1. Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by Nithyananda - Chapter 6 - Look In

In this series, a young enlightened Master, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM comments on the Bhagavad Gita.

Many hundreds of commentaries of the Gita have been written over the years. The earliest commentaries were by the great spiritual masters such as Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, some thousand years ago. In recent times, great masters such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharishi have spoken from the Gita extensively. Many others have written volumes on this great scripture.

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is not just a literary translation and a simple explanation of that translation. He takes the reader through a world tour while talking about each verse. It is believed that each verse of the Gita has seven levels of meaning. What is commonly rendered is the first level meaning. Here, an enlightened master takes us beyond the common into the uncommon, with equal ease and simplicity.

To read THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's commentary on the Gita is to obtain an insight that is rare. It is not mere reading; it is an experience; it is a meditation.

Sankara, the great master philosopher said:

'A little reading of the Gita, a drop of Ganga water to drink, remembering Krishna once in a while, all this will ensure that you have no problems with the God of Death.'

Editors of these volumes of Bhagavad Gita have expanded upon the original discourses delivered by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM through further discussions with Him. For ease of understanding for English speaking readers, and to cater to their academic interest, the original Sanskrit verses in their English translation have been included as an appendix in this book.

This reading is meant to help every individual in daily life as well as in the endeavour to realize the Ultimate Truth. It creates every possibility to attain nithyananda, eternal bliss!

We will start with a small story.

A Hollywood director was shooting a big budget movie in a deserted area. You know how these films are made. They spend a lot of money building sets and dream sequences. The whole film is geared to fulfill our dreams. They spend enormous amounts of money on the actors and actresses. They cannot afford to waste any time, because time is money for them.

In the middle of a day's shooting when the sun was shining bright, an old native American Hindu appeared on the set and whispered hoarsely to the director, 'Tomorrow rain,' and he went away. The director took no notice of the man until it so happened that the next day it poured and no shooting was possible. The director still did not link the Hindu's words with the rain.

Again after one week, the same Hindu appeared and said, 'Tomorrow storm,' and disappeared. This time too, the director and others took no heed of what this strange man said. Exactly as the Hindu predicted there was a big storm the next day. The director had to cancel that day's shooting.

The Hindu appeared a few more times with his predictions. After noticing that his predictions came true each time, the director was really impressed.

He told his assistant, 'We can save a lot of money with the help of this man. Get that old Hindu no matter what it costs, we will pay him and keep him with us.'

After three weeks, the Hindu disappeared and didn't come back for over a month. The director was very upset and sent out search teams. They finally located the Hindu and brought him back to the sets.

The director asked him sincerely, 'Please tell me about tomorrow's weather. I have to shoot an important scene and the set is very expensive. I am relying on you to tell me about tomorrow.'

The old man just shrugged and said, 'Don't know about tomorrow; my radio is broken.'

Look in before coming to any conclusion. This is the message for today.

The sixth chapter of Bhagavad Gita starts with Krishna's verse first. In this chapter Arjuna is not asking any questions of Krishna. Krishna continues His answers from the previous chapter.

6.1 Bhagavan says:

One who performs actions without being attached to its outcome is an ascetic. He is a religious performer of purification of mind.

One who has stopped performing any actions, one who doesn't accept the sacred fire and doesn't perform his rituals, is neither an ascetic nor a karma yogi, a sage immersed in action.

6.2 Oh Pandava, renunciation leads to the state of yoga where one is linking oneself with the Supreme. This union with the Divine can happen only when you renounce self-interest.

6.3 A person who initially wants to start practicing the yoga system laid down by the sages should carry out all activities in line with that system. Activities for all other reasons will cease.

6.4 Any one is said to have attained the state of yoga when, having renounced all material desires, He neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in result focused activities.

Krishna continues with what He said earlier in a little more detailed way. He says, the person who is not attached to the fruits of his action is an ascetic and he is a karma yogi. Please understand, karma, the state of action or sanyasa, the state of renunciation*,* is not related to your doing. It is directly related to your being. Being a sanyasin, a renunciate monk, is not a status, it is a state. It is a state of mind.

Whether you are doing karma yoga or you remain a sanyasi is in no way going to affect you. If one is a karma yogi, one goes about doing the work that is allotted to him without attachment and without expectations. This is done even in the middle of one's life as a householder, businessperson or an employee. The status is not of any consequence.

In the same manner, it is immaterial whether one dons saffron robes to be a renunciate or an ascetic. One can wear all the outer trappings of a monk and still be fully clutched in the samsara maya, the illusion of life*.* In the verses of Bhaja Govindam, Sankara says this beautifully about the ascetic who cheats the world and himself. The ascetic has his hair knotted, he shaves his head bald, he pulls out his hair one by one in penance, he wears saffron robes, but he does not see even though he has eyes. The fool, he does all this only to fill his belly. What is one's attitude, whatever is one's being, that alone really matters. That ensures the state of one's being. Here Krishna gives the gist of the last chapter.

People repeatedly ask me, 'Master, should we renounce everything to achieve enlightenment? How can we lead our day-to-day life and yet hope to achieve spiritual progress?'

I tell them, 'No! Just renounce what you don't have.

That is enough. You don't have to renounce what you have.' I tell them to live with whatever they have, and to just renounce what they don't have. We fantasize about all that we do not have, that is the problem. There are thousands of things that we don't have, but we live with all those things mentally. The problem is not what we have, we have gotten used to those things anyway. That is our reality. It is what we don't have that creates problems. Just renounce what you don't have. That is enough to solve all the problems. Then you will start living intensely with what you have and you will enjoy being with what you have acquired so far.

One of the major problems we bring upon ourselves is that we chase desires and possessions. And once we have achieved what we want, we don't have time to enjoy it. It is as if the enjoyment is only in the chase and not in the posession itself. Once we posess it, we simply move on to the next chase, that's all. We spend no time in enjoying what we have, but waste our time chasing what we think we should have. The present has no meaning to many of us. Because of this, we miss reality, we miss true enjoyment. It is the illusion of the speculative future that draws our interest and causes misery to us.

There is a beautiful word in Sanskrit: brahmacharya. Just like so many other Sanskrit words, this word has no equivalent word in English. The word has often been translated as celibacy. But celibacy is not the right equivalent for brahmacharya. The word has such a wonderful meaning. In English you don't have an equivalent word because the very idea never existed. The very idea of brahmacharya never existed. Brahma means

Existence, reality, Divinity. Charya means 'living like'. It means to walk the talk, to move with. Brahmacharya refers to a person who lives like the Gods, who lives with Existence, who lives with reality.

Please be very clear, the word brahmacharya does not mean one who is unmarried. Over the course of time when it was translated as celibacy, people started to use that word to denote an unmarried person. No! Brahmacharya refers to one who lives with Existence, one who lives with reality, one who lives unattached.

One of the four stages of life as defined by the scriptures is brahmacharya. It is the stage in which a young student learns at the feet of the Master. It is the time that a person spends in the gurukul, the Vedic system of schooling. This training starts at the age of seven when the parents hand the child over to a Master. The child stays with the Master until early adulthood. By the very nature of this system the child stays celibate during his or her stay at the gurukul. At the end of this period, depending upon the child's aptitude and skills, he or she moves on into life as a grihastha, a householder, or a sanyasin, an ascetic. This period of brahmacharya, under the Master's guidance in one's early years, provides the background to shed fantasies and live life in reality.

In today's world most of us live with fantasy. Look in! Look in and you will understand how much fantasy there is inside. Our whole life consists of running behind fantasies because we don't live with the reality of our existence. From the time we start interacting with the external world, even from our childhood, we are exposed to so many different forms of media. Unlike even fifty years ago, today the television and the internet flood us with information. They flood us equally with fantasies.

A young girl of ten came with her parents to my ashram. Just for fun I asked her whom she would marry when she grew up. She named a popular film actor who was already married with children. Her innocence had been robbed by fantasies. If Rama and Sita had lived in today's world, with all the fantasies being thrown at them, even they would have been tempted!

In our lives the search for a life partner is a very serious issue. We search for the ideal life partner with great vigour and determination. Nature has intended us to pursue this relationship actively in the interest of the survival of the human race. We spend a lot of time in this activity.

A small story:

An old man used to sit on a beach and watch all the women who passed by.

A young man who saw him doing this for many days became curious and asked the old man, 'Sir, I see you sitting here every day looking at the women. That is quite strange at your age. Why are you doing this?'

The old man said, 'Oh, I have been doing this for many years now. I am searching for my life mate, my soul mate.'

The young man was surprised and he asked, 'You mean to tell me in all these years you never found one who matched your requirements?'

The old man replied sadly, 'Well, actually many years ago I did find my ideal mate.'

The young man asked, 'Then what happened? Why did you not marry her?'

The old man replied, 'Well, she was searching for her ideal mate too...'

Even if we find someone who matches our so called ideal, when we start living with the person, reality will slowly reveal that the template that we so carefully built over many years is different, and the person who we are living with is different. The template can never be matched because the template itself is just a fanstasy.

Another small story:

A man presented his friends with a puppy when they were getting married since he knew that both the bride and groom were fond of animals. After six months he happened to meet the husband and asked him how his married life was.

'Well, it's the same with just one change,' said the husband, 'when we first got married, my wife used to bring me the newspaper everyday with my coffee in the morning and the pup used to bark. Now the pup brings in the newspaper and my wife barks!'

We neither live with the real husband nor do we relate with the real wife. Though we may live in the same house, how many times do we look into each other's eyes? How many times does eye contact happen? The reason is that there is always a screen of fantasy between our spouse and us, just like between life and us. We don't want to see life as it is. We are not ready to accept life as it is. We are continuously working and developing life but we are not ready to look into life as it is.

There is a book, 'Men Are from Mars And Women Are from Venus.' There are so many things that the author has expressed that we can see in reality, in our very lives. I feel we should find some other title for the book. They should find another title. Venus and Mars are too close. They are from the same galaxy!

Anyway, our life is filled with fantasies; fantasies about how our would-be should-be and what-we-shoulddo if reality does not match fantasy. We are continuously chiseling the other person and the other person is continuously chiseling us with the hope that the other will match the ideal. We have some preconceived notion and according to our notion, we chisel the real person. All the sounds heard in our house are that of the chisel and the hammer. We are continuously chiseling. We can chisel a stone and make a beautiful sculpture and keep it in our house. We can chisel wood and make beautiful furniture and have it in our house. But can we chisel a living being?

In the Shiva Sutra, Devi Parvati asks her husband Shiva, 'Lord, in the bed of a married couple how many are there?' Shiva replies, 'Four.' Seeing Devi's surprised look, He explains, 'There is the couple, husband and wife, and along with them there are the fantasies of the husband about his wife and the wife about her husband.' Such a marriage is not marriage. When husband and wife carry fantasies about what the other should be, how can the marriage prosper?

When we start chiseling a living being, we create more trouble for ourselves and for the other person. A person who is mature enough to live with reality has achieved the state of brahmacharya. He is living with the real person or situation. He accepts the present moment for what it is; he does not dream of how it should be. So just drop your fantasies. Live with reality. That is what I call brahmacharya.

Here, Krishna says, 'Just renouncing the sacred fire and not performing one's duty does not mean one is an ascetic or sanyasi.' In those days, fire was the basis for everything whether it was cooking or spiritual practice. For everything one needed fire. I can replace the word 'fire' with 'cell phone' for today's world.

In this age, we can say, 'Don't think that by sacrificing the cell phone and laptop you become a sanyasi or a great karma yogi.' Just like how the cell phone and laptop have become a basic necessity today, in those days agni (fire) was a basic need for life. Just like how we are able to relate with people through the cell phone, our ancient rishis (mystics) knew the techniques of relating with higher energy through fire.

We should understand an important thing: the Vedic Masters knew how to use fire to communicate with the higher energy, just like how we use the cell phone to communicate. All of science is based on using light particles. Science can be reduced to the use of light particles whether it is electricity, atomic energy, or other forms of energy. Everything is about handling light particles but with different formulae.

Whether it is our fan or iron or a microscope or a video camera, laptop, or atomic bomb, everything can be reduced to that one single thing, the technique of handling light or electro magnetic particles. Scientists worked on light energy and created all these objects. Our eastern rishis worked with sound energy and created all these products. We really had the pushpaka vimana (flying chariot) and we did really have the brahmastra (nuclear weapon). Everything was true.

But in the course of time we lost the technology, that's all. The technology of handling sound waves was lost. As the technology is lost, the existence of these things in the past is questioned today. People now believe that all these things are just mythology, just purana, epic stories. No. We have lost the key and because of that we are unable to open the lock. Just because we are not able to open the lock, don't think that there is no treasure.

The entire collection of scriptures, the Vedas, is nothing but learning the techniques of tuning oneself to work with sound particles. Just as how scientists work with light particles, the rishis have worked with sound particles. They were able to relate with higher energies and were able to communicate just with the vibrations through fire. Whether it was Sanjaya*,* the charioteer of the Kaurava king - Dhritharashtra, seeing the Mahabharata war through telepathy, or the pushpaka vimana, the flying chariot, or Brahmastra, the ultimate fire weapon, these were all true. When the cultural invasion of Bharat happened, these techniques were lost.

I have seen a sanyasi create fire by just uttering a few words. He was able to create fire out of nothing but a few words. Even now, if we go to the Kumbha Mela, the holy river festival that occurs once in twelve years in Bharat, we can see hundreds of people like this. I have seen sanyasis bury their heads inside the earth for more than twenty-four hours. There are so many people who can play with sound energy. I have seen this myself at the Kumbha Mela.

Ten years ago at the Haridwar Kumbha Mela with my own eyes I saw a sanyasi floating in the air with people watching him in awe. I have also seen a sanyasi sitting on a board full of sharp nails. We even have a video recording of it in the ashram showing how they sit on nails and how they float. With sound energy they are able to do whatever science is able to do with light energy.

So here, Krishna says that just by renouncing fire, a person cannot become a sanyasi. Similarly, here I can say that just by renouncing our cell phone in life, we cannot become a sanyasi. The attitude needs to be changed. To truly renounce, the mind has to renounce thoughts. Usually, wherever our body is, our mind is not. When we are at home, our thoughts are at the office. When we are at the office, we worry about what happens elsewhere. When we are on vacation, we worry about work and cannot enjoy ourselves. To bring the mind to where the body is, to renounce the inner chatter, is the starting point of renunciation.

Thoughts cannot be suppressed. The more we suppress them the more they erupt. We cannot control the mind in a traditional manner. We need to let go. We need to constantly bring ourselves back to where our body is, to the present, to the here and now, away from the dead past and the unborn future. Renunciation of the past and future, by bringing our mind to focus on the present, is renunciation.

This renunciation does not happen by giving up what we believe is essential to material welfare such as the fire and the cell phone. It also does not happen by giving up what we think are superficial to spiritual progress, such as rituals. Giving these up without bringing in the true awareness of consciousness is not renunciation.

In the first verse Krishna gave the essence of the last chapter, like a follow up. Then He continued.

Krishna has already said renunciation for the sake of renunciation, renunciation of material things without renouncing desires, is of no value. It has been said that when the great sages went into deep meditation, the Gods above would get terrified, especially Indra, who was forever getting into trouble with these sages! You see, in those days, sages, the great rishis, were all householders. So Indra would try and disturb them by tempting them. Even great tapasvis (men with the experience of long meditative penance behind them) were not immune to these temptations.

There is a very famous painting that was published on many calendars. Ravivarma, the King of Travancore, painted the great sage Viswamitra being tempted by the celestial nymph Menaka. In the painting, Viswamitra is holding his hands up shielding his eyes to prevent himself from seeing Menaka. But the fingers are wide spread so that he could peep through his fingers!

All these are metaphorical stories. There are no celestial nymphs because there is no heaven and there is no Indra. If Indra were to send down a celestial nymph each time someone meditated, all men would immediately take up meditation! It is our inner fantasy that comes out as Menaka. Just sit, meditate, and you will see! Women that you have never seen will come in front of you. You have to renounce fantasies. These fantasies are the creation of the ego, mind, identity - whatever names you wish to call it. This self conjures up all these visions, unreal fantasy visions, to keep you occupied, to keep you in control.

We may think that we are in control of our mind. This is a fantasy and an illusion. Our mind controls us. This is what Krishna means by sankalpa, self interest, because the mind wishes to satisfy the senses that it operates and controls. By visualizing, by hearing, by smelling, by tasting, by touching through the sense organs, our mind wants us to experience pleasures that will keep us under its hold.

Only when we renounce the mind's control by going beyond the senses can we become a true renunciate. This is what Krishna said in the earlier chapters. 'Control your senses and still your mind so that you can reach Me,' He said.

When Krishna talks about 'self', is the small 'self', the external identity that we confuse with our Self, the real inner core, the Truth. If we can, when we do renounce this so-called self-identity, which is not the true Self, then we will perceive our self as the supreme Self that is our true identity. An ordinary person sees his own self as being the body, mind, memories, senses and the identities that he creates for himself. These are the antennae through which we can project ourselves onto the outer world.

Normally we create two identities. One identity called ahankara, is the identity that we project to the outer world. This identity is usually based on our achievements in society, our profession, our possessions, etc. The second identity is called mamakara, which is the identity we project to our inner self. This identity is usually based on our ideas about our attitudes, our beliefs, and our self-esteem.

Through a combination of these two identities we create an image about ourselves that we hold onto with deep conviction and belief. Our true Self is beyond this image. If we don't want to be controlled by the mind, any activity that we perform to satisfy this false identity or ego should be renounced. As long as we allow our senses to feed us, we will be nurtured and controlled by sensory pleasures that satisfy our ego. Our mind will then keep us in its control.

Renunciation of these fantasies that we feel we need for self-satisfaction is Yoga. Yoga is the state when our desires, expressed through sensual pleasures, dissolve. We unite with our true Self in this state. In this state, there is no gap between the Divine and us. Whether we believe it or not, accept it or not, want it or not, we are God. We are divine. All we can do is accept it, experience it and express it or we can just continue to struggle and fight. That is the truth.

A small story:

A man was informed that his wife had just fallen into the river. He ran to the river to save her.

To everyone's surprise, he ran and jumped into the river and started swimming in the opposite direction, against the current.

People who watched the scene shouted to him and called him a fool. They asked him, 'Why are you swimming against the current? Your wife has been carried with the current, downstream.'

The man said, 'You don't know about my wife. Even in the river, she would go only against the current!'

We can be like a rock in water, forever resisting the flow of the water. The river pounds the rock, eventually reducing it to sand that settles at the bottom. Or we can be like the reed that bends and flows in whichever direction the water flows. There is nothing that the water can do to the reed. By giving in to the water flow, the reed defeats the water.

This is what Christ was referring to when He said, 'The meek shall inherit the earth.' He was not saying that we should be cowards or be scared of our own shadow and that then He would deliver the world to us. Meekness here is not cowardice, it is not fear. Meekness is a virtue that allows us to flow with the current. Meekness allows us to flourish. Meekness is the ability to know that we are not in control but that the universe is in control. Meekness is wisdom. The wise shall inherit the earth.

In Sanskrit there are two terms 'drishti srishti' and 'srishti drishti'. Drishti srishti means to look at the world as it is and take life as it comes. Srishti drishti is just the opposite, as when we want to mould the world into how we would like it to be. We want the world running according to our fantasies, instead of accepting the reality of the world. This is a sure recipe for disaster, much like the woman swimming against the current who meets disaster.

We have a choice. We can either move against the current, believing that we control our destiny and struggle all the time. Or we can flow with the current, surrender to the Divine of which we are an integral part, and be in bliss. Whether we go against the current or go with it, we are in the water. Whether we realize it or not, we are Divine. When our desires for external sensual pleasures are in control, we experience the divinity that is inside us.

This is the state of Yoga that Krishna talks about - the state of true renunciation where there is no suppression. Instead, there is transformation. The path is no longer towards self or sensory satisfaction. In fact, there is no 'towards'. There is no goal. The goal is the path itself, nothing more. When we lead our life with no expectations, the mind cannot speculate. It cannot control us through its play with the senses.

Krishna says next, 'A person who initially wants to start practicing a yoga system laid down by the sages should carry out all activities in line with that system. Activities for all other reasons will then cease.'

This is such a beautiful instruction for anyone doing yoga. In the present day, especially in the west, the true meaning of yoga is lost. It is lost completely. Yoga is not about physical exercise and sweating in high temperatures. It is not about breath control. Its purpose is not body fitness. Yoga integrates body, mind and spirit. It is a journey into the inner Self, towards the Self.

Patanjali, the great sage who laid down the system for yoga practice in his Yoga Sutras, laid down an eight-part system called Ashtanga Yoga. Today this is being misinterpreted as 'eight steps of yoga'. We will not reach anywhere if we practice each step separately and sequentially. That was not Patanjali's purpose.

Patanjali laid down eight limbs or parts that needed to be practiced simultaneously, not one after another. There is no purpose in practicing yoga through two of the eight parts, asana, physical postures, and pranayama, breath control. But these are the only two parts taught by most yoga teachers today. What is the point? Nothing of real value will come out of it.

Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga has bliss as its end result and as its path. When practiced properly, bliss is not only the destination but also the path itself. Have you seen even one yoga practitioner enjoying what he or she is doing? They are grimacing all the time, forcing their body, controlling their breath, torturing themselves. What for? Patanjali never asked them to torture themselves or their students.

Yoga as it is practiced now only breeds our ego. Just look at how full of pride the yoga masters are now. They have added many components to yoga: deluxe yoga, super deluxe kundalini yoga, instant enlightenment kriya yoga! There are so many desperate people out there waiting or a solution that these teachers never have a shortage of students.

Patanjali laid down a system that is a way of life. Starting with inner and outer regulation, yama and niyama, his system cleanses our body, mind and spirit. The steps raise our awareness. Just yama, which is one of the eight limbs, has five parts, one of which is satya or truth. If we practice this sincerely. it will lead us into enlightenment. Another part is brahmacharya, which is enlightenment. It is walking in tune with reality. Actually, we need to be in the eighth state of samadhi to truly be able to practice even one of the yama principles with awareness.

The Yoga system is a parallel system, not a sequential system. When each of its parts is acted upon with awareness, every single thing that we do will be in tune with nature. We will automatically surrender to nature. We will attain the true yogic state of samadhi.

Ahimsa, non-violence, is another part of the first limb, yama. Religion teaches non-violence as a moral injunction: if we are non-violent, we will reach heaven and if we are violent we will end up in hell.

But I tell you, no morality can be practiced. Advice is one thing everyone is ready to give but no one is willing to take. It is very difficult to practice any morality. If we are successful, then we will be schizophrenic. If we master any morality we will be suppressed and eventually depressed. If we can understand and practice, it can never be a discipline. It will be just falling in tune. We will be tuning ourselves to Existence.

There is no reality to hell or heaven. If we are supposed to follow morality just out of fear of hell or hope of heaven then I don't think we have grown at all. Ahimsa should be practiced out of deep understanding, and then we will start radiating it in our very walk and talk. Even animals will be attracted to us. Our very being will be a blessing to planet Earth.

One of the other rules in yama is satya, truthfulness. Truthfulness can happen in us only after we have experienced samadhi, the eighth limb. We can neither understand the truth, nor feel the truth, nor live the truth until we experience samadhi, or enlightenment. Until we attain enlightenment, whatever we think of as the truth is nothing but a fact, a perception, not reality. It is the truth as perceived by our five senses. We perceive the world with our 120-degree vision and our gathered societal knowledge, conditioning, etc. It is only when we reach enlightenment we will be able to see 360 degrees in all directions and perceive Truth as it is. The rules of yama and niyama (moral discipline) will only be established firmly after we have experienced samadhi.

Whether we believe it or not, accept it or not, we are Divine. To realize our divine nature, ancient mystics have created this wonderful formula of the yoga system. Yoga in modern days is practiced just for health reasons. Good health is just a by-product of practicing yoga, not the end. The actual reason that our wonderful rishis created this formula was to create the divine experience within anyone who used the formula. Yoga is a straight technique to achieve the divine experience. This formula cannot be modified or altered or practiced in parts and pieces. This formula has to be practiced as prescribed for one to realize the divine nature of one's self. Yoga is a formula in which there are techniques that can be practiced to reach the Divine. Once we become intensely tuned to the eight-fold formula it will become such an integral part of our being that it will become difficult to forget it even for a minute during our day.

A person who practices yoga to meet with the Divine will not treat yoga as an activity to be performed on a schedule only during a particular time of the day. He will live and breathe yoga. These eight limbs of yoga will influence any activity that we perform. For example, if we are speaking to someone we will constantly be aware of speaking the truth. If we are performing an activity, our awareness will be completely on that activity.

Yoga cannot be treated as a set of principles and exercises to be practiced only for a certain number of hours in a day. It will infiltrate our life and become our way of life. Even modern man can become a yogi by applying these principles to every single activity he performs. When this happens, all material activities will automatically cease.

I was taught Ashtanga Yoga by a great yogic Master. He started training me when I was barely three and he was then already nearing one hundred years of age. I truly believe that he was a descendent of Patanjali; he was so in tune with the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. I hated a lot of what he made me do then. He made me climb pillars in the Arunachala temple in Thiruvannamalai with one hand behind my back! But it was this training that allowed my body to withstand the rigours of my parivrajaka, wandering through the country and the Himalayan Mountains in search of enlightenment.

Now, I teach Ashtanga Yoga, as it was taught to me, with the additional insight of Patanjali's vision that I have gained since then. I call it Nithya Yoga. The path and purpose of Nithya Yoga is bliss. It is bliss arising out of the merging of body, mind and spirit, when the glimpse of what we truly are is experienced by us.

The word yoga in Sanskrit means to unite or to become one with. Actually, yoga refers to the process of uniting. What is important in the practice of yoga is the journey, the path, and the process. We should understand one important thing about yoga. For whatever purpose, with whatever intention we move our body or bend our body, that idea, that intention is completely inserted or recorded into our body and mind. This may appear startling to us but it is the truth. It is the truth from my experience.

Whatever thought and intention, the samskara, you hold when you move your body, that samskara will get inserted into you and that samskara will start expressing itself in your body. For example, if you move your body with the intention and the strong belief that you will have health, however you move your body, then health will simply happen. With any physical movement, including just sitting, if you strongly believe that you will have health, health will simply happen in you.

This leads us to another important conclusion: the method in which we do posture in yoga is not important. It is the thought, the idea with which we move our body in the posture that matters. Understand that the body itself is made out of memories. Whether we believe it or not, we are an expression of our own self-hypnosis. Our memories are recorded in our muscles as well.

Here is a simple technique to experience this truth: for just ten minutes in the morning, visualize your whole body as a bliss bag filled with bliss. Then move the body in whatever way you want. The body will start working, experiencing and expressing the bliss.

When we reach the state of yoga we are in a meditative state of bliss. In this state, all desires for sense gratification and activities cease. Our existence becomes an outpouring of bliss. There will be so much bliss bubbling from inside that there will be no need to look for an outer object, person or location to influence this bliss. The desire for sense gratification and running after goals will automatically drop when we experience this state of bliss. This bliss is independent of the external world. It is beyond the body and the mind. This state of bliss can radiate and flow out to touch outer objects but the outer objects cannot influence this inner bliss!

Q: Master, what Krishna says about yoga and what we see being practiced today as yoga is very different. If it is supposed to be derived from the same source, why is this the case?

As I mentioned, yoga as it is practiced today has very little to do with what Krishna said or what Patanjali instructed. Yoga that Krishna talked about was the uniting of mind, body and spirit. He was referring to the uniting of the self with the Self. He was talking about finding our true nature.

Yoga, according to the dictionary means 'union', but according to me it is really 'uniting'. It is the process, not an end result. Being engaged in the process itself is the reward, not getting anything else in return. That is why time and again, Krishna talked about not being attached to the end result. He said, 'Renounce the fruit of action!' That is why the meaning of this process is uniting. It has no purpose. Union is not its purpose. It is a practice where the end and the means to the end are the same, so the goal and the path are the same. They cannot be different.

When people followed Krishna's advice and practiced yoga as He taught, many understood their true nature, as Arjuna did. They realized their true Self. They became enlightened. During this process, which is one of the individual energy merging with the Cosmic Energy, there were many changes in their body and in their breathing as their mind was becoming still. These changes in the body were the asana, the postures, and changes in breathing were the pranayama, breath control.

Patanjali and other sages observed and codified these transformations that the body-mind system went through during the process of enlightenment or samadhi, and this eventually became the basis of Ashtanga Yoga as laid down by Patanjali. Postures and breathing were a part of the total process and not the only parts as they have been made out to be today. Please understand that the body and mind have to work together to synchronize with the spirit. The mind has to have the intention and the body needs to make the movements to achieve yoga. The mind is more important. That is why Patanjali's treatise starts with the statement that 'Yoga is stilling the mind.' It is very profound and very true.

I have trained and ordained teachers now to teach Nithya Yoga. It is designed from the body language of Patanjali. Nithya Yoga is about adding life to our movements, not adding movements to our life. We are already wasting our time and energy pointlessly, doing something or the other. Even those who sit in an office and work have enough movement to keep them active. There is no point in adding some more movements in the name of yoga. What we lack is awareness. What we lack is the right intention. What we lack is the direction to seek the truth about ourselves. So I say, please add life to your movements. Do whatever you are doing, but do it in awareness. Nithya Yoga teaches us to be aware and shows us how even simple movements can be done in a meditative way that brings in awareness and bliss. That is what Krishna intended and Patanjali conveyed.

It is not that the sources of these truths said different things. We have lost the codes, the keys to understanding what these truths are. We understand them only from a very limited perspective and apply our own inadequate logic to suit what we think is correct. If the end products work, if we have created a profitable business, we pat ourselves on the back and smile all the way to the bank. If there is a problem, there is always Patanjali to blame.

6.5 You are your own friend; you are your own enemy.

Evolve yourself through the Self and do not degrade yourself.

6.6 For him who has conquered the Self, the Self is the best of friends.

For one who has failed to do so, his Self will remain the greatest enemy.

6.7 For one who has conquered the Self, who has attained tranquility, the Supreme is

already reached. Such a person remains in this state in happiness or distress, heat or cold, honor or dishonor.

6.8 A person whose mind is contented, because of spiritual knowledge, who has subdued his senses and to whom stone and gold are same and who is satisfied with what he is having, He is said to be established in Self-realization and is called an enlightened being.

6.9 A person is considered truly advanced when he regards honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, the mediators, the envious, both friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners with an equality of mind.

'You are your own friend; you are your own enemy. Evolve yourself through the Self and do not degrade yourself.'

In my discourses, if I have quoted any Gita verse more than twice, it is this one. I can say this is the gist of the whole Gita*.* This single verse provides the essence of the whole Gita.

In the last session in the previous chapter, we saw how to move from doing and having to being. Usually we are stuck in having. We are constantly focused on our possessions. We are always conscious of our status. It is always 'I' and 'mine'. Loss of possessions affects our ego and identity deeply.

A slightly more intelligent person moves from having to doing, from passivity to activity. Then, from doing we are supposed to move to being, from activity to active-

passivity. This shift to 'satva', active passivity, helps us evolve spiritually as we move deeper into awareness. In the last chapter we learned the technique from Krishna for moving from fear and greed into Divine Consciousness and bliss.

In this verse, Krishna says:

'One must deliver himself with the help of his own being and not degrade himself. The Being is the friend of the conditioned soul and his enemy as well.'

You are your own friend and you are your own enemy. If you know the technique of how to lift yourself by yourself, we will become a friend of your Self. If you let yourself down, you will become an enemy of yourself.

In our last session (Chapter 5) I asked all of you to practice the technique of centering yourselves in the third eye center, the ajna chakra, for ten days. How many of you were able to practice this? When you practice, naturally again and again you will fall. If you have not fallen, then please be very clear, you have not practiced it right. When you practice anything, naturally, you will fall. Suddenly, you will forget and then realize, 'Oh, I started working out of fear,' or 'I started working out of greed.' When you start working, naturally, there will be few problems.

A small story:

There was a big spiritual organization. A monk was sent to a remote tribal area to perform service. Suddenly the headquarters received a lot of complaint letters about that monk.

After reading the complaint letters, the president said, 'We have posted the right person. Don't worry.'

The secretary was puzzled and asked him why he thought this despite all of the complaints received.

The president replied, 'If we are getting complaints, it means that he has already started working. At least something is happening.'

When we start anything new, we will always have three phases: first is resistance. Second is avoidance. We just avoid, neither caring nor resisting. The third is acceptance. This is the way anything starts. Similarly, when we start doing anything inside our system, we start growing in the same way.

First, resistance: we will repeatedly fall. We will forget. Our system resists. We try to create complications and complaints and all possible arguments. Sometimes, if we can't follow the teachings of Krishna, we start blaming Krishna. I have seen many people when they are unable to follow the teachings of Krishna they will go ahead and start blaming Krishna saying, 'What Krishna are you talking about? He was always flirting. He was always running behind women. What type of a man was He?' We can easily escape Krishna by criticizing Krishna.

When we can't practice these teachings, we have to justify ourselves. Inside our being our conscience will naturally hurt us. So we have to make our conscience

believe we are doing the right thing. We have to find some argument. Since we are unable to follow, we start criticizing Krishna. This is the best way to escape and avoid the teachings of Krishna.

When our being resists, if we allow the resistance to grow, we are our worst enemy. This is what Krishna means by saying, 'May you lift yourself by yourself.' If we don't, we will be our worst enemy. It is up to us to help ourselves as the best friend or to hurt ourselves as our worst enemy.

Please be very clear: nobody can hurt you unless you allow him or her to. Nobody can help you unless you allow him or her to. May you lift yourself by yourself. May you lift yourself to your Self. Again and again, these Masters stress the same point. If you have fallen, if you have failed practicing these words, the teachings or the meditation techniques, if you have forgotten, don't worry. Again and again, lift yourself. Don't feel depressed and don't have guilt. Don't get dejected thinking you will not be able to do it. Again and again, lift yourself.

The last teaching of Buddha was: *atma deepo bhava, '*May your Self be the guiding light.' When Buddha was about to leave his body all of his disciples asked him, 'Master, please give us your ultimate message in one word.' Buddha said, 'Let you be the light, guide unto yourself. Let you be guided by yourself. Let your being guide you.' Here Krishna says the same thing. May you lift yourself by yourself. Nobody can do anything unless you lift yourself.

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM - Chapter 6

Just the other day, I came across an advertisement on the internet called 'Super Deluxe Kundalini Yoga'. It says one doesn't need to do anything. They sell a bypass circuit by which your kundalini will be raised to the sahasrara automatically. All you need to do is to allow them to do the by-pass connection. Then your kundalini will stay in the sahasrara forever.

I was just shocked! How can someone else awaken your kundalini? Of course, enlightened Masters can awaken our latent energy but only we with our own effort can stay in that same state. They can give us a glimpse, satori, but staying in that consciousness and achieving samadhi can be done only by us. Only we can help ourselves.

Someone went to Buddha and asked, 'Master, you know enlightenment is the ultimate thing. Why don't you give that to all of us? Why don't you make us all enlightened?'

Buddha said, 'Oh, you want enlightenment? You think I should give enlightenment to everybody? Please go around and survey how many people really want enlightenment?'

By that evening the man returned after conducting an extensive survey in that city and said, 'Master, only two people want enlightenment.'

Buddha said, 'Please bring them here, and let me give it to them.' The man said, 'No, they are not ready to come all the way here from their houses. If you can send it to them, they are ready to receive it.'

Nobody really wants it! And, even if we do, we want it as one more item in our showcase. We are not ready to risk anything for enlightenment. We want it as one more item to showcase. Whenever people come to our houses, we can say, 'This is from Delhi, this is from New York, this statue is from Japan.'

Just like that, we can say, 'Oh, this enlightenment, you know that Master, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM? He gave me enlightenment. He was giving a Gita discourse that I attended and he just gave it to us. How does it look?'

Just as one more showpiece, we are ready to accept it but we are not ready to commit or risk anything for it. We are not ready to take the responsibility.

Buddha said, 'Existence is so great that It gives you the freedom even to be in bondage. It is your choice whether to be in bondage or to be liberated. Even liberation should not be forced. If it is forced, even liberation is not liberation. So you have one hundred percent choice to be liberated or to be in bondage. It is completely up to you. God is so great that He gives you the freedom even to be in bondage or to be liberated.'

Here, Krishna says, 'May you liberate yourself by yourself. Unless you liberate yourself, nobody else can liberate you. If you help yourself, you will be the greatest friend for yourself. If you don't, you will be your worst enemy.' This is an important verse. This has to be understood well. Let us see the next two verses to get the complete context and then we will enter into the meaning of the verses.

A small story:

Abdullah was a great enlightened Sufi Master. He was always in ecstasy, always in joy. One of his disciples asked him, 'Master, how are you so blissful? I have never seen you suffering. You are always joyful. How is this possible?'

Abdullah replied, 'Early morning when I get up from bed I ask myself, Abdullah, Abdullah, Abdullah, what do you want today? Do you want to be blissful or do you want suffering today? Naturally what will the mind choose? It will choose to be blissful. Then, immediately, I tell the mind: alright, be blissful. That's all!'

We may think, 'How can it be so simple, Master?' Be very clear, we know our twenty-four hour routine. We know what is going to happen in the next 24-hours. Just try this tomorrow morning. Accidents or lottery winnings are very rare. In a normal routine, we know exactly what is going to happen. Just decide whether you choose to face that routine with bliss or with suffering. Decide whether to face the routine with joy or with the usual long face. Decide for yourself. You have the choice. And whether you go with the long face or with a smiling face, the routine is going to be the same.

I always tell people, 'Pain is inevitable; suffering is a choice.'

We have one thing that we can choose - and that is our attitude. We can choose our inner space. We have

complete freedom to do that. That is purely our own decision with no one to blame. Pain is independent of suffering. Pain is an external thing, suffering is an internal choice.

Abdullah says, 'When my mind says in the morning I will choose to be happy, I tell the mind, just be blissful, that's all.' It is purely our choice. Hell or heaven is our conscious choice. People always have another question, 'What do I do if my mind says, I want to suffer?' Then suffer, that's all. What is there in it? When our mind wants to enjoy suffering, then even suffering becomes an enjoyment for us. That is why we want to enjoy suffering. In a way, suffering becomes enjoyment for us.

So when you get up early in the morning, ask your mind, 'What do you want today?' If your mind chooses bliss, just tell your mind, 'Be blissful. That's all!' This single conscious decision can change the quality of your life. But don't make a commitment to do this for three days or one week. You will forget. Decide every day for just that 24 hours. People will immediately think, 'Let me decide for my whole life today itself.' No! You will forget. You will be back at the same point where you started; you will have the same face again tomorrow when you come back. No, don't decide for your whole life. Decide only for one day. Only then will you be able to maintain it. Otherwise you will have the same old natural face.

A small story about this natural face:

The head of a monastery, a father, was teaching

the young novices to preach. He was giving them tips on how to speak in public. He was taking classes about how to preach to the public.

He said, 'When we speak, our whole body should express what we are saying. Our face should express the idea that we are talking about. When we speak about heaven our eyes should sparkle and our whole body should show the bliss, we should express the joys of heaven clearly. Our face should shine.'

The father continued, 'When we speak about hell, we can just remain as we are. People will understand!'

At least in our life, let us not maintain the long face as our natural face.

Vivekananda said, 'If you are depressed, don't come out of your room. There is enough of suffering in the world. Don't go around spreading a little more suffering.'

When we conquer the mind, happiness and distress are both one and the same and we are not touched by it. Throughout this chapter, Krishna speaks about the senses, how our senses function and what we are supposed to do. Let me give you a small diagram on how our mind functions and how our senses work. Then we will be able to understand the Gita in a much better way.

Now we will see how our mind works, how we perceive information, how we process it and how we make decisions.

First, as an example, let us say we are seeing something through our eyes. Here I am giving the example of the sense of sight through the eyes, but we can replace it with any of the other senses like taste, smell, etc. Let us take the example that you are seeing me at this moment. First your eyes will catch the picture or the scene. This will be taken to the chakshu. Actually, it is the sensory energy inside the eyes called indriya that does

the job of seeing. Please understand, the eyes themselves do not see. Energy sees through the eyes. Sometimes, your eyes will be wide open and if you are listening to some music intensely, even if someone walks in front of you, you will not know. This is proof that you don't see with your physical eyes! You see through the sensory energy – indriya.

Let us say we are intensely reading something. At this time, we may not hear any of the ambient sound. This shows we are not hearing through the ears, something else is hearing through the ears or seeing through the eyes. That something else is called indriya, which is the energy behind the sensory organ. The whole file what you saw with your eyes goes to the chakshu.

The picture or the scene that we are seeing will go to the chakshu. In chakshu an important process happens. It is the conversion of the whole file into a digital file. It is almost like a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) in a computer. If we have to process any information inside a computer, it has to become digital. Whether it is a picture or whether it is sound, it has to be converted into a digital file.

Similarly, inside the mind, for any process to happen, the whole thing has to be converted into a bio-signal file or a digital file. The file processing happens in chakshu. Whatever scene we are seeing now, that picture will be converted into a digital file in chakshu.

That file will now go to chitta or memory. In memory the process of elimination starts happening. You will start analyzing and eliminating things and say, 'Na iti, na iti: not this, not this.' First, your mind will say, 'This is not a tree,' 'This is not an animal,' 'This is not a rock.' This process of elimination will happen in the chitta.

Once the 'This is not' process happens, the file goes to the manas, the mind. Here the mind starts identifying saying, 'This is it,' 'This is it'. This identification process happens in the mind. Our mind says, 'I am seeing a man

standing with a kavi (saffron) cloth. He is teaching the Gita.' This kind of identification of 'This is it' will happen in the mind.

Then the file goes to buddhi, intelligence. The process of analysis begins in the intelligence saying, 'What is the relevance between me and this scene? What is the connection between this scene and me? In what way am I related to him or this scene?' Our buddhi will start analyzing based on all of our earlier experiences. We may think, 'The last four or five times that I attended these talks it was really useful.' Or, we might think, 'This is not worth it.' Our buddhi makes some decision. Our buddhi will respond in some way whether it is right or wrong, whether we like it or not. Our buddhi will respond and will write 'yes' or 'no' on the file based on our past experiences.

The whole file will then go to the ego and the ego will give the command. If buddhi says, 'Yes, I enjoyed yesterday,' the ego will say, 'Sit here and continue to listen intensely.' If the buddhi says, 'No, no, I wasted my time yesterday. It was boring. This is not for me.' Then immediately the ego gives the command, 'Come on and let's move. There is so much work to do at home.' The moment the ego gives the command, automatically, our whole being starts executing it. This is the way we receive information, process it and respond. The information comes through the senses, the processing is done and the response is given. This is the way our senses work.

Now, Krishna has an important point here. He says, 'For one who has achieved the supreme bliss, for him happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same.' Throughout this chapter Krishna emphasizes this one idea, 'Senses'. How can happiness and distress, how can heat and cold, how can honor and dishonor be the same for a man? How is it possible?

The first thing is that when these senses do this work, we decide 'yes' or 'no' only based on our past experiences, the experiences with which we have grown or the words with which we have conditioned our chitta and manas. Our buddhi decides based on the conditioning of our mind and memory. Please be very clear: Something that is so tasty for us may be like poison to our neighbour. Why our neighbour? Take our spouses for instance. We might like something, but the other might hate it.

There are three ways to do anything. First, hire someone to do it. Second, do it by yourself. Third, just tell your spouse NOT to do it. When you don't want something to be done, just tell them to DO it and when we want something to be done, just tell them NOT to do it!

Anyway, whenever our mind is caught in dualities, again and again we fall back to our dilemma, to our nature, to our suffering, to our instinct level. Here Krishna says the person who has achieved bliss is not affected by heat or cold. How do we reach that state? Throughout this chapter He speaks about conquering the senses.

First, we need to understand that when I say conquering the senses, I don't mean controlling the senses

or destroying the senses. If we try to control or destroy the senses, we will only struggle more and more and suffer more and more.

Ramana Maharishi said beautifully, 'Instead of killing the person, you try to destroy the chair.' Destroying the chair will not kill the person. Here, our senses are just chairs. Our ego is the person who is sitting there. So if we try to control our senses, it is not going to work. If we try to control our body, that is not going to work.

Krishna says beautifully, 'For one who has conquered the self.' When he says self, he means the whole setup where the decision-making happens. Mind-Buddhi-Ego is the spot where the decision-making is happening. When we just try to conquer the senses, we will fail again and again. If we fail two or three times we will lose the confidence to try again. If we fail in a fight with our senses, we will automatically start thinking that it is impossible, and we will lose confidence. We need intelligence to progress in this path.

A small story:

A man wanted to go on a vacation to Juhu beach in Mumbai. He started to travel and kept going. After one week he came back.

His friend asked, 'Did you go to Juhu beach?'

He said, 'No, I was not able to find it.'

His friend asked, 'Did you not see any sign on the highway?'

The man replied, 'Yes, there was a board but it said Juhu Beach left,' and I thought the beach had left so I came back.'

We need intelligence to traverse this path. If we try to work from the wrong side, from the side of the senses, we will never be able to succeed. If we try to create more pressure on the cooker we will not be able open the cooker lid. First, we need to put out the fire. First, we need to remove the energy supply. The ego or the buddhi, the place from where we make decisions, is continuously supplying energy to our senses. So all we need to do is to work at the level of mind and not at the level of the senses. If we try to work on the level of senses, we will create only more and more perverted desires.

For example, a man who tries to control his eating will dream about having a feast. If we fast for one day, it is enough. That day night, in our dreams we will be feasting! Our body has got its own balance. Our body has its own intelligence. If we avoid something, it has to supply and rejuvenate itself. If we are hungry, we can't sleep. In order to continue to be in the state of sleep we should be made to believe that we are not hungry. So, the unconscious energy creates a dream as if we are feasting. Whenever we deprive ourselves, our unconscious energy will satisfy itself in the dream state. This is because in the dream state, there are no police or anyone else to control us. We just project our world and enjoy it. We can do whatever we want.

An important thing to note is that if we suppress something, be very clear, it will automatically express itself in our dreams. Dreams are nothing but expressions of our suppressed desires and fears. Our fear or desire when suppressed gets expressed in our dreams. Not only that, it expresses itself in a perverted way. If we enjoy with the senses, we will never become tired. But when we suppress our senses, our being suffers in our dreams. We can see very clearly, if we have a nightmare, even when we wake up, for hours we continue to be in that same mood and our whole being feels shaken.

Now they are coming up with a new concept called 'fear stroke'. These are imaginary fears, such as seeing a rope in the dark and imagining it to be a snake, or imagining ghosts lurking in dark corners. Not only that, they are instant peaks of fear due to simple things such as the sudden ringing of the telephone etc. We also get these fear strokes in dreams. If we are suffering at the dream level, please be very clear that there is something seriously wrong with the mind-buddhi level. We are trying to control the senses instead of controlling the mind. Instead of removing the fire, we are trying to create more pressure in the cooker. All we need to do is to work on the mind to remove the fire, to stop the supply of fuel, to stop the supply of energy.

Here Krishna says, 'For one who has conquered the mind,' meaning that this applies to the one whose mind has learned the right processing. If our buddhi and chitta are filled with past memories, we cannot make correct decisions. Please be very clear, don't think the mind makes decisions in a logical manner. Sometimes, it makes decisions in a very funny way, as I was explaining earlier about how we make the decision to sit here or not.

Sometimes our buddhi does not even think that much. In the example where you were seeing me with your eyes, if you have had any problems with any other swamis or any other person who was wearing this same color cloth in the past, suddenly that memory will be awakened. Then, the buddhi is not even ready to sit and listen. Our buddhi is not even ready to take a chance. It is not even ready to think. Immediately, our ego gives the order to leave. This is what we call prejudice.

Sometimes we hear an argument and pass judgment. Many times, our judgment is ready, and we collect arguments to support our judgment. We should look into our life. Whenever our judgment is ready, we collect arguments to support our judgment and we are caught in this network. This creates suffering. A man whose senses are clear, meaning one who is not driven by his sense organs, who is not suffering because of the senses, has the ability to make decisions with clarity. If our mind, especially the area of chitta, is clear, if that is intelligent enough, then automatically our senses work properly and we make the right decisions.

We can never achieve bliss by controlling the senses. We can only achieve bliss by controlling the mind. By changing the servants, we can't change the leader. But by changing the leader we can change the servants. The mind is the leader or the master that is making decisions

and leading the senses. So all we need to do is work on the mind, not on the senses.

Krishna says, 'One who has conquered the mind achieves the Paramatman (Divine Self).' We don't need to achieve bliss. It is always there with us. If it has to be achieved, there is every possibility it can be lost. If it can be lost, what is the guarantee it will be there forever? Anything, if it has to be specially achieved, is not worth achieving. But if it is our very nature, then it becomes easy. If it has to be achieved, there is every possibility that after ten days it may be lost. Suddenly it may disappear. Krishna says that all we need to do is conquer our mind. We don't need to achieve anything.

I always tell people that Ananda Spurana is continuously happening. The flowering of bliss is continuously happening. Spurana means flowering. Our very life energy is bliss. Unless we have the bliss energy in us, we cannot inhale and exhale. The inhaling and exhaling itself happens because of the bliss energy or the eternal consciousness in us. But we are stopping the bliss fountain again and again. All we need to do is stop the stopping process. That's all. We don't even need to create anything or achieve anything. We need to just stop the stopping process. Krishna says that we just have to conquer the mind because the Self has been already achieved. The Self has been already achieved and we are with it. There is nothing to strive for.

Here is a small story to explain how happiness and sorrow are in no way related to the outer world but to the inner world.

An old man went to a nearby city for some work. When he was coming back to his village, from a distance he suddenly noticed that his house was on fire. He started shouting, screaming and rolling on the ground and weeping.

His son came to him and said, 'Dad, don't worry. Don't you remember, we sold that house just yesterday?'

Immediately, the old man sat up and wiped his tears. The sorrow just disappeared.

In ten minutes, his other son came to him and said, 'Dad, yes, we have sold it, but we are yet to get the money.'

Again the man started rolling on the ground and weeping, 'Oh, I don't know what I will do now. I don't know who will care for me. I don't know how to save myself.'

Some ten minutes later, his wife came on the scene and said, 'Don't worry, just this morning I saw that the money was deposited in our bank account.' Again he got up and wiped his tears and was perfectly back to normal!

If you notice, it is the same situation and the same person. But when he thinks the house is his, he is suffering and when he thinks it is not his, he is liberated. So what gives us suffering? It is just this single thing: thinking that something is mine. The habit of thinking 'mine', 'mine'.

In the same way, there are people who can't enjoy something unless it is theirs. One day I was going for a walk on the beach. One of our devotees started saying, 'Master, I think we should have a cottage here. It would be very nice. We can come out and enjoy the breeze.'

I asked him, 'Are we not enjoying ourselves now? Why do you need a cottage here to enjoy? Just enjoy yourself now!' But the mind never enjoys unless we are sure it is ours. Unless we possess something, we don't enjoy it.

Please be very clear that the man who possesses and tries to enjoy will never be able to enjoy. By the time we own the cottage we start worrying, 'I think I should have this kind of furniture. I should have that type of arrangement.' Or we have already started thinking about another cottage in some other place.

Ramana Maharishi was a great devotee of Arunachala. Someone who went to Ramana Maharishi, visiting him for the first time said, 'Master, what a beautiful place this is! How nice it is to be here! The Arunachala hill is so beautiful!' Ramana Maharishi said, 'Just be here for three days, all these ideas will disappear!' In three days, we take things for granted. Something will be beautiful only for three days. Not more than that. The person who enjoys only by possessing will never enjoy. The person who enjoys will not bother about possessing. It is just our mind. Sometimes, the mind will not allow us to enjoy something unless we know for sure that it is ours. And at other times when we know it is ours it creates suffering. Suffering or joy is created only by that one link, the mind. If that link is disconnected, the whole process will happen beautifully.

The only difference between an enlightened person and us is that one missing link! It's not like an enlightened person will have two big distinguishing horns. There is no other difference between an enlightened person and us other than this one link, mind, which continuously decides, 'What is in it for me? In what way am I connected?' That 'I', 'I', 'I', 'I' - that link is missing. If we can cut this link, if we can cross that 'I', we will become Christ. Don't start from the senses; start instead from the ego, the mind.

We always complain about the senses. Again and again, we say that our senses are spoiling us. No, we are spoiling them. Don't put the responsibility on the senses. We are spoiling them. We destroy them. We abuse them. We must look into our life. It might be late at night even two am, but we will still watch our baseball or soccer game on television. Our eyes are begging for some rest. When the advertisements come on, our eyes close automatically by themselves. But we continue to sit and watch the rest of the game. We abuse our eyes because we want to enjoy ourselves.

It is the same story with the gongura chutney (extremely spicy side dish). Our tongue burns and our eyes pour tears but we continue to put large quantities of it into our mouth! Just the mention of it is enough; I can

see how many mouths are salivating just now! We abuse and disrespect them. Please be very clear, our senses are not disturbing us. It is we who are disturbing them. It is this link: 'What is there for me?' that destroys the whole thing. This is where the whole trouble starts. This 'I', 'I', 'I', 'I' is where we start abusing the senses. All we need to do is control the mind, not the senses.

Another simple thing: hot and sweet tastes are just one and the same. Today just try this simple experiment: stretch out your tongue and concentrate on the tongue. Visualize your tongue as a highway and that you are walking on your tongue. Then take a chili and a sugar candy. Touch one corner of your tongue with the chili and the other corner with sugar candy. Deeply witness what happens. You will see that when you touch with the chili and when you touch with the sugar candy, both feel one and the same! When we do this experiment, we understand that if we go a little deeper into our system, the experience of hot and sweet both are one and the same.

Only when we put a rubber stamp on it saying, 'This is hot, this is not good for me,' or 'This is sweet, I like this,' the trouble starts. Only when we label it, the trouble starts. As a process in nature, both are one and the same. We label these experiences based on our belief. Based on our earlier belief system, we pigeonhole our experiences. Based on our recorded memory, we start thinking that this is not good for me. As a result of which we really begin to feel that it is not good for us.

We need to understand one more thing: our thoughts create our senses. Our mind creates our senses. Don't think we are living with what we have. We create what we want to have. Our thoughts are so powerful and our mind is so powerful, it can just change the whole body. For example, just think of one thought that creates disturbance inside. Or just think of an enemy. Or think of a person who took money from you and has not returned it. Consider a person who loaned you money and now asks for it. Immediately, we experience the change happening in our system. The body chemistry changes. Our blood is boils, our blood pressure rises, our heart rate and pulse rate rise. Just one thought and our whole system changes. A single thought can change the whole chemistry. Or one thought that creates lust, one advertisement, and immediately our body chemistry changes. Our whole body becomes ready to respond.

Please be very clear that a single thought can change the chemistry of our body. Our body is created only by our thoughts. It is our thoughts that create the body. In Bharat there is a great science called samudrika lakshana. Just by seeing the face, the body, the way of standing, sitting and walking, the trained sage can tell the quality of the mind. They can tell everything about the person's mind. This is because the sage knows the secret that the mind creates the body. The body is the outer expression of the mind. The mind is the inner experience of the body. If our mind changes, our body can be changed and our whole system can be changed.

A man whose mind is clearly reprogrammed according to spiritual ideas can completely change his senses. As of

now, our mind is programmed for misery. It is looking outward. If we can reprogram our mind to look inward, towards bliss, our entire sense experience can be changed.

Please be very clear, all we need to do is to reprogram our mind to look in. This is the gist of this whole chapter.

And Krishna says one more important thing about heat and cold. I don't know how you can believe this, but I have seen people living in the Himalayas with just two pieces of cloth. Let me tell you very clearly, I lived in the Himalayas and I used to sleep on the snow with this same cotton dress. It may be very difficult to believe but it was done. All we need to do is stop resisting, that's all.

Just try this experiment: the moment you feel the cool breeze, don't create the idea, 'It is cold, I may catch a cold, I may have wheezing. I may develop sinus problems. I may get asthma.' Just don't create such words. Especially in the west, you learned all of these big negative words. The more words you know about diseases, the greater is the possibility of getting those diseases in you. Whenever we repeat something, we create that quality in us.

Here is a simple experiment you can do:

Close your eyes and repeat ten times: 'Shanti, Shanti, Shanti', you will have peace inside (shanti means peace in Sanskrit). The only thing is your wife's name should not be Shanti! If you just repeat the word 'shanti', you will start experiencing the word 'shanti' in you. The quality of peace will start happening in you. In the same way, if you repeat the names of diseases, you will start creating those diseases in you.

I encountered some research recently that I want to share you. I went to the AAPI (Association of American Physicians of Hindu Origin) convention. There they showed me a book containing their research works. One such study shows that in medical colleges, if lessons are being taught about a particular disease, more than forty percent of the students start showing symptoms of that disease. I know this is difficult to accept but the reason for this phenomenon is that the students are continuously thinking about those symptoms. Another big problem is that whenever we hear about a disease, the first thing we tend to do is to check and see if we have those symptoms. 'Do I have it?' We check to see if we have the symptoms.

Since the students are constantly meditating on the symptoms, forty percent of them express the same symptoms in their life. Whatever we think, we express. If we are constantly thinking about the wrong thing, our senses will be created in the same way. We need to do only one thing, work on the mind. Just liberate the mind. Then our whole system will be purified. Our senses will be reconstructed. Krishna gives us a beautiful technique to work on the mind.

He says one more important thing, 'Honor and dishonor will be the same.' This is very difficult to believe. Cold and heat can be the same. Hot and sweet can be the same. We can even accept that. But honor and dishonor, how can the two be the same? One word is enough to anger us. A single word thrown at us is enough to anger us and hurt our honor.

Someone asked me the other day, 'Master, why do we bother so much about others' opinions?'

We bother about others' opinions because we don't have an opinion about ourselves. We know about ourselves only through others' words and their opinions. We understand ourselves through others. If everybody says, 'You are beautiful,' we get that certificate. If everybody says, 'You are intelligent,' we get that certificate. If everybody says, 'You are great,' we get that certificate. We collect all these certificates and we build our personality with these certificates.

In our Life Bliss Program, the first session is about this. The first session is about why we get depressed, why we repeatedly fall into a low energy state. It is because our energy source is others' certificates. We don't have any self-respect. We respect ourselves based on other's opinions. If others' opinions about us are good, we think we are great. If others' opinions about us are not good, we immediately lose self-esteem.

Have you seen children build castles with playing cards? We too build castles with others' certificates. Our personality is nothing but a castle built with others' certificates. If one card is removed from that castle, what will happen to that castle? It just collapses. Similarly if a single person takes away his certificate, what happens to our personality? It just collapses. We fall into depression repeatedly.

Please be very clear, whenever we fall into depression, either somebody would have just taken away our certificate, or we would be afraid that somebody may take away our certificate. We know about ourselves only based on others' opinions and we build our personality only based on that. That is why we care so much for others' opinions. We have made them our lifeline.

Christ says, 'Love thy neighbor as you love thyself.' But we don't even love ourselves. That is why there is so much of hatred. We don't love ourselves. We don't have any self-respect. That is the reason for the wars all around us. The first session of the Life Bliss Program is about this. I tell people, if we want to live, we must learn how to stand on our own two feet, learn how to be with ourselves. As of now, our source of energy is others' opinions. If somebody tells us, 'You are really great', we may act humble and try our best to say, 'No, no, I am not,' but what happens inside us? 'Please tell me a little more!' Outside we feel shy but inside our mind we want them to go on and on.

We are constantly fuelled by others' opinions and we work to get others' opinions. Just meditate on this one thought. This is a great technique that can liberate us. Don't worry about others' opinions. Don't worry about what others are thinking about you. Because they are also busy worrying about what we think of them! If we

meditate on this one statement, it will completely liberate us from this problem of honour or dishonour.

We must look into our life. Whoever stands in our consciousness, whose opinions we are bothered about, realize that all of these people are also bothered about our opinion. Be very clear, if we are bothered about somebody's opinion, directly or indirectly, he is also bothered about our opinion. It is just a give and take game. Don't bother about others' opinions, because they are also bothered about our opinions. Meditate on this one statement and you will be liberated.

Krishna says, 'A person whose mind is content because of spiritual knowledge, who has subdued his senses and to whom stone and gold are the same and who is satisfied with what he has, is said to be established in Self-realization and is called an enlightened being.'

First we should understand why Krishna is speaking of all these qualities of a Master. Why is he explaining all of these qualities? These qualities are techniques. If we practice them we will reach the same enlightened state.

Please be very clear that an enlightened man's words are mantra, words that will transform us. His life is tantra, a technique that will transform us and his form is a yantra, a sacred image to be meditated upon. His actions, if replicated in our life will create the same quality of consciousness in our being. For example, if we listen to music that comes from the heart, like traditional Carnatic music, we will have that same experience. If we listen to music that comes from the muladhara (sex center) it will create the same lustful mood in us. If we meditate on some expression, we will have that same experience behind that expression. Experience leads to expression and expression leads to experience.

There are research reports on art therapy. Once, several mad people were asked to paint. They were given canvas and paint. We can imagine how they paint! They just did whatever they wanted. But the surprising thing is, when asked to paint everyday, they experienced a complete recovery within a six-month period. This is because the catharsis happened. They threw everything out. When catharsis happens, naturally people get healed.

And the next amazing thing is that the doctor who was doing research on this art therapy saw a pattern. He found that those who became mad because of money all painted and drew in the same manner. People who had become mad because of relationships, all painted in the same way and people who had become mad because of name and fame, painted in the same way.

6.10 A yogi should always try to concentrate his mind on the supreme Self;

Situated in a secluded place, he should carefully control his mind without being attracted by anything and should be free from the feeling of possessiveness.

6.11 On a clean and pure place, one should establish his seat by laying kusha grass, a deer skin and a cloth one over another, neither too high nor too low.

6.12 Sitting firmly on that pure seat, the yogi should practice the purification of the self by controlling the activities of mind and the senses.

6.13 Holding the body, head and neck steady, look at the tip of your nose without looking in any other direction.

6.14 Sit with an unagitated mind, free from fear and in tune with Existence, controlling the mind, focusing it on Me and make Me the supreme goal.

In these verses Krishna gives directions for the practitioner of yoga, the yogi. There are instructions about both the state of the mind and the state of the body. These verses are often quoted and misused with a literal understanding and without grasping the inner meaning and significance. We can sit with closed or half closed eyes, with spine erect, in a sound proofed dark room, suspended in mid air like a space traveler for the rest of our life and still be far away from enlightenment. Understand, these are general and practical guidelines given to help with how we should sit and meditate. These are not essential qualifications for enlightenment.

Krishna repeats the importance of controlling our senses again and again. Why? Senses are our doors to the external world. As long as they are open and uncontrolled, all we are immersed in is the external world. It is impossible to understand our true reality when we are studying the external world. We may become a great scientist or we may become a wealthy businessman by observing the outer world, but never an enlightened person. For this path, looking inwards is the only way.

Controlling the senses requires controlling the mind. Controlling the mind requires control of thoughts. If we sit for a few minutes and analyze our thoughts, we will find that there is no connection between one thought and another. There is no logic in our thinking process. By their very nature our thoughts are illogical, unconnected and irrational. Thoughts keep swinging from past to future and back to the past.

We need to do two things to control our thoughts. First, we need to stay in the present moment by refusing to move to the past and future and second, we need to disconnect thoughts. I call this un-clutching. We need to be aware that thoughts are not inherently connected. We connect them into a shaft of joy and sorrow. These shafts do not exist at all. So I say to you, un-clutch and become liberated. I am not saying to stay without thoughts. That is not possible; just witness thoughts. Understand that thoughts are unconnected. Detach yourself from the emotional baggage of the thoughts. If we detach ourselves from the regrets of the past and the speculations of the future we will automatically rise into the present.

We cannot live without desires. If anyone tells us that we can reach enlightenment through elimination of desires, it is incorrect. First of all, we are already enlightened. Our inner Self knows it is connected to the Divine. We are just not aware of it. If we are already there how can we achieve it? Second of all, desires are energy. We cannot inhale and exhale without the desire to live. Simply dying will not give us the experience.

When Buddha talks of desires being sorrowful, he means that the attachment to desires brings sorrow. That is what Krishna talks about here - dropping the attachment to attachment and possessiveness. It is the feeling of 'mine,' the desire to possess that creates the feeling of 'I,' not the other way around. Our identity is made up of all the things that we want, that we desire,that we are attached to. These constitute our mental make up. The seeds of desire and embedded memories are the stuff our package of 'I' is made of. Once the feeling of possession, the feeling of 'mine' disappears, it is possible to shed our identity as well. When we are free of the feeling of 'mine' and 'I', when we are not attached or attracted to external objects, when we are not led by our senses, we have steadied the mind and senses. To facilitate this, Krishna stipulates the conditions needed to bring this about.

There are a few things to note here. For example, we should go to a secluded place. Why? Whatever is said and done, in the house the phone may ring, somebody may knock and some ad agencies may call. A secluded place is really a means just to move us away from these disturbances.

The kusha, deerskin and all those things are like insulation, so that the earth will not absorb the energy we create. But now we don't have to bother about that, since we usually sit in a chair, raised a little from the ground. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and it should be comfortable. That's all. The most important thing to be aware of in any meditation is to be relaxed.

We cannot meditate in discomfort. Sthira - stability and sukha – pleasurable, are the basic essentials of any meditation posture.

Here Krishna updates the technique that He gave earlier. Here He gives three more instructions:

1. Head, backbone and neck should be in a straight line.

2. We should fix our eyes on the tip of the nose. If we look at the tip of the nose, naturally, our awareness will settle down on the third eye. Our concentration will settle on the ajna chakra (the brow energy center).

3. We should meditate on 'ME' as the supreme goal.

These are simple, common sense instructions. Keeping the head, neck and backbone, all in one line, helps in two ways. Firstly, it prevents us from dropping off to sleep. If we doze, our neck will drop, and we will no longer be steady. Secondly, as long as the head, neck and backbone remain steady and vertical, the flow of pranic energy, the life giving energy, through the energy pathways, nadis, will be unblocked and smooth.

A small story:

In Chennai, Bharat, there was a famous preacher. He was well known but boring. People used to go to sleep listening to him. On the day he died, a bus driver from Chennai also died. In Chennai, bus drivers are like Yama, the God of Death. They drive buses just to terrorize people. People both inside and outside the bus pray for their own safety.

When they both arrived at the gates of heaven, the driver was speedily ushered into heaven's first class suite. The preacher found himself escorted to a hot and humid space, very similar to the Chennai climate.

The preacher started screaming, 'There is no justice in the land of Yama. I, a great preacher, am being led to hell, while this driver goes to heaven. Will someone give me justice?'

Yama heard his screams and explained, 'Here we go by the end result caused by you on planet Earth, irrespective of what you might have been doing for a profession. When the driver drove, fearing for their lives, many people remembered God and prayed to Him sincerely. You, on the other hand, through your preaching only put people to sleep!'

That is why I am always afraid with you people. When I talk and teach you meditation, you doze off. Just think, Yama may say the same thing to me! So at least for my sake, keep your eyes open.

Whether we close our eyes fully or half close them, it is important that we disconnect from the external world. When the eyes are focused on the tip of the nose, they are not looking at external objects and ninety percent of sensory inputs are cut off. In addition, the focus is on the ajna chakra, which, when energized, dissolves the ego block.

Finally, Krishna says, 'Focus on Me.' He means our atman, the true Self. If we like, we can meditate on the

form of Krishna, with a flute, peacock feather and all those things. But I always prescribe going beyond the form. Go into your being. Of course, when we enter into our ajna chakra, automatically we will go beyond the form. We will start meditating on the formless energy that is beyond the form.

6.15 Always practicing control over the mind and situated in the Self,

The yogi attains peace, the supreme liberation and My kingdom.

6.16 Yoga is neither eating too much nor eating too little;

It is neither sleeping too much nor sleeping too little, Oh Arjuna.

6.17 One who is regulated in food, rest, recreation and work, Sleep and wakefulness can reduce misery.

6.18 When the mind is disciplined and one is situated in the Self, free from all desires,

Then one is said to be situated in yoga.

6.19 As a lamp in a place without wind does not waver,

So also the yogi whose mind is controlled remains steady, engaged in yoga, in the Self.

Krishna talks here about control of the mind and being situated in the Self. He talks about the path and the goal of yoga. The first line of the Yoga Sutras starts with, 'yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha.' Yoga is cessation of the mind. The very first line gives the path and the goal of yoga. The word yoga means uniting with the Divine. To reach the Ultimate, the goal is yoga, and the path is also yoga, which is the practice of yoga, dropping the mind.

The goal is uniting with the Ultimate or experiencing the ultimate spiritual energy, universal energy, cosmic energy or experiencing the cosmic Intelligence. The path is dropping the mind, which means going beyond thoughts. The ultimate goal of yoga is uniting with Existence or the Divine and to realize our true inherent nature. We are spiritual beings having a human experience; we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. That is the truth. If we consider ourselves to be human beings striving for a spiritual experience, we will be striving to achieve something that is not our true nature. But I tell you bliss is our very nature. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. All that we need to do is go back to the Source and realize our true nature.

The mind pulls us towards the temporary happiness that we experienced by pursuing the pleasures of our sense organs. For example, there might be some particular sweet that we like. We are attracted to its taste. When we sit down to eat it, for a few minutes our mind seems to stop thinking about it. There seems to appear a sense of peace when we are eating the sweet. Actually, we are at peace because the number of thoughts has come down for those few minutes. But without realizing this, we think the peace experience is due to the sweet itself.

Understand that there is nothing wrong with liking the sweetness. We feel fulfilled with the sweetness. But if we are attracted to the sweet thinking that the sweet is the cause of our fulfillment, then the problem starts, because the next time the same sweet may not give us the same experience of fulfillment. The experience is different and the object of experience is different.

In the same way, if we hold onto an object that we think gives us bliss, we will create an attachment to that object. But the experience of bliss is different from the object. It is in no way related to the object. Bliss is beyond attachment to any object, material or spiritual. Bliss is beyond the pairs of opposites. When we are happy due to some pleasurable event or person, the momentary joy is coming because the number of our thoughts comes down when we meet the person. But the bliss itself happens only from our own being, not from the person. In fact, it continuously happens within us, irrespective of anything that goes on outside. Then why do we not feel the bliss continuously? It is because we are under the control of the mind, which needs the pairs of opposites to survive. We can, however, go beyond the mind.

We can stop the stopping of the fountain of bliss that is happening every moment in us. Our first level program, Ananda Spurana Program or the Life Bliss Program Level 1, is all about how to unlock and energize the seven major energy centers, the seven chakras. In this program, participants learn how to bring forth the eternal fountain of bliss in us.

When I say 'eternal bliss', what do I mean? 'Nithya' or 'eternal' means the past, present and future all put together, because it is beyond time. It cannot be called new or old because it always existed. It is beyond time. But, the eternal can be touched only in the present. Being in the present is what eternity is. Bliss cannot be experienced in the past or future because these are not reality. The only reality is the present. So, bliss can be experienced only in the present.

When we are not completely in tune with the present, we have an idea in our mind as to how the present moment should be, how it could be better or different. Be very clear, this indicates that we are not completely in the present because how can we completely experience the present when we have fantasies in that moment about how that moment should be?

When we are completely in reality, in the present, we are completely in tune with Existence and we are in bliss. This is eternal bliss. The present blissful moment gives

birth to the next moment, which will be blissful. It will automatically give rise to the next blissful moment. But if we try to look for bliss in the future thinking we can do various things to create a blissful future, it will never happen. When we are not in reality now, we are creating the blissful future from our fantasies in our fantasy world. Accept reality here and now and be blissful; automatically the future will also be blissful.

Bliss is like water in a river. We can keep our open hands in it and enjoy it but if we try to hold the water with closed hands, it will simply flow away from us leaving our hands empty. If we want to be in eternal bliss, we need to be blissful in this very moment. We should not bother about whether we had bliss in the past or whether we will have it in the future. Just be blissful now.

When Krishna talks about the mind and the senses being controlled, He is not talking about suppressing the mind and senses. This is impossible to do. People who claim to renounce the world and its material aspects still cling to desires. Their efforts to suppress these desires do not work and result in misery and unacceptable action. All we can do is to transform those desires. Instead of directing our senses towards external objects and pleasure derived from these objects, it is possible to focus inwards and experience inner joy. Once the senses and the mind discover this inner joy, on their own they will give up their attachment to external pleasures. Suppression never works; what works is transformation.

Part 3: Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM - Chapter 6 - Look In_english_part_3.md

To be balanced in what we do and to act without attachment is the path of a yogi. For any activity, moderation is needed. This is what Buddha meant by the 'Middle Way'. Whether it is eating or sleeping or working, we should be sensitive to our body's intelligence. Understand, when we are aware, we will be sensitive in all our actions. The awareness will show us what is conducive to our system. Only when we are not completely aware or conscious, we will be caught in confusion.

Yoga manuals will not tell us what Krishna tells Arjuna here. Guidelines on sleeping too much or too little or eating too much or too little is in no way a prescribed method for yoga. Controlling or regulating the senses does not mean we should suppress the senses. Eating too much will only make us lethargic - tamasic. Eating too little will make us crave more food. If we sleep too much, it will lead to laziness and lethargy, tamas. If we sleep too little, we will end up feeling tired because the body-mind is not rejuvenated enough.

How do we know what is too much or too little? Here, Krishna actually refers to our body intelligence. The body has intelligence to maintain itself. But we do not trust our inherent body intelligence. We run our body according to the mind or according to our desires and senses. Otherwise, why would we stay up in the night watching television when our eyes are already tired and our body is begging for some sleep? Why would we overeat? Has anyone seen any animal ever overeat? Have we seen an obese animal in the wild? Maybe the pets and

animals in zoos become obese because we feed them the way we eat. But have we seen an obese wild animal? They eat according to their body intelligence. When the body signals that it needs food, they eat. When the body signals that it needs sleep, they sleep. The problem is that we have forgotten how to relate with our own body intelligence.

After eating, after giving energy to the body, we should feel energetic. But, do we feel energetic after lunch? Why do we feel lazy and sleepy after eating? It is because we do not eat the right type and amount of food. Most often, we eat much more than what we need. We don't need to eat the amount we do for our body to run. Just try this for a few days: when you eat, eat just enough until you are about full but not completely full. When you feel you can eat one more handful of rice or food, stop. Try this for a few days and you will see a difference.

Similarly, we do not need to sleep for as long as eight hours as most of us do. Even science has established that there are periods in our sleep - the dream and deep sleep states that determine our holistic health. The deep sleep state is what rejuvenates us. Actually, it is in the deep sleep state that we access the causal body, the karana sareera. This is where we derive our energy from, where we touch the source of our energy. Touching this layer of energy is what gives us energy. This state can be achieved through meditation as well. In the course of an eight-hour sleep cycle, we are in the deep sleep state only for a couple of hours. That is why even a few minutes of meditation can actually refresh us as much as a few hours of sleep because we access the same energy of the causal body layer through meditation.

Once the mind comes in between and forces either too much sleep or too little sleep or too much eating or fasting, then we are ignoring the body intelligence and we are going with the mind. We should trust our body intelligence and just try living by becoming sensitive to the body rather than be driven by the mind, senses and our routine.

Krishna talks about ahara in these verses. Ahara in Sanskrit means food. It is not merely what is consumed through the mouth. It is the food that is taken in by our five senses. It includes all that we take in through all the senses, the sights we see through the eyes, the sounds that we hear through our ears, the fragrances that we smell, the sensation of touch and even the memories that we store and access.

Pratyahara, one of the eight parts of yoga is the control of sensory inputs. It means getting beyond these ahara, beyond the sense objects so that the higher level of Consciousness can be awakened. When we move away from the senses and experience bliss, we will automatically realize that what we experience through external sense objects is not bliss. What we experience through the senses can be called pleasure or joy, some external object that gives us joy. That is why, the opposite of joy, pain, is bound to follow this temporary pleasure. Bliss is beyond the pairs of opposites like pleasure and

pain; it is not related to external incidents or people. It is internally generated.

The main aim of all our yoga and meditation techniques is to reach the level of our being. When we reach the being, we are in 'nithya ananda' or 'eternal bliss'. We are in union with the Divine. As of now, we are running behind something in the outer world because we think it can give us what we are ultimately looking for, bliss. Bliss is actually what we are running after but we think it can be achieved through money, comforts, relations and what not. We do not realize that all of these objects only give us temporary states of pleasure and happiness. Our inherent nature is bliss and that is the reason why we are constantly searching for this state of bliss. When we realize that bliss is happening inside us all the time, the desires will drop automatically. You cannot drop desires. You cannot suppress them because they will surface again with greater intensity. The desire has to drop you.

When we are aware of our actions, we can never be addicted. Be very clear, all addictions, whether smoking or drinking, drugs or anything else, cannot exist if we are conscious and aware when we are engaged in the action. We try to suppress the desire instead of being aware and that is where the problem starts. Because we repeat the words, 'I want to quit smoking,' we are actually giving power to the word 'smoking' without even being aware of it. Words are energy. What we speak, what our mind thinks gets inscribed in our body. Our body gets prepared to execute the action.

A beautiful incident from Ramakrishna's life:

Once a devotee came to Ramakrishna saying that he was addicted to drinking and did not know how to give it up. Ramakrishna gave him a simple though surprising remedy. He told the devotee to surrender the drinking habit to Goddess Kali. The man was obviously shocked but he started offering the drink to Mother Kali and then drank intensely. You'll be surprised but the devotee came back in just three days to Ramakrishna saying that he had given up drinking. The drinking habit had dropped him.

An addiction has power over us because of a feeling of guilt, or a feeling of regret, or a feeling of unfulfillment. Through the addiction we are trying to close a gap, to rectify an error. As long as we are not aware of the fact that we need not carry guilt for anything that we have done, the addiction will persist.

I say that guilt is the greatest sin we can commit and carry. Whatever we did in the past was with the wisdom we then had. We realize it was a mistake because now, we have updated intelligence now to realize it. It is great, but do not commit that error again. And also drop that guilt. When we drop the guilt that we have been shouldering, many of our repetitive negative behaviour patterns stop automatically.

Moreover, we cannot consciously send something harmful into our system. We cannot consciously inhale harmful smoke into our system. As long as we drink or smoke as a ritual, it becomes an addiction. To those who

come to me for help with addictions, I say, 'Smoke as much as you want. Drink as much as you want. But do it with awareness. Do it with enjoyment.' In a few days, they come back and say they cannot smoke or drink anymore. That is because the innate body intelligence refuses to cooperate with the disastrous activity.

Awareness is the key to bring the mind under control because then we become the master of our mind, instead of the mind being our master. Normally, our mind oscillates between the past and future just like the flame of a lamp that's wavering in the wind. When the same lamp is placed in a windless place, it stops flickering. By nature, the mind is in dilemma. We cannot suppress it or control it by just allowing it to wander either. All we can do to still the mind is to stop bothering about it and just witness it. So just relax.

If we look deeply, every thought that occurs in us occurs as an independent thought. Each and every thought is completely unrelated, illogical and unconnected to any other thought. Thoughts appear in us just like individual bubbles in a fish tank. The mind holds on to these thoughts and starts connecting them and comes to conclusions and opinions. by connecting painful thoughts, we form pain shafts and by connecting pleasurable thoughts, we create joy shafts. Once we start believing our life is pain, we are waiting unconsciously for painful incidents to occur and strengthen that belief, to strengthen that judgment. Whenever we are adding painful incidents unconsciously, then constantly at the conscious level, we attempt to break that shaft that we created as well.

If we believe our whole life is a shaft of joyful experiences, which we rarely do, we are constantly in fear thinking, 'Will it continue?' But the important thing that we forget is that we can neither break the shaft nor elongate it, because the shaft itself does not exist! The problem starts with our fantasies, whether they are driven by greed or fear. If we can accept reality, not just accept it, but welcome it, only then can we start living life.

All of our desires and fears arise because, at the root, we feel that life has some goal, some purpose. Understand that life has no purpose. It has only meaning. Life has no goal; the path itself is the goal. Enjoy the path. Enjoy life as it comes. We think life is as we are living now. Understand that the way we are living life in our world of fantasies is actually like living in our dream world. Each of us has created a cocoon for ourselves, a web of desires, and we try to protect our false identity, our ego in this web. Only when we break out of the web, when we drop the ego, can we even see what life really is. Otherwise, we will only be projecting our imagination. When we realize the purposelessness of life, we can drop our desires and fears, we can plunge into reality, into the present and we can just watch our thoughts in a completely detached manner without connecting them.

The moment we decide to stay in the present, without the need to connect any thoughts with the past, the mind stops oscillating or flickering back and forth. When the mind does not flicker and stands still in the present moment, then we reach the state of 'no-mind'. In this

state of 'no-mind,' we don't create a thought, we don't try to sustain any thought and we don't try to destroy any thought. If we relax from all these three things, then we will see that there will be no-mind.

Our mind is like a lake. When we throw a stone in a lake, many ripples will be created. If we want to stop these ripples, we cannot put our hand in the lake to try to smoothen out the ripples. This will only cause more ripples. This is what we end up doing when we try to still our minds. Instead if we just watch the lake, and ensure no more stones are thrown in, the ripples will disappear and the lake will become still. We try to control or still our minds by trying to destroy and suppress thoughts. We can never be successful in this way. If we just relax and watch our mind with complete awareness, then no new thoughts will be created.

In Bharat we say that God has three roles. The three roles are that of a creator, sustainer and destroyer. Brahma is called the Creator or God of creation. Vishnu is known as the Sustainer or the God of maintenance. Shiva is called the Destroyer or the God of rejuvenation. With respect to our thoughts, when we stop performing these three roles of creation, sustenance and rejuvenation, when we transcend all these three, we become Parabrahma – Supreme Self. When there are no new thoughts being created, sustained or destroyed, then the mind is absolutely still.

There is a beautiful story described in the Bhagavatam:

The devas (demigods) were oppressed by the asuras

(demons) and appealed to Lord Vishnu for help. According to his directions, the devas were to churn the ocean of milk using the Maha Meru Mountain as the staff and Vasuki, the serpent, as the rope. During the churning, many products emerged out of the ocean of milk including an elephant, a horse, a divine chariot and many other divine things. Then, a deadly poison emerged that threatened to take the lives of everyone. Shiva came to rescue everyone by consuming the poison himself. He drank the poison but he did not completely take it in, he just held it in his throat. That is why he is referred to as neelakanta, the one with a blue throat.

This is actually a metaphysical representation. Life is like the churning of the ocean of milk where we are churned, pulled by desires and fear. We are pulled towards the desires and away from fear. There are various products that emerge out of the churning and decisions and choices we make in life. Some of these products appear pleasing while some others appear dangerous like the poison. When we exist without taking in the poison or throwing it out, meaning without running towards the desires or running away with fear, we become Shiva and we live life blissfully, irrespective of what comes our way.

Q: I find that some days I can meditate well and on other days I cannot. How can I make sure that that I am always successful in meditating well?

The moment we start labeling meditation as good and bad, doing well and not so well, we start losing the whole meaning of meditation. Meditation is being in the present moment. There is nothing to define this experience by. We just are. That is all. There are people who insist on all kinds of conditions before they can meditate. Absolute silence is a requirement. Even the slightest noise will disturb them. All this is just a mere fuss.

A small story:

A man got upset that a neighbor living in the apartment above him came home late every night, making a lot of noise banging the doors and such. What really bothered the man most was the way the neighbor dropped his shoes one after another, making a loud thud. All this woke him up, and then he could not go to sleep until the man was done with all the usual noise. After many such sleepless nights, he gathered up some courage to confront his neighbour.

He told him not to make all that noise at night, and specifically not to drop his shoes. The neighbor politely apologized and that night moved about quietly when he came home. It became so quiet that the man could not sleep! He was so used to being awakened by the banging door and the falling shoes. He was just waiting to hear the door bang. It did not happen. But suddenly one shoe dropped and nothing more. This guy was really tense and couldn't relax into sleep.

After waiting a few minutes, he shouted, 'Drop the other shoe and get it over with, you fool!'

If that is the attitude we take in meditation, we will be waiting for every sound to disturb us. Even if there is no sound, the sheer tension of waiting for a sound will take us away from the present moment. Remember, meditation does not make us deaf. In fact it makes us more sensitive. Meditation is about focusing inwards and including everything that happens around us. It is witnessing without getting involved in what happens outside, and even in our mind. We just witness our thoughts. We do not try to stop them, or get carried away by them.

If we try and capture any particular feeling during meditating, it will be a fruitless effort. Many people ask me, 'Master, how can we hold on to the bliss of being with you?' The truth is that you cannot. The moment we try to hold it, bliss slips away. It is like holding our hands in flowing water. As long as our hands are open, the water will stay in them. The moment we try to hold that water by closing our hands, we will find that there is no water.

So just flow with your meditation. Be relaxed and be comfortable in your body. Focus on your breath without controlling it. Or use any other technique that you are comfortable with. Stop worrying about any experience you have had before or one that you want to have now. Whatever experience you have is the right experience. Meditation has no goal. You cannot set target experiences. The process is the meaning of meditation. The experience is whatever you experience.

Self Is Satisfied by the Self in the Self

6.20 In yoga, the mind becomes quiet and the Self is satisfied by the Self in the Self.

6.21 Supreme bliss is grasped by intelligence transcending the senses.

The person who knows this is based in reality.

6.22 By attaining that Supreme, one does not consider any other gain as being greater. By being situated in the Supreme, one is not shaken by the greatest of misery.

6.23 When yoga is practiced with determination without deviating, the misery by contact with material senses is removed.

6.24 Giving up completely all the fantasies born of the mind, one can regulate all the senses from all the sides by the mind.

Krishna talks about two important things, practice with determination and practice without deviating from the prescribed way. Both are key elements to experience yoga. After a few days of practice it is easy to fall into inertia, tamas, and give up. We fall back into our old ways and give up. Our mind has been programmed with our old routine for years. Naturally, our mind will draw us back to the old ways. This is where determination is needed. Determination driven by the curiosity and the quest to see and experience the truth is what will give us the energy to practice yoga.

The other important element is practice without deviating from the prescribed way. We are re-introducing, re-presenting yoga in the form of Nithya Yoga, the Yoga of Eternity. I can say re-presenting because it is a new expression or teaching method. The method has evolved but the system, the truth itself is the same as the original system offered by the great Master, Patanjali. It is so complete we can't add even a single word to the sutra, the techniques. It is the experience of the truth. Truth cannot be developed. Only lies can be developed. All we can do is help evolve the teaching of truth to suit the current minds. The system itself cannot and need not be changed.

Krishna emphasizes here that yoga should be practiced in the prescribed way. All eight parts of yoga need to be practiced, but not as the eight steps as interpreted today. Even one part of Ashtanga Yoga will take many lifetimes to achieve, given the modern man's mindset.

Satya, truth, is a part of yama, the first of the eight steps. If we consistently practice satya alone, we will reach samadhi, the state of liberation or enlightenment. The problem is that it is only at the enlightened state that one truly becomes truthful. Our thoughts, words and actions become pure and truthful only when we are enlightened. This is what Krishna means when He says, 'Self is satisfied by the Self in the Self.' All of this has to happen together, not part by part. When one aspect is fulfilled, all others also become fulfilled.

This is the state of purna, complete fulfillment. Nothing can be taken away from it. Nothing can be added to it that would make any difference to its state of completeness. No joy can make it more blissful, no sorrow can make it less blissful. One becomes centered in bliss. When centered in bliss, it is forever!

These days, yoga is no longer a spiritual quest. It is merely a form of commercial exploitation. It is a fashion statement, a fashion accessory. The people doing yoga and those teaching it don't even know what the true purpose of yoga is. We need to be able to say, 'I do yoga.' I believe in many parts of world, cosmetic surgery is accepted socially. Similarly, in some other parts, being a student of yoga sometimes becomes a necessary prequalification for social acceptability.

So, today there is hot yoga, very hot yoga, temperate yoga, cold yoga, very cold yoga and so on. I saw a documentary some time ago by some professors from Harvard on Tibetan Buddhist monks being able to raise their body temperatures so much that the wet clothes they were wearing dried by increased body temperature. These monks were sitting in the open, in the harsh Tibetan winter of minus zero temperatures!

All these do not lead us anywhere near the truth. It is good business for those who conduct these programs. That is all. Very little can be gained spiritually by doing the physical postures and breathing exercises. These may provide some physical health improvement in the short term if done carefully. But actually, unregulated breathing exercises and physical contortions can do more harm than good.

Krishna talks about moving into reality, transcending the senses and the mind. The way yoga is taught and practiced in many places, one is moved away from reality into a fantasy world, to fulfill one's speculative needs. The senses and mind wander aimlessly.

We cannot suppress desires because anything suppressed will surface with more intensity. But the expression of desires is not the solution either. As we must have experienced in our own lives, a desire may be satisfied momentarily by expressing or fulfilling it but

soon afterwards, the desire arises again. Instead we need to understand what is happening and how it is happening.

A small story:

Buddha had ten thousand disciples that he used to address every morning. One day, he brought a tightly knotted rope with him and placed it before them and asked, 'Can someone untie this rope?'

Many disciples came and they tried pushing and pulling at the rope but the knot became tighter.

Finally, one disciple came up, looked at the knot for a while, and then undid the knot.

We need to look at the knot and see how it has been created. Once we do that, we just have to simply reverse the process of creating the knot and we have untied it. Instead of doing this, if we simply pull and push, we will never be able to untie the knot. It will only become tighter. The way out of the mind is also through the mind and not by avoiding it. Awareness is the key through which all our emotions can be handled. They basically originate from greed and fear. As we witness with awareness, the fear and greed loose their grasp on the mind.

Take fear for example. What do we do when we feel afraid of something, whether it is fear of insects or fear of heights? The moment we are faced with the object of fear, we try to escape. Have we tried facing the fear? The next time you are afraid, try this. Instead of running away, just try looking at the fear consciously with full awareness. Do not try to suppress it or run away from it. I tell you, when you look at fear with awareness, you will see that the fear does not exist as you thought it existed. It simply does not exist because fear is born out of ignorance when something is unknown to you. Perhaps we haven't completely seen some aspect of the object we fear and we have fantasized or imagined how that could be and how it could affect us, and that is why we fear it.

When we bring the light of knowledge upon fear, ignorance is removed and we get the courage to see the object as it is. Because now there is nothing hidden, our mind cannot fantasize about the unknown. So understand, our fears are nothing but negative fantasies.

6.25 Gradually, step-by-step, one should become established in the Self,

held by the conviction of intelligence, with the mind not thinking of anything else.

6.26 From wherever the mind becomes agitated due to its wandering and unsteady nature,

from there, one must certainly bring it under the control of the Self.

6.27 The yogi whose mind is peaceful attains the highest happiness;

his passion is pacified and he is free from sins as he is liberated by the Supreme.

6.28 The yogi always engaged in the Self and free from material contamination

is in touch with the Supreme and attains the highest happiness.

6.29 The yogi sees the Supreme situated in all beings and also all beings situated in the Supreme.

One engaged in the Self sees the Supreme everywhere.

Here Krishna says that we need conviction and intelligence to be established in the Self. Why does He talk about conviction? Understand that intelligence cannot happen without a strong conviction, a strong intellectual base. That is why our eastern rishis have given us the treasure of the sastras, the foundation of knowledge. Our Vedic seers have created sastras, scriptures that give the intellectual understanding, conviction and commitment to this process. Logically, we will be clear about the questions that naturally arise. 'What is the path? What is the goal? Why do we need spirituality?' All these questions are answered logically. All these major questions are answered intellectually in the sastras. The conclusions are given to us. We need to understand a few things about the sastras. Sastras are the scriptures that take away all our doubts completely.

6.30 For one who sees Me everywhere and who sees everything in Me, for him I am never lost nor is he lost to Me.

6.31 He who is in oneness with Me in all respects, worships Me situated in all beings and remains present in Me.

6.32 One who can feel the happiness or misery of others equally as he can feel his own happiness and misery is the supreme yogi in My opinion, Oh Arjuna.

6.33 Arjuna said: O Madhusudhana, I am not able to see this system of yoga as

told by You in the situation of the mind being restless and not steady.

6.34 O Krishna, the wavering mind is agitating, strong and firm. I think it is difficult to control the mind like it is difficult to control the wind.

6.35 The Lord said: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly difficult to control the wavering mind but by practice and detachment, it can be controlled.

Here, Krishna gives a promise. He says that for anyone who sees Him in everything and who sees everything in Him, He is always available. What He means is not that we should see the form of Krishna in everyone, with the flute and two peacock feathers. Of course, that form is beautiful but do not get caught up with the form. The form is there one day and not there the next; it is ephemeral. It is like this, if my finger is pointing in the direction of the moon, look in the direction of the moon and enjoy its beauty. Instead, if you watch my finger, you will miss the moon!

What Krishna means by 'Me' is the Krishna energy, the Divine Consciousness. See the Divine in everybody and everything and automatically, you will relax. You will no longer fight because you will see everything around you as a part of the Divine, including yourself. What is there to fight with and what should you fight for? You will simply relax.

Existence is waiting with open arms to engulf us, to dissolve us into Itself, but only if we are ready to let go. If we just have the courage to let go with an open heart, we will meet and merge with it. When we are ready to feel the embrace of Existence, we rise into a higher plane, a plane of higher Consciousness. We enter into a space we never even knew existed. With Existence we always fall in to rise.

My devotees ask me, 'How can we tell that you are the right Master for us?'

I tell them simply, 'Forget about any analysis or any intellectual reasoning. If I am truly your Master, you can never forget me. I will be there even in your dreams!' The relationship between a Master and a disciple is one of pure love. When we are truly in love, we see the object of love in everything around us. We are consumed by that feeling. The Master fills every pore of our being. We never need to ask, 'Are you my Master?' We just know! He has filled our being, touched us at our core because to him, there is no separation. Here, Krishna is describing the state of the enlightened person. An enlightened person can empathize with everyone because he experiences himself as everyone.

A small story from the life of Vivekananda:

One night, Vivekananda woke up at two am and awakened his disciples. His disciples were anxious and wanted to know what was happening. Vivekananda said that he was feeling a lot of pain and that in some part of the world there was a natural calamity happening that was causing him the pain. The next morning, the newspapers carried the news of a terrible earthquake in Cuba that consumed

many lives. Vivekananda was sensitive to a calamity that happened in some corner of the world thousands of miles away.

What happened in Vivekananda is what we call empathy. It is not sympathy.

Sympathy is a very superficial word. We are all capable of sympathy. When someone tells us that they are suffering, we make some noises and just confirm their suffering for them. That is sympathy. When we sympathize, we affirm to them that their worries are big, so we actually give them a subtle ego boost.

What an enlightened person or a Master feels is never sympathy. It is empathy. Empathy is when we feel another's suffering in our own being. It is when a person does not have to tell us he is suffering, but we simply know because the Existential energy in us feels it. Masters are one with us because they are one with Existence and we are a part of Existence. It is only that we see them as separate. In reality that is not the case.

When we realize the sense of oneness with the entire universe, we experience a tremendous overflowing of love and compassion for every being without discrimination because we realize that everyone is a part of the same Whole. That is why we can see that Masters are such an ocean of infinite love and know only to give. They are Existence itself. They shower without asking questions because they feel a constant devotion towards the entire universe or life force or Parabrahma Krishna. They are one with Existence and cannot see anyone as a separate entity because there is no separateness.

It is only our senses, mind and logic that perceives information and categorizes it and analyzes it to create the separateness. As long as we use our logic, our collected information, words and our little dictionaries to analyze the information received through our senses, we will only be excluding and judging based on our limited opinions and pre-conceived notions. Existence or the universe is a living energy with infinite potential and is simply beyond our logic. Only when we drop our logic, mind and ego can we merge with Existence and become whole and start seeing that everyone and everything is an extension of the same life force with just different expressions.

Just as the fingers on the hand and toes on the feet belong to the same body, we will be able to see that everyone is a part of the same Universal Energy. This is when true compassion, empathy and service towards everyone can happen. Until then we will only be using our logic, mind, ego, and conditioning to serve others.

When we realize the oneness, we will express our unconditional love and compassion towards everyone without discrimination, because we know that all discrimination is baseless and false. Our very walk and talk will start radiating so much bliss that our very presence will start healing others. We will become a blessing for planet Earth. We will become a blessing for people who experience our presence.

There are a few disciples who have internalized me so much, imbibed me in them so much that they express me

in everything that they do. People who come to the ashram are amazed to see these people who walk like me and talk like me. Some people think that these disciples are doing it to show off. No, they are so much in tune with me that they reflect my body language in them. My presence is in them.

Krishna goes further to explain the state of an enlightened person or a person who is one with the divine consciousness. He says that the enlightened person will feel equally the happiness and pain of another person as he feels his own. Such a person feels one with the whole world. For him, everything is a part of him, so there is nothing else other than his own self. His boundary does not end with the boundary of his own physical body. What does Krishna mean when He says that the enlightened person feels happiness and distress equally in himself and in others? First, he said that the enlightened person is beyond the opposites, the dualities, beyond the opposing emotions of happiness and distress.

It is like this, say there are two trees in a forest. Now, if one tree falls on the other, we can say that the tree on which the other tree has fallen feels the impact, the weight or the pain of a tree falling on it. Now, say the tree actually feels the entire forest as a part of its own self. Can we say that it will feel 'another' tree falling on it? When everything is a part of its own self, where is the idea of 'other'? When the idea of 'other' disappears, then where is the pain? The idea of pain is relative, in relation with the 'other'. The enlightened person is just immersed in enjoying Existence. No separate identities or judgment about right or wrong, happiness or misery exist. These terms and concepts exist only as long as one feels separate.

A yogi in the state of super-consciousness will just watch everything in Existence without judging or labeling. He will be in a state of complete celebration of life. Existence is love. It is only love and nothing else. Yet, the compassion of the yogi, the Master, is such that he feels the experiences that others undergo and he empathizes with them. The Master's state of equanimity is not disturbed and yet he feels the pain and joy of others.

This expression of collective consciousness is what Krishna has described elsewhere as vasudeva kutumbaha. It means that the world is our family and we should feel for the rest of the world as we would for our immediate family. When we exist in this state of consciousness, we are true yogis.

Arjuna introduces the word 'difficult' here. Be very clear, the moment we categorize something as easy or difficult, we have made it that way. People ask me, 'Master, is brahmacharya difficult?' I tell them, it is neither easy nor difficult. It is just a way of life. If we say it is easy, it becomes a little difficult!

For example, now I am sitting here. Can we say that this sitting is easy or difficult? If I had arthritis, sitting would be difficult. On the other hand, if I were standing for a long time, sitting would be easy. This is just

comparative reality. In the same way, stilling the mind, yoga, is also a way of being. When we complicate things by using words, we make it difficult for ourselves, just to fulfill our ego. Understand that the ego can be fulfilled only through difficult things. Simple things cannot satisfy the ego.

After listening to Krishna about controlling the mind, Arjuna expresses his doubts about being able to still the mind. We have to understand here that he is talking for not only the other people during his time, he is actually asking about problems that will be faced by future generations also. We all have this question in our minds, this doubt in our minds. Arjuna's question is not just an individual's question. His question is the question faced by each and every one of us, irrespective of our age, gender, social structure or culture.

People ask me, 'Why is the Gita relevant even today?' Because the questions faced by Arjuna are the same questions that we face today and the answers of Krishna are relevant even today. The questions are the fundamental quest of the individual and the answers are the eternal Truth. The Truth is neither old nor new; it is eternal. Krishna, the energy and His teachings are the timeless Truths. The doubt that Arjuna has raised is even more applicable to the modern man. In the present age, there is so much competition, materialism and so much exposure to fantasies through the media. We have become more complex than our forefathers because of this cerebral layer that has formed with all the fantasies bombarding us from all directions.

The problem is that we are not ready to spend some time or do simple, practical techniques in the inner world because we are so caught up in the outer world, driven by fear and greed. We are in a constant rat race. Arjuna cannot understand how to practice yoga given the unsteady and wavering nature of the mind. Five thousand years ago, even though there was no infiltration by television, magazines and media on the scale that we have now, Arjuna expressed his doubt about how to handle the mind.

Here, Arjuna addresses Krishna with his concerns about the mind being so strong and obstinate that it sometimes overcomes the intelligence. We saw in the beginning of this chapter how we make illogical decisions based on our samskaras or engraved memories. It is our unconscious zone and our lack of awareness about this that causes our mind to implement illogical decisions. It is only when we understand why we make illogical decisions that we can find ways to stop making these kinds of decisions. The first and foremost thing is to accept that we have a problem. The next thing is to understand how the problem is created. That is what Arjuna does here. It is only then that we can overcome the problem. If we ignore or run away from the problem we can never resolve the problem.

So the first thing to accept is that our mind does flicker and oscillate. Accepting and being aware is different from judging whether it is easy or difficult to control the mind. We then need to understand how it

flickers or oscillates. For this we need to watch the mind. This is meditation. The very act of watching and being aware of the mind will take us beyond the mind.

Here, Krishna has to answer from the same plane that Arjuna asks the question. Arjuna says that the mind is wavering and difficult to control. Just as one thorn is used to remove another thorn, Krishna has to give Arjuna a technique. He has to give something to the mind that has created the problem. He has to support the idea that it is difficult to control the mind. So Krishna has to give some technique at this point - practice and detachment. Now, if He tells Arjuna that this problem is not a problem at all but a creation of his mind, Arjuna will not understand. Krishna has to give a technique for the mind to play with.

Masters give meditation techniques so that we try all of these and ultimately realize we are bliss, and that meditation is our natural state, and that there is nothing to be achieved. But, if I tell you that right away, you will not believe me. The mind cannot believe something so simple. It will create all kinds of contradictions as to why it cannot be so simple. Krishna also has to give a solution for the questioning mind. He emphasizes on perseverance and penance. Don't think penance means leaving home, going to the Himalayas and sitting in meditation with fasting. Penance is persevering with conviction until we experience the Truth.

Krishna also gives the root of the problem in controlling the mind and the technique to solve it, whch is detachment. Here we need to understand the word 'detachment'. Whether we say ego or mind, it is just the collection of thoughts. Thoughts can exist only in relationship to our identity and the past or the future.

In the present, we cannot have thoughts because the moment we think, that very moment, the present has slipped into the past. The present is constantly slipping into the past. The mind moves only because it is attached to the past or the future. The mind is constantly driven by fear and greed related to our identity. Either we fear losing the carefully constructed image or identity we have created for ourselves or we are greedy to develop a better image of ourselves in our eyes and in the eyes of society. We create two identities, one that we project to ourselves and one that we project to the outer world. The mind is in constant fear and greed about maintaining and developing these identities.

The mind becomes so attached to these identities that it is constantly reviewing the past incidents that helped or hurt these identities or it is constantly planning the future to either protect or develop these identities. This constant pre-occupation of the mind in the past and future is the root cause of the oscillation and movement of the mind. The mind is always in such constant preparation that it never rests and never lets us stay in the present moment. If we look deeply, staying in the present moment means total insecurity. It requires us to be ready to embrace the present without planning for the future or reviewing the

past. There is no security for our identity. This seems like a great danger for our ego, our carefully constructed identity. The mind is not prepared for that.

If we look deeply, we will realize that our identities are nothing but a collection of opinions and ideas from society and people around us. All that we are trying to do in maintaining this ego is trying to carefully run our lives according to these opinions and ideas. It is as if we are constantly walking a tight rope. The pole in our hands is our ego and the rope is the path and framework laid out by society. We are constantly trying to get the applause of the audience, society.

This false image that we have constructed about ourselves is the root cause of all misery. I tell you, any identity that we create about ourselves that is less than the idea of our being God, is a false identity. If we consider ourselves to be anything less than God, we suffer from an inferiority complex. If we have the courage to detach ourselves from the certificates of society, if we have the courage to drop these false identities about ourselves, then we can embrace the Divine. Detachment is the direct technique that Krishna is suggesting here. Detachment at the root level will lead to the detachment of everything else. Detachment from the ego or the identities will lead to detachment from desires. This is detachment from the past and future. This is being 'unclutched'.

Part 4: Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

6.36 For one whose mind is uncontrolled, it is difficult to attain yoga in My opinion.

But, it is practical to achieve control over the mind by appropriate means.

6.37 Arjuna said: O Krishna, if a person is engaged in yoga with faith but does not attain yoga because of the wavering mind, what destination does he achieve?

6.38 O mighty-armed Krishna, does the person who deviated from the path perish, torn like a cloud without any position?

6.39 This is my doubt, O Krishna and I request You to dispel it completely. Certainly, there is no one to be found other than You who can remove this doubt.

6.40 The Lord said: O son of Pritha, the person engaged in activities for good does not meet with destruction either in this world or the next life; he never faces degradation.

Krishna continues to declare in this verse that it is possible to achieve Self-realization by stilling the mind if one intensely practices the appropriate techniques. Here, Krishna explains that it is possible to achieve control over the mind. He says that it is possible to stay in that state where we are in control of the mind.

Actually, having an experience of satori or the first glimpse of bliss is not a big thing. It is easy to get a taste of enlightenment. But to stay in that same state, the same space, the same consciousness, needs preparation of the body and mind. To express that high energy through the body and to radiate that experience of bliss requires that our body and mind be prepared. Preparing the body and mind for enlightenment is what yoga is all about. This is what Patanjali created yoga for. The problem is that only the verbal language of Patanjali remains, but the body language is absent. What Patanjali wanted to convey is not there. Only the words are there. That is why so much confusion and mutated forms of yoga are around today.

How much can words convey? Only a person in the same space, in the same consciousness as Patanjali can convey what he wanted to convey. This is what Nithya Yoga is all about. It is yoga taught by a Master who can convey the body language of Patanjali, the experience of Patanjali, because he is in the same consciousness as Patanjali. The whole purpose of Nithya Yoga is to prepare the body to experience, stay in and radiate eternal bliss. Its purpose is to 'un-clutch' and enlighten. I can say it is a direct means to enlightenment.

Here, Arjuna again asks the questions we all will have in our minds. We are so used to wanting to reach a particular goal that we are always concerned about what will happen if the goal is not reached. What happens if we start with faith but somewhere, we fail in controlling the mind?

Be very clear, this situation will happen. When we start off, we will face failure in our attempts to control the mind. If we don't experience this, we should check ourselves because we may be fooling ourselves with whatever we are doing!

Arjuna wants Krishna to give an assurance that enlightenment is possible for all kinds of people. He wants Krishna to give an assurance that even if a person starts practicing intensely but fails due to the wavering mind, it is still possible to attain the divine consciousness. Actually, at the very root of Arjuna's question is the mind that is generating the fear and making him believe that it is hard to find the no-mind state. The mind does not want to lose its existence. The mind always looks for a reason to convince us that we cannot carry on our lives without it.

In our day-to-day life we face the situation that Arjuna faces here. Even with activities that we have carried out successfully many times in the past, we feel nervous when we start again. Will we succeed? What will happen if we fail? Even before we begin, we start imagining the worst.

Actually, it is okay to imagine the worst. Then we are prepared to face the worst situation. I tell people that to overcome fear and face fear, it is good to imagine the worst-case scenario. Visualize it fully, relive such an experience fully and the fear will disappear. However, if all we can do is to think of an undesirable future possibility that we are afraid to face and just want to be comforted, we will be in the same situation as Arjuna totally confused!

The future is not ours to see. The goal as we imagine it does not exist. There is no purpose to life. The meaning of life is to live. That is all. If only Arjuna was comfortable with just practicing the techniques that Krishna has already outlined for him, trusting Krishna and enjoying the path shown to him, he would not be asking such questions. Arjuna still does not believe Krishna. He does not believe what the Master has told him so far. He has heard Krishna. He intellectually understood the meaning of what has been said, that is all. He has not internalized the Master and he has not imbibed the Master's words. Arjuna has yet to learn.

Krishna assures Arjuna by saying that there is no destruction either in this life or the next life for one who is on the right path, the path of yoga. He provides the assurance that Arjuna is looking for, since he knows how frail Arjuna's state of mind is. Krishna is giving a wonderful assurance for all of us that any amount of practice of this yoga will save us from the cycle of birth and death. Any amount of yoga practiced will give us tremendous benefit. The very intent to practice yoga itself means that we have gained knowledge about the problem of the mind. The very intent that we want to try yoga means that we know about the nature of the mind.

One important thing we should know is that any movement of the body with a strong intention will cause that intention to get deeply inscribed into our bodies and muscles. If the intention is wanting to become one with our true identity and wanting to drop our false identity, it will get deeply inscribed or recorded in our body and will remain there and automatically the body will start moving towards that one goal. Any emotion with which we move the body becomes strongly ingrained in our system. This is a very important thing to understand. If we move our body with the thought of bliss, the bliss emotion gets ingrained in our system. If it is anger that moves our body, the anger emotion gets ingrained. This is such an important and beautiful truth. Don't miss it!

There is a wonderful movie, 'What the Bleep Do We Know?' Using principles of Quantum Physics they visually explain this truth from Vedanta very nicely. They say that whenever we experience an emotion in our system, it is like rain. The emotion is poured like rain, it happens inside our system, in our Being. There are particular cells that catch those emotions. For example, if we think about anger, there are particular cells that catch the anger emotion. Not only do they just catch the emotion, they start reproducing it as well. This cell will create at least four or five more of the same 'anger' cells.

One important thing that you should know is that the basic quality of life is reproduction and expansion. This is the survival instinct. The survival instinct is governed by the swadhishtana chakra (spleen energy center). Reproduction is governed by the muladhara chakra (sex energy center). Both these are closely associated. Fear is associated with swadhishtana chakra and reproduction is associated with muladhara chakra; both the chakras are very near. Both the centers are closely connected.

These cells that catch the anger emotion start reproducing and each cell creates some five or six more anger cells. The next time, when the shower of anger happens, when the rain of anger happens, all these cells will also catch the same emotion. They become the size of the original cells. Now, these cells also start reproducing. The third time, when the shower happens, all these cells catch the emotion and start growing. That is why, when you are showered with the same emotion repeatedly, it becomes stronger. The first time, if the emotion of anger affects you for ten minutes, the next time, it will surely become twenty minutes. The third time, it will naturally become half an hour. That is how the emotion becomes stronger. Therefore, it is possible for us to replicate happiness, joy and bliss as well. It is up to us to choose what type of emotion we want to allow in our bodies, what emotion we want to be ingrained in our system. All that we need to do is to intend that we are joyful and joyful cells will keep reproducing. This process cannot stop. We will be full of joy.

We can try this when we meet people we do not particularly like. Just smile at them. However embarrassed we might feel, we should just smile. Not the plastic smile that we see in civilized countries that only cover the lips, but smile from our heart with warmth, so that the smile spreads to our eyes. See what happens. All our negativity will disappear. In addition, any negativity that we create in others also will disappear and they will respond with the same smile.

In our programs on energization of chakras, I advise people to respond always from the anahata chakra, the heart center, to every one in all situations. When our anahata is unblocked, we are capable of pouring out unconditional love. Spread that love around and we will find that the negative emotions of people who approach us with anger, fear or jealousy will be consumed by the energy of love that we unleash.

Q: How does one know the difference between being an intellectual idiot versus the development of the intellectual ability that you speak about in connection to the sastras?

If a person is torturing himself and others with the knowledge that he has, then he is an intellectual idiot. If he is living happily and giving happiness to others with the knowledge he has, he is intelligent. A man who has intelligence will increase the peace and joy in his being and in others. Intelligence always creates more bliss. Intelligence is bliss.

Please understand that all these four are the same: Intelligence, Compassion, Energy and Bliss.

When the Self expresses through the head, it is intelligence. When it expresses through the heart, it is compassion. When it expresses through the being, it is energy. When it is there without expressing, it is bliss. If we are intelligent, we will be blissful and we will radiate bliss.

An intellectual idiot is driven by ego. All that he is interested in is in showing off the knowledge that he has got. This is knowledge that has no value. When he realizes that such acquired knowledge that has not been supported by his own experience has no real value, he rises to a higher level of intelligence. At least he knows that he does not know and he's not embarrassed anymore to admit that he does not know.

Just reading the scriptures is of no lasting value at all. All scriptures, from whichever religion they may originate, are metaphorical. They do not represent facts. They convey the truth. These truths are experiential. They need to be imbibed by internalization and experiential understanding. When a person has arrived at this level of understanding, he is no longer repeating mere knowledge. He is sharing wisdom, experiential wisdom.

6.41 The person who has fallen from yoga after many years of living in the world and doing virtuous deeds takes birth in the house of the virtuous and prosperous.

6.42 Or the yogi certainly takes birth in a family of wise people. Certainly, such a birth is rare in this world.

6.43 O son of Kuru, on taking such a birth, the person gains the intelligence of the previous body and tries again to attain yoga.

Krishna talks about how we choose everything in our lives, including our birth, when and where we are born and whom we choose as our parents. This truth may seem difficult for most of us to believe. Our birth is not just an accident. It is an incident and we are the ones who choose all the details about this incident. We must understand that it is only us who programs and designs everything and everybody in our life, including our parents and environment. Our choice of the next body is based on the way we have lived our life in this body.

For example, if we live to eat rather than eat to live, at the time of death, we will still have the desire to continue eating. So, we will design our next body to fulfill this desire. We might choose the body of a pig. Or, if we have lived our life only for sleeping and doing no creative work, we might choose the body of a buffalo. So, based on the attitude we have lived with, we choose the next body. This is the basic idea on which our janmamarana chakra (cycle of life and death) revolves.

We go into janma samskara chakra, a birth life cycle. We go and come back again, taking a new body. This phenomenon happens again and again. Whatever we choose at the moment of death, will become reality in the next birth. You will be that. Some people think that they can manage if they remind themselves to think of the Almighty, the Divine Existence at the last second of their lives. But that will never happen unless we make that a habit all throughout our life. If we repeat 'Coca-Cola' our whole life, we cannot and will not think of Rama or Krishna during our last moments! How we lived our life will decide the quality of our death as well.

Here, Krishna gives assurance to Arjuna and the whole of humanity that a person who has performed virtuous activities takes birth in a family of wise people or in a prosperous family. His pious activities will earn him a place among the higher planets. After dwelling there for a while he will take birth in the family of righteous people to once again enable his spiritual seeking.

We can choose our body and when to be born. When we live our life running behind our greed and desires, running after 'what next? what next....?' naturally, at the time of our death also, we will not be ready to leave the body. The body will be tired of running behind desires continuously, but the mind will not be ready to leave. So we will leave the body in the pain and suffering of this push and pull of desires and fear. If we can just relax into the present and take life moment by moment, we will leave the body in a relaxed way, peacefully.

Once we leave the body, in three kshanas, three moments, we get into a new body and we are reborn. Kshana in Sanskrit does not mean seconds. It means the gap between two thoughts. If we have been constantly running behind desires, the gap between two thoughts will be really small for you. When we learn to relax into the present, the gap between two thoughts increases and the three kshanas can be a long time. In three kshanas, we take on the new body to fulfill whatever desires were unfulfilled when we left the previous body. Here, Krishna says that on taking birth, we gain the intelligence of the previous body and continue on the journey where we left off.

One thing we should understand here is that when we say death, it is not just the death that happens at the end of our life. It is what happens every day and night. Every night, we go from the physical body to the dream body and causal body. In the morning, we enter the physical body again. We die and take birth again.

People tell me, 'No, no, Swamiji. Everyday when we enter into the dream we are not entering into the same dream, but everyday when we wake up to the reality we are entering into the same reality. So with this scale we can say this is reality and that is dream.'

Please be very clear, in one night's dream we live even twenty years of life, am I right? In one night's dream, don't we live even twenty years of life? In that twentyyear span, we are in the same dream. So be very clear, this whole life, this whole time that we think is reality may very well be part of one dream! This whole span that we are thinking of as real can be part of one dream.

Every day we leave the body. When we go to the karana sareera (causal body) when we fall asleep. Every day we die. When we wake up, we come back. Every day we come back to life. As of now, every morning, how do we come back to life? How do we take this body? Just look deeply. What happens at the time when we get up from the bed?

First thing, usually, the moment we gain awareness, either a thought based on greed or fear will hit us. There will be thoughts based on greed such as, 'I need to get this today,' or thoughts based on fear such as, 'I have to finish this work today in office. Will I be able to?' Some thought based on fear or greed will hit us. Immediately, we will jump out of our bed. The moment that we assume our body, that moment is a moment of taking birth. Please be very clear, that is the moment we take the body.

Early morning, the thought with which we enter into the body, which makes us assume the body, is going to play a major role in our consciousness. The first thought is going to play a major role in our consciousness throughout the day. Just as the thought with which we leave the body on dying decides the kind of body we will assume in our next birth, in exactly the same way, every day the thought with which we get up in the morning and assume this body decides the quality of that day, that life. If we understand this once and alter our thoughts at the time of waking up, we will alter the whole consciousness, the quality of our consciousness can be changed.

When we get up from bed, let the first thought be related to love and compassion. Get up only to express our life in bliss. Get up just out of joy. When we get up from the bed, let us assume the body with gratitude to the Divine. With this, the whole quality of our consciousness will change. We will become a Divine Incarnation!

Krishna is actually giving a technique on how to become Krishna, how to enter into Krishna Consciousness to become an incarnation. The man who assumes the body out of love and compassion is an incarnation. If we assume the body out of greed or fear, we are human. Early morning, let the first thought be gratitude. Let it be out of love. Let it be from compassion. Our whole life will become pure eternal bliss. Our whole life will be lived with a different, enlightened consciousness.

Shri Bhagavan uvacha

anashritaha karma phalam karyam karma karoti yaha sa sanyasi cha yogi cha na niragnir na chakriyaha 6.1

Shri bhagavan uvacha: the Lord said; anashritaha: without shelter; karma: action; phalam: fruit; karyam: obligated; karma: work; karoti: performs; yaha: who; sa: he; sanyasi: ascetic; cha: and; yogi: one engaged in yoga; cha: and; na: not; nih: without; agnih: fire; na: not; cha: and; akriyaha: without work

6. 1 Bhagavan says:

One who performs actions without being attached to its outcome is an ascetic. He is a religious performer of purification of mind.

One who has stopped performing any actions, one who doesn't accept the sacred fire and doesn't perform his rituals is neither an ascetic nor a karma yogi, a sage immersed in action.

yam sanyasam iti prahur yogam tam viddhi pandava na hy asannyasta sankalpo yogi bhavati kashchana 6.2

yam: what; sanyasam: renunciation; iti: thus; prahuh: they say; yogam: linking with the Supreme; tam: that; viddhi: you should know; pandava: O son of Pandu; na: never; hi: certainly; asannyasta: without renouncing; sankalpah: self interest; yogi: one engaged in yoga; bhavati: becomes; kashchana: anyone

6. 2 O Pandava, renunciation leads to the state of yoga where one is linking oneself with the Supreme. This union with the Divine can happen only when you renounce self interest.

arurukshor muner yogam karma karanam uchyate yoga arudhasya tasyaiva shamaha karanam uchyate 6.3

aruruksoh: of one who has just begun yoga; muneh: of the sage; yogam: yoga system; karma: work; karanam: cause; uchyate: is said to be; yoga: yoga; arudhasya: of one who has attained; tasya: his; eva: certainly; shamaha: cessation of all activities; karanam: cause; uchyate: is said to be

7. 3 A person who initially wants to start practicing the yoga system laid down by the sages should carry out

all activities in line with that system. Activities for all other reasons will cease.

yada hi nendriya artheshu na karmasv anushajjate sarva sankalpa sanyasi yoga arudhas tadochyate 6.4

yada: when; hi: certainly; na: not; indriya artheshu: in sense gratification; na: never; karmasu: in fruitive activities; anushajjate: does necessarily engage; sarva sankalpa: all material desires; sanyasi: renouncer; yoga arudhah: elevated in yoga; tada: at that time; uchyate: is said to be

8. 4 Any one is said to have attained the state of yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in result focused activities.

uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet atmaiva hy atmano bandhur atmaiva ripur atmanaha 6.5

uddharet: one must deliver; atmana: by the mind; atmanam: the conditioned soul; na: never; atmanam: the conditioned soul; avasadayet: put into degradation; atma: mind; eva: certainly; hi: surely; atmanah: of the conditioned

soul; bandhuh: friend; atma: mind; eva: certainly; ripuh: enemy; atmanaha: of the conditioned soul

9. 5 You are your own friend; you are your own enemy. Evolve yourself through the Self and do not degrade yourself.

bandhur atma atmanas tasya yenatmaiva atmana jitaha anatmanas tu shatrutve varteta atmaiva shatruvat 6.6

bandhuh: friend; atma: the Self; atmanah: of the living entity; tasya: of him; yena: by whom; atma: the Self; eva: certainly; atmana: by the living entity; jitaha: conquered; anatmanah: of one who has failed to control the Self; tu: but; shatrutve: because of enmity; varteta: remains; atma eva: the very mind; shatruvat: as an enemy

10. 6 For him who has conquered the self, the Self is the best of friends;

For one who has failed to do so, his self will remain the greatest enemy.

jitatmanaha prashantasya paramatma samahitaha shitoshna sukkha dukkheshu tatha mana apmanayoha 6.7

jitatmanaha: of one who has conquered his self; prashantasya: who has attained tranquility; paramatma: Supreme; samahitaha: approached completely; shita: in cold; ushna: heat; sukkha: happiness; dukkheshu: and distress; tatha: also; mana: in honor; apmanayoha: dishonor

11. 7 For one who has conquered the self, who has attained tranquility, the Supreme is already reached. Such a person remains in this state in happiness or distress, heat or cold, honor or dishonor.

jnana vijnana trupta atma kutastho vijitendriyaha yukta ityuchyate yogi sama loshta ashma kanchana 6.8

jnana: acquired knowledge; vijnana: realized knowledge; trupta: contented; atma: self; kuta sthah: established in Selfrealization; vijita indriyaha: one who has subdued his senses; yukta: competent for self-realization; iti: thus; uchyate: is said; yogi: one established in yoga; sama: equipoised; loshta: lump of earth; ashma: stone; kanchana: gold

12. 8 A person whose mind is contented because of spiritual knowledge, who has subdued his senses and to whom stone and gold are same and who is satisfied with what he is having, is said to be established in Self-Realization and is called an enlightened being.

suhrn mitra aryudasina madhyastha dveshya bandhushu sadhushv api cha papeshu sama buddhir vishishyate 6.9

suhrt: to well-wishers by nature; mitra: affectionate benefactors; ari: enemies; udasina: neutral; madhyastha: mediators; dveshya: envious; bandhushu: friends; sadhushu: pious; avi: also ; cha: and; papeshu: sinners; sama: equal buddhih: with equal mind; vishishyate: is further advanced

13. 9 A person is considered truly advanced when he regards honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, mediators, the envious, friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners all with an equal mind.

yogi yunjita satatam atmanam rahasi sthitaha ekaki yata chitta atma nirashir aparigrahaha 6.10

yogi: yogi; yunjita: concentrate; satatam: always; atmanam: himself; rahasi: in a secluded place; sthitaha: situated; ekaki: alone; yata chitta atma: careful in mind; nirashih: without being attracted by anything else; aparigrahaha: free from the feeling of possessiveness

14. 10 A yogi should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self; situated in a secluded place, he should carefully control his mind without being

attracted by anything and should be free from the feeling of possessiveness.

shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanaha nati ucchritam nati neecham chailajina kushottaram 6.11

shuchau: in a clean state; deshe: land; pratishthapya: placing; sthiram: stable; asanam: seat; atmanaha: own; na: not; iti: thus; ucchritam: high; na: not; neecham: low; chailajina: of soft cloth and deerskin; kusha: kusha grass; uttaram: covering

15. 11 On a clean and pure place, one should establish his seat by laying kusha grass, a deer skin and a cloth, one over another, neither too high nor too low.

tatrai ekagram manaha krutoa yat chittendriya kriyaha upavishya asane yunjyad yogam atma vishuddhaye 6.12

tatra: then; ekagram: with one focus; manaha: mind; krutva: making; yat: by chitta: mind; indriya: senses; kriyaha: activities; upavishya: sitting; asane: on the seat; yunjyat: should execute; yogam: yoga; atma: oneself; vishuddhaye: to purify

16. 12 Sitting firmly on that pure seat, the yogi should practice the purification of the self by controlling the activities of mind and the senses.

samam kaya shiro grivam dharayan achalam sthiraha samprekshya nasika agram svam dishashcha anavalokayan 6.13

samam: straight; kaya: body; shirah: head; grivam: neck; dharayan: holding; achalam: steady; sthiraha: still; samprekshya: looking; nasika: nose; agram: at the tip; svam: own; disha: directions; cha: and; anavalokayan: not looking