Alaska - Cruise

On the completion of land portion of Denali Discovery Cruisetour we boarded the ship Norwegian Sun at Whittier around 6.00 pm with our hand-luggage, after completing all custom formalities.  Our main luggage was delivered directly from the coach to our stateroom by the tour company.  Our stateroom was one with balcony in 9^th deck. It was comfortable and roomy and the balcony plus long hours of sunlight helped us to enjoy the scenic passage even beyond 9 pm.  The first job we did was to explore the complimentary dining options.  We decided on Garden cafe and Great outdoor in deck 11 and we were not disappointed.  Not only we had good vegetarian options but there was rice and one Indian side dish every day, for lunch as well as dinner. And we could also get plain curd morning and evening from an obliging chef, who incidentally was from Australia.  Further in Deck 11, there was a pizza/pasta station in operation in the afternoon, which we used occasionally.

Among the passengers, we met a group of young couples of south Indian origin, alumni of the same engineering college in Coimbatore, now settled in various states of U.S. There was one other couple, Radha and Ramji, who had been former residents of Western Sydney, now settled in Texas. They had come as two families, the other that of Radha’s sister, Meera, settled in Miami.  We also met two couples from Castle Hill, Sydney; Mr.& Mrs. Sukumar and Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Pillay who had come together and also one Mr. Nagarajan, Koramangala, Bangalore who had come with his daughter and her family settled in California.  Running into one or the other of them one time or other in one place or other, it was quite a fun. Though in the ship there was a variety of entertainments and shows, we had our eyes only for the excellent scenery of glaciers, mountains, forests, waterfalls etc, which could be enjoyed from the comfort of our balcony, and the long hours of sunlight and the pleasant climate most of the days facilitated this lotus-eating laziness. Shows in Stardust and trips to Deck 11 were the only distractions from the glacier-gazing.

Day 2 was all-cruise day.  We cruised along Hubbard Glacier, one of the big glaciers which are calving icebergs. Unlike cruise in open seas, here one never gets tired of grand scenery of virgin nature. On day 3, the ship docked in Icy Strait Point, at a distance away from the shore.  The shore was reached through a tender from the ship. We went on a whale and marine mammals cruise. We could see some seals, otters and whales at a distance and were lucky enough to watch one whale taking a dive close to the ship.  Binoculars were provided to us free to facilitate whale watching and when a mammal was sighted, the ship halted and an announcement made and there was running all over to get to a vantage point.  As we took the afternoon cruise only, in the morning we went on a shore walk and spent time exploring the pier.

The next day ship docked in Juneau, capital of Alaska. Here we took an excursion to Mendenhall glacier.  The glacier is 12 miles long and nearby is a waterfall, Nugget falls or Mendenhall Glacier falls.  There is a trail leading to it and you can watch it at close quarters.  We decided to do it first before taking the trail to the vicinity of Glacier.  As we got there and were enjoying the majestic falls, floating icebergs in the Mendenhall lake and distant view of the glacier flowing into the lake, luck of good climate deserted us.  The climate that has been wonderful so long suddenly changed.  It didn’t turn cold or dark but it started drizzling lightly but continuously, and at times heavily.  So we beat a hasty retreat to the visitor’s centre where we waited for the coach, enjoying only the distant view of the Glacier from the cosy shelter of the centre. In the evening the ship cruised through Tracy Arm Fjord and South Sawyer Glacier. Oh! what a magnificent view of elevated glaciers, sheer rock falls and majestic mountains just dropping into the sea flat, floating icebergs of all sizes and shapes, single and in groups. 

The drizzle continued to dog us the next day as well in Skagway. Braving the continuous drizzle, we went on the shore excursion, the White Pass scenic railway. While we were taking in the breathtaking panorama of mountains, waterfalls, glaciers and gorges, as the train made the steep climb uphill, came the bad news that due to continuous rains some boulders got dislodged and had landed squarely on the track with the result the train before us was turning back and that ours will also terminate midway, even before reaching the tunnel.  Disappointed that we couldn’t do the journey in full, we returned to receive back half the cost of excursion as a small consolation for the interrupted excursion. 

But the next day in Ketchikan we could complete the Duck tour as the drizzle was light and sporadic in the morning and turned a bit heavy only after we returned to the ship for lunch finishing the morning tour. You can see Ketchikan by land and sea in this amphibious vehicle that glides into the water smoothly and floats around the harbour as effortlessly as it travels around the streets of Ketchikan. Ketchikan is a small island town which is called the “Salmon Capital of the World”. This is the last halt before the ship docks for disembarkation at Vancouver. The next day morning for a time the cruising was not smooth and Rajam started developing motion sickness. Luckily it did not last long as the cruising became smooth soon and the rest of the cruise along the  Inside Passage was fine and enjoyable as before. The next morning we disembarked in Vancouver and moved over with our luggage to the pre-booked hotel, “Century Plaza Hotel &Spa”.  The photos of the cruise, I have uploaded in the Flickr album “Alaska Cruise”:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sam-sekar/sets/72157645371744637/

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Alaska, land tour

Rajam and myself went on 11 day Denali discovery cruisetour operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines starting on 27^th June 2014 from Anchorage, Alaska .  This tour combined a land tour of Alaska for 3 days and a 7 night cruise across Gulf of Alaska and inside passage to Vancouver, Canada.  We started our tour from San Francisco where we halted for 3 days to visit my nephew, niece and a long-lost friend from Sydney settled there and all their family members.  The photos of our visit to San Francisco I have uploaded in the Flickr Album “San Francisco 2014”:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sam-sekar/sets/72157645713973624/

We landed in Anchorage a day earlier to the start of tour to enjoy the feel of the place and to go round the place on our own.  We stayed in the same hotel, as fixed by our tour operator, Hotel Millennium.  Though it was not in down-town, there was a Subway, McDonald, pizza eatery and a Tesco chain store all within walking distance from the hotel.   As food was not covered in the land portion of the tour, this was important for us, being vegetarians.  The hotel operates a regular shuttle down-town to visitor’s centre from where we can catch shuttles to other locations.  Further the hotel was overlooking Lake Spenard, a big lake which is a sea-plane base and the hotel also was having a sea plane dock.  One can also have a good view of the mountain ranges that surround Anchorage from the hotel premises.  The weather was fine and being summer even at 11 pm. there was daylight, completely disorienting our time-sense.  Anchorage though not the capital of Alaska, is its most populous city having about 40% of the state’s population. 

Next day we went to the city-centre and took a shuttle from there to visit the zoo.  We also spent time going round. There were hot dog stands all around selling the local speciality, the spicy hot reindeer dog.  In the evening we met the tour director, Scott Terry, who briefed us on the programme until embarkation at Whittier, two days later.  The next morning we left by coach to Talkeetna, where we boarded a special glass domed double-decker Gold Star rail-coach for the onward journey to Denali.  The coach has a fine dining restaurant in the lower deck and 360⁰ viewing, forward looking rotating seats and a viewing portion in the upper deck. This is a scenic route with mountains, glaciers, rivers, Tundra forests all the way. Weather being fine we could enjoy the four hour train journey , munching snacks and sipping coffee while watching the passing rugged Alaska scenery. We reached Denali Park around 4 p.m. and were transported to our lodgings in Denali Park village.

Denali Park village is situated on the banks of the Nenana river and there is also a walking trail hugging the banks.  The rooms were comfortable log cabins, spread over the village in ten single storeyed buildings. The restaurant and coffee shop were in a different building called ‘the Lodge’. As there was no rain and it was all sunshine, and as the village is set in scenic surroundings, walking to & fro for snacks, coffee, dinner and lunch was no problem, but quite enjoyable. A pleasant surprise was meeting Swami Anubhavanandaji in the Lodge on the first day. He was with his host and was staying in a different building. The next morning we were taken deep into the national park on a coach tour called Denali Natural History tour.

We could glimpse the snow covered Mt. Mckinley but did not encounter any wild animal like the bear, wolf or the moose.  We also visited a ranger cabin in use in winter called Savage cabin, as it is by the Savage river, to have a glimpse of the hardships one has to endure in winter.  Even today the Denali park village wears a deserted look in winter with a skeleton maintenance staff only visiting the facilities, we were told.  With temperature plummeting below -25 and daylight lasting for less than 5 hours, it will be all sheets of ice and darkness, we learnt.  The lowest temperature recorded in Alaska was -81 in 1971.  The bus turned round at Primrose Ridge turnaround point beyond the Savage River. Here there was an interesting presentation by an Athabascan Alaskan native of their history and their story of survival braving the harsh winter of Alaska for thousands of years. While returning we heard that there was a mild earthquake previous night in the village, the tremor of which some in the tour group experienced as they were awake at that time and that earthquakes are a common phenomenon in Denali National Park.

The next morning we left by coach for Whittier, to board the cruise ship Norwegian Sun.  On the way there were three stops.  First was in a war memorial, which was a toilet stop.  Here we could take some pictures of the surrounding scenery.  Next was at Anchorage, which was the lunch stop.  We made use of this to go round the J.C Penny mall in 5^th Avenue, the main attraction being the Subway and Starbucks in the food court.  The third stop was the wildlife conservation centre at the southern edge of Turnagain Arm. From Anchorage to Whittier it was a most scenic drive and this is called “all-American scenic Highway”, with spectacular views of mountains meeting the sea.  Towards the end to reach Whittier we cross a narrow single lane tunnel, 2.5 miles long, which is shared with the railroad.  This area had been heavily affected by the great earthquake of 1964.  Upto this point the tour was managed by Premier Alaska Tours, who operate tours for many cruise lines including Norwegian Cruise Line. The photos taken in the land tour portion can be seen in the Flickr album “Anchorage and Denali”: 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sam-sekar/sets/72157645341357769/

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Our Body, Our Mind

(This is part of my notes from “Magical Mind, Magical body" of Dr. Deepak Chopra.) 

Good health is not mere absence of disease.  It is a state of positive wellbeing which includes emotional, psychological wellbeing besides physical wellbeing.  Our body is not a frozen sculpture fixed in space and time, a physical machine that has learnt to think. It is a river of information and energy and thought is a fluctuation of information and energy in the body.  Greek philosopher Heraclitus said “In a river, you cannot step into the same water twice.”   Every second of our experience, the body undergoes change.  With every breadth we take in 10²² atoms that end up as our cells. When we breathe out, we are breathing out bits and pieces of tissues and this we are exchanging with others in the planet.  That means we are exchanging our body with the body of the universe.  Isotope study reveals that we replace 98% of atoms in our body in one year.  We make a new liver once in six weeks, a new skeleton once in six months. Our body at the current moment is of 2014 model much different internally from 2004 model.  There is a deeper reality behind this changing body which does not undergo any change while the body continuously undergoes change. 

Our body is made of atoms and atoms are made up of subatomic particles like leptons, mesons etc. which are moving at lightning speed.  99% of our body is empty space and out of this empty space come these particles as in the space outside.  These particles are fluctuations of energy and information.  A quantum unit of electricity is electron, of light is photon and of gravity is graviton. Similarly a quantum unit of mind is thought.  A thought at basic level is an impulse of information. When we have a thought we make in our brain a set of chemicals called neuropeptides, neuro standing for nervous energy and peptides for protein-like molecules.  This is the means for brain cells communicating with one another.  When one brain cell wants to communicate with another brain cell, it manufactures the neuropeptides that latches on to the receptors in the other cell.

These receptors exist in other systems of the body like immune system.  That means immune system can think and also knows what goes on in our body all the time. When the body encounters bacteria, our immune system tries to figure it out and manufacture the antibody to counter it. The body can do a million things simultaneously and correlate them as well. So it is a thinking system. In other parts of the body like intestines and colon also we have cells that have receptors. That means they are also thinking systems and so our mind cannot be confined to the heart or brain alone. We have a thinking body that has mind all through the body. So our human body is body-mind at the same time.

Universe is a non-local field of energy and information with which this local field of information & energy called physical body is exchanging energy and information unconsciously continuously.  Our body’s biological rhythms, circadian rhythms, are in tune with earth’s rhythms, which in turn are affected by planetary movements.  Universe out there is a chaos of energy soup while the deeper reality behind the body and thought is a silent witness that does not change and is beyond Time and Space. The chaos of energy soup we take into our physical system through the five senses and inject a sense of reality to it unconsciously.  But our senses are not a true test of reality.  Because of our conditioned response, conditioning caused by socio economic conditions, belief and value systems, and upbringing etc., each one of us structure a certain type of physical reality. In complete silence of thought only, mano-nasa, we recognise we are not the thoughts but the one who is witness to the thoughts. The witness is the pure Consciousness, called Unified field.  Physical body, feelings, psychological makeup does not affect the Consciousness.

This quantum mechanical body is made up of particles like leptons, mesons etc. These particles are not material objects.  They give us the experience of matter through our senses but they are really fluctuations of energy in a void of energy and information.  99% of body is empty space, and this empty space is not an emptiness of nothing but fullness of non-material intelligence that is responsible for the material expression of body and mind.  The field of non-material intelligence is called Unified Field or Morpho-genetic Field by scientists.  Morpho-genetic means that which gives rise to form, give birth to the variety and diversity that the body is. The essential I,the 'I', is not the body or mind but its source, the non-material intelligence.  As it is not matter the 'I',is not subject to the laws of matter, which are valid only in a field of time, space and causation.  ‘I’ is basically Consciousness which conceives, constructs and governs the body.  That means 'We' are not physical machines that have learnt how to think, but the impulses of intelligence that have learnt how to create physical machines and thoughts are impulses of intelligence.  'We' are the quantum events in that Field which has learnt how to create both the mind and the body.

We are shifting to a new paradigm not only of the body but also of the interpretation of the world. The old paradigm said that there is an objective world outside which is completely independent of the perceiver. The new paradigm says we live in a participatory world where as observer we create that outside world.  The old paradigm says world consists of clumps of matter separated by time and space.  The new paradigm says that world is non-material and is composed of energy fields that come from one underlying unmanifest Field. The old paradigm says mind and matter are independent and separate entities.  The new paradigm says mind and matter are the same.  The Field experienced subjectively is mind; experienced objectively is material objects.  The old paradigm said the mind is trapped in brain and intelligence is localized in the nervous system or in the body.  The new paradigm says mind is unbounded and infinite, though it finds expression in localized forms and phenomenon. The old paradigm said Consciousness is epiphenomenon of matter.  The new paradigm says matter is epiphenomenon of Consciousness.  The old paradigm said human beings are self-contained independent entities.  The new paradigm says they are only focal points of intelligence in the Field.  The old paradigm said perception is an automatic phenomenon.  The new paradigm says we learn how to interpret and that brings about perceptual changes.  And today we are moving into a new era where there is a shift in perception.

(As audio-book this is available at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23TtddwIWeg)

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Silence – the Real Self

Silence can be of body, speech or mind.  As physical silence is called stillness, we generally associate silence with speech or mind.  Of these the popular association is with speech. Silence of speech is practised more as a vrata, mouna vrata.  In mouna vrata also, one keeps the mouth shut but does not stay still and the mind also keeps its chattering and wandering. The silence, I am referring to is the silence of the mind, the inner stillness, which is also referred to as mano-nasa, the destruction of the mind.  Here the mind is not destroyed but only quietened with the thought process of the mind arrested. This state can be achieved only when there is total silence, silence of body, mind and speech.

Our mind being a product of the satva component of the pancha bhuthas i.e. space, air, fire, earth and water, which by themselves are insentient, is also insentient by itself.  It is made sentient by the pure Consciousness, called Chaitanyam that the mind manifests through its reflection in the mind, called Chidabasa. So in every thought experience called Vritti, Chaitanyam is associated.  One Chaitanyam associated with numerous thoughts is symbolically represented as Rasa Krida.  Krida stands for the coming and going of thoughts and Rasa stands for Anandha, that is Chaitanyam, which is Sat, Chit, Anandha. Rasa Krida is the figurative interplay of thoughts with Chaitanyam, which is one and changeless.  Normally we are experiencing Chaitanyam with Vritti in all our thought experiences. When the mind is silent, it is thought free and we are experiencing the Chaitanyam only and so the peace and happiness experienced in the moment of inner stillness is the peace and happiness associated with Chaitanyam. 

In Kenopanishad this is explained beautifully by the fit student first and later the guru explains it to the mediocre student. In the second verse of chapter 2, the student states as a reply to guru’s question, “I do not think, ’I know It well’, Not that I do not know; I know too.”  The student cannot know it well because Chaitanyam cannot be known as an object or as a concept.  But at the same time he cannot also say he does not know because it is part of his thought experiences. Thereafter the teacher explains this to the mediocre student in Mantra 4, with the oft-quoted statement. “प्रतिबोधविदितं मतम्”.

Here the teacher again explains to the mediocre student that Chaitanyam is associated with every thought modification of the mind.  Every experience we have has a variable component, thought and a non-variable component, Chaitanyam, the pure consciousness principle. One registers only the thought and not the Chaitanyam. To see an object one not only needs good eyes but also a source of light to illumine the object.  For even if one has good vision, one cannot see the object if there is no light and it is totally dark. But when we see an object, our mind registers the object only and not the light pervading it which makes it possible for us to see the object.  This you can experiment, while walking in the daytime.  The mind registers the objects only and not the sunlight that makes it possible for us to see the objects.  Even if there is nothing to notice, the emptiness also is revealed by the light only. In the same way not only the thought but also absence of thought is revealed by Chaitanyam. So in the moment of inner stillness, when thought is absent we have the experience of the revealing Chaitanyam and this explains the deep peace and serene happiness enjoyed at the time of inner stillness.

When mind is silent there is total silence i.e. silence of body and speech as well. And the inner stillness experienced then is the experience of Chaitanyam, which is our Real Self. This is conveyed by Mandukya Upanishad as well  through Mantras 7 and 12. Mantra 7 describes Turiyam, which is Athma and Mantra 12 describes Amatra, the state of silence, and both have identical descriptions. For as we have seen earlier, it is Chaitanyam that illuminates the chatter of mind as well as the silence of mind.  So this inner stillness is Athma that is Brahman, the Cosmic Supreme.   So if you meditate on ‘Om Namasivaya’ or on ‘Om Namo Narayana” or some similar Mantra, slowly spelling out the words mentally, concentrating on the silence in between words and lengthening the period of silence as meditation progresses, then you are  meditating  on Silence, your inner Real Self. 

This is the concept Wayne Dyer employs in his Gap Meditation, through which he says one can have conscious contact with God.  This inner stillness, Eckhart Tolle equates with ‘Now’, the container; the events that take place at any time being only the contents. So in his book “Stillness Speaks”, Eckhart Tolle states “When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself ----- This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.  Stillness is your essential nature” and goes on to equate the stillness with Awareness which is Chaitanyam. From this we can see that what Lord Dakshinamurthy does, is not teaching in silence but teaching ‘Silence’, that is one’s Real Self.

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Iswara’s Grace

Sri Krishna says in Gita (9-29) “समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योस्ति न प्रियः”। (Samoham sarva bhutheshu na may dweshyosthi na priyaha)  I am same to all beings; there is none hateful or dear to me.  This declaration He makes not as the son of Devaki but as Paramathma, whom we shall refer to as Iswara.  But we feel in practice some seem to be recipients more of Iswara’s Grace or Iswara Kripa or Anugraha than others.  What is the yardstick to qualify for the special Grace, one may wonder. I want to analyse it in this blog in the light of other statements Sri Krishna makes in the same chapter.

As Sri Krishna says ‘I am same to all’, He does not choose anybody to shower special Grace; rather He showers His Grace equally on all.  It is only we through our actions need qualify ourselves to take advantage of His Grace.  Acharya Sankara  illustrates this through an example.  In winter people light a fire and sit around it.  The fire gives the same warmth to all, but the one who sits near it seems to receive more warmth than the ones sitting a bit far off.  Swami Paramarthananda gives an example from current scenario. Solar energy flows same to all, but the one who has erected a solar panel gets the benefit of electricity from it to escape power-cut.  The one who has attained a higher degree of mental purity, through selfless prayer, worship and actions done in karmayoga spirit makes oneself eligible to take advantage of the Grace like the farmer who has tilled the land and sowed the seeds beforehand, gets greater benefit from the rains and reaps a good harvest as compared to the one who has neglected the field and let the water go waste.  This Sri Krishna himself states in the second line of the above quoted verse: ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहं॥ (Ye bhajanthi tum am bhakthya mayi te teshu chapyaham) But those who worship me devoutly, abide in Me and I too am in them. This means that more you get closer to Him the more you feel His nearness to you.

Now the question is “How to get closer to Him?  Does it need special sadhanas like Vrata, Upasana, Yagna or a special Puja somewhere?”  Sri Krishna Himself has given the solution earlier in the same chapter in verse 29.

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् । (Yatkaroshi  yadasnasi yajjuhoshi dadasi yat) 

यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ॥ (Yattapasyasi Kaunteya tatkurushva madarpanam)

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, whatever you do by way of penance,O son of Kunti, do that as an offering unto Me.  

This attitude converts the very life itself of bhaktha as a worship of Iswara.  There is no division as secular and religious work, as all work is treated as worship, being an offering to Iswara. With such an attitude one will not stray from the path of dharma; rather he will give up any bad or immoral habits, acquired earlier.  Sri Girish Chandra ghosh, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a good dramatist but also a great drunkard.  When he confessed his inability to give up drinks, Sri Ramakrishna asked him only to offer every glass of drink to him before taking it. Gosh did accordingly but could do so only for one day and from the second day onwards, he could not bring himself to offer the drinks to his master and so gave up the habit of drinks itself.  When one invokes God in all of one’s actions sincerely, one acquires selflessness in actions. As God comes more in one’s life, the less the play of ego in one’s life, as what is ego but edging god out and replacing it with ‘I’. 

Sri Krishna goes on to list a few actions, the first among them being food.  The food we take has a great impact on our thoughts.   The more satvic the food the more satvic tends to be our mind.  In Chandogya Upanishad Sanatkumara tells Narada “आहारशद्धौ सत्वशुद्धिः” (Aahara suddhau satva suddhihi) When nourishment is pure, thought processes of the mind also become pure.  When one performs religious acts or sadhanas offering them to Iswara, he eschews selfish motive in performance.  As one gives everything with the mindset that he is giving to none other than Iswara, he cultivates humility and eschews arrogance that comes from a feeling of superiority as giver.

Such a virtuous, selfless, egoless action done with humility and with dedication to Iswara earns one Punya, good karma-phala.  Swami Paramarthananda in his lecture on God’s Grace observes that God's Grace is only another name for the ripe Punya-phala that becomes ready for tapping, because God as karma-phala dhata has no preferences and only acts as per the law of karma laid down by Himself to regulate our lives.  When the accrued Punya becomes ripe for tapping is not within one’s knowledge.  So when one enjoys the benefit of ripe punya-phala it looks as though one is enjoying special Grace.  So if one wants the favour of special Grace let him through righteous, selfless, egoless actions performed with humility and devotion, earn the Punya-phala and make oneself  eligible to receive the Punya-phala as His Grace, which may be then or later, depending upon when it becomes ripe and ready for tapping.

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Shadanga Yoga

(adapted from Swami Paramarthananda’s talk “Ashtanga Yoga”)

Ashtanga yoga of Patanjali Maharishi consists of eight limbs:
1)    Yama - the five restraints or the "don'ts"

1)  Ahimsa - Non-violence,

2)  Sathyam – Truthfulness and avoidance of telling untruth

3)   Brahmacharyam - Celibacy and avoidance of indecent and inappropriate attitude towards other sex.

4)  Asteyam - Non-stealing

5)  Aparigraha - Non-covetousness and not having a feeling of possessiveness.

2)    Niyama - the five observances or the "do's"

1)    Saucham - Purity, cleanliness

2)   Santoshaha - Contentment

3)   Tapas - Austerity

4)    Swadhyaya - Self-study, study of scriptures

5)    Ishwara Pranidhanam - Surrender to God's will

3)    Asana -  Steady physical posture

4)    Pranayama - Control of prana or life force

5)    Pratyahara -  Withdrawal of the senses

6)    Dharana  -  Concentration

7)    Dhyanam -   Meditation

8)    Samadhi – Total absorption in meditation.

Of these 5 don’ts of Yama, and 5 do’s of Niyama, had been the subject of an earlier lecture of Swami Paramarthananda, or Swamiji in short, under the title “Ten commandments of Hinduism”.  The other six, namely asana, pranayama, pratyahra, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, are the subject of the present lecture under the caption ‘Shadanga yoga”, the yoga with six limbs. In an earlier lecture, Swamiji has discussed ‘What is yoga?’  In the present talk he briefly recalled some points from his earlier talk, as a prelude to the present discourse, that is given in next para.

Yoga is derived from the word ‘Yuj’, that means union, merger.  As per scriptures it is the union between Jivathma, individual self, and Paramathma, the cosmic self.  This Ikyam, called Moksham, is also called parama purushartha, Supreme goal of life.  After initially speaking about Ikyam, scriptures later point out that union is not  necessary as Jivathma and Parmathma are one only and only upadhis are different and upadhis give an appearance of separation.  Jiva in his delusion labours under the notion that Jivathma is different from Paramatma and seeks union with Paramatma. The scriptures talk of this union (yoga) also as separation (viyoga) from our delusion that Jivathma and Paramathma are different and the notions that arise out of the delusion of separation.  Removal of this notional division through Jnanam is called Jivathma Paramatma Ikyam. So, this Ikyam is called Sadhya Yoga as it is the ultimate goal of life and all the other yogas that lead to this Ikya Jnanam, are called Sadhana yogas.

Patanjali Maharishi propounded this ashtanga yoga in his Yoga sutras.  This has two parts: 1) philosophy called yoga dharsan and 2) a scheme of spiritual disciplines i.e. ashtanga yoga called yoga sadhanas.  Yoga dharsan, which talks of the existence of Iswara as supreme Purusha and spells out the aim of Yoga  as fusion or merger of individual soul with the supreme Soul is not acceptable to advaita vedantists but yoga sadhana is accepted as a means of controlling and focussing the mind and internalising the Brahma Jnanam gained through Sravanam and consolidated and made doubt-free through Mananam.  

Patanjali Maharishi defines Yoga as चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः,chitta vritti nirodaha,blocking mental vrittis, which is interpreted as regulating the mental functions, curbing involuntary thoughts and making all thought patterns satvic.  Our mind is a powerful internal organ.  Its greatness is that it is a main instrument we have for achieving all purusharthams. It is associated with the activities of all organs. And it is also a primary instrument as well, for through its thoughts it can shape one’s attitude and make hell out of heaven or heaven out of hell. That is why chitta suddhi, purity of mind, is insisted in all sadhanas.  Yama and Niyama help in attaining chitta suddhi.  But our mind has involuntary thoughts as well where thoughts happen on their own, besides voluntary thoughts which are deliberate and under our control and in a pure mind only voluntary thoughts become pure and satvic.  Special efforts are required to keep the involuntary thoughts in check and also pure and satvic.  If not, the involuntary thoughts can proliferate and cause emotional disturbances like stress, depression, anxiety etc. that will be an obstacle to progress in spiritual sadhana.  Shadanga yoga helps one to address this problem, retrieving the mind from the hold of involuntary thoughts and bringing back the mind under sadhaka’s control.

Asana is taking up a steady and comfortable physical posture that consciously relaxes the body makes It supple and flexible, balancing the different nerve impulses.  A healthy body facilitates having a healthy mind that can be groomed to bear the opposites like pain and pleasure, heat and cold with equanimity.  Pranayama involves regulation of breadth. Talking about Prana and mind, Ramana Maharishi in Upadesa saar states: शाखयोः द्वयि शक्तिमूलका sakhayoh dvayi sakthimoolaka, two branches stemming from the same power. So you control mind through control of Prana.  Asanas and Pranayama together help in owning up the mind and snatching it, as it were, from the grip of involuntary thoughts.

Pratyahara is the next step where the mind is kept under one’s control denying involuntary thoughts their food by turning the focus of sense organs inwards.  This is what Sri Krishna states as one of stithaprajna lakshnas in Gita (2-58)  

यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव शर्वशः।  Yada samharathe chaayam kurmonganeeva sarvasaha  
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्टिता॥ Indriyaneendriyarthebhyah tasya prajna prathishititha                 
When he withdraws his senses from the sense objects like a tortoise, which draws in its limbs from all directions, his mind is stable. 

Dharana is the next step where the mind is given a job like Japa or chanting a prayer slowly with awareness to keep it voluntarily engaged and to maintain control so that it may not stray away into involuntary thoughts. In Dharana concentration is tried to be maintained for five to ten minutes only.  Dhyanam is simply an extension of Dharana, where one is able to maintain a smooth unfluctuating control over the mind not letting it stray into involuntary thoughts for quite a length of time.  Vedantic dhyanam is on one of the Mahavakhyas.  The increased attention span one is able to attain, leads one gradually to the total absorption stage of Samadhi in course of time with constant regular practice and in Samadhi one effortlessly moves into Dhyanam at will and stays for a length of time.  Where effort is involved in doing Dhyanam, Samadhi is attained without effort, at will.  Whereas increase in attention span is achieved in Dhyanam, depth in attention is attained in Samadhi.  When one is conscious of one’s surroundings in Samadhi time, it is called Savikalpa Samadhi. The stage of total absorption where even the triputi of meditator, object of meditation and the process of meditation is also not there in mind, making one appear as dead to one’s environs, is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi. This is the highest state to which all these sadhanas should lead to.  These eight steps are so designed as to gradually lead a spiritual sadhaka to the Nirvikalpa Samadhi.  People like Sri Ramana Maharishi are exceptions who could go to this stage straightaway due to their purva janma vasana aided by divine grace and they cannot be taken as models by spiritual aspirants.

A spiritual aspirant should make a strong resolve, Sankalpa, to reduce the involuntary thoughts.  This can be done through a three-fold strategy -1) resolve firmly and renew the resolve every morning after getting up, 2) alertness during the waking hours by doing all actions consciously and 3) review every night before retiring - aimed at reducing the frequency, intensity and resilience of involuntary thoughts.   Doing action consciously means keeping the mind focused in the action one is doing and such a focused life is called alert life. When one acts consciously, the efficiency and efficacy of the action also increases, besides arresting the mind-wandering which is the cause for involuntary thoughts.  These steps besides Shadanga yoga will help one to win the war over involuntary thoughts, which is necessary to get established in the Ikya Jnanam and mature as Brahma Nishta.

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