Monday, October 29, 2007

Bhagavad Gita - 2



Work - but in Yoga




If there is something that is most relevant to the struggle up the ladder in the corporate world, it is the words of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. When there are manipulations galore, happening all around to get the results one expects and one is lost if they don't behave similarly and follow the rat race, these words are difficult indeed to implement. But there is no other way as this is certainly Yoga and the essence of the Bhagavad Gita too.


Krishna has managed to get the attention of Arjuna in the battle field and now it is time to give in those words of power which will sink right into him. These words are more for us who read it today after so many centuries, as much as it was for a confused Arjuna, seeking clarity on the battle field.




Yogasthah Kuru Karmani Sangam Tyaktva Dhananjaya
Sidhya Sidhyoh Samo Bhuthwa Samathwam Yoga Uchyate

Do your action, using your mind of course. But the mind here is united with the cosmic mind - the larger scheme of things. With this unity of mind, may the body function, abandoning its attachment to success or failure which will be the result of the work.


In just three words - Samathwam Yoga Uchyate - Krishna condenses the essence of Yoga. Yoga is not twisting the body in eight directions, nor is it about inhaling and exhaling breaths in a particular measure, nor anything else for that matter. The equanimity of the mind is called Yoga.


When action happens in this equanamous state of mind - it is done in Yoga and happens in the present moment. It can be shooting a picture with a camera, it can be a signature in an important official document, it can be digging the ground in the garden, it can be boarding a plane....the actions may vary, but the unity of mind is the one thing required and at all times. That is Yoga.
- Swahilya Shambhavi.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Bhagavad Gita 1


The Song of Consciousness


Sri Krishna seems to be the greatest hynotherapist of all!. For that's how the process begins. The patient who is already saddled with problems of the mind is brought to a state of high anxiety. His conscious mind is numbed and in the sub-conscious mind the healer probes through the original cause of the problems. Removes it gently and fills up the space with a more positive thought.

Arjuna standing in the battlefield in tears, not knowing whether to fight or not, finds himself in a similar state of anxiety. He has expressed umpteen number of doubts to his friend and charioteer Krishna. His mind is so burdened with questions that he simply drops down, bow, arrows and body - in a state of total surrender, not knowing what else to do. Just like the mind that cannot go anywhere when it reaches the peak of anxiety or stress, but has to break down to either cry or pray.

He has asked, what use is the fight, how he can fight his relatives, won't it affect the women and the future generations - just like a mind that tries to find an escape route from a crisis. But Sri Krishna just watches him. Sanjaya who narrates the story to the blind King Dhritarashtra says:


Evamuktvarjunah Samkhye Rathopastha Upavishath

Visrujya Sasharam Chapam Shoka Samvighna Manasaha.


Arjuna poured out all his questions and doubts, expressed his grief in the form of tears. But Sri Krishna is unmoved. Arjuna goes on and on with his doubts about the need to fight the war. Ultimately, he has nowhere to go and just drops down with all his belongings and sits near his chariot, overcome with grief and in a thoroughly disturbed state of mind. Just pointing the way to a confused seeker that the end of tears marks the beginning of the road to clarity and universal consciousness.

- Swahilya Shambhavi.




Friday, October 19, 2007

Vignana Bhairava Tantra - 10

Chance, not choice!

The Vignana Bhairava Tantra - 10 has been published by chance in the other blog that I write, Cosmic Consciousness. Please check it out. May be I'll begin another series on some other text here!
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Sunday, October 07, 2007

Vignana Bhairav Tantra - 9


When thought clouds rain as tears....

Adhareshwathava Shakthya Gnanathchittha Layena Va
Jathashakti Samavesha Kshobhanthe Bhairavam Vapuh.

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The expanse of the Vignana Bhairav Tantra in using life as a university to teach meditation, never ceases to impress. Here is yet another.
There are times in stressful circumstances, events happening in life are beyond one's understanding. Especially in a volatile corporate set up, decisions made or misconceptions not revealed can really shake up long standing erroneous notions.
When the individual self can sometime think no end of itself, especially when it tastes success, spiritual or material, just a statement coming from where it matters can serve to be that rusted pin that pricks the ego's balloon. The upheaval that follows can be phenomenal.
It doesn't matter, says the Vignana Bhairav Tantra. It doesn't matter what you think, even if it is wrong. When the thoughts, conceptions and ideas that one holds on too is given a rough shake up - there is an emotional turmoil, a bursting of feelings and a suppressed volcano of the whys and the how comes - Be with it. There is tranquility at the end of it. There is serenity that runs through the fabric of the outburst.
The experience is just like immersing one's soiled self in the cleansing waters of a quiet stream. The one who emerges out is the tranquil being, shedding the dirt and grime of erroneous perceptions. - Swahilya Shambhavi.
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