Front Cover | 1. Yogic Science “Excuse me . . . excuse me?” a voice said. It was a beautiful fall day and, on a long break between two classes at the university, I was practicing meditation in a quiet spot under the shade of a tree. I continued to meditate thinking they must want someone else. “Excuse me . . . EXCUSE ME?” the voice persisted more loudly. Relenting, I opened my eyes. Before me stood a student with a pile of books in his arms. “Yes?” I responded. “I was just wondering, are you practicing yoga or meditation?” the young man inquired. I stared dumbly back for a moment. “Well,” I said, “I was practicing yoga meditation,” putting perhaps a bit too much emphasis on the word “was.” He looked surprised. “Oh!” he said before walking away to contemplate this piece of information. Yoga is not a system of stretching exercises. Yoga is a science of self-development that leads to physical health, mental expansion, and culminates in spiritual realization. Meditation is an indispensable part of this science, along with ethics, service and other practices. The postures that many think of as “yoga,” while important for health and mental balance, are only one part of the full practice of yoga. 2. Infinite Consciousness “I believe,” the television-evangelist intoned, his resonant voice rich with emotion, the lilting cadence of his speech pausing dramatically. “I believe that if you had a spaceship fast enough . . . and you traveled long enough . . . and you crossed the eternity of the universe that you would arrive in heaven.” The next dramatic pause featured a glimpse of the audience gazing raptly up at the speaker. “For heaven is a real place, but it can never be reached in that manner. For human beings will never make a spaceship fast enough to reach God’s home.” From the point of view of yoga, God does exist but not as a giant man or woman with supernatural powers living beyond the clouds. Rather, God is infinite consciousness. You cannot see consciousness, but not because it is far away in a distant heaven. In fact, this infinite consciousness is unimaginably close to you. However small a distance you can conceive, God is closer. To understand this closeness, imagine if your reflection in a mirror could talk. “What is a mirror?” the reflection might inquire. “Where is it? Why can’t I see it?” The existence of that reflection is entirely dependent on the existence of the mirror; the distance between them cannot be measured since the reflection exists as part of the mirror itself. In a similar way, your existence is part of the eternal infinite consciousness that is God, and God is just as close to you as that mirror is to that reflection. An infinite object cannot be contained by the mind. Hence, God cannot be known in the usual sense of knowing something. To know God requires a special way of knowing. Just as a river can come to know the ocean only by merging with it and becoming one with the ocean, so also to know God one must merge with God. This merger of the individual consciousness with infinite consciousness is known in Sanskrit as yoga (literally meaning “unification”). 3. Inner Experience When I was in kindergarten, our family attended a neighborhood church that did not yet have a building in which to hold services. Instead, the church used the facilities at a local private park known as Knott’s Berry Farm. Presently, this park is an extroversive amusement center with roller coasters and other thrills, but back then it was a quiet, pastoral environment. The adults held services in the “Chapel of Reflections” while we children got to have Sunday school in the passenger cars of an Old West train. Sitting on the old-fashioned train seats, we read the Bible, sang songs, and learned conventional Christian theology. One Sunday the teacher was explaining that Jesus not only knew everything you did, but he even knew everything you thought. Not only that, but Jesus knew this about everyone, everywhere, all the time. I was struck by this idea; how could anyone know all that? My mind turned inward and I concentrated deeply on this puzzle. Suddenly, something happened. In that moment of concentration, I had an experience that I can hardly explain any better now than I could as a child. It was as if the train compartment and everything in it were no longer separate or apart from my self. Everything was connected through an awareness that I assumed to be Jesus. Sunday school ended a few minutes later and I departed the train reuniting with my brother, my sisters, and my parents. We strolled around the park in our Sunday best for a short while. The world seemed new and alive to me and I felt happy. The lingering effects of this experience lasted for days but gradually waned until it became less of an experience and more of a memory. The experience was brief, but profound to the point that I have never forgotten it, even now, a half-century following. I never spoke of this experience to others and thought at the time that this experience was the purpose of church, and that everyone else was experiencing it also. As time passed, however, my experience in church became progressively more dry and empty until, as a teenager, I stopped going to church altogether. Spiritual experience is a universal human characteristic found in cultures throughout history. Yoga is the science of this experience, the practical method that leads to its attainment. Meditation is the process of going inside, of coming to know oneself not as a limited being, but as infinite consciousness. 4. Cosmic Mind The branches of the trees appeared to be covered with leaves, but they were not leaves, they were birds. Tens of thousands of birds covering every branch and twig of every tree in the pale afternoon light of a late fall Kansas sun. I had come to the orchard to meditate but my mind was restless. As I sat and struggled to concentrate, flock after flock of noisy birds arrived, adding to a building crescendo of squawking chatter. I forced my eyes closed and resolved to meditate until five o’clock. The minutes passed and, as the noisy clamor continued to grow, I struggled more intensely to remain focused internally. It was as if I were engaged in a tug-of-war where I pulled my mind inward while the sound of the birds pulled it outward. Then, in one instant, it was dead silent but for a momentary whoosh that signaled the birds departure as one. My eyes sprang open to see the last of the birds disappearing over the levee. I looked at my watch; the second hand was ticking off five o’clock exactly. My tug-of-war opponent had suddenly let go, and a profound silence both within and without overwhelmed me. I fell back onto the ground unable to rise for many minutes. For created beings there is both an inside and an outside. But for God there is no outside, everything is internal. Outside can only exist for a limited being because a limited being has a boundary, and beyond that boundary is not part of one’s self. Infinite consciousness is, by definition, unbounded. Hence, the entire cosmos exists within the Supreme Being. 5. Universal Religion “Honey!” my wife called as I left the house, “Don’t forget the carrots on the way home.” I rode my bicycle to my father’s home and over breakfast he suggested, “Tim, have some more toast.” “Doctor,” one of my patients inquired a bit later, “What do you recommend for my injured knee?” After work, I ran into one of my meditation students at the store who addressed me, “Namaskar [salutations] Jyotisha, I’ll see you at group meditation.” “Thank you, sir,” the clerk said after I purchased the carrots. And finally, “Daddy! I need a goodnight kiss!” my youngest daughter shouted from the bedroom. Honey, Tim, Doctor, Jyotisha, Sir, Daddy. . .so many names! Am I so many people? I am one person, a singular entity, but my name changes depending on the relationship of the person who is addressing me. In a similar way, God is known by countless names. Language, culture, religion, and philosophical context all shape how we refer to the Supreme. But there is only one God who does not change when called by different names. Even within the science of yoga there are many names for God. As the infinite consciousness from which all has come and to which all returns, God is called Parama Purusha (supreme consciousness). As the eternal witnessing entity, this same consciousness is known as the Atman (soul or witnessing self). As the controller of the created universe, God is called Ishwara (controlling entity). Regardless of the name used, God remains one, a singular entity, simultaneously associated with every particle and entity of the created universe as well as with all creation as a whole. 6. Infinite Happiness In the hills south of Santa Barbara there is a beautiful meditation temple where I would occasionally go to meditate or to hear the sunset vespers of the resident nuns. One evening I went to hear a lecture by an elderly Indian monk who had lived many years in America and was the author of my favorite translation of the Bhagavad Gita (a well known Indian spiritual text). I was accompanied by a female college friend who also practiced meditation. Sitting in the midst of the audience of fifty or sixty people, I was surprised when, in the middle of the lecture, the elderly monk singled me out to make a point. “Take this young man here,” he said, pointing his finger at me. “He has a very beautiful wife,” referring to my female companion. “But there is nothing in this world that gives permanent happiness. No matter how much pleasure something gives you, nothing lasts forever and you will feel pain at its loss.” Some of us are not very good at taking hints. Indeed, I did marry this woman, and when she took our young son and left me, I was devastated. Despite the strength and courage derived by continuing my meditation practice throughout this painful period, it took me a long time to recover from the experience. The first noble truth of Buddhism is that “Life is Suffering,” a reference to this aspect of life that even those things that bring happiness eventually also bring you pain through their loss. Buddhism advocates right living and spiritual practice to escape from this suffering. I personally feel this approach of Buddhism is somewhat negative in that it focuses on suffering and how to escape from suffering. The approach of yoga is actually the opposite in that it focuses on infinite happiness and how to attain it. Regular happiness is a congenial mental feeling that results from getting what one wants. But this happiness is temporary and does not last. Within oneself there is a deeper happiness that is independent of the external world, a happiness associated with consciousness itself. This infinite happiness is called “ananda” (“bliss”) in Sanskrit. It is through the unification (yoga) of the individual consciousness with infinite consciousness that one fully attains this state and experiences infinite happiness or bliss. This is the purpose of the spiritual practice of yoga. 7. Universal Experience “Let’s go see the Flower Lady tonight,” someone suggested. The Flower Lady (as we called her) was an elderly woman who gave psychic readings in a chapel at the rear of her home. Those wishing to receive a reading would pick a flower before coming to the chapel and place this flower in a basket upon arrival. The Flower Lady would then pick up each flower in turn and give the reading. We had been to the Flower Lady once before. On that occasion, the others in our group had been needlessly tardy causing me to feel irritated. When reading my flower that night the Flower Lady had focused on this irritation and admonished me to be more patient and understanding. Realizing that my mental state at the time of picking the flower would be the main determinant in the outcome of the reading, I decided to pick the flower immediately after meditating. Giving myself plenty of time, I concentrated deeply in my meditation. Following my meditation instructions closely, I first withdrew my mind from the world. Then I withdrew my mind to a single point of identity and associated that point with the infinite consciousness through ideation on my mantra. Immediately after meditating, I walked across the street and noticed a bush with large, yellow, trumpet-like flowers that I had never seen before. Thinking only of God, I reached out and picked a flower. That evening in the chapel of the Flower Lady, the atmosphere was peaceful and congenial. There were fifteen or twenty people getting readings, and my flower was one of the last that she read. All the earlier readings were of a mundane character, focusing mostly on jobs, finances, and relationship issues. She finally came to my flower, and, grasping it in her hands, she stared upwards. Then, in a fervent voice, she exclaimed, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!” She went on to give an entirely spiritual reading, stating that my “chakras would open” and I would experience “Christ consciousness.” I was impressed with her ability to perceive some of the subtle aspects of my meditation and found encouragement in her words. But I also resolved not to indulge in these types of psychic readings in the future. I realized that all psychics are influenced by their own predisposition and that I was overly attached and influenced by the reading. Different names are used in different cultures for this inner spiritual experience that the Flower Lady called “Christ consciousness.” By meditating with sincerity and following moral principles, the yogic practitioner moves toward a realization that is beyond concepts and interpretations, the end point of all spiritual endeavors. 8. Social Acceptance The whispered voice sounded urgent, “Jyotisha! . . . Jyotisha!” I opened my eyes to see a pair of khaki pants in front of me, a stripe up the side ending near a holster with a gun and a shirt with a badge. I squinted in the bright mid-day sun as I looked around. The three of us meditating in a field were surrounded by four policemen, two from a police car on the nearby street in front of us and two from the car which had been driven up in the field behind us. They stood at the ready, as if expecting us to flee. When we merely looked at them with a mixture of curiosity and some trepidation one of them spoke. “What are you doing?” he asked warily. “We’re meditating,” I replied. I explained that we were traveling through Wichita returning home to California from a yoga retreat and that we were washing our clothes in the laundromat across the street. While waiting for the clothes to be done, we had decided to do some meditation in this field. The officer looked at us, the laundromat, and the growing crowd of on-lookers. “You mean you’re just sitting with your eyes closed?” he asked. The other officers shifted uneasily and glanced sheepishly about. Regaining his composure, the leading officer informed us that the field we were sitting in was private property and that we must return to the laundromat. The crowd of on-lookers parted for us to pass and we sat in the laundromat until our clothes were finished. That was 1974 and, although things have improved, meditation and other practices are still poorly understood in our society. Many still view meditation with suspicion due to religious intolerance, ignorance, fear, and superstition. But just as yoga postures were once a misunderstood-oddity and have now become commonplace, so too meditation will one day be a widely accepted practice. 9. Evolution “My Daddy is not a monkey,” he stated in a curiously accented voice. “Is your Daddy a monkey?” “No,” I replied politely, hiding my astonishment at the ignorance of this line of reasoning. A friend, who had brought this elder from his church to explain to me once and for all the “truth” about the theory of evolution, was smiling happily. The elder was a kindly old man who seemed sincerely concerned for my welfare. There seemed no point in arguing as he lacked the educational background to understand the concepts involved and was closed to the idea of evolution anyway. Even as a child I never understood this conflict between science and religion. I felt then that evolution appeared to be part of the mechanism through which creation takes place. What was all the fuss about? Material science is the endeavor to understand the objective universe around us. Spirituality is the endeavor to bridge the finite with the infinite within. The meeting point, the common ground, between material science and spirituality is the human mind. As we struggle into both the subtler realms of the objective universe and the subtler subjective realms of consciousness, the distance between these two endeavors steadily decreases. From the point of view of yoga, the entire universe is an internal creation of the Supreme Being and is therefore based in consciousness. The evolution of human consciousness is possible because the unexpressed potentiality of this consciousness already exists in all matter. Stated another way, evolution is the gradually expanding expression of consciousness in progressive life forms. At the stage of a human being it is possible to actively assist and complete this evolutionary process through the intentional effort of merging the individual consciousness with infinite consciousness. This effort of merger is what yoga is all about. Meditation is not a belief system; there is no doctrine that must be accepted in order to practice. Meditation is a tool for the exploration of the subjective realm of life, your own consciousness. 10. Reincarnation Unexpectedly, her mind cleared. “Hi Sweetie,” she smiled, her eyes meeting mine in recognition. “Would you like some water, Mom?” I asked. She nodded, but when I brought the glass with a straw to her mouth she was unable to coordinate her efforts and fell back onto the pillow, lapsing once more into a confused delirium. My father called early the following morning. “I think we’ve lost her,” he said in a small voice. It was New Years day and the short drive across town to their home was free from obstacles. I realized that her two words to me were the last of her life. As I sat with her mortal remains and struggled with my disbelief at her departure, a distant memory came to my mind. When I was a very young child, my older siblings went to school and my father went to work leaving me to the daily companionship of my mother who cheerfully performed the duties of a 1950’s housewife. As she went from room to room cleaning and vacuuming, I would tag along, scooting myself on a toy metal train engine. One morning, in the back room of the house, the sunlight streamed through the eastern window highlighting dust particles floating in the air. As I sat upon my train and stared at the shaft of light, I fell into a kind of reverie. It was as if I were a golden particle floating in an ocean of light. Eighty years is a respectable age, more than the vast majority of humans who were ever born. But still it seemed too short, I could not believe that she was gone. Those who believe in life-after-death must surely realize that the part of themselves that lives on at the time of death did not begin at the time of conception or birth. That which is born, dies, and that part of oneself that is eternal was already so before birth. As such, this is not your first lifetime. Bodies, like flowers, bloom, wilt, and die, necessitating a new body to continue one’s progress. The forward movement of life finds its culmination in the expansion of consciousness to infinitude, the merger of the individual with the cosmic. 11. Ideation in the World With a long train trip ahead of us, my friends and I decided to practice a little meditation before lunch. It was my first time on a train in India and I was enjoying the adventure. Part way into my meditation I heard someone chanting. He was coming up the aisle behind me, chanting words I could not quite catch. It sounded like “Gooooooh Pah Kammmmmm Pah Kooooh Liiiiiiim Kah“... over and over it went. I did not need to open my eyes to know that someone was chanting the names of God. It was probably a traveling mystic, a yogi with matted hair, part of a tradition thousands of years old. Knowing that these were ancient names of God thrilled me, despite the fact that I was not familiar with them. To think that these travelers were blessed by saffron-clad saints while just riding a train made my mind go up and up. Thinking only of God, I had a meaningful meditation. After finishing my meditation I looked about for a glimpse of the saint, who, unfortunately, was no longer present. Disappointed, I engaged in quiet conversation while enjoying the passing view out the window. Suddenly, from the back of the train, I heard his holy chanting, repeated with reverence, “Goooooh Pah... “ I turned and looked down the long aisle of the train. There I saw neither a tall yogi, resplendent like a silver mountain adorned with the crescent moon, nor a renunciate with saffron robes or prayer beads. I saw a small man wearing a faded sleeveless t-shirt and a dirty lungee (cloth) tied around his waist. His broken teeth and lips were stained red from chewing betel nut. He was carrying a bucket with three varieties of soft drinks, the names of which he loudly advertised in a slowly chanting voice, “Gold Spot, Campa Cola, Limca,” over and over again with a thick Indian accent. Bewildered, I stared as he approached. The Indian man in the seat across the aisle from me motioned with his hand and the little man stopped. I openly stared in a kind of mute horror as he took a bottle from his bucket, removed the cap, wiped the mouth of the bottle on his filthy cloth, and handed the bottle to his customer. I had to restrain myself from shouting, “No, don’t!” as the customer raised the bottle to his lips and drank. I was completely repulsed and disgusted. It is our moment-to-moment choice to see the world around us either as a divine manifestation or as something mundane and crude. As long as I felt I was hearing the name of God, my mind was elevated. When I heard the same sounds with a different association, my mind contracted and went down. The yogic technique for training the mind to see all as a manifestation of consciousness is called madhuvidya (literally “honey knowledge”). Through its continued application and practice one comes to feel every experience as a divine play. In this way, our daily interaction with the world becomes part of our spiritual practice, a moving meditation that complements our sitting meditation practice. 12. Children and Meditation To a Californian living his first year in Kansas, the winter had seemed long and hard. The ice and snow was now melted, and on a warmish day in late February, I walked outside to find a place to meditate. The playground of a school a few blocks away was empty and I found a comfortable sheltered spot next to a building. After meditating for some minutes, the wan sun that was shining in my face began to blink on and off. I opened my eyes in surprise to find that a young boy and his companion had crept up on me and he was waving his hand inches from my face in an effort, apparently, to tell if I was alive. They jumped back in fear when I greeted them. “What are you doing?” the older boy, perhaps seven-years old, asked suspiciously. “I’m meditating,” I replied. “What’s that?” he asked. “Oh, just going inside,” I said somewhat vaguely. They looked at each other. “Can we do it?” one of them asked. At this question, a few thoughts ran through my mind. Here I was, a long-haired, adult stranger in a children’s playground in the city where I had once been stopped by the police for meditating, a city known for its religious conservatism. What should I do? I couldn’t bring myself to say no, so I said, “Sure.” They sat down in front of me. “What do we do?” they asked. Again, I hesitated. I had visions of explaining my actions to a Bible-toting lynch mob. “Um, just close your eyes, go inside, and see what’s there.” Those instructions seemed safe enough, no mention of God, religion, yoga, mantra, or anything controversial. We all closed our eyes and sat in silence. After a few minutes the younger boy, about five-years old, jumped up. “WOW!” he exclaimed. “I was way up high in the sky with Jesus and then the preacher man told me, ‘You can’t be up there! Get back here!’ So I had to come back. WOW!” He looked at me and his companion once more and then ran across the playground to the swing set. His friend looked at him and without a word jumped up to join him. I finished my meditation and went home without incident. The experience impressed me for two reasons. Firstly, it impressed on me the fact that spirituality is a fundamental human characteristic, spontaneously present in children with minimal prompting. Secondly, I realized that this inherent spirituality is sometimes suppressed, perhaps inadvertently, by the very religions that profess to promote it. This young boy, only five years of age, already understood that, according to his religion, God is far away (high in the sky) and he is not allowed to go there (“Get back here,” the preacher said). Meditation can be used by people of any culture and religion to enhance their spiritual experience. Meditation is a practical process, simply a way to “close your eyes, go inside, and see what’s there.” 13. Reflected Consciousness I was nearly naked, save for my lungota (yoga underwear), as I stood alone in the dark on the edge of black water. The night sky showed a slight lightening in the east where the dawn would soon come. My eyes traveled across the water to the rocky cliffs that soared hundreds of feet into the air, a dark shadow against the starlit night. The waning crescent moon and brilliant morning star were reflected mirror-like on the calm surface of the water. As I stepped cautiously into the water, unable to see the bottom, ripples moved outward across the surface, distorting the image of the heavens. Shivering and wet after a short swim, I quickly dressed. Before returning to the meditation retreat for the earliest morning meditation, I paused and looked back. The canopy of the sky was once again reflected in the glasslike surface of the lake. There is but one moon simultaneously reflected in all bodies of water. The image of the moon in these various bodies of water changes if waves are present in each individual pool. Waves differ in magnitude, frequency, direction, and interference. Therefore, the surfaces of two disturbed pools are never exactly alike, and the reflected lunar images are never quite the same. Only a mirror-like pool free from all disturbance can accurately reproduce the image of the moon. In a similar way, one infinite consciousness is reflected in the minds of all beings. The human mind differs from that of other created beings in that it fully reflects consciousness. This fully reflected consciousness, however, is distorted by the mental waves of each individual. Just as a mirror, though characteristically unchanged, appears red when reflecting a red object, so also the one infinite consciousness takes on the guise of each individual and can appear angry or happy, educated or ignorant, fearful or confident. Through meditation, the waves of the mind are calmed until mirror-like it reflects the characteristic self-effulgence of infinite consciousness. In this state, mental forms are left behind and one experiences consciousness itself. 14. Postures and Chakras “Do we have to call it the ‘Corpse pose’? That name gives me the willies.” The year was 1973 and I was teaching my first series of weekly classes on yoga postures, free to the public at the city library. To accommodate the squeamishness of this student, we thereafter called the final posture the “deep relaxation pose.” A few weeks later she had another question. “Where exactly are your ‘back legs?’” she asked. “I’m sorry?” I responded, rather perplexed, as the other class members giggled. “Well, you said on the last posture that we should ‘extend our back legs and raise them off the ground.’” Realizing I had indeed made just that statement, we all began to laugh uproariously. From my instructions, it sounded like I should be teaching a veterinary yoga class to animals. In reality, yoga postures are often named after animals whose shapes or mentalities are reflected in the pose. The cobra pose resembles a snake rising up off the floor and the tortoise posture gives the practitioner the ability to withdraw the mind from the world much like a tortoise can withdraw its limbs. Yoga postures are much more than a system of stretching exercises; in fact, to refer to them as stretching exercises is a bit like referring to piano playing as finger exercises. Such a description misses the main point. The purpose of yoga postures is to strengthen specific glands and nervous plexi in the body. These glandular and nervous centers, when conceived on the psychic level, are known as “chakras.” These psychic substations throughout the body represent the interface between your physical structure and your mental/emotional experience. By regulating the glandular secretions and improving nervous tone, a practitioner of yoga postures experiences improved health and mental calm, both helpful for better meditation. The Sanskrit word for yoga postures is “asana” which means “posture comfortably held.” As such, postures should be performed in a comfortable, calm atmosphere. Yoga postures are a unique aspect of the overall approach of yoga for physical, mental, and spiritual health. 15. Group Meditation The next day there was to be a huge examination at school. I anxiously looked at the clock and decided I just didn’t have time to attend the weekly group meditation that night. Instead I stayed home, did my personal meditation, then made and ate some dinner. As I anxiously sat down to study I again looked at the clock. If I had gone to group meditation I would have been home in just fifteen more minutes. I would have been more relaxed, happy, energized, and better fed (having eaten in the collective meal). I resolved never to miss another group meditation in order to study, a resolution I maintained through many subsequent years of college. Regular attendance at group meditation is a helpful factor for success in meditation. The energy produced when people meditate together has a profound impact on the mind. Beginners, in particular, notice the improvement in their personal meditation in the days following group meditation. Just as important as the actual meditation is the association with spiritual people. The main determinant of a person’s character is the company they keep. If you associate with low-minded criminal people, there is every possibility you will become low-minded and criminal. And if you associate with high-minded people who are endeavoring to develop positive character traits and habits, then these are the traits and habits you will likely develop. 16. Diet Every day as she passed the pastry store window a particular chocolate cake beckoned to her. It was a tall, rich-looking brown cake with creamy frosting. Yet every day she resisted the temptation because, as a vegetarian who did not eat eggs, she assumed that this cake was made with eggs. One day she stopped and gazed at the cake. How did she know it had any eggs in it at all? Furthermore, even if there were one or two eggs in a cake that large, a single piece would have but a nibble. Resolutely she entered the shop, sat at a table, and, without inquiring as to ingredients, ordered a piece. It was the most delicious cake she had ever tasted. The flavor was exquisite and it simply melted in her mouth. Why had she waited so long? Each bite was an experience. Seeing her dreamy expression, one of the cooks paused at her table on his way to the kitchen. “You know,” he said, “that is the most amazing cake we make. Do you realize there are nineteen eggs in that cake?” Smiling proudly, he continued on to the kitchen. Nineteen eggs? She was still laughing as she left the shop; it was the last time that this cake attracted her so intensely. She realized that there were many other delicious foods made without eggs to satisfy this craving. What you eat or do not eat does not make you a “spiritual” person. (I wish life were so simple.) But your diet does have a profound influence on your health, mental outlook, moods, and ability to meditate deeply. That is why control over one’s diet is part of a yogic lifestyle. Foods good for both the mind and body are encouraged. Foods that are discouraged include stale or rotten foods, flesh foods, intoxicants, and foods that raise the passions and make the mind unsteady. Some people foolishly shy away from meditation from the mistaken belief that they must change their diet and other aspects of their life in order to practice. While some people find that changing to a yogic diet is easy and natural, it is not necessary to change one’s diet in order to undertake the practice of meditation. Over time, however, most practitioners find that their taste in food changes; they find they enjoy healthier foods and have less attraction to foods that disturb their minds. In other words, as they meditate they change internally and many aspects of their external life, such as diet, naturally change accordingly. 17. Ethics “Hmm,” he reflected thoughtfully. “Interesting possibility.” I was talking to the landlord and had pointed out to him that my college friends and I were part of a bona fide tax-exempt, non-profit service organization that taught meditation. Was there any possibility of getting a discount on rent? The landlord was a Scrooge-like fellow with a name that sounded like a predatory fish. I was hoping that talking about things like service and meditation would appeal to his higher nature. He began mumbling as he made calculations in his mind, “Hmm, 10% off ... minus 7% ... plus the kickback ... allowable deductions ... Hmm.” He ended up making an offer to me in which we would save a grand total of about ten dollars on rent while he actually made more money because I would be required to sign a hidden contract giving back money to him illegally. In other words, he would profit (through the combined kickback and tax savings) while we saved only a few dollars in rent and became co-conspirators in a criminal tax fraud. I declined to participate. I find that most people have a feeling for ethics and most of the time have a sense for what is right or wrong without requiring deep thought. This landlord, however, was not “most people.” To him ethics were an abstraction, a social inconvenience to be discarded or manipulated as necessary in order to gain more profit. It comes as a surprise to many, but for success in meditation, ethics and morality are essential. To put it another way, people who lie, cheat, and steal will not achieve success in their meditation. It is like trying to lose weight by walking every day to the doughnut shop and eating a dozen doughnuts. It just doesn’t work. This is why in the past those who wanted to learn meditation were required to follow moral principles for an extended period before they were taught. Currently, the ethical principles of yoga are taught from the early stages of meditation practice. 18. Living in Society When I was relatively new to meditation with maybe five or six months experience, I was invited to an outdoor wedding. The Catholic priest who conducted the ceremony was a gentleman from India who was also a respected professor of Sanskrit in the religious studies department at the university. The reception was held immediately after in the same location. On principle, as a student of meditation, I turned down the glass of champagne that was offered to me. Shortly thereafter I was talking with the Indian priest. He was drinking champagne and explained to me that at weddings and other social events it is appropriate to follow the norms of society and participate. Feeling somewhat rebuked, I accepted a glass of champagne and drank it. It was a hot day, and, taken on an empty stomach, the alcohol made me rather ill. I resolved that in the future I would follow my conscience and abstain from alcohol, disregarding the opinions of others. As the years have gone by I have found it is perfectly OK to be different. Perhaps it is because I respect others for who they are, but I find that no one takes offense at the fact that I do not eat meat, use drugs, or drink alcohol. I have noticed that sometimes for beginners of meditation, friends and relatives are initially reluctant to accept their practice. If you are consistent in your lifestyle, however, these same friends and relatives soon become your biggest supporters. All our friends and relatives know, for instance, that on Sunday evenings my family and I attend group meditation. They take no offense at this, rather, because of our consistency, they avoid scheduling events that will cause a conflict. It is important to honor the norms of the society in which you live. At the same time it is important to distinguish between those norms that are positive cultural expressions and those that are detrimental to the expression of higher values in personal and collective life. 19. Intuitional Science A small group of us were sitting around the dining area at a meditation retreat. My acharya (meditation teacher) was telling us a story. As he was speaking, I thought, “Perhaps I should get another glass of milk.” Without looking at me, or interrupting the flow of his story, he reached out, took the untouched glass of milk from his tray, and placed it in front of me. Momentarily taken aback, I overcame my surprise and drank it. At the time I presumed he had been “reading my mind.” In retrospect, it is more likely that, as he was speaking, the thought entered his mind, “Jyotisha should drink some more milk,” and he acted on that thought. This experience reflects a certain level of intuition. As one learns to meditate deeply, access to subtler layers of the mind becomes increasingly common. Most of the time we are only aware of the mundane layers of the mind, the layers in which we think and interact with the world. The subtler layers of the mind, however, are associated with universal knowledge. When flashes of insight from these deeper layers of the mind enter the conscious mind, they often take the form of a thought or image that is indistinguishable from the many random thoughts and images that enter our minds daily. It is often only in retrospect that we realize certain thoughts were actually intuitional insights. Over time one becomes more trusting of this process and relaxes while many problems and aspects of life just seem to take care of themselves. “Intuition” is a mental process that is not intellectual; it is beyond the intellect, a more subtle form of cognition. One name for yogic meditation is “intuitional science.” The goal of this intuitional science, however, is not access to knowledge of the physical or mental worlds. It is called “intuitional science” because realization of the spiritual goal is not an intellectual process; it is not something you can learn from a book or be taught in the usual sense. Meditation is intuitional in that it is a psycho-spiritual process in which the totality of one’s psychic identity is associated intuitionally with infinite consciousness. 20. Psychic Powers Shortly after learning meditation as a university student, I moved into a yoga house. It was a former fraternity house rented very cheaply by a loosely connected group of young people who shared an interest in yoga and meditation. One evening as we were conversing in the common room, there was a knock at the door. A large bearded man in a long robe entered the room accompanied by two women covered in shawls. He explained that they were travelling northward up the California coast seeking refuge from the “destructive psychic fog” of Los Angeles. He said that on the astral plane our house was a temple and that our psychic light had attracted them. We all sat together on the floor, ten or twelve people in all. The two women said nothing, remaining wrapped in their shawls and occasionally twitching as if they had touched an electric wire or some other noxious stimulus. The man explained that the two women were in a hyper-psychic state of extreme sensitivity and that we should carefully control our energy. He requested that we psychically extend him energy from a certain point on our bodies as he spoke. I felt uncomfortable with this unusual request and did not trust this man, and so did not comply. I had no prior experience with such circumstances or people and so decided to conduct an experiment. Without changing my expression or demeanor I visualized unleashing a torrent of energy from the point he described. In my mind, the energy lashed the room and its occupants, bouncing off the walls and ceiling. To my astonishment, the two women began to contort and twitch convulsively as if in agony. The robed man looked about the room, fixed me with a stare, and commanded, “You! Take back your energy!” I was surprised that, of all the people in the room, he could tell so easily that I was the culprit behind this disturbance. I consciously withdrew my energy projection and the women slumped in their shawls, resuming their previous level of twitching. This man and two women were students of the occult, undertaking practices with the goal of obtaining extraordinary psychic and spiritual powers. It is a foolish and dangerous path that does not benefit the practitioner, society, or the world at large. That is why I have never again attempted any experiment involving such powers. For success in the practice of yoga, one must focus on the spiritual goal. The physical beauty and health attained through the practice of yoga postures are not the true goal; such attainments do not give lasting happiness and eventually pass away. And those who indulge in beguiling psychic and spiritual powers rarely move beyond them; more commonly such practitioners become ensnared in a labyrinthine trap leading to spiritual degeneration. If any extraordinary powers come uninvited to the yogic spiritual aspirant, they must not be indulged. This is one reason why the practice of moral principles from the beginning stages of meditation is necessary. 21. Prayer versus Meditation “I don’t know what to do,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears. “God has not answered my prayers.” I have heard this same lament many times in many ways over the years. It is the product of a defective outlook. God always answers prayers, one-hundred percent of the time. The problem is, sometimes the answer is “No.” Prayer is, simply stated, talking to God and can be divided into three categories: praise, thanksgiving, and petition. Answers are expected only for the petition prayer, that is requests for help. Every concept of God I’ve ever come across includes the fact that God is omniscient or all-knowing. In other words, God already knows what your problems are, why you have them, what is best for you, and what the outcome will be. It is far better to acknowledge that God knows what is best for your life than to demand that God change circumstances to do what you think is best. Obstacles and problems are not your enemies. Progress in all spheres of life occurs through facing, embracing, and overcoming obstacles. In the physical sphere you cannot become a strong cyclist without accepting the challenge of the hill and riding up it. You cannot become a good swimmer without swimming across bodies of water or become strong without physical exertion. In the mental sphere, to sharpen and expand the intellect, you must accept the challenge of study; you will not progress by begging God to do your homework for you. The same principle holds true in the spiritual sphere. To develop spiritual traits such as compassion, love, devotion, forgiveness, patience, and moral courage you must embrace the problems and conflicts that require the development of these characteristics. These conflicts are a gift; if God removed everyone’s obstacles on request, spiritual progress and development would cease. Meditation and prayer are not the same thing. Prayer is talking to God, as discussed above, while meditation is the effort to bridge the finite with the infinite within. 22. Higher Purpose of Meditation “I used to meditate,” a college friend of mine told me when I informed him I was taking up the practice. He went on, “I got so that I could fall asleep every time and realized that I no longer needed to practice.” People meditate for different reasons; some for improved sports abilities, success in business, or academic success. It is true that meditation can give you this. Others meditate for stress reduction, relaxation, or improved relationships. It is true that meditation can help people with all these aspirations and more. But the real purpose of meditation is much more than any of these goals; it is the realization of infinite consciousness. Those who focus on this higher purpose of meditation will still get results in other areas, such as stress reduction and academics, while making progress towards self-realization. Such spiritual realization is not an experience limited to a handful of saints. All great people were once common people who took the determination to live according to an ideal. As a human being, you not only have the capacity to meditate, it is your birthright. To claim this birthright and to realize your true nature is your ultimate spiritual destiny. 23. Samadhi There were 60 or 70 of us sitting on the floor of the simple auditorium at a meditation retreat in rural Missouri listening to a lecture by a yogic monk. A young Chinese woman sitting near me was meditating. Suddenly, with a moderately loud gasping sound, she was flung backwards and lay still facing up. “Oh, she is in samadhi [deep meditation],” I thought and returned my attention to the speaker. Samadhi is a meditation state in which the concentrated mind has become inwardly absorbed. The mind is composed of a number of layers that cover one another much like the petals of a flower. Through meditation, when the cruder outer layers of the mind are absorbed into the subtle inner layers, the practitioner experiences varying states of inner bliss, depending on the level of absorption. There are different stages of this experience and not everyone will fall over as this woman had done. In the less advanced stages, the practitioner remains remotely aware of their surroundings and excess stimulation can prematurely break their concentration and end their experience. “Call a doctor,” a voice called and someone ran from the room. Apparently, not everyone shared my perspective on the situation. Perhaps I was mistaken. Being a doctor, I stood up and went to take a closer look. I knelt over her, gently felt her pulse and looked into her face. Her eyes were pulsing rhythmically upwards behind closed lids. I was familiar with this and, having seen the whole event, it was easy for me to recognize that she was in a state of deep meditation. “She’s OK,” I said and returned to my seat so as not to disturb her. A number of people looked at me skeptically. Then another doctor ran into the room with a medical bag, knowing only that he was responding to an “emergency.” He frantically began checking her pulse and respirations, attempting to assess her status. His concerned manner was compelling and a small crowd gathered around. The lecturer continued to speak. When the other doctor began to pry open her lids and shine a light in her eyes, I thought, “Enough is enough,” and walked back over. Kneeling next to him I whispered diplomatically, “I guess its good to be thorough, but I think she is just meditating.” He paused and looked at me, considering. Then the well-trained doctor part of him took over and he continued his exam, though in a gentler and less invasive manner. Unsure what to do and not wanting to further disturb the lecture, I returned to my seat. Then a yogic nun ran in with a glass of warm milk and, joining the crowd, knelt next to the woman. This was really too much! I hopped up and walked over. “Didi [sister],” I whispered. “She is just meditating, leave her alone.” The nun looked at her and, grasping the situation, said apologetically, “I didn’t know. Someone just said there was an emergency and to bring warm milk.” She left, taking her milk with her. At this point all of the attention in the room was focused on this drama and no one was listening to the speaker. Annoyed, and understanding the situation, the speaker said, “Would some of you please carry her outside and let her get some fresh air?” He then made some comments about different states of meditation before continuing his lecture. We carried her outside and placed her on a blanket in the shade outside the door to the auditorium. I explained to those sitting nearby that she was meditating and no one should disturb her. They seemed to understand. Even the other doctor was now convinced and left. I went back inside to hear the lecture. As I sat down, I turned and looked back out the window. Another crowd of concerned people was already gathering around the woman. I ran back outside. A holistic health practitioner with an air of urgent purpose was kneeling over her. He was holding one of her nostrils shut with his left hand and reaching down to hold her toe in his right hand while someone else held an open remedy bottle under her other nostril. “Leave her alone!” I barked in exasperation. “She’s meditating!” They immediately stopped, but looked at me somewhat reproachfully. I sat down next to the woman to prevent more attempts at saving her life and strained to hear the lecture through the window. A minute or two later the woman sat up with closed eyes and continued to meditate in a normal sitting posture. Relieved of my duty, I went back inside to hear the remaining lecture. As you progress in your meditation, you come to realize that your spiritual goal is not far away; in fact, it is hidden inside you. Like a wave on the ocean, your every thought and feeling is a dance on the body of infinite consciousness. This infinite consciousness is not something separate from you; it is a part of you. Or, perhaps, it is better said that you are a part of it. 24. Service It was a Valentine’s Day party and the participants were supposed to name a fruit or vegetable to complete the sentences of a romance story that was being read. One line went, “If we cantaloupe then I will go to the bridge endive off. Lettuce go now, my love.” It was a funny story and everyone had a good time. Throughout the evening, those of us from our local meditation group worked by setting up, carrying tables, serving food, cleaning up, etc. At the end of the evening the master of ceremonies publicly thanked the volunteers whose efforts had made this senior citizen dinner party possible. The name of our school of meditation is Ananda Marga (the “path of bliss”). He stepped to the microphone and announced, “We would like to thank these fine young people from Amanda Mango who came here to help us tonight.” Amanda Mango? There was no opportunity to correct this gentleman and, in the big picture, it really didn’t matter. For service refers to actions done for the benefit of others without receiving anything in return. (If you receive something in return it is called “business.”) Performing service is a part and parcel of the path of yoga. Everyone can do something; teach a skill, donate money, give food, pick up trash... something. While performing service, one should feel that the service is being done to the supreme consciousness in the form of the served. One should further feel that it is the supreme consciousness itself that is performing the service and that one is simply the medium. In this way the service remains a pure expression of welfare while ego and petty self-interest stay out of the picture. 25. Balanced Life Half asleep I stumbled through the dark and found the alarm clock that was kept across the room so that I could not turn it off in my sleep. In its orange glow the time of four a.m. could be read. After meditating on a regular basis for four years, I had become inspired to meditate very seriously. Despite the fact that I was in a demanding academic program, I was determined to devote my life to the attainment of self-realization. I rose daily at four a.m., took a quick cold bath, did kiirtan (chanting) for fifteen minutes, followed by a one and one half hour meditation. Then I would do asanas (yoga postures) for about 20 minutes. When all that was done, in my remaining 25 minutes, I would make and eat breakfast, make and pack my lunch, and run out the door to barely catch the bus. I had classes every weekday morning from 7:30 to 12:30 and clinic most afternoons from 1:00 to 6:00. By the time I got home, meditated again for an hour and a half, did more asanas, and ate some dinner, it was time for bed. Most students in the program were studying nightly many hours; I was lucky to study that much in the course of a week. I kept this schedule for four months when I finally had to acknowledge that this was not a balanced lifestyle. I had experienced new depths in my meditation, but I was not giving proper attention to my studies. I still continued to meditate twice daily and to do asanas, but I meditated for shorter periods and adjusted my schedule to find time for daily study. One of the oldest yogic symbols is the six-pointed star. It is the combination of an upward-pointing triangle and a downward pointing triangle. This symbol represents balance between one’s internal and external lives; the upward triangle representing action in the world and the downward triangle representing the inner pursuit of meditation. It is not possible to escape your obligations in life. Those people who try to leave the world to lead a “spiritual” life eventually find that the very problems they were trying to leave behind have accompanied them. The best approach is to meditate regularly while embracing and honoring your life. In this way, even if you can only spare a few minutes twice daily for meditation, there will be benefits to yourself, your family, and the world around you. 26. Family Life and Renunciates There was a little old man standing and gazing over the stone wall. He was alone and wearing clothes of modest means. I realized he was a local villager attending this large mela (spiritual festival) in rural eastern India. His simple demeanor and loneliness suggested to me that this was the first time he had attended; most certainly he had never met a westerner. I decided to befriend him and make him more comfortable. Striding up to him, I asked him in the local Bengali language, “Apni ki English bolen [Do you speak English]?” He looked at me with a surprised expression. “Yes, I do,” he responded. Another older Indian man joined him and looked at me curiously. We had only a moment to small talk when groups of people began coming by and paying their salutations to him. I recognized people I deeply respected, including senior monks and nuns, coming forward and reverentially touching his feet. The realization dawned on me that I had seriously misjudged the situation. It turned out that he was one of the oldest and most respected practitioners and spiritual teachers (acharyas) at the mela; in fact he was widely considered a saint in the area that he was from. He took no offense at my forwardness; he seemed to understand my heart and that I had intended him nothing but goodwill. After a short but interesting conversation, I extricated myself from the situation as tactfully as possible and blended back in with the crowds. It is equally respectable to be a family person and to serve both one’s small family as well as our larger human family, or to be a renunciate and dedicate oneself fully to the service of humanity. This man was a family acharya, a spiritual teacher who taught meditation as a service while maintaining his family life. Spiritually advanced people are characterized most commonly by extreme simplicity. They view the world with equanimity, seeing everything as an expression of the supreme. Their demeanor, dress, and habits are modest. They endeavor to set an example in their conduct; indeed, to teach by example is their main methodology. 27. Ego and Grace “What is the most painful thing?” he asked in the soft light of early evening as our meditation ended. We were a small group of westerners sitting with an orange clad monk on the side of a hill far from lights and civilization. He had taken us by jeep, miles from nowhere, to enjoy the deep peace of this ancient place. We contemplated his question. Various answers were put forth, but none to his satisfaction. “The most painful thing,” he explained, “is the ego. All the pain in your life, your burdens and cares, your frustrations and grief, your disappointments and humiliation are the result of this small identity. You must expand this small identity and merge it with the cosmic identity; become one with the infinite consciousness and all pain ceases.” God’s grace shines equally on all people, whether good or bad, at all times, and in all places. There is no place you have ever been or can ever go where this grace is not present. It is like the sun, shining impartially on all. If you choose to stay in the shelter of your small ego, however, you will not experience its rays. As you progress in meditation there is a growing sense that your every experience in life is dependent on this grace – that your every breath, thought, and feeling is an expression of cosmic grace. 28. Mantra Taking a break from the mela (festival) and its fifteen-thousand participants, my wife and I walked along the small river as the water tumbled over and between large smooth rocks. We were far from civilization as we know it, far from flush toilets or running water, in the impoverished countryside of eastern India. We had bathed daily in this river or out of buckets drawn from open wells. Our search for a quiet meditation spot that evening was interrupted when we encountered two men laboring to prepare their meal over a small gasoline stove on the bank of the river. “Namaskar [salutations],” they said. We returned the greeting and introductions were commenced. The thin young man was Jitendra, but I was having trouble understanding the name of the chubby one. “I am Bugbut,” he said proudly in heavily accented English. “I’m sorry?” I replied. “Bugbut,” he said. “Bhagavat?” I asked, choosing a Sanskrit name close to what I was hearing. He looked perplexed. “Bugbut,” he repeated a third time. Frustrated, I decided to make it clear what I was hearing. “Bug Butt?” I asked. “Hyan [yes],” he smiled. “Bugbut.” And so it was, at his insistence, we called him Bug Butt. Thereafter, through the remaining days of the mela, we encountered these two young men frequently. They must have thought I was a very jolly fellow as every time I greeted them I could not suppress my laughter. I just could not say, “Namaskar [salutations], Bug Butt,” with a straight face. My strange affect did not seem to bother them at all; on the contrary, it seemed to break whatever cultural barrier stood between us and they were immensely hospitable toward us. In retrospect, I think his name probably was Bhagavat, a name of Sanskrit origin with an uplifting meaning. The problem was that his Bengali accent and my California accent were just not connecting up. Words are sounds to which we attach meaning. When I said the word “Bug Butt,” this gentleman heard a name that had a subtle and uplifting meaning while I heard a meaning relating to the posterior of an insect. The yogic science of mantra is the science of sounds; the use of special Sanskrit words and phrases that resonate to the innermost core of the mind. But mantra is not a meaningless sound; all mantras used in yogic meditation have meaning. Ideation on this meaning is as important as the correct incantation of the sound. The rhythm and sound of the mantra resonates through the cakras (psychic centers along the spine) to the base of the spine and awakens what is called the kundalini, the spiritual potentiality dormant in the lowest cakra. But it is the ideative aspect of the mantra (the meaning of the mantra) that associates this awakened potential with infinite consciousness. Stated another way, you cannot attain spiritual enlightenment by merely repeating a sound. To associate one’s identity with that of infinite consciousness requires the ideational aspect of the mantra. Repeating a mantra without ideating on its meaning can facilitate deep relaxation and mental concentration, but, according to the science of yoga, it does not result in psychic expansion. It is true that in the final merger with unqualified consciousness one goes beyond the mantra. This is because in that state the final subject (the infinite witnessing consciousness), its object (your sense of identity), and the connecting link (mantra), all become one. 29. Mental Contentment “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...” Before blowing out the candles on the cake, I was instructed to make a wish. I made my usual wish for my spiritual goal of perfect devotion. Then I looked around me. I was surrounded by friends and loved ones and was enjoying a birthday party in my honor. So, I also wished that it were my birthday and that, surrounded by friends and loved ones, there was a birthday party in my honor. And in that moment I discovered one of the greatest secrets for mental peace. By wishing for what I already had, my wish came true, one-hundred percent. Mental contentment is a practice, not an attainment. Most people fail to be content due to frustration over their problems in life or their unfulfilled desires; how can they be content until their problems are solved or they have attained this or that possession or accomplishment? But as long as you live and breathe you will have problems and there will always be something that you desire or need. I am not advocating giving up goals or dreams. Without goals, people’s minds and lives tend to stagnate. And without dreams they lose their momentum. But, believe it or not, by practicing satisfaction with what you already have, your progress towards the attainment of your goals and dreams will be enhanced. The practice of mental contentment is part of the successful practice of yoga. 30. Meditation and Social Change The Kolkata [Calcutta] traffic was at a standstill and the driver, anticipating a long wait, had turned off his engine. A beggar girl from the sidewalk thrust her arm into the rear of the taxi, her dirty face and unkempt hair framed by the window opening. Her voice had a harsh quality and her dull eyes reflected cruelty and abuse. She was doubtless the slave of a neighborhood mafia boss who organizes street urchins into a lucrative business, maintaining the children until they are no longer useful. My wife, sandwiched in the middle of the back seat, was the target of this girl, who had to reach across an orange clad yogic nun seated by the window. The nun fixed soft eyes on the girl and spoke, her Bengali words, though unintelligible to me, sounding sincere and friendly. The beggar girl, accustomed to rejection, anger, and physical blows suddenly looked confused and uncertain. She withdrew her hand, then put it hesitantly forward again. Glancing nervously at the nun, she abandoned the rear window and approached me in the front seat. As she reached her hand towards me she glanced back at the nun. Their eyes met and the beggar girl turned and ran. I had never seen anything like it. Usually these children are so hardened by living on the streets that nothing can make them leave; yet the nun’s words, while sounding benign, had sent the girl scurrying. “Didi [sister],” I asked. “What did you say to her?” “I invited her to come and live with me, as my daughter, in my ashram [meditation center]. I told her that I would care for her, see that she was fed and clothed, and that she would receive an education. I said that she would never have to live on the street again.” The nun looked thoughtful. “I’m willing to,” she said. “But if I were to take her home I would be accused of kidnapping. The laws are very complicated and it is difficult as well as expensive to adopt these street children.” She would know. There were already a few such children and homeless elderly women living in her ashram. I saw for myself while staying in Kolkata that, although this nun lived a simple life (exemplified by sleeping on a wooden bench with nothing but a blanket), she raised funds to provide life-saving heart surgery for the young daughter of an impoverished family. We are living in a transitional era of history in which the narrow sentiments that have so long dominated the world are failing. The social and environmental realms are deteriorating and our socio-economic institutions, political systems, and religions are not only inadequate to address the crisis, they are actually part of the cause. To change the world is no small task. It requires not only love and compassion, but also self-sacrifice, courage, and noble actions. More than that, it requires cosmic vision, the ability to see all problems as your own problem, to feel all pain as your own pain, to see all of humanity as members of your own family. Meditation is not just for your personal benefit. It is the starting point of true revolution, the liberation of mind and the actions free from prejudice or narrowness that naturally follow. 31. Practice versus Belief We live near the seashore and purchased small wetsuits (insulated swimwear) for our three youngest children. With this gear, they could play at the beach and have some protection from both cold winds and excess sun exposure. My youngest daughter was just five-years old at the time. She proudly put on her new wetsuit before we went to the beach in the late afternoon. She played with her siblings in the sand and shallow water, exposed for an hour to a wet and chilly wind while my wife and I meditated. After meditation I noticed she was shivering and her lips were blue. “Annapurna,” I inquired with concern, “aren’t you cold?” “N-n-no,” she answered through chattering teeth. “I’m w-w-wearing a wetsuit.” Our beliefs have a lot to do with how we perceive and interpret our experience. Yoga differs from religion in that it is not a belief system, it is a practice. The philosophy of yoga (a small portion of which has been introduced in this book) is non-sectarian and universal, but it is not necessary to believe it in order to successfully undertake the practice. Just as a jogger will get the same results by following a jogging program whether or not they understand the physiology of jogging, so also in yoga, practice is primary and theory is secondary. If you want to taste a delicious strawberry, you cannot just read about strawberries, you must obtain one and eat it. In a similar way, if you want to experience the benefits of meditation you must undertake its practice. In the true yoga system, access to meditation is considered your birthright and there is never a charge for instruction. When you undertake this practice you will have a tool for exploring your own consciousness. Through the use of this tool, you will find the truth of your own spiritual nature within.
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