Vedantham : ( 07/11/2012. )

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline-25. There is a deeper and higher requirement on our part in the light of yoga – which is the restraint of the senses, the disciplining of the way in which our mind or our consciousness works in terms of sense organs. Again I am coming to the point of discipline, which generally no one likes. The world ‘discipline’ is always very unpalatable because we have an inveterate habit of convincing ourselves that discipline is something which we do not voluntarily take upon ourselves but is imposed from outside. This is a thorough misunderstanding of the meaning of discipline. Discipline is not what you are asked to do by somebody else. It is a need felt by you yourself to maintain an inner relationship with the larger dimension of reality – from which you are not different, and outside which you do not exist. Discipline is a voluntary acceptance of the existence and operation of a law of your own higher being. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued .....

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline-24. There is a deeper and higher requirement on our part in the light of yoga – which is the restraint of the senses, the disciplining of the way in which our mind or our consciousness works in terms of sense organs. Again I am coming to the point of discipline, which generally no one likes. The world ‘discipline’ is always very unpalatable because we have an inveterate habit of convincing ourselves that discipline is something which we do not voluntarily take upon ourselves but is imposed from outside. This is a thorough misunderstanding of the meaning of discipline. Discipline is not what you are asked to do by somebody else. It is a need felt by you yourself to maintain an inner relationship with the larger dimension of reality – from which you are not different, and outside which you do not exist. Discipline is a voluntary acceptance of the existence and operation of a law of your own higher being. Swami Krishnananda  To be continued .... ...

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline-23. Thus, reality is not merely social existence, as psychoanalysis may say. Yoga considers reality as something which is superior to what is merely visible to the eyes. Therefore, in our advance in the pursuit of yoga, we do not merely content ourselves with being a little good with people in the form of what is called yama and niyama, or even being contented with maintaining the positions or yoga asanas. There is something more about yoga than all these things told to us. The qualities of being a very good person, a very helpful person, a very serviceful person, a well-respected person, and a very great master of physical yoga exercises – with all this, yoga is not complete. Perhaps, it has not even started. It starts with a deeper understanding of the profounder implications of one’s relationship with the universe. The egoism of the human being apart, there is a common difficulty felt by every one of us in exercising even proper understanding in re...

. Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline-22.' “The non-cooperation of people with me is the source of my unhappiness.” This is what most people may feel in themselves. But you will certainly find time to think a little more philosophically when you discover that you can be unhappy even when the whole world of humanity is your friend, because the world is not exhausted by the existence of humanity. The world does not contain only human beings. It would be very poor philosophy, poor science, and poor commonsense that go headlong with the conviction that “in the whole creation, the only reality is the existence of human beings like me”. In fact, you will realise that the more consequent determining factors of even the possibility of one’s life are not human, that they are outside the very purview of human thought. The forces of the world are not necessarily human forces. Even history, which mostly is identified with the movement of human thought and human behaviour, is conditioned by f...

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline-21. I began to tell you that egoism is mostly associated with the function of consciousness within the physical frame of the individual. It is a self-affirmation of the physical individuality, coupled with mental action. It can be a family affirmation, a communal affirmation, a social type of affirmation, or any kind of attachment, for the matter of that. Egoism is that vehemence of conscious behaviour which attaches itself to a particular area only, as if outside it nothing is and nothing can be. But, what is spirituality? What is religion? What do we mean by the practice of yoga? It is the inner aspiration deeply felt within everyone to be set in a state of union with Reality as such – being qua being. This aspiration to be in a state of harmony with Reality may be considered by everyone as a source of happiness, satisfaction and well being, but it may limit itself to a finite form or a totally distorted shape of reality that is conceived by oneself. For...

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline-20. Thus, the egoism of the human personality, which is the principal opposing force in any spiritual effort, is something to be understood with great caution, clarity, and patience. You may feel that you are not at all an egoistic person. “What sort of egoism do I have? I want practically nothing.” Many people honestly feel that they have no desires at all. “What desire do I have? I want nothing.” But this is not true, because conditions which make us feel that we are comfortable and secure in any way, whether outwardly or inwardly, may tentatively create a feeling within us that neither do we want anything, nor do we have any desires, nor are we as bad as people may imagine us to be. Nobody would accept that one is a bad person. “What sort of definition do you have about me? What is wrong with me?” We resent any kind of attitude on the part of another which may find fault with us. We are always perfect; there is no defect in any on...

Chapter 7: Yoga Discipline-19. Likewise, there can be a moral condition of emergency, there can be an emotional condition, and such other peculiarities to which psychologists and psychoanalysts are well accustomed. There are various types of defence mechanisms which the mind manufactures within its own self to counteract the eventuality or the possible occurrence of this emergency situation. But an emergency situation is not a natural condition. It is also a kind of disease that you are trying to rouse up to counteract some other disease that has somehow manifested itself – as you vaccinate yourself against smallpox. However, it is nevertheless a kind of illness that you are introducing; and an emergency is nothing but that. It may be necessary, but it is not a natural condition. Swami Krishnananda To be continued ....