Dr Harish Chandra's article in SpiritMag Dec 2007 - 15

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Spirit Mag December '07

 

Volume II, No. 4

 

 

VII. Yoga and Self-Realization: Mind Control

 

 

We are currently in the midst of discussing the inner sciences with respect to the human beings. We have seen that a human being is a composite of body, mind and soul. The soul is our consciousness. The gross body and soul are connected through a subtle body, called mind. Last month we broadly discussed the human mind and observed that it is the most fascinating thing we know of. Now we want to discuss another aspect of the human mind in the present background and interest of Yoga.

 

Nowadays Yoga has become popular worldwide. Its knowledge owes its existence to the classical treatise of Yoga- S

¨±tra authored by Patanjali several thousand years ago. However, its present popularity has come with a heavy price of misunderstanding about this great science. This is not the time to discuss what wrong ideas are prevailing in the name of Yoga and that must be postponed to a later occasion. However, we would now like to discuss certain aspects of the human mind in light of Patanjali's Yoga. Patanjali has presented an excellent exposition of the human mind in presenting the strategies towards self-realization. His objective is to " get to know the soul " ¨C self-realization. The irony is that a human being gets to know so many objects of the world through the instruments of body and mind, but the greatest challenge for us is to know our own soul.

 

The principal reason for the above challenge is that the mind is so swift and miniature. Indeed, it is absolutely necessary for the mind to be swift and subtle so that we can function in the world as we do. But, then, our dependence on the mind brings us to a point that we cannot bring it to rest even when we would want it. Today we live in the age of hyper-activity and multi-tasking. So much so that even when we intend to go to sleep, the mind continues to function. Sometimes, we may lie sleepless for hours. Even if we are able to go to sleep, we continue to dream. Dreams give rise to a poor quality of sleep because they do not permit adequate rest to the mind. This aggravates the situation to a point that it may become still more difficult to enter into sleep. A restless mind is prone to stress and other consequential health related problems. At a physical plane, stress can lead to a number of disorders. At a more subtle level, it can lead to deterioration in our behavior due to anger and depression. This can disturb inter-personal relationships.

 

Such state of affairs in the present fast moving and competitive world has led a great interest in Yoga practices. People all over the world are trying to learn breath control and mind control techniques to calm down the mind. Patanjali's Yoga principles can help us gain control on the mind domain. Mind control has dual advantages. First, we are better equipped to give much needed rest to the mind domain. Second, we can concentrate better by reducing distractions leading to better quality of work.

 

The above advantages of the Yoga practices are a tip of iceberg only and are incidental in nature. The main objective of Yoga is to explore and experience beyond the mind domain. Once the mind domain is calm and restful then the soul can get to know itself truly. Otherwise, it knows what mind brings to it. In so far as the inner sciences and its applications to our own self is concerned, the true Yoga helps us achieve self-realization. In other words, our proficiency in inner sciences requires us to conduct scientific experiments within the laboratory in a manner explained by Patanjali, a great inner scientist. The laboratory for an inquisitive inner scientist is that person's skeleton itself. We must follow Patanjali's procedures correctly to reproduce the results Patanjali mentioned.

 

If we succeed in these experiments then there are enormous benefits to obtain. We are enlightened with true experiential knowledge with regard to our tiny spirit that resides in the core of our body-mind combine. Furthermore, we emerge with a healthier body-mind combine. We will have another opportunity in future to discuss Patanjali's Yoga principles at length. Suffice it to say now; Patanjali's Yoga helps us gain better control on the mind so that we can bring it to a still and calm state. Then, one can explore further inward of the mind domain and experience the nature of the spirit. Next month we will try to enter into the so-called mind domain, which we have hitherto treated as a black box. We will discuss its three units and their functions.

 

- Dr Harish Chandra

 

 

CIS

News

 

 

Dr Harish Chandra delivered lectures and talks in the state of Maharashtra, India during December 1-10, 2007. He is scheduled to speak at Kolkata, West Bengal, India (Sunday, January 20, 2008 ¨C Contact 91-93310 45322) and Calicut/Kozhikhode, Kerala, India (January 24 to 27, 2008 ¨C Contact 91-94465 85136).

 

 

The booklet " The Human Nature and Human Food " authored by Dr Harish Chandra convincingly determines that meat is not a part of the human diet by nature's design. There have been a number of individuals/organizations ordering its copies in thousands for mass distribution among public, particularly among the student community. For this purpose, it is made available at a very economical price. If interested, write to us at books.

One gentleman has sponsored its Tamil translation; that is under way and is expected to be ready in February 2008.

 

 

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SpiritMag Team

 

SpiritMag - one year ago

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inner Sciences: Can We Prove Them? ¨C Part II

 

 

Last month we discussed that the inner sciences must be provable. Then we went on to discuss pleasure and pain ¨C something the life experiences lead to. It is the inherent nature of our consciousness that we feel pleasure and pain. Then we asked, in the words of the ancient Sage Kapila, what could be the universally painful experience and universally pleasant experience, if any. Kapila had observed that hunger and sound sleep are the universally painful and pleasant experiences, respectively.

 

Let us now examine how Kapila made these observations and brought spirituality within the purview of a scientific inquiry. He observed that the sound sleep is the universally pleasant experience that has been experienced by one and all, right from an infant to the oldest person on the earth. Its universality is two-fold: 1) Every human being has had a taste of it, and 2) Whenever we have the sound sleep, we enjoy it. It should be pointed out here that the sound sleep is the deep sleep without dreams, called susupti in Sanskrit. While we may overlook sleep as a trivial event, Kapila's outstanding genius saw much within it. First and foremost, the sound sleep is an experience when our body and mind domains are void of any conscious voluntary functions. Any other life experience is made possible by a certain activity level in our body and/or mind domains.

For example, when I drink a cup of coffee and if I am enjoying its taste then my body and mind are functioning. My taste buds come in contact with the coffee and the mind is very much " connected to the 'taste signals' being brought in by my sense organ of taste. " The particular taste signals, being to my liking at the particular moment of time, gives rise to the sensation of pleasure. Let us now discuss another kind of life experience when I am bodily inactive (except for the involuntary functions such as breathing, blood circulation, etc.) and I am lost in recollecting some past pleasant events. I find the recollection of the past pleasant events as a pleasant experience and during this experience certain " voluntary functions " take place in the mind domain.

 

In contrast to the above two instances (the first one related to the drinking of a cup of coffee and the second one pertaining to the recollection of the past pleasant events) when the body and mind domains are voluntarily active in the first instance and the mind domain alone is active in the second instance, the sound sleep is characterized as an experience when both, the body and mind domains are void of any voluntary functions. Kapila says that the fact that 'I' enjoy sound sleep when my body and mind domains are inactive means that 'I' am something beyond my body and mind. That 'I' is truly the 'me' and my true consciousness. That is my spirit, my soul.

 

Furthermore, according to Kapila, the sound sleep is found to be pleasant by everybody and at all times, and therefore, it demonstrates that there is a source of absolute pleasure, called ananda. This Sanskrit word denotes an experience different from the typical joys and pleasures of the life that it has no negative counterpart as the other synonyms have (for example, sukha-duhkha, santi-asanti, etc.). Indeed, this absolute pleasure is possessed by the Cosmic Spirit that permeates through the entire universe. The Cosmic Spirit is called saccidananda in Sanskrit ¨C this is a compound word made of sat, cit and ananda, meaning it is existent, consciousness and blissful.

 

The creation allows our tiny individual spirit to look forward to the absolute pleasure that has its infinite abundance in the infinite Cosmic Spirit. The Cosmic Spirit would share its tastiest sap with the deserving souls. The creation gives us an opportunity to demonstrate that we deserve the tastiest sap of ananda. By default every one of us has been enjoying the sound sleep as if to be reminded at the end of the day that " do not get lost in the world for the temporal pleasures that come and go, and never become permanent. " The fact that the sound sleep comes to every conscious being as default bears a condition that we are unaware of its real time pleasure. Though the sound sleep is universally pleasant yet we have no real time awareness of that 'universal pleasure.' However, it's a wonderful 'out of the world' experience and it leaves sufficient after-effect that once we are awake, we recall that 'I enjoyed the sleep.' As if the Cosmic Spirit would like us to become more deserving to obtain the absolute pleasure in its real time conscious mode. Kapila said that this indeed is the objective of the human life and is possible only in the human life though all species enjoy the sound sleep. He then goes on to elaborate the principles of Yoga to realize this objective, and the same Yoga principles were further elaborated by Patanjali in his classic Yoga- Darsanam at a later time. It is heartening to see that the present world is making a conscious shift from the religious spirituality to the scientific spirituality when it is exploring more of itself inward while sitting for meditation.

In summary, Kapila proves that a tiny spirit exists within us because we feel the pleasant nature of the expereince known as the sound sleep, called susupti in Sanskrit. During the sound sleep, both body and mind domains are void of voluntary functions. Therefore, the entity that recollects at the end of the sound sleep that " I had a wonderful sleep " or " I enjoyed the sleep " must be an entity beyond the body and mind domains - that entity is my true spirit further inward to the domains of the body and mind. Indeed this is my true spirit that enjoys a cup of coffee and the recollection of the past pleasant events when the body and/or mind domains play merely the role of an instrument. Parenthetically, Kapila makes another important observation from the fact that the sound sleep is a universally pleasant experience. He says that an entity does exist in the universe that is abundant of ananda, a Sanskrit word for universal absolute pleasure. That entity is the Cosmic Spirit.

It should be sufficient at this stage to say that both the spirits, namely the tiny spirit of an individual human being and the Cosmic Spirit in the universe, are provable. As we will discuss the inner sciences further, we will get further closer to their understanding. Center for Inner Sciences (CIS) is committed to traversing this exciting journey with you in such a manner that it utilizes the myriads of the human faculties, and without forgetting that the bottom line is to enjoy every moment of this journey. The next article will emphasize that the human life must be lived in a dignified manner using all our potentials ¨C both, the head and the heart. CIS believes in a rational approach that appeals to our head and get closer to the humanism that resides in the heart of every human being.

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Dr. Harish Chandra