Tag: mind

Savichara Ananda Samdhis Yoga Sutra
The second type of Samadhi described by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra 1.17 is ‘Savichara Samadhi’

The State of Samadhi attained here is the result of concentrating on Subtle Objects, like the Gods,or the chanting of Pranava OM, where the thoughts in the first case encourages mental picture, while in the later they are produced by the vibrations of the Pranava,

Couple of points.

In Buddhism by the Tibetan Monks, Lamas,, the body is explained have three layers,

Layers of Body, Buddhism.

The Gross Body, which we see,

The Etheric Body, which extends up to one eights of an inch surrounding the Gross body,

The Auric Body,which surrounds the Etheric Body for another one eighth of an inch and,

Aura, which surrounds the whole.

In Indian Philosophy this phenomenon is explained while describing the Five sheaths of the Atman or Reality, the Five sheaths being,

Annamaya Kosa (of Food),

Pranamaya Kosa,(of Vital Breaths)

Manomaya Kosa,(of Mind)

Vigyanamaya Kosa (of Knowledge)

Anandamaya Kosa.(of Bilss)

It is also interesting to note Japas, the practice of chanting a sacred name or Hymn is three-fold.

1.Chanting aloud, the first Stage,

2.Chanting but not aloud; the lips alone should move.

The Mantras give fruits , right from the first stage,

In the second stage, they give results hundred times more than the first stage (Satham) and in the Third Stage,

They give thousand times more(Sahasrapala)

Savichara Samadhi is practiced after mastering the ‘Savitarka Samadhi’ and understanding the nature of Gross elements.

Ananda Samadhi.

This state is reached by using the Mind, and not Knowledge.

In the earlier Samadhis one uses the Knowledge one has or gains .

But in Ananada Samadhi Chiththa is focused upon and laziness and actions are dispensed with.

This is the third state.

http://ramanisblog.in/2013/05/03/savitarka-samadhi-patanjaliyoga/

Related articles
- Identify The Tools of The Mind Patanjali Yoga Sutra 6 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Share
X
Facebook
Tumblr
Reddit
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
WhatsApp
Telegram
Pinterest
Print
Like this:
Like Loading…
5 May 2013
Savitarka Samadhi PatanjaliYoga
Samadhi, the State of becoming or returning to our original State of Being,that is of Being, Knowledge and Bliss is explained in Patanjali‘s Yoga Sutra 1.17.

There is a difference between the ‘Nirvana‘, spoken of in Buddhism and The Samadhi of Yoga.

Buddhism advocates Nirvana, a State of Nothingness, Sunyavada.

Both Samadhi and Nirvana are Higher or elevated sense of Consciousness.

Yoga Samadhi is positive in the sense that one reverts to his original state of Being which consists of Being, Knowledge and Bliss.

Nirvana , on the other hand is the negation of all transient attributes and attaining a State of being Nothing, without attributes.

The difference,please do not read philosophical interpretations in this statement,is akin to being fully satisfied after eating and the feeling of Fullness one has without having eaten.

Types of Brain Waves, Delta for Samadhi( near samadhi)

The Types of Samadhi.

Some people refer this as Super Consciousness or Supra Consciousness, which is incorrect as Consciousness is One and our lack of realizing it does not make it Super.

Yoga never calls anything as Super or Supra.

In Samadhi we return to our original State of Being.

Savitarka Samadhi,

Savicara Samadhi,

Ananda Samadhi,

Saasmita Samadhi

Savitarka Samadhi.

‘Tarka’ means ‘questioning, logic’

Samadhi attained by the path of questioning is Savitarka Samadhi.

This is the first step or type of Samadhi.

Our minds wander after many objects at the same time and we pay attention to one of them for a brief span of time, at the same time, being aware of the other things as well, both physical and mental.

To rein in the Mind it is essential to reduce the number of objects we pay attention to , to attain better efficiency.

This becomes easy when we fix our mind on a single object at a given time.

When one thinks of some thing to the exclusion of the others, his concentration and his control over the reactions the object produces increases.

At this stage one can exercise control over the object.

The object will be focus of attention to the total exclusion of everything else,(this will be explained in detail when we discuss Pratyahara, Dhyana and Dharana).

One increase efficiency by performing to his full potential. thus enabling a better result.

As the number of objects being attended to are less here, so are the impressions in the Mind and later reflected in Chithi.

So we are reducing the Chitha Vrutthi being spoken of in the second Sutra of Patanjali.

Yet there is a pitfall here in this state of Savitarka Samadhi.

Being able to concentrate on a single object provides one with not so normal powers of being able to dominate the object and literally bend it to one’s Will.

This is the core of the so-called paranormal abilities like Clairvoyance, Clairaudience , Kinetasis , which form a part of Asthta Siddis or Ashtama Siddhis.

Ashtama or Astha Siddhis.
- Aṇimā: reducing one’s body even to the size of an atom
- Mahima: expanding one’s body to an infinitely large size
- Garima: becoming infinitely heavy
- Laghima: becoming almost weightless
- Prāpti: having unrestricted access to all places
- Prākāmya: realizing whatever one desires
- Iṣṭva: possessing absolute lordship
- Vaśtva: the power to subjugate all^[3]
The practitioner gets lost in these Yoga Sadhana by being enamored of these powers and loses the goal of Self Realization.

So this Samadhi, though the first step,is not of Higher order.

Patanjali warns that this Samadhi would increase attachment to Objects and increase one’s attachment to objects and consequently multiply the Chitha Vrutti, instead of reducing it.

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhi

http://ramanisblog.in/2013/05/01/yoga-sutra-1-17-samadhi-contemplation/

Related articles
- Yoga Sutra 1.17 Samadhi Contemplation (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Share
X
Facebook
Tumblr
Reddit
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
WhatsApp
Telegram
Pinterest
Print
Like this:
Like Loading…
3 May 2013
Mind Limits Understanding The Mind
There is an interesting article in The Atlantic on Mind and Technological Innovations.

‘One cannot help noting immediately that the theory echoes Kurzweil’s professional achievements as an inventor of word recognition machines: the “secret of human thought” is pattern recognition, as it is implemented in the hardware of the brain. To create a mind therefore we need to create a machine that recognizes patterns, such as letters and words. …

The process of recognition, which involves the firing of neurons in response to stimuli from the world, will typically include weightings of various features, as well as a lowering of response thresholds for probable constituents of the pattern. Thus some features will be more important than others to the recognizer, while the probability of recognizing a presented shape as an “E” will be higher if it occurs after “APPL.”

These recognizers will therefore be “intelligent,” able to anticipate and correct for poverty and distortion in the stimulus. This process mirrors our human ability to recognize a face, say, when in shadow or partially occluded or drawn in caricature.”

When we need the Mind to recognize patterns to perceive and be understood, we can say that while being studied becomes an Object of the Observed.

The Observer is some thing else.

The Mind is able to observe thoughts and There is something else that observes the Mind as well.

Indian Philosophy classifies three things in respect of Mind.

Brain,the activity of which leads to the

Mind, Buddhi, The Discriminator.

Chitha, the dispositions( not the predispositions of Indian Philosophy, which means Vasanas or tendencies acquired over years including the previous Births).

Mind Analyses,U.S. National Library of Medicine

The Observer is different from the Observed at the mundane or Transitory world.

To recognize an Object as the object, for that matter as an Object, Recognition is required.

Recognition is possible only when there is Data stored already.

For instance, to recognize a Rose as a Rose, at the first instance, we need some one to describe it .

But extend the logic.

How a Rose would have have been identified as such for the First Human Being as such when there were none around?

This calls for apriori Knowledge.(Knowledge that is innate.

This is the foundation of Idealism of Philosophy. whic h has been explained by Rene Descartes in His Books Principia philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy),Regulae ad directionem ingenii (Rules for the Direction of the Mind)’

Mind lets us know what it wants us to know.

As Nature does.

“[H]omunculus talk can give rise to the illusion that one is nearer to accounting for the mind, properly so-called, than one really is. If neural clumps can be characterized in psychological terms, then it looks as if we are in the right conceptual ballpark when trying to explain genuine mental phenomena–such as the recognition of words and faces by perceiving conscious subjects. But if we strip our theoretical language of psychological content, restricting ourselves to the physics and chemistry of cells, we are far from accounting for the mental phenomena we wish to explain. An army of homunculi all recognizing patterns, talking to each other, and having expectations might provide a foundation for whole-person pattern recognition; but electrochemical interactions across cell membranes are a far cry from actually consciously seeing something as the letter “A.” How do we get from pure chemistry to full-blown psychology?

McGinn goes on:

Why do we say that telephone lines convey information? Not because they are intrinsically informational, but because conscious subjects are at either end of them, exchanging information in the ordinary sense. Without the conscious subjects and their informational states, wires and neurons would not warrant being described in informational terms.

The mistake is to suppose that wires and neurons are homunculi that somehow mimic human subjects in their information-processing powers; instead they are simply the causal background to genuinely informational transactions.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/on-kurzweil-the-sleight-of-hand-that-makes-it-seem-we-understand-the-mind/273742/

Related articles
- Memory Is…… Yoga Sutra 1.11 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
- Identify The Tools of The Mind Patanjali Yoga Sutra 6 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Share
X
Facebook
Tumblr
Reddit
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
WhatsApp
Telegram
Pinterest
Print
Like this:
Like Loading…
30 Apr 2013
Eighteen Principles ,One Verse Nirvana Shatakam Adi Sankara
Adi Sankaracarya wrote the Nirvana Shatakam.

This is also called as Atma Shatakam.

He explains the Non Duality of Reality in these Six Verses.

The essence of the Vedas are found in three Mahavaakyas(Great Revelations)

They are,

‘Aham Brahmasmi’ (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)

′

tat tvam asi – “Thou art That” (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda)
prajñānam brahma – “Prajñānam is Brahman” or “Brahman is Prajñānam” (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda)

The Core meaning is That There is One Reality and We Are a part of it,nay we are It.

( note , one sloka each from each Veda: Atharva also has one)

I shall be posting blogs on each of them.

The interpretations of the three Acharyas differ, resulting in the three main systems of Indian Thought.

They are.

Advaita of Adi Sankara, Non Dualism, Monism,

Visishtadvaitam- of Ramanuja, Qualified Monism and

Dwaidha of Madwacharya, Dualism.

Shankaracharya, in these verse, not only gives us the essence of the Vedas, but also explains the Evolution of the Universe through the Eighteen Principles.

The World , to be known, has two elements or two things.

The Observer and The Observed.

We are the Observers and all other things are the ‘Observed’

On our side, The Observer, we have the following .

The five sense organs,Eyes,Ears, Nose, Mouth and Skin (body, tactile)-5

Five acts of perception, seeing,tasting etc.(Eyes register Image, they do not experience; to explain one may have eyes but can not see;the act of seeing is different from ‘seeing’) -5

Mind(the activity of the Brain),-1

Buddhi, distinguishing faculty, differentiating between The Right and The Wrong)-1

Ahanagara, the feeling of ‘I’, Mine”-1

The Five elements,Earth,Water,Fire,Air and Ether-5

Total 18

The Sloka.

Nirvana Shatkam 1

Mano-Buddhy-Ahangkaara Cittaani Naaham
Na Ca Shrotra-Jihve Na Ca Ghraanna-Netre |
Na Ca Vyoma Bhuumir-Na Tejo Na Vaayuh
Cid-Aananda-Ruupah Shivo[a-A]ham Shivo[a-A]ham ||1||

Meaning:
1.1: Neither am I the Mind nor Intelligence or Ego,
1.2: Neither am I the organs of Hearing (Ears), nor that of Tasting (Tongue), Smelling (Nose) or Seeing (Eyes),
1.3: Neither am I the Sky, nor the Earth, Neither the Fire nor the Air,
1.4: I am the Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,

This constitutes the elements for(of) the Observer.

What about the ‘Observed?’

Explanation in the next post along with Samkhya explanation for these principles, for Samkya is a heterodox system which does not believe in the Vedas

Related articles
- Adi Sankara Thirsty, Goddess Offered Spring Siruvachur (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
- Knowledge Systems Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.8 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Share
X
Facebook
Tumblr
Reddit
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
WhatsApp
Telegram
Pinterest
Print
Like this:
Like Loading…
29 Apr 2013
Indifference Better Yoga Sutra 1.16
Detachment has been explained as an effective tool in controlling the modifications of the Mind in the last sloka (1.15)

As I have explained in the post, Performance of Action without attachments is possible..

We do not get attached to the Routine actions we perform.

But actions we perform after deliberation?

Why and how we deliberate to perform an action and become attached to them.

We perceive an object , we get attracted.

We want to experience them because we are curious,others have told us it is pleasurable.

We try them out.

We find the experiences either pleasurable or painful.

Based on this we like or detest them.

In the case of the former , we yearn for them, recalling in the Mind the pleasures it had given us, just as vehemently we hate that which gave us pain.

This yearning becomes attachment:hate is also an attachment for irrespective of what your feelings are, you are constantly engaged with the object in your mind.

If you do not get what you seek, you take action to get it, these create further thought waves in the Mind.

So, to control these cravings one must cease attaching himself to objects.

But the fact is we can not help being attracted and consequently being attached to the Objects.

We might even consciously want to avoid them.

Why are we attracted to Objects?

It is Our Nature.

We have inborn tendencies and qualities that make us attracted to sense objects,

They are three in number.

Sathva,the Pure,Learned Ignorance,

Rajas,The active,

Tamas, Ignorance

Please read my post on Gunas filed under Indian Philosophy).

These Gunas are present in all of us in combinations and they keep changing minute by minute.

Impelled by these Gunas we get attracted to sense objects and act.

Practice and Resolution, Vairagya can help us eradicate this,

By practicing this method, one develops Detachment.

This would also lead to Reality or Self Realization.

Seeking Self Realization is also a form of attachment and this must be discarded.

The conscious attempt at Liberation or Moksha is also a Bond, though a Golden one, bond nonetheless.

The desire to attain Moksha or liberation is an impediment to Spiritual Growth.

This also, has to be discarded. .

Praying to God and seeking Grace from Him is also an impediment.

So much so, the Chamaka Prasna of Sri Rudram, after seeking from Lord Rudra, says thus in Chamaka
```
Aayu yagnena  kalpathaam praano yagnena kalpathaam apano, 
Yagnena kalpathaam  yyano yagnena kalpathaam chakshur, yagnena kalpathaam srothram,  
yagnena kalpathaam mano, yagnena kalpathaam  vag yagnena kalpathaam athma, 
Yagnena kalpathaam yagne, yagnena kalpathaam.	10 .

"
Let the fire sacrifice give me long life, 
Let fire sacrifice give me inhaled air, 
Let fire sacrifice give me exhaled air, 
Let fire sacrifice give me able eyes, 
Let fire sacrifice give me able ears, 
Let fire sacrifice give me able mind, 
Let fire sacrifice give me able words, 
Let fire sacrifice give me an able soul, 
Let fire sacrifice give me ability to perform more fire sacrifices
'
"After seeking favors in all manners possible. the last portion, Yagne Yagna kalpatham'

Means that the Yagnas may give the power to perform more yagnas.

Yagna is different from Yaaga

Yaaga is performed for results while Yagna is performed because it has to be performed, no results desired'

Thus the Nishkaamya Karma is indicated here.

Performed without attachment, even the desire to realize self is neutralized.

This is what Patanjali says in Yoga Sutra 1.16.(  After seeking... neutralized-by this writer, not a part of the Quote)
```
Yoga Sutra 1.16
http://ramanisblog.in/2013/04/27/detachment-determination-technics-yoga-1-15/

http://ramanisblog.in/2013/04/27/detachment-determination-technics-yoga-1-15/

Related articles
- Denying Senses Is Not Yoga, Patanjali Yoga Sutra 3 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
- http://www.shaivam.org/english/sen_camakam.htm
- ‘Direct Experience ‘ Yoga Sutra Explains (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Share
X
Facebook
Tumblr
Reddit
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
WhatsApp
Telegram
Pinterest
Print
Like this:
Like Loading…
28 Apr 2013