Yoga.......pain......suffering.......

[Guest guest]

Dear friends

 

Here is an article on yoga.....suffering......pain.......we human beings

experience in this world.............

 

Yoga transforms and liberates human beings so that they can reach this unbounded

state. Humans, unlike animals, are not merely existing. They are becoming. To

evolve as a human being is to become aware of one’s limitations; to strive, with

intense passion, towards the transcendence for which we all have the potential.

 

What is Yoga?

 

Yogic science not only provides knowledge about the underlying basis of

metaphysical principles and ethical values, but it also provides the necessary

tools to completely transform human nature. Its aim is to bring about

perspectives beyond intellectual understanding, and to foster experiences that

bring life into a new dimension of perception.

 

 

The emphasis of yoga therefore is not on the external and perceivable areas of

endeavour, which lead to bondage and limitation, but on the inner and intangible

fields, which lead to freedom and perfection. It involves the alchemical

transformation of a limited being into an unbounded one.

 

Yoga is both a philosophy and a science. The philosophy and the science of yoga

are not only intertwined and inseparable but they also reinforce each other. The

philosophy emphasizes the existence of the Divine within. The science is the

method that verifies this doctrine by setting out certain kinds of discipline,

certain techniques and practices that enable the emergence of this divinity

within the self.

 

Liberation while living is the goal of yoga, the highest experience, a fusion of

the individual with the universal. The human body with its physiological and

psychological processes becomes an instrument through which the cosmic power

reveals itself. Yoga is the path towards this union.

 

There are four different kinds of yoga. Each person chooses one’s own path of

yoga depending on what is natural and dominant in him or her.

 

In Bhakti yoga, union takes place through love and devotion; Karma yoga is the

way to liberation through selfless action, Gnana yoga leads to union through

intelligence, while Kriya yoga reaches the ultimate goal by the transformation

of inner energies.

 

In a specific context, yoga has come to mean spiritual union with the Absolute,

the Absolute being oneself or the Divine within. This union results in

self-realization - Mukti or Nirvana. Through perfect yoga this freedom is

attained. Yoga is not something one does; it is the medium of one becoming the

crucible of self-transformation. It is not a practice, but a certain way to be.

 

Beyond senses

 

It is arguably the most difficult thing to prove that one’s knowledge and

perception can exist or develop beyond the five senses. If one were to take away

the frame of the reference that these senses provide, for instance, if one were

to describe a newly found object without using any of the familiar words

indicating sense perception, how would one do it?

 

 

What does it look, smell, taste, sound and feel like?

 

Is it possible to describe the object without a reference to any of these? Yet

the existence of the object cannot be denied merely because our powers of

description are limited to the use of our five senses. Can language, which is

premised, for all its expression and communication, on the information of our

five senses, ever hold the possibility of explaining the unexplainable?

 

In brief, only that which is physical can be experienced through the senses and

anything that is beyond the realm of the senses cannot be.

 

 

Moreover, not only do the sense organs become limited in their perception but

also deceptive when one shifts the frame of reference to the realms beyond

physical perception.

 

Every seeker looks for ways of getting beneath the surface of life as it

appears, and to experience life as it is. Different people call this quest by

different names: searching for God, longing for personal fulfillment, seeking

enlightenment, or seeking meaning. But whatever it is, every seeker is looking

for ways to free himself from the limitations of the logical mind.

 

Yoga deepens, broadens and strengthens the visionary power of the mind. It opens

the door of that realm of sensing beyond the five senses.

Flowers Within

 

 

In layman’s understanding yoga is body postures. But yoga extends far beyond

these asanas, which only constitute its preparatory aspect. Central to the

science of yoga is the awakening of the chakras, metaphorically symbolized as

the astral lotuses. These are intangible; but the fact that they were discovered

and known by the ancient sages reveals the power of yoga, that it can yield

insights into aspects of the human body that are not ordinarily accessible to

perception and thought. Just as there exists the physiology of the human body,

as understood by modern science, there also exists a complete and complex energy

system of the human body, which is understood in great depth by yogic

physiology.

 

 

 

An important contribution to this experience is the awakening of the seven

chakras or the invisible energy centers on the human body.

 

These chakras are manifestations of specific convergence of the nadis or energy

pathways of the body, each chakra creating a completely different dimension of

experience and possibilities.

 

Vast reserves of unmanifest energies exist in latent form, not only in every

human being but also in every atom of the universe. This energy is referred to

as Kundalini, symbolized as a coiled serpent lying at the base of the spine.

Often, an individual’s Kundalini lies dormant throughout a lifetime and the

person is unaware of its existence. The object of yoga is to awaken this cosmic

energy.

 

This latent cosmic energy, which lies at the base of the spinal column, can be

aroused and made to reach the higher energy centers only when the nadis, or the

subtle channels of the body, are clear. There are 72,000 nadis in the human

system. Though attempts have been made to identify these energy pathways within

the anatomy of the physical body, they are unfathomable to direct empirical

observation. If the nadis could be revealed to the eye, the body would appear as

a highly complex network of energy. The most important of the nadis is the

central channel, Sushumna, and its two flanking channels, the Ida on the left,

and the Pingala on the right. The Sushumna runs from just below Muladhara, the

base chakra, and extends to the forehead through the spinal column. The Sushumna

nadi remains closed at its lower end as long as the kundalini is not awakened.

 

When kindled, the Kundalini moves through successive chakras or psychic centers

until it reaches the highest, the seventh chakra, or the Sahasrar. The process

of yoga results in the peaking of each chakra, leading to an experience of a

dimension beyond the five senses.

 

To awaken the chakras to a higher level of intensity it needs tremendous

energies, awareness and skill. The legends of great yogis speak of the rigours

of the quest: the extraordinary renunciation, the intense search, the wandering,

the physical and mental discipline, the austerity, the persistence and above all

the indomitable longing. When the turbulent stages of the quest are past and the

still center that is the Divine stands revealed, there is the awesome moment of

enlightenment. At this moment, not only is the enlightened being rapturous and

ecstatic, but the whole world is also positively affected.

 

Patanjali

 

 

Where did this great spiritual discipline of yoga originate? It is said to have

been gleaned from Creation itself. The practice and philosophy of yoga was

codified, at any rate, in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. And who was Patanjali?

We have little historical evidence of his existence, though some scholars

identify him with the famous Sanskrit grammarian of the same name who lived in

the second century B.C

 

 

 

But legend gives us a more meaningful version of Patanjali’s identity. Following

the path of many Indian syncretisms, legend adds a further twist to this tale.

Patanjali, legend says, is none other than Ananta or Sesha, the Cosmic Serpent

on whom the Lord Vishnu reclines - who is, indeed, another form of the Lord

himself. The Serpent, in the mythology of many peoples of the world, is itself a

manifestation of the undifferentiated Ocean, from which all life springs, the

womb of existence and renewal. It also symbolizes the power of the secret, the

mystery of transcendence: Ananta, without end, the Boundless.

 

Guru - Shishya Paramparya (Master - Disciple relationship)

 

 

Among communities devoted to exploring the resources of the spirit, yoga evolved

into a secret mystical practice, until recently transmitted only to the chosen

few.

 

 

 

As the energy states addressed by yoga are not within the purview of the five

senses, the guidance of a Guru is usually needed to experience these inner

states. It was also seen that the raising of the chakras until the sixth chakra,

the ajna, could be done through various other paths, but to reach beyond that

requires the presence of a Guru. The Guru and the disciple, forming the Guru

shishya paramparya, created an environment in which the spiritual aspirations of

the disciple were allowed fulfillment, through the raising of the Kundalini and

the heightening of the chakras. All relationships rely on mental, emotional and

physical sharing but the Master disciple relationship is unique in that it is

energy based.

 

Modern science, due to its total dependence on the five senses, has privileged

an empirical or rational approach to the process of research or seeking,

limiting itself to the more pedestrian powers of the human mind. Modern

education has echoed this approach, ignoring and neglecting the receptive

potential of the individual. In this climate, there is great skepticism about

the ability of a Guru to possess insight that goes beyond rationality. Yet,

throughout history, the seeker has time and again been intuitively drawn to a

Guru. To fulfill this urge for spiritual guidance, some visionary Gurus have

created energy centers that replicate the Guru’s presence and energy.

 

Well it is our choice as a humanbeing to live a life of pain and suffering or

understand what this pain or suffering is a thereby not getting caught in the

web yet doing one's duties in this wonderful world!

 

Any comments are welcome

 

Shiva shambo

 

Vipin

 

 

 

 

 

Mail is new and improved - Check it out!

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for this! Yes! the beautiful liberation begins with the first

meditation-- opening one intuitively to the indescribable. Literally

indescribable,

because that level of perception is above the utility of words.

 

Did you know that regular meditation, in addition to its other phsiological

benefits,

increases the number of neural connections between the two hemispheres of the

brain?

 

Thanks! Take care, kari

 

 

, vipin kannan

<vipinendran> wrote:

>

> Dear friends

>

> Here is an article on yoga.....suffering......pain.......we human beings

experience in

this world.............

>

> Yoga transforms and liberates human beings so that they can reach this

unbounded state. Humans, unlike animals, are not merely existing. They are

becoming. To evolve as a human being is to become aware of one's limitations; to

strive, with intense passion, towards the transcendence for which we all have

the

potential.

>

> What is Yoga?

>

> Yogic science not only provides knowledge about the underlying basis of

metaphysical principles and ethical values, but it also provides the necessary

tools to

completely transform human nature. Its aim is to bring about perspectives beyond

intellectual understanding, and to foster experiences that bring life into a new

dimension of perception.

>

>

> The emphasis of yoga therefore is not on the external and perceivable areas of

endeavour, which lead to bondage and limitation, but on the inner and intangible

fields, which lead to freedom and perfection. It involves the alchemical

transformation

of a limited being into an unbounded one.

>

> Yoga is both a philosophy and a science. The philosophy and the science of

yoga

are not only intertwined and inseparable but they also reinforce each other. The

philosophy emphasizes the existence of the Divine within. The science is the

method

that verifies this doctrine by setting out certain kinds of discipline, certain

techniques

and practices that enable the emergence of this divinity within the self.

>

> Liberation while living is the goal of yoga, the highest experience, a fusion

of the

individual with the universal. The human body with its physiological and

psychological processes becomes an instrument through which the cosmic power

reveals itself. Yoga is the path towards this union.

>

> There are four different kinds of yoga. Each person chooses one's own path of

yoga

depending on what is natural and dominant in him or her.

>

> In Bhakti yoga, union takes place through love and devotion; Karma yoga is the

way

to liberation through selfless action, Gnana yoga leads to union through

intelligence,

while Kriya yoga reaches the ultimate goal by the transformation of inner

energies.

>

> In a specific context, yoga has come to mean spiritual union with the

Absolute, the

Absolute being oneself or the Divine within. This union results in

self-realization -

Mukti or Nirvana. Through perfect yoga this freedom is attained. Yoga is not

something one does; it is the medium of one becoming the crucible of self-

transformation. It is not a practice, but a certain way to be.

>

> Beyond senses

>

> It is arguably the most difficult thing to prove that one's knowledge and

perception

can exist or develop beyond the five senses. If one were to take away the frame

of the

reference that these senses provide, for instance, if one were to describe a

newly

found object without using any of the familiar words indicating sense

perception, how

would one do it?

>

>

> What does it look, smell, taste, sound and feel like?

>

> Is it possible to describe the object without a reference to any of these? Yet

the

existence of the object cannot be denied merely because our powers of

description

are limited to the use of our five senses. Can language, which is premised, for

all its

expression and communication, on the information of our five senses, ever hold

the

possibility of explaining the unexplainable?

>

> In brief, only that which is physical can be experienced through the senses

and

anything that is beyond the realm of the senses cannot be.

>

>

> Moreover, not only do the sense organs become limited in their perception but

also

deceptive when one shifts the frame of reference to the realms beyond physical

perception.

>

> Every seeker looks for ways of getting beneath the surface of life as it

appears, and

to experience life as it is. Different people call this quest by different

names:

searching for God, longing for personal fulfillment, seeking enlightenment, or

seeking meaning. But whatever it is, every seeker is looking for ways to free

himself

from the limitations of the logical mind.

>

> Yoga deepens, broadens and strengthens the visionary power of the mind. It

opens

the door of that realm of sensing beyond the five senses.

> Flowers Within

>

>

> In layman's understanding yoga is body postures. But yoga extends far beyond

these asanas, which only constitute its preparatory aspect. Central to the

science of

yoga is the awakening of the chakras, metaphorically symbolized as the astral

lotuses. These are intangible; but the fact that they were discovered and known

by

the ancient sages reveals the power of yoga, that it can yield insights into

aspects of

the human body that are not ordinarily accessible to perception and thought.

Just as

there exists the physiology of the human body, as understood by modern science,

there also exists a complete and complex energy system of the human body, which

is

understood in great depth by yogic physiology.

>

>

>

> An important contribution to this experience is the awakening of the seven

chakras

or the invisible energy centers on the human body.

>

> These chakras are manifestations of specific convergence of the nadis or

energy

pathways of the body, each chakra creating a completely different dimension of

experience and possibilities.

>

> Vast reserves of unmanifest energies exist in latent form, not only in every

human

being but also in every atom of the universe. This energy is referred to as

Kundalini,

symbolized as a coiled serpent lying at the base of the spine. Often, an

individual's

Kundalini lies dormant throughout a lifetime and the person is unaware of its

existence. The object of yoga is to awaken this cosmic energy.

>

> This latent cosmic energy, which lies at the base of the spinal column, can be

aroused and made to reach the higher energy centers only when the nadis, or the

subtle channels of the body, are clear. There are 72,000 nadis in the human

system.

Though attempts have been made to identify these energy pathways within the

anatomy of the physical body, they are unfathomable to direct empirical

observation.

If the nadis could be revealed to the eye, the body would appear as a highly

complex

network of energy. The most important of the nadis is the central channel,

Sushumna,

and its two flanking channels, the Ida on the left, and the Pingala on the

right. The

Sushumna runs from just below Muladhara, the base chakra, and extends to the

forehead through the spinal column. The Sushumna nadi remains closed at its

lower

end as long as the kundalini is not awakened.

>

> When kindled, the Kundalini moves through successive chakras or psychic

centers

until it reaches the highest, the seventh chakra, or the Sahasrar. The process

of yoga

results in the peaking of each chakra, leading to an experience of a dimension

beyond the five senses.

>

> To awaken the chakras to a higher level of intensity it needs tremendous

energies,

awareness and skill. The legends of great yogis speak of the rigours of the

quest: the

extraordinary renunciation, the intense search, the wandering, the physical and

mental discipline, the austerity, the persistence and above all the indomitable

longing. When the turbulent stages of the quest are past and the still center

that is

the Divine stands revealed, there is the awesome moment of enlightenment. At

this

moment, not only is the enlightened being rapturous and ecstatic, but the whole

world is also positively affected.

>

> Patanjali

>

>

> Where did this great spiritual discipline of yoga originate? It is said to

have been

gleaned from Creation itself. The practice and philosophy of yoga was codified,

at any

rate, in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. And who was Patanjali? We have little

historical

evidence of his existence, though some scholars identify him with the famous

Sanskrit grammarian of the same name who lived in the second century B.C

>

>

>

> But legend gives us a more meaningful version of Patanjali's identity.

Following the

path of many Indian syncretisms, legend adds a further twist to this tale.

Patanjali,

legend says, is none other than Ananta or Sesha, the Cosmic Serpent on whom the

Lord Vishnu reclines - who is, indeed, another form of the Lord himself. The

Serpent,

in the mythology of many peoples of the world, is itself a manifestation of the

undifferentiated Ocean, from which all life springs, the womb of existence and

renewal. It also symbolizes the power of the secret, the mystery of

transcendence:

Ananta, without end, the Boundless.

>

> Guru - Shishya Paramparya (Master - Disciple relationship)

>

>

> Among communities devoted to exploring the resources of the spirit, yoga

evolved

into a secret mystical practice, until recently transmitted only to the chosen

few.

>

>

>

> As the energy states addressed by yoga are not within the purview of the five

senses, the guidance of a Guru is usually needed to experience these inner

states. It

was also seen that the raising of the chakras until the sixth chakra, the ajna,

could be

done through various other paths, but to reach beyond that requires the presence

of

a Guru. The Guru and the disciple, forming the Guru shishya paramparya, created

an

environment in which the spiritual aspirations of the disciple were allowed

fulfillment,

through the raising of the Kundalini and the heightening of the chakras. All

relationships rely on mental, emotional and physical sharing but the Master

disciple

relationship is unique in that it is energy based.

>

> Modern science, due to its total dependence on the five senses, has privileged

an

empirical or rational approach to the process of research or seeking, limiting

itself to

the more pedestrian powers of the human mind. Modern education has echoed this

approach, ignoring and neglecting the receptive potential of the individual. In

this

climate, there is great skepticism about the ability of a Guru to possess

insight that

goes beyond rationality. Yet, throughout history, the seeker has time and again

been

intuitively drawn to a Guru. To fulfill this urge for spiritual guidance, some

visionary

Gurus have created energy centers that replicate the Guru's presence and energy.

>

> Well it is our choice as a humanbeing to live a life of pain and suffering or

understand what this pain or suffering is a thereby not getting caught in the

web yet

doing one's duties in this wonderful world!

>

> Any comments are welcome

>

> Shiva shambo

>

> Vipin

>

>

>

>

>

> Mail is new and improved - Check it out!

>

>