Patanjali, Scientist Extraordinaire🔗

We shall talk today about an extraordinary scientist, a real scientist of the inner world. His name is Patanjali, a great enlightened master of ancient India. We remember him for his great book, the book of books, and the root for millions of books. He created a formula and aphorism for spiritual philosophy.

All spiritual literature can be classified into 3 categories: one outlining goals of what you wish to achieve, about life, death, what happens after death, what is atman, books of philosophy, etc. These books speak about the truth beyond life and death, intellectual material. Difficulty is that this philosophy is not a method or technique to transform your life. They are perceptions of individual philosophers. Millions have answered the question of what happens after death, and yet it is a virgin question. We do not know the answer. Each person who tried to answer created one school of philosophy. These books do not give any answers, no solutions. These are called Sastras .

The second level of literature are the songs in praise of God. These are for emotional people; fairy tales to uplift the spirit in devotion. These are called Stotras.

Third kind of spiritual literature is for those seeking solutions, a seeker at the being level, asking for clear cut explanations of spirituality. These are the aphorisms, techniques to provide solutions, and are called Sutras.

A young man asks Socrates: Should I marry? Socrates had a terrible wife, who used to beat him. Socrates said: you should marry. Only two things can happen when you marry. You can either have a good wife leading a happy and contented life, or you will be like me, with a miserable wife and become a philosopher. It will be good for other people.

People who are not happy, who are not down to earth create philosophies. Philosophy means to complicate simple truths, to make people not understand what they should understand; like Psychiatry that is supposed to cure, but never cures. Philosophers only raise questions, never answer, and only postpone answers. You will be happy with one philosopher's answers till you read another philosopher. More philosophy means more confusion.

Devotional literature is equally fruitless. It’s very easy to love a person in front of you. You can love god, but not your wife and neighbor. Your love of God is all unfulfilled fantasies. You may feel hurt. Please understand that to most of you God is only a concept. How can you love a concept that you do not even know.

Patanjali from the first word says let us look for truth. Would other literature provide you life solutions? Or are they just entertainment, passing time? You can sing song praising God and spend time. There are millions of songs praising God. In olden days as there was no TV or movies this was good entertainment; something more than philosophy, food for intellect, brain candy and devotional literature is good, but not for the ultimate experience or experiencing reality.

teach you how to achieve this union. Of thousands of books I have read this is the most scientific and most practical. There is a movie called ‘What the Bleep do we know?’, explaining Quantum Physics, and a book called ‘Fabric of Cosmos’, both very good and practical. Patanjali is more practical and more scientific than any of these excellent books and movies.

A Scientist has thirst for truth; he analyses data without prejudice; he has the courage to follow the conclusions of his research. One who has all these qualities and one who does not compromise on any of these parameters is a scientist. Patanjali is an extraordinary scientist and is the father of all eastern philosophy and religions. From the teachings of Jesus it appears that he has been influenced by Patanjali. There is a book on the Life of Jesus, Da Vinci Codes, which is controversial, which raises some of these questions seeking answers to the purpose of life. Patanjali has inspired all those who came after him, knowingly or unknowingly.

Patanjali radiates all these qualities with purity. When Galileo said that Earth is not flat and that the Earth follows the Sun, there was so much opposition to make him recant the truth that he understood and propounded. He had to withdraw his views under pressure from religious leaders. He said I have to change my views, but the Sun and earth will not change their nature. But Patanjali does not bend, does not change his views.

Even in modern day research, researchers have to listen to their fund providers; in olden days they were controlled by Kings and religious leaders. A scientist researches and provides a formula to reproduce their results in the outer world. A mystic produces a formula to reproduce experiences in the inner world. Patanjali's sutras are valid even after 5,000 years; they are still fool proof and still produce intended results.

Many produced formulae which suited only specific groups; intellectuals, emotional

people, Being level people, men, women etc. There is a book by the name 'Men are from Mars Women are from Venus'. Someone said that this is not correct; they can not be from same universe since the distance between them is too large. Here is a Master who provided techniques to open all doors to all people; Patanjali says these promises are for the whole world.

I was traveling with a Professor on Comparative Religions. I asked him for percentages of different religious groups in the United States. He asked do you want published figures or real figures of those who practice these religious sincerely. These two figures are very different, he said. When I studied statistics at least 25% of all Americans have practiced one form of Yoga or another. At least 10% practice regularly.

Edison discovered light. Once discovered it belonged to the whole world. Patanjali discovered the truth of inner light and made it available to the whole world.

Fortunately, there was no copyright. Patanjali is great because he did not create an organization. Once an organization is created truth is cremated. A real rose is beautiful and God given. A plastic rose is not. The difference between truth and organized religion is the same as between a real rose and a plastic rose.

Another great Master, J Krishnamurthy, said after creating his organization that the organization has only the right to publish his teaching and writings, but not to comment upon them. If Krishna and Jesus meet they will hug each other; but Krishna's cows and Jesus' goats will bicker and fight with each other. Masters are truth, followers are corrupt. Organizations and followers create complications so as to exploit people, to control people.

Some one asked: What is the difference between Sankara's teachings and Buddha's? Sankara talks about atman and brahman, Buddha says there is no self; Sankara says poorna, Buddha says sunya. I said what they say is the same, their experiences are the same, but copyrights are different. A yoga magazine talked about super deluxe Kundalini Yoga. I wondered, where does this title come from? The guy said that the word is his copyright.

Patanjali says when my teachings are no longer true, this book will die; let it live as long as it is the ultimate truth. I want only truth to survive. If I create an organization, my followers will try for the survival of the organization not the truth. If Krishna and Buddha descend today their temples will not welcome them; it will disturb their vested interests.

This openness is what makes me call him a saintist, a saint and a scientist, a mystic and scientist combined in one. He created this book to understand how to reach the ultimate truth and then is ready to stand by and let his book be replaced if some one else comes up with a greater truth.

We still can not add a single word to enhance his sayings. Only a person who is so confident can be so open. It is like a money back guarantee, which is possible only if you have absolute confidence in yourself and what you believe in and say.

We shall go into details of his book over the next few days.

Patanjali has created a navigator to guide us in the spiritual inner world of body, mind and spirit. He has solutions, down to earth and practical, for modern day problems. He is neither a philosopher nor a devotional muse. There is not one word or one line that can be disputed or disproved. He is an atheist, because he does not say God exists, he just shows you the way, gives you the techniques to realize divinity; but he is not a fanatic. It is easy to be a believer in the divine, because we do not understand creation, who created it and how. To be an atheist you have to disbelieve what you see around you. You have to deny your senses. You need to be a fanatic.

The first verse of Patanjali is: Yogaha chitta vritti nirodaha. Yoga is the cessation of mind. Where mind drops that is union. When you achieve the ultimate experience mind stops functioning. As long as mind exists you can not experience the union. You will be in dilemma. I always say: Jump before you think, otherwise you will never jump. Mind only creates confusion; it dissects and creates categories. Only when you go beyond mind and logic you can find truth.

There is no gap between you and the divine. You are divine, whether you accept it or not, believe it or not, understand it or not.

A man was told his wife is drowning. He jumped into the river and swam in the opposite direction upstream. People shouted at him asking him: what are you doing. He said you do not know my wife she always goes against the current.

So can you and flounder. When mind stops you experience the divinity within you.

The first line gives you the conclusion.

There are many books on how to present. If you wish to get the attention of your audience you have only 30 seconds to inspire them. Even 30 seconds is too much. You already have evaluated and judged the speaker. Based on this decision you keep collecting data on speaker. These books say that right in the beginning you have to make a powerful statement. Patanjali here gives you all in one: the goal is to experience the divine, the path is to stop the mind and the end result is the Union with the divine. The entire book is a commentary and explanation on this one line.

Let us now see how to drop the mind and reach the divine, Patanjali's techniques, teachings and methods.

Q: Some say Patanjali is 10,000 years or is he only 2000 years old?

A: If my disciple writes a book many years after me, it will be under my name.

Similarly many centuries later other disciples wrote following Patanjali. If you study the language used by Patanjali his works are at least 10000 years old. Unfortunately Indians are very weak in history, in happenings; we are strong only in content and philosophy. We do not know for certain, dates of birth of any great master, whether Sankara, Buddha or Krishna. History is called puranas, or truths, not facts; there are important differences. Truth is the impact of the incidents, not the chronological or quantitative facts of human life; they preferred to record those truths rather than the facts.

A man goes with his friend to a mango orchard. The friend was calculating the crop size and money realizable while this man was focusing on eating and enjoying the mangoes. Who is more intelligent?

Now we can identify the period based on the evolution of the language. Patanjali lived in Rameshwaram in South India where there is a tomb in his name. They can also fix the age based on the tomb structure.

All Patanjali’s disciples are called Patanjali, like Sankara’s disciples are called Sankara; after a while you forget which disciple he is. An enlightened Master becomes one with the truth; therefore you remember only the truth.

Patanjali had hidden himself so well; nothing except what he wrote is now available. He kept himself away from his own discoveries, the truths. To use electricity you need to know nothing about Edison, all you have to do switch on and off to enjoy the fruits of his discovery.

Modern day psychologists like Freud and others look too small compared to Patanjali. Freud had only sick people to study, not enlightened Masters. He had no chance. After 35 years of research Freud comes to a conclusion that man can not be healed, that man has to suffer. Patanjali himself was enlightened and was surrounded by other Masters; he could therefore talk about a higher truth of bliss.

Philosophy is right only after your experience, not when you read. Vedanta says everything is God. True. But you can not stand in the middle of the road and say a car will not run me down because both are God.

A great Master teaches his disciples that all is God. While bathing in the river next morning a mad elephant came charging and every body except one disciple ran away. The mahout shouts at him to run away. This disciple stayed on saying that he is God and the elephant is also God. The elephant charged this disciple and he was badly hurt. The master later asked him, after he was injured by the elephant, why did you not run away. The disciple said: I believed what you told me that I am God

We understand truths only partly. Unrealized truths, half truths are worse than lies. Vedanta is truth. You have to however realize the vedantic truths before they work for you. Truth before experience is very different from truth after experience. Master speaks from experience. You listen without experience. My words will not have the same meaning in your dictionary.

A lady was trying on a fur coat. Her small daughter watches her curiously as she models the coat. Finally she asks, mom, you are enjoying wearing this fur coat; just imagine how much the animal must have suffered. Mother turns around and snarls, how dare you talk about your father like this?

Dictionaries are different.

Better not believe Vedanta before you experience its truths. Otherwise you will cause confusion for yourself and others. This is true of many preachers who have not experienced the truth. It’s not your truth till you experience it. It’s only the truth of the sages who have experienced it.

A: When water is at room temperature you can not imagine it becoming steam. To evaporate water you need fire, you need energy. Patanjali infuses energy into the mind to change its state. When the movement of mind stops, it becomes atman, it turns divine. Mind, when it stops can not bind you, only till it has thoughts it can hold you. The deeper you go into the mind, what you think of as qualities of the mind, they disappear. The oscillations stop.

Mind is no longer is confusion. It will become a guide, a teacher and will lead you to a no mind state. Instead of moving you away from enlightenment, it will pull you inside. Mind exists in its present form because it does not know that there is bliss in the no mind state. Once it knows, it wants you to stay there, as it is so blissful. Mind is a wonderful servant. It will take you wherever it thinks the truth lies. Once it has a glimpse of the blissful state it won't let it go, and will always take you back there.

Patanjali talks about this. How can one dream take you into another dream, or even a dreamless state? He also gives the answer: if you dream of a lion in your dream, you will wake up and come out of that dream.

Let one practice concentration; or let one indulge in sense-enjoyment. Let one find pleasure in company; or in solitude. He alone is happy, happy, verily happy, whose mind revels in Brahman.

Bhaja Govindam 19