Lesson two

[Guest guest]

Lesson two

 

1) God in my life the soul/atma, the neutral observer, who is

that which remains in deep sleep and when one pays attention is still

there when one is awake.

2)In the opast year to come closer to God- Coming closer to God means

coming closer to one's self. This means removing layers of illusion

built up during the lifetime. These illusions become part of the

identity of the self. "I am this, I am that".

 

Concretely to achieve this peeling away of more onion layers of maya

in the last year or so I have learned Tai Chi which brings the

awareness of "self" in motion which yoga asanas and meditation in

that they are static, do not achieve as readily.

 

Lately I have learned to be a left hander and suspect this was

suppressed in me my whole life and although I do things like writing

or cutting more slowly than with the right hand now as I have learned

over the last several months that a particular integration of the

personality and energy in the body takes places which reduces desire

and anxiety and frees up another half of me that I never really knew

before.

 

Lastly I have abandoned a strict vegetarianism and adopted a so

called paleolithic or no-grain diet and found more energy, alertness,

concentration and less need for sleep, allowing more time for

spiritual practices such as Jyotish or Tai Chi which I now do almost

daily and not just weekly as was earlier the case. I was surprised at

the effects of the diet change when I stopped eating lots of rice,

potatoes and bread and learned about the effects of glucose and

insulin on the body and stopped thinking in purely religious terms of

meat/protein. I eat however much more non grain vegetables than

previously was the case under the vegetarian diet, thereby radically

abandoning my previous lifestyle habits which had been with me since

earliest childhood of eating breads and a basically high starch diet.

This diet which seems to fit me in particular, seems to reduce stress

and desire in a similar way to the changing over to being a left

hander also did in that there is less desire for sweets or sexual

desire, etc. as the body is chemically, emotionally more balanced.

This brings more peacefulness and happiness generally.

 

Generally speaking as you can see from the above in making spiritual

progress there are very many levels in which one can work. Spiritual

is not just saying mantras and reading the Gita. Sometimes extremely

basic changes of which one would never had even considered before,

make quite a difference and although one has been working on oneself

spiritually for years and then suddenly by doing something completely

new one achieves a quantum leap and certain neurotic

(rajasic/tamasic) habits or ways of thinking slowly disappear.

 

3. God is all is more correct as God made all things and is in

everything and is everything which was made but is not limited to

this creation much as we are not limited to our physical bodies but

are an eternal soul.

4. A priest executes rituals in a temple/church according to a

religious calendar. There are priests who are simply born into the

job as in the Indian caste system and perhaps they do not have

particularly good karma, wisdom or enlightenment and could

conceivably be quite bad people but execute their ritualistic job

quite correctly. A Jyotisha on the other hand is there to use

knowledge to lead people to the light of a satwik life and to their

true inner self on an individualized basis and not just to be a

functionary biding his time.

5. A.

Akash-ether-one of five elements or tatwas

AGNI-fire-one of five tatwas

Atman-soul

Avatar-God in the flesh

Avidyamaya- ignorance due to lack of knowledge

B.

Bhakti-love, devotion

Bhakti marga- devotional contemplation of God

Brahman –the creator God

Brahmagyana- wisdom

C.

D.

Deva- sage

Dharma-duty

E

F

G.

Gati-direction

Guna-energie form, force

H

I.

Isha-God

J.

Jala-one of five tatwas or elements

Jyoti-light

jyotish-the light of knowledge

Jyotisha-one well versed in the knowledge of the Vedas

jeevatma-human soul

K.

Kala purusha-universal form

Karma-works or deeds

L

M.

Maha Vishnu-supreme lord

maya-illusion, material world

manu-man

N. Narayana- birth horoscope

O. Om – universal sound

P.

Prithvi- one of five tatwas

Paramatama-Supreme soul

Purusha-individualized supreme soul in man

prakriti-illusion of existence(maya)

Q

R.

Rajas gunas- creative energy of movement

S. Shiva- lord of yogis

Surya-sun

Sattwa guna-spiritual energy of fulfillment

Satwik(adj.of sattwa)-

satarupa- woman

Shakti-energy

T.

Tatwa- element

Tamas guna- destructive enrgy

U

V.

Vaya – one of five tatwas or elements

Vidyamaya- knowledge of self and the Vedas

Vedas- holy scriptures

Veda-Knowledge

W

X

Y

Yama-God of death

Z