The topic for the Satsang on Sunday, 15th September, 2012 was Swadhyaya (Self Study).
"Following someone’s style of life
does not interest us. You have to be original and do what you want. Already we
have these strong reactions which come, we dislike and we show our dislike. But
in the end, we become a very tested personality and people can point to us and
say that here is a person who is irritable, etc.
I think this is a point which is
worth considering, that we should follow exhibitional kind of ideas or should
we cultivate a more balanced state of mind? We have to decide."
Following is the transcript of the speech made by Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra and Smt. Hansaji Yogendra on the topic.
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| Smt. Hansaji and Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra |
Instead, cultivate contrary kind
of qualities, one of pleasure, joy…Just in the beginning we can consciously try
to start with one in the place of showing off or anger, etc. Yoga is basically
of that kind – a peaceful appearance, experience of joy and larger
understanding. These also can be consciously cultivated.
There are people who are forming
particular organizations where the whole group maintains the particular outcome
and they are able to face society. They should take up yoga and try if this
approach can be integrated…one of a balanced mind, not reacting too much,
watching, showing a certain appreciation of whatever goes on and carrying on
their duties.
"Vrittis is a Yogic
technical term which means that the Citta
(mind/ personality complex) is continuously busy, it keeps thinking. Now we
have to change this thinking nature of the Citta
because we live life based on this. If someone shouts at us or hurts us, we
feel bad. If things don’t go our way, we don’t like it and if they do, we get
excited. This goes on. So yoga says – “Citta
Vritti Nirodha.’ Stop the Vrittis.
And this is the main definition of yoga and then it is analysed – what kinds of
Vrittis are there?
Stop worry, anxiety and thinking
of the past and future. It is a matter of decision and reminding ourselves. Get
involved in your work and the mind will be controlled."
There are 5 types of Vrittis.
1. Pramana / Logical – the scientific way of looking at life. this
should be there in every person. Don’t go on what someone says. Work to find
out the truth. Perception and reality can be different. We should know that our
sensory organs are limited. For example, there was a young man at the beach who
heard a lady scream in a bungalow nearby. He went to check if everything was
alright and found she had committed suicide by cutting her stomach. The maid
walked in just then and thought he had committed the murder. I was studying law
at the time and remember that the case went on for a very long time. The man
kept saying he was innocent and had no reason to kill the lady, while the maid,
the eye witness, insisted that she saw him commit the murder. This is what
perception does to us. We see something and the opinion is formed without
knowing the whole truth.
2. Viparyaya / Wrong Knowledge – It is illogical thinking. There is
nothing there and yet we make something out of it. This happens very often.
When I was small, I used to do Asanas
on a mat and keep it in the hall. One day someone shifted the mat to my bedroom
and in the night I woke up and thought someone was standing there. But later we
found it was just the mat. So wrong knowledge affects us, especially things
like superstitions.
3. Vikalpa / Imagination – We imagine, although we don’t know the
future. As you saw in the skit today, it is raining and one person thinks there
will be floods and gets anxious while the other thinks, why worry, what will
happen will happen. If you want to think, think positive, otherwise, don’t
think.
4. Nidra / Sleep – Even in sleep we dream and imagine things. Many times
we dream things that seem like or may even be premonitions. But we should know
that the incident is going to happen and we cannot do anything about it. Sixth
sense works when the normal senses are in control. True peaceful sleep, like
the state of Samadhi is very rare. Our
thoughts in sleep are dependant on how we live through our life the previous
day.
5. Smriti / Memory – Our past experiences and memories control our
reaction in the present. Again, like we saw in the skit, the person was
worrying about the floods because of past memories. So stop even the memory. Use
it only if something good can be done from it, like reducing the ego.
So yoga has gone into details of
how and why the human mind thinks and how it should be functioning. Our mind is
our servant, it should be in your control. It is the mind which creates the hell
out of heaven and the heaven out of hell. It is the cause of all our
limitations and it is also the cause of our Moksha.
The mind can take us to the highest state.
Satsang is an open meeting held every Sunday from 9:30 to 10:30 am at The Yoga Institute, Santacruz East, Mumbai. It involves an interesting presentation to the public, made by the students of the Teacher Training Course. Each week, a new presentation of a Yogic concept is made in a simple way through skits and decoration for the general public, followed by a short speech from our Gurus, Dr. Jayadeva and Smt. Hansaji Yogendra.
