Enlightenment through Zen and the Gita, the Natural way

[Guest guest]

HARI AUM

 

Found this in the blog of

sahitibharadwaj.rediffiland.com/

dtd Thursday 7 June, 2007

 

I had posted this sloka earlier in the group.

Repetition is the ONLY way to learning. The sloka is

very clear and powerful.

 

Enjoy the zen quotes too.

 

Regards

 

Balagopal

 

NARAYANA NARAYANA NARAYANA

 

 

I have bumped into, yet again, a jewel of a sloka from

Bhagavad Gita. It says about what true Yoga is!

Different definitions are given in Gita for " Yoga " .

One thing that is common in all those definitions is

that " Yoga " is NOT complicated physical postures or

breathing exercises. " Yoga " which means " union " , is

state of mind, it is how u carry urself thru life! It

is how u bcom one with " Nature " or your " true self " !

Gita for me is like a guide for day to day living or

rather a map that helps the house-hold man in the

midst of the ocean called life (not an ascetic in the

woods!) to steer clear of the storms as well as steer

through them, and do so with equanimity!!

 

The sloka that i refer to has the most generic and

simple definition that i found till date. It says,

 

yukta-ahara-viharasya yukta-cheshtasy karmasu,

yukta-svapana-avabodhasya yogo bhavati dukha-ha

 

which can be loosely traslated as " Yoga, the source of

peace and happiness, can be achieved only by one who

manages to eat, live; work, rest; sleep, stay awake;

to the extent appropriate. "

 

The key being " yukta " = to the extent appropriate !!

 

Yoga means moderation! Moderation when u eat, enjoy,

work, dream and wakeup! See, Gita doesnt say you

should not enjoy, it doesnt say you should not dream!

It only says enjoy well, enjoy thoroughly, but know

when it is time to work. Dream well, but know when it

is time to wakeup and act!!! Actually even moderation

is not right work for " yukta " , for it only denotes

quantity. " Yukta " means right quantity as well as

right quality!!!

 

Yoga means taking from Nature just as much as u need!

 

This reminds me of a simple zen story. A student once

asked his teacher, " Master, what is enlightenment? " The

master replied, " When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep. "

 

There is no hard and fast rule as to what is the right

quantity ! What is " yukta " for one person may not be

so for another. So we should stop being judgemental

about others and spend that time on ascertaining what

is " yukta " for ourselves!

 

One has to listen to his/her body and give as much

food, rest, play and work as it needs!

 

To have " yukta aahara " , which means to eat well, we

need to be aware that we are eating!!!! At the same

time remember that there are no hard and fast

rules...other than being mindful, being aware..

 

This brings to my mind another simple n interesting

zen story...a master tells group of students, " Zen is

being in present. Being aware, and not doing anything

mechanically. When u eat, you just eat. when u read

news paper u just read news paper. "

Next day the student sees that the master was eating

while reading news paper and asked him " Master, i

thought u said we should not eat while we read news

paper "

Master says, " No! I said, when you eat and read

newspaper, you just eat and read newspaper "

 

:-)))

 

PS: This school of thought also implies that one need

not essentially read Bible, Quran or the Gita to be

" Yogi " . The pre-requisite as well as the only

requisite is being Natural, being true to yourself!!!

Hence the jeans clad, hip-hop guy/gal sipping beer,

MAY, under certain conditions, be more a " Yogi " than a

dhoti clad, pious young man chanting mantras! Yes,

such a predicament is entirely possible!

 

 

 

 

 

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