Vedantham : ( 07/11/2012. )

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 15. But, all human beings are not so crude in the affirmations of their egoism. This is only a rare occurrence that can be seen with difficulty in certain corners of human behaviour. There are polished forms of egoism, which sometimes take the form and the shape of even what sometimes goes by the name of altruism. Merely because the affirmation of consciousness has gone outside the boundary of the physical body, it need not cease to be egoism. One can be highly egoistic merely in one’s relationship with one’s family. There are people who are terribly attached to their family, and their concern is only what they consider as a sort of well-being and security of their family, even if another family goes to the dogs. They can hang another, if only it would conduce to the secure existence of their family and the relations with whom they are connected. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued  .....

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 14. The ego of the human being can crudely operate within the body only, as it operates in an animal – a dog, a cat, or a wild beast. That is a peculiar animal sort of egoism, which asserts only its body and justifies every impulse that may arise through the instrumentality or the means of its bodily organism. Sometimes the human mind can also work in this way; there can be human beings or human attitudes which are totally self-centred even in a physical sense. The physical well-being and physical comfort of a particular individual may overwhelm that individual so profusely and profoundly that the requirement which one feels at that time in terms of one’s own physical body may be considered as the total reality. For an animal, the body is the total reality. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued  ..... Bhadrachalam Temple City-Bharatham

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 13. This phrase ‘particular area of relationship’ is to be underlined, because this is something very important. The ego is a kind of affirmation of consciousness within the limit of the area of its operation. It can be the whole country or the nation with which the consciousness can identify itself, and affirm the validity, the truthfulness, naturalness, justifiable, legality, etc., of the position that its association with this area maintains. We can go wrong even in extreme patriotism if it is a position contrary to the welfare of other nations also – irrespective of the fact that it may tend to make one believe that it is in the direction of the welfare of one’s own country – because the existence, the welfare, the security, and the durability of the position maintained by a particular national attitude, at least these days, is well known to be organically related to such positions that other nations also can maintain. Here again we are comin...

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 12. But yoga is not merely a physical posture, though it is so important, and you know how important it is. I mentioned during the end of the previous session that the internal structure of our personality is mostly psychic and psychological. There is the mind that thinks, the intellect that understands, the will that cogitates and determines, the memory factor, and the egoism. The last thing that I mentioned was the factor that goes by the name of ego. An ego is the particular posture that consciousness maintains in affirming its located existence in a particular area of its relationship. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued  .....

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 11. It can be a kick even physically, such as when we fall sick, there is ache in the body, and there is some imbalance in the function of the alimentary canal, etc. There can be any kind of indication by the equilibrating activity of natural forces outside, or their impact on social forces or on our own personality. Thus, the fact that the universe is finally a balance, and also the fact that we are not really outside the universe in a mechanised fashion, makes it incumbent on the part of everything in the universe to be in a state of harmony with the balance maintained by the universe. Thus, the yoga posture is one gesture that you are exercising or extending in the direction of your cooperation with the universe – at least in one level of your being. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued  .....

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 10. Now, this much may give you some idea of not only the necessity to be poised in a particular posture for the purpose of yoga meditation, but also the reason why this is ultimately essential. Last time, I tried to explain how we are connected to the vast environment of the universe itself. The universe is a state of balance – it is not a chaotic imbalance of movement – and any kind of imbalance that may sometimes be observed in the activity of universal forces or natural forces can be attributed to the attempt on the part of the universe to maintain its balance. The scale should not weigh heavy on any particular side. If such an indication is seen that there is an imbalance in any particular direction, the universe immediately gives a kick in the opposite direction, and this kick is felt in various ways throughout the processes of all existence. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued  .....

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 9. But this is the crucial point that we have to probe into and investigate carefully. There is a misconception of the goal of one’s life or the aim that one is pursuing – or finally, a concept of what is really good for oneself. We have a perfunctory understanding of what is proper, good and necessary for our own selves. Even the idea of what is good for us changes from moment to moment. What I think is good for me today may not be my idea about my good tomorrow. This is a very interesting feature indeed. Coming to the point, the difficulty that you mostly feel in being seated in a particular posture is not merely the difficulty of the body, though a part of the difficulty may be attributed to the body not being accustomed to be seated like that. Especially people who are used to sitting on chairs with their legs extended – office-goers, clerks, secretaries – find it difficult to sit with crossed legs because they are physically not used to such k...

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline - 8. Be honest to your own self, and analyse the working of your mind when you are seated in a meditation hall, for instance. Do you not feel that it would be good to get up as early as possible? You may even be looking at your watch – whether there is ten minutes left, five minutes left. “What a boredom! Great stupidity!” “Oh! Five minutes left.” Then the muscles become relaxed, because they know there is only five minutes left. But if another half hour is remaining: “Oh, good God, I am tired! How long, how long will I sit like this?” These feelings are not an infrequent occurrence in our own psychic world. We do not have a real interest in anything – not even in God Himself – though it may appear, or rather we make it appear to our own selves, that such an interest is present. A sort of self-deception is always there in everyone. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued  .....