Vedantham : ( 07/11/2012. )

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness-22. Often it is said that this is equivalent to the establishment of the consciousness in its own self. This is a very pithy statement that is often made in yoga parlance :- "Yoga is the establishment of consciousness in its own self." You would be wondering, "Is it not established now? Is my consciousness not established in itself just now? Is it outside me?" It is certainly outside you. It is not in itself. It is 'outside' itself, in the sense that it is conscious of something outside it. The consciousness of anything outside consciousness is the aberration of consciousness and the non-resting of consciousness in itself. As long as you, as a consciousness or centre of awareness, are aware of that which is not yourself, your consciousness is not in a state of yoga. Swami Krishnananda To be continued  .....

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness-21. Therefore, the cooperation of our present state of consciousness with the higher degrees of its own being – it being the aim of yoga – implies our cooperation and attitude of harmony with anything that is wider than us. It may be human society, it may be the world of nature, or it may even be the world of angels and celestials.  All that we regard as outside us or beyond us becomes that mysterious something with which we have to confront in such a way that we abolish the unfriendly attitude that we earlier developed with it. Yoga is that attitude of communion by which we handle things, and the atmosphere or environment around us, as something which is also immanently present in our present state of being. So, again to repeat, yoga takes us to that field of performance of duty wherein, throughout the various stages of our ascent in the attainment of this purpose, we visualise larger and larger areas of our own sel...

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness-20. A friend is one who thinks exactly as you think. If he thinks in a different way, to that extent the friendship is conditioned. Unconditioned friendship is a unity of thoughts into a single operation of the psyche. Likewise, we may say that our friendly attitude towards the world – or any object whatsoever, if we think it is worthwhile in any way – would require an endeavour to think as the world perhaps would expect us to think in relation to it, as a particle or an atom would expect us to develop an attitude towards it. The world no more remains as an object of experimentation and observation; the world is there as our protector, our father, our mother, our friend, philosopher and guide – our own self, in an awakened state. Swami Krishnananda To be continued  .....

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness. Part-19. This is an unfounded hypothesis because it appears that the world is finally not made in such a way that things are alien foreigners before you, whom you have to look upon with a suspicious attitude; so why do you experiment on a thing? It is not possible to assume this sort of classical scientific attitude in yoga in respect of the world, because you are in the world, as I mentioned sometime back. But the scientist is not in the object. This is very unfortunate for him. He, now, today realises, perhaps, that he is also in the object to some extent, which has broken down the foundations of classical physics and landed our scientist friend in a new field of knowledge, where he has been compelled to awaken himself to a vista of 'objects' – which, far from being totally disconnected or unconnected from him, are such that he is participating in their very existence. While once upon a time science, or ...

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness. Part-18. Finally, you will find that the most important object in this world is yourself. You will be surprised to hear that you are an object. In what sense are you an object? Here we have a great philosophical difficulty, as it were :- "What do you mean by an object?" An object is that which you wish to study, investigate into, and know fully. But, in all methods employed by science as it is understood today, the object is always considered as something totally unconnected with the experiencing or observing subject. This is a peculiar feature in classical scientific attitude :- the object has to be totally cut off from the scientist. It is impossible for the scientist to observe himself through a telescope or even through a microscope. He is sure that what he sees through these instruments is not himself. How is it possible for a person to see himself through a microscope? He sees something dif...

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness. Part-17. What you call ethics, or a moral way of living, is nothing but the determination of the lower conditions of living by the characteristics of the immediately higher state of affairs. It is not a social mandate that you call moral life or good conduct. Nobody is asking you to do anything or behave in a particular way. It is a necessity arisen on account of the immanence of a higher dimension of your being in the present state of your So, morality is your own law. It is not something that is told to you by somebody else. A consonance of your present dimension of consciousness with its own higher area is goodness, morality, ethics, servicefulness, and so on, is worthwhile as a value in this life. Swami Krishnananda To be continued  .....

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness. Part-16. How can you have any difficulty with yourself? "I am 'I'. So, I am very happy. If it is a question of handling my own self, there is no problem before me. I can handle myself." But that is also the problem, because nobody can be more difficult than you yourself. Here is the majesty and the beauty of yoga, and also the terror behind it. Thus, you will find that there is a great difference between ordinary learning and the acquaintance with the practical science of yoga. The practice of yoga is not an ordinary learning, like a science; it is not a reading of a book, or gathering some information or obtaining a certificate; it is nothing of the kind. It is living in a particular manner, and living in consonance with the conditions prevailing in that logical superior state which is what you are seeking. The characteristics of your higher being are to determine the way of your present st...

Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness. Part-15. Thus, the distance between ignorance and wisdom is the distance between you and God. This is the distance between your present state of consciousness and that state which you are trying to attain in yoga. So, be happy that you are really not far away from it. You need not travel with visas from one country to another country; no such need is there. It is sitting on your nose, and you have only to open your eyes that it is sitting there. But, this is precisely the comfort that yoga gives, and also the difficulty that is before us. Nothing can be more comforting than to realise that everything is with us, but nothing can be more difficult than to handle our own selves. We can handle everybody. The whole army can be handled by one man, but he cannot handle himself because the nearest thing is also the most difficult thing. The nearer a thing is, the more difficult it becomes to understand. Distant ...