Tamas is the quality of dullness, darkness, and inertia and is heavy, veiling or obstructing in its action. It functions as the force of gravity that retards things and holds them in specifically limited forms. It possesses a downward motion that causes decay and disintegration. Tamas brings about ignorance and delusion in the mind and promotes insensitivity, sleep, and loss of awareness. It is the principle of materiality or unconsciousness that causes consciousness to become veiled.
Understanding the greater wisdom about these three qualities is important in having the greater understanding of the material aspects of life.
PURUSHOTTAMA YOGA – Path of supreme enjoyment.
When we know that we are not the body but Atman, we can bring lesser stress in our lives; through this lesser stress we can understand people and circumstances objectively, through this objectivity we know what’s good and bad, and through this understanding we pursue that which is truly good. By this good actions or Karma, we beget that which is good. Through goodness comes bliss that which is perpetual in nature and, eventually, we ourselves personify good – we become Purushottama (utmost among men).
DAIVASURA SAMPAD VIBHAGA YOGA – The path of Divine and Demonic qualities.
There are qualities that determine if we are good or bad. Good qualities are that which put us on the path of betterment of our self, work and objective. Bad qualities are that which divert us from the path of understanding our self, work, and objectives besides causing troubles to those around us. But when we choose a path that is good, it’s certainly not easy. Since, most often deter from a difficult path, Bhagavad Gita offers us solutions to overcome such impediments when they arise.
As per Vedic scriptures, there are twelve predictable impediments on the path of Yoga, along with several consequences that grow out of them. While these impediments are natural – overcoming, them is said to be of “utmost” importance. These impediments are:
Vyadhi – Disease, illness, sickness
Styana – Mental laziness, inefficiency, idleness, procrastination, dullness
Samasya – Indecision, Doubt
Pramada – Carelessness, negligence
Alasya – Sloth, languor, laziness
Avirati – Sensuality, want of non-attachment, non-abstention, craving
Bhranti Darshana – False view of perception, confusion of philosophies
Alabdha Bhumikatva – Failing to attain stages of practice
Anavasthitatra – Instability, slipping down, inability to maintain balance
Chitta Vikshepa – Distraction of mind
Te – Blaming on others and things outside for failure
Antarayah – Obstacles, impediments
However, there is a single underlying principle that is the antidote of these obstacles and their consequences, and that is one-pointedness of mind – Ekagra Chitta. Although there are many ways in which this one-pointedness of mind can be achieved the principle is uniform. If the mind is focused, then it is far less likely to get entangled and lost in the mire of delusion that can come from these obstacles. The key to overcoming obstacles is not to get distracted. Constant recollection of Yogic knowledge is the key to staying focused on the positive attitudes, actions or situation in life.
SHRADDHATRAYA VIBHAGA YOGA – The path of three divisions of faith.
This chapter of Bhagavad Gita enables us to understand practices which result in actions that personify goodness, passion, and ignorance. It’s a significant chapter on understanding and choosing an efficient lifestyle for ourselves. It helps people in ensuring Sattva through diets, habits, and thoughts. Vegetarianism is an important element in nurturing Sattva. A healthy lifestyle, too, is important in living a life that’s not just blissful but also prosperous.
MOKSHA UPADESHA YOGA – Path of renunciation.
Renunciation is the perfection of Yoga. Yogi is one who works as per his Dharma without being attached to the results. Working on this path of Dharma one can be free from the bondage of action and reaction. Renunciation can also be interpreted as retirement. It’s important for us to know when to call it a day. Often, in many organizations older people cling to their positions for fear of losing their relevance or power. Instead of helping the organization grow with their experience they turn into impediments themselves. Such people, no matter how smart or resourceful, are obvious impediments to organizations as well as society. They serve neither their own good nor that of their organization. To retire and offer their advice (only when they are asked for) is important for creating a conducive environment for nurturing future talents – for organizations are designed to outlive individuals, including their founders.
To conclude, it could always help to remember this simplest of a definition of Yoga, offered by Krishna himself in Bhagavad Gita: “When you perform your duties and abandon all attachment to success or failure with an evenness of mind it is verily Yoga.”
Now that we have understood the different types of Yoga, who or what is a yogi? What is the difference between a yogi and other people?
7
YOGI, BHOGI & ROGI
The one who’s always happy, the one whose happiness comes from addiction and the one who’s ill because of addiction.
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As per Yogic teachings there are essentially three types of people: Yogi (One who’s involved in persistent effort to better oneself so as to better the world), Bhogi (One who’s extremely involved in satisfying his/her carnal pleasures or addictions) and Rogi (One who has incurred unbearable pain through illness by abusing one’s own body and mind).
Among the Himalayan yogis, there is a saying “Three people can seldom sleep at night, they are: Yogi, Bhogi, and Rogi.” Yogi, because (s)he is persistently engaged in Yoga Sadhana (processes taken up with the goal of developing meditation or contemplation), Bhogi someone who is addicted to some kind of material pleasure and is ever engaged in pleasing his senses and Rogi (once a Bhogi) who through his addictions has abused his body and mind so much that they have incurred damages resulting in unbearable pain and is, therefore, unable to sleep.
Unfortunately, these days, there are ignorant individuals who, just by studying Astanga Yoga (Yoga as most people know it today, physical exercises), call themselves as Yogi (male) or Yogini (female). But then, what these self-styled “Yogis” and “Yoginis” don’t understand is the true meaning of Yoga. Astanga Yoga is only a small step in the path of Yoga.
Since Yoga teaches “Healthy body leads to healthy mind” most yogic teachings are focused on bettering one’s mind through a series of actions (karma), including exercises and meditations. But once you have a healthy body and a healthy mind you need to know what to do with it. If you’re making your body and mind healthy only to abuse it – yet again – what is the point? It’d be just like going through a long process of detoxification only to get addicted again once the course is complete. It is pointless, useless and vain!
As one of the revered Rishi – Vashistha says, “A person who either eats too much or too less, who engages in persistent carnal pleasures and is extreme in his emotional inclinations can seldom be a Yogi.”
Extremes in all form are eternally shunned in the Vedic teachings. If you eat too much or too less you are abusing your body; you need to give your body what it needs.
Yogi is a person who is well balanced and is persistently on the path of universal welfare. A Yogi is neither egoistic nor inflicted with an inferiority complex; he does not find ultimate pleasure in sex or any addiction. Yogi is also not that person who suppresses his sexual or other impulses. Instead has transcended his carnal urges and has found significant pleasure in his Sadhana. The objective of life is to become a Yogi. One can become a Yogi, and continue to lead a normal existence, leaving at home with family and other commitments; there is no need to become a forest dweller. Dwellings do not define a Yogi, but rather his mental state does.
Adi Shankaracharya, one of the greatest proponents of Vedic wisdom, puts this in better perspective “When
we are a baby we think our life is nothing without our mother. Then we grow up and make friends – finding pleasure in playing with them. At this point, it seems as if life is boring without friends. Then comes the teenage, we see the pleasure in watching and enjoying the company of the opposite gender. The problem is that many are caught in it. Even as they grow old, instead of finding joy in knowledge and good deeds they find ways to stay young – in vain – to enjoy the carnal pleasure…”
An excessive preoccupation with pleasure is a Bhoga (addiction) that results in Roga (illness). This is so for any other kind of preoccupation such as with work, family, etc. These preoccupations while filling our time and giving us a sense of importance, become a part of our identity and self worth. In later stages of life when these identities are taken away, it leaves a sense of worthlessness, isolation and loss. Therefore, it is never Yoga.
Bhoga (addiction) are of several kinds but their effects are the same – they result in Roga. All Roga originate from some or the other kind of Bhoga. A healthy mind is that which is free of addictions. If you are too emotionally invested in any work, that counts as a Bhoga.
A Yogi knows this and works towards performing actions that can deliver perpetual bliss. In Yogic scriptures, this process is called Sadhana. If a person is beginning on the path of Yoga (even if one has mastered Astanga Yoga) he’s a Sadhak – at best – not ‘Yogi’ or ‘Yogini’.
Yogi or Yogini is one who has truly attained a state of perpetual bliss – and has transcended the very idea of Bhoga (addictions). Yogi is also someone who is seldom afflicted with Roga.
In absence of detachment, yoga is seldom possible. True, Yogi is persistently engaged in some work. But since a Yogi is not emotionally attached to that work or its result, he is not a Bhogi. What’s also important to know is that Yogi ceases to be a Yogi when he’s attached to his Sadhana or even develops ego (Ahankar) about it. In effect, he takes action because it is demanded by the situation, for example if a show of anger is required he does so, but it is a show and does not in any way effect his biological or mental balance.
Yoga does not mention a destination per se. It’s a relentless path. In Yoga, Sadhana is a journey. When you understand the moment you are in and enjoy it as it is, then you have started practicing Yoga. Rewards of Sadhana in Yoga are phenomenal. It’s instantaneous. It’s also perpetual. There’s no waiting for joy, only joy all the way.
As said by Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, Yoga is that activity in which “a person performs his activities by staying detached and is equipoise in success as well as failure.” This state of equipoise is the path, as well as, the destination of Yoga; A path that liberates you from all illnesses (Roga) as well as addictions (Bhoga). He is a Yogi, who free from mental conditionings and biases has better understanding of solutions, governance, power and wealth. How can one develop the mental state necessary for becoming a Yogi?
8
THE POWER OF ISLOATION
From an emotional state of loneliness, incompleteness and sadness to a state of solitude, completeness and happiness.
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Man is said to be a social animal, with isolation being as seen as something to be feared. Isolation brings up images of prisoners in solitary confinement, house arrest or even patients who are quarantined, rarely is it associated with the calm of sages or meditators. Company of people is advised and encouraged by society at all levels. Silence is a vacuum needed to be filled and isolation is often loneliness – a feeling of lack, a depression, a need, incompleteness, and an absence. They relate isolation to pitch darkness – a state of disconcertment.
Given this, it is hard to believe for many that isolation can be joyous – an idea of presence, fullness, aliveness, the joy of being, overflowing through the realization of the truth that you are complete in yourself and that nobody is needed to complete you, and that for you – you yourself are enough.
What sets apart the isolation of the meditator from the despair of the prisoner is the characteristic of wisdom. Isolation is seen to be a tool, a method employed by the wise who constantly seek supreme wisdom. Detached from the world and its generally mundane issues, meditators see social isolation as an opportunity to analyze, think and contemplate better solutions for the greater good.
Often crowds can make people lonely and bereft of an individual sense of identity. Therefore, various Vedic scriptures suggest, one should learn to establish friendship with one’s own self through Ekaanth (by one’s self) before seeking to engage others. This is necessary because if one is comfortable with oneself, any other relationship one gets into will not be to fill a void, but a matter of synergy.
It is also suggests that through Ekaanth (isolation) an individual can elevate oneself by ones’ own mind. The mind is then seen to be the friend of the wise, and enemy of unwise. Also, for the one who has conquered his mind, their mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so; his very mind will become his greatest enemy.
The mind is significant. It shapes not just the life of individual but also of the society around him and, at times, even the world. This is truer still for leaders. Leaders who seek to conquer the world without conquering their mind often end up becoming despots and, eventually, cause their and their societies’ destruction. History testifies to that fact.
Bhagavad-Gita (verses 62-63) puts it in a much better perspective: An individual with an untamed mind while seeking his object of desire develops an attachment to the sense object. From this attachment greed is born; from greed comes anger. From anger comes delusion - from delusion comes bewilderment of memory. Bewilderment of memory affects decision making and through unwise decision destruction is guaranteed. Therefore, one who has controlled his senses and mind, being free of attachments, desire and aversion attains wisdom and consequently a state of perpetual bliss.
The question then arises, what is befriending or taming the mind and how can it be done?
Befriending the mind in the most simplest of terms is identifying and acknowledging one’s own limitations in thinking. We have already identified that most actions are taken from the basis of the Arishadvarga. What is interesting is that the thought patterns that determine the Arishadvarga are rarely our own. Typically, the thinking mind is conditioned by genes, habits and social conditioning. If we observe our thought patterns closely enough we find tinges of our parents, family, society and past experiences. Rarely is our action unique or original.
Naveenam Naveenam Kshane Khsane, translated to be new in every moment or every moment is new, propounds that just as each instance in life is unique the action demanded in that moment must be original as well, not reflexive habit or preconceived ideas parading as solutions.
Yet appreciating the uniqueness of every moment is possible only when we have delved deep into our psyche, identified our core beliefs and evaluated them against their usefulness for the situation presented to us. Unless this happens, we are creatures of habit destined to repeat history.
Taking some time out daily to meditate and contemplate (possible only by Ekaanth) on our actions is then a means of understanding our mental conditioning.
Ekaanth – or isolation – is a then a power tool which enables us to delve into and see how to steady our mind. A mind is not steady if it is agitated when it feels lonely and longs for company. Extreme desire for social acceptance is among the various social problems of our society. People, who are perturbed when they don’t get adequate appreciation from people or publicity, are the ones with an unsteady mind. For this unsteady mind, the only way to live is to seek a way to find social acceptance – appreciation from their loved ones, citations from their superiors, testimonies from their peers, publicity in the media and awards from the organizations. It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that these people are often troubled, souls. And when they assume the position of power the situation can be even more troubling.
By being within ourselves in isolation, through contemplation and meditation we find that which is
quintessential for our progress – peace. If you’ve trouble with isolation, it’s obvious that you have a trouble with yourself. Somewhere, deep within you’re not at peace and, worse, maybe even at war with yourself.
Therefore, if you seek to work to make the world a better place; you have to be peaceful within. It’s only with the light from our inner self that we can enlighten the world.
Having dealt with the nature of consciousness, importance of taking conscious action, who a Yogi is and methods that can be employed in becoming one, we now focus on the perspective that Vedic wisdom (and Yogis of yore) have on various topics.
The following chapters offer a different perspective on problem solving, education, governance, power and wealth. These perspectives are not the understating of a single person, but teachings that were improved upon by successive generations of people (Yogis), who had overcome their limitations before embarking on changing the world.
9
PROBLEM SOLVING
There are two ways to handle a problem, you either solve it or ignore it. Ignoring problems can lead to chaos. Vedic wisdom offers simple yet effective perspective in overcoming personal problems of any nature or size.
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Problems are an inherent part of life. However, if they are not dealt with effort and attention, they have the potential to become a crisis. Here is a six-step Vedic approach to resolving your personal problems – be that with your finances, relationships, career or any other issue.
1. SEEK SOLACE
More than often people seek the company of friends and acquaintances with the hope of finding a solution to their problem. This is not a wise thing to do. You must know that the only person who can ever help you out of your situation is you – yourself. The best that another person can do is offer assistance to you. While, initially it is beneficial to vent, cry and seek possible perspectives with others, eventually one needs to decide on their own what the next course of action will be. All perspectives offered by others are just that, perspectives tainted by their own biases and conditioning. Therefore, try to isolate yourself in a safe and secure environment, develop a sense of peace and ensure that you don’t resort to any form of addiction. These substances while providing momentary relief tend to aggravate the problem at hand. Be assured that unless you don’t face the problems yourself – no viable solution is ever available. The best way to face the crisis is being in the company of the self.
Essentials of Vedic Wisdom for Blissful Living Page 5