Need to be Mindful

 

Was listening to Dr Jon Kabat Zinn’s “Wherever you go, there you are” Audio. His words made it clear to me the importance of being mindful, of being fully in the here and now every moment, moment after moment.

• Being mindful and aware fully of the present condition presents  great opportunities for self-discovery and transformation.
• Opens up new channels of creativity
• Able to handle experiences better with innate wisdom
• Each moment becomes exciting as we learn more about ourselves and the struggles by the little-I
• Gives an opportunity to understand and perceive instead of being judgmental.
• It is the essence of the religion, to be what you really are.
• It’s a meditative state where its exactly clear where the awareness is at any point of time
• Will start living every moment being the boss of the mind instead of existing living the autonomous machine-like state of mind (donkey and the carrot).

"I will be what I will to be. I will do what I will to do." You can repeat these two powerful affirmations over time and time again and thus rearrange, restructure, the forces of your subconscious mind and create a great inner peace within yourself.

~Gurudeva

Auto steer mode

 

That’s how the instinctive mind works when awareness is completely externalized. I lost control over awareness due to some personal problems over the weekend and the instinctive-intellectual mind took over my awareness completely. Life went back into past patterns and habits of living.

Instinctive mind as gurudeva says is -  “It also means that, in the event of an emergency, the animal nature would take over completely, being jarred loose automatically from lack of what I term mind-control, or you might call it self-control.”

There is a tendency for this loss of control over awareness to repeat in 24 hour cycles, weekly cycles and sometimes 6 month or yearly cycles. I plan to perform Vasana daha tantra to get back on ‘track’ from the instinctive-intellectual states.

Aum Namah Sivaya

Understandings from Gurudeva’s Podcasts

 

Had these Beautiful learning's from Gurudeva’s Audio lectures from Kauai Aadheenam website. Just listening them changes my life and it comes stronger every time on my psyche. Jotting down the ones which i remember and must apply

Anger management: Gurudeva speaks about anger management and says that the spiritual energy accumulated over a month’s time can dissipate in 30 seconds of anger. The power just goes into air and never comes back. To even start meditation one must be well versed in conquering anger. When we get angry we end up opening two of the lower chakras. And it takes a while for them to close.

So the soul has to be very watchful and understand that the instinctive mind and intellectual mind and the emotions are present as tools. To use them as tools and not get used by them.

My Visualization of the same:

Qualities of the soul: Gurudeva says that all the souls have the same qualities. Qualities of finding happiness in making others happy, loving and seeing Siva in each and everyone. It also has indomitable Will but the will is used as a tool in serving others and society at large and not always oneself. (which is common in folks on Anava Marga)

We believe what we affirm: Gurudeva says an affirmation which is carried out for 5 or 6 days becomes a belief. It moulds the subconscious. This is why it is said by all great observers that “what we think so we shall become”. Few affirmations taught by gurudeva is

“I can, I will, I’m capable”.

“I will be what I will to be, I will do what I will to do”

• Entering the “Guha” within oneself every once in 5 or 6 days by renouncing the externalities like computer, past and future plans etc to renew oneself.
• One of the ways to Merge with Siva is to be a good householder, provide wife and family with all that they need, so that they release the Shakti power from within, to live a conflict free existence free from the lower chakras – and then finally leading to the final merger through breath control and hatha yoga. Gurudeva warns time and again about the creation of bad karmas if a householder ignores family life and does not do his dharma by becoming too detached.
• Many lessons are repeated again and again and again by souls in the University of life. Gain the perspective of the immortal soul which has come from Siva, living with Siva and undergoing experiences in His cosmic dances of creation, preservation, destruction and finally merging with Siva.
• When you make a decision to meditate – anticipate challenges from others around you, anticipate challenges that would come from within you. If you are able to anticipate that your own instinctive elements wouldn't allow it to continue, and then persist in your meditation you might probably succeed! Don't expect the lessons from life to be easy. Its not !

Nice podcasts

 

I love the following podcasts. Downloaded them to my iPod over the weekend.

The first one is from Robin Sharma (author of “The monk who sold his ferrari)

http://www.robinsharma.com/success_podcast_ic_2.htm

And the second is my favorite from my gurudeva

http://himalayanacademy.com/audio/podcasts/

Beginning to see the mind for what it is

 

Recent Changes in life are making me more inward. I’m beginning to live 2/3rd within. I’m beginning to feel the excitement of living within. I’m observing my own mind more than ever before in this lifetime and in a more focused way instead of counter-reacting when someone else reacts at me. I observe how my ego behaves at certain circumstances, on further observation, i understand that each response the ego makes is due to past conditioning.

Yes, I'm beginning to see the mind for what it is – a self created principle.

The way the mind works becomes more clear in day to day activities for example: when I go to watch a movie outside home. I see frustrated people, happy people – all having one thing in common – desire to “enjoy life to the fullest”. 

The mind observes and compares lifestyles of other people with itself, assumes and judges that - that is better, this is not, frets, worries, seeks for alternate solutions, thinks about consequences for the solutions just thought of, goes to past to see why the current condition could not be avoided, dreams about the new lifestyle had the avoiding been a success, thinks about future and worries if there is a hope, worries about things that might happen (which usually never happen), blames others for the conditions caused, ploys about how to get around it with least impact, appreciates the ones who have made it, condemns those who haven't, again attempts to seek if an alternate solution is possible, takes opinions from others, feels helpless about its own self-created state, before finally accepting things as they are. Then, it looks back and intuits the chain of thoughts – one leading to the other – which had engaged its awareness so far !

This kind of observation of mind exposes the faults of one’s own ego and usually makes the individual dislike his own ego. The more and more a person observes his own ego, there is a good chance to dislike oneself and even laugh at oneself for encouraging the kind of thought patterns that have been keeping his mind on the run in this lifetime (any many more?).

I am beginning to see that there is really no need to watch a TV or movie for entertainment. Just watching one’s own mind gives a lot of entertainment. Watch the mind play both the roles of antagonist and protagonist in any conversation or event occurring in the external world. Who is the one who observes these “movies”. Gurudeva says - Its the soul which sees and understands these experiences through its super-conscious faculties.

As amma bhagavan says – there is nothing the poor mind can do, it has the same thinking patterns created by itself, it always wants to be where it is not, always wants what it cannot have, always takes a position other than where it is, always thinks about where it should be rather than where it is. The poor mind cant really do anything :) ....... It has to give up by understanding that there is nothing it can do about it and that it is nothing but a big Zero. Only then can grace take over.

Meditation is a way of being, not a technique

 

Found this beautiful Article on the Internet

It is the non-clinging, and therefore the clear perceiving, and the willingness to act appropriately within whatever circumstances are arising that constitute this way of being that we are calling meditation.

It is not the content of your experience that is important. What is important is our ability to be aware of that content, and even more, of the factors that drive its unfolding and the ways in which those factors either liberate us or imprison us moment by moment and year in, year out.

~Jon Kabat Zinn

Read Full Article here