Patanjali YogaSutras - Live!
We're fortunate!
Listening to Guruji on Patanjali YogaSutras, live!
Exploring the depths of Yoga in his gracious presence is so beautiful.
And thus Yoga sutras are continued:
Talked about Abhyasa or practice.
Habits are nothing but practices done over a period of time so that become your nature.
Good as well as bad practices take time to become habits. The only difference is that bad practices take less amount of time ot become habits. No one likes smoking when they fag for the first time. It is only habituating yourself over a period of time that you really start liking it.
Restraining of thought waves is called dispassion or which you need a lot of practice or abhyasa over a long period of time.
Lalsa kab paida hoti hain, when we smell something. If you want to create the lalsa then you show something that is seen and heard to them. Your mind hibernates when in greed, when your mind has the 'tadap'(longing) towards the materialistic things then it is called a-vairagya (non dispassion). This is because the 'trishna'(longing) is not in our control. When it is in our control then it is called vairagya (dispassion).
Vairagya is like finding treasure in ourselves then there is no need for bothering about things outside. Like when you have 'gulabjamun' then you will not bother about sugar, when you have sunlight then you will not bother about the lamp.
There was a saint who was asked by someone whether he remembers them or not. To which the saint replied that 'muje mere bare main sochne se fursad nahi hain to main aapko kaise yaad karu?'
A sentence which says a lot – 'khud vyakti ke hone par koi parchai kyon dekhega?' (If we're having someone in person, why we'll look for his shadow?) This is called para vairagya which is of the highest quality.
Smashan vairagya is low quality when the things which we do not get we say that we anyways don't need it.
Q: Someone from Corporate Workshop asked that AOL has a lot of research done on the Sudarshan Kriya and other aspects of effect of breath on body and health then why is it not called Science of Living?
Guruji: Look, Art is common to everybody. 6 billion people in the world and out of that atleast 5.99 billion people listen to music or watch movies or enjoy some form of art. Great scientists also say that and if you see many of them used to either play some instrument or enjoyed some form of art. Dr Kalam who is a great scientist, also plays Vina too.
Music or art is prevalent to mankind, inclination towards science is very low. Science of brain is logic and music both and it nurtures both. AOL reaches more people in need of science.
Art is nothing but appreciation like a piece of cloth when decorated in a particular way becomes a beautiful 'paghadi'. Life when appreciated is art, when life is not honored or appreciated then it is a crime.
That is why it is named AOL and that also I have not given the name. I just started teaching and then the first few people called it the intensive program,meditation program and things like that till we came to know that this is actually the real art of living and then 'the real' dropped and so it is now called the Art of Living.
Q: What is the truth?
Guruji: You want me to give you a simple answer? (Questioner nodded for yes!).
Then truth is that which is not false. It is as simple as it can get.
What is false- it is that which is affected by time and space.
This definition is still mind boggling to all the scientists that someone could actually define it so simply.
Adishankara gave this definition of truth is that which is not affected by space and time.
For eg we say that it is raining outside now. Take the sentence word by word.
Was it raining yesterday- no, is it true that it was raining an hour back- no, but when it is raining for that time it is true.
Similarly when you are dreaming. The experience you have when you are dreaming is true but the moment you get up that is false. For as long as it is there it is true. Even while dreaming , your sleeping is false.
Defining truth like this is a brilliance by itself. There should be an urge or the quest for this truth, when you get it then nobody can take that smile from you, you become absolutely unshakable.
Q: How should one wake up from this dream before this lifetime?
Guruji: Are you dreaming now? When answers in affirmative then it means that you have already woken up.
Q: Comments on Global warming~ What Art Of Living has role to play in that?
Guruji: It is there, that there is global warming happening. That is a fact but what is happening now is that this fact is being exaggerated . 6 years back it was told in America that the everything is going to be lost and people had stacked up months of food and water and withdrawn money from the accounts and basically gone beserk. But what happened… nothing much
Similarly to global warming, this has become a business for some ppl.
Like for AIDS also the statistics quoted kept changing. They, the bodies who were doing the research, said 2.5 million people and then said the whole village and then went on to 3 million and in this way the figures kept changing.
They had claimed that the whole village (in UP) was AIDS infected. The village was so conservative and there was no chance that this kind of thing to happen. Later on it was found out that the antibody test which they were using to determine was giving wrong results.
Same thing about dying out of starvation in India.
It is all wrong and highly exaggerated. You claim of half the country dying due to starvation? That is not possible. I have been to so many villages and I have not seen people die due to starvation.
People do starve but there are much more people there to serve. Someone comes along and gives them food. In India we care and share and so out of 100 crore 50 crore agar bhookhe hain to kaha jayenge. That is sheer exaggeration of the numbers. In Vidharba there are 4000 farmers who I just met and all of them were happy and were dancing and enjoying the satsang. There is 4000 crore allotted by the government for the agricultural sector but nothing reaches the farmers. In that 507 villages which AOL volunteers have worked on have now 0% suicidal death. Global warming and these things are hyped up and very less work is done on the cause.
Someone commented that they are living so much in the present that now they have forgotten all that He has told them in the past (sutras).
Laughter….
(And Look what Guruji has for him .. )
See for example if you have an exam (for yoga teacher) tomorrow then you can not say that you forgot what you have studied. This should not happen. You intellect gets sharper when you live in the present moment. So many people think that I am not listening to them so they repeat the questions 4 times to me and I have to tell them " bas .. abhi aap mujhe 4 bar yeh poonh chuke ho aur main yeh bhi bata sakta hoon ki kaha par apne muze kya kaha tha. " (Look, you've already asked me this 4 times , and also I can tell you where did you ask what?!!!!")
I remember when I met someone and it doesn't matter how long back and where. Hain ki nahi?
Q: Why is there conflict in the name of religion when it was created so that one attains peace?
Guruji: Religion is devoid of spirituality that is the reason for conflict today. That is why there is identity crisis rather than a journey for betterment. Emphasis should be on spirituality so that all religions will merge.
Q: Do we attain abhyasa and vairagya through self effort or the grace of the Guru?
Guruji: Abhyasa is through ones effort and vairagya is awakening to reality.
For eg when you are watching the TV do you say I will watch the TV first and then listen to it. No, it is a simultaneous happening . Just like that Grace helps you be in vairagya after you do your abhyasa.
Joy GuruDays~
Posted in: on Sunday, November 4, 2007 at at 2:12 PM
