kind of relationship they had with their
parents.

Reciprocity helps survival, but the weak inevitably suffers at the hand
of the strong. If the weak pardons the aggression or the despisal of the
strong, it is out of weakness. The primary duty of the weak is to try to
be strong, and of the youth to be responsible for their future, and not
be dependent on others,

Friendship signifies affection, reliability, trust, solidarity and

generosity, but only when they are mutual, for hardly any relationship
is sustainable for long without the mutuality of self-interest, even
though we do not like to be gross about it. There is nothing wrong to
be ashamed of self-serving values, for they are a corollary to
surviving more agreeably, altruism, love, decency, goodness being a
part of mutual fulfilment.

MYTHS
Myths, as a cornerstone of religion, provide a romantic notion about
the origin of our being in an insecure world. Myths about our divine
roots give us the strength to overcome the deficiencies in our human
nature. Myths about an almighty God attempt at propping up our
powerless existence.

Myths about a merciful God are meant to console the distressed,

although failing to answer for the overwhelmingmisery in which the
vast majority lives. Is not compassion a healing balm that we need for
each other to see us through suffering? Does it not help to soften our
hard-heartedness caused by selfishness? The role model helps to bear
our burden with fortitude.

The myth of a just God motivates us to create institutions of justice

and fair play, stick by the rules, get together to struggle against
injustice, even if justice does not have its sway from heaven. The
myth about justice to be meted out in heaven serves as an anodyne to
the powerless victims, although the only way to treat crime is the
visibility of law-enforcement and the swiftness of a just reprisal.

The myth of God begetting a son and have him sacrificed at the altar
of humankind's sinfulness, so that by believing in him people could be
saved from eternal damnation, has inspired proselytizing zeal through
nearly two millennia, and has brought solace to the downtrodden
converts. But what about the four-fifths of humanity that do not
believe in him? Don't they deserve salvation by following other paths
for redemption?

It is really we who ought to save ourselves from our own errors, with
or without divine inspiration or help, through self-confidence. Why
inject, first of all, the idea of being damned, push us into the sea, and
then throw the lifeline of salvation? Tapping our spiritual resources,
or if you like from God within, or focussing our energies to the
infinite source of power, should we not try to better ourselves?

Is there an infinite source of power? No doubt about it, observing the

universe, a raw physical force, the earth going around the sun at 30
km a second, the sun whirling within the Milky Way at 350 km a
second, and the Milky Way itself speeding outward at 600 km a
second. (See Wrinkles in Time by George Smoot and Keay
Davidson.) There is nothing divine about it. From the atomic dust of
this universe, from the particles of energy that became dust, we have
become human,and from those particles have evolved our mind to
qualify the divine.

What is divine, after all? That which calms our mind, enlightens it,
fulfils us emotionally, uplifts our spirit, we call divine. That which
perturbs, confuses, degrades and makes us unhappy, we call undivine.
It is in the state of consciousness the divine and undivine are
conceptualised.

Myths also serve as a pep talk, reassure, and give hope. It does not
matter if history proves them to be true or not. The declared myth of
Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, reincarnating as an avatara to
reestablish dharma, or righteous rule, made a mockery of itself when
the Hindu religion and culture were assaulted and degraded repeatedly
by the iconoclastic waves of Muslim invasion over hundreds of years.

Why religion claims that we have spiritual roots? Very simple. We

have only to observe our experience and test it on a universal
platform: our preference for the positive.

The highest purpose of myths is to widen the dimension of the known

by projecting our search into the unknown from the premises of the
possibilities and plausibilities to encounter new truths, to enrich our
existence. Myths are not merely to serve as palliatives to suffer the
deficiencies of the known and hope for the best in the unknown, but
just the contrary.

The need for the supernatural cannot be dismissed out of hand. Its
primary origin is in the need to survive, human existence being
riddled with insecurity and inadequacy. The myth of an omnipotent
God, even if all the evidence is to the contrary, serves this purpose.
Without hope one loses the will to struggle.

It is only the supremely self-confident, well secure in one's mental

and spiritual moorings, who does not need a God to appeal to, to face
up to challenge and misfortune courageously and stoically. The vast
majority needs an omnipotent being tobeseech to, compensate for
one's powerlessness by drawing strength from.

Then there is another need for any social framework to be cohesive

through a role model representing spiritual and ethical ideals in order
to be mutually responsible, and accountable to a common divine
forum, and fulfilled emotionally as an individual.

PEACE

Peace as an overriding instrument of policy or peace at any price has

led to more wars than prevented one. Non-violence and passive
resistance as a policy against an armed opponent are tolerated only in
a democratic society, not under a totalitarian government. Mahatma
Gandhi could not have survived under Hitler or Stalin, nor under
Mussolini or Franco. Even the transfer of power by Britain to India in
1947, against strong opposition of the Liberal and Conservative
parties, led by Winston Churchill, was possible because of war fatigue
and impoverishment of Britain after the Second World War.

It is still my conviction, in spite of the evidence to the contrary in the

Kenyan and South African experience of gaining empowerment, that
non-violent struggle against tyranny is the only civilised form of
achieving justice, because violence brutalises the perpetrator and the
heavily-armed oppressor against whom it is directed, and leads to a
spiral of reprisal.

It is also my conviction that people of the cloth should keep out of

politics and try to influence social issues by their moral and spiritual
support, as well as for the universal human rights, the religious
vocation being the celebration of the best in humanity and not
personal salvation which should come last.

It is my conviction as well that what two adults do in the privacy of

his or her bedroom for birth control is their concern alone. The priest
and the politician should keep out of their bedrooms.

I have observed with horror the statistics of over one-thousand-a-day

backyard abortions in Argentina, a country of 37 millions, where the
termination of pregnancy even by rape and incest is illegal, and where
nearly a third of the patients of the maternity ward of some hospitals
are victims of botched abortion. In Chile, where the laws are the
same, I was told by a famous gynecologist of Santiago that the
statistics are even higher in that country of 15 millions.

The hard question is whether an adult female has less right than a
fetus sustained in her body before it develops its nervous system
around twelve weeks? Again, the priest and the politician should keep
out of her bedroom.

A MISCELLANY OF MUSINGS

In children, continuing through adulthood, lying is first of all an

exciting experience in the sense of self-inflation, to feel important
before others. Then there are two other factors: on account of
selfishness to hoard, such as a child denying having candies in order
not to share with another child, or not declaring fully one's income
tax; and out of fear to save one's skin, such as punishment from the
elders, or social disapproval to maintain reputation or peace at home.

You have heard of lingual diarrhoea, but have you asked if it is a

result of the constipation of ideas?

I have observed that the Anglo-Saxon sense of humour has a

scatological character and the Latin's tend to be rather salacious.

From the beginning of humankind, the female has been treated as the
property of the male, to serve him as a sex object, bearer of his
progeny and as a low-cost domestic. Her bio- logical role in
childbearing and rearing has made her emotionally vulnerable and
concerned about the security of the nest.

As a result, her gumption leans more to the practical side of life than
the male's. As a result also, the male is less capable of forgiving the
female's infidelity because of the violation of his property right in his
unconscious, whereas the female is able to do so with relative
forgiveness, as long as she is sure of her partner's emotional bond to
provide the security of the nest, whether she has any children or not.
When she loses this security, divorce ensues.

Desirelessness is another name of apathy or laziness. A higher desire

is always necessary to rise above a lesser desire and to overcome
indifference.

Indifference can easily be confused as tolerance. When in a position

to retaliate, desisting from it is called tolerance.

To be a renunciate you have to have something to renounce in the first

place.

Even if the original impression subsequently bears out more often

than not, it can go hopelessly wrong.

Instant likes and dislikes can frequently be a self-echo. We like those

in whom we see our aspirations and dislike those reflecting our
weaknesses.

FAITH AND REASON

There is no inherent conflict between faith and reason. Blind faith

spawns ignorance. If a church requires unquestioning obedience to its
injunctions or dogmas, it is meant to make sure of its authority over
its adherents, strengthen its institutional power and group identity. But
as education becomes universal, its purpose being freedom from
ignorance and make people think for themselves, such an attitude
becomes counterproductive.

Reason is a goddess in her own right, as much as faith is. In fact, they
are twin goddesses, psychically related. Without the discipline of
reason, faith becomes at best emotionalism and atworst superstition.
Without the inspiration and commitment of faith, reason becomes a
dry intellection at best and an ego trip at worst.

Faith is of course an emotion, not emotionalism which is a sensation

of the ego loving not the object of faith but its role in doing so. In its
pure form faith is devotion. It is actually a love of the ideals that the
object of faith, God or whatever, represents and the commitment to
realise them. Just as the reality of love consists in what one does for
the welfare of the loved person, the truth of faith is in the motivation
for and consequent realisation of the ideals behind.

Thus, the word faith can be defined as a fountain of inspiration

providing the motivation for the search for truth, leading to an infinite
process of its realisation.

Reason protects faith from being blind, for integrity is the basis of
reason.

The value of reason is not merely to be reasonable to one another, but

not to be arbitrary and dogmatic. It begins with the empirical
verification of a manifest substance, for truth is veritas. It is not only a
responsibility but duty, in being honest with oneself and as a result
with others. Such a verification is easy.

Then the real search begins. What causes a substance in a particular

form to appear? Is there a subtle substance, E conducing MC2? It has
to be real, the demonstration of the components of which is the
purpose of science, MC2 leading to the understanding of E.

But what does the empirical substance, life as we know it, with all the
complicated facets of human character, mean to us? This search for a
meaning leads to infinite possibilities of understanding ourselves and
others, our origin, actuality and destiny. That is the purpose of
philosophy and its instrument is reason through the love of wisdom.
That is why thenineteenth-century German philosopher Gotthold
Lessing said, "If God had two gifts in his two hands, one the ultimate
truth and the other the search for truth, he would ask for the latter."

What religion calls truth revealed by God is actually a product of such

a search, the individual seeker gaining an insight to one's existence. If
it endures the test of time and has a universal bearing, it acquires the
epithet of a God-given law.

Even if in some Vedantic teaching it is said that there are some

questions which cannot be answered by the intellect, just as
Christianity says that one cannot know the mind of God, there is no
question under the sun that cannot be satisfactorily explained. One
can only say that, as of now, I have not found an answer to it, that
science has not been able to solve the problem as yet, but the future
holds infinite possibilities of knowledge.

OBITER DICTA

No one really believes in anything of which one has no direct

experience. Beliefs arc a projection of possibilities on the basis of
relevant antecedence.

Beliefs generally mean hoping for something which is to one's

advantage. As figments of imagination they serve no purpose, except
to be seen well by those who share similar figments.

The relevancy of any belief measures to the extent one is motivated to

do something about it. Hoping without self-effort to realise the object
of hope leads to daydreaming and being hopelessly stagnant.

In any belief there is an element of doubt which can be overcome by

testing its plausibility through practical means. If its reality is
confirmed, it is no longer called a belief but knowledge.

Knowledge gained by practical experience gives self-assurance, not

belief which is only meant to motivate.

Knowledge does not bar the possibility of a better adaptation in the

light of a deeper experience gained in the process.

This prevents knowledge from being dogmatic, just as belief

motivating oneself to search for its reality keeps one free from
dogmatism.

If an unverifiable substance is embraced as reality and the empirical is

dismissed as an illusion, irresponsibility, lethargy, and both material
and moral backwardness stalk the land.

Resignation undermines will and personal responsibility.

To consider what is available to be good enough for want of having
nothing better is the stepping stone to strive for something better.

From personal experience and observation I have found that the

components of human nature are a product of, approximately one-
third each:

1) Genetical inheritance or karmic backlog if you wish to fancy that

way.

2) Parental influence in early childhood, together with the

environmental factors in later life.

3) Subsequent self-effort to better oneself, or worsen the negative

traits by indulging them.

However, whatever the self-effort, genetical roots cannot be totally

eradicated, even though genes are malleable, nor indeed parental
influence, especially of the mother, absorbed during the first two
years.

To put it another way, we are a composite of five karmas. The

believer in karma automatically presupposes previous births. Karma is
both a consequence of unrealised actions in the preceding life and
actions done in the present, bearing a consequence in the future.
Whatever the tradition says, meeting the consequence of past actions
with present actions shapes our destiny. To put in an unorthodox way,
we are a product of:

1) Adrishta or unseen karma from the past life which brought us into
this world deserving our parents.

2) Griha or that of our home, mainly of the parents who influence us

indelibly in early childhood.

3) Samaja or that of society in which we are raised, influencing our

adolescence mainly and partially through adulthood causing us to act.

4) Swartha or selfish actions done consciously and unconsciously.

5) Purushartha or spiritually-motivated actions.
 Chapter Nineteen

SIX SYSTEMS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY

As in any living entity, human or animal, the primary need is survival.

Unlike animals, survival on the human level can be made more
agreeable with a meaningful purpose and a better understanding of
oneself and the world around, rather than by the blind force of
instincts. All societies reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the
philosophies, religious or secular, that shaped them.

Indian philosophy is divided into two broad groups, orthodox (astika)

and heterodox (nastika), the former accepting the authority of the
Vedas and the latter not. The orthodox schools are called shad-
darshana or six systems of philosophy devised by the aphoristic
teachings of their authors and subject to endless interpretation. The
Sanskrit word for philosophy darshana means a visionary perspective.
They are:

1) Nyaya of Gotama or Gautama, the word nyaya meaning method or

system or logic.

2) Vaisheshika of Kanada. The word means specific, from vishesha or

special.

3) Sankhya of Kapila, the word meaning enumeration or discerning

perception.

4) Yoga of Patanjali, consisting of eight interrelating steps more in the

nature of spiritual disciplines with the exception of two physical
practices, namely, asana and pranayama.

5) Mimamsa of Jaimini. The word means investigation or reflection.

6) Vedanta of Badarayana Vyasa as in his Brahma Sutras on the basis

of the Upanishads. The word anta means end or the final part of the
Vedas or the culmination of its teachings.

The heterodox group not accepting the authority of the Vedas are that
of 1) Charvaka, 2) Bauddha and 3) Jaina philosophies.
The Vedas are the earliest Indian literature that have greatly
influenced the evolution of the nation's philosophies. They have two
traditions, ritualistic and philosophical, or that of karma meaning
performance of rituals and gyana meaning speculation into the nature
of reality as to the cause and purpose of existence.

Knowledge has two sides, empirical, and that which is relative to

what does a material reality mean to oneself as well as its general
significance, with an infinite possibility of widening understanding.

RELEVANCY OF IDEAS

The Mimamsa system created a philosophy to justify rituals and the

Vedanta philosophy speculated about the reality behind existence.
These two systems are called Purva or Karma Mimamsa and Uttara or
Gyana Mimamsa, respectively.

Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika formulated their philosophies

if. accordance to life's experience and observation.

Mimamsa and Sankhya do not believe in God as the creator.

Accepting the authority of the Vedas by the six systems generally
means belief in an afterlife, which in turn means belief in an eternal
moral order determining good and evil. Deeds relative to them set the
fate of humanity in an afterlife, together with reincarnation on this
earth, while explaining the inequality and vagary of justice in our
current existence.

Anything that is not empirical is speculation, even if these

philosophies take for granted the verity of the Vedic teachings
without much argument. However, the role of speculation is to find
new realities by projecting into the unknown what a known reality
might mean, but which can be honestly called a new reality only when
it can be verified empirically.

If God exists or not is not a philosophical problem or if there is a

creator, but what does God mean and if there is a criterion behind
creation. By observation one does not find a criterion as to the
universal wellbeing of humanity or even animals. If the criterion of a
divine intelligence is posited to be incomprehensible to the human
mind, it is meaningless or irrelevant to the latter if it experiences
nothing better than what it does, just as an atomic particle being able
to pass through the wall is irrelevant to a person who cannot pass
through it, or a carpet being a mountainous territory for a microbe is
irrelevant to a person walking over its flatness.

All the six systems take refuge in the law of karma in the Vedas in
search of a rule of moral order in the universe and making oneself the
author of one's destiny and explaining the difference of intelligence
and inborn aptitudes as well as the circumstance of birth and
achievement, without however answering why a soul has to get
involved in a material body in the first place and then having to go
through all that hassle in order to get liberated. Neither do these
philosophies recognise that a moral criterion is a result of the mind
being exposed to ethical ideals over generations.

In Nyaya and Vaisheshika systems moral laws are under the control
and guidance of God, he being the ultimate dispenser of the human
fate (as in Judeo-Christian theology), whereas in Sankhya and
Mimamsa (as well as in the Bauddha and Jaina philosophies) they are
autonomous and have nothing to do with the will of God. In Vedanta,
God being an immanent spirit has no will of his own, like unmanifest
electricity in the atmosphere waiting to be generated by the motor of
human endeavour.

KARMA PHILOSOPHY

As all the six systems believe in the karma theory, it is better to

examine its pertinence, although none bothers toexplain it in depth but
take it for granted on the authority of the Vedas. The purpose of
karma philosophy, far from being fatalistic, makes one responsible,
individually and collectively, as to the direction of life. Bhishma, the
grandfather of Arjuna the reluctant hero of the Mahabharata war,
says: "Personal effort is what matters above all. Belief in fate makes
one dull." (Shantiparva in Mahabharata)

The karma theory automatically presupposes a previous and afterlife.

Karma is of two kinds generally: 1) Arabdha or Prarabdha or that
which is already bearing fruit, such as in the circumstance of birth and
inborn qualities of character and aptitudes, and 2) Anarabdha or that
which is yet to bear fruit. The latter has two subdivisions: a) Praktana
or Sanchita or the force of accumulated actions as a driving power
behind the individual's instincts, both constructive and destructive
and, thus, creating new karmas, and b) Kriyamana or Agami or
Sanchiyamana, or action done by one's will or desire, both positive
and negative, which is influenced by external factors, examples and
teachings, and done by personal choice, in turn creating new karmas
to bear fruit later on.

In all karmas it is the motivation that determines the intensity of their

retribution, such as in the difference between a premeditated and
impulsive act of violence.

With or without a supreme deity's involvement, belief in an eternal

moral order, to participate in which is one's responsibility in the best
light of one's understanding, makes the acceptance of glaring
inequality and injustice plausible and, therefore, self-effort
meaningful, unless one is content with the ideal of doing what is
appropriate whilst coping with life. In this case, if the result is not
conducive to the motivation, it means to learn from failure and
reorganise action and find a better way of dealing with the
circumstances, irrespective of the theory of karma being real or
merely speculative.

Harping on detached or unselfish action is indicative of a disgust with

the utter selfishness of human nature and an unrealistic way of
looking at it, because in any involvement, necessary to create
motivation and, therefore, efficiency and creativity in action, there is
bound to be a small measure of attachment. Without it no real love or
excelling work is possible, whereas the ideal is not to be dependent on
love, not to be infantile in expectation, and accept failure with
equanimity, pause a while, learn from mistakes and reorient
motivation and action.

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Religion is an instrument that experiments with sentiment and faith,
just as philosophy does with speculation and reasoning, and both have
their pertinency in finding personal and social peace, security and
happiness. Unless they influence the manner of living, they remain
sterile.

Religion, rising above myths and rituals, even though they serve as
means of group identity, provides a way of finding peace within
through a unity of the body, mind and spirit. Philosophy, rising above
intellectual curiosity, serves as the basis of social structure and
inspirer of civilisation, creating a system of ideals with which to
motivate and guide one's life.

Life suffers when it is led by the force of blind impulses and mundane
desires. The purpose of philosophy is to understand, educate and
sublimate them. The bottom line of Indian philosophy is given in the
four observations of the Buddha, although an excessive preoccupation
with suffering and getting out of the cycle of rebirth is rather a
negative way of looking at life, instead of making it agreeably
creative, making unselfish love the fountain of happiness, which will
invalidate the rejection of the world by the neurosis of nirvana or the
eternal bliss syndrome.

The Buddha observes that 1) there is suffering, 2) there are causes for
suffering, 3) that suffering can be overcome, and 4) that there is a way
to overcome it. It is a very valid observation, and his eightfold path to
overcome suffering is superb. It consists in:

1) Positive thinking, 2) a truthful life, 3) constructive action or work,

4) right conduct in relationship to others, 5) a sane disposition or
attitude to life, 6) intelligent effort for self-improvement and general
welfare, 7) honest livelihood, in which no deceit or cruelty or violence
is involved, and 8) effective meditation to realise one's spiritual
aspiration.

A moral sense is the highest goal of religion, a moral life its greatest
practice, and a moral criterion is the best definition of spirituality.
Prayer, meditation and devotional practices are only the means to its
realisation, as per the following definition, if spirituality is not to be a
cloud-cuckoo inanity or a holy-holy theatre. It consists of:

1) Purity of heart or that which is free from the ill effects of hate,
malice, resentment, vengeance, avarice, wickedness and imputing bad
motives to others.

2) Unselfish love, spontaneous compassion and kindness to and

consideration of others through matching deeds.

3) Integrity of feeling or depth of sentiment rather than

sentimentalism, of thinking, of expression through speech and action,
and honesty to oneself and to others.

4) Sublimation of passions and worldly desires.

5) Sublimation of the ego or humility of spirit or genuine modesty,

cutting out any theatrical gesture.

QUEST FOR TRUTH

Any search begins with a hypothetical acceptance of the existence of

the object of search. The role of speculation is to make use of
imagination and reasoning in order to find newtruths. The foundation
of speculation is a prior experience of an unsatisfactory reality, and
the main instruments are inspiration and reasoning so as not to be
carried away by daydreaming. The Nyaya, Vaisheshika and Sankhya
(as also the Charvaka, Bauddha and Jaina) schools accept this
position. The Mimamsa and Vedanta systems do not regard human
experience and reasoning to be adequate instruments to correct
answers as to if there is a supreme ruler or creator but rely on the
testimony of the Vedas, just as the Jewish and Islamic religions do on
the testimony of their prophets and the Christians of Jesus and the
Apostles.

Except the Charvaka School, the six systems of philosophy (as also
the Bauddha and Jaina) accept fate or bhagya as a collective
consequence of one's actions in past lives and which can be overcome
in the present one if self-effort is strong enough. The world is
regarded as a stage in which human one acts out a morality play and
the purpose of which is to overcome suffering and be happy,
happiness being the innate nature of the spirit embodied in an
inadequate vehicle and living in an imperfect world.

Freedom of the soul from material bondage is the spiritual goal

common to all the six systems (as also in the Bauddha and Jaina
philosophies), and its merger in the transcendental spirit as in the
Vedanta, or its eternal existence in a state of freedom as in the
Sankhya, is the common destiny.

This freedom is attained through knowledge of the various truths of

existence in deep meditation, while awakening one's identity with the
infinite spirit or God, the pattern of meditation varying according to
different paths, and by leading a life of self-discipline and self-
improvement as enjoined, for example, by Patanjali in his Yoga
Sutras:

Practice of five yamas or the disciplines of non-violence, truthfulness,

chastity, and getting rid of material greed and covetousness.
Observance of five niyamas or cultivating thegood habits of physical
and mental cleanliness, contentment, fortitude, self-improvement
through study, and dedication to God or to spiritual ideals.

Without prolonged meditation on one's relatedness to a higher power

there can be no strength for their practice. Without profound
meditation on some sacred teachings there can be no understanding to
the problems of life and the capacity to overcome them. It is a lifelong
objective. Its difficulty is noted in the Sanskrit saying: "I know what
is right but have little inclination to follow it, and I know what is
wrong but am too weak to desist from it," or in the saying of Jesus
Christ, "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

In none of the Indian philosophies repression of the baser impulses of

human nature is indicated but their education and sublimation,
specially in the Yoga system by meditation on and practice of their
opposite counterparts. Life is regarded as transitory and, therefore,
pleasure and pain, success and failure, are to be taken in their stride,
not losing the sight of higher values by pleasure and success, and not
being overwhelmed by pain and failure.

The earth is regarded in the Vishnu Purana as a mere speck of

existence together with fourteen planes of more or less-evolved
variety, comprising one unit among thousands of millions of others,
each alternately coming into form (shrishti) in the course of billions of
years and being withdrawn into the void (pralaya) likewise, and each
presided over by a supreme deity, Brahma (not Brahman), one day of
whom is said to be equal to 432 millions of years of the earthlings
(the Hindus love zeros). This overwhelming vision of the vastness of
the universe and the insignificance of the human being in it may have
contributed to the otherworldliness or disregard for material things in
India's philosophical systems (except Charvaka's).

With the exception of Vedanta philosophy, the rest of the six are
dated by some scholars as belonging to the period after Buddha and a
couple of centuries before Christ. Excluding the Buddhists, Indians
generally have been remarkably negligent of record-keeping, and thus
lacked a sense of history and the capacity to come to grips with
reality, and be inventive and innovative. Vedanta and Yoga are the
most important systems that have shaped subsequent Indian thought
and to a much lesser extent the Sankhya. The remaining three hardly
had any impact.

NYAYA PHILOSOPHY

Gotama or Gautama the founder of the Nyaya School laid down a

procedure of arriving at the knowledge of oneself and the universe,
the ultimate aim of which, he said, was the liberation of one's soul
from bondage and suffering. This procedure has four parts: 1)
epistemology of the process and grounds of knowledge, 2) knowledge
of the physical universe, 3) of the individual soul and the means of its
liberation, and 4) of God.

The means of knowledge are: 1) perception (pratyaksha), 2) inference

(anumana), 3) comparison (upamana), and 4) testimony (shabda).
The objects of knowledge to be studied and understood are divided
into 12 parts: 1) soul (atma), 2) body (sharira), 3) five senses
(indriyas), 4) what they relate to (artha), 5) process of cognition
(buddhi), 6) mind as the seat of perception (manas), 7) activity
(pravritti), both positive and negative, in its three forms, mental, vocal
and physical, 8) problems of mind (dosha, literally defect), 9) rebirth
caused by good and bad actions (punarjanma), 10) experience of
emotions caused by mental and physical activity (phala), 11) suffering
(duhkha), and 12) liberation from suffering (apavarga).

Gautama (not to be confused with Gautama the Buddha) bases his

philosophy on logical realism up to some extent and lays down a
systematic way of looking at things. The nature of the mind is probed
into. Realism means that objects exist independently of the mind,
although ideas and feelings relative to them rise and fall variously in
different minds. The Nyaya philosophy emphasizes a critical
perception and logical reflection rather than faith, scriptural testimony
or intuition, while acknowledging the need for testimony. The highest
goal is liberation of soul through the knowledge of reality, both in
their material and spiritual aspects. However, Gautama dangles
reality, like his peers, for whatever it might mean to the individual's
perception.

The first step is to differentiate between valid and invalid knowledge,

such as the sun being stationary and the earth going around it, rather
than the sight of the sun's movement around the earth. So also with
other valid and invalid modes of perception, such as apprehension
causing the sight of a rope appearing as a snake but, by dominating
fear, on a closer scrutiny it turns out to be only a rope. In a more
complex way, it is one's prejudice that distorts the perception of the
qualities of a man, leading to an invalid opinion, but an impartial
observation of his actions enables the definition of his character,
leading to valid knowledge.

Perception is both ordinary (laukika) and extraordinary (alaukika),

such as through the senses of an object, and awareness of a
transcendental force in a state of meditation, imbuing the mind with
profound peace. Nyaya (as also Vaisheshika) speaks of the six organs
of knowledge, namely, the five senses (external) and the mind
(internal). The mind perceives by cognition, desire, aversion, will and
the experience of pleasure and pain. It is atomic (subtle) in nature and
not made of gross elements like the sense-organs, but works as a
coordinating instrument of every type of perception.

Alaukika perception is of three kinds. The first is the universal

bearing of the characterisation of masculine and feminine traits, for
example, present in different men and women, or an individual's
desire to be treated fairly, irrespective of social background and habit.
The second is an overall perception in combination of various
qualities of an object, such as the hardness of a burning piece of
sandalwood, its heat, fragrance, colour and the pleasant sensation its
smoke creates in a room, a perception that is possible only through an
approximation to what is pleasant, as opposed to an unpleasant feeling
generated by a foul-smelling smoke from a piece of dung. The third is
the intuitive perception of a reality in a highly-evolved mind with a
limitless range as to the meaning of life, of God, of truth and love.
This intuitive vision is a result of a prolonged logical search in deep
thinking.

OTHER MEANS OF KNOWLEDGE

Inference (anumana) is relating a plausible knowledge to an already-

existing knowledge, such as one's mortality, that one day one would
surely die, is related to the knowledge that all living beings die.
Relating cause and effect both ways is the role of anumana. Nyaya
philosophy sets down an elaborate discipline of logic to arrive at valid
inference.

After perception and inference, the third way of deriving knowledge

is by comparison (upamana) based on a given description of an object
or quality for the perception of another object or quality. One who has
never seen a violoncello, for example, will have no problem
imagining what it may look like by being told that it is a very large
violin with a deeper sound. The knowledge of the quality of love is
arrived at by comparing the dimension of understanding, support,
confidence and deed that love denotes between two persons.
The fourth base of knowledge is by the acceptance of a testimony
(shabda, literally spoken word) of someone who hasa greater access to
knowledge. A student of physics, for example, accepts the testimony
of a scientist that two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen are the
constituent of water, even though the atoms are invisible to the eye.
On the basis of such a testimony the student then investigates more
about the nature of water, such as heavy or light, hard or soft, of what
kind of minerals it contains, etc.

Testimony has three premises: 1) trust, such as in the word of the

engineer who has built the room one is sitting in that its roof would
not collapse over one's head, 2) understanding well what is read in a
scripture, and 3) by applying a teaching in one's life to know if it is
valid for oneself or not. Nyaya philosophy divides testimony into two
kinds: 1) laukika or secular, such as of a witness in a law court, and 2)
vaidika or divinely-inspired statements in the Vedas, in which all the
six systems put their trust rather naively, while emphasizing the
importance of their correct interpretation, as do indeed the followers
of the Old and New Testaments.

The Nyaya system views the universe as a composition of four

elements, namely, earth, water, fire and air, and three subtle
substances, akasha or ether, kala or time, and dik or space, which are
speculated as infinite and eternal. Souls are, however, of a non-
material kind and deathless. In a state of embodiment, they are subject
to desire, will, likes and dislikes, pleasure and pain. Souls are infinite
numerically and ubiquitous. They are different from the body and
mind, although giving life to them. In a disembodied state a soul has
no consciousness, but regains consciousness through reincarnation
and once again becomes subject to desire and feeling. When it attains
its final release, it becomes a pure substance.

The purpose of life is the liberation of soul from the cycle of birth and
death, a common and rather doleful litany in all the six systems. This
is done through the knowledge of various truths that are relevant to
life as enunciated in the scriptures.
This knowledge is acquired by their study (shravana, literally
hearing), reasoning as to their significance (manana) and deep
meditation (nididhyasana). The Nyaya Sutras of Gautama refers to
God as the original cause of creation, sustenance and dissolution of
the universe. Its attitude is quite theistic, in the sense that all events
have a bearing to the will of God who is full of compassion, but it
fails to explain why he does not alleviate the suffering caused by
those not following his moral order in spite of being merciful, nor his
unwillingness to control their actions conducing it.

Creation is made of eternally-existing material atoms in their subtle,

invisible form, in conjunction with space, time, ether, minds as atomic
particles of intelligence, and souls. God is the prime ruler of
everything who sets down the order of interaction of the constituent
elements in the universe, including souls in their state of involution.
The subsequent liberation of souls is achieved by following the
divinely-inspired teachings in the Vedas and striving for perfection by
doing appropriate karmas, while going through a series of
reincarnation. Such is the bottom line of Nyaya philosophy.

VAISHESHIKA PHILOSOPHY

The goal of Vaisheshika philosophy, the liberation of soul or the inner

consciousness from bondage, is the same as that of the Nyaya system.
Like the founders of the other systems, little is known about Kanada
other than that he was an ascetic and was also called Uluka. His work
Vaisheshika Sutras is divided into 10 chapters, each consisting of two
sections. This philosophy has served as a source of rumination of
some other Indian philosophers as well.

In this system, epistemology or the grounds and process of arriving at

knowledge is divided into seven categories: 1) substance (dravya), 2)
quality (guna), 3) action (karma),4) generality (samanya), 5)
particularity (vishesha), 6) inherence (samavaya), and 7) absence of
being (abhava).

Substance is the foundation of all knowledge. Similar to the Nyaya

system, it is subdivided into nine elements: 1) earth, 2) water, 3) fire,
4) air, 5) ether, 6) time, 7) space, 8) soul and 9) mind. The first five
are physical, each characterised by one or more particular qualities
perceived by one or more of the five senses, inclusive of ether, which
is said to be perceived by sound (when it interacts on air).

The first four elements have two aspects, gross and subtle, the former
consisting of visible parts and the latter of indivisible atoms, the
former destructible and, therefore, temporary and the latter not and,
thus, eternal. Ether has no parts and, therefore, has only the atomic,
eternal aspect. Space and time are similar and perceived by inference,
such as here and there, near and far, and of past, present and future,
respectively. All the three are all-pervasive unlike earth, water, fire
and air.

The soul is an eternal substance and is the basis of consciousness,

giving light to the mind. It is of two kinds, individual (jivatma) and
supreme (paramatma), the former numerous and the latter one alone
and transcendental, the former going through a series of reincarnation
and the latter not being the creator of the universe, but unlike the
Vedantic perception they are not the same in essence. Both are all-
pervasive, the former mentally perceived in various states of
consciousness and the latter inferred as the original cause of
everything. The mind is composed of subtle atomic particles and,
therefore, cannot be perceived through the senses but its existence is
inferred through the internal phenomena of feeling, thinking and
willing, and the co-ordination of what is perceived externally in the
shape of ideas.

The universe is created by the supreme soul out of the atomic

particles of the nine above-mentioned elements. As the atoms have no
independent consciousness of their own, theirinteraction and direction
are subject to the ultimate intelligence of paramatma or God, out of
which evolve the laws of the universe and of action and reaction.

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES

Perception is qualitative, and all elemental relativities in order to be

cognitive are perforce subject to qualitative experience. Thus, Kanada
categorises them (therefore the name vaisheshika or categorical
imperatives) into 24 kinds, namely: colour (rupa,), taste (rasa), smell
(gandha), touch (sparsha), sound (shabda), number (sankhya),
magnitude (parimana), distinctness (prithaktwa), conjunction
(samyoga), disjunction (vibhaga), remoteness (paratwa), nearness
(aparatwa), intelligence (buddhi), pleasure (sukha), pain (duhkha),
desire (ichchha), aversion (dwesha), effort (prayatna), heaviness
(gurutwa), fluidity (dravatwa), affection (sneha), tendency
(samskara), merit (dharma), and demerit (adharma). These qualities
can again be subdivided ad infinitum, such as different kinds of
meritorious and unmeritorious actions propelled by various
tendencies, or sounds grouped into that of musical instruments, and of
consonants and vowels such as in a mantra.

Actions denote movement, and movement is in relationship. They

take place in the following manner. Innate instincts surge from the
unconscious into the subconscious and form as desires according to
the orientation through external stimuli, then get a focus by conscious
volition or willing, which in turn leads to physical deeds. Thus, one
may observe the flow of instincts and desires, and by meditation on
higher ideals sublimate and reorient them into more positive actions,
leading to reformation of character.

Vaisheshika philosophy searches for the universal nature of human

experience within the distinctive forms of individual perception and
action. All parts, while being different, are interrelated, the running
thread of the whole uniting theparticularities of existence, like the
universal need for love and protection permeating all sorts of
characters, both good and bad.

Whereas all the elemental forms of substance, including the qualities

of nature, constitute the nature of being, Kanada recognises the reality
of non-being or void and goes through a process of differentiating the
nature of existence and non-existence.

In spite of the atomic constitution of the universe, its coming into

form and dissolving into the formless, this philosophy upholds an
eternal moral order dispensed by the supreme being, and does not
recognise the blind force of nature. The universe is ultimately
governed by the transcendental wisdom of this Godhead, with
sufficient autonomy of self-expression of innumerable souls
inhabiting it, both in positive and negative ways, and thus determining
the fate of humanity.

The Vaisheshika system gives a theistic view of life, believing in a

supreme intelligence while taking into account a realistic perception
of the elemental universe, out of which human nature is born and in
which the individual soul is trapped. The idea of God is basically
transcendental and separate from souls and also the atomic universe
they inhabit, although all is dependent on and governed by this
supreme, unknowable being.

SANKHYA PHILOSOPHY

The Sankhya system may be characterised as dualistic realism. The

eternal plurality of souls may have given it the name sankhya
(numbers). It has deep roots in the Vedas from which its founder
Kapila drew his inspiration. However, he did not uphold the existence
of God, probably like Buddha thinking that it cannot be proved. A
larger version of the Sankhya Sutras is believed to be lost, as also the
commentaries of Kapila's twosucceeding disciples. However, several
expositions of his teachings have been written. Like the Nyaya and
Vaisheshika, Sankhya philosophy seeks to liberate the individual soul
from bondage and consequent suffering. Through a process of
metaphysical enumeration (sankhya), it seeks to know the two
ultimate realities, namely, spirit and matter, or purusha and prakriti,
which exist eternally independent of each other, although the original
interaction of purusha on prakriti enabled the latter's manifestation.

Purusha as the transcendental spirit resides as pure consciousness in

the body, mind and the senses, which are products of prakriti, whilst
being different from them. Prakriti is the ultimate material force and
cause of the universe which is constantly changing, unlike the
unchanging, perceiving, luminous spirit.

The three main qualities (gunas) governing the primal force of nature
are positive or cohesive vibration of upliftment and balance (sattwa),
positive-negative or cohesive-decohesive dynamism or movement of
energy (rajas), and negative or decaying, static heaviness of inertia
(tamas). Like three intertwined chords in a rope, they exist in
everything in creation, one more vibrant or dormant than the other,
and interacting in various degrees on each other. All material objects
are products of these three gunas, and life goes through their
experience in a state of happiness and fulfilment, by the sensation of
pleasure and pain, and the lassitude of indifference and avoidance of
responsibility.

Cause and effect cannot be separated, as it is evident that a manifest

effect such as oil is already inherent in the seed, its cause, both being
identical. As such, the material universe cannot have a spiritual cause,
but a subtle source of unmanifest matter (slumbering prakriti), when
the three gunas existed in a state of fusion. The starting point of the
universe was in thesucceeding disciples. However, several expositions
of his teachings have been written. Like the Nyaya and Vaisheshika,
Sankhya philosophy seeks to liberate the individual soul from
bondage and consequent suffering. Through a process of metaphysical
enumeration (sankhya), it seeks to know the two ultimate realities,
namely, spirit and matter, or purusha and prakriti, which exist
eternally independent of each other, although the original interaction
of purusha on prakriti enabled the latter's manifestation.

Purusha as the transcendental spirit resides as pure consciousness in

the body, mind and the senses, which are products of prakriti, whilst
being different from them. Prakriti is the ultimate material force and
cause of the universe which is constantly changing, unlike the
unchanging, perceiving, luminous spirit.

The three main qualities (gunas) governing the primal force of nature
are positive or cohesive vibration of upliftment and balance (sattwa),
positive-negative or cohesive-decohesive dynamism or movement of
energy (rajas), and negative or decaying, static heaviness of inertia
(tamas). Like three intertwined chords in a rope, they exist in
everything in creation, one more vibrant or dormant than the other,
and interacting in various degrees on each other. All material objects
are products of these three gunas, and life goes through their
experience in a state of happiness and fulfilment, by the sensation of
pleasure and pain, and the lassitude of indifference and avoidance of
responsibility.

Cause and effect cannot be separated, as it is evident that a manifest

effect such as oil is already inherent in the seed, its cause, both being
identical. As such, the material universe cannot have a spiritual cause,
but a subtle source of unmanifest matter (slumbering prakriti), when
the three gunas existed in a state of fusion. The starting point of the
universe was in theconjunction of the transcendental spirit and the
original, unmanifest atom (matter) which erupted in the formation of
the universe.

COMPOSITION OF THE UNIVERSE

This conjunction gave birth to mahat (literally the great) or cosmic

mind as the driving force behind prakriti, awakening it from its
primordial slumber. However, mahat is not purusha. As numerous
souls (purushas) pulsated in the universe in a state of embodiment,
mahat reflected in individual consciousness as buddhi or intellect. Out
of buddhi arose the sense of being or the ego (ahamkara), echoing
Descartes, as it were, "by beginning to think I became aware of being
something." Thus surged the feelings (abhimana) of what I am and
what is mine.

The pulsation of the I created the five organs of knowledge (gyana-

indriyas), the five organs of action (karma-indriyas) and the mind
(manas). From ahamkara also rose the five subtle potentialities of
perception (tanmatras), namely, sound, touch, colour, taste and smell,
and their five elemental counterparts, namely, ether, air, fire, water
and earth (pancha-bhutas), respectively. Thus, along with and rising
from prakriti, the seven principles of mahat (inclusive of buddhi),
ahamkara and five tanmatras, their five material counterparts (pancha-
bhutas), the five organs of knowledge, the five organs of action, and
the mind constitute the components of the entire creation.

It must be remembered that nearly 2,500 years ago there were no

scientific instruments to measure the particles in creation. Kapila,
along with the other sages of his time, could only observe externally
and internally the nature of existence. Together with Kanada, Kapila's
perception and categorisation of the attributes, each doing so in his
own way, seem to be remarkable. There was no knowledge of
psychology in their time as we now understand the mind to function,
but a deepinsight is reflected on human nature in the great works of
the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Puranas and the Panchatantra.

However, the purusha is different and unaffected by all the attributes

of prakriti, although ultimately giving light and life to them to
function. As in Vedanta philosophy, it is the eternal, infinite spirit
within the multiplicity of pure consciousness, behind the vehicles
such as the ego, the mind, the senses, which are all components of the
elemental universe. Happiness and sorrow, pleasure and pain, success
and failure, do not affect the soul but belong to the mind and the
body. Freedom from suffering lies in one's capacity, through deep
meditation and purification of the ego, to distinguish the purusha
within one's material vehicle.

Classical Sankhya discounts one, central and supreme purusha as God

to create and guide the universe, although along with the slumbering
prakriti, purusha existed before their interaction as neither one nor
many. The dualistic realism of Sankhya comes out of the observation
of the play of material consciousness in one's mind, propelled by the
ego, and also the elemental consciousness in nature, whilst yet trying
to be aware of an unaffected and distinctive spiritual consciousness as
a reality (purusha) within oneself.

Prakriti and purusha are both eternal principles, each being an

ultimate cause in itself. In its multiple facets, prakriti is constantly
changing, whereas purusha in its infinite plurality is unchanging and
unaffected as pure consciousness. The goal of life is to rise above the
bondage of prakriti by being aware of the pure, eternally-free
consciousness of purusha.

YOGA PHILOSOPHY

More than any other, the Yoga system of Patanjali is widely known in
the West and in India, but the difference is that in the western
countries its physical aspect has a greater appealsuch as through asana
and pranayama, and in India a yogi is regarded to be one who has
mastery over his or her mind, as well as the body, but above all whose
goal is a spiritual union (yoga) with Ishwara or God through deep
meditation.

In a way Patanjali can be regarded as the ancient father of

psychology, because in no other earlier literature of its kind and not
until 2,000 years later in the West, the nature of the mind has been
probed into as in his Yoga Sutras. The primary objective of his system
is mind-control. As in Sankhya, the inner self is a free spirit within the
gross body with a mind that veils its pure consciousness, but unlike
Kapila, Patanjali speaks of the union of the individual soul with God
as the highest goal of life.

The understanding of the nature of the mind is closely related to the

Sankhya system. The chitta or the inner mind is composed of the three
primordial qualities of nature, namely, sattwa, rajas and tamas (their
definition is given earlier under Sankhya philosophy), and one's
mental state depends on the preponderance of one or the other of
these qualities. With tamas prevailing it is lethargic, depressive, dull
and negative; with rajas it is restless, passionate, ambitious and full of
desires; and with sattwa it is one-pointed, harmonious, clear-headed
and positively disposed.

The five causes of mental suffering, namely, ignorance, egoism,

desire, aversion and fear, are described and the methods to overcome
them through meditation given. The nature of right and wrong
perception is differentiated, as also the states of waking, dreaming and
deep sleep, and the conscious, subconscious and unconscious layers
of the mind described.

Patanjali was probably the first teacher after Buddha and before
Christ, the period he was likely to have lived in northern India, and
one of the rare ones ever since or before, who taught that the best way
to overcome a negative emotion such as hate is by meditating on its
counterpart, love, and applying its positiveforce in relationship. This
he called pratipaksha-bhavana or counterposing of attitude. It is not
enough to know what one should not do, but after having taken into
account what one should not do, it is important to get out of the circle
of the "don'ts" and apply oneself to doing what one ought to. It is only
thereby that the negative "muscles" of the mind, as it were, can be
atrophied by not paying attention to and thus not using them, and,
instead, by using the unrepressed mental energies in the practice of
spiritual ideals the positive "muscles" can be strengthened.

Patanjali did not call his system a philosophy, although later on it was
incorporated into the shad-darshana or six systems of philosophy. It
was called ashtanga-yoga or eightfold yoga (ashta eight, anga limb) or
a way of life to attain spiritual union (voga). To him darshana or
philosophy did not mean a mental vision, as the term implies, or an
intellectual pursuit as generally is the case with western philosophers,
Spinoza being an exception, but a pursuit of self-knowledge for self-
perfection.

FOUNDATION OF YOGA

Being a spiritual philosopher, Patanjali laid down five ethical

disciplines (yamas) and five rules to observe (niyamas) to start with,
because he recognised that moral principles constituted the foundation
of any useful or a decent way of living. Practice of self-restraint is
basic to any civilised manner of living. So, he emphasised the
restraint of: 1) aggressive impulses (ahimsa) conducing to an
understanding, if not loving, relationship with one another and, thus,
refraining from any form of injury; 2) of untruth to promote security
through integrity and also peace of mind (satya); 3) of lustful urges to
deepen sentiment and create a spiritual sense of belonging
(brahmacharya); 4) of selfishness to uphold fairness and the ethics of
not depriving others of what belongs to them (asteya);

and 5) of covetousness indicating that one has no right to desire what

one is not willing to work for or does not have the talent to achieve
(aparigraha). These he called the basic yamas.

The niyamas are the rules: 1) to keep the body and mind clean
(saucha) because cleanliness, both physical and mental, is indeed next
to godliness; 2) to practise the ideal of being content after having
done one's duty and accept a situation that cannot be changed after
trying one's best to change it (santosha); 3) to strengthen the body and
develop will power through physical and mental endurance (tapas); 4)
to educate oneself by study and learning the lessons of life from
experience (swadhyaya); and 5) to dedicate oneself to God or be
committed to spiritual ideals (Ishwara-pranidhana).

After taking care of the moral high ground, Patanjali asks us to

prepare the body for the practice of meditation. This is done through
steadiness of posture (asana) and can be extended to a more adequate
form of Hatha Yoga, although he does not say so, for keeping the
body healthy and free from tension. To prepare the mind for
meditation he asks us to practise pranayama, because the state of
mind and breath is closely related, so that instead of an agitated mind
making the breath irregular, by regulating the breath one learns to
steady the mind.

Then follows the three steps of meditation: 1) by withdrawing the

senses from external objects and the mind from their memory through
methods of abstraction (pratyahara); 2) by concentration on a fixed
point, externally or internally or both, such as by gazing on a symbol
with eyes open and visualising it mentally with eyes closed (dharana);
and 3) by contemplation on the ideal of one's spiritual unity with the
help of a phrase or a mantra such as "I am one with thee" or Soham
(dhyana).

When the chitta or the inner mind is purified through meditative

exercises and a level of sattwa or harmonious equilibrium in it is
attained, one is prepared for samadhi orexperiencing elevated degrees
of oneness with God, the highest kind, nirvikalpa, being in a state of
total freedom from all the lower levels of consciousness, including a
temporary dissolution of the I.

To Patanjali God is the supreme being, eternal and all-pervasive,

omnipotent and omniscient. Devotion to God, in whatever way one
might seek him, is the highest means of meditation, and through
which the heart is purified and the intellect enlightened. By
recognising the deep-seated need for protection from a higher power
and providing a methodical system of practising moral ideals and
exercises of meditation, Patanjali made his ashtanga-yoga more
appealing and applicable in daily life than the Sankhya and some
other systems. That, indeed, is the reason for his popularity.

MIMAMSA PHILOSOPHY

Of the six schools, Jaimini's Mimamsa is probably the least known,

except possibly in the Brahminical or priestly circles. Its purpose was
to justify Vedic rituals and explain their significance through a
philosophy of life revolving around religious duties. Curiously
enough, Jaimini does not see the need for a central Godhead from
whom the creation is supposed to originate. Matter is believed to be
eternal, although constantly undergoing transformation, and subject to
a spontaneous and autonomous moral order, as also an infinite
number of souls involved in it and passing through a series of
reincarnation according to their desires translated into karmas
(actions).

Ritualistic and ethical duties, as enjoined by the Vedas, are to be

observed not so much for heavenly rewards but for the sake of duty
(dharma). There are many planes of existence, the higher or heavenly
ones and the lower ones as well. According to some interpreter, the
Vedic deities oblated to in the rituals are not persons but states of
consciousness to which one tries torelate by the performance of rites,
to purify the mind and free it from suffering. Rituals also conduce
self-control and a sense of obligation to society to uphold a collective
moral order, as directed by the Vedic scriptures.

In the absence of God, spiritual ideals take the form of devas or

luminous beings inhabiting the heavens where the liberated souls
migrate eventually after death, and do not have to reincarnate again in
the lower planes such as this earth. On the foundation of Jaimini's
Mimamsa Sutras, other com- mentators developed their own theories,
such as the soul having no active consciousness by itself but only in a
state of embodiment, and that liberation is an ultimate oblivion or
transcendence of consciousness, rather than the experience of
heavenly bliss.

The word mimamsa means solution of a philosophical problem

through reflection, although not much evidence of it is found in this
system. It is divided into three sections: theory of knowledge,
metaphysics, and ethics and theology.

Knowledge is of two kinds, perceptual and non- perceptual. An object

is perceived through the senses and the mind interprets its nature in
the light of a relevant, past knowledge. Non-perceptual knowledge is
dependent on faith in what one wants to believe in, to motivate life.
Such knowledge is obtained from the testimony of the Vedas,
although Jaimini does so selectively.

There are two types of testimony, personal and impersonal. Life

basically functions on personal faith in relationship, because no one
can be peaceful by being suspicious of everyone else. Such a faith is
of course subject to the experience of trustworthiness in a
relationship. Similarly, faith in scriptural injunction is a product of its
application in practical life and experiencing its beneficial effect
psychologically, such as through inner strength and peace.

The Mimamsa metaphysics believes in the immortality of soul, either

involved or disinvolved, and in an eternally-existing universe
composed of numerous worlds, heavenly as well as hellish, swarming
with concomitant denizens. Although performance of duty for duty's
sake is emphasized, one cannot escape the feeling that rituals are a
means to upward mobility through transmigration and avoidance of
suffering, apart from their socially-cohesive benefit. But rituals alone
are not enough without obeying the guidelines of the law of karma.

Thus, Mimamsa metaphysics is both pluralistic and realistic, while

not being entirely empirical due to its belief in what the Vedas say in
comforting the human heart by heavenly hopes. It recognises the
potential energy trapped in bhuta (matter) and shabda (sound of
word), and the possibility of untapping it by burning the sacred fire
and chanting of mantras, which are a part of the Vedic rites, to create
a psychic effect and hopefully help in the soul's transmigration.

Theology in Mimamsa is interrelated with ethics. Dharma is both a

religion in the name of performing rituals enjoined by the Vedas as
well as a righteous life led by their criteria as to what is right and
wrong. The highest good consists in the control of passions and
refraining from harming others. Some interpreters contend that the
heavenly deities are not worshipped but the moral and spiritual shakti
(force) attributed to them is made a part of one's life by the psychic
power of rites. The main good that came out of Mimamsa philosophy
is that since people love ceremonies they ought to know more about
what the rites stand for.

VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY

As the name implies, Vedanta philosophy is derived from the

concluding part (anta, end) of the Vedas, consisting of the
Upanishads, written about a thousand years before Christ. Badarayana
(also known as Krishna Dwaipayana) Vyasainterpreted their teachings
in his Brahma Sutras. He was said to have lived during that time and
was the author of the Bhagavad Gita as well. Of all the six systems
and even more than the Ashtanga (later known as Raja) Yoga of
Patanjali, Vedanta has influenced Indian thinking all-pervasively,
unbeknownst to the average person. It not only laid down the basis of
Gyana Yoga but provided the inspiration to Bhakti Yoga and Karma
Yoga as well. Other than Vyasa, its chief interpreters were Shankara
and Ramanuja.

In the history of civilisation no other philosophy has expressed such a

positive, unifying spirit of reconciliation. The tolerant attitude to other
people's faiths in Hinduism is directly due to Vedantic teachings. By
the philosophy of monism, making God a transcendental and all-
pervasive spirit, rather than a singular, all-important and the only
valid deity as in monotheism, it took away the inherent sting of
intolerance and iconoclasm.

As in most religions and philosophies, their interpreters transplanting

their own ideas through the centuries, Vedanta has been understood in
different ways, even negatively by hypocritically making the world an
illusion. However, its immensely broad vision can be perceived in the
following way

VISION OF GOD
1) Brahman or the supreme being is not a deity or a substance that can
be confined within a conceptual image, even by the term 'one alone'
but an all-pervasive spiritual presence while being transcendental.
Thus, polytheistic differences were submerged by the philosophy that
what people call God is but a spiritual vision of the individual's
devotion, sacred love and holy aspiration. They come into shape in
the process of trying to relate to the transcendental spirit. That is why
it is said in the Bhagavad Gita that God comes to the devotee in the
form one seeks him. The Kena Upanishad points out that all
theelemental forces of nature (devas) have no powers of their own but
are able to function only on account of the supreme spirit.

2) Even though God cannot be defined, the human spirit can relate to
the indefinable through spiritual ideals but qualified by the adjectives:
a) infinite, to expand them constantly; b) eternal, to make them long
lasting; c) universal, to have their relevancy among all, irrespective of
religious and cultural backgrounds; and d) transcendental, in order to
realise them better ever more.

3) The mantra Ishavasyam idam sarvam in the Isha Upanishad, that

the infinite spirit pervades all that which moves and moves not,
created for the first time in human consciousness a sense of sanctity
for all forms of life, not only for the humankind, and not merely
limited to one's own tribes, but respect for the animals and nature as
well, which has only recently penetrated western consciousness
through the institutions for the prevention of cruelty against animals
(even if they are eaten to satisfy greed!) and ecological responsibility.

4) In the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and

Islam, God is the transcendental creator, but in the Vedanta
philosophy Brahman or the supreme spirit, while being transcendental
is immanent in the universe, which can be defined in its five levels of
manifestation as

a) Anu-spandana (vibration of atom or energy), holding together and

disintegrating matter.
b) Cyclical rhythm (ritu) of life in the birth of a plant, its growth as a
tree, its seeding process, decaying and death, and continuing the cycle
again through the seed.

c) Instinctive mind (chitta) in the animal plane, and also in the neutral
laws of nature (prakriti) making evolution possible.

d) Discerning intelligence (viveka) on the human level creating a

sense of right and wrong and the karmic laws of cause and effect.

e) Intuitive soul-consciousness (atma-gyana) which ulti-mately dawns

in a highly-evolved mind, such as in a state of superconsciousness
(samadhi).

RECONCILIATION AND UNITY

This vision of God's immanence shaped some basic philosophical

positions in the following way:

1) Vedanta sought to reconcile religious antagonism by the epigraphic

comparison of various faiths in search of God as vapours rising from
the ocean and becoming clouds, and by coming into contact with the
mountains forming as streams and joining together as rivers, then
flowing through different lands and acquiring their characteristics, but
ultimately merging into the same ocean from where they sprung.
Thus, in spite of religious differences and cultural habits, humanity's
origin and destiny are the same. Or, the simile of a multihued garland
of flowers, each one different, but a common, running thread of the
universal spirit holistically uniting them.

2) Echoing the epigraph in the Old Testament, of the human being

created in the image of God, Vedanta speaks of the identity of the
transcendental spirit as the essence of the individual soul, like a spark
of light being identical with the sun or a drop of water with the ocean.
Thus, all members of humanity having a common spiritual heritage
should try to rise above religious dogmatism and extend the law "thou
shalt not kill" beyond their tribal and national groups and live without
warfare.
3) The light of God is equally luminous within every soul but
expressed in different degrees of brightness or dullness through one's
conscience due to the opacity or impurity of the koshas (sheaths),
such as the various layers of the mind thatcover it. Uncovering that
light within and its expression through truth and love in relationship is
the goal of us all.

4) No one should be coerced into following a dictated path of faith,

but each should grow according to the law of one's own evolution as
per personal inspiration, choice and effort. Just as there are many
paths leading to the summit of a mountain, the role of the teachers is
only to show them and provide the expertise of their own experience,
but it is the individual who has to do the climbing and arriving at the
peak of God-realisation.

5) The ultimate goal is the merger of the individual soul in the infinite
spirit. It means the dissolution of the individuality of consciousness
but not the disappearance of its essence. This is illustrated by the
simile of a doll made up of salt who wanted to know where it came
from and, thus, entering the ocean began to swim in search of its
identity. The more it swam the less became its form, which finally
disappeared but not its essence which became one with its origin, the
ocean.

CONCLUSION

Such is the unique spirit of Vedanta. Its mystical vision of God is

given in the words sat-chit-ananda, reflecting our longing for the
reality of truth (sat), its comprehension (chit) and realisation as
supreme love (ananda). Thus, God.is ultimately transcendental truth
and supreme love.

Vedanta does not emphasise maya or the illusory nature of the

universe, although some commentators do, but speaks of how the
mind can fool itself by its craving and attachment, and forget the inner
reality behind what appears to be, such as happiness being in the
possession of material wealth and experience of sensual pleasure,
rather than within oneself and in one's relationship with others.
Happiness is, indeed, in a state of harmony acquired through the
fulfilment of spiritual ideals. Understanding of maya also means that
the solid reality of the earth should not obscure the subtle reality of
the infinite, invisible atoms giving form to it.

The theory of maya is intimately related to the temporary nature of

life's experiences. No infatuation or sorrow lasts forever. The more
the mind conjures up its fantasies in a relationship, the greater the
disillusionment. Not to be carried away by wishful thinking and
passions that the flesh is heir to, not to suffer unnecessarily on
account of injured vanity, not to be swayed by pride and prejudice, to
be balanced in success and failure, is what the theory of maya tries to
teach.

The running thread of unity, adwaita or non-duality, is emphasized in

recognition of bickering selfishness in human nature and its
aggressiveness causing so much division and suffering. Adwaita does
not intend to create a dull uniformity of perception or disregard the
fact that it is the interaction within multiplicity that makes progress
possible. To understand Vedanta one should seek the overall picture
that emerges out of the various Upanishads, rather than get bogged
down in Shankara's Advaita Vedanta.

The relevancy of any philosophy is to make the journey through life

more agreeable, meaningful, creative, enlightening and fulfilling. The
urge to look up to an ideal, a role model, is fundamental to evolution,
and the vision of God is the highest point of reference to trace our
upward 'identity. This has been expressed in a surpassing, universal
spirit in the Vedanta system. In spite of its various unprovable
speculations portraying the peculiarities of human imagination and
psychological need, the basic projections of its teachings were
astonishingly far-sighted and are as valid today, or even more so, than
they were some three thousand years ago.
 Chapter Twenty

THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH

The following sayings were compiled from various sources, many of

them from the class-talks of Swami Shivapremanandaji, founder-
president of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of Argentina in
Buenos Aires.

PRACTICAL SPIRITUALITY

All the preoccupation about God is actually preoccupation about one's

own security.

Life is what you make with it, worthwhile or a mess!

It is not so much important when one is born or when one dies, but
what is done in between.

Remembrance aside, grieve not for one who is dead, but care for
those who are left behind if they need you.

To live in the hearts of those who love you is to continue living after
you are gone.

What more immortality may one seek than in deeds well done, in a
life well lived, in relationships well nourished, after one is gone?

Humanity is the greatest of all virtues. It is a mixture of the

understanding of and unselfish feelings for others, with matching
deeds.

Devotion to truth is the highest form of adoration of God. The best

thing you can say to yourself before going to sleep is: I have not been
unjust, I have not hurt others, I have not lied, I have done my duty.

The moment you think or say that you are loving someone so much,
immediately ask yourself what you are doing for him or her.

If you are not capable of doing something you wish to, do something
that you can.
The longest journey is the journey inward.

A wise man said: I have never met a person who has given me so
much trouble as myself.

It is not so much that in the height of achievement or in the

accompanying benefit you succeed, but in doing the best in whatever
you are capable of doing.

Nothing speaks better than action, specially when it is done before

being urged.

Without a sense of humour life becomes heavier than it ought to be.

The best form of it is laughing at yourself, and the worst is at the
expense of others.

Selfishness, arrogance, vanity, deviousness and intolerance are the

five most effective means of making yourself detested.

The more you try to pretend the less you are likely to get away with it.

Learn to count your blessings before complaining about what you

lack.

The merit of the sense of individuality is not to impose it on others.

Everything new gives a new life under the sun. Do not lose the sense
of curiosity.

You start aging psychologically when you begin to lose the sense of
curiosity and become indifferent.

Indifference, unless the situation demands it, is not only unjust to

others but deepens your ignorance.

There must be willing effort in order to achieve anything. and also the
willingness to innovate, improvise and initiate new moves, and take
calculated risks.
If you let the first opportunity go by, the second one may be too late
or inadequate. By making use of several small opportunities, you may
achieve more than by waiting for a big one to come along. Get hold of
the first opportunity that comes by.
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH II

The following sayings were compiled from various sources, many of

them from the class-talks of Swami Shivapremanandaji, president and
rector of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of Uruguay in
Montevideo.

DO THE BEST YOU CAN

Frustration is the mother of evolution, but only when you do

something about it.

Nine times out of ten we are disappointed in life because we do not

ask enough of ourselves.

Do the best you can with what you have rather than indulging in pious
intentions under better circumstances.

You can project only what you have been and what you are doing or
cultivating now. By wishful thinking nothing is achieved.

Never ask others what you are not willing to do yourself. Standing on
dignity makes a poor footing. Dignity is in how you conduct yourself
in the lowliest of work.

A good scavenger looks more dignified in doing his work naturally

than trying to be dignified.

You cannot see eye to eye with someone if you are looking down on
him or her.

Ultimately it is human qualities that make the difference between

success and failure as a human being.

There are three skills: technical, managerial and conceptual. In the

last two, human qualities play a great role.

The identification of talent, the kindling of motivation and

improvement of relationship in the institutions of society for
productive effort constitute a major part in governing.
To understand human nature is to work with human beings, not just
files, blueprints and statistics.

Human beings are full of likes and dislikes, and secret resentments. It
is very difficult to be objective, but without objectivity you cannot be
fair to others.

The most successful people are not those who burn the midnight oil
themselves, but those who are able to guide and inspire others to work
in team spirit and team effort. One who is able to arouse enthusiasm is
the one headed for leadership.

If you do not have integrity, you can never guide or inspire others. A
teacher without integrity will not attract respect but contempt.

Honesty once pawned is never redeemed. Once you start cutting

corners, you will find that all corners are cuttable.

Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a necessary

evil, it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil.

Only by being true to yourself can you be true to others.

It is easy to be base, casual, frivolous, cynical and critical. Carping

and quibbling are not substitutes for action.

As long as your conduct is straight, you need not bother about being
observed and talked about..

Even little courtesies go a long way, like being first to smile, first to
greet.

Humanity means not to sacrifice a person for the sake of a purpose.

 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH III

The following sayings were compiled from various sources, many of

them from the class-talks of Swami Shivapremanandaji, founder-
president of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of Chile in Santiago.

UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION

Avoid pettiness. Accommodation with and understanding of others

are essential in day-to-day relationship. Insisting on having your way
all the time shows your insecurity.

One of the deepest urges in human nature is to be appreciated. Give

full credit for a work well done, and do so promptly and
spontaneously. Be slow to blame.

Nothing kills the incentive of a person as criticism from a superior.

As long as one acts in good faith, he or she should be assured of your

support in a team-work.

A character roll is as much a picture of a person writing it as a person

written upon.

Only consistency and decisiveness inspire respect and command

obedience, not vacillation.

The word of honour is a good thing to cherish, but all important

matters should be transacted in writing.

Anger is the wind that blows out the lamp of the mind. Avoid display
of emotions. State the facts. Let them speak for themselves.

When you are right, you can afford to keep your temper. When you
are wrong, you cannot afford to lose it.

No gem can be polished without friction. So also no virtue can shine

without scrubbing the ego.

A person conscious of his or her virtue is not virtuous but self-

righteous.
Wounds inflicted by careless words are hard to heal. Do not be rash in
what you say under the pressure of circumstances.

Lamenting over something which has gone out of your hand does no
good to you or anyone else. Resolve not to make the same mistake
again.

Avoid paralysis by analysis. Sometimes there may not even be

analysis, just pure paralysis.

What you can do tomorrow, do it today. What you can do today, do it

now!

The difficulty is not so much in the choice between good and evil, but
in the choice between good and good. So also one has sometimes to
choose between evil and evil, but the decision has to be taken. Once
having made the choice between the lesser of the two evils, one
should endeavour to get out of it.

A Sanskrit saying: It takes a thorn to take out a thorn, but then both
the thorns are thrown away.

Trust others, but keep your eyes open.

To manage well you have to delegate responsibility, but do not keep

your hands too far away from the controls.

Direction should be with the least show of authority. Firmness should

be concealed in politeness.

To be important is a deep human urge. If it is not catered to with

supporting qualities to be deserving, you will only make yourself
ridiculous!

A good teacher teaches without the least show of teaching.

In a team-work remember that you have to work with the material

available, not what you want. Your credit lies in getting the best out
of it.
A successful person is the one who can lay a firm character-
foundation with the brickbats that others throw at him or her.
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH IV

The following sayings were compiled from various sources, many of

them from the class-talks of Swami Shivapremanandaji at the
Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of Argentina in Buenos Aires.

RIGHT AND WRONG

One who is sure of oneself lets others be themselves. Trying to

impose your will on others is a sign of insecurity.

Listen attentively and respectfully. Encourage those who work with

you to speak out, but make sure that they know what they are talking
about and that who is in charge.

You should have the capacity to assimilate new information, and

apply such knowledge with the best possible judgment of the
circumstances.

Be always firm and fair, but also tactful and polite. There is a way to
disagree without giving offence or being self-important.

Do not seclude yourself in an ivory tower. Get out and communicate

with those you work and live with.

The most difficult relationship is with your superiors, especially when

some of them happen to be less intelligent than you. The qualities
they are entitled to are loyalty and cooperation. Do not forget that
they have risen to where they are because of the qualities such as
ambition and will which you do not have in the same measure.

Having one's nose rubbed in the mud helps to dispel illusions and to
see things in the correct perspective, as long as one who does so cares
for you and is sincere.

One who thinks that he or she already knows what you are saying is
generally incapable of focusing attention and filled with a sense of
self-importance, which holds the person down to a low level of
understanding.
It is your work that will speak for itself, not the certificates apropos
that you display.

You can never be happy in a place of work without certain norms of

working relationship. It means tact and courtesy, patience and
consideration, reliability and understanding.

It is not enough if you do what is needed of you, but it is necessary

that your colleague understands what is expected of him or her.
Mutual trust, responsibility and accountability are required.

Personal example speaks more convincingly than all exhortation.

You may not be able to do all that you consider to be right, but as
long as you are not doing what is wrong you are on the right path.

Rigidity will harm even if you are in the right. Principles are right not
because they are principles but the fact of their helping those
involved, including you, to be in the right.

Let not right and wrong confuse you. Anyone who is not a hypocrite
can know the difference. You have only to ask yourself: Is it only for
myself or does it include the good of others? Does it unite or divide?
Does it heal or hurt? Is it authentic or deceitful? Will it hold true
when the exigencies of the circumstances are gone? Will it speak for
itself or have I to do a lot of explaining? Am I sincere or devious?
After the heat of the moment will I be ashamed of my deed?

Ultimately, it is the purity of conscience, inspiring steadfast resolve

and action, the purity of heart in being free from resentment and
desire for vengeance, the humility of spirit to learn and strive that
count as blessings of life.
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH V

The following sayings were compiled by the Sivananda Yoga-

Vedanta Centre of Uruguay in Montevideo.

CHINESE PROVERBS

The higher type of person seeks all that one desires in oneself. The
lower type of person seeks all that one desires from others.

Honouring one's debts is the highest principle of honour, not only in

monetary dealings, but as to the debt one takes upon in the various
stages of life, such as to parents or anyone who has been helpful along
the way. Thus, honour is inseparably bound with duty.

If the heart does not break now and then, how would you know that it
is there? Hearts break and mend again just as dawn sows the evening
and twilight sows the morning.

Great happiness and great unhappiness are one.

You cannot have something without giving. That would be unworthy.

What is life but foolish desires and imperfect choices? Worldly

passions are the thieves of life.

MISCELLANY

The past is never dead. It is not even past. (Faulkner) The separation
between past, present and future has only the meaning of an illusion.
(Einstein)

Man finds an image of himself in the questions he poses, and shows

himself more truthfully by the profundity of his questions than by his
answers. (Andre Malraux)

The history of his soul (in Confessions of Rousseau) which he

promised us becomes, without his having known it, the legend or the
myth of his soul. (Mercel Raymond) There is always a path where no
one thought that there was one. (Euripides)
Man is but an insignificant dot in the infinite. (Pascal)

Man is but a servant of customs, prejudices, self-interest and

fanaticism. The bane of man is the illusion that he has the certainty of
knowledge. (Montaigne)

Truth is a dream, unless my dream is true. (Santayana)

What a wee little part of a man's life is in his acts and his words! His
real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself. (Mark
Twain)

Call no man happy until he is dead. (Solon)

Faith in immortality was born of the greed of unsatisfied people who

make unwise use of the time that nature has allotted us. For the wise
man, one life is sufficient. A stupid man would not know what to do
with eternity. (Epicurus)

Man is but a foundling in the cosmos, abandoned by the forces that

created him. Unparented, unassisted and undirected by the omniscient
and benevolent authority, he must fend for himself, and with the aid
of his limited intelligence, find his way about in an indifferent
universe. (Carl Becker)

Only rarely have I paused amid the trivia of living, which make up so
much of our existence, and out of which come the setbacks, the
triumphs, the sorrows and the rare moments of happiness, to consider
how puny and unimportant we all are, how puny in fact is our planet.
Even the solar system, of which the earth is a negligible part, is but a
dot in the infinite space of the universe. Who can say, then, that the
purpose of the universe, if it has a purpose, has been to create man?
Who can even say that there are not millions of other planets on
which there is some kind of human life, perhaps much further
advanced than ours? (William Shirer)
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH VI

The following sayings were compiled from various sources by the

Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of Chile in Santiago, including some
from the class-talks of Swami Shivapremanandaji.

RELIGION AND SIN

From the Judeo-Christian point of view, sin is not of a moral but of a

religious nature, defined biblically in terms, not of a behaviour, but of
an existential quality, in the sense of a relationship to God.

From the yogic point of view, sin is an error, a deviation from the
spiritual path, not from a contractual commandment of a deity. It is
we that punish ourselves through our errors, as well as are able to
save ourselves from them with the help of the spiritual content of our
being.

The Bible is a sacred text, but its prohibitions against riches or public
prayers, for example, do not apply directly as exhortations. However,
to brand human beings, to snatch away their legal standing, to oppress
them with inquisitorial laws, does not reflect a Christian calling.

In the West, morals are understood to be social norms to serve as

ligaments of the body politic and the borders of life. They are shaped
by the interaction of human necessities and, thus, have a behavioural
connotation.

From the yogic point of view, morals are a direct projection of

spiritual ideals that flow from our soul, in recognition of each other's
soul, and mean much more than social norms, even if they have a
behavioural imperative.

The Bible is not a bulwark against changing values, but a reservoir of

inspired human experience from religiously heroic ages, the resource
amid change for an ultimate and saving reference, the genesis in fact,
of our changeability.

FEELINGS
Feelings are not just emotions that come from inside. They are
reactions that one chooses to have, even though they may appear to be
spontaneous.

One feels that things or people make one unhappy, but this is not
accurate. One makes oneself unhappy because of the thoughts one has
about people and things.

Since feelings come from thoughts, if one understands and controls

one's thoughts, then one is capable of understanding and controlling
one's feelings. Feelings are controlled by working on the thoughts that
precede them.

The following epitaph is from the tomb of Emperor Hadrian:

My little soul,

charming wanderer,

guest and companion

of my body,

you are leaving now,

and your games with me

and my friends are over.

 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH VII

Many of the following sayings were adapted by the Sivananda Yoga-

Vedanta Centre of Argentina in Buenos Aires, from Leo Reston's 'A
Treasury of Jewish Quotations' and some from the class-talks of
Swami Shivapremanandaji.

JEWISH QUOTATIONS

God saw that heaven and earth were jealous of each other.

So he created man out of the earth, and his soul out of heaven.

Do not be too sure of yourself until the day you die.

Reason serves only in a society which recognises the rights of all.

Passion is a friend of prejudice, not reason.

Passion for truth guarantees dogmatism.

Passion for God guarantees bigotry.

To accept a tradition without examining it with intelligence and

judgment is like the blind following others blindly.

No one is as ugly as the person conceited.

When a friend says that the mother and daughter look like sisters, the
mother beams, but you should look at the face of the daughter.

It is true that when an old man marries a young woman, he gets

young, but it is also likely that the young woman quickly gets old.

At the age of five the child is the master of the parents, at the age of
10 their follower, at 15 their rival, and at 20 their friend or foe,
depending on how he or she has been raised or treated.

People deserve the kind of leaders they have. Parents deserve the kind
of children they have.
You can tell the nature of a person by how one treats children or
subordinates.

It is easy to fool yourself, somewhat difficult to fool your superiors,

and most difficult to fool your subordinates.

A basic requirement of a close friendship is, when a doubt arises, to

clear it as soon as possible through a sincere and humble dialogue. If
such a dialogue is not feasible due to pride or fear on either side, the
friendship is not deep enough but circumstantial.

If you keep insisting too long that you are right, you are wrong.

The greatest teaching is to teach how to think.

The greatest help is to teach how to help oneself.

The first step to knowledge is to know that you know very little.

The first virtue is to know that you are not good enough.

The second step to knowledge is, after acquiring it, to apply it.

The second step to virtue is, while practising it, not to show it.

The following sayings are adapted from The Book of Abraham by

Mark Halter:

Where there is light, there is shadow. Light can be compared to the

soul and shadow to the body.

From the righteous we learn to do good. From the unrighteous we

learn to turn away from evil.

He who wishes to be wise, must listen to everyone.

He who wants to be wise must learn something from everyone, for

one becomes wise with the help of the examples and instructions
received from others.
The Cabala makes the divine human, whereas for the Hassid it is the
human that is divine.

The Hassid is saddened by the purity of joy, and he rejoices in the

purity of sorrow.
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH VIII

The following sayings were compiled from various sources, as

indicated, by the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of Uruguay in
Montevideo.

UNIVERSAL IDEALS

The fault does not lie in our astrological signs but within ourselves,
and the remedy is in our hands. (Indian saying)

Men are moulded in the furnace of responsibility, and on the anvil of

self-reliance. (Percival Spear)

In thought faith, in word wisdom, in deed courage, in life service.

(Inscription on the Jaipur pillar in New Delhi)

Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it

intends to create. Society should assure man of his seven basic rights:
1) right to life, 2) to security, 3) to work, 4) to a home, 5) to health, 6)
to education, and 7) to religious freedom. (John Paul II)

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Expenditure rises to meet income. Action expands to fill the void
created by human failure. (C.N. Parkinson)

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even

though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits
who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much, because they live in the
great twilight that neither knows victory, nor defeat. (Theodor
Roosevelt)

It is not the ministry of culture that you should worry about, but the
culture of the minister. (Anonymous)

An unjust world raises the question of morality and, in turn, religion.

Belief in the goodness of human nature, and projection of mankind's
noblest qualities form the basis of religion. God is a unique personal
creative entity. Conscience does make Christians. The source of that
spark of conscience is God. (Hans Kueng)
Although primitive instincts and emotions are the basis of religion,
faith actually stems from the sophisticated reasoning process related
to a supreme moral and causal agency. (R. Green)

It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favour of

vegetarianism when the wolf has a different opinion. (Dean Inge)

An appeaser is someone who believes that if you throw enough steak

to a tiger, the tiger will become a vegetarian. (Heywood Brown)

People will ignore an old man sitting on a park bench, but stare
intently at a painter's portrait of an old man sitting on a park bench.
(Anonymous)

ADAM AND EVE AND SIN

The following interpretation was adapted from a class-talk by Swami

Shivapremanandaji in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The original sin was committed by Adam when his individual soul
breathed in by God, became bored with a state of blissful union with
the creator. Adam's ego-consciousness felt the need of a companion
other than God. So, he asked God for Eve. God obliged him by
creating Eve out of his rib.

Eve became a symbol of Adam's mind. His consciousness separated

from God-consciousness. He was not content being one with God. He
needed duality within himself, to enjoy life apart from God.

The serpent is a symbol of temptation, a necessary stimulant to

knowledge, because the mind needs a stimulus to think. Thus, the
serpent tempted Adam to eat the apple. God was not too happy with
what was happening to Adam.

As long as Adam's will was one with God's, he was not affected by
the fruits of his actions, because he had no mind of his own, and there
was no Eve either. With a mind of his own, and with Eve around, the
apple became the symbol of carnal knowledge.
Adam ate the apple, and became responsible for his action by bearing
the consequence, the progeny to come. God became fed up, and
expelled Adam and Eve from heaven, with spare fig leaves. Adam
turned to Eve and said, "Look, what has happened to us!" Eve replied,
"But, darling, we have each other." Adam kept quiet, and kept his
thoughts to himself.

The Christian church made the carnal act the original sin, and became
obsessed with it. The original sin ought to be the rise of Adam's ego,
separating him from God-consciousness. Therefore, the word for
religion is re-ligare, to re-tie.
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH IX

The following sayings were compiled by the Sivananda Yoga-

Vedanta, Centre of Chile, in Santiago, from the sources as indicated,
and related in the class-talks by Swami Shivapremanandaji.

COMPANIONSHIP OF SOUL

From the Autobiography of the late President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat:

One must seek the companionship of that inner entity, one's spiritual
self, the source of hope, strength, creativity, security, of life itself, for
only through its help the dark shadows of the mind, its suffering, its
uncertainty can be cleared.

Nothing is more important than self-knowledge. Your first duty is to

face yourself, recognise the source of what troubles you. Then you
have to deal with it by faith in your higher self, in your spiritual
values.

Only when you know what you want, you can get rid of what you do
not.

There are always solutions to everything, if only you would try hard
and long enough.

Love of life can only be derived from the love of something positive.
Love of the superficial not only conduces to shallowness but indicates
a lack of love in one's own life.

SELF-REVELATION

From The Eighth Sin by Stefan Kanfer:

Not only two people in love are one, but one person in love is two.

Not only the mouth but the eyes can stammer. It is something a
portrait painter can reproduce with a canny series of lines between the
forehead and the neck; related or isolated,

the eyes sometimes lying to the nose, the chin at war with the mouth.
Women reveal themselves with their eyes, and men with their mouths,
particularly in the jaw-set through the years of denial or indulgence.

The face is a calendar and a medical chart. Look at the nose to see
how the health has been. The eye's white tells about the nights, the
margin around the eyes the days. Examine the hair to see the current
state of health, skin-tone to find out the future, the mouth to see how
things go from day to day.

The girls with deep-brown suntans will have skin like the rhinoceros'
hide one day.

There are silences inside silences, just the way there are rooms inside
houses, and wardrobes inside roans, and trunks inside wardrobes, and
boxes inside trunks, and when you come next to the last silence,
watch out, because inside that silence, there is the biggest silence of
all, because it is God. (The above paragraph is a Cabbala saying, and
used by Swamiji for meditation.)

HUMAN RIGHTS

From a speech by Patricia Derian, former US Assistant Secretary of

State:

There are three basic categories of rights.

1) The right of the integrity of the person, the right to be free from
cruel and inhuman punishment, including physical and mental abuse
to squeeze out confession under extreme pain (as a political prisoner
of Stalin said later that if they beat you hard enough, you will be
ready to admit that you are the King of England). It also includes the
right to be free from the invasion of the home without a legal warrant,
and from the denial of a fair trial.

2) The right to economic and social justice, the right to work for food
and shelter, and the right to education and health care.

13) The right to enjoy civil and political liberties, such as the freedom
of expression, including through the media, of assembly, of the
practice of religion, and the freedom to participate in government by a
free electoral process. All rights should have individual and collective
responsibility.
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH X

CONSCIENCE AND HUMAN NATURE

Ultimately a highly complex sentiment, having its first origin in the

social instincts, largely guided by the approbation of our fellowmen,
ruled by reason, self-interest and by deep religious feelings,
confirmed by instruction and habit, all combined, constitute our moral
sense or conscience. (Charles Darwin in The Descent of Man, 1871)

Behavioural geneticists say that the heritability of the cluster of traits

they call conscientiousness is between 30 and 40%, that is, about one-
third of the differences among people can be traced to their genes. But
that still leaves two-thirds traceable to environment. (Robert Wright
in The Moral Animal, 1994)

Darwin himself saw his moral tuning as beginning early, under the
guidance of his kin (and observed), "I doubt indeed whether humanity
is a natural or innate quality." (Ibid)

Childhood lies are not just a phase of delinquency we pass through

smoothly, but the first in a series of test runs for self-serving
dishonesty. (Ibid)

Integrity in word and deed is the backbone of character, and loyal

adherence to veracity its most prominent characteristic. Character is
power in a much higher sense than knowledge is power. Men whose
acts are at direct variance with their words command no respect, and
what they say has but little weight. (Samuel Smiles in Self-Help,
1859)

The character of parents is constantly repeated in their children: the

acts of affection, discipline, industry and self-control, which they
daily exemplify and live and act. (Ibid)

In centuries to come Communism is likely to be viewed by compilers

of dictionaries much as we view alchemy today. In defence of
alchemy, much of the beginnings of modern science may have
originated with the alchemists and with those determined to prove that
they were charlatans or witch doctors. The century-long struggle to
deal with the idea of Communism has given idealists, romantics and
pragmatists an opportunity to address the issues of liberty and
equality in modern society, but at a great human cost. (William Luers
in Newsweek, 26 June 1989)

All the vapourings about equality are at best an exercise in naivety

and at worst at power grab by astute politicians. The ratio of
leadership, a combination of intelligence, will, ambition and the
ability to get the best out of others, being only one in ten or even less,
society can only try to provide the equality of opportunity to filter out
the incapable but require adequate compensation for their labour to
have a fair standard of living. (Swami Shivapremananda in
Reflections IV, 1999)

A society's retardation is guaranteed if equal status and material

reward to all its members, if that is possible at all, are sustained for a
long time. (Ibid)

Perhaps only a malignant end can follow the systematic belief that all
communities are one community, that all truth is one truth, that all
experience is compatible with all other, that total knowledge is
possible, that all that is potential can exist as actual. Note: Gurus,
think of it! (Robert Oppenheimer in Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes,
1990)*
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH XI

HONESTY, TILE BASIS OF ALL QUEST

The liberal Buddhist attitude is: It is proper to doubt, to be uncertain.

Do not act upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor
upon tradition, nor upon rumours. When you know for yourself that
certain things are unwholesome and wrong, abandon them. When you
know for yourself that certain things are wholesome and good, accept
them.

Buddhism places the greatest value on man or woman who alone of

all beings can achieve the supreme state of Buddhahood. Each man
has in him the potential to realise the truth through his own will and
endeavour and to help others to realise it. (Aung San Suu Kyi in
Freedom from Fear, 1991)

Scientific knowledge is always tentative, always being refined. The

history of science shows a progression of theories embraced for a
time, only to be overturned or adjusted when contradicted by
observation. (George Smoot in Wrinkles of Time, 1994)

Something in the evolution of the universe caused matter to condense,

to form stars and planets, and ultimately life, not just life on earth but
with a possibility approaching 100%, on millions of other planets too,
including some in our own Milky Way. (Ibid)

Scholars who have devoted their life either to the editing of the
original texts or to the careful interpretation of some of the sacred
books are more inclined, after they have disinterred from a heap of
rubbish some solitary fragments of pure gold, to exhibit these
treasures only, than to display all the refuse from which they had to
extract them.

But true love does not ignore all faults and failings; on the contrary, it
scans them keenly, in order to be able to understand, to explain and,
thus, to excuse them. To watch in the sacred books of the East the
dawn of the religious consciousness of man, must always remain one
of the most inspiring and hallowing sights in the whole history of the
world.

What we want here, as everywhere else, is the truth, and the whole
truth; and if the whole truth must be told, it is that, however radiant
the dawn of religious thought, it is not without its dark clouds, its
chilling colds, its noxious vapours. (F. Max Mueller in The Sacred
Books of the East, Vol. 1, 1900)

Our view of man obviously depends on our view of God. Age of

Reason exalted humankind but still admitted God as a sort of supreme
philosopher-king who ultimately presided over the glories achieved
by reason and science. The humanist nineteenth century voted him
out. It increasingly saw reason and science irreconcilably opposed to
religion, which would fade away. Secular humanism stubbornly
insisted that morality need not be based on the supernatural. The
ultimate irony, or perhaps tragedy, is that secularism has not led to
humanism. Goethe points out the moral: "Only he deserves his life
and his freedom who conquers them anew everyday."

(Henry Grunwald in Time, 30 March 1992)

The large majority of the so-called happy marriages are simply habit
marriages. (Anonymous)

The church recognises the limitations of men and helps them to

surmount their mental obstacles by faith. The besetting horror of
mental limitation becomes the beatific calm of spiritual consolation.
(Anonymous)

If the church, any church, went too deeply into the realities of what it
professes, it will surely undermine itself. (Swami Shivapremananda)"
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH XII

HEALTH AND HATRED

There is always a direct relationship between mental and physical

health. Unless a person has a reason to live for other than himself, he
will surely die, first mentally, then emotionally, then physically.

To recover physically involves regaining the ability to get up in the

morning. To recover spiritually requires restoring the will and desire
to do so.

Defeat is never fatal unless you give up.

When you go through defeat, you are able to put your weaknesses in
perspective and to develop an immune system to deal with them in the
future.

You tap your strength you did not know you had when you have to
cope with adversity.

No one can recover spiritually from a major loss without the help of
others.

Spiritual recovery is hastened by overcoming the sense of isolation,

by recognising the fact that your family, friends and supporters still
stand with you, and by putting the defeat in perspective.

You must live your life for something more important than your life
alone. One who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself
has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only by losing
yourself in this way can you find yourself.

The moment that you think the struggle is over, when you have
nothing to live for, you are finished. (Richard Nixon in In the Arena)

Hate is difficult to discuss. The mind resists it. The subject is

amorphous, disorderly, malignant. Why hatred is not one of the seven
deadly sins and why the Old Testament is so full of hate?
The reason the subject is hard to discuss is that hate is simultaneously
a mystery and a moron. It seems either too profound to understand or
too shallow and stupid to bear much analysis-a cretin with a club,
violent, repulsive, irrational, a black intoxication, an accomplice of
death.

The subjectivists (poets and moralists) look for the seeds of hatred
within the human heart. The objectivists (economists, historians,
lawyers) dismiss such vapourings and locate the causes of hatred in
the conditions of people's lives. "Hard, visible circumstances define
reality," said John Kenneth Galbraith.

The typical hater, said Vaclav Havel, has a serious face, a quickness
to take offence, strong language, shouting, the inability to stop outside
of himself and see his own foolishness.

(Lance Morrow in Time, 17 September 1990)

The stoics believed that the universe was rational, despite

appearances, that man could regulate his life by emulating the calm
and order of the universe, learning to accept events with a stern and
tranquil mind and to achieve a lofty moral worth. They believed that
man, as a world citizen, was obliged to play an active part in public
affairs. Thus moral worth, duty and justice were singularly stoic
emphases, together with a certain sternness of mind. (Encyclopaedia
Britannica)

Religions often are the codification and sanctification of a people's

native character. (Luigi Barzini)"
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH XIII

SOCIETY AND HOME

Society is a system of relations between individuals. Human beings

cannot be themselves without interacting with their fellows, and
society is a field of action common to a number of human beings. The
source of action is in the individuals.

All growth originates with creative individuals, and their task is

twofold: first the achievement of their inspiration or discovery, and
secondly the conversion of society to which they belong, to this new
way of life.

This conversion comes about in two ways: either by the mass

undergoing the actual experience which has transformed the creative
individuals, or by their imitation of its externals. In practice, the latter
is the only alternative open by which the rank and file en masse can
follow the leaders. (Arnold Toynbee in The Study of History)

The way to build a better nation is to build better individuals. A

successful nation is usually composed of citizens, the majority of
whom are efficient and possess a reasonably high sense of duty.

An individual who aspires to be trusted should have character. The

foundation of business, as we know, is credit. Credit depends upon
confidence and confidence upon character.

Efficiency implies the possession, in a high degree, of the qualities of

diligence, ambition, punctuality, discipline, precision and the desire to
do one's work as well as possible. (Sir M. Visvesvaraya)

It is not the physical part of homelessness that is hard: home and

homelessness are also ideas, emotions and metaphysical states. Home
is all the civilisation that a child knows. Home is one of nature's
primal forms, and if it does not take shape around the child properly,
then his mind will be at least a little homeless all his life.

Creation is an onion with many skins, all layering outward from the
child's self. If he gets lost in the galaxy, he can find the way back, can
fly through the concentric circles to his own house, from outermost
remoteness to innermost home. Nostalgia means nostos algos, agony
to return home.

The womb is the first home. Thereafter, home is the soil you come
from and recognise what you knew before: the infinitely subtle
distinctiveness of temperature and smell and weather and noises and
people, the intonations of the familiar. Each home is an unrepeatable
configuration. It has personality, its own emanations, and its spirit of
place. Home, like the mind, is a time capsule. Love is home. The
myth of Eden is the first trauma of homelessness.

Home, after that expulsion, is what we make, what we build. We

build our home again, endlessly, in memory of Eden. The present is
never contented, perfection is hypothetical, and home is always
incomplete.

(Lance Morrow in Time, 24 December 1990)

A hen is just an egg's way of making another egg. (Samuel Butler)

All reforms are brought about by the energy of the reformers and by
the apathy of the opponents who are always in a majority.
(Anonymous)

Intellect without imagination is like soup without salt. (Anonymous)

Some use words to express thoughts and some use words to express
words. (Anonymous) Nothing can be so alluring or so offensive as a
voice. (Anonymous
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH XIV

POINTS TO PONDER

Consciousness precedes being, and not the other way around. The
worthiness of being consists in the commitment to the realisation of
worthy ideals. For this reason, the salvation of this world lies nowhere
else than in the human heart, in the power to reflect, in human
meekness and in human responsibility.

The only genuine backbone of all our actions if they are to be moral is
responsibility, responsibility to something higher than my family, my
country, my company, my success, responsibility to the order of being
where all our actions are indelibly recorded and where and only where
they will be properly judged.

Hope is not a feeling of certainty that everything ends well. Hope is

just a feeling that life and work have a meaning.

(Vaclav Havel, addressing the US Congress in 1990)

When you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their

joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men with all their
prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests
and their selfish views. From such an assembly, can a perfect
production be expected?

(Benjamin Franklin, addressing American Constitutional Convention)

Politics is intimately related to human mediocrity. (Mario Vargas

Llosa)

The rule of law, the development of the common law, the fact that
democracy is more than majority voting, is about justice, about
certain human rights which no government can displace because they
did not come from government. That is what unites us, the enlarging
of freedom backed up by rule of law, backed up by economic liberty,
because political liberty and philosophical liberty will not last long
without economic liberty. (Margaret Thatcher in Newsweek, 8
October 1990)
History is a part of a society's attempt to structure a self-image and to
communicate a common identity. No community can exist as a
comunity without common references. In a modern nation they come
from history. (Eugen Weber)

There is no such thing as a true historical account of anything. Each

sees the world from his own vantage point. (Gore Vidal)

The worst distortion of all is to turn love, a relation that is founded on

natural sweetness, mutual caring and the contemplation of eternity in
shared children, into a power struggle. (Alan Bloom)

Joy is not the same as gaiety. Destruction accompanies pleasure.

When I eat a cake, I get pleasure by destroying it. If I bake a cake,
especially by inventing the recipe, then it is a joy. Joys are gardening,
building a clock, fixing up a room, writing a book. Reading should be
a creative act and, thus, bring intellectual joy. (Michael Tournier)

I have puzzled for years over the church's dark, astigmatic view of
sex. But sex is merely the narrow focus. The broader perspective, and
failure, involves the church's view of women and their role in the
world. Women are not ordained priests because Christ in human form
was a man and chose male Apostles. But surely maleness was
incidental to the essence of Christ's teachings.

Some similar distortion of religion's natural sweetness and profound

reciprocity has been too long accepted as part of the Catholic Church's
design (male authority, female submission).

The danger lies in the continuing distortion, the airless stasis of a bad
tradition.
 THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH XV

HUMANITY'S ASPIRATION

It is from God we have received our being, and it is to him we must

leave the right to take it away. The bodies of all men are mortal and
have been fashioned out of perishable matter. The soul is immortal
forever, a fragment of God dwelling in our bodies. (Note the idea of
God within.)

Don't you know that those who depart from this life according to the
law of nature, and repay the loan they received from God at such time
as the lender chooses to claim it back, win everlasting glory, that their
souls remain unspotted and obedient, having won the most holy place
in heaven, from which when time's wheel has turned a full circle they
are again sent to dwell in unsullied bodies? (Note the idea of
reincarnation.) (Flavius Josephus in The Jewish War)

Stories are precious, indispensable. Everyone must have his story, her
narrative. You do not know what you are until you possess the
imaginative version of yourself. You almost do not exist without it.

People invent stories to explore their own behaviour and to imagine

their possibilities. People require the stabilising, consoling, instructing
influence of other human tales.

People without a surrounding atmosphere of myth and example are

prone to the stupidity that arises from being isolated and incurious
about the nuances of the experience of others. (Lance Morrow in
Time, 21 September 1992)

Democracy acknowledges the right to differ as well as the duty to

settle differences peacefully. Regimented minds cannot grasp the
concept of an open exchange of major differences with a view to
settlement through genuine dialogue. Democracy, like liberty, justice
and other social and political rights, is not given. It is earned through
courage, resolution and sacrifice.
Revolutions generally reflect the irresistible impulse for necessary
changes which have been held back by official policies or retarded by
social apathy. The institutions and practices of democracy provide
ways and means by which such changes could be effected without
recourse to violence.

(Aung San Suu Kyi in Freedom from Fear, 1991)

Historically, nationalism as distinct from nationality or patriotism is a

fairly recent development. For a thousand years, after the fall of
Rome, people's loyalties were to their church, their lords, their rights
and duties under the feudal system, to their guilds, and eventually to
their king. Only in the French Revolution did nationalism burst forth,
complete with flag and anthem. Altars were raised to the French
nation with the inscription: The citizen is born, lives and dies for la
patrie. Given such messianic megalomania, national freedom did not
lead to individual freedom.

Yet something is happening to the traditional nation state. It is

beginning to explode in two directions. Some of the newer, less stable
states are exploding downward, as it were, into ever smaller ethnic or
religious units, which really is not nationalism but tribalism. The
nation state is also exploding upward, into larger units, notably the
European Union. Western Europe has learned the momentous lesson
that war and conquest no longer lead to prosperity.

The most successful economies in the world are, more than anything
else, the expression of people's spirit, will and intelligence. We will
need a new sense of drive, less emphasis on rights and more on
responsibility.

(Henry Grunwald in Time, 30 March 1992)"

SIMPLE RULES TO REMEMBER

If you cannot do what you love to, do with love what you can.

If anything is useful to you, treat it with love.

If you are ready to give an opinion, do something about it.

If you do not know a subject well, do not give your opinion.

If you cannot help someone, do not give advice.

Only a fool gives unsolicited advice.

If you do not know how to do something better, do not criticise.

If something does not concern you, do not interfere.

If something is free, do not fail to appreciate it.

If you do not know how something works, do not take it apart.

If you wish to use something that is not yours, seek out its owner to
ask for permission.

If something is lent to you, return it promptly.

If you promise something, do not fail to keep your word.

If you do not know what to say, keep quiet.

Be a listener. If someone is saying something, do not interrupt.

If you manage to offend someone, do not fail to ask for pardon.

If you break a thing belonging to someone, replace it with a better

one.

If you dirty a place, clean up. Having eaten, wash up. If you open a
door, close it behind.

If you switch on a light, switch it off.

 Chapter Twenty-one

ANECDOTES

SOME MEMORIES OF AN ENCOUNTER

The caterpillar weaves a cocoon and lives within it. It becomes a

chrysalis, always changing, waiting until the proper time. Then the
cocoon is broken and the butterfly escapes, and it is beautiful because
it is free, and it flies away to no one knows where. -Bette Bao Lord,
in Spring Moon

So could be said of the spirit of man. A person is remembered for

some time by the memories he leaves behind and longer by the record
of his works, kept alive by organisations to promote what he
represented. It is difficult to imagine what shape Christianity might
have taken without St. Paul, or if the modern history of India would
have noticed Ramakrishna without Vivekananda. It is not so much
what a person was, concerning his human nature, but what he meant
to others, and the impact of his ideas serving as a catalyst to the
thinking of people and resulting in the shaping of society, that
determines his place in history.

It was on a wintry day, in 1945, that I had the rare tryst with destiny
when I saw Swami Sivananda at his still-primitive ashram, north of
Rishikesh, when he was a youthful and vigorous 58, bubbling with
enthusiasm in what he did. I saw the last of him sixteen years later, by
then fairly recognised as a representative of what could be termed
modern spiritual culture of India, before I left for Europe and the
Americas, in 1961.

The foremost impact of his qualities on me were his immense

tolerance and understanding of the shortcomings of human nature,
patience and tactfulness, absence of animus and pettiness, the
practicality and universality of outlook, his freedom from religious
and caste prejudice still distressingly present in many other ashrams
of that time but, above all, his unique way of letting others find their
own spiritual paths and shape their ideals. It was this last quality that
held me at his ashram so long, for never did he try to indoctrinate,
never was he doctrinaire, nor require of anyone a blind allegiance,
philosophically or personally. Mahatma Gandhi used to say, "If you
wish to know the nature of a person, give him power." Swami
Sivananda, as founder of his ashram, held absolute authority there,
and he came out well in the exercise of it.

Many years later, returning to India on different occasions, I was told

by two of his senior disciples that they had been to several other
ashrams, before and after, more as well as less well known, but had
never met anyone like him, as to the qualities I have just mentioned.
Thus, I was happy to know that, without having shopped around, I
happened to stumble upon the best teacher accessible then, suited to
my temperament. Since then I have never regretted that tryst with
destiny.

TRUTH AS IDENTITY

The truth of a person is in what he is, for truth is sat, that which is, as
opposed to what is not. What is and what is not is, of course, in the
eyes of the beholder, but truth being universal cannot be an isolated
perception, unsupported by fact, for the face of truth is self-revealing,
even if what it means to the beholder may vary, in some ways, from
person to person. Reality is wrapped up inside layers of illusion, and
it is the business of religion to make myths convincing. The point of it
is in its usefulness to inspire the search for the unknown and widen
the dimensions of the known within oneself, and strengthen the
human spirit.

"Truth is a dream, unless my dream is true," said George Santayana,

and so true it is about the truth of a person. It will, indeed, be too tall a
claim to say that one knows a lot about oneself or of another. Some of
the truth, surely, is expressed by words and deeds, but it is in the
nature of things that some of it remains veiled. Mark Twain mused
that a person's "real life is led in his head, and is known to none but
himself." Andre Malraux remarked caustically that the "truth about a
man is first of all what he hides."

Swami Sivananda was too uncomplicated a person, nor was he

Hamlet-like heavy-laden with self-doubt, to have successfully done
that. He spread himself all over the mainstream of his writings, like it
or not, although about half-a-dozen of his disciples wrote independent
articles in his name, at different times, but these could easily be sorted
out as not being his from their style and shape of ideas. Great
philosophical problems did not gnaw at the fibre of his conscience,
nor was he weighed down by the excess baggage of the glory of other
philosophers he drew from. He will surely be known as a prolific
anthologist of the religious literature of India, which he presented in a
simple form. He knew what he wanted to say, and do, and be known
as, and went ahead and did his best to get what he wanted.

No writer can hide his soul in what he writes about, even if he tries to.
The personality and qualities of character, with concomitant
deficiencies, come through and through: truthful or false, profound or
shallow, restrained or blatant, sincere or hypocritical, modest or
vainglorious, painstaking or flippant, thoughtful or fastuous,
conscientious or unprincipled, knowledgeable or inane, literate or
merely literary, self-effacing or blissfully egolatrous. Unbeknownst to
himself mostly, the writer is self-revealing.

The strengths and weaknesses of a culture are spun into the fabric of
the society it spawns. How important then that one should not indulge
in the visions of a glorious past when they are narcotised by fantasies
to escape their painfully-evident contradictions in the present!
Hypocrisy is an inevitable companion of an exaggerated sense of
one's traditional background, and a common fault of a backward
society is to be pompous, if not ridiculous, about it, while not really
trying to live up to what is relevant, useful, helpful and productive.
Singing paeans of praise may be moving at times, if no one laughed.

The role of Swami Sivananda in the future of India will be etched by

what impact his teachings have on the minds of the people who have
access to them, and by the continued mission of service the Divine
Life Society is able to effectuate mainly in this field, and of which it
already has a good record. The usefulness of a teaching is in its
revitalising effect on the mind: releasing, soaring and guiding,
inspiring, ennobling and delighting, not confining, twisting and
benumbing, retro- gressing, obfuscating and self-absorbing, but
helping to form substantial values to live by and save oneself from a
life of "foolish desires and imperfect choices."

Swami Sivananda has left for posterity a well-established umbrella

institution, The Divine Life Society, of which he would have been
proud were he alive today. Ambitious he was to have liked to make it
a household word, known as widely as possible, but dispassionate
enough in not being frustrated with the less-than-optimum talents
available to him. He did not have a Madan Mohan Malaviya to
establish a great Yoga-Vedanta University (later called Academy) he
so much wanted, but no one could say that he spared himself in the
effort. He laid the groundwork of what he called his mission and lived
long enough to see it bear fruit, which it continues to do with even
greater fertility and efflorescence than during his lifetime. There
cannot be a better epitaph than that it is so.
 ANECDOTES II

The following anecdotes were related by Swami Shivapremanandaji

in some of his class-talks at the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of
Argentina in Buenos Aires.

BE A LIGHT UNTO OTHERS

Long before the glory-hopping gurus of these days, who have their
statues installed in their ashrams to be worshipped even when they are
alive, apart from their own person on special occasions, marionetting
the whole show, there lived selfless gurus who did not even care to
make themselves known to the world. The following is an anecdote of
one of them.

The guru was on his deathbed, and saying goodbye to his chief
disciple who was to succeed him after his demise, he said:

If you are complimented for your integrity, take no credit for it, for
you are a son of sat, transcendental truth.

If you are complimented for your wisdom, take no credit for it, for
you are a son of chit, transcendental knowledge.

If you are complimented for your equanimity, take no credit for it, for
you are a son of ananda, the equilibrium of spiritual fullness.

You should worry when you find yourself lacking in them, that you
have not strived hard enough to inherit your birthright, this spiritual
inheritance that you have wasted so many years by making a habit of
being a guru.

Do not fail to educate your disciples to stand on their feet, for the
highest gift is the gift of self-reliance through self-knowledge, to think
anew, yourself being a light unto them, so that people may learn to
make less mistakes, suffer less and cause less pain to others.

§ A mother once brought her little son to her guru and said, "My boy
would not listen to me when I ask him not to eat too many sweets.
Please tell him not to do so." The guru told the lady to bring her boy
the next week. She did so, and the guru said to the boy not to eat too
many sweets, as it was bad for his health.

The mother was surprised, and asked the guru, "But, sir, why did you
not tell him so the week before?" The guru replied that he himself was
eating too many sweets, and that without practising what he was
going to tell the boy, he had no right to do so.

§ Once I knew a guru who was very fond of saying how he liked to
cut the egos of others. Having been a medical doctor, he coined the
word egodectomy, and thought that it was a great fun. I thought to
myself, one has to have a great ego to practise egodectomy on others.
The guru, however, rarely did so, and was very patient and tolerant. It
was just a manner of saying to feel important.

§ A disciple of this guru once had to get rid of a colleague from the
ashram he had later founded, because it was uncomfortable for him to
accommodate a rival. Dismissing him he said, "God himself wants me
to ask you to leave." I thought, what a crude way to justify a
personally-motivated action. Then he told me that, after firing his
rival, he had cried. I thought, what a self-deceiving hypocrisy, for I
knew he really hated his rival.

Once Pope John XXIII was dreaming about the problems of his
church, and said to himself, "Tomorrow I will ask the pope for their
solution." Waking up he found that he himself was the pope, and it
was he who had to solve them.

§ After John XXIII had become the pope, a boyhood friend and a
fellow-seminarian came to see him and seek his blessings. The friend
had not risen up the ranks, and was only a senior parish priest,
whereas the pope, after a lifelong diplomatic service in the Vatican's
nunciatures in the Balkans and France, and having been the patriarch
of Venice, had become the vicar of the Christ.

The priest said to the pope, he was sorry that he could only do such a
little service to the church. John XXIII replied, "After you leave this
earth and meet your creator, he would ask you not what great works
you did for the church, but how many souls you saved."
 HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?

§ Shasta the Zen monk was standing over a bridge in the company of
a fellow-monk, and watching the fish swim below. Shasta said to the
other monk, "Look, how the fish are enjoying themselves." The monk
asked Shasta, "How would you know? You are not a fish." Shasta
replied, "How do you know that I would not know? You are not
Shasta."

§ Two monks were walking along a path towards their monastery. On

the way there was a stream they had to ford. As they were doing so, a
young woman, also crossing the stream, was about to falter because
the current was strong. One of the monks picked her up, and carrying
across, set her down on the road. The woman went her way, and the
monks continued to their monastery. Half an hour passed, both the
monks walking silently.

The monk who had helped the lady thought, it was odd that the other
monk was so quiet, and asked if anything was wrong. The fellow-
monk replied, "You are a monk, and you embraced a young woman,
carrying her across the stream." The first monk remarked, "Curious! I
held the lady in my arms for only three minutes, and you are still
embracing her in your mind since more than half an hour."

§ There was a pundit who lived by the side of a great river, very
proud of his learning. There was also a boatman who eked out his
livelihood rowing his boat back and forth across the river. Rain-
clouds were gathering, threatening a storm. The pundit had to go to
the other side urgently. He asked the boatman to take him across. The
boatman replied that it would be unwise because a storm may soon
arise. The pundit said that he would give him whatever fee he asked,
for he had important business to do.

So, they both got into the boat and started out, the boatman rowing
rhythmically. The pundit became pensive, and started talking about
the philosophical mysteries of life. He asked the boatman if he had at
least read some of the scriptures. No, the boatman replied, he was too
busy rowing the boat to feed his family. The pundit remarked, "Then
you have wasted your life." The boatman didn't know what to say.
Sure enough, a storm rose and the boat started buffeting on the waves.
It was now the boatman's turn to ask the pundit if he knew how to
swim. No, he did not. The boatman remarked, "What good is
philosophy if you do not know how to swim to save your life?"
Practical knowledge is better than speculative philosophy.com

§ Once a Greek Orthodox priest was dreaming that he was being

pursued by the devil. However much he told him to get lost, the devil
wouldn't just go away. So, the priest abruptly turned around and
grabbed the devil's beard. He woke up with a start, and found that he
was fiercely pulling at his own beard!
 SOME REMINISCENCES

In the mid-1960s, the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen of Rochester, N.

Y., told about an amusing experience in his early life as a priest. One
Sunday he was asked to give a sermon in a village church. Having
arrived there and being new to the place, he asked a boy for direction.
The boy offered to come along and show the way. From the priest's
collar he recognised him to be a cleric and was curious to know if he
was going to the church to give a sermon. Father Sheen replied that he
was indeed. The boy wanted to know the subject and Sheen said that
it was about the 'Way to Heaven'. The boy was so surprised that he
exclaimed "What! How come you are going to show the way to
heaven when you do not know the way to the church?" I found Father
Sheen's candour disarming. Then based in New York as director of
the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre, I met him a few times. His
breadth of vision was remarkable and motivation for helping the poor
inspiring.

About that time, I used to see an immigrant rabbi from Hungary,

Joseph Gelberman, who used to come to the Yoga Centre and I, too,
occasionally went to his Little Synagogue on 20th Street and
Broadway (the rabbi has since moved out to a bigger location). He
once told a story about a Polish rabbi. As a rabbinical student, at the
age of 20, the Pole was so full of idealism about the teachings of the
Old Testament that he wanted to save the world through its gospel. At
the age of 30, after becoming a rabbi, he found the world was too big
but still he could save a small country like Poland through the Biblical
teachings. By the time he was 40, he found that all he was capable of
attempting was to save his Jewish congregation. When he reached 50,
he found that even that was too much for him, but he thought that at
least he could save his family. By the time he was 60, the generation
gap between him and his children and grandchildren he recognised to
be too wide, and realised that the only person he was capable of
saving was but himself. Gelberman was very broad-minded, even if
some spoke of him as an offbeat rabbi due to his unorthodox,
ecumenical spirit.
In 1949, when I was a young novice at the ashram of Swami
Sivananda in Rishikesh, I went to see Anandamayi Ma at her ashram
in the nearby town of Dehra Dun, also at the foothills of the
Himalayas. One evening, after the satsanga (prayer meeting), a
middle-aged woman approached Anandamayi Ma to ask for a much-
needed advice. After a quarter century of a buffeted married life she
could no longer live with her husband, and asked if she should seek a
divorce. The Mother replied that the fact that she was asking such a
question showed that nature had not yet taken its course. When it
really became impossible to live together, nature would automatically
separate them, and she would not be coming to her for counsel. As
long as there was a question about it, she could still continue to live
with him. Full of motherly love, Anandamayi Ma was respected for
her wisdom and revered as a saintly soul. She passed away early in
the 1980s.

APPENDIX
 GAYATRI MANTRA

Gayatri means: Gayantam trayate iti gayatri. Gayantam is chanting,

trayate is being protected from sorrow.

The two great mantras of the Vedas are Gayatri mantra and
Mrityunjaya mantra. Gayatri mantra is famous and powerful because
of two reasons: 1) the vibration it creates, and 2) it asks for the
ultimate enlightenment or God-realisation.

If you listen to the Gayatri mantra you will find that there are three
swaras or tones: anudhatta, udhatta and swarita. Chanting in that
dimension creates a vibration. That vibration helps us not to be
afflicted by sorrow. Most of our sorrows are born of ignorance. If
ignorance is removed, our sorrows are also eliminated.

Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says: "Because of ignorance our

intellect is concealed, and because of this we are unhappy and
deluded. Gayatri mantra, through creating powerful vibrations, helps
us to overcome sorrow. Our sorrow may be real, but it is
unreasonable, say the rishis (sages).

Listen to this story: Krishnaswami was very drunk, and being drunk,
he was walking to his home. On the way his friend Ramaswami
wanted to have a little fun with him. He said, "Eh Krishnaswami I
went to your home and found that your wife has become a widow."
The moment Krishnaswami heard this, he started crying. Then
another friend of Ramaswami said, "Hey Krishnaswami, how can
your wife become a widow when you are very much alive?" To which
Krishnaswami replied, "No, my closest friend said that my wife has
become a widow, and he never lies." So he kept crying stupidly.

Hence the sorrow of Krishnaswami is real, even though it is

unwarranted. Most of our sorrows are real, even though unreasonable.
This sorrow, born out of ignorance, has to be removed. Gayatri
mantra, by creating a powerful vibration, is said to help us to do so.

Please listen: We live in a universe. The universe lives within us.

Both these dimensions should be understood. That we live in a
universe everyone knows. That there is a universe within us, we do
not know. Gayatri mantra helps us to draw energy from the external
universe, and also from the inner universe. That is referred to by the
word savituhu, meaning the sun. So Gayatri mantra is a prayer to the
external sun, which represents the outer universe. It is also a prayer to
the internal the spiritual consciousness within us.

Let us all be enlightened: dhiyo yo nah prachodayat. It is interesting

to note: Even though an individual is praying, it says: let us all. It
becomes clear that the sages wanted our prayer to be inclusive, not
exclusive. Hence the word us. This important principle, called the
principle of ladder, indicates that everyone of us on the ladder of
spiritual evolution is on one rung of the ladder or the other.

Therefore, if we have to go up the spiritual ladder, we should help

others to climb as well. Just imagine, each one fighting to go up the
ladder. Then there will be chaos. Hence Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita
says: parasparam bhavayantaha, help each other to become
enlightened. Parasparam means helping each other, bhavayantaha
nourishing the ultimate good.

Listen to this story: The devas (demigods or angels) and asuras

(demons) were invited by God in heaven, and offered nectar, drinking
which they were to become immortal. The demons were very
confused: Why did God invite us? The angels (devas) were also
confused: Why did God invite the demons? Then God addressed both
of them: "Here is amrita, the divine nectar. Please drink it. You will
become immortal. But only on one condition. You have to drink by
the hand without bending the elbow. Now, the demons tried their best
to drink the nectar without bending their elbow. Then they could not,
they cursed God, and went back. The angels knew better. They fed
each other the nectar, one by one, the drinker not having to bend his
elbow. Hence, by parasparam bhavayantaha or by mutually
nourishing each other, they became immortal.

We have to start with prayer, and God will answer it, like a lover
initiates, and the beloved completes the loving. Prayer is a surrender
to the spiritual beauty within, and the material beauty without. In such
a beauty of surrender there is the beauty of prayer. When our whole
being is offered as a prayer, a tremendous wakefulness opens up
within. It leads to prachodayat or enlightenment.

Somebody asked a master, "What should I do in order to be

enlightened?" The master answered, "As much as you can do to make
the sun rise and set." Then the student asked. "Then what is the use of
all the spiritual practices?" The master answered, "Only to make sure
that you are awake when the sun rises, and remain awake until the sun
sets." Enlightenment is a wake-up call, to make our consciousness
awake. Hence prachodayat.

To another enquiry about enlightenment, the master replied, "You

have just to see." "Is there a special type of seeing?" "No, an ordinary
type of seeing." "Seeing what?" "See the flower, see the stars, see the
moon." The student said, "I have been seeing them." The master said,
"In order to see, you must be awake. Enlightenment is awakening the
inner consciousness. When this inner consciousness is awake, you
will be free from sorrow."

Now, what is enlightenment? Listen carefully. Enlighten- ment is

understanding the fact: There is an inner man, and an outer man.
When the outer man is in conflict with the inner man, there is
bitterness. With bitterness, you can never experience the poetry and
the beauty of life. If you look deep within, there is always a conflict
between the inner and the external man.

Listen to another story: There was a monk who lived in the

Himalayas, chanting mantras and meditating, having renounced the
world. But within him another mantra went on: "Oh, I am wasting my
time. I am not enjoying the pleasures that a normal man enjoys in the
world." Thus, it was his inner mantra, even when outwardly he was
chanting spiritual mantras. Thus he was constantly in conflict between
the inner and the outer.

Once the monk heard a lady singing a song: "Oh Lord, what can I
offer you but the honesty of my song? Whether my song is good or
bad, it is honest, authentic. It is this authenticity I am offering to you,
oh Lord." When the monk heard the lady's song, he realised that he
had not been honest, but inwardly false and outwardly different. He
renounced his falseness. Then a magical bridge was created between
the inner and the outer. In that bridge there was the experience of
inner oneness with the outer. This experience of authenticity enables
inner awakening. Authenticity, not by the arrogance of the intellect
but by the innocence of the heart.

Listen to yet another story: There is an innocent man who prays to

God: "Oh Lord, I do not know how to pray, but one thing I know, that
I love you with all my heart." So he repeats from A to Z all the
alphabets, and tells God to join them and make the right kind of
prayer. Then God says that this was one of the best prayers a devotee
had offered to him. It is in this innocence there is an inner oneness
that leads to enlightenment. Hence, dhiyo means our intellect, and nah
prachodayat, let our intellect be enlightened. With this inner
awakening, one looks at existence from a different angle altogether.

Dattatreya, the son of Anusuya, even when a young man, was very
wise. A student asked him, "Who is your guru?" He replied, "The sun
is my guru, the moon is my guru, the fire is my guru. My whole
existence has become my guru." The student asked, "How is the sun
your guru?" Dattatreya answered, "Look at the sun. It gives light, but
is not contaminated by what it lights up, such as the gutters of the
world. This is what I have learned from the sun. I can live in this
world, and not be contaminated by it. Thus the sun is my guru."

Savituhu is the inner sun, the spiritual consciousness within that lights
the mind, and its thoughts and emotions, but is not influenced by
them, just as the sun is not affected by what it lights up.

Another important aspect of enlightenment is understanding who I

am. If you ask who I am, you find that you are more than your body,
because the body is seen by a seer within. You are not the thoughts,
because the thoughts are seen by a seer within. You are not the
intellect, because the intellectual knowledge is derived by a seer
within. Therefore, if you closely see, the body is sun, as also your
thoughts and emotions are the sun. There is the drik, the seer, the
inner sun, that is not affected by what it enlightens in the waking state
and the dream state, and keeps the life-giving energy alive in the
deep-sleep state.

The words bhuh, bhuvah and swaha refer to these three states of
consciousness. The monosyllabic sound Om stands for turiya or the
fourth, transcendental state, while giving life to the three states of
consciousness. If you anchor yourself in turiya, you will see that you
are just a witness to your thoughts and emotions which come and go.
But you do not come and go, you remain steady in a state of
awareness.

In the Gayatri mantra we meditate on Om, the sun, to enlighten

increasingly more our earthly consciousness. This is indeed
prachodayat, to look at life from a wider spiritual perspective. We try
to overcome insecurity, which makes us suffer. The constant changing
phases of life make us insecure. If we do not accept this fact, change
becomes a surprise. We are not prepared to face it. The Gayatri
mantra gives us the wisdom to find security in an insecure world. It
helps us to overcome inner conflicts. We learn to live our life
spontaneously, as is the case with our breathing.

Now, how should one chant the Gayatri mantra? Rhythmically. It has
to be learned from a teacher with a Sanskrit background. It should be
chanted when the sun rises, standing in front of the sun with closed
eyes, if it is a prayer to savituhu or the external sun. If it is a prayer to
the inner sun, it can be repeated at any time. In the early morning,
facing the rising sun, with closed eyes, chant at least seven times, just
loud enough for you to hear.

The mantra can be chanted once each, concentrating on the chakras,

beginning from the muladhara, then swadhisthana, manipura, anahata,
vishuddha, agnya and sahasrara, or correspondingly at the base or end
of the spine; below the navel; on level with the navel within the
abdomen; in the heart; inside the throat; between the eyebrows; and
inside the middle of the head.

The Gayatri mantra also should be chanted facing the setting sun, at
least seven times. The rays of the rising and setting sun are supposed
to be good for the body. It is equally valuable to chant the mantra any
time of the day or night, semi-loudly being the best way, but can be
said mentally as well.

If you are chanting the mantra inside a room, make sure that you put a
mat or a comfortable seat, on which to sit only for prayers, so that the
mantra has an appropriate place to generate its vibrations. No one else
should sit on it, so as not to affect the energy field. If the weather is
not too hot, the body should be covered by a shawl to retain its
warmth. The most important factors are devotion, sincerity and
commitment.
 AN INTERVIEW WITH

SWAMI SHIVAPREMANANDA

By Jane Sill, Editor: Yoga and Health'

Jane Sill: I have your brief biographical resume, but a fuller account
of your stay at the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh, your duties there,
your memories of Swami Sivananda as to how he taught, etc., would
be interesting. Also, perhaps, some information about the main
purpose of the Ashram (The Divine Life Society), its aims and
aspirations, and how they are being carried on today.

Swami Shivapremananda: I joined the Sivananda Ashram when I was

20 years old, straight from college, a raw youth, rather naive. It was
the mystique of the Himalayas and the stories about the knights errant
of the spirit who went there to find themselves-how far they
succeeded is another question-and to search for a meaning of what life
was about, that drew me. Swami Sivananda was not a mystic, but a
down-to-earth, practical teacher with a striking personality. It was a
counterbalance to my dead-serious yet romantic approach that I
needed. What I liked most about him were his broad-minded,
universal vision, immense tolerance and understanding of the
difference of opinions of others and the foibles of human nature, his
total freedom from any religious or sectarian bias. He gave us the
liberty of conscience to think and express ourselves, without imposing
or requiring to conform to his ideas.

My first duties at the Ashram were in the circulation department of

The Divine Life magazine of which I became editor four years later
and soon as a junior private secretary to Swami Sivananda, partly
answering his correspondence and doing some subeditorial work. His
teaching method was mainly by personal example, although in the
early years of my stay, after the morning meditation class, he spoke
for about three quarters of an hour on the practical aspects of spiritual
life, sometimes pointing out the shortcomings he had earlier noticed
in some of us, without mentioning any name, but we knew of course
who he was referring to. He never reproached us but instructed
indirectly how we could go about correcting ourselves. The methods
of sadhana (spiritual exercise) we learned from his books. We also
learned a great deal from his manner of handling the problems of our
egos, as they cropped up occasionally, and from his conversation with
the visitors.

Swami Sivananda passed away in 1963 at the age of 76, when I was
in Milwaukee in the United States, in charge of the Sivananda Yoga-
Vedanta Centre which I had organised two years earlier as per his
wish. The main purpose of the umbrella organisation, The Divine Life
Society, which Swamiji (as we called him) had founded in 1936, is
the dissemination of the integral teachings of yoga and their practical
application in daily life for a better understanding and improvement
of human nature and relationship, for self-knowledge and self-
realisation. Having been a medical doctor for 10 years (from 1913 to
1923 in Malaya, now Malaysia) before he became a swami, he was
also concerned about the alleviation of physical suffering and, thus,
started a charitable dispensary (now an adequately- equipped hospital)
and a pharmaceutical works in his Ashram which he initially called
Ananda Kutir or joy-permeated cottage.

Being in the West since more than 30 years, every time I go back to
the Ashram I find the activities started by Swamiji are continually
expanding. His concern was for the betterment of the body, mind and
spirit, for which daily classes on Hatha Yoga, meditation and yoga
philosophy and psychology are available at the Ashram's Yoga-
Vedanta Academy. There are temples for worship and opportunities
for Karma Yoga (selfless service) at the Ashram's hospital, printing
press, publishing and despatching offices, also at the main kitchen
which feeds some 500 persons daily. The Ashram helps to run three
leprosariums, situated a few miles away, and gives scholarships to
numerous students in India. The floating number of visitors who come
there for short or longer periods of stay exceed one hundred. About
200 novices and monks reside there permanently and there are some
100 paid employees. The Divine Life Society also conducts spiritual
retreats periodically at the Ashram and Yoga Camps and medical
relief camps all over India.
JS: Can you give a bit more information about your life and
experiences after leaving India, your work in South America and your
impressions on yoga there, mentioning the enormous diversity of the
southern continent?

SS: In 1961, after leaving India, on my way to the United States,

where Swami Sivananda had deputed me to spread the teachings of
yoga I spent a month on a lecture tour in Switzerland, Hamburg and
London. Until the end of 1963 1 conducted the activities of the
Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre in the midwestern city of
Milwaukee, very insular and conservative. Meanwhile, I went on an
extensive lecture tour of the west coast from Vancouver to San Diego,
which was more open-minded. In 1962, invited by a group of people
interested in yoga and deputed by Swami Sivananda from Rishikesh, I
went to South America for the first time, to found the Sivananda
Yoga-Vedanta Centre in Buenos Aires, and also guided for a few
months the incipient activities of the same organisation in
Montevideo, Uruguay, which Swami Chidananda, now president of
the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, had informally started in 1961.
Then I returned to Milwaukee. Subsequently, from 1964 to 1970, I
was director of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre in New York,
which was earlier formed by Swami Vishnudevananda.

While being based in New York, I went back to Buenos Aires and
Montevideo, from time to time, to guide the activities of the Centres
there. During my second visit to South America, in 1965, I founded
the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre in Santiago, Chile, and
reorganised the Centre in Montevideo. After 1970, I stayed for
increasingly longer periods of time in these three South American
Centres but went on lecture tours almost every year, and since the
1980s once in two years, to the United States and Europe. Now I am
based in Buenos Aires and guide the activities of the Centre there and
those of Montevideo and Santiago for up to three months at a time in
each place as their president and rector.

In the United States the culture is basically oriented to Anglo-Saxon,

Protestant values, as in Britain, whereas in South America the cultural
pattern is generally Catholic and Latin European in Argentina,
Uruguay and Chile, specifically. In the rest of South America it is
Latin American, i.e., Latin Europeans mixed with American Indians
have formed a distinct cultural milieu. I am not very well acquainted
with the latter, since I have been only on a few lecture tours in Brazil,
Venezuela, Colombia and Peru. I have visited Bolivia and Paraguay
as a tourist and have not been to Ecuador and Central America.

As you say, in South America there is a great deal of diversity, in

ethnical mix, culture, climate and geography. The high Andean
mountains are fascinating. The Iguazu falls are much larger than the
Niagras. Brazil is Portuguese speaking (the rest of Latin America
being Spanish speaking) and has a polyglot culture and racial mix,
descendents of Portuguese colonisers mixed with the descendents of
Negro slaves and, to a lesser extent, with the American Indians. There
are also large segments of thriving Italian and German communities
in southern Brazil where the climate is milder rather than mostly
tropical and subtropical as in the rest, of the country. Venezuelans are
also a polyglot of Spanish descendents mixed with Negroes and
American Indians in a lush, tropical country with shades of Caribbean
culture superimposed on that of the Spanish colonisers. In Colombia
the racial and cultural mix is Spanish, overwhelming the American
Indian.

The full-blooded American Indians one sees in large majority in

Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru, as well as in the Amazonas of Brazil.
However, in all these countries the ruling class is of European
descent. In the southern cone, where I reside, the climate is temperate,
as in the south of France. In Buenos Aires the culture is mainly
European. It is the most cosmopolitan city in South America and the
second largest after Sao Paulo. Forty percent of the Argentines are of
Italian descent, the second largest ethnical block is of Spanish origin
and the rest consists of German, East European and, to a lesser extent,
of British descent. In Uruguay the ethnical pattern is about the same.
Eighty percent of the people in these two countries consider
themselves middle class. The Chileans are mainly of Spanish origin
and the second largest group is of German descent, there being also a
sprinkling of East Europeans. Many Chileans are of mixed origin, as
also about 20% of the Argentines, i.e.. Spaniards mixed with
American Indians.

Except in the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo,

yoga is more popular and widespread in Argentina, Uruguay and
Chile than in other South American countries, percentagewise. In the
Buenos Aires area alone there are over 40 yoga groups, the Sivananda
Yoga-Vedanta Centre being the largest with about 900 active
members (in the 1980s). The second largest is the same organisation
in Montevideo and by far the largest in Uruguay, with an active
membership of over 600 (ie., those attending classes at least once a
week). Our Santiago Centre is smaller but still the largest in Chile.
Hatha Yoga is the main draw, as in Europe and the United States, but
there is a greater interest in the spiritual and philosophical aspects of
yoga in these three South American countries than what I have seen in
the USA and Europe.

Although 27 weekly Hatha Yoga classes are given in the two

buildings of the Buenos Aires Centre, over a hundred students attend
each of my weekly philosophy and meditation (satsanga) classes. At
the Montevideo Centre 20 Hatha Yoga classes are given weekly and
over 80 students attend each of the philosophy and meditation classes.
The attendance at the Santiago Centre is smaller. Each of these
Centres are registered as non-profit church organisations and run by a
board of directors (council members) and office-bearers. There are
also between 20 and 30 staff members in each Centre, consisting of
Hatha Yoga instructors and secretaries whose voluntary work,
including that of the others, has enabled us to have our own buildings
with ample space to conduct the activities.

JS: What is the origin of yoga?

SS: No one can be sure when yoga originated in India. Some teachers
claim that it has a pre-Aryan beginning, i.e., in the Indus Valley
civilization which flourished between four and five thousand years
ago, but there is no hard evidence. Yoga is a Sanskrit word, the
language of the Aryan tribes who came to India from the northwest
nearly 4,000 years ago. The word, derived from the root yuj (to unite)
means "union" of the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of one's
being. The English word yoke may also have come from yuj. The
earliest teachings of yoga are found in the Vedas, mainly as Gyana
Yoga, although Hatha Yoga may have an earlier origin, not as a
system of physical culture but to develop psychic powers as a part of
Kundalini Yoga. However, there is no hard evidence. By the time the
Bhagavad Gita was composed nearly 3,000 years ago (the present
version having been written in the first century B.C.), the spiritual and
contemplative aspects of yoga were already well defined.

JS: How would you describe yoga?

SS: As a philosophy of life, with which to develop a sense of being,

our spiritual identity, self-knowledge through a psychological
understanding, to shape motivation, sublimate emotions and passions,
cultivate a balanced state of mind, deepen our relationships with each
other and acquire good health by the practice of asana and pranayama.
A tall order, indeed.

JS: What is the relationship, if any, between yoga and Hinduism?

SS: Hinduism is a religion which, like any other religion, consists of

three basic aspects: mythology, rituals, and moral and spiritual
teachings. Yoga has no mythology. It has no specific rituals but
universal prayers for the welfare of all and as expressions of one's
spiritual aspiration, although in some yoga groups oriented to
Hinduism rituals pertinent to it are performed. The only common
aspect of yoga with religion is its moral and spiritual philosophy but
without any dogmatism. The goal of any wholesome religion, which
does not claim to have exclusive telephone lines to God, is the same
as that of yoga. Religion means re-ligare or to re-tie, reunite, and yuj
means to unite the individual with the universal, the material with the
spiritual, meaning an integration of the various facets of life, of
humanity with each other and with a common, transcendental source
of being.

JS: Is there one ultimate truth accessible through the practice of yoga
and is it equally accessible via other systems such as different
religious beliefs?
10 SS: The only thing I can say about one ultimate truth is that it is
ultimate nonsense, if there can be an ultimate nonsense. Truth is
infinite and therefore endless. Truth is universal and therefore
accessible to all. It is neither one nor many in the sense of
separateness, but universal with a common convergence (and as such
the term "one" is used) in an ever-widening state of consciousness. In
a dogmatic mind its understanding is limited. In a broadening vision
its perception is far-reaching and profound. In the relativity of its
application its aspiration is transcendental. When one arrives at the
door of a clear vision of truth, a new door in the distance opens up
and beckons for a greater spiritual understanding. However, truth
must begin with the requisite of what it exactly means, veritas, verify.
Then try to deepen your realisation of its meaning.

JS: Do you believe in saints?

SS: Saints are created on earth but they dwell in the heaven, i.e., in
the idealised vision of some people to inspire, pray to in times of need
for help. Haven't you heard the Russian joke? Two women happened
to meet in a park and started talking. One said, "My husband is an
angel." The other replied, "You are lucky! Mine is still alive." Of
course there are saintly people with surpassing spiritual qualities, but
to expect someone to be perfect and free from any residual human
deficiency is to ask for the moon.

JS: Do you see the West's contribution to the understanding and

practice of yoga having a beneficial effect upon the practitioners in
the East? Do you believe that yoga can help promote an East-West
synthesis, providing humanity with a means to improve and evolve
itself to a higher state of development and create a greater harmony in
the world at every level?

SS: It is a tall order. The West has certainly contributed a lot to the
practice of Hatha Yoga through a better knowledge of how the body
functions and how the different asanas and pranayamas, etc., have
their effect on it. The claim by some Indians as well as copycat
western authors of books on Hatha Yoga that this and that posture and
breathing exercise will cure this and that disease is not only stupid but
unethical, due to the lack of an adequate clinical data. The medical
science and Hatha Yoga can surely benefit mutually by therapeutical
use of the postures and breathing exercises under strict supervision.

The western culture, as a product of the age of reason and built on the
foundation of Protestant ethics, can surely consolidate the application
of the spiritual teachings of yoga and make them more effective.
Eastern mysticism can deepen western values such as responsibility
and work ethic, and the otherworldliness of yoga can compensate for
the rampant materialism in the West, at least to some extent,
hopefully.)

JS: Is knowledge derived from yoga in one's consciousness finite, i.e.,

all that is knowable is known through self-realisation, or as in other
sciences is knowledge constantly growing and becoming more
defined?

SS: Knowledge is infinite and therefore has to grow constantly

whether derived through the teachings of yoga or by the experimental
means of other sciences. Knowledge, in order to be applicable, has to
be defined. Definition is a discipline imperative to understanding. Its
dimensions have, however, to be constantly widened through spiritual
aspiration. The human mind that has produced all the scriptures,
including the Vedas, is very limited indeed. It has caught only some
glimpses of the endless light of truth or spiritual realities of existence,
just as "scientists have picked up some pebbles of knowledge from
the ocean shores strewn with an infinite number of such pebbles," as
Sir Isaac Newton is said to have remarked.

JS: Do the laws of yoga as described in the scriptures apply to the

whole universe or just a part of it?

SS: I only know a little bit about the planet earth we inhabit in a solar
system of a medium-size star in one of the outer arms of the spiral
galaxy called the Milky Way, in which there are a hundred billion
stars, the Milky Way itself being just one of the fifty to a hundred
billion galaxies (according to the English physicist Stephen
Hawking). The natural laws of what is in existence have only limited
universality and time-dimensional validity or truth, such as the moon
whirling around the earth a couple of billion years ago had a different
velocity and at a different distance. So also the laws of yoga or the
laws of the Old Testament have a limited universality, i.e., at best
relative to the life we know on earth within a time frame. The British
author J.R. Ackerley once wrote to a friend, "I am half way through
Genesis, and quite appalled by the disgraceful behaviour of all the
characters involved, including God." (Quoted by Lance Morrow in
Time, June 10, 1991.)

JS: What is a swami? Does the term vary according to different

traditions and how does this relate to what is happening today,
especially in the West?

SS: A swami is a title generally given to a Hindu monk and relatively

recently extended to others not owing allegiance to any particular
religion. He is like a Catholic monk and usually belongs to one of the
ten orders (now a few of them not extant) which were organised by
the eighth-century Gyana Yogi Shankaracharya. A swami is
traditionally ordained by the Guru or the abbot of an Ashram after
having stayed there as a novice for several years (the Ramakrishna
Order requires 10 years, approximately), learning some of the basic
scriptures, including the major Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita,
and engaging in selfless service and devotional practices such as
prayers and meditation. Centuries ago these orders were supervised
by four regional Shankaracharyas based in Jyotirmath (in the
Himalayas) for the northern area, Sringeri in the South, Puri in the
East and Dwaraka in the West. It was done through many Ashrams
affiliated to these four regional headquarters.

The Shankaracharyas are still elected and continue to preside over

their seats of theoretically spiritual but not institutional authority. Not
many ashrams owe their allegiance to them. Ashrams in India are
generally autonomous and are headed individually by a guru or abbot.
Swami Vivekananda, at the end of the last century, founded the
Ramakrishna Order in the name of his late guru, although Sri
Ramakrishna was initiated by a monk of the Puri order. Swami
Sivananda belonged to the Saraswati Order, owing its spiritual
allegiance to the Sringeri headquarters, but institutionally none at all.
As disciples ordained by Swami Sivananda we belong to the
Saraswati Order, but only in a spiritual sense. Our bonafides as that of
any others calling themselves Swamis-depend on how we conduct
ourselves and on the reputation of the ashram we were trained at.
 SETTING UP YOUR OWN YOGA SESSION

By Ronald Hutchinson, the late Editor of 'Yoga Today monthly

magazine, published formerly in the U.K.

Swami Shivapremananda politely balanced a teacup English style

until he found that he needed both hands to talks about asanas. He
then disposed of the cup and quietly slipped into part of a Lotus
position which left him cosily balanced in a posture which he
obviously prefers to sitting western style.

Apart from the Lotus seat, the Swamiji looks rather like a youngish
university don who knows a great deal but has not had the time to
grow fusty and bookish. He talks fluently in a very perfect mid
Atlantic English which occasionally slips from New York to London
and back, which is not surprising, considering that he spent much of
his school days at an English school but has been teaching in New
York for the last ten years. He doesn't really look old enough to have
done all this but he is in fact also a director of yoga studies in South
America. He has about him that timeless air that seems to hover over
genuine yoga teachers.

With his background of western schooling and a Christian education,

Swami Shivapremananda probably understands better than any other
Indian swami the problems which beset the westerner who comes to
yoga. Not for him the traditional shaven head and the saffron robe. He
pads around in neatly creased terylene trousers and a tweed jacket and
his concession to the saffron coloured robe extends only so far as
wearing an orange coloured cotton gown when he lectures.

The Swamiji had just finished taking a course of beginners, when he

sat down to balance his teacup and talk about how to set up a yoga
session. He is absolutely clear about the first simple and even obvious
rule which gets broken quicker and more often in the west than all the
other recommendation put together.

"The body gives the rule" said the Swamiji, "What you do and how
much you try to do is governed by what your individual body is
capable of doing. There is no point in assaulting yourself.
"There are some practices given by various teachers which are in my
opinion too extreme. It is not necessary to be a con- tortionist to
practise yoga. Of course, many of the movements are strange at first
and many people are stiff, but do not think that this stiffness is
confined to the western world; there are just as many stiff bodies in
India as there are in the west. It takes time for people to become
attuned but one thing must always be clear, it is the body which sets
the rule.

"When you are ready to do a pose, your body will adapt to it.
Remember it should be possible to hold asanas without strain."

There it is, the besetting sin of most beginners in the west is that we
try too hard. It really is important to understand that there is nothing
wrong with not being able to do some of the postures right off. It is no
sin. You have not failed in any way. It is enough that you have made
the attempt, so long as you put your heart into it.

So you have to strike a balance between trying with all your will and
concentration but without bullying yourself. Yoga is a path of self-
development, and the operative word is 'self". It is your personally
who must ultimately decide how far and fast to go. Because one
teacher may say do a thing five times and another fifty times, there is
no reason to take either of them as gospel. Five repeats may be too
much for one person and fifty too few for another, only the individual
himself can know. It is really a form of lessons in responsibility.

The Swamiji went on to say that he tried to set his postures into
groups of patterns, each group of patterns, providing a sort of
miniature balanced session, but before any session began there should
be a short preparation.

PREPARING YOURSELF

Preparation is simplicity itself. The first step is to relax and to dismiss

from the mind all things other than the session you are about to enjoy.
If you can adopt a cross-legged pose, then you can relax in that.
The next thing is to loosen the shoulders. The Swamiji said: "The
great majority of people come to classes with tension in the back of
the neck-the medulla oblongata and around the shoulders. You should
try and get rid of this before your start or the breathing will not be
free."

To begin this loosening, the Swamiji advises simple arm movements.

Raise the arm sideways above the head and then lower them down.
Raise them in front of you, bend the elbows and pull them in a few
times. Or put the arms out together straight in front of you at shoulder
height then open them outwards as though you were doing a swallow
dive.

When the stretching has been done you can sit in a cross-legged
posture and begin by chanting Om three times.

At this some people are going to say "Chant Om?" The answer is
"Yes, chant Om", if you can do so without causing yourself
difficulties. Only you can judge if it matters that someone in a next
door bedsitter may think you are a sinister 'nut'. Fortunately Om can
be sounded very quietly and there is a sound reason for this chanting
even if you are not concerned with the bigger spiritual aspect of yoga.

Chanting the sound Om (pronounced as in 'home') will help you. Om

is considered to be the sound of infinity. By making this sound, you
tune yourself into the music of the universe.

You can disregard this explanation if you like, but the chanting of Om
is valid as a mark in time. It acts as a dividing line between the
preliminaries and the session proper. From the moment you have
chanted Om, you should think of nothing but the asanas you are
doing.

THE SESSION ITSELF

"You must balance your flexing," said the Swamiji. "I do not believe
in those sequences where for example the Cobra, the Locust and the
Bow all follow one another. I believe you should balance the flexing
so that if one asana bends the spine forward, the next one should bend
it back, and the same thing of course applies to the other movements.
If you bend to the left, then you must also bend to the right, twist left,
twist right, and so on."

"The Shoulder Stand should normally be followed by the Fish pose,

and another thing," said the Swamiji warming to his subject. "I don't
believe that people should necessarily stay absolutely still when they
are in some of the postures, particularly the upside down ones. Once
you can balance in a Shoulder Stand, there is no point in having the
blood drain upwards and then life around in pools. You can move
your legs about, shake your knees, bring your legs down one at a time
either straight or diagonally above your head. That is, if you are in the
Shoulder Stand, you can try to bring your left leg down to your right
shoulder or your right leg to your left shoulder. The other important
thing is that you should try to synchronise the breathing."

So here then are some of the basic rules of setting up a session.

Relaxation, concentration, alternate the flexing positions, synchronise
your breathing the above all allow your own body to tell you when
you have had enough.

Here then is a suggested very short session which could last for about
fifteen minutes and which is laid out using these principles:

1. Relax for five minutes lying flat on your back (Savasana).

2. Stand and stretch the area of the medulla oblongata and the
shoulders by area movements.

3. Sit cross-legged and stabilise your breathing.

4. Chant Om three times.

5. Have two or three minutes of slow abdominal breathing.

6. Change to Kapalabhati, 'bellows' breathing, pushing the air in and

out at the rate of one breath (in and out) per second. About 30 breaths.
Relax.

7. Do the Simple Twist, both sides, synchronise the breath.

8. Then hold the breath and raise yourself smoothly and slowly into
the Shoulder Stand to a count of seven. Resume normal breathing,
remain stationary for a short time and then,

9. Lower and raise the legs individually. First straight up and down,
e.g., right leg to right shoulder, and then diagonally, e.g., right leg to
the left shoulder. Shake the legs.

10. Lower both legs straight together into the Plough posture, if you
can manage it.

11. Unwind yourself slowly and relax flat on your back in Savasana
for a short time.

12. Raise on the elbows to your chest lower yourself into the fish
pose. Hold this for a minute or as long as you can manage. Relax:

13. Lie flat on your back, raise your arms back over your head and
then bring them forward and gradually roll yourself up into a sitting
position and from there bend over to touch your toes. Lie back.

14. Roll over and do the Cobra.

15. Relax face down, roll over and relax face up. Stretch. Sit up.
Stabilise your breathing. You have finished.

This is a very basic format. In the beginning, any session much

shorter than this would hardly be worth doing, but once you are fit
and adept at the postures, even a ten minute session like this will be
enough to maintain health through long periods.
 WHO IS A SWAMI?

The Sanskrit word swami is derived from the root swa, meaning one's
own. Thus, the word originally meant: one who owns something such
as an estate, or being the lord of a realm or even the master of a
household. A Hindu god is sometimes referred to as swami, as in the
designation of a house of worship, Swami Narayan temple, for
example. To South Indian forenames, the word is added as a suffix, as
in Krishnaswami or Ramaswami, even if it does not imply a spiritual
vocation.

In ancient India, life was supposed to be divided into four stages:

Brahmacharya, the first 20 years devoted to study or learning a

vocation and leading a disciplined life of celibacy (child marriage was
a consequence of the Moslem rule since the twelfth century and even
earlier in Sindh, now in Pakistan).

Grihastha, the following 30 years being the married life of a

householder, raising a family, earning a livelihood, the word literally
meaning: one who holds a house.

Vanaprastha, the following 10 years or so, the husband and wife

retiring to a cottage in the forest (vana), and devoting themselves to
spiritual study and discipline.

Sannyasa, when generally the male, after the age of 60, renounced his
possessions and became a monk, presumably the wife returning to one
of her children's homes.

All, however, did not follow the fourth step, probably not even a
fraction of one percent, nor did all take to the third but stayed on as
householders. It is in this fourth, sannyasa stage that the word swami
became a title of a monk, a renunciate. One did not have to go
through the second and third stages, necessarily, but could become a
monk after the first, depending on the spiritual and vocational urge.

The gurukula, school or abode of a guru, had come into vogue at least
3,000 years ago, as that of Vyasa, Vasishtha, Yagnyavalkya, who
were generally married men and called rishis or sages, not to be
confused with sannyasis, although some of them eventually became
so.

The title swami denotes a monk who is a celibate (not married or, if
married earlier, no longer living with his wife), a renunciate, even if
being the head of an ashram, to which the property belongs, and
whose vocation is spiritual ministry. These are the fundamental
requirements of a swami.

Early in the eighth century A.C., the first Shankaracharya organised

the sannyasis into ten orders, some of which are now extinct,
according to their aptitude generally but not indispensably. The
Saraswati order preferred the erudite who interpreted the scriptures
(Swami Sivananda was one of them). The Puri order based their
ministry in urban areas (Ramakrishna's sannyasa guru was a Puri).
The Tirthas served in the pilgrimage centres.

The Giris preferred the fastness of the mountains, as did the

Aranyakas and Vanams the seclusion of the forest, devoted to a life of
contemplation like the Trappists. The Bharatis generally came from
the upper level of the social order, although sannyasis are supposed to
be classless.

Ashrams existed in India since nearly 2,000 years before the first
Shankaracharya, but it was he who established four regional
headquarters to supervise them and the orders, and generally the
Hindu religious ethos. Each was headed by a senior swami with the
title of Shankaracharya: for the northern region at
Badrinath/Joshimath in the central Himalayas, for the South at
Sringeri in Karnataka, for the East at Puri in Orissa, and for the West
at Dwaraka in Gujarat. Many sannyasis continued to be itinerant and
typically autonomous. There never was a supreme pontiff.

However, the authority of the regional Shankaracharyas gradually

waned as most of northern India came under the sway of Moslem
rule, spearheaded by the Turko-Afghan invaders. with Arab clergy,
since the late twelfth and early thirteenth century. The ashrams
became gradually autonomous, under the authority of their founding
gurus and designated and/or elected successors. The married gurus, in
addition, continued to have their ashrams. The word guru is generally
translated as the remover (gu) of darkness (ru), by implication, of
ignorance.

No record is found as to when the suffix ananda designated an

ordained monk. Since the late seventeenth century, however, one
comes across names such as Samartha Ramdas, the guru of the
famous Maratha king Shivaji. Some like Swami Rama Tirtha and
Swami Tapovanam did not use the suffix ananda, although most of
the ordained monks use it these days.

Apart from the vocational aptitude and the vows of celibacy and
renunciation, spiritual aspiration is the fundamental requisite of a
swami. He is equivalent to a Catholic monk. The vow of obedience to
the abbot or guru is implicit as long as he lives in the ashram and the
guru is alive, or to the current head of the order, as in the case of the
well-organised Ramakrishna Mission based in Belur, near Calcutta.
The Catholic monk's vow of permanent residence in a monastery does
not apply to all swamis, some of whom could be itinerant monks.

Except this order, there is hardly any supervisory organisation in India

on par with the Catholic orders, so that it is difficult to rely on the
trained background of a swami or his or her vocational authenticity.
The Ramakrishna Mission requires four years of probation and the
next four years as a confirmed novice (brahmachari) before being
considered for ordination as a swami and adding the suffix ananda to
the name. It is mainly to make sure of the vocational aptitude through
years of service, spiritual discipline and acquiring a basic knowledge
of the scriptures.

The title swami also means one who is vocationally a spiritual teacher
like the rabbi, although being a celibate and a renunciate.

In a spiritual sense, the word means one who tries to attain mastery
over oneself.
The various shades of the saffron robe indicate the colour of fire, as a
symbol of the aspiration to attain enlightenment and remove the dross
of earthly desires.

In the West, the title swami and the suffix ananda are often used with
astonishingly unabashed superficiality and, in many instances, with
unscrupulous complicity of swamis from India. It is for the public to
evaluate the integrity of the swamis, which is fundamental to any
religious vocation, by the kind of life they lead and the ethical and
moral principles of the institutions they guide.

The Biblical verity that human beings are made of clay is very
appropriate, into which God breathed his spirit (in the Genesis it is
said that we are all made in his image). As a life-principle or prana,
yes, but as a dormant soul, his image, the atman, it remains to be
awakened. Made of clay as we all are, it is all the more paramount for
the swamis to try to measure up to that ideal, as best as possible,
through integrity, unselfish love, humility of spirit, altruism and
sublimation of earthly desires and carnal passions.

Avoiding bombastic titles, which is for the posterity to give, and not
going around like a canary in public places where people are not used
to the robe, speak of a delicate mien.
 WHAT IS PRANA?

Generally-speaking prana is the energy principle within all that exists,

sentient or insentient.

Prana, as understood in the word pranayama, may simply be

translated as a vital force which is of the nature of electrical impulse
that emanates from the brain and sustains all the activities of the body
and mind. It can also be called perceptible and imperceptible life-
force, perceptible such as in breathing and heartbeat, and
imperceptible as energy automatically flowing through the nerves to
enable the functioning of the different organs of the body, and also the
thinking and remembering process.

Nearly a thousand years ago, or perhaps even earlier, yogis like

Swatmarama speculated about this pranic activity and specified its
five functions. One should not, however, take them literally but
consider the rudimentary level of neurological knowledge in the
early-medieval India and not repeat parrot-like what was said in the
books such as Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita and Shiva
Samhita. Their contents should be interpreted in terms of today's
physiology.

Considering how limited the understanding of physiology was in

Europe as recently as only two hundred years ago, the speculative
insight in these works is remarkable.

Although the word pranayama is translated sometimes as restraint

(yama) of breath (prana), its actual meaning is lengthening or
prolonging (ayama) the breath, according to Swatmarama. It generally
means, however, harmonising and regulating the two aspects of pranic
energy flowing through the nervous system: passive (ida) and
dynamic (pingala), yin and yang, anabolic and catabolic, ha (sun) and
tha (moon).

There is no physical nerve called ida or pingala but the terms may be
considered to refer to the flow of these two types of energy impulse.
This harmonising process is also mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita (IV,
29) as 'the outer breath flowing into the inward breath and vice versa,
the aim of pranayama being the harmony of breath, flowing in and out
peacefully."

Five Pranas

The five functions of the pranic activity are divided as: prana, samana,
vyana, apana and udana. Swatmarama grades them differently, but
this order as well as a rather non- traditional interpretation are meant
to give a better under- standing of how prana functions in stages.

1. Prana. The prana in the air (oxygen-nitrogen) is breathed in to

exchange and nourish the forms of energy called samana and vyana,
flowing through the bloodstream to sustain all the organs and cells of
the body. This constant replenishing process continues until death,
discharging from the lungs used-up energy (apana) and filling them
up with fresh supply (prana). The yogis of medieval India observed
that this prana is located in the chest (although all the five pranas are
actually located in the brain).

2. Samana. It serves the assimilative process of converting another

form of outer energy such as in food through the glandular system,
mainly by digestive activity, and also to nourish metabolically all the
organs and cells of the body. Its location was observed in the upper
abdomen.

3. Vyana. The converted nutritive energy has to circulate freely to

enable such a nourishment. Thus, the circulatory function made
possible by the pumping of the heart muscles is called vyana, an
infiltering process. It was thought to be located all over the body.

4. Apana. Having converted the energy from the outer prana through
food-intake (samana), circulating it through the blood-stream (vyana)
and purifying it through oxygenation (prana), the residual waste
matter has to be eliminated. This eliminatory type of energy impulse
is called apana, such as in the peristaltic movement in the small and
large intestines, cleansing of the blood in the kidneys resulting in
urine, the perspiration of the sweat glands, and discharging of carbon-
dioxide. Its location, the yogis presumed, was in the lower abdomen.

5. Udana. The function of this prana was thought to be located in the

head and neck (ud means upward), indicating the brain and brain-
stem. It not only performs the more subtle forms of vital activity, such
as in the endocrinal system, but sustains the thinking and
remembering process, and regulates the unconscious as well.

PRANA IS ALL-PERVASIVE

Prana is found not only in all forms of manifest life, such as in living
beings and plants, but also in stones, waters and air. Some stones
'breathe' better and, therefore, look more alive than the others. Some
waters 'breathe' more when not clogged-up by vegetation and, thus,
look more limpid. Some airs are charged with refreshing positive
prana and some emanate negative energy as in a certain type of wind
blowing from mountains.

The five vital pranas owe their existence to the atmic prana or the
dormant individual consciousness of the spirit within, also called soul.

The universal form of prana is cosmic energy (prakriti). It exists in the

space. In the sunlight there is prana, as also in the electro-magnetic
force, gravity, and in the strong and weak forces of the atomic nucleus
of matter. Behind this universal Prana is the transcendental,
immeasurable spiritual force called purusha.

From the universal prana is born akasha or ether, from akasha vayu
(air or gases), from vayu agni (fire) and apas (liquid matter) through
combustion and condensation, and from apas prithvi or solid matter.

From purusha is born the individual spirit or soul (jivatma), from

jivatma manas or the mind, from manas prana or the vital force, and
finally from prana or the body sharira.

Thus, within the physical body is the vital force, within the vital force
the unconscious, subconscious and conscious mind (antar-chitta,
vahir-chitta and manas), within the mind is the microcosm (vigyana)
of the universal consciousness (macrocosm), and within vigyana is
ananda or spiritual plenum.

The body is the chariot, the five senses are the horses, the five reins
are the vital pranas, the mind is the driver, and the rider is the
individual soul. Roads are the value system or the paths of life one
chooses. The negative paths give a bumpy ride, and the positive ways
a smoother journey. Horses do not move without the urging of the
reins, the reins do not move without the prompting of the driver, and
the driver directs according to the order of the rider.
 PRACTICE OF MEDITATION

(TRANSCRIPTION OF A TAPE)

Preparation: Posture and becoming aware of the breath

We will begin the practice of meditation in a few simple steps. But,

first of all, sit in a comfortable position. If you are sitting in a chair,
the feet should be together, knees together, back straight, without
being rigid, neck and head are also straight, hands can be in your lap,
one palm facing up above the other palm. Close your eyes. Feel
peaceful, restful, detached. You are not trying to do anything, not
even trying to meditate. There is no predisposition to do anything, just
feeling detached and relaxed. Your breath is spontaneous as the lungs
need to breathe. Now try to be aware of the breath, the inflow you
experience by the feeling of its coolness inside the upper nostrils and,
gradually, deep inside the head you feel a cool sensation also. As you
exhale, try to feel the warmth of the outflow of the breath inside the
lower nostrils. Slowly the mind becomes deeply absorbed in the
experience, that is the external form of the breath. The purpose of
experiencing the external prana or the breath is to be aware of the
internal prana which is the spirit or the life-force within. To breathe in
Latin is spirare and it is possible on account of the presence of the
spirit within. In yoga too, to be aware of the breath is to be aware of
the spirit within. The psychological counterpart of the experience of
the breath, that is the experience of the spiritual content of our being,
is primarily through a sense of inner peace usually associated with the
inflow of the breath and the experience of a sense of freedom
associated with the outflow of the breath. So for the first minute, we
shall try to train the mind to feel the breath with complete attention.
The coolness inside the head and the warmth inside the nostrils.
Breathing spontaneously. You are not trying to breathe deliberately
slowly, but spontaneously. As a result of concentration, the breathing
becomes automatically slower than normal. The concentration is
gentle. You are not forcing the mind to do anything, just being aware
of the breath.

la. First Step: Cultivating a Disposition, 'Peace and Freedom

Now, together with the awareness of the external breath, the coolness
and the warmth, we try to meditate on inner peace and an inner state
of spiritual freedom. These are the two characteristics of the
expression of the spiritual content of our being, that is a profound
inner calm, in a state of freedom which is to say, the mind being
totally free from any state of bondage, anxiety, any conflict. Feeling
like a free soul, like a liberated soul, liberated from all that which is
negative, deeply immersed in the peace of the soul, feeling like a free
soul. That is the first part of meditation. You are continuously aware
of the inflow and the outflow of the breath. Now we have to guide the
spiritual feeling with the help of two words, peace as you inhale and
freedom as you exhale. In Sanskrit, for those who want to, shanti
inhaling, mukti exhaling, but it is better to repeat in your own
language these two words to guide the spiritual feeling of this part of
meditation.

Naturally thoughts will come and go but the best way is not to try to
prevent thinking by resisting thought. When a thought comes, when
you become aware of thinking of something else, you say to yourself,
I am now feeling profoundly peaceful. I am a free soul'. And, once
again, go back to the mental repetition of these two words, 'peace'
inhaling, 'freedom' exhaling. In the course of time, you will not be
needing to repeat these two words. You will just be aware of the state
of inner calm and freedom automatically without verbalisation. Until
then, from time to time repeat these two words, not continuously, only
when thoughts come, 'peace' inhaling and 'freedom' exhaling. And
only when you need to, amplify these two words by the phrases, I am
full of peace, I am a free soul. Now continue.

lb. Addition to the first step: Paripurnam, spiritual fullness; coolness

of the inflow of breath. We have now practised the first step of
meditation for about five minutes. In continuation of the first step,
which is basic, you can also add an extended aspect of the first step,
depending on the time that you have. The mind is again absorbed in
the feeling of the breath, both the inflow and the outflow. Now try to
be aware of only the inflow, that is the coolness experienced inside
the head, exhaling spontaneously, without trying to concentrate on the
warmth of the breath, at the same time, trying to imagine the cool
sensation inside the head. With each inflow, you renew this sense of
coolness, deeper and deeper, raising the sensation inside the top of the
head with each inflow of the breath. Exhaling spontaneously, while
trying to feel the coolness while trying not to be conscious of the
warmth of the breath. The related mantra is, spiritual fullness. In
Sanskrit, it is called paripurnam or transcendental fullness, or total
fullness. You can paraphrase it. When thoughts come to your mind,
'My heart is full of peace, and the short phrase is spiritual fullness
repeated from time to time, associating with the experience of
coolness, continuously deep inside the head, and with each inflow,
trying to renew this sense of coolness. Continue. This optional
extension of the first step is meant to deepen the sense of inner peace.

Ic. Second Optional: Feeling in harmony with the whole of creation,

and expansive with the outflow. There is also another optional
extension of the practice of peace and freedom, to develop an inner
sense of spiritual freedom and that is to feel a sense of unity with the
entire creation with the help of the repetition of a few phrases. Begin
by being aware of the breath, both the inflow and the outflow. Now,
before repeating the affirmations, you may choose one of the two
points of concentration. Either continue to be aware of the inflow and
outflow or, in order to develop concentration, as we tried before to be
aware only of the inflow, that is the coolness, let us only try to be
aware of the outflow, that is at first, the warmth, of the outflow inside
the nostrils, while not trying to concentrate on the coolness of the
inflow. Then try to be aware of the outflow, the warmth inside the
throat and, gradually inside the lungs, inside the chest. And try to be
aware of this outflow continuously, even when you are breathing in,
you try to be aware of this warmth of prana, inside your chest. If you
find it difficult, then just be aware of the inflow and the outflow. This
you at first do for a minute at least, before repeating the following
affirmations. Repeat to yourself, while feeling the breath, 'My breath
is one with the breath of all' or 'I am breathing with all living beings.
From time to time, you repeat this affirmation at least half-a-dozen
times.... 'My breath is one with the breath of nature. I am breathing
with trees, with the waters of lakes, rivers and the ocean. I am
breathing with the earth. My breath is one with the breath of nature'....
'My breath is one with the breath of God. I am breathing with the
entire atmosphere. I am breathing with the entire creation beyond this
earth. My breath is one with the breath of God which sustains this
whole universe. I am breathing with the atmosphere and the entire
creation beyond this earth, with the entire universe. My breath is one
with the breath of God....

Rest period between steps of meditation:

Now a pause. Detach the mind. There is no focus. You are not aware
of the breath, nor are you making any affirmation. Keep the eyes
closed. If necessary, move your shoulders and the neck. Relax your
torso. Move your feet if you have to. Feel detached. Pause for a
couple of minutes. We have meditated for a little over half an hour. I
shall go over, after a pause, to the second step which is basic. When
you are practising meditation alone, without the help of this tape,
having learned the first step, if you have less time, practise only the
meditation on peace and freedom with the synchronisation with the
inflow and the outflow of the breath for about ten minutes. If you are
doing the extended practice of the first step, in two parts, it will take
more time.

2a. Second Step: Repetition of Mantra

After a pause of a couple of minutes, we shall begin the second basic

step which is with the help of a mantra. You can choose a mantra by
yourself, with the help of the suggestion of someone who has an
adequate knowledge of the mantras. Otherwise, you can choose from
the three I am suggesting, but only one of the three. It is meant to
renew a sense of spiritual belonging to an inner transcendental source,
a spiritual source. It is to develop the sense of our identity with the
Divine, because it is only through a feeling of the Divine or of the
spiritual that our mind is at peace, that we have an inner spiritual
peace, an inner sense of fullness.

2b. Choice of Mantra

First, be aware of the breath, both the inflow and the outflow, the
coolness and the warmth. After at least a minute or a couple of
minutes, choose one of the three mantras.
i) A basic Yogic or Vedic mantra which is from the Isha Upanishad is
Soham. So inhaling, ham exhaling while being aware of the inflow
and the outflow of the breath, loving the sense of infinite unity. So
means the infinite spirit, transcendental, spiritual vision of God, not
anthropomorphic but the infinite spiritual presence which is
transcendental as well as immanent. Hum means I am one with, I am
in, I am of. This mantra you continuously repeat. Instead of Soham,
you can also repeat I am one with You, the English translation. And,
in this case, You can be a personal deity, like Jesus Christ.

ii) Those who are Christians and who are deeply tuned to the presence
of Jesus, can repeat the second mantra, that is inhaling Jesus, exhaling
I love you, or Jesus I am one with you.

iii) A third option is for those with a Jewish background. Two of the
most known names of God in the Old Testament are Adonai, inhaling,
which means My Lord, Elohim, exhaling, the Lord of all beings.

Continue.

2c. Substantiation of the mantra by repetition of three phrases.

After practising for about five minutes, this second basic step to
renew our sense of spiritual identity or a sense of spiritual belonging
to a higher, transcendental source of life which is in our heart, which
is God within, which is God all around, and God beyond all that we
know, transcendental. Now we shall substantiate this mantra of
spiritual identity by the repetition of three phrases.

i) Be aware of the breath as before. Mentally repeat four or five times,

My body is your temple, feeling a spiritual presence. either mystical
or personal such as in the case of Christians, trying to feel the
presence of Jesus within them as in the case of transubstantiation of
the Holy Communion. Or, in the Jewish faith, the presence of God.
One tries to feel as being one with God. 'My body is your temple' and
then feel a flow of harmony, a sense of well-being, health coursing
through the entire body. You feel the body is wholesome. 'My body is
your temple'.
ii) My mind is your altar and this is like a clear blue sky which is your
mind, a pure mind, the altar of God, limitless, not a narrow mind but
an open mind, wholesome, pure, peaceful. 'My mind is your altar' and
feel an inner purity, a spiritual consciousness, a pure conscience, that
is the presence of God in your mind, purifying your mind, making it
more and more universal. 'My mind is your altar'.

iii) Be aware of the breath, as before. Mentally repeat four or five

times. My soul is your abode.

Now feel a glow of light filling the inside of your head, and that light
flows into your heart, inside the chest, filling it with pure love. And,
once again, a feeling of pure love from your heart flows into your
mind, flowing inside your head and filling it with pure light, the light
of God and the love of God, that is what you try to experience by the
affirmation of the phrase, 'My soul is your abode'.

Rest period between stages of meditation.

Now disconnect the mind. Another pause after having practised the
second step which would take a minimum of ten minutes, the first part
consisting of a continuous repetition of the mantra and the second part
substantiating the meaning of the mantra. As before, when you were
resting in between two steps of meditation. Keep your eyes closed. If
necessary, move the shoulders and the legs.

3a. Third Step (Optional): Repetition of Five Affirmations

After having rested for a minute or two, begin the third part which is
optional but which is also very good for planting the seeds of positive
qualities which you want to develop in the subconscious with the help
of the repetition of five affirmations. This will take at least ten
minutes.

At first, be aware of the breath and, after a minute, begin the

repetition.

Repeat each phrase about four or five times, trying to feel its
meaning.
i) Inhaling and feeling the breath, repeat Peace is my real nature,
exhaling and feeling the breath, not conflict.

ii) Love is my real nature, not resentment.

iii) Truth is my real nature, not untruth.

iv) Strength is my real nature, not weakness.

v) Freedom is my real nature, not bondage.

3b. Abbreviation of phrases

Then abbreviating these five phrases, repeat mentally, inhaling.

i) Peace, exhaling, only peace.

ii) Love, spiritual love.

iii) Truth, only truth.

iv) Strength, mental strength.

v) Freedom, spiritual freedom.

Having done so, this third step will take about ten minutes. Give a
pause. Then you will have finished the practice of meditation. Feel
peaceful, restful, detached for at least a couple of minutes before
getting up.
 STRESS MANAGEMENT

Transcription of a talk given on 27 November 1995 at Golden Square

Book, in London.

The subject is 'Stress Management'. From the time we are born, we

have to cope with life. We can't help it because, fundamentally, we
love life. From the very simple fact that we don't want to die, we
refuse to give up and those who are on the point of giving up are
actually calling for help unconsciously because giving up is not a
natural process.

Life begins with some kind of involvement in the sense that without
an interdependence we cannot survive. In the process of
interdependence as we grow up, we react in a way not conducive to
surviving happily or agreeably and that is how stress builds up. So
you have to ask the question, 'What is the cause of stress or feeling
unhappy, tense?' I found in India at the medical hospital at the
Sivananda Ashram, and also at two other hospitals I visited, the
tendency I observed was that they were more concerned about
treating the symptoms rather than the cause. That was the general
trend. I do not know how it is in England. Of course, the immediate
need is there to treat the symptom because you want to alleviate the
suffering. But, simultaneously, we must treat the cause. If you are not
mindful of the cause, treating the symptoms will not be very helpful
in the sense of a long-lasting result because the symptoms will recur
on and off and be treated from time to time. So the alleviation will
only be temporary. We must think of the cause. I shall come back to
this later.

There are some basic facts in life which we have to face up to. One is,
people are all born differently and this is due to a great extent to
genetic make-up. Health is a product of several factors. The primary
factor is genetic which most people tend to ignore. I know a case of a
swami, a colleague of mine, who died in 1993. His name is Swami
Vishnudevananda. He has written a good book, A Complete
Illustrated Book of Yoga. He had a series of strokes. He became a
diabetic. He was very good at the postures and he was quite
committed, devoted to practising yoga from the age of seventeen. He
joined the Sivananda Ashram at the age of eighteen and started
practising in a dedicated way all the aspects of Hatha Yoga, and also
partly meditation until he developed diabetes. He ate wrongly and
became rather stout. But, as late as in the mid-sixties, he was still
healthy. But the genetic factor was there. You can remain quite
healthy, even if you are quite stout.

PSYCHO-PHYSICAL FACTORS

In the case of Winston Churchill. He abused all the rules of health. He

hardly had any exercise. So is the case of Somerset Maugham. There
is a saying attributed to him that all the exercise he did was getting in
and out of the car, and yet he lived to a very old age and generally
kept healthy. Both died on their 90s. There is a genetical factor which
we have to accept. We cannot help this. So some are born with a
stressful make-up and others with a less stressful personality.

Then, there is the second factor: the immediate childhood. That is

more relatable, more tangible. We can understand and work on
yourself. Genes are also adaptive but that takes a long time, takes a lot
of work.

There are five basic factors which make up our personality. The first,
as we have already mentioned, is the genetic factor which relates not
only to physical health but also to psychological make-up.
Psychologically, a person may be more fearful and would need a lot
of changing to get over the fear complexes. Previously,
psychoanalysts tended to attribute the immediate impact of the
personalities of the parents, the father and mother, especially the
mother during the first two years of a child's life because of the close
contact. This is, of course, very true and some child psychologists
such as Jean Piaget, the French child psychoanalyst, would say that by
the time the child is five, the future has already been decided because
of the impact of the parental influence and the unguarded, unfiltered
absorption in the child's psyche of that influence.

I do not know much about child psychology or the irreversibility of

the qualities or the touch treatment received by the child in very early
childhood. But I am imply reluctant to submit to the theory that it is
an inalterable state of being. Approximately, the first five years of a
child's life is when the character traits are projected into the child,
sometimes with tact, sometimes without tact at all. All the frustrations
and hang-ups, unhappiness of the parents can make them react to the
child's behaviour and treat the child in a way that may affect his or her
future. I am not keen on the theory that this is irreversible but I
believe that it is an important factor to be taken into consideration.
One has to work a lot to counteract it.

KARMIC THEORY

I am coming back to the old karmic theory. I can't prove about the
past life or the theory of samskaras or ingrained character traits with
which we are born and which are said to have been formed in the life
immediately before, sometimes, they say, stretching on to further
lives in the past-I can't prove these theories and so I'll fall back on the
genetical factor, the parents, because karma is said to bring you to a
home according to the nature of one's karma. I do not want to go into
this because it is a question of belief.

The point is that any belief that helps you to cope with the day-to-day
problems of life and which helps to give you a certain amount of self-
confidence and understanding of the problems of life and gives you
enough motivation and incentive to move forward is good enough.
Whether there is a basic truth, doesn't matter. The truth is in evidence
and if a spiritual belief such as a belief in God helps you to be a better
person, that is proof enough. I don't speak about the existence of God,
depending on how you define the existence of God. If someone says
that there is someone up there who is deciding your fate. I don't know
about this. I cannot deny it because I don't know, nor can I say, Yes,
yes. That would be lying, because I simply don't know about it. But, if
that belief helps me to accept things in a more tranquil way with
better equanimity and gives me motivation to work on myself and
look forward to something good and positive, thinking that God
knows best and so I must do my best, accept things that I cannot
change after having tried to change what could be changed and, if I
fail to change what can't be changed, then to accept it.
This is very much like the prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr: "To have the
courage, sometimes translated as strength, to change what can be
changed and the serenity to accept what cannot be changed and to
have the wisdom to know what can be and what cannot be changed."
Sometimes it is disputed as to authorship, but it doesn't matter. The
saying contains a truth. So that is very much, I would say, the spirit of
yoga because there are five factors. One, as I mentioned before,
without going into the karma theory, the genetical factor. In the karma
theory, this is called 'the inexplicable state of being', the inexplicable
qualities with which we are born. As I told you, genes are adapted, so
too the karmas are flexible and can be shaped and reshaped without
completely annulling the consequences of what has already been done
(to cause them).

GENETICAL FACTOR

So that is the first factor of our life. We have to learn to cope with our
genetical background even if we don't like it. Previously it was
thought that the genetical factor pertained mainly to the physical
make-up, disease patterns and so on, but now it is known that this
goes further. Even if you separate a child at the time of birth and put
the child in a different environment, the child will grow up in the
course of time and he or she will carry the psychological factors of the
genes of the child's parents, whether you like it or not. I mentioned
that genes are adaptive. The second factor is what they call griha
karma or the karma of the household and, in this case, (it relates to)
the early childhood impressions formed by the influence of the
parents, the immediate contact.

In order to grow up (healthy), you need two basic elements, apart

from surviving physically. One is the nourishment of love, the
protection of love. Love of course is there in the sense of attachment.
The mother feeds her child as an extension of her body and takes care
of the child. It is natural. But again we must understand, a basic
factor. The maternal instinct is not entirely universal nor is it
continuous. Whatever the exaggeration of the maternal instinct, it is
not universally present in all women. So those children who are born
of mothers not having sufficient maternal instinct, to give that
protective warmth of love, of being wanted, those who are not lucky
enough, they have to struggle a great deal.

So this is what we have to take into account. And then there is the
factor of one child being more wanted than the other child, of a
disappointment. For example, a mother had, let's say two sons, and
then a daughter comes, and the mother wanted another son, like in the
olden times when people had large families, especially in the East or
countries with somewhat backward social structures in which females
were considered to be a burden on the household because they were
not productive in terms of manual labour because they are not strong
enough.

Although this is a mistaken belief because I have seen in all poor

countries women working even harder than men. This is sheer social
injustice... and the dowry system, especially in countries such as
India. Marriage becomes the primary goal of a female. It becomes a
kind of protective continuity apart from its being a 'meal ticket'. But
the female also contributes to the economy of a household, especially
in agricultural com- munities where women often work as hard or
even harder than men although they may not carry as heavy loads.
These factors should be taken into consideration. Also, women have
the responsibility of taking care of the house and organising all the
household tasks.

So, (let us consider the case when) a daughter is born and the mother
wanted a son for the first child. The disappointment that the mother
feels will be expressed in the relationship with the child. Of course,
she will adjust to having a daughter, but the immediate reaction is
very, very unfortunate if it is negative. That factor also needs to be
taken into account. There is nothing worse in a child's life than feeling
unwanted by the parents. So, the nourishment of love, the
nourishment of feeling wanted helps the emotional growth of the
child.

ROLE MODEL

Another factor is the role model, or security of character. As I told

you, cowardice is imprinted in the genes, cowardice or courage. This
is why in the military caste, they always asked (so also in the British
army) whether any member of the family belonged to the armed
forces. So that factor is there courage, cowardice.... very much so
although it is not in all children born of the parents. The lying habit,
dishonesty again are genetical factors. Years and years, generations
may be needed to outgrow these (factors) even if the child is placed in
different circumstances, environment. So all these factors contribute
to stress: not being wanted, being regarded as a person who is
careless, who has no responsibility, who is dishonest, devious, prone
to cheat whenever he or she gets the opportunity and is, thus, being
rejected personally and collectively, and having a 'bad' name in a
group. So, that sense of isolation contributes to stress.

So the second factor is the immediate environment, how lucky we are

or unlucky to have parents who can give us these two basic needs:
one, the emotional nourishment for being wanted, being accepted, the
tender warmth of love; and the other is the role model, what we call
the protection, the security of love, security of character, that is the
immediate influence of what is right and what is wrong, blindly
copying. There is a very well known saying of Bernard Shaw, that
children start loving their parents because of the very simple fact of
dependence, of survival. It is a natural process of identifying and thus
feeling some kind of warmth and since there are no other immediate
examples around.

Life begins with imitation, and so, blindly copying the role models
one is immediately exposed to, e.g., one's father and mother. And then
they start questioning and the third process is that they either start
hating the parents or they make a sort of understanding as adults that
they are human beings and so their failures have to be accepted and
not judged with resentment. But there are some who cannot get over
the childhood traumas of bad treatment, of not having the protection
of love, of not having character guidance.

RELATIONSHIP

So these two basic factors determine the relationship of the child to

the parents: one is the protection of love and the other is character
guidance. You can do without the protection of love but, without
character guidance, you will suffer and that suffering is greater than
the lack of love, for example. Lacking the protection of love, one
grows up afraid of relating to people. of success, so that is not having
a good marriage because of having seen a failure, for example, a
failure in a parental relationship, being born in a home which has seen
divorce, a lot of quarrel, a lack of understanding and a lack of
acceptance, mutual acceptance, and so such products as adults will
find it difficult to relate and will make mistakes.

There is a saying that between a boy and a girl, or between a young

man and a young woman, the relationship starts with infatuation
leading to marriage, and the second stage is picking faults with each
other and the third stage is indifference. So, after getting tired with
finding faults, they become indifferent to each other, just being used
to each other, like a comfortable chair or an uncomfortable chair,
whichever that is. That is a very sad thing to say but we need to have
a greater motivation to manage our lives.

The third factor: We are the product of our society; the influence of
the surroundings, which is called samaja karma, i.e., the factor of
actions produced by the influence of the peers or those around us in
school and at our place of work; generally speaking the social and
economic factors. Marx and Engels exaggerated these factors,
suggesting that all social ills were due to economic factors.

One cannot say that all social ills are the product of the bad
management of the economy but it is a fact that we are greatly
influenced by pressure groups around, social pressures and
circumstances and, if one likes to say so, the sheer bad luck of being
born in the wrong place where there are no stimuli, there is no
incentive around to find work, to stimulate your mind or to have bad
influence with very negative results, e.g., the experiments with drugs.
In the latter case, it is basically an escape, obviously something is not
fulfilling in the lives of drug addicts, they are wanting to 'have kicks',
again coming back to home, the parental relationship.
Of the other two factors, over which we have some. measure of
control, largely in spite of the genetic factor and the previous three
factors, one is called selfish deeds impelled by our basic instincts
without filtering them through a sense of fairness, of right and wrong,
responsibility to each other and to our own selves. So this is the fifth
of factor. Do we really want to submit to all our weaknesses, or do we
want to have a measure of control over our lives? This is called karma
inspired by spiritual ideals.

CAUSES OF STRESS

Now let us consider why does stress build up? There are two basic
causes of stress. One is the ego. The ego can be divided into two
parts, with many subdivisions. When one talks of a person with a big
ego, it indicates self-importance, which is due to selfishness.

Stress is caused by clashing with people. It leads to unhappiness and

to a bad relationship. One clashes with people in a place of work and
at home. You can clash with a complete stranger due to intolerance. It
is a product of the ego. If you do not agree with a person, why not
explain your position, and respect the other person's position.

If you are secure in your knowledge, there is no need for an argument.

Religious quarrels spring from an unconscious lack. of conviction.
Intolerance is a result of insecurity. You are not sure of the
understanding of your or another's religion. Your concern should be to
inform yourself.

In an advanced country like Britain there are laws against blasphemy.

You can be taken to a court for it, although it is not generally done.
Blasphemy is due to irresponsibility. It is caused by the ego. A selfish
person is naturally irresponsible, although could be trained not to be
so.

In Raja Yoga the method of counterposing your attitude is taught to

overcome a defect. If you are intolerant, try to cultivate patience and
understanding of someone or some subject you are intolerant about. In
a relationship gone sour, if someone hurts you, instead of being
resentful, try to remember a positive experience in the past and be
grateful. That is an immediate step to overcame resentment. Then
think of someone you love.

If something goes wrong in a relationship, accept your responsibility.

It may be that nearly 50% you are to be blamed for it. That is the way
to prevent resentment. Due to a bad relationship with one of the
parents in childhood, you may have deep roots of resentment. As an
adult you could tell yourself that it is no longer valid, and thus this
irrational to be resentful.

SUBSTITUTION AND TRAINING

Self-pity is due to not accepting one's responsibility. It is easy to pass

the blame on to others. It is also a cause for stress. It is like slowly
poisoning your health. Anger is an immediate reaction which poisons
your blood. One should never hurt another when he or she is eating,
nor should get angry while eating. It causes an imbalance of the
gastric juices and delays digestion. In an extreme case it leads to
indigestion.

The desire to be loved is a natural emotion. If you love someone, it is

normal to expect a response. You should not expect it from a selfish
person. Lower the level of expectation to avoid disappointment. Love
is a two-way stream. If it is just one-way, it cannot last long. If you
are not loved, ask yourself the why of it. There may be a solution to it.

The mind is a field of energy. Energy is movement, pulsation. The

energy pattern can be treated in three ways: by indulging, e.g., if you
get angry, get more angry, which will make it worse; by suppressing
it, which will cause stress; and by sublimating it. The last is the only
way. It is done by cultivating its counterpart, patience, tolerance and
understanding. They are interrelated and mutually help each other.

Sublimation needs motivation. It is to love the ideal of what you want

to cultivate. In the Bible one reads about the dos and don'ts. It is more
important to emphasise what one should do, by which the positive
energy of the mind will be strengthened, whereas by stressing on the
don'ts the negative energy will become stronger. You should, of
course, take into account what should not do, but then turn your
attention to what you should.

The key to success is practice, abhyasa. Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras

insists on it. Practice is a result of motivation, i.e., loving the ideal
behind. Then there has to be talent, at least some of it. Whether you
have talent or not, you can find out only by trying. It is better not to
set your goal too high, but what is accessible. Then the third
requirement is effort. Make the best effort you can. Effort is to be
combined with learning. Life should he an endless process of
learning, until the last day of oneself. It is to work hard.

The next requirement is to learn from mistakes. There is a saying that

one should learn from other people's mistakes. One generally does not
learn this way. One should learn from one's own mistakes. The foolish
fail to learn from their mistakes. Only by trial and error one learns.

SELF-MANAGEMENT

We come again to the subject of the ego. The next cause of stress is
the image problem, vanity, being preoccupied with how you are seen.
One goes through play-acting in order to be seen well. But the truth
will sooner or later come out. A lady told me that her father was
considered by others as a charming person, but that was only outside
home. His real nature showed at home, where there was no concern
for image, so that he behaved as who he really was.

Another cause of stress is being consumed by desires. There is a

difference between desire and need. Desire is fed by desire. The more
you fulfil one, the more you want it, and then fall for some other
desire. We should learn the limitation of our capacity and accept it,
instead of getting frustrated. If we do not succeed in what we wish
most, you ought to try something else to see if we succeed or not.

succeed in what we wish most, you ought to try something else to see
if we succeed or not.

We desire something in order to be fulfilled. Objects do not give

fulfilment but the sensation of the ego by its possession. The
ownership of a house does not give fulfilment but in the harmonious
relationship among the persons who live there: a sense of belonging,
acceptation, communication, understand- ing, respect, gratitude. Too
much work does not give stress if you love the ideal behind. What
gives stress is something that you do not like but are obliged to do.

That money is nothing is a hacknied saying. It is patently false.

Economic autonomy is basic to not compromising your values.
Money gives option for a better education, health care and wide-
ranging travel for learning other people's culture, as well as to learn
some audio-visual art, if you have the talent for it.

Unhappiness is another cause for stress. It is mainly due to a bad

relationship with someone at home or at the place of work. You
should be the first to smile rather than the person you meet to smile,
first to be considerate than to expect consideration, to sympathise than
to be sympathised, to understand than to be understood. This is the
spirit of St. Francis of Assisi.

Do not forget that there are people less fortunate, less talented, having
less opportunity, than you. If you are near them, they need your
attention than criticism or, worse, contempt. If you do not get along
well with someone, cultivate understanding and tolerance, and as a
last recourse indifference.

The above points are basic to self-management to cope with stress.

 KNOW THYSELF

By John-Paul II

From the Papal Encyclical Fides et Ratio"

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to
the contemplation of truth, and God has placed in the human heart a
desire to know the truth, in a word, to know himself, so that, by
knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the
fullness of truth about themselves.

In both East and West, we may trace a journey which has led
humanity down the centuries to meet and engage truth more and more
deeply. It is a journey which has unfolded, as it must, within the
horizon of personal self-consciousness: the more human beings know
reality and the world, the more they know themselves in their
uniqueness, with the question of the meaning of things and of their
very existence becoming ever more pressing.

This is why all that is the object of our knowledge becomes a part of
our life. The admonition Know Yourself was carved on the temple
portal of Delphi, as testimony to a basic truth to be adopted as a
minimal norm by those who seek to set themselves apart from the rest
of creation as human beings, that is, as those who know themselves.

Moreover, a cursory glance at ancient history shows clearly how in

different parts of the world, with their different cultures, there arise at
the same time the fundamental questions which pervade human life:
Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is
there evil? What is there after this life?

These are the questions which we find in the sacred writings of Israel,
as also in the Veda and the Zenda Avesta. We find them in the
writings of Confucius and Lao Dze, and in the preachings of the
Tirthankaras and the Buddha. They appear in the poetry of Homer and
in the tragedies of Euripides and Sophocles, as they do in the
philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle. They are questions
which have their common source in the quest for meaning which has
always compelled the human heart. In fact, the answer given to these
questions decides the direction which people seek to give to their
lives.

Men and women have at their disposal an array of resources for

generating greater knowledge of truth, so that their lives be ever more
human. Among these is philosophy. which is directly concerned with
asking the question of life's meaning and sketching an answer to it.

ROLE OF PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy emerges, then, as one of the noblest human tasks.

According to its Greek etymology, the term philosophy means love of
wisdom. Born and nurtured when the human being first asked
questions about the reason for things and their purpose, philosophy
shows in different modes and forms that the desire for truth is part of
human nature itself. It is an innate property of human reason to ask
why things are as they are, even though the answers which gradually
emerge are set within a horizon which reveals how the different
human cultures are complementary.

Philosophy's powerful influence on the formation and development of

the cultures of the West should not obscure the influence it has also
had upon the ways of understanding existence found in the East.
Every people have its own native and seminal wisdom which, as a
true cultural treasure, tends to find voice and develop in forms which
are genuinely philosophical. One example of this is the basic form of
philosophical knowledge which is evident to this day in the postulates
which inspire national and international legal systems in regulating
the life of society.

Nevertheless, it is true that a single term conceals a variety of

meanings. Hence the need for a preliminary clarification.

Driven by the desire to discover the ultimate truth of existence,

human beings ask to acquire those universal elements of knowledge
which enable them to understand themselves better and to advance in
their own self-realisation.
These fundamental elements of knowledge spring from the wonder
awakened in them by the contemplation of creation: Human beings
are astonished to discover themselves as part of the world, in a
relationship with others like them, all sharing a common destiny. Here
begins, then, the journey which will lead them to discover ever new
frontiers of knowledge. Without wonder, men and women would
lapse into deadening routine, and little by little would become
incapable of a life which is genuinely personal.

Through philosophy's work, the ability to speculate which is proper to

the human intellect, produces a rigorous mode of thought, and then in
turn, through the logical coherence of the affirmations made and the
organic unity of their content, it produces a systematic body of
knowledge. In different cultural contexts and at different times, this
process has yielded results which have produced genuine systems of
thought.

Yet, often enough in history, this has brought with it the temptation to
identify one single stream with the whole philosophy. In such cases,
we are clearly dealing with a philosophical pride which seeks to
present its own partial and imperfect view as the complete reading of
all reality. In effect, every philosophical system, while it should
always be respected in its wholeness, without any instrumentalisation,
must still recognise the primacy of philosophical enquiry, from which
it stems and which it ought loyally to serve.

Although times change and knowledge increases, it is possible to

discern a core of philosophical insight within the history of thought as
a whole. Consider, for example, the principles of non-contradiction,
finality and causality, as well as the concept of the person as a free
and intelligent subject, with the capacity to know God, truth and
goodness. Consider as well certain fundamental moral norms which
are shared by all.

These are among the indications that, beyond different schools of

thought, there exists a body of knowledge which may be judged a
kind of spiritual heritage of humanity. It is as if we had come upon an
implicit philosophy, as a result of which all feel that they possess
these principles, albeit in a general and unreflective way.

Precisely because it is shared in some measure by all, this knowledge

should serve as a kind of reference-point for the different
philosophical schools. Once reason successfully intuits and
formulates the first universal principles of being and correctly draws
from them conclusions which are coherent both logically and
ethically, then it may be called right reason or, as the ancients called
it, orthos logos, recta ratio.

On her part, the Church cannot but set great value upon reason's drive
to attain goals which render people's lives ever more worthy. She sees
in philosophy the way to come to know fundamental truths about
human life. At the same time, the Church considers philosophy an
indispensable help for a deeper understanding of faith.

FAITH AND REASON

Therefore, following upon similar initiatives by my predecessors, I

wish to reflect upon this special activity of human reason. I judge it
necessary to do so because, at the present time in particular, the
search for ultimate truth seems often to be neglected. Modern
philosophy clearly has the great merit of focussing attention upon
man. From this starting point, human reason with its many questions
has developed further its yearning to know more and to know it ever
more deeply.

Yet, the positive results achieved must not obscure the fact that
reason, in its one-sided concern to investigate human subjectivity,
seems to have forgotten that men and women are always called to
direct their steps towards a truth which transcends them.

This is to say that with the light of reason human beings can know
which path to take, but they can follow that path to its end, quickly
and unhindered, only if with a rightly tuned spirit they search for it
within the horizon of faith. Therefore, reason and faith cannot be
separated without diminishing the capacity of men and women to
know themselves, the world and God in an appropriate way.
There is, thus, no reason for competition of any kind between reason
and faith. Each contains the other, and each has its own scope for
action. The desire for knowledge is so great, and it works in such a
way, that the human heart, despite its experience of insurmountable
limitation, yearns for the infinite riches which lie beyond, knowing
that there is to be found the satisfying answer to every question as yet
unanswered.

In acting ethically, according to a free and rightly tuned will, the

human person sets foot upon the path to happiness and moves towards
perfection. Here, too, it is a question of truth. It is this conviction
which I stressed in my encyclical Veritatis Splendor: "There is no
morality without freedom. Although each individual has a right to be
respected in his own journey in search of the truth, there exists a prior
moral obligation, and a grave one at that, to seek the truth and to
adhere to it once it is known."

It is an illusion to think that faith, tied to weak reasoning, might be

more penetrating. On the contrary, faith then runs the grave risk of
withering into myth or superstition. By the same token, reason which
is unrelated to an adult faith, is not prompted to turn its gaze to the
newness and radicality of being.

Faith will, thus, be able to show fully the path to reason in a sincere
search for truth. Although faith, a gift of God, is not based on reason,
it can certainly not dispense with it. At the same time, it becomes
apparent that reason needs to be reinforced by faith, in order to
discover horizons it cannot reach on its own.

My thoughts turn immediately to the lands of the East, so rich in

religious and philosophical traditions of great antiquity. Among these
lands, India has a special place. A great spiritual impulse leads Indian
thought to seek an experience which would liberate the spirit from the
shackles of time and space, and would, therefore, acquire absolute
value. The dynamic of this quest for a liberation provides the context
for a great metaphysical system.

CONCLUSION
A survey of the history of thought, especially in the West, shows
clearly that the encounter between philosophy and theology and the
exchange of their respective insights have contributed richly to the
progress of humanity.

Precisely in the light of this consideration, and just as I have

reaffirmed theology's duty to recover its true relationship with
philosophy, I feel equally bound to stress how right it is that, for the
benefit and development of human thought, philosophy too should
recover its relationship with theology. In theology, philosophy will
find not the thinking of a single person which, however rich and
profound, still entails the limited perspective of an individual, but the
wealth of a communal reflection.

I appeal to philosophers, and to all teachers of philosophy, asking

them to have the courage to recover, in the flow of an enduringly
valid philosophical tradition, the range of authentic wisdom and truth,
metaphysical truth included, which is proper to philosophical enquiry.
Let them always strive for truth, alert to the good which truth
contains. Then they will be able to formulate the genuine ethics which
humanity needs so urgently at this particular time.

Finally, I cannot fail to address a word to scientists, whose research

offers an ever greater knowledge of the universe as a whole and of the
incredibly rich array of its component parts, animate and inanimate,
with their complex molecular structure. I would urge them to continue
their efforts without ever abandoning the horizon within which
scientific and technological achievements are wedded to the
philosophical and ethical values which are the distinctive and
indelible mark of the human person.

May Mary, seat of wisdom, be a sure haven for all who devote their
lives to the search for wisdom.
 A WINDOW OF YOGA IN ARGENTINA

By Ana Hosmann de Sarasin

In territory, Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world after

India. Its 1,068,301 sq. miles of area compares to that of 94,249 sq.
miles of the United Kingdom, the inhabitants being some 32 and 57
millions, and the density about 30 and 600 persons per sq. mile,
respectively. Stretching from the tropical borders of Brazil and the
uplands of Bolivia, above the latitude of Capricorn, all the way
towards the Antarctic, the country has the whole range of climate. The
southernmost town in the world is Ushuaia on 555 latitude. On the
West the lofty Andes demarcate the 2,800 miles of frontier with
Chile. The northern border is along Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. On
the East are Uruguay and the Atlantic ocean, and on the South the
Tierra del Fuego peninsula juts into the Antarctic ocean.

The capital Buenos Aires is on the southern bank of nearly 30-mile-

wide River Plate, striding on the same latitude of Adelaide, Australia.
The climate is like that of Rome, hot and humid in the summer and
cold and moist in the winter. One-third of the country's population,
some 10 millions, live in Greater Buenos Aires, as in Montevideo and
Santiago de Chile. The people are mostly of European origin, the
majority of whom are descendants of Italian and Spanish immigrants.
The national language is Spanish like the rest of South America with
the exception of Brazil where Portuguese is spoken. At least 20
percent are mestizos, that is, mainly Spaniards mixed with Red
Indians. Pure-blooded Indians are few and located in the North and
Patagonia in the South. As in North America, there being no large and
powerfully structured Red Indian communities, the coming of the
Spanish conquistadors resulted in their decimation and absorption.

In the beginning of this century there was a thriving British

community of at least a hundred thousand, mostly in the Buenos Aires
area, but now reduced to some thirty thousand, who have left their
legacy in a few fine schools, cricket, football, rugby and polo clubs
and some cultural institutions. In Patagonia there is a large group of
Welsh descendants who are generally sheep farmers. In the southern
lake region, there are German, Swiss and Austrian communities, as
also in and around Buenos Aires. The Jewish population is the largest
in South America and next only to that of France and Britain, some
four hundred thousand, most of them Ashkenazim, with strong
religious and cultural institutions. There are immigrants, from all parts
of Europe, as also some from the Middle-east, specially from
Lebanon, Japan, China and South Korea, but only a few thousands
from the Indian subcontinent. Italian descendants comprise about 40
percent of the inhabitants, the next largest being Spanish, as in
Uruguay.

The country wrested its independence from Spain in 1813, the mother
country having been invaded by Napoleon and, thus, unable to put
down the rebellion. Agricultural produce dominates the Argentine
economy, although there is a large industrial sector led by automobile
manufacturing. In grain and meat export, our country competes with
the U.S.A., Canada and Australia, but only 39 percent of the
cultivable land is used, 61 percent remaining unutilised on account of
the glut in the world market. Argentina can, indeed, be a future
breadbasket for those countries with agricultural shortfall. Our land is
also rich in mineral resources and just about self-sufficient in
petroleum.

Since independence we have had a tumultuous political history,

alternating between weak democratic and moderately dictatorial
governments. Since 1983, there is political stability, and the free
market policy of the present government has arrested inflation and
encouraged growth. We have a welfare state. As usual, the middle
classes, claiming to be 80 percent of the population, that grumble
most. There are many large pockets of poverty, but not as extreme as
in many other South American countries. The Catholic church has
widespread influence over society, but there is complete freedom of
worship for other faiths. The political changes did not affect the
activities of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre, although the Hare
Krishnas and Jehova's Witnesses were banned by the military
government.
Buenos Aires is a cosmopolitan city. In the newspapers one sees that
more than two dozens of cultural activities, including free public
lectures on various topics ranging from nuclear science to yoga
philosophy, are available every evening. The Colon Theatre is the
most prestigious in South America, where world-famous artistic
ensembles like the New York Philharmonic and the Bolshoi and
Kirov (now Marinsky) Ballets regularly perform. It is also interesting
to note that, percentagewise relative to inhabitants, Buenos Aires has
the largest number of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts in the world,
and a district is unofficially known as Villa Freud. Since the Second
World War the British influence in commerce has declined, even
though the Harrod's continue to be the largest department store in the
city.

ABOUT MYSELF

After acquainting the readers with my native land, now I shall give
my background and that of yoga in Argentina. My father was a
fourth-generation German and a country-squire. Mother was born in
St. Petersburg, of Swiss-German parents who moved the family to
Switzerland after the Bolshevik revolution. As a young woman she
migrated to Argentina and married my father. I was born in Buenos
Aires on Easter Sunday 70 years ago, the first of their four children.
Although parents were Protestants and respected other faiths, religion
did not have a significant role in our family. They sent me to a
Catholic school belonging to the order of St. Vincent de Paul, whose
headmistress was a German. It is there that my incipient spiritual
longings were stirred by the candlelit ceremonies redolent with
incense, and melodiously moving chants.

My childhood was pleasant in father's estate, not too far from the
Atlantic ocean resort of Mar del Plata. I studied music and languages,
and married Max Sarasin, a Swiss-German, who had migrated to
Argentina. We had a loving relationship until death parted us 26 years
later. Like my parents he was a Protestant and equally ecumenical in
spirit, but we were not churchgoers. My aunt, who had a cottage in
Capri, off Naples, introduced me to the works of Carl Gustav Jung.
She made me interested in arts and literature. Psychology prepared me
for yoga.

In 1961 and early in 1962, Ulrich Hartschuh, a Uruguayan German

from Montevideo, organised a few meetings in Buenos Aires to invite
Swami Shivapremanandaji who was at that time staying in
Milwaukee, U.S.A. Along with my husband and Renate Gradenwitz, I
was among those who participated in them, which resulted in
Swamiji's arrival in June, 1962. At that time my husband and I were
just curious about yoga. We did not know what a swami meant. After
putting Swamiji up in a hotel for sometime, we had the honour of
having him as our houseguest for two months. His presence, classes
and public lectures made a deep impression on both of us, although
we took our time to come close to him.

In 1932, a group of Argentines, mainly from the literary scene, invited

a spiritual teacher from India, the first ever to come to our country. He
was Swami Vijoyananda of the Ramakrishna order, who pioneered
the knowledge of yoga in South America, even though at that time
only a few were interested. His work was limited to the Buenos Aires
area, but he also visited periodically Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. He
founded the Ramakrishna Ashram in the suburban town of Bellavista,
where he passed away 32 years later, ripe in age, in 1974. Like all
swamis of the Ramakrishna order, he did not teach Hatha Yoga, but
was the first to introduce Raja Yoga and Vedanta philosophy in
Argentina, even if in limited circles. He translated some of the works
of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda and wrote a few texts himself in
Spanish. Since the late 1950s, numerous books on the various
branches of yoga are available, but Hatha Yoga is what interests
people most.

When Swami Shivapremanandaji came in 1962, there were only two

or three small yoga groups in town teaching Hatha Yoga and holding
lecture and meditation meetings, but they were not known for
erudition or spiritual depth. In fact my tentative contacts with them
made me withdraw due to their neurotic behaviour, backbiting and
infighting. On a sunny, winter afternoon, on 24 June 1962, a large
group headed by a reception committee received Swami
Shivapremanandaji at the Ezeiza airport. From the same evening he
started giving public lectures and philosophy and meditation classes
almost daily for three months in Buenos Aires. On 17 July he founded
the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre of Argentina. It was a very
special day, dedicated to spiritual teachers. At that time we did not
know what Gurupurnima meant. Yoga was so very new to us.

THIRTY YEARS OF YOGA

As we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of our Centre, we look back

upon all these years with nostalgia. Years of effort of so many
wonderful souls, several dozens of them, headed by Swamiji, his
constant coming and going to keep their enthusiasm alive and the
light of aspiration burning, their love for him and his for them, have
made the Centre a spiritual home for so many of us. Some of them are
no longer present, my husband included, who passed away at the age
of 61 in 1975. The loving memories of many of them warm our
hearts, and the ethos of their spirit soundlessly resonates, in the
ambience of the Centre. We had, of course, our share of
disappointments. Otherwise it will be too unreal.

We functioned at first on a small scale in rented places until, in 1968,

we bought our flat in the town centre where the activities rapidly
grew. The Centre's main building was completed in 1983, where most
of the work is concentrated. The active membership hovers around
900, the majority of them coming twice a week to attend any of the 27
Hatha Yoga classes available weekly, and the satsanga on Saturdays
draws quite a few, as also Swamiji's lectures on Wednesdays.

The Indian embassy in Buenos Aires has always given us their

wholehearted support and encouragement, sponsoring many of our
activities and jointly holding some of them. As a founding member
my husband served the Centre in various capacities, as treasurer, vice-
president and president. He was also a Hatha Yoga instructor and a
council member, the Centre having got its charity status in 1964. At
present I am the vice-president and take care of public relations and
organise Swamiji's programmes. I enjoy giving Hatha Yoga classes
and continue to be a council member. Since the 1970s, Yoga Centres
have mushroomed in our country, nearly 50 of them in Buenos Aires.
Most are run on a commercial basis. As with Swamiji's other Centres,
everyone of our staff members does voluntary service.

Over the past 30 years, thousands of students have passed through our
Centre. To hundreds of them it has been a transforming experience to
come in contact with Swami Shivapremanandaji. Like anywhere else,
all sorts of people come and go and, as generally irk the West, the
majority are interested mainly in Hatha Yoga. Many come to listen to
Swamiji out of curiosity and to talk to him due to a transitory
psychological need. However, I can honestly say that to many others
knowing him and coming to the Centre have been something
beautiful, consoling and healing, fulfilling and enlightening, as it was
in my case, meeting him soon after my father passed away. Father,
along with my husband, were closest to me. I know that Swamiji has
filled a void in the lives of many.

Serving at the Centre has been a remarkable experience to most of us,

not only educationally but in knowing ourselves. We have our share
of excitement and tiffs, warm rapport and raillery, as in any family
and community work. The Centre is a home like any solidly-
structured hearth, with its share of personality differences, posturing
of egos, ups and downs of moods, admirable spirit of service, deep
friendship and warmed-up camaraderie. Yet, we all hang on together
for the sake of our ideals, some working like industrious ants, some
inclined to bovine repose, some painstakingly meticulous and dutiful,
and some excelling eels to come to grips with responsibility. Yoga
has been a marvellously enriching experience in my life, and to which
I owe my physical, psychological and spiritual health. Now I will ask
my good friend and colleague, Oscar Cabos, to relate his.

By Oscar Cabos

My interest in yoga originated due to a health problem. Since

childhood I suffered from respiratory insufficiency. A friend of mine
recommended a book, Science of Pranayama, by Ramacharaka. This
book not only changed my breathing habit but awakened in me a
longing for a higher meaning in life. I also became interested in
naturopathy and organically-grown food, an interest I still maintain. I
was then in my mid-twenties. Practice of Hatha Yoga improved my
health but did not fill an inner spiritual void I became increasingly
aware of.

My parents were of Spanish ancestry. They were both loving and

caring. I grew up in a Catholic culture, without being influenced by
religious dogmas. We were not a church-going family. From my
parents I learned responsibility, to take care of the invalid, spirit of
service and a sense of duty. However, there was something missing in
my life. This made me join, successively, two Yoga Centres in
Buenos Aires for short periods of time, but I did not find there what I
was looking for, a spiritual fulfilment. In 1961, I also attended three
lectures by Swami Chidanandaji when he came to town from
Montevideo.

In 1962, Swami Shivapremanandaji came to Argentina for the first

time. Destiny has its strange ways. I attended all his lectures and
became a founding member of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre
he inaugurated on 17 July 1962. Since then I have never separated
from him spiritually. I am not a religious man and am aware of
Swamiji's innate distaste for hyperbole. He says, "No one is good
enough to be another's spiritual master" and likes to spell the words
master with a small 'm' and guru with a small 'g'. He would like to do
so even with the word God but does not in order not to offend the
religious-minded. However, I wish to be forgiven when expressing
my sincere feeling in saying that, since knowing Swamiji, his life has
become my life and that it is through him I have found a sense of
purpose which I did not have before.

In the early years, Swamiji was disinclined to suffer fools, much less
gladly. Now-a-days he does so, patiently. To me he is a model of
humility, even if at times expressing himself energetically. He has
made me understand how few material things are needed to live
happily and enjoy each moment without unnecessary anxiety and self-
pity, and with a lot of inner strength cultivated through a living faith
in spiritual ideals and practice of selfless service. Swamiji is a true
image of his teachings, although often self-deprecating. With a few
simple words he used to put an end to my worries that had earlier kept
me awake all night. He has a great capacity to simplify complex
issues and find a solution to problems which seemed to have had no
answers. He has taught me to live as best as I can without complaints,
to think and act positively, and consider life to be a blessing rather
than grumble about.

In have been the treasurer and assistant treasurer of the Centre and a
council member, having been a joint secretary earlier. I am also an
instructor of Hatha Yoga and serve in the building construction
committee. Earlier I had a small business., but now occasionally I go
to the Buenos Aires stock exchange. I have no financial worries,
having learned when enough is enough. I am fortunate to have the
three boons that I have read in some yoga books: to be born a human
being, to have spiritual aspiration, and to find a real teacher.

From Swamiji I have learned the relativity of things in determining

what is more important and what is less, never to think to be a
possessor of truth, to know that its understanding can always be
better, and never to lose the capacity of wondering, as a child does,
and to learn anew. By his side, I have discovered hidden traits of my
character, to strengthen as well as to correct. With each of his stay
among us he brings peace and solace, and renews our spiritual
aspiration, as well as the desire that he should never leave us, for that
would be as if peace, simplicity and transparency of our nature were
leaving us.

Swamiji is one of those who practises what he teaches, although he

reveals a cynical streak when he says, "A spiritual teacher is, indeed,
great if he practises some 50 percent of what he preaches, for most of
them does only 10 percent." He speaks from his heart and is not
impressed by the title, social standing or material riches of others.
What he cherishes most in us are integrity, compassion, selflessness,
constancy, positive thinking and broadmindedness. These lines of
mine he may consider rather exuberantly Latin, but they truly
represent what I have learned from yoga over more than 30 years, and
to speak of which is to speak of my teacher, who has certainly
brought a meaning to my life, which is like kindling the sacred fire in
me.

By Salomon Birman

My parents were of Jewish origin. As children they migrated to

Argentina with their parents from what is now Moldova and was at
that time known as Bessarabia. They grew up here under the influence
of the local Catholic culture, but respected the religious tradition of
their parents, even though they did not practise their religion or go to
a synagogue. I was brought up as such, being rather ignorant of the
Old Testament. However, I held in deep respect the high holy days of
Judaism.

My introduction to India was through a book of Victoria Ocampo who

had translated into Spanish some of the writings: of Rabindranath
Tagore. Mircea Eliade's book, Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, and
some articles of Aurobindo and Yogananda stimulated my interest in
yoga. In 1968, I visited India as a tourist, more out of curiosity to
know the culture of the land. Through reference by some friends, I
joined the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre in Buenos Aires more
than 23 years ago and began to attend the Hatha Yoga classes. When
Swami Shivapremanandaji came to town, I attended his philosophy
classes and satsangas, which appealed to me so much by their quality
and clarity that, in the course of time, I became a staff member.

I am a married businessman, and we have two grown children who

have their own families. My wife and I are very fond of our
grandchildren. I have asked myself several times why I am in yoga
and serving the Centre. The answer has invariably been that because it
does me a lot of good, pure and simple. The teachings of Swamiji
have brought me peace and taught me to be more tolerant of and love
others. They have inspired in me the spirit of Karma Yoga. What has
been particularly important to me was that they have made me study
my own religion in order to find my spiritual roots.

Having served as treasurer of the Centre, I am at present its joint

secretary, while continuing to be a council member. I am also an
instructor of Hatha Yoga and a desk secretary. Swamiji has taught us
that no work is too low, relative to one's position in life or in an
organisation. My professional background being in air-conditioning
large buildings, I had the honour of supervising the construction of
the Centre's main building, a role I am still fulfilling in the
continuation of its Annexe. Although professionally retired, I also
help one of my sons in his computer business. My association with
Swamiji and the Centre has made my life more complete. I
understand the world much better than before and I am able to handle
the problems that come by with inner strength and balance. As
Patanjali says, yoga is after all a state of inner balance and fulfilment.

By Mercedes von Pieschel

When I was 14 years old, in 1928, I chanced upon a book written by

Swami Sivananda, Practice of Yoga, his very first. I was then a
student in one of the best British schools in Argentina. Having been
brought up in a Catholic family, the book probably was an
introduction to a wider horizon of thinking. My father was a well-
known architect of Spanish descent and a personal friend of Le
Corbousier. Mother's parents were French, who drew their inspiration
from St. Vincent de Paul and were as such dedicated to the service of
the poor.

As father moved around his family constantly due to his work, I grew
up with no childhood friends. That inner solitude in early life may
have contributed to my coming to yoga much later. Meanwhile,
however, Mahatma Gandhi entered my life. Before the Second World
War, the British empire was the most powerful in the world. I thought
that his non-violent means of obtaining India's independence was
fabulous and never heard of before, and of which Jesus Christ would
have heartily approved. Since then I have admired him and the
mysterious land, India, which produced him. Rabindranath Tagore's
visit to Buenos Aires sometime in the 1930s, invited by the grand
dame of letters, the late Victoria Ocampo, made quite a sensation in
the Argentine literary circles. She later translated some of his works.

In the course of time, I married a German, and we had four children

who have their families. In 1965, I was passing through a difficult
time when father was in his deathbed. Being very close to him, it was
painful for me to see him suffer. Swami Shivapremanandaji was then
visiting Buenos Aires, and I started to go to his lectures and
philosophy classes. It is said that when the chela (disciple) is ready
the guru appears, although Swamiji does not initiate anybody, nor
calls himself a guru of anyone, but wryly says, "Even supposing the
chela is ready, it is not sure that the guru will appear. Instead of
waiting forever, the chela should seek out a suitable teacher to learn
from."

Since meeting Swamiji, yoga has helped me enormously through life.

The construction of the main building of the Centre was finished in
1983. Soon after, I became the first resident there. My stay has been
very rewarding and happy. I have peace and the time to read and
practise Swamiji's teachings. At the age of 78 now, in spite of two
successive hip operations, I continue to be an instructor of Hatha
Yoga. The surgeons at the local British hospital and my family and
friends were astonished at how rapidly I recovered and started moving
around in just a few days and resumed giving classes, thanks to my
regular practice of yoga. I am also a member of the Centre's finance
committee.

There are, of course, many different ways of teaching yoga, both

physical and spiritual aspects of it. However, I have always felt that
Swamiji's way is what has helped and taught me most to find my path,
although I know that I have a lot to learn philosophically and is doing
my Karma Yoga more efficiently. Living in the Centre, I became
more aware of myself. Having to cope with the human side of my
fellow-staff members has been an education in itself. Before I used to
judge people by their formal educational background rather than by
the values that shape their character. As Swamiji says, "Knowledge is
not the determining factor of a person's culture but behaviour."

To me, along with the rest of the staff, the Centre is a great field of
self-development. Everyone being a voluntary worker, with no risk of
losing an income, our egos are put to a greater test, a new skin is laid
upon thinner skins without being insensitive, and we learn to
understand better each other's points of view, instead of imposing our
own. The way Swamiji has organised the Centre and the line of his
teachings I find extraordinary, and consider myself very fortunate to
be a part of it. We have the maximum autonomy of living our lives,
experimenting with and finding our truths, and be creative in our
teaching activity while being within the broad outlines laid down by
him.

Swamiji says: "Each one of us should grow according to the law of

our own spiritual growth and through our individual effort in the line
of our best understanding. The human being is not like a clod of earth
to be kneaded into a shape by the superimposition of an ideology,
religious or political, neither by a guru nor a messiah. One can only
inspire the heart and mind by the purity of aspiration and clarity of
reason, so that the individual may learn to choose, be personally
responsible and walk his or her own path, and society may do so by
consensus." To communicate with the students while teaching a class
and the feeling of mutual affection and understanding have been a
moving experience in my life. What greater reward can one expect at
my age than to be active and useful and be loved?
 HOW I CAME TO YOGA

By Renate Rikke Maria Gradenwitz

I was born in Hamburg of a German father and Norwegian mother.

Father was a martinet, and mother oozed with warmth. I had rather a
strict Lutheran upbringing. When I was a child, Hitler came to power.
My parents were quickly disillusioned by the dangerous extremism of
his fascist and racist ideology. We were an international family.
Mother was courageous and outspoken, which were perilous traits
under Nazi rule. As a child I was deeply scarred by the unsettled
times in which I grew up. That may have unconsciously planted in me
the seeds of spiritual search by which I do not mean religious beliefs;
that unfolded later in life.

In Hamburg I went to a private school. Religion was a part of its

curriculum, which bored me. Nazi fanaticism, like an octopus,
grabbed all aspects of German society, including our school, which
bewildered me. Father had been doing business in Argentina. He
happened to be there where the war broke out. Mother followed him
sometime later. I was at that time in a finishing school in the French
part of Switzerland. Theatre interested me. While going to a
commercial school in Basel during the war to prepare for a career, I
took acting lessons. Father died in an accident in Buenos Aires and, as
mother felt lonely in a foreign land, I migrated to Argentina in 1947
to be with her for sometime.

Feeling somewhat uprooted and pulled between mother's Norwegian

and father's German roots, having to adjust in Switzerland and
Argentina, it was kind of logical that one day the questions will arise:
where do I really come from, who am I, where I am going to, and
what is the meaning of it all? Yet all these questions were not deep
enough to search for higher values. I lived a normal, worldly life with
its ups and downs, hopes and frustrations, pleasures and
disappointments. In 1958, when I was staying in Switzerland, I met a
yoga student, meanwhile having already read a few books on yoga. I
began to get interested, at first in Hatha Yoga and then mainly in the
Vedanta philosophy.
That year, I started to go to Selvarajan Yesudian's Yoga School in
Zuerich and to his Yoga Camp in Caslano near Lugano. He had a
calm disposition. I liked his simplicity and the stories about India. He
had pioneered the teachings of yoga in Switzerland since 1948. These
were my first steps in a long path which became more and more a part
of myself. It was an inner need, a search, without being able to say
what was it that moved me. It was something that somehow had to
happen, which pushed me forward, without being able to explain why.
I came back to Buenos Aires in 1959 to nurse my mother who was
very ill, and continued my interest in yoga. I kept reading a lot of
books on the subject. On those days I thought that I could answer all
sorts of questions, having quite firm ideas about the teachings with
preconceived notions and in spite of doubts and prejudices.

A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

Here in Buenos Aires, in 1961, I joined a Yoga Centre but was

disappointed. The same year I also listened to a couple of lectures by
Swami Chidanandaji. The next year Swami Shivapremanandaji came
and inaugurated the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre, and I became
one of its founding members. A managing committee had already
been formed, inspired by Ulrich Hartschuh of Montevideo. His
enthusiasm was infectious. I was also charmed by its secretary,
Marina Gonzalez del Campo. I became her friend. In 1962, Swami
Shivapremanandaji did not speak Spanish. I interpreted nearly all his
lectures and classes. Although at first I did not realise it, the longer I
listened to him the more I became aware how little I knew, that a
revealed truth is only a part of the truth and the rest of it one has to
find by oneself, stretching out into the infinite, and that such a
spiritual journey is so very personal, so very private and so full of
trials and errors.

It is now more than 30 years that I have known Swamiji. From the
very first encounter I have never been separated from him spiritually
or the Centre he founded. In due course, I passed through various
roles such as a desk secretary, instructor of Hatha Yoga, editor of the
Centre's bulletin, its accountant, Swamiji's housekeeper. Now having
retired from a multinational German company, I continue to be the
administrator of the Centre as its general secretary and council
member. I am also Swamiji's secretary and cook for him when he is
among us. There could not have been a better education for me than
in all these years of association with him. When I see what goes on in
the name of yoga and read such a plethora of unproven myths in
books and magazines, I feel like running away from it all. Yet, as
Swamiji would say, everyone has a right to think and believe and
express as one chooses, but "truth is first of all veritas, that which has
to be verified by its evidence, its consequence, and then the
dimensions of truth have to be widened by spiritual search, deepened
by self-realisation, which is an infinite process, that a self-realised
soul is an institutional creation like a saint."

Swamiji has awakened in us the hunger for learning, saying that no

one can reveal us the truth but only speak about it in the light of one's
realisation, that walking the path is totally personal and private, and
should be spoken of as little as possible. When I read fantastic stories
about yogic experiences, I wonder how much self-promotion is
involved with how little seriousness, knowing well that a deeply
spiritual experience at once becomes sacred and inexpressible. I have
read that yoga is not going somewhere, for you are already there, that
being is not becoming, for you already are. That is all well and good
for a saint to say, but what about us, ordinary souls, knowing so little
about the various layers of our persona, or what about the individual
wrapped up in a spiritual ego and concerned with promoting a self-
important role, well equipped with cameras and taperecorders?
Swamiji jokes: "Blessed Immortal Self, you are fired; you need not
bother to come back to the ashram, thy own Self."

REALITY AND ILLUSION

Do we really learn by the neti-neti (not this, not this) doctrine? It is

like emptying the ocean with a blade of grass until one finds the truth.
It is too depressing a goal, for when would I finish emptying the
ocean? Discarding and discarding the layers of superimposition, and
what guarantee is there that what reveals itself at last is the truth?
Deep down I know, of course, that I am a soul, the spiritual content of
which is, as Swamiji would say, "transcendental love and truth,
beauty and goodness, peace and harmony, purity of heart and clarity
of wisdom." But I also know that I am a body composed of and
sustained by its primordial instincts in my unconscious, that I am a
mind with layers upon layers of my personality formed in the
subconscious since my mother brought me to this world. To negate
them would be hypocritical. Swamiji says:

"We are a contradiction unto ourselves. We are both spirit and matter,
light and shadow. The pure light of our soul is veiled by many layers
of our personality, revealing it in various hues according to their
transparencies, sometimes obscuring it, sometimes shining a facet of
it through. We are in this world to cleanse these layers, not deny them
by fiat, to harmonise and sublimate them with the help of the inner
light, not repress and make them atrophied. Until the day we die, we
will be both spirit and body, the mind serving as a bridge between the
two. We are happy when the consciousness is closer to the spirit, in
and through and beyond our relationship with others. We are unhappy
when it suffocates inside the ego in the relativity of its feedback from
others or the lack of it."

There was no conflict in my coming to yoga on account of my

cultural background. Both my parents were a product of the age of
reason, with a highly developed moral sense. To the contrary, it was
due to many unanswered questions that I came to yoga. At first, yoga
was a means to a better health, to be more self-confident and to do
well in material and professional life. It did not represent a spiritual
goal until I met Swamiji, and then that goal meant how could I be a
better human being and how could I learn to love, for infinite love and
God then became synonymous to me. Earlier, I could not cope with
the injustice of birth, some having better advantage than the others,
some of the wicked having better luck than some of the decent ones
struggling to be fair and virtuous.

The theory of reincarnation I found to be a better alternative to the

theory of being given the chance of a single lifetime to deserve eternal
heaven or hell. I could not cope with the idea that there was only one
valid religion, only one gospel truth, that by believing in it alone
could one be saved. What about the thousands of millions of human
beings who did not share that truth? Is it not egomaniacal to think that
they are lost? The spirit of reconciliation in yoga and its philosophical
and religious broadmindedness drew me to it.

On the other hand, harping on the need to be free from the cycle of
birth and death, that life on earth is unreal, that the world is an illusion
and all such mealy-mouthed assertions leave me cold. It all sounds so
hypocritical and patently illogical. As Swamiji says: "We cannot
understand the world if we reject and curse it. We cannot learn from
the mistakes of a past life because their memory is not carried over to
the present one, but can only learn from what we do now and what we
remember." Whereas, rationalisation about the inequality and inequity
in life through the theory of reincarnation brought me peace, I learned
that I could improve myself here only by regarding the world as a
reality. There are, of course, higher and lesser realities, but one can
only cope with and be responsible to what is tangible. Swamiji says,
"To regard this world as an illusion is like brushing the dirt under the
carpet, not cleaning it."

SHAPING OUR BELIEFS

So, I was indeed searching for a teacher who would not fill my head
with fantastic ideas for daydreaming, nor tempt me with the promise
of freeze-dried illumination like through samadhi in six months, but
would make me face myself as I am with the light of my higher self.
In Swamiji I found such a teacher who taught us that we were not
created in the image of God but with potential rudiments of it in the
form of vague spiritual longings, and that our happiness lay in
realising them through our relationship with others and identity with
inner self yet to be awakened.

In my Christian background I was told to believe in what the

scriptures said, meaning accepting without questioning. From
Swamiji I learned: "Believing is not conforming. You can really
accept, assimilate, what you know. To know is to search. Without
searching you cannot know what you are asked to believe to be true or
not." My religion taught me to accept suffering as a means of
purification, that the poor are heaven worthy and the rich not. I have
always rebelled against such ideas. Then I found my peace in
Swamiji's sayings:

"Suffering by itself does not purify. Otherwise, the majority of us

would become saints. Only when we are willing to correct the cause
of suffering can we learn from it, and by sharing the suffering of those
while helping to alleviate it, we purify ourselves. When suffering is
prolonged, we become anaesthetised to it and, therefore, cannot learn
from it.

Overcoming suffering is the goal and, only when suffering cannot be

avoided, we should accept it stoically.

"Poverty is degrading and dependence demeaning. Economic freedom

is the first freedom because it gives one the freedom of choice,
autonomy. Money is not the root cause of all evil but attachment to it
can lead to a great deal of evil. Poverty and wealth can both be
bondages from which we should try to free ourselves. It is not true
that the poor will sail to heaven through the eye of the needle of
misfortune and the rich will stay behind with the camels."

I have learned to accept life as a blessing because, in spite of my

lower self, Swamiji has awakened in me the hunger for higher values.
In spite of the dark hours, the moments of doubts, I have the urge to
go on, for life has many more beautiful hues than the uglier ones, and
maybe that is what faith means, faith in ourselves, faith in God.
Swamiji has deeply influenced my vision of God, even if it is only a
faint glimpse of what God might be in the light of spiritual aspiration.

From time to time, I have the urge to run away from it all, from God,
yoga and the Centre, and let my hair down, be my worldly self. Is
there anything wrong in it? I do not think so, as long as I am not
harming anyone or acting unethically. In fact, I enjoy being with my
non-yoga friends who live a normal, worldly life, without a thought
about God crossing their head. I enjoy going to the theatre and dinner
with them, going to the beach, the fjords and the mountains, visiting
my classmates in Germany, relatives and friends in Norway and
Switzerland. Swamiji approves of it as a part of life, just as healthy as
any, but as long as we do not forget our basic spiritual values. I have
no problem in keeping the both together.

Overt spirituality I cannot stand, just as I dislike crash courses on

yoga or using terms as "having a good workout" in Hatha Yoga.
Levitation, reading the minds of others, claims that half-an-hour of
meditation daily would change one's entire life, promise of salvation,
repel me. Swamiji says that, there being so much unhappiness in life,
spiritual teachers should never be "merchants in human misery" (his
words), that they should be all the more responsible due to the
gullibility of people. I have seen how false overt humility is, and
supposed holiness of some swamis or spiritual teachers.

I have now turned 70 (in 1992) and accept life as it comes, neither
feeling burdened by it, nor being too light-hearted about it. Swamiji
has taught us to keep our feet firmly planted on earth and heads
looking upward into the sky, losing neither, the ground nor the sky,
reality nor idealism. I can again say that life is a blessing. How yoga
has helped me in daily life? It is like the air I need to breathe, like the
water to drink. It has become a part of me, sustaining my faith, my
hopes, my ideals, giving me self-confidence and peace by
substantiating them, encouraging me onward and keeping my lower
self on the leash. I know that it is there, even when I feel like running
away from it all, because I know that I cannot simply run away from
myself.
 A WINDOW OF YOGA IN URUGUAY

By Mario Caffera

Uruguay is relatively a small country, with its northern frontier along

the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, and the western
border along the eastern province of Argentina, Entre Rios. On the
south and east lies the Atlantic Ocean, the River Plate flowing into it.
In size it is nearly three-quarters the territory of the United Kingdom,
but has a small population, a shade less than three millions. The land
is very fertile; agricultural and rolling grassland stretching endlessly,
almost empty, and streaked with a few low slung mountain ranges.

The industry is mainly agronomic: grain producing and cattle raising,

as well as sheep farming, its woolen and leather products being
among the finest. The second largest industry is tourism, due to the
hundreds of kilometres of beaches along the South Atlantic coast,
with fine-grained white sands, and free from rocky shoals. The
tourists are mostly from Argentina, fewer from Brazil and also some
of the rich from North America and Europe.

The climate is temperate, rather like the Cape Province in South

Africa or California, but with abundant rainfall and plenty of
sunshine. The capital Montevideo, where one-third of the Uruguayans
live, is exactly on the same latitude as Adelaide or one degree south
of Sydney or Cape Town. The population is wholesale of European
descent, the Spanish conquistadors having virtually and swiftly
exterminated the sparse Red Indian settlements, there being no
mestizos as in most other South American countries.

Only one percent of the Uruguayans are of African origin,

Montevideo having been a slave-market town during the Spanish rule.
There is no racial discrimination in our country. Some 80 percent of
the people are of Italian and Spanish ancestry, the rest being of other
European countries, including a tiny portion from Britain, all souped
up by intermarriage, while yet each ethnical group keeping its cultural
roots alive, like the Germans through the Goethe Institute, the French
by the Alliance Francaise and the British through some excellent
schools run by the British Council. There are no Asian immigrants. It
might be interesting for British readers to know that for nearly 70
years the United Kingdom was the largest trading partner of Uruguay,
from the 1880s until displaced by the United States around 1950.

DEMOCRATIC TRADITION

In Uruguay one does not see extremes of wealth or poverty as in

Brazil and most other South American countries. About 80 percent of
the people are middle class. The lifestyle is easy-going, rather
Mediterranean, with a resigned idea that tomorrow will take care of
itself. The shops and offices warm up only after 10 o'clock but they
do not close in the afternoon. The siesta habit is fast disappearing.
The language is Spanish, spoken with a River Plate accent. The upper
class imitates the French intellectually, and the general population
looks to Italy and Spain for cultural identity. However, Uruguayans
are not gay like the Italians, or proud like the Spaniards, but rather
sombre and modest. They are a friendly and hospitable people, with a
laissez-faire attitude.

After statehood in the beginning of the nineteenth century, followed

by a few years of civil war, the country has enjoyed democratic forms
of government all along, except for a decade of military rule brought
about by leftist terrorism in the 1970s. Uruguay is probably the first
country in South America to separate the Catholic church from the
state, in the beginning of this century. Two centre parties, both with
its centre-left and centre-right wings, take turns in governing the
country, with vociferous parliamentary debates, the two houses of the
congress and the presidential form of government being modelled
after the United States. Like the United Kingdom, we have a welfare
state.

Among the Uruguayans interest in India was, and still is, limited to a
tiny group of persons looking for an otherworldly attitude to life
through the writings of Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi and a few
others. A stretch of the embankment in Montevideo is named Rambla
Mahatma Gandhi. Since the 1930s, some of the works of
Ramakrishna and Vivekananda became available, subsequent to those
of the Theosophical Society. Uruguay had the first direct contact with
an Indian philosopher when J. Krishnamurti visited Montevideo in the
mid-1930s.

Since the late 1950s, some books on Hatha Yoga, including one by
Swami Sivananda, began to circulate. One of those interested in this
branch of yoga was Mateo Magarinos, then a junior minister in the
Foreign Office. In 1961, one day he wrote extraofficially to his friend
Orlando Nadal, then our ambassador in New Delhi, as to the
feasibility of an Indian teacher visiting Uruguay for a time. That is
how Swami Chidananda came to Montevideo in that year and stayed
for four months, giving almost daily classes on the different branches
of yoga. A small group formed around him and, in July 1961, he laid
the metaphorical foundation stone of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta
Centre in Uruguay.

Our country was quite lucky to have Swami Chidananda who made a
very good impression and inspired a few souls by his personal
example of holiness, among whom was a German-born officer of the
I.B.M. (Uruguay), Ulrich Hartschuh. If our Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta
Centre exists today, it is due to Ulrich's boundless enthusiasm,
childlike devotion to yogic ideals, untiring selfless service and
organisational skill. After Swami Chidananda left in October 1961,
Swami Shivapremananda came here one year later and also stayed for
four months. Although then resident in the United States, he assumed
the leadership of the Centre and began to come at first for short stays
and then for longer residence. It is his constant attention to keep the
spiritual ideals alive, continuous selfless service and inspiring
teachings that made the Centre what it is today, a well-established,
highly prestigious and the largest institution of its kind in the country.

ULRICH HARTSCHUH

Swamiji was specially fond of Ulrich Hartschuh, who unfortunately

died of a heart attack at the age of 57, in 1983. All those who came
into contact with him, including myself, were inspired by his example
of what a Karma Yogi is like. Robert Dix, also German-born and then
an officer of the Hoechst (Uruguay), succeeded Ulrich as the Centre's
administrator. In the output of hours of dedicated service few could
match him. He also served as Swamiji's secretary. His calm
disposition was admirable and goodness of heart unforgettable.
Swamiji held him in deep affection and used to say that it was
"Robert's sweat that built the Centre." His wife, Lotti, was also a
prominent worker. Swamiji's book La Inmanencia de to Eterno is her
production, consisting of a series of class-talks in English which she
transcribed, edited and translated into Spanish.

Several others helped to form the Centre through their years of

exemplary service, most prominent among whom was Margarita
Mendoza who passed away at the age of 82, in 1988. Another
colleague whom I would like to mention was Richard Brown,
grandson of a British admiral, who died accidentally rather young, in
1971, and whom I succeeded as the Center's treasurer. It would be fair
to say that the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre pioneered the
teachings of yoga in Uruguay. Since the 1970s, more than two dozens
of yoga groups, including one known as Asociacion Sivananda de
Yoga, operate for private gain, mostly in Montevideo. Many of their
teachers have been former alumni of our Centre. As of February,
1992, our active membership is 631, ie, those who come twice a week
on the average to participate in any of the 20 weekly Hatha Yoga
classes or the philosophy and meditation satsanga (prayer meeting).

I came to yoga in 1965 by reading Swami Shiva- premananda's book

Platicas sobre Yoga (Talks on Yoga), the first of his works published
in Spanish in that year. At first I knew nothing about yoga and,
although my longtime interest was in athletics, it was the spiritual
teachings in this book that stimulated my interest in yoga. In our
country, however, yoga means mainly a system of physical exercises.
I recognised their benefit immediately, for calming the mind and
relaxing the nerves, which I needed because of my profession as a
chartered accountant, requiring constant concentration.

It is now more than a quarter of a century that I am associated with

the Centre, as a student at first, then as a staff member, mainly taking
care of the accounts which I still do, as an instructor of Hatha Yoga
which I still am, and finally as administrator with the title of vice-
president. I also guide the philosophy and meditation meetings during
Swamiji's absence. After I retired as a director in the Uruguayan
Ministry of Economy and Finance, I am happy to serve as a full-time
worker at the Centre.

My parents were descended from Italian immigrants, as that of my

wife, and my upbringing was secular and liberal, exphasising self-
effort, respect for law and one's teachers, decency and affection in the
family without being demonstrative, and duty and responsibility
overall. Practice of Catholic religion in my family consisted of
baptism, confirmation, church marriage and little else, but I was
taught to respect spiritual values and not to be dogmatic. As such,
coming to yoga did not cause any conflict in me.
Being trained as an accountant, I found Swami Shivapremananda's
teachings precise and pragmatic. His idealism fitted into my
formation and his interpretation of yoga was something I considered
fortunate to have encountered. It became a positive influence in my
life, as much as the happiness I derive from my work at the Centre. In
yoga I found a great realism in the understanding of human nature, a
means of finding peace within, cope with the problems of life with a
greater equanimity, improve my conduct, and deepen love and
friendship. What more can one ask for from a transitory life of light
and shadow?
 YOGA IN URUGUAY II

By Humberto Cairoli

I came to yoga through medical advice about 20 years ago, when I

was above 40 and suffered from chronic migraine. The condition of
my spine was that of an old man, according to my doctor. The
medications gave me only temporary relief but caused gastritis. My
prognosis was not very encouraging. One day, my doctor said, "Why
not try yoga?" I had then a very superficial notion of yoga, associated
with a man standing on his head or sitting cross-legged with closed
eyes.

The same doctor recommended me to go to the Sivananda Yoga-

Vedanta Centre in Montevideo. Thus more out of curiosity than
conviction, I started practising Hatha Yoga. My body was very stiff to
start with. Soon, however, the chronic headache disappeared, the
muscles and joints loosened up, and the condition of my back
improved remarkably. This naturally made me an enthusiastic
practitioner of yoga. Noting such a rapid improvement of my health, I
encouraged my wife, Blanca, to join the Centre, as she suffered from
asthma since a long time, and as also both of us liked to share our
interests outside home. Soon enough, she felt a great relief through
the practice of Hatha Yoga, specially the kapalabhati pranayama. She
learned to breathe better and, believe it or not, gave up the cortisone
drugs she was dependent on for 25 years, much to the surprise of
many, including her doctor.

After two years of regular practice, we were trained to become

instructors, which we still continue to be, not having lost a bit of our
initial enthusiasm after so many years. We both had our favourite
Hatha Yoga teachers who inspired us by their dedication and
friendship. About the exercises I learned a lot from the late Matias
Guasch, an immigrant from Spain, and about yoga philosophy, other
than Swamiji, from Robert Dix, then in charge of conducting
satsanga. When Swamiji came to Montevideo, my wife and I never
missed any of his classes, meanwhile having read all his books, which
shaped our ideas about yoga.
Both of us became voluntary workers and came under the inspiring
influence of Margarita Mendoza, then general secretary, a position I
succeeded to in 1988 after she passed away, having been a founding
member and one of the chief architects of the Centre. I have rarely
met a person like her with such unblemished integrity, self-effacing
service, immense sense of duty and responsibility, unfailing reliability
and devotion to Swamiji. She was very close to him and served as his
secretary, a position to which I also succeeded after she left us
physically.

Like most Uruguayans, I am part Italian and part Spanish, my father's

family having migrated from the Lake Como region of northern Italy
and my mother's from northern Spain. I had a very happy childhood,
with loving parents, and was raised in traditional Christian values, but
without an adequate knowledge of our religion. In addition to being
an instructor, my wife is one of the two auditors of the Centre. Both
of us feel quite at home with the teachings of Swami
Shivapremananda. "Spirituality," according to him, "consists in the
practice of integrity, compassion, purity of heart, selflessness,
sublimation of passions and humility of spirit." Swamiji's role is
explaining what they actually mean and their relativity to practical
life, under different circumstances. He says:

"All of us on this earth are different from each other just as each leaf
is different from the other while belonging to the same tree. Thus,
individually apart, we all belong to the common tree of our species,
drawing the psychological sap from the same mixed source of
creation, from the reservoir of good and evil, positive and negative,
God and devil in us. Our fears and anxieties, hopes and
disappointments, desires and frustrations, all have a common streak in
each of us, welling up from the same primordial psyche that is being
shaped and reshaped, refined and tarnished, anchored and let flow
freely for a while by the forces of history, with religions and
ideologies serving as handmaidens, popping up ideas as to who we
are, what we want to be, where we have supposedly come from and
where we want to go."

SWAMIJI'S IMPRESSION
Swamiji's teachings have made a vivid impression on our thinking,
specially his knowledge of the human nature as much as the
scriptures, including the Bible. As his secretary, I have observed him
closely and learned to appreciate his straightforwardness, even if at
times expressed rather bluntly. Most of his students like and enjoy
demythification, including about yoga. He has reminded us often:

"Emotionalism in Bhakti Yoga experienced by singing kirtans and

bhajans (devotional chants and songs) by itself does not purify the
heart, although they can be momentarily uplifting, nor long hours of
japa or saying the rosary mechanically, nor getting up before dawn to
practise concentration and meditation as per Raja Yoga, nor
contemplation on the mahavakyas (great affirmations) and the vidyas
of the Upanishads (metaphysical themes) as per Gyana Yoga. Real
sadhana (spiritual discipline) consists in leading a life of ethical
idealism and selfless service, watchfulness over one's motives and
freedom from hypocrisy and egolatry, passions and prejudices.
Sadhana is more a process as to how we think and express ourselves
through attitude and conduct, rather than merely an act in itself.
Without such a basis, spiritual exercises are like pouring water in a
leaking pot."

As a production manager in a large factory, I have a lot to cope with

the problems of human nature among the work force. Swamiji's
teachings have helped me much to promote accord through a common
sense of purpose, discipline by motivation, harmony through mutual
appreciation, performance by attention to individual welfare. A wide
window of yoga has opened up before me by the way Swamiji teaches
about God and spiritual values, as much as by his personal example.
Without being bound by dogmas, nor indulging in self-serving
fantasies about God, I have found peace in my heart by feeling his
presence, within and around, as an "infinite spirit expressed through
love and truth."

Having found so much benefit at the Centre, both physical and

spiritual, it gives me great joy, as also to my wife, to be able to serve
others through it. I come to the Centre everyday after work. Swamiji
has gathered around him such a fine group of persons to make it for
all of us a real spiritual home. I remember with fondness those of my
friends who are no longer physically present but whose inspiring
memory of love and kindness brings so much peace and happiness to
me. As Swamiji says, a Centre does not consist of well-furnished,
splendid buildings but the human element, of those who serve
idealistically to make it a spiritual home for all those who need such a
refuge. My wife and I are proud to be a part of it.
 YOGA IN URUGUAY III

By Sofia Aguiar

Since my adolescence I developed an interest in India and admiration

for the spiritual ideals of that remote land, mainly from the stories I
heard from my grandmother who was a German. I thought that some
day I would learn more about India and yoga. In 1968, from a friend, I
learned that in Montevideo there was a Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta
Centre, of which she was a student. She also told me that the Centre's
guide, Swami Shivapremananda, was known for his integrity and had
pioneered the teaching of yoga in our country on a sustained basis.

However, due to circumstantial reasons and my interest being still

incipient, it was only in 1974 I joined the Centre, when I came to
know that Swamiji had just arrived and was. about to give courses on
Vedanta and Raja Yoga. I attended all his classes, which made a deep
impression on me due to their wisdom, expressed in a practical
manner. Then I read all his available books. Regular practice of Hatha
Yoga improved my health as well. The teachings of yoga have helped
me a great deal to overcome my mental rigidity on account of my
childhood formation. My mother being a German and father of
Basque and Galician origin, I was brought up very strictly. No longer
I see things in black and white terms. Yoga has broadened my attitude
to life and improved my understanding of others.

In course of time, I became an instructor of Hatha Yoga, which

brought me in contact with many students, and this helped me not to
be distant and self-absorbed. The past 18 years of association with the
Centre has been a rich experience in my life. I became a council
member and secretary for public relations. I am not a practising
Christian in the sense that I am not a churchgoer, but I find so much
similarity of Christian values with the teachings of yoga as taught by
Swamiji. I have learned that the practice of any religion consists in
living up to its ideals in daily life, that prayers are not so many words
said in the act of worship, but mean spiritual aspiration, as Jesus said
"God hears what is in your heart." Yet I like the satsanga at the Centre
and also participate in spiritual retreats conducted by Swamiji.
Being an architect and a follower of yoga, I know that it is far easier
to design a building and structure it according to one's drafts, but how
difficult is the inner reconstruction, to know the intricacies of what
has already been made within and to restructure it according to one's
ideals. Swamiji says: "Destiny is what you make of what you have,
within and without, tapping inner resources, potentialities, and
making the best use of the circumstances, opportunities, not sitting
around and saying that it is my karma as to what I am and how I
suffer, but through self-effort trying to overcome suffering and better
yourself and your situation. It is only after doing so, accept with
fortitude what cannot be helped. You do not know what your destiny
is without trying to find out what it can be by self-effort."

Thus I am learning more and more about my destiny, listening to

Swamiji's teachings: "Get hold of the first opportunity for anything
good that comes by. Do not wait for a better one to appear the next
time, for there may not be a next time. If you have found a friend or a
teacher of integrity, do not let that person move away through your
indifference or selfishness, but sustain such a friendship by sharing of
the best in you."
 YOGA IN URUGUAY IV

By Olga Gutierrez

When I was about 40 years old and my daughter old enough to take
care of herself, and my husband being content with a settled and
predictable household life, I felt like many other housewives of my
age that as if I was in a spiritual vacuum. Thus, in the beginning of
1973, I came to the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre on
recommendation of some of my friends. The Hatha Yoga classes were
of high quality and the satsangas inspiring. What impressed me most
was, however, that all those who served there were motivated by a
selfless, spiritual idealism. At first I had thought that they were paid
personnel, but soon I knew that they served there only for the love of
their ideals.

Since childhood I have felt the protection of strong family ties and the
security of ethical and moral values that I learned from my parents.
My ancestry is part German (on father's side) and part English (on
mother's), and I am married to an Uruguayan of Spanish descent. I
was raised as a Christian like most of my countrymen, but without
dogmatism. I married early, and my husband and I have an
understanding family life, each respecting the other's sphere of
interest outside home. My daughter pursues a lawyer's career, as does
her husband, and I have two handsome grandchildren who bring much
joy to my life. Like many others, I have passed through ups and
downs since my early years. The traditional religious teachings did
not help me much and troubled my spirit with contradictions and
doubts. By and by, listening to Swami Shivapremananda's classes and
reading his books, I found my path and made peace with myself.

Soon after joining the Centre, I came under the influence of Margarita
Mendoza. Her selfless devotion and dedication were exemplary. She
was then the deputy headmistress of a grammer school and had spent
a lifetime in the teaching career. In a few years I became an instructor
of Hatha Yoga and a staff member. After Margarita passed away four
years ago, I succeeded her as Swamiji's housekeeper when he is in
town. I became a council member and am at present in-charge of
training instructors. I am also a deputy to the General Secretary.

The teachings of yoga never had any conflict with my liberal

Christian background. On the other hand, they helped to clear many
of my doubts and enabled me to understand myself better. However, I
must say that it has been possible mostly through Swamiji's line of
interpretation. For example, I found in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna's
threat of punishment in hell as distasteful as that of the Bible.
Swamiji's sayings found a common cord in many of our hearts, such
as:

HEAVEN AND HELL

"Heaven and hell are within each of us and in our surroundings. When
truth and love, goodness and kindness, justice and commonweal,
understanding and tolerance, clarity of reason and purity of devotion
reign in our hearts and in our relationship with each other, at home
and in the community, we experience heaven and the presence of
God. In their contradictions we are in hell, both within and without,
suffering the absence of God. In work ethic, in a work well done, in a
duty carried out as best as one could, in an obligation well fulfilled, in
nourishing and tending carefully a loving relationship, in the
inspiration of realising a spiritual ideal, we experience heaven.
Whereas, when our hearts are ruled by passion and prejudice, and
contort with resentment and malice, when our heads simmer with
anger and nerves tense up with bitterness, when words and looks are
used as daggers, and actions are plotted and executed to destroy the
welfare and happiness of others, we experience and are in hell.

"Eternal heaven and hell are wishful thinking. The roots of

satchidananda in our souls give an inner awareness (chit) of an
eternally existing (sat) heaven (ananda), but due to our attachment to
physical existence, we like to make it an abode of happy denizens
enjoying forever rivers of milk and honey (in Islamic heaven even
houris are provided). How cloying that can be! Naturally, not wanting
our enemies to be around, we want to invent a befitting place like hell
for them.
"It is doubtful if inducement for heaven has made anyone behave
better, or punishment in hell has been threatening enough to prevent
people from evil deeds, for otherwise society would not need so many
arms of law enforcement. It is also equally unfair of God to send
anyone to an eternal hell when an imperfect judge in a civilised
society does not punish the worst criminal for more than 15 to 30
years of life-imprisonment, with a provision of one-third remission
for good behaviour. Nor does it make sense when God, who is
supposed to be merciful, threatens to punish not only the idolators but
up to the fourth generation of their descendants (second
commandment in the Bible), when an ordinary judge would not deem
it just to punish children for the crime of their fathers."

The above quotations from Swamiji's class-talks are indicative of his

line of teachings, providing a wholesale reassessment of the
scriptures. According to him the classical texts of yoga as well
represent the "vision of their authors in the light of their spiritual
search, their minds reflecting the shape of values and thinking in their
times, as also their own wishful thinking like the yogis attaining
omnipotence and omniscience (so much for modesty), or their bodies
becoming as light as a feather (anima) or as heavy as a mountain
(laghima), as per Raja Yoga.

The siddhis (occult powers) never attracted me, nor did psychic
experiences. I only wanted to be a better mother, a better wife, a
better friend and a better human being, to have a measure of control
over my destiny, to come to terms with adverse conditions that are
beyond my power to change, without complaining, to find peace in
my heart and be in peace with others. The Centre has provided me a
unique field to fulfil this need. It is surprising that how many people
come to it, not only to attend Hatha Yoga classes and the satsangas,
but to find someone to talk to, unburden themselves, seek a
sympathetic understanding, even a shoulder to cry on. That I can be
useful not only as a Hatha Yoga instructor and a staff secretary but as
a spiritual friend of those who need me, has been and is an ample
reward in my life and given me much happiness.
 A WINDOW OF YOGA IN CHILE

By Anita Palma

Yoga came to Chile relatively later than to Europe and the USA, or
even to Brazil and Argentina. Chilean people, however, have deep
spiritual roots. Most of them are Catholics but not close-minded.
Being so near the high Andes over a length of some 2,500 miles with
a width of only less than 150 miles between the mountains and the
Pacific Ocean, there is a mystical tendency in the Chilean
unconscious. The Red Indians had very sparsely settled the region
since over 10,000 years ago until the coming of the Spanish
conquistadors early in the sixteenth century.

The native tribes were rather primitive unlike the Incas in Peru,
Mayas in Central America and Aztecs in Mexico. Not being
numerous, they were absorbed in the Spanish culture in the course of
the centuries. Although Chileans are mainly of Spanish descent,
German immigrants started coming in since the middle of the
nineteenth century. From the beginning of the twentieth, other
immigrants from Europe like Italians and Yugoslavs also arrived.
Thus, Chile looks more like a modern Mediterranean nation with a
dash of Red Indian blood. There are 13 million inhabitants.

My grandparents were descendants of Spanish colonisers and were

devout Catholics, but for reasons unknown to me my parents
converted to the Baptist faith. In my adolescence, I was obliged to
read the Bible daily, but even then many doubts arose in my mind as
to God's wrath in destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, including
innocent children, why the human being was imperfect in spite of
being created in the image of God, why there were so much suffering
and calamities in the world? All these questions worried me and,
when once I spoke about them to my parents, they took me to our
pastor who thought that I was possessed by the Devil and made me
kneel down and he put his hands on my head to drive him out of me.

It was not a pleasant experience, and soon I became anti-religion and

started doubting in the existence of God. I studied biochemistry to
have a profession, which I still practise part-time at the age of 83 (in
May 1991). In due course, I got married and later lived, for some
years in La Paz, Bolivia, and Montevideo, Uruguay, on account of my
husband's business career. In the 1950s, after years of indifference to
religion, when I was already over 40, I came across a book of
Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, which was my first
introduction to yoga. It fascinated me. I began to read all the books on
yoga I could lay my hands on in the libraries of Santiago and
Montevideo, and bought those available in the bookstores.

MEETING TWO SWAMIS

Chileans have been interested in the spiritual culture of India through

the writings of Rabindranath Tagore, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Annie
Basant, J. Krishnamurti, Mahatma Gandhi, Yogananda and others. In
the late 1950s, a small group in Santiago formed a branch of the Self-
realisation Fellowship of California and in the early 1960s another
small group organised itself as Suddha Dharma Mandala. However, to
my knowledge, Swami Shivapremanandaji was the first to pioneer a
comprehensive teaching of yoga in Chile since 1965.1 met Swamiji
for the first time in 1962 in Montevideo where I was staying at that
time. He was then the Director of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta
Centre in Milwaukee, USA, which he had founded in 1961, having
been deputed by Swami Sivanandaji of Rishikesh to spread the
teachings of yoga in the West.

The universal spiritual message of yoga and its broad vision of God
had since many years opened up within me deep longings to search
for a higher meaning of life. Religious dogmas never appealed to me.
I disliked the fundamentalists and ideologues. Exclusive claims to
truth did not make sense because they made groups of humanity
antagonistic to each other. It was before Pope John XXIII had
initiated the Second Vatican Council in 1962 that I found my spiritual
home in yoga.

One day, in 1961, I read in a Montevideo newspaper that a Swami

was coming to town. His name was Swami Chidananda, now
President of the Divine Life Society. He was at that time travelling in
the USA. A small group of people interested in yoga had written to
the Uruguayan ambassador in New Delhi if a Swami would be willing
to come to Montevideo for a few months to teach yoga. Through
some reference, the ambassador went to Swami Sivanandaji in
Rishikesh. As Chidanandaji was already in the USA, Swami
Sivanandaji asked him to go to Uruguay. It was as per the suggestion
of Shivapremanandaji, although Chidanandaji had suggested that
Swami Vishnu- devananda should go instead.

Chidanandaji stayed in Montevideo for four months and pioneered the

teaching of yoga in Uruguay. I attended all his classes. A group was
informally constituted as the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre. A year
later, this group in conjunction with a group in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, wrote to Swami Sivanandaji to send another Swami who
could come to South America periodically to consolidate the Centre
in Montevideo and establish a Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre in
Buenos Aires. Chidanandaji having already returned to India and
Shivapremanandaji having been sent to the West, which was to be on
a permanent basis, the latter was the obvious choice of the great
master Sivanandaji.

Thus, in 1962, I met my future Guru. Shivapremanandaji at first came

to Buenos Aires, where I went to receive him with the Montevideo
group. He taught there for three months, founded the Sivananda
Centre and registered it as a charity. He came then to Montevideo to
consolidate and expand the already-existing Centre and also register it
as a charity. Swamiji stayed in Montevideo for four months and I
attended all his classes, almost everyday, on the Upanishads, Raja
Yoga, Bhagavad Gita, meditation and Hatha Yoga. It was through
him that the students in Montevideo, including me, got a deeper
insight into the comprehensive knowledge of yoga. The same can be
said about the yoga students in Buenos Aires where he went back
afterwards.

Soon, however, Sivanandaji asked Shivapremanandaji to return to

Milwaukee, as he was needed there. In 1963, I came back to my
country, resolving that the next time Swamiji came to South America,
I will invite him to Chile to found a Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre
in Santiago. Swami Sivanandaji passed away in 1963. The second
visit of Shivapremanandaji to South America was in 1965, when he
was Director of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre in New York,
which Swami Vishnudevananda had earlier founded while being
based in Canada.

YOGA COMES TO CHILE

Shivapremanandaji at first came to Buenos Aires and then to

Montevideo to help the consolidation and growth of the two Centres. I
lost no time to invite him to Chile, having already formed a group
with my friends with similar interest. Thus, the Sivananda Yoga-
Vedanta Centre came to being in Santiago. Swamiji gave a series of
lectures at the University of Chile, the National Library and some
cultural institutes, and registered the Centre as a charity in August
1965, for which we had no difficulty with the Charity Commission
(Personaria Juridica), as in Argentina and Uruguay, although it is not
easy to get a charity status. However, our bonafides would have been
vouched by the Indian ambassadors and probably our embassies in
New Delhi had also vetted the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh.

Gradually our Centre in Santiago came to be regarded as the most

prestigeous institution of its kind. Swamiji again came to South
America in 1967 and 1969 but stayed for short periods of time,
because he had more responsibility in New York. From the early
1970s he came for longer periods of time almost every year and
eventually took charge as President of the three Sivananda Yoga-
Vedanta Centres on a permanent basis (earlier he had appointed
others as Presidents who were elected by the membership). Since the
1970s yoga teachers have mushroomed in Chile, as in Argentina and
Uruguay. However, ours is the only Centre, as in Buenos Aires and
Montevideo, which is entirely run by voluntary workers without
remuneration, including Swamiji, all trained by him as Hatha Yoga
instructors and as spiritual seekers to run the other activities such as
conducting satsanga and meditation and philosophy classes. and
looking after general management. The only paid personnel are the
accountant and the caretaker who also cleans the premises.
We keep our membership fee low, so as to make it accessible to all.
The philosophy and meditation classes are free, which are on
Wednesdays and Saturdays. We have daily Hatha Yoga classes,
morning and evening. Swami Shivapremanandaji stays with us at
least three months every year or two months at a time twice a year,
the rest of his time being given to his other two Centres in Buenos
Aires, which is his headquarters, and in Montevideo. He also visits
Europe once in two years, stopping over in New York, to and from.
Swamiji has frequently lectured in the Catholic University, the
University of Chile and the cultural institutes of the municipality of
Santiago.

The Catholic Church has a benevolent attitude towards us and to yoga

in general, probably because yoga is not considered a religion and it is
not strong enough a movement to make the hierarchy sit up and
consider it a threat. The public regards yoga mainly as a physical
culture, although we have our share of the Hare Krishnas and
Transcendental Meditation, Theosophy and Baha'i groups and the
likes of them. Except us, Hatha Yoga teachers operate on a
commercial basis. When in town, Shivapremanandaji also conducts
for his students spiritual retreats in the nearby Catholic monasteries,
the doors of which are open to us because they do not regard us as
cultists.

NO RELIGIOUS CONFLICT

As such, the church-going students of our Centre do not find a

religious conflict, since yoga regards Jesus Christ an incarnation of
God and Moses a leading prophet of humanity. There are many like
me who are not the Church-going type. The committed Christians,
i.e., the dogmatists of course stay away from us. However, more than
half of our members are interested only in Hatha Yoga. Socially, we
are a mixed bag. There are professionals, businessmen and women,
office secretaries, housewives. As can be expected, women
predominate and it is not because they have more time. Many of them
have regular jobs in addition to housework. It is simply because
women are more interested in keeping fit and men are generally lazy.
After getting back from work, men would rather watch television than
come to a yoga class. It may be also because women have more
emotional and spiritual needs.

To me and to many others like me, Swami Shiva- premananda has

made a profound impression through his philosophy of life and his
interpretation of not only the spiritual teachings of yoga but in making
us look at our own Christian background in a brighter light on account
of his Biblical scholarship. Although a renunciate monk and born in a
Brahmin family, whose great-grandfather was a cousin of Ram
Mohan Roy and a cofounder of the Brahmo Samaj reform movement
in India in the last century, Swamiji cannot be pinned down to any
particular religion. To him "anyone who loves integrity, compassion
and selflessness, duty, honour and responsibility. sublimation of
passion, moral courage and humility, is a religious person, whether he
or she goes to a church or not, believes in a heavenly deity or not, gets
up in the early morning to meditate or not."

To Swamiji, "God is not an anthropomorphic deity localised in a

heavenly abode, but the eternal, infinite, universal and transcendental
spirit immanent in all and present everywhere, whereas a personal
God like the Father in Heaven or Krishna or Jesus Christ is an
idealised spiritual form of the individual's devotion and aspiration that
the same infinite spirit assumes in order to be relatable to the seeker."
Swamiji says, "Integrity and purity of heart are the highest practices
of religion, and compassion, devotion and ethics are its soul,
irrespective of whether you are a Christian, Jew, Hindu, Moslem or
Buddhist." Such a Window of Yoga he has opened in Chile, through
which the "fresh breeze of the infinite spirit can flow in, to clear the
cobwebs of religious exclusiveness and bigotry, pride and prejudice,
malice and dogmatism, selfishness and egolatry."

SWAMIJI'S WAY

Shivapremanandaji does not like any showmanship, religious or

political, himself being totally free from it. He is uncomfortable in the
company of those whom he sometimes calls "performing holy men
and holy women" but takes them in stride as a part of life, himself
avoiding flowing robes and trying his best to appear like a simple
human being. He does not give any Sanskrit name to his students,
even though acknowledging a need in some to put on a persona if it
helps him or her to be true to or measure up to its meaning.
Otherwise, the farce of it does not escape him.

Swamiji has not given sannyasa initiation to any of his long-devoted

students, because he says that sannyasa or renunciation is in one's
heart, and as long as it is kept pure it does not matter whether a robe is
put on or not. If anyone asks him for sannyasa, he tells him or her to
go to the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh if not content with what he
has just said about his philosophy of life. When a student asks
Swamiji for mantra initiation, he gives him or her a few pertinent
mantras to choose from, explaining the meaning of each to fit a
specific personal inclination, and reminding at the same time that it
does not make him a guru, because he simply does not like the idea of
being a guru of any, although in effect he is so to numerous people
without such a title. Swamiji says that the real guru is God in your
heart, even if one could have many little gurus as Sage Dattatreya
had, like a fly who taught him tenacity and a dog devotion and
loyalty. This is also a contribution of Swamiji to the Window of Yoga
in Chile.

A favourite joke of Shivapremanandaji is that "no one is good enough

to be a spiritual master of anyone, human nature being so deficient."
He says, "Knowledge can be taught but spirituality is a personal
responsibility and cultivated by oneself alone, because no one can
impart it or trigger it by a magic touch." There are half-a-dozen books
of Swamiji in Spanish containing his teachings, mainly transcribed
and edited from his class-talks, which have made him widely known
in Chile as well as in Argentina and Uruguay. He has taught us,
"Freedom of thought is a basic right for all, and no one should impose
on others a particular ideology or belief through undemocratic means,
including the dictat of a guru. Rights and obligations are interrelated,
as are liberty and responsibility, personal freedom and self-
discipline." Swamiji has made his students very aware of these values.
He cannot stand self-important people. I have actually seen him
squirm in their presence out of displeasure. He is a stickler for
punctuality, and the Centre is run by a liberal-minded and highly
responsible crew.

ON BEING TRUSTED

I would like to relate two cases to illustrate how Swamiji is trusted by

those Chileans who know him, although he does not care about
politics while being highly democratic in outlook. During the Marxist
regime (1970-73) of the late President Salvador Allende, his deputy
foreign minister once sought Swamiji out for an interview to clarify
some of his thoughts. I remember, soon after the military coup, when
Swamiji was visiting Chile in 1974 and when our Centre was located
at a large, rented flat near the Government House, a major of the
Chilean Intelligence Services in civilian dress used to come to our
satsanga. He had earlier met Swamiji in New York while working
there for the Chilean government, and became a devotee. He trusted
Swamiji so much that he used to keep his shoulder-holstered service
revolver in Swamiji's bedroom because he did not like to bring a gun
hidden under his suit jacket to the satsanga hall during our prayer
meetings. He is now retired and comes to the Centre when Swamiji is
in town.

In 1978, we bought our present building in the middle- class suburb of

Providencia in Santiago. As Swamiji does not like to ask for
donations, we did not make a fund-raising drive but paid for the
property gradually through membership fees, one of the council
members having loaned the down payment and given the collateral.
After the military coup, we had to display on the wall of the reception
hall a permit signed by the general in charge of the Santiago district to
hold any public activity which was then prohibited without
permission. The Centre's prestige was such that we were allowed to
conduct all our activities without interruption, although even karate
schools were closed down.

I also remember that one of the daughters of General Pinochet joined

the Centre for some time and used to come to the morning Hatha
Yoga class when, unknown to others, two of her bodyguards in
civilian dress patrolled the footpaths around the building but did not
enter it. She was correct and decent and never made her presence felt.
Our Centre must have been vetted and found safe enough for the
dictator's daughter to come to. Since 1990, Chile has an elected
civilian government headed by Patricio Alwyne whose ancestors
came from Wales, UK. He is a leader of the Christian Democratic
Party which is now (1991) in power, as in Germany and Italy. Our
Centre continues to function as usual, unaffected by any political
change.

Now I will let two of my colleagues relate briefly how they came to
yoga and give their backgrounds.
 YOGA IN CHILE II

By Hector Calderon

By training I am an electrical (now electronic) engineer. My ancestors

came from Spain a long time ago. Somehow 1 chanced upon a book
on Hatha Yoga by Yogi Vitthaldas 27 years ago and started to
practise the exercises on my own. A year later, I saw an
announcement in a newspaper about a public lecture to be given by
Swami Shivapremananda. I went to listen to him. It was his first visit
to Chile. In spite of my childhood Catholic formation and having
gone to a Jesuit school, I liked what he said. It made sense. The
message was clear and rational. It fitted into my engineering mind,
and I was among the first to join the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre
when Swamiji formed it.

At first I had thought that yoga meant only physical exercises and that
was enough for me because I had my Catholic religion after all, but
listening to Swamiji and later on reading his books and that of others,
I knew that there was more to it. I learned that yoga has a universal
philosophy and it was not opposed to traditional western values.
Swamiji told us, "Yoga was a state of mind, a way of life, that
material and spiritual aspects of it could not be separated, that
improvement of our human nature and conduct was its goal, without
dogmatism or imposition of any doctrine claiming a divine origin, that
life should be ruled by moral and spiritual values."

This broadened my idea of religion and fitted into my pragmatic

outlook, having observed how close-minded some of my committed
Catholic friends were and the contradiction of their beliefs and
actions. Swamiji's teachings have helped me to have a better
understanding of myself and the people I relate to. Except for five
years in Rio de Janeiro, where my professional career took me to, I
have been continuously associated with the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta
Centre in Santiago in different capacities, even as an instructor of
Hatha Yoga. The teachings of yoga, as interpreted by Swamiji, have
made me happier, more self-confident, more of a realist and helped
me to find inner peace.
We have learned a lot of things from him apart from the classical
teachings and Hatha Yoga. He simply cannot stand self-pity and says,
"If anything goes wrong, you are at least 50% to blame, and so accept
your share, learn from your mistakes and do not pass on the blame to
others to feel sorry for yourself." He has taught us personal
responsibility and the value of commitment. A favourite joke of his is,
"Do not tell me that you have not been able to keep your word
because you were run over by a lorry."
 YOGA IN CHILE III

By Lucila Broughton

My father was of British ancestry and a Free Mason, and my mother

of Spanish origin and a Catholic. Religion did not mean much in my
early life. As a child, I was fascinated by the pictures and statues of
the Buddha seated in the lotus posture in deep meditation and holding
mudras. This inward, contem- plative aspect was the first thing that
drew me to yoga, to the Orient, to India. In the 1940s, as a child I
could not find in Chile anyone who would satisfy my spiritual hunger.
As a student of music, however, I learned that Yehudi Menuhin had
benefited greatly through the practice of yoga. So, I started buying
books available on the subject and began to practise Hatha Yoga by
myself. Then I joined for two years an organisation called Great
Universal Fraternity which taught yoga, in the mid-1970s.

In 1978, one day I saw an announcement in a Santiago newspaper that

Swami Shivapremariandaji was coming to town and went to listen to
his public lecture. Since then I have been a devoted follower of him. I
joined the Sivananda Centre and eventually became an instructor and
worked in other roles. The ancient wisdom of the Vedas found an
echo in my soul. Swamiji's teachings have been vitally important in
my personal development, have given me strength which I had
thought I did not have and depths to the understanding of life I knew
not. I am a housewife and a piano teacher. Yoga has taught me to be
creative in music which I love, more honest, and to appreciate more
the happy moments and take in stride the unhappy ones without
bitterness. It has prepared me to look forward to the next life with
peace and strength and, when the time comes, to leave this one
without reproach or sadness. Yoga has helped me to be in peace with
myself and with others.

CONCLUSION BY ANITA PALMA

After my three friends have spoken about how yoga has influenced
their lives, I would like to conclude with my impressions. Now
pushing 84, my only regret is that I could have started much earlier.
Over 30 years of practice of yoga has kept me fit, physically and
mentally. As I said before, I still work part time to keep my mind
active. I go to concerts and come to the Centre three times a week to
supervise the management and attend a meditation class and Satsanga,
even subbing as a desk secretary. When Swamiji is in town I attend
all his classes. I have made my peace with the Biblical God because I
have learned from Swamiji that the "same infinite spirit is reflected in
different forms in the mind of man according to the nature of his
spiritual aspiration, insecurity and anxiety, and the pure light
expresses itself as per the clearer or darker transparencies of his
individual consciousness."

Swamiji has taught me that the essence of my soul is a spark of the

same infinite spirit in a state of embodiment, and the "same spark
twinkles as myriads of God's light in the souls of humanity, awaiting
individual discovery and realisation." Thus, I have lost the fear of
death. In the spirit of the Bhagavad Gita, although I know that in a
few years my body will return to earth "from dust to dust and ashes to
ashes," my soul will continue to burn in the light of God and merge in
it eventually, "for winds cannot blow it out and torrents cannot drown
it."

I have learned that it is through my errors that I punish myself, not

God, that "heaven and hell are within our minds and the
circumstances of life". This philosophy has inwardly strengthened me
and given peace of mind, because I know that I am not alone, that
God is in me and I am in Him. I have a deep respect for the Christian
values of peace and love and forgiveness which, according to
Swamiji, represent the soul of my religion. I have come back to
Christianity through yoga. Ours is the smallest of Swamiji's three
Centres in South America, the one in Buenos Aires being the largest
and the one in Montevideo much bigger than ours, but our hearts are
as big as any of those who are closest to him over there. Can there be
anything greater than pure love for one another among all humanity!
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SWAMI SHIVAPREMANANDA

Swami Shivapremananda was born in India on 26 July, 1925. He

studied at St. Paul's Collegiate School in Darjeeling, and subsequently
at the St. Xavier's College in Calcutta (now) Kolkota) University. In
1945 he chose the vocation of spiritual ministry and entered the
Ashram (Divine Life Society) of Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh at the
foothills of the Himalayas.

He studied there various branches of yoga and comparative religions

and philosophies. From 1949 to 1961, he taught at the Yoga-Vedanta
Academy, and was the editor of The Divine Life and Wisdom Light
monthly magazines and other philosophical publications. During this
period he was also a private secretary to Swami Sivananda and a
trustee of the Divine Life Society.

Swami Shivapremananda took part in social work for the poor under
the auspices of the Sivananda Eye Relief Camps, in 1957-58, in
Sourashtra. His interest in Eastern mysticism drew him to some
monasteries in the Himalayas and Tibet in the 1950s and later to
Thailand, Cambodia and Japan. Swamiji stayed with Gurudev Swami
Sivananda for 16 years and eight months.

In 1961, invited by educational and cultural groups and urged by

Swami Sivananda, he went to Europe and the USA to share his
knowledge and experience gathered in the course of many years. He
has since lived in the USA, Europe and South America, and founded
and guided yoga centres in many countries.

From 1961 to 1963 he was the founder-director of the Sivananda

Yoga-Vedanta Centre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and from 1964 to
1970 president and director of the Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Centre in
New York. Since his arrival in the West he has been guiding yoga
centres in Europe and the Americas.

At present Swamiji is the president and rector of the Sivananda Yoga-

Vedanta Centres in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Montevideo (Uruguay)
and Santiago (Chile), which are the largest and most prestigious
organisations of their kind in these countries, built up over the years
since their inception under his guidance.

Swamiji is the author of eleven books on yoga philosophy and

psychology in Spanish which he wrote for his thousands of South
American students. They are: Talks on Yoga (1965, 1990), The
Universal Philosophy of Yoga (1969, 1991), Introduction to Yoga
Philosophy (1971, 1975), Philosophical and Psychological Aspects of
Yoga (1972, 1984), The Immanence of the Eternal (1973), Window of
the Soul (1983, 1987, 1988, 1988, 1989, 1993), Integral Yoga (1992),
Yoga, an Attitude Towards Life (2000), Tryst with Destiny (2002),
To Live Is to be Happy (2003) and Meditation (2004). More than a
dozen booklets of his teachings are also published. From time to time
he has lectured in the national universities of Argentina, Uruguay and
Chile and the Catholic universities in Buenos Aires and Santiago de
Chile.

Swami Shivapremananda goes to Europe periodically to give

seminars at various places, mainly in Great Britain and also in
Belgium and Ireland, having done so in Holland, France, Germany,
Switzerland and Italy. He is also well known as a teacher of Hatha
Yoga, and conducted spiritual retreats in many countries, his
inclination, however, being basically to Gyana Yoga and Raja Yoga.

To promote a greater understanding of the spiritual teachings of the

East through Western interpretation, Swamiji has given lectures in
many universities in the USA, such as Columbia in New York,
Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Stanford near San Francisco, the East-West
Cultural Centre in Los Angeles, St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore,
and the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco.

He has also lectured in the universities of Oxford, Stuttgart and

Antwerp and other educational institutions in Europe. Invited by the
late Thomas Merton, he twice visited the Trappist monastery in
Gethsemane in Kentucky in the early 1960s.
His book Yoga for Stress Relief, published in 1999 and 2000 by Gaia
Books, England, and Random House, USA, has been translated from
the original English and published in six other European languages.

Thank You