How Mind Plays With Us. Abhyasa Needed To Work On The Mind

Freedom, Happiness, and wisdom. We will learn from Yoga Sutra, Gita, and other texts together to discover the true nature. We will follow the four-step approach as taught and passed on to us by great masters of eastern wisdom.

Learning the principles - I do not know, let me know it.
Clarity and conviction - I do not understand it; let me understand it.
Practice - I do not experience it; let me practice it.

Transcript

So we can start our journey,

Let other people join.

So we are studying what we say freedom,

Happiness and wisdom.

Freedom is the ultimate goal.

Happiness is the immediate goal when we find the ultimate happiness in our life within us and wisdom is the key.

So you may recall we started the journey with a natural state,

Uttama Sahaja Aapraty,

So natural state is what is the highest state of mindfulness.

Then we realize that we have to empty the contents of its mind.

So when we empty the contents of the mind,

Then we discover our real nature,

Like when a calm water in an ocean reflects the moon,

Full moon.

So it reveals our true nature.

So when a person lives in a non-meditative state,

They always suffer silently,

Openly or otherwise.

There is always a suffering.

Then we understood there are five subjective states of the mind and five objective states of the mind.

So out of five subjective states of the mind,

Our mind should live in fourth state of the mind to begin the journey and to complete the journey it should go into the fifth state of the mind.

And then we understand last week,

Last couple of weeks we have understood that what exactly is the practice.

So last week,

Do you remember ASU?

Abhayasa,

Sadhana and Upayo.

So the master Patanjali says there are two elements,

Practice and dispassion.

These are the two elements which helps us to succeed in meditation.

Now what exactly is the practice according to Patanjali?

Tatras theto yatno abhayasa.

In the next sutra he says what is this?

Tatras theto yatno abhayasa.

It's a very deep,

Very subtle principle.

So with reference to what is not desired and what is desired,

I have to accept through the mind and what is not desired,

I have to drop it.

So can you think and relate what is not desired with reference to the five subjective states of the mind and the five objective states of the mind?

Are you listening to me?

Yes,

You are listening to me.

At the same time the mind is distracted.

So it is the third subjective state of the mind.

It must go.

It is not desired.

But why it is happening?

Question is why it is happening?

Because the home of the intellect is not very well defined and understood.

Tatras theto yatno abhayasa.

The real meaning,

Literal meaning of this sutra is that the mind is holding on to the steadiness.

The intellect is holding on the steadiness of the mind.

If that is not there,

Then what will happen?

Then we go into meditation and the mind says,

You know,

I have one beautiful,

Wonderful student.

So every time we used to start the practice here,

Here in Arizona,

I'm not going to tell you the name,

So when I used to give the classes.

So after the moment I say close your eyes and after five minutes he started snoring and head is down.

So I said,

You know,

What happened to you?

I was totally relaxed.

I was totally absorbed into meditation.

You see that?

That is the fifth objective state of the mind.

We said what?

You have to get rid of the five objective states of the mind,

Then only we can reach to the state of meditation.

So how you are relating the five objective states of the mind and the three states of,

Subjective states of the mind.

Let us understand in a very casual and easy manner.

Where are you sitting in my home?

So body is settled in home.

Where the mind is settled,

It is settled in calmness.

Isn't it?

It is settled in awareness.

Now where your intellect is settled.

That intellect is constantly moving to the different objects because of the past impressions.

So when body is settled,

First level,

The mind is settled,

Second level,

So what this master is saying?

My intellect means my awareness should be settled in looking at the steadiness of the mind.

When that happens,

Every session of meditation is a great success.

How it happens?

When the intellect is free from doubt and free from any doubt,

There should be a clarity and a conviction.

Now where are you settled?

I am settled in my home.

So body is settled in home.

Do you see that?

Do you understand?

Are you picking up?

So when the intellect finds its home in steadiness with awareness of the real self,

This is what Patanjali is saying.

Practice.

So when intellect chooses what is right and good,

It leaves what is pleasant and then that state of the mind is calm and in that calmness of the mind,

The intellect is holding on to the state of steadiness,

Then we succeed in meditation.

So this is the first part.

Where we started,

What is the practice?

We understood Abhyasa.

We understood Sadhana.

Sadhana is what is desired and what is not desired.

So I need to accept.

I ask my intellect constantly,

Consciously to accept with clarity,

Free from doubt.

So Sadhana element second part is Upaya.

We use different tools to purify the mind,

To remove the distractions and Abhyasa is on the top of it,

My intellect is holding on that steadiness within that becomes the real practice.

So what the master is saying,

Steadiness by dispassion,

Dispassion by steadiness is Abhyasa.

You go to the store and you are looking for a thing that you like.

You are not looking for other stores where the object of your liking is not found.

That is a subconscious dispassion.

Oh,

That yes,

You don't care.

Okay,

That's okay,

That is okay.

But when this intellect understands that only the real self within me is an object to be liked,

To be accepted,

To be desired during the practice of meditation,

There is no distraction.

There is no sleepiness.

There is no imagination.

And that person finds meditation success.

Now let me refer to Gita.

Gita in the second chapter,

The master says,

So the Krishna says,

My son,

He is talking to his,

My friend,

He is talking to his friend,

When man,

When the seeker drops all the desires from the mind,

And is satisfied in the self by the self.

Satisfied in the self by the self.

Remember again,

Satisfied in the self by the self.

That is the job of an intellect.

You see,

You get rid of all the religion,

Cult,

Dogma,

Belief,

In the journey of meditation,

It is nothing like it.

So how you are satisfied in the self by the self.

Think of it.

How I am happy within me,

By me.

When the mind is craving for some object for pleasure,

Then the intellect is unstable.

Do you see that?

Do you see in old life?

When the mind is looking for any object outside,

Then what happens?

You live in one of the five objective states of the mind.

What we need?

We don't need any of these five objective states of the mind.

That is how we relate.

You know,

We study only,

We get the information,

Then we say let us practice meditation,

And we do not include these wisdom in the journey of meditation.

For example,

The first state is wandering mind.

Now I get upset with the wandering mind in the practice of meditation.

So there what I need?

The intellect must remind me that I am looking for the steadiness of the mind that is behind the wandering mind that is already present.

Am I aware of it?

If I am aware of it,

Then the meditation succeeds.

You see the subtle understanding should continue in the journey of meditation.

Your body has moved,

Maybe a vikshepa.

It's at the second state of the mind,

Second subjective state of the mind,

A sense of forgetfulness.

I forgot.

The intellect returns again,

And it lives into that steadiness of the mind and during the practice of meditation,

Then you do not complain.

What do you complain?

What complain you do not make?

Oh,

My mind was wandering.

You do not complain when you do not.

It's a little typical.

I'll take one more session in making you understand.

So what happens?

The body is one.

Body is steady.

It helps us to go to dharana according to Patanjali.

Dharana means confining the territory of the mind.

And the mind is calm.

It leads us to what we say meditation.

And intellect,

That one pointedness,

We are looking at the steadiness of the mind.

We are aware of it.

Or otherwise,

You see that intellect is steady.

What does it mean by the intellect is steady?

That intellect,

You are constantly aware of the mind living within,

In spite of the thought pattern enters into the mind is what Patanjali is saying in this sutra.

Are you getting it?

So in Gita,

We say sthita prajna.

Sthita means steadiness.

Prajna means intellect.

Sthita prajna.

Last point and then we'll go a little deeper.

We can say that desire,

Desire comes dominance of thought pattern causes the desire in the mind.

And there are five groups of thoughts.

Five types of thought pattern that we have studied.

Pramana,

Viparyaya,

Vikalpa,

Nidra,

Smriti.

And when there is a dominance of intellect,

Not with the thought.

When there is a dominance of intellect,

What happens?

The meditation always succeeds.

Then the mind leaves all the desires.

So what Gita is saying,

Krishna is saying,

I am satisfied with this real self by the real self.

When I'm satisfied with the real self,

It means the intellect is their freedom from the doubt.

There is a clarity and conviction that real self is within me.

Second,

The real self is of the nature of peace and happiness.

Hence,

Intellect says,

Where you are going my mind,

You need not to go anywhere.

It is not fighting.

It is not reacting.

It is not forcing the mind.

Just being aware.

Why I'm running after a penny when there is a billion inside me?

I'm satisfied by the real self and satisfied in the real self.

This is the first part of what Patanjali says,

Abhyasa practice.

So it is not the practice of breathing in the meditation.

The intellect is constantly aware when you say,

So it means the intellect is aware of that peace within.

And it is holding on to that peace even while singing and listening.

Let us do that practice.

Close your eyes and we will see that how I will translate today's journey into Eyes are closed.

Where your intellect is,

Ask yourself.

You see,

It will change the entire journey.

Your intellect says you are at home,

You are attending a virtual session.

There is a hundred percent clarity.

So when I said close your eyes,

Gently looking at the body,

His intellect with you,

Pragnya with you.

I made it very simple explanation.

I'm using the term intellect later on I will use the term pragnya.

So are you aware of the body?

Yes.

Do you feel the body is comfortable?

Yes.

You see,

And then are you looking inside the head in the space?

Behind that,

What is that?

The intellect is aware.

What it means to be aware?

You know it.

The mind takes us away,

But the intellect is aware.

You are looking inside the forehead in the space and become aware of the space inside the forehead.

You see,

You need not to think even of the body.

Because when the intellect is there to support you behind every step,

The journey becomes rewarding and beautiful.

In these couple of sessions,

We are going deeper and deeper and deeper.

So now see that,

We will use upaya.

Niyasa is in upaya.

Today I spoke a little so that we can go a little deeper.

So now looking at the breath,

Awareness of the breath,

And start breathing deep,

Silent and slow,

Not very deep,

So that the mind gets agitated.

It finds some comfort in stretching,

And you should not be breathing very short breaths.

That's why we have changed it.

Now breath is your car,

Niyasa.

Your mind is the driver,

And highway is the space.

So what the intellect is doing?

The intellect is aware of all the three at all the time,

Without thinking start moving the mind inside the right arm from the shoulder to the fingertips in the space.

And the mind is moving from the fingertips to the shoulder when you are exhaling.

Whether you do it,

Oppose it,

It's okay.

But easy intellect is constantly aware of the space inside when the breath is going in and coming out.

That will make a difference.

So in upaya,

ASU,

Upaya we added abhyasa.

And now you see the sadhana.

Sadhana means?

You are leaving what is not desired.

But how do you know?

The intellect should know.

How the intellect knows with awareness.

That is the key.

Now inside the left arm,

When you do it inside the left arm,

That intellect takes you totally away from the turbulence in the mind,

If I say so,

The turmoil in the mind.

It will remain there.

Why?

Because of past impressions,

The storehouse of memory.

But even in the midst of that turbulence,

The intellect is supporting us.

You see abhyasa?

That is the key.

Deep silence,

Slow breath is your car and mind is the driver.

So when the mind follows the deep silence,

Slow breath,

They merge together.

And still I am aware of that,

Moving onto the space.

And now inside the right leg,

Abhyasa.

Upaya,

Upaya is deep silence,

Slow breathing.

Abhyasa is with awareness,

The mind is moving inside the right leg.

What is the sadhana element is here?

Because of the intellect keeps its awareness on the space,

You need not to even think what is not desired.

You will find such a beautiful state.

And now inside the left leg.

What effort you need to do to keep that awareness?

Don't you see when you are driving the car,

It is the intellect that keeps the car in a particular lane.

It keeps the speed under its own control and you are driving at ease.

When you are able to maintain awareness and attention,

It is a part of the abhyasa.

Because you are already keeping your awareness on the space inside,

There is a natural tendency of the mind to leave what is not desired.

Now move the mind inside the spine from the crown of the head to the tailbone.

When the breath goes in and when the breath comes out,

Move the mind from the tailbone to the crown of the head.

Now see sometime even if the body moves,

Okay,

The mind will hijack the meditation.

But if the intellect maintains the awareness inside,

Even if the body moves,

There is no worries.

Now move the mind from the crown of the head to the crown of the head.

And now leave this.

Do nothing.

And now singing and listening the first days.

Apply that awareness.

I'm deliberately using the intellect to make you understand as we go deeper.

So it means what you are singing and listening and the intellect is aware,

Fully living deeper inside,

Satisfied by self in the self.

Singing and listening.

It's always better to have a mental singing.

Why?

The intellect picks up very fast.

Six times.

Meaning is swasthir,

Well-being.

So the intellect becomes aware of that state of the well-being,

Whatever the mind is doing and the body is doing.

Swasthir bhavatu.

Swasthir bhavatu.

What is the essence of it?

That is what the intellect is aware of.

Well-being,

Not in me,

But in every being on this earth.

So how you counter the mind that is returning to its five crazy states?

Intellect still perceives the well-being there.

That becomes abhyasa.

Sarvisham swasthir bhavatu.

Sarvisham swasthir bhavatu.

Is intellect aware?

Yes.

Singing and listening.

Singing,

Listening and shanti means peace.

And I have repeated hundred times,

You need not to even think of it.

Let the intellect become aware of the infinite space,

The good space.

That is sukha,

That is shanti.

Sarvisham shantir.

Is intellect aware?

Sarvisham shantir bhavatu.

Sarvisham shantir bhavatu.

Sarvesham shantir bhavatuh.

What is that shanti?

That knowledge that this piece is always present inside and behind every being on this earth.

Can I become aware of it?

Let the mind do whatever it wants to do.

Sarvesham shantir bhavatuh.

Sarvesham shantir bhavatuh.

Sarvesham shantir bhavatuh.

Sarvesham shantir bhavatuh.

Sarvesham shantir bhavatuh.

Sarvesham shantir bhavatuh.

Have you started chanting these mantras the moment you wake up or you remind in the morning or before going to the bed or before starting the work?

If yes,

The intellect has accepted it.

Third line,

Singing and listening.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Purnam,

Sense of completeness.

Ask your intellect when you are complete in yourself and you are complete by yourself.

Will you ever become lazy,

Crazy,

Busy,

Obsessed?

Ask yourself.

That is the essence.

Singing,

Listening and meaning.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Now take the essence.

I believe you all have understood because we have been doing this journey almost uninterrupted.

So now see purnam,

Completeness,

Sense of completeness.

There is no doubt about it in you.

Then what happens?

You change that awareness of the.

.

.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham purnam bhavatuh.

Lastly,

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Listening and listening to yourself mentally.

That is also the job of an intellect.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Bhangalam,

Auspiciousness.

Aspiciousness is a moment,

Is an event,

Is a moment in life,

Is a thinking,

Is working,

Is doing,

Is talking,

Is singing,

Is doing everything.

Behind it,

There is an auspiciousness.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Sarvesham bhangalam bhavatuh.

Third time singing listening meaning and the applied knowledge.

When we live and work in the auspicious moment it is always supported by the well-being peace and completeness.

Ask your intellect this week when you feel the sense of incompleteness there is definitely a peace and happiness and the joy.

Now can you sing and listen to it mentally by yourself?

Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti couple of times.

Mentally you are singing,

You are listening,

You know the meaning and applied wisdom.

What is that wisdom?

That this peace is always behind,

Supporting,

Everything,

Every thought,

Speech and action.

Shanti Shanti Shanti.

This Shanti behind should be recognized by an intellect in the field of awareness is behind even my anger.

How do you say that?

I am only ignorant of this peace.

That is why I became angry.

What is that meaning?

I know peace is there but I don't recognize and I don't recognize then what happens.

Anger,

Reaction,

Running here and there.

You see the knowledge part is so deep and now that we have been doing so that the mind turns towards this journey when you wake up in the morning.

Imagine you wake up in the morning and the first thing.

.

.

Swasti Sarvisham.

Shanti Sarvisham.

Purnam Sarvesham.

Just imagine you are going to sleep and say this mantra even if you don't remember,

No worries,

You should remember well-being.

I'm in the state of well-being so everyone is.

I'm in the state of the peace so everyone is.

I'm in the sense of completeness so everyone is.

I'm in the sense of auspiciousness.

Is sleep auspiciousness?

You're behind.

If the auspicious is near there behind the sleep what will happen?

And the same thing.

Yeah,

Just imagine you are talking to me and your intellect is aware of the auspiciousness.

How dare the mind can cause anger in the reaction.

That is the key.

Well-being,

Peace,

Completeness,

All merges becomes auspicious.

So there is an auspicious moment.

Casually walking the mind from the crown of the head to the belly button and dropping either any mantra or simply Om Shanti.

So if you are dropping Om Shanti,

The intellect recognizes Om is my real nature and it is oozing out peace.

While walking the mind from the crown of the head to the belly button,

Not the reverse.

Again return your mind to the crown of the head and drop it to the belly button.

What we are looking for?

We want that peace,

Consciousness should descend from the highest consciousness located at the crown of the head down to the belly button which is the center of action.

Then what happens?

It spreads into every cell of the body.

Why we are doing it?

That we are going to take up with clarity and understanding.

Beautiful.

Now from the crown of the head to the heart.

Om Shanti.

You know that drops all the five objective states of the mind.

It leaves you in the sense of completeness.

Your intellect keeps your mind within.

Why?

Sense of completeness by the self in the self.

Very subtle principle but not difficult to understand.

You And now inside the forehead from the top of the head to non-verbally.

You know the intellect knows what you want to say Om Shanti.

The journey is very short.

The distance from the top of the head to the inside the forehead at any point.

We have 300 points in the forehead.

You need not to get obsessed with the center of the eyebrows etc.

Nothing like that.

You you you you are in a state of doing nothing is there is a steadiness inside you you are in a state of doing nothing is this what you say the concluding meditation no it's a real beginning of a meditation shanti shanti shanti shanti shanti shanti shanti shanti shanti bring your awareness on the right hand your awareness on the left hand lift your both the palms place it on your eyes open the eyes inside know your experiences and bring the hands down share our experiences and question if any how are you I could see I got really cold so I need to make sure that my room is warmer or that I have and it was I was like did I manifest that because I was cold when we started I got colder and colder but it was good it got really quiet and it was like yeah it wasn't like lots of stuff coming in we're just kind of necessary just smooth beautiful beautiful yeah how are you David and Jerry so early on at the beginning when you said to focus on your intellect it for me my mind went to the intellect is inside me the whole time so the intellect was inside my body and every time you would focus on a limb it would shine light on that certain aspect the limb or the the inside of the forehead from within so it was very it did not get inside of my body my thoughts did not wander at all so it was great that's really you got it that is the meaning of a bhasa by Patanjali beautiful how are you Jerry sir it was quiet I had the very cold sensation when we own from the crown to the stomach and and a lot of tingling so with the home that brought on the cold and the tingling and then at the end I see a lot of light sometimes today at the end I was seeing a lot of light not only that's beautiful that's another expression of deeper meditation like the Lara she was feeling cold whether due to room temperature or otherwise so we have to keep noticing all these experiences beautiful how are you Sam I didn't see your co-worker I sent her the invitation yes it's okay you are an IT guy I don't know if she would have gotten it by the time okay you know I was having trouble with the calendar one everything was I think David on Saturday described the speed with what should happen you know before I knew it it was we were done I would say it was very content and thoughtless I had an image when you gave the image of the car and the driver I went for a walk by the water yesterday and there was a little kid in one of those toy cars driving along he was probably two years old and I had that image in my head for a lot of a lot of the meditation but other than that no other thoughts of things going on outside and then some Chantilly I always keep staying up a lot of orange and purple come through that's beautiful that's a deeper that's a beautiful I'll just explain about this intellect again in a by example so how are you Stephen it is Terry meditation for me started about from start to finish was very quiet very peaceful very very content it was you know you started off with us focus on that breath and when we you know the first part was let's let's do this deep slow breathing I never left that it was every every move every instruction I never came out of it I breathe through each of the limbs I was breathing through to my tailbone it was always about the breath and as I knew I went deeper there was that moment that I snap in and go okay what am I doing and immediately it was the breath just took me right back to exactly where we were up to so it was just very very very good beautiful beautiful do you see that you know just give give you an example that how a meditator lives or how a non meditator less I can cite many many examples and that is how we understand where the person is you are looking say for example Laura is drinking tea show me the flask yes such a beautiful flask who says mind where the intellect is now if the mind takes over the intellect then what the mind says I want it now the intellect is settled inside mine has nothing to say it's pure appreciation of the beauty of the flask you feel still the sense of completeness are you getting it I'm just explaining by a simple example so it means that steadiness of the intellect Krishna the master speaks a lot about it it's an entire chapter almost I would say the second chapter is based on how the steadiness of the intellect can be achieved and once that is there let the mind do anything who cares why steadiness of the intellect will take hold of the mind when the mind will run after what is not desired do you see that do you see that point do you see that point in we normally live our life sued carried away by the five sub objective states of the mind and second principle that we will take up next time it is the dispassion so dispassion should take place in the intellect you see David we don't follow any God dogma religion perhaps our wrong notions have been eliminated during this journey we don't talk of religion dogma God God follower nothing else pure knowledge and understanding if you have any question Terry okay might be so any more question no question so so that is all thank you tell your friend and co-worker we are ready thank you very much we Terry Terry is talking Terry come on I don't see you yeah but yeah I'm here I don't know I don't see any of the people except for you don't worry even if you see me you are seeing everyone come on yeah I'm having that thing where I can't hold still but I when you said that intellect was what is steady that's what I was doing I was the intellect is like the parents and the mind and the body were doing all kinds of things and the intellect is coming and saying you can do that all you want it doesn't affect me what a beautiful way