Stages of human excellence

 

 अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य ज्ञानाञ्जनशालाकया ।
चक्षुरुन्मीलितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः

Ajnyaana-Timira-Andhasya Jnyaana-[Aa]n.jana-Shaalaakayaa |
Cakssur-Unmiilitam Yena Tasmai Shrii-Gurave Namah [Guru Suktham; Verse 3]

The one Who Removes the Darkness of Ignorance from our Blind (Inner) Eyes by applying the Collyrium of the Light of Knowledge. By Whom our (Inner) Eyes are Opened; Salutations to that Guru.

 

There are different stages of human excellence. Each human being is born into one stage or the other. One must act according to the stage / level / class to which one belongs to and move upwards from there. From one stage to another, there is no written examination conducted by an examiner. The life itself is the examiner and the challenges we face are the question paper and therefore it is a continuous process. Crossing from the initial stage to the last stage might happen all in the same life or each stage taking an entire lifetime in achieving the goal of the respective stage alone. All this depends on various factors which itself becomes an ocean of learning and is out of scope of our discussion here. This article is meant to just present the various stages in human excellence. Only for our easy 

• reference, 
• understanding, 
• remembering or even for a 
• comparative study of various subjects involving human excellence from a broader perspective, 

this article presents the various stages of human excellence in terms of different classes just like our schooling system. Following is a presentation of classes - class sub-zero (like the kindergarten in schools ) and class one to class seven. With the ocean of knowledge available at our disposal, we often get lost in pursuit of the eternal truth. This article may be used as a very high level, rough yard stick to understand where we are and where we need to head towards, both as individuals as well as a society. So, to make it simple, I have referred to only meditation (part of Raja yoga) as the means and omitted other types of yoga paths such as Bhakthi yoga, Karma yoga, Jnana yoga. This yard stick doesn't deal the good vs bad in terms of personalities. For example, don't make the mistake of assuming that the all the bad people belong to sub-sero and all good people belong to class 1 to 7. These stages have nothing to do with good vs bad. For ex., Ravana might have belonged somewhere around class 4 or 5.

 

class sub-zero: Just as the babies need care and affection by the elders, people who cannot help themselves belong to this class. Those who are in the asylum, bed-ridden, deeply dipressed, etc. are the examples of such people who require external help to improve their well-being and become a better human beings.

 

class zero: People belonging to this class will have obstacles that they need to be tackling before they can get into the mode of Sadhana. The obstacles might be within them or external. That doesn't mean the obstacles doesn't exist in other classes. However, the obstacles are so high that the primary qualification for any saadhana of being consistent in the efforts is not met. In all other classes, the person is capable of practicing consistently at least. The obstacles here are such as 

• Serious illnesses, 
• Physiological, psychological and other forms of defectiveness my birth, 
• Tendencies that drags them down and away from the path of sadhana in-spite of best of the efforts, 
• Addictions of all kinds, 
• Strong afflictions towards materialistic possessions, 
• Strong belief in the wrong ideas away from the reality.

 So, getting out of the obstacles itself becomes the goal of such people.

class one: People in this category and the previous forms the major chunk of the society today. Such people are capable of doing sadhana with a bit of guidance and motivation who can contribute to the progress of the society. It is also these people who often get mislead or those who lead the life of laziness or who become the burden ( causes dis-harmony ) of the society. These are also the people with false beliefs and laziness who take the society to deterioration. In other words, they are the ones who make or break the society. 

    And there are some in this class, who are too enthusiastic about their sadhana (either being bothered by the cercumstances within or outside of themselves. Or due to too much of influence from their surroundings). As far as sadhana or human excellence is concerned, one should not concern themselves much about achieving moksha, god/self realization as far as goal is concerned. Likewise, should also not get into the mode of giving up their duties with the intention of doing "severe" meditation, etc. Nor should they concern or debate too much on whether god exists, or not.  This doesn't mean you should not believe in god's existence at all. If you believe in a god, do what is necessary that deems fit for that belief. But that should not be the only occupation. One should always remember this - blind faith has its sharp limitations no matter to which community one belongs to. It can lead the individual and the society astray. Anywhere from five minutes to an hour a day of one's involvement of any form of yogic practices should be good enough - whether doing bhajans or sit in meditation. As far as one's occupation is concerned, one should act according to one's own swadharma. Be good and do good - to oneself, one's own family, the society to which one belongs to and to the nation. 

     The key learning, in this class is to achive consistency and being joyfull through out their journey of sadhana. And the goal should be to do their actions efficiently.

class two: Having well established with your actions with efficiency, now learn the art of giving up the fruits of actions. However, its not easy to give up the fruits of action just like that. So, have faith that God exist (presence of something called 'God' - Because, still at this stage, one has not experienced or realized anything about God yet). And (like Arjuna) offer all your actions to Me. Thus your mind becomes purified. Purification of the mind is the final Goal at this stage.

class three: Having purified your mind, you are now eligible to practice meditation in silence. This doesn't mean that in earlier classes, you should never meditate. but it will only be one of the activities like you eat, drink and recreation - anywhere from ten minutes to one hour each day depending on one's capacity. Whereas in this stage, it means meditation can be the only occupation of the person giving up all other mundane activities - that is, one can sit in meditations for hours or even days at a stretch. That's because, its easier for your mind to just remain one pointed without much distractions. Here, there is no external distractions, however, one's own mind and body are the distractions when attempted to remain one pointed for a long period of time. Giving up the attachment to one's own body is the hardest. Many disciples of Sri Ramakrishna paramahansa, several saints, even Brother Lawrence are the examples of this class. The goal here is to tame your body and mind only to just remain in one state, one pointed respectively. 

 

class four: Having practiced such an extent that you can giveup the attachment to the body also, one is now eligible to attain the elightment of the object of meditation. Here, one has completely forgotton the presence of one's own body. Only the experience of the mind remains. May be, Narendranath Datta ( who later became Swami Vivekananda ) was of this class when he came to Sri Ramakrishna. He was a dhyana (meditation) siddha by birth. While Sri Ramakrishna asked his disciples to practice devotion to the God, and gave certain mantras to certain aspirants / disciples based on their innert nature, upon seeing Narendra, he was eager to make him experience the higest realization. Here, one can no doubt forget the body such that only the mind remains, however, it is still having variety of experiences, the goal is to make the mind experience the oneness with the object of meditation - That is only one experience of the mind - That is called God realization. Samadhi 

class five: Having realized the God with form - the experience of just one form just once, now one is eligible to (a) experience the presence of God whenever one wishes, (b) communicate with not just one form, but with different forms of God. Sri Ramakrishna used to walk and talk along with Goddess Kali when he used to go out to pluck flowers in the garden, early morning. He could commune with Her whenever he wished so. He made Narendranath experience the presence of goddess with form. Such people are called saints and acharyas. 

class six: Having thoroughly established with experiencing the God with form, now one is ready to experience the formless. Where one not only forgets the body, even the mind is stopped, disappears. Even the form doesn't exist. What remains is the Atman. Self realization. It is here that one will know the answer to the question 'who am I'. Nirvikalpa Samadhi, The ultimate Knowledge. Such people are called the acharyas. It is also in the culmination of this stage, that the ego is completely dissolved.

class seven: Having reazlized that I am neither the body nor the mind, one will now becomes eligible to see the same Atman everywhere.  This is called Vignana. The application of the knowledge. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa used to be in this state all the time. He used to give an example of the straircase leading to the terrace. Having climbed to the terrace, one will then know that the same meterial with which terrace is made, the same is used to make the ground and stairs too. Such people are called Jeenvan Mukta - Liberated in the very life itself ( as against to those who attain liberation through giving up the body. )

~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~

Some notes:
Un-touchability, religious dominance and other evils of society are all the possessions of classes zero and one; at most a few exceptions in class two. Those who belong to the rest of the classes have always did their best to unite the people and lead the life of harmony. When we realize where we stand against the remaining stages of human existence, we will become humble. Don't we?

The same principle applies to every stage - of silencing and narrowing the focus of the mind. Higher the class, more the silence of the mind. The activity naturally reduces as one progresses from one class to another. The most important (effortful) learning of class one to maintain consistency and joy becomes the very nature of the person from class five and above. 😊

 Also, an important aspect to remember is that there is certainly a possibility that a person might come down from a higher to a lower class, more than once in the lifetime depending on various circumstances. One needs to handle the situation to which one belongs to any given time.

Last but not the least, there is another class of persons who are referred to as avatharas who are beyond all these stages. May be class eight 😀 There is enough for us to consider for our own growth anyway.

~ ~ ~ ~ 🙏 ~ ~ ~ ~

Mukti vs Dharma

This article provides us the understanding of where we stand (in terms of our abilities as individuals as well as in the time scale, as a society) and what we should aspire for. I wish a very happy independence day (the day I started writing this article). Today, 16th August is also the day of the mahasamadhi of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the guru of Swami Vivekananda. The day of punyasmaran of this divine man who demonstrated through his own life's experiences the path of yoga of all kinds and the paths of all religions, leading towards that one common goal called Mukti.

In this article, I have raised questions and added notes and as an answer to the questions, I have taken the excerpts from Swami Vivekananda’s writings - “The East And The West”

 

Swamiji, Isn’t our highest goal – Mukti?

 “With us (Bharathiyas), the prominent idea is Mukti; with the Westerners, it is Dharma. What we desire is Mukti; what they want is Dharma. Here the word ‘Dharma’ is used in the sense of the Mimâmsakas. What is Dharma? Dharma is that which makes man seek for happiness in this world or the next. Dharma is established on work, Dharma is impelling man day and night to run after and work for happiness.

There was a time in India when Dharma was compatible with Mukti. There were worshippers of Dharma, such as Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Duryodhana, Bhishma, and Karna, side by side with the aspirants of Mukti, such as Vyâsa, Shuka, and Janaka. On the advent of Buddhism, Dharma was entirely neglected, and the path of Moksha alone became predominant. “

 

 

So, can I freely choose one over the other – between Dharma and Moksha?

“However, the central fact is that the fall of our country, of which we hear so much spoken, is due to the utter want of this Dharma. If the whole nation practices and follows the path of Moksha, that is well and good; but is that possible? Without enjoyment, renunciation can never come; first enjoy and then you can renounce. Otherwise, if the whole nation, all of a sudden, takes up Sannyâsa, it does not gain what it desires, but it loses what it had into the bargain—the bird in the hand is fled, nor is that in the bush caught. When, in the heyday of Buddhistic supremacy, thousands of Sannyâsins lived in every monastery, then it was that the country was just on the verge of its ruin! The Bauddhas, the Christians, the Mussulmans, and the Jains prescribe, in their folly, the same law and the same rule for all. That is a great mistake; education, habits, customs, laws, and rules should be different for different men and nations, in conformity with their difference of temperament. What will it avail, if one tries to make them all uniform by compulsion? The Bauddhas declared, `Nothing is more desirable in life than Moksha; whoever you are, come one and all to take it.’ I ask, `Is that ever possible?’ ”

 

 

 

So, what’s right - Moksha or Dharma?

 " `You are a householder, you must not concern yourself much with things of that sort: you do your Svadharma (natural duty)’—thus say the Hindu scriptures. Exactly so! He who cannot leap one foot, is going to jump across the ocean to Lankâ in one bound! Is it reason? You cannot feed your own family or dole out food to two of your fellow-men, you cannot do even an ordinary piece of work for the common good, in harmony with others—and you are running after Mukti! The Hindu scriptures say, `No doubt, Moksha is far superior to Dharma; but Dharma should be finished first of all’. The Bauddhas were confounded just there and brought about all sorts of mischief. Non-injury is right; `Resist not evil’ is a great thing—these are indeed grand principles; but the scriptures say, `Thou art a householder; if anyone smites thee on thy cheek, and thou dost not return him an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, thou wilt verily be a sinner.’ Manu says, `When one has come to kill you, there is no sin in killing him, even though he be a Brâhmin’ (Manu, VIII. 350). This is very true, and this is a thing which should not be forgotten.”

 

So, how should one discharge his duties of Dharma?

 “Heroes only enjoy the world. Show your heroism; apply, according to circumstances, the fourfold political maxims of conciliation, bribery, sowing dissensions, and open war, to win over your adversary and enjoy the world—then you will be Dhârmika (righteous). Otherwise, you live a disgraceful life if you pocket your insults when you are kicked and trodden down by anyone who takes it into his head to do so; your life is a veritable hell here, and so is the life hereafter. This is what the Shastras say. Do your Svadharma—this is truth, the truth of truths. This is my advice to you, my beloved co-religionists. “

 

So, can I do whatever I want that gives me happiness and apply the four political maxims if anyone comes in the way?

“Of course, do not do any wrong, do not injure or tyrannize over anyone, but try to do good to others as much as you can. But passively to submit to wrong done by others is a sin—with the householder. He must try to pay them back in their own coin then and there. The householder must earn money with great effort and enthusiasm, and by that must support and bring comforts to his own family and to others, and perform good works as far as possible. If you cannot do that, how do you profess to be a man? You are not a householder even—what to talk of Moksha for you!!”

 

But isn’t Moksha higher than Dharma as you said earlier ? Should I completely give it up and only keep doing worldly deeds?

"

• By constant repetition of the syllable Om and by meditating on its meaning, everything can be obtained’

• All sins are washed away by uttering the name of the Lord’

• He gets all, who resigns himself to the Will of God’

—yes, these words of the Shastras and the sages are, no doubt, true. But, do you see, thousands of us are, for our whole life, meditating on Om, are getting ecstatic in devotion in the name of the Lord, and are crying, `Thy Will be done, I am fully resigned to Thee! ‘—and what are they actually getting in return? Absolutely nothing! How do you account for this? The reason lies here, and it must be fully understood. Whose meditation is real and effective? Who can really resign himself to the Will of God? Who can utter with power irresistible, like that of a thunderbolt, the name of the Lord? It is he who has earned Chitta-shuddhi, that is, whose mind has been purified by work, or in other words, he who is the Dharmika.”

Note: Here, the Swamiji is attempting to raise the lazy, sleeping souls, to drag them back into the right track. Not only so, whether one is active or lazy, each has one's own capabilities and personalities. The lessons also should be accordingly given. The above is the lesson to most of us who are still in the class one. So the lessons too are for the class one. As we advance in our efforts in doing our work – our duties and gain enough strength and focus, then that we become eligible for the lessons for the class two. So what is that eligibility?

 

Well, how will I know if I have become established in my work, that is, I have become purified?

What will be the nature of such a man who has become well established in his work?

How do I know I have become eligible to go to the next level?

     “The nature of the Dharmika is constant performance of action with efficiency.”

Note: The history has shown us an example of this criteria already and that reference is that of Arjuna. He who had great strength, master of concentration, the one who had won over the sleep and had a great power of the mind. And yet, kind at heart too. Such condition is possible even for the ordinary like you and me. Please read my other article – “Yoga in Software Engineering” for an example - It illustrates not only the extraordinary experience of a person who had been struggling with health issues and low focus at work, etc but also explores how he overcomes the obstacles in making that extraordinary experience, a permanent trait. 

 

 

Ok, So, what kind of work needs to be done such that it helps me gain this eligibility the quickest?

 “Every individual is a centre for the manifestation of a certain force. This force has been stored upas the resultant of our previous works, and each one of us is born with this force at his back. So long as this force has not worked itself out, who can possibly remain quiet and give up work? Until then, he will have to enjoy or suffer according to the fruition of his good or bad work and will be irresistibly impelled to do work. Since enjoyment and work cannot be given up till then, is it not better to do good rather than bad works—to enjoy happiness rather than suffer misery?

    Now what is that good which is to be pursued? The good for him who desires Moksha is one, and the good for him who wants Dharma is another. This is the great truth which the Lord Shri Krishna, the revealer of the Gita, has tried therein to explain, and upon this great truth is established the Varnâshrama system and the doctrine of Svadharma etc. of the Hindu religion.”

 

Can I get a glimpse of what does the class two look like?

Note: For Arjuna, Sri Krishna’s entire Bhagavad Gita was the advice of the next level in which he explains various facets of that one common goal called Moksha. And then also explains in various verses, how he should direct and align all his work towards Him – that is, towards Moksha.

yat karoṣhi yad aśhnāsi yaj juhoṣhi dadāsi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣhva mad-arpaṇam

 Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as oblation to the sacred fire, whatever you bestow as a gift, and whatever austerities you perform, O son of Kunti, do them as an offering to Me. [ BG: 9.27 ]

 

Swamiji: “

santuṣhṭaḥ satataṁ yogī yatātmā dṛiḍha-niśhchayaḥ

mayy arpita-mano-buddhir yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ

 He who has no enemy, and is friendly and compassionate towards all, who is free from the feelings of 'me and mine', even-minded in pain and pleasure, and forbearing [ BG: 12.13 ]

 —these and other epithets of like nature are for him whose one goal in life is Moksha.” 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Of course, there are many more classes too. The article, stages-of-human-excellence attempts to puts all such classes together!

Yoga in Software Engineering

Yoga in software engineering


It is a boon, not just for software engineers, but for any human being, if he or she has the ability to work tirelessly for a longer hours of the day and yet remain healthy, enthusiastic, energetic and above all, joyful. Isn't it. Yes, that is the objective of this article. 

 

We have a yoga discussion forum where, around 10-15 yoga students and practitioners discuss various yoga related topics, share and learn by analyzing and debating on each others' experiences in reference to the yoga texts. Once a month we gather in the yoga hall dedicating our time for this purpose. In one such discussion, I came across an interesting experience of one of the yoga practitioner which am going to share today in this blog. I am going to refer to him with the name Swyog in the rest of this blog. The experience that is shared here might be the natural condition for some. However, the purpose of this blog is not about the experience itself. But of the transformational phenomenon that took place and the idea of ideal conditions of work. One of the lessons of karma yoga for us, the ordinary.

Let me make this story into the following sections:

• Background
• Pre Conditions to his experience
• the Experience
• Analysis of his experience 
• Conclusion

Background:
The hero of this story, Mr. Swyog is a software engineer having about 12 years of experience in the industry. He was not a very healthy child since his younger days. he has been having some chronic illness or the other - be it cold, cough, fever, body ache, stomach upset, skin allergies, etc. So he has been in medication of all kinds, all along. A few years ago, following a sever health issues, he started practicing yoga and has found considerable improvements in his health. Like any other software engineer, working late nights and meeting deadlines has been the most commonly occurring situations in his decade plus of experience. There have been days when he stayed in office 24 hours working continuously.



 Pre Conditions:

     It was the peak winter - December when Swyog had just returned from a week long vacation from a pilgrimage from the Himalayas. As we know the December is the month when these software engineers have the lean period of their work and get a chance to become most active outside of their cocoons. Like me, he too is a solo traveler who enjoys the freedom of traveling, meeting people, exploring the world and culture around us all alone!  And like most of us do, coming January he too restarted his Suryakriya practices as if it was a new year's resolution! But the failed attempts before and the longing he had to restart his practices seems to have done much good. The energy with which he did the practices was extraordinary.
    After his return from the vacations, he started experiencing the real hunger for the first time in his life. Before this in many occasions, he used to boast of himself that he could be in empty stomach very easily and wondered why people become so impatience with hunger. By two hours of having meals, he used to feel hunger again and becomes uncontrolable. He started carrying more than one box or some days having some snacks from the cafeteria.
    Another important complaint that our Swyog had since at least an year or so was that he didn't feel energetic and fresh in the morning when he woke up, no matter how long he slept and how much ever late he woke up in the morning. Adjusting food habits helped but to only some extent. For him, 7.5hrs was the ideal time of sleep. Even half an hour less would make him feel drowsy in the office. But after he came back from the trip, he said, he no more had this problem! And he had eventually stopped all medications that he was taking since more than an year.
    In order to do his practices regularly, he had to wake up early and yet not drowse in the office. So his challenge was to sleep early. Thus, he says, "Sleeping early was much bigger challenge than the practice itself. I had been attempting to sleep early since almost one year and was unable to do so. the The real challenge was more to do with my own mind than my office work. What I had to go through in this attempt itself can be considered in another entire session. Finally after I came back, I could some how make up my mind to sleep early. This in turn helped me immensely to do my regular practices that am continuing even now. It would not be out of the scope of this discussion that the year long monthly sessions about our Indian soldiers and discussing about their self-discipline at this yoga discussion group had helped me with my struggle in reinforcing my discipline."


The Experience:
    At office, towards the end of February or so, Swyog was assigned a task that was not only interesting to him but also challenging. It had to be completed within a deadline (common with any software projects!) having higher visibility (tracked at higher management, say director, vice-president, etc.)
He felt as if his whole system was in a perfect state of homeostasis. A state he described, in which the mind and body are  not only in balance, but also filled with enthusiasm and was energetic. In his words , "As soon as I wakeup in the morning at sharp 5am, I had to be in front of my laptop, till midnight. Everything else, from morning obligations to having food to sleeping were, as it were, only a reluctant tasks that used to come and go once in a while. I used to sleep around 4-5hrs per day. Often, whenever I used to feel drowsy in office, especially after lunch, I used to switch on the music and plug-in the earphones to avoid the drowsiness. However, during this time, I didn't need even that in spite of sleeping less hours plus heavy workload! The mind was so very focused that, neither there was any sign of fatigue nor was in need of any other entertainment. Working itself was a great entertainment! The weekends had lost their meaning. Family forgotten, though I was WFH due to the start of COVID lockdown."

 The task assigned to him lasted for about a month.To ensure he gets good rest to his body and at the same time good energy, he changed his dinner to only half boiled vegetables. And since his eyes had to see the screen continuously, naturally, he added more carrots to his diet. He shared another important observation, "As the days rolled by watching me working as if like a devil all of a sudden, my wife was frightened. Everyday night she applied castor oil to my head to cool down the body from the heat I experienced especially in the face and the head and to reduce the strain on the eyes." This heat he is referring to is not due to fever or any kind of illness. He shared that he enjoyed the heat that he was experiencing in his system. This was the peak of his wonderful experience.

       Now, he explained how this wonderful state of his body and mind reduced to his normalcy, "As I worked for days at a stretch, may be after about 15-20 days, one night I sensed my body was getting strained a bit and needed to rest. However, I was carried away with the work I had been doing and since it was not still the time I used to go to bed those days, I IGNORED this hint and continued to finish up the task at hand at that time. And the next day, as usual I continued to work the same way. However, in the afternoon after lunch I felt I should take a bit of rest. Again, I just ignored that. It was as if my head was spinning with pride about what I have been experiencing. I was carried away. The next day afternoon, again I felt like taking a bit of rest. 

Photo by David McCumskay on Unsplash

This was as if the last warning that my system gave. Here's when I did a mistake. I did take rest that afternoon. However, I slept more than an hour. May be two hours, I dont exactly remember. When I woke up, I had lost all that wonderful experience I was having all that while. The tamas, the inertia had set in. I started feeling a bit of heaviness in the head. From next day onward, I started feeling a bit of very mild pain at the bottom circumference of the chest. It might be the effect of abnormal kapha dosha. The accumulation of mild phlegm at the lower edge of the lungs which used to raise up to the throat causing me to spit bits of white phlegm once a while. Otherwise, there was no signs of cold or cough though. In the meanwhile, I was coming to the end of my task which was even more critical and higher visibility. So I continued my focus. The task assigned to me completed successfully, though it was late by three days. And unfortunately, the journey of my wonderful experience also completed. That Sunday, I experienced a mild headache too that lasted the whole day. Applying some castor oil would push it away. From that day onward, for about a week, my every focused activity had a visiting guest of mild headache and it would vanish in a while. I had returned back to my 'normal' state".


Analysis:
    What Swyog experienced is something some of us might have experienced at one point in time or the other. And we would have just ignored it. Analyzing it is not to be considered even. But for a yoga practitioner such experiences gives a great lesson and is too precious to be ignored.

In Bhagavad-Gita, Sri Krishna explains this condition, thus:

mātrā-sparśhās tu kaunteya śhītoṣhṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās tans-titikṣhasva bhārata [ BG: 2.14 ]

O son of Kunti, the contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent, and come and go like the winter and summer seasons. O descendent of Bharat, one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

sukha-duḥkhe same kṛitvā lābhālābhau jayājayau
tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi [ BG: 2.38 ]

Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin.

In this context, the happiness or excitement does not necessarily mean one is jumping and dancing in madness. Anything that deviates us from the path of discipline is to be avoided. For example, the tendencies such as to look at the whatsapp forwarded messages or the facebook every now and then 

is an indication of instability of the mind. Such a mind becomes prone to deviate from the path of discipline easily. In this case, the new found strength, made Swyog excited and pushed him away from the discipline that he had set - sleeping early in the night and wake up early in the morning. Once the mind goes off the track, its hard to pull it back. Even after 3 months of this experience, he shared that he could got get himself to that discipline. But he was a warrior by heart. He was as enthusiastic as with the struggle before the experience in putting himself to sleep early in the night. Patanjali says in the yoga sutras thus:

 

sa tu dirghakala nairantarya satkara-adara-asevito dridhabhumih [ PYS: 1.14 ] 

“This becomes firmly grounded or firmly established in you when you attend to it for a long time, without interruption and with devotion.”

 

 Note, "This" in the above explanation of the verse, in our context, refers to the ability to work tirelessly, enthusiastically, and joyfully for an extended period of time - The main objective of our discussion. Haven't we noticed certain small hotels which would have become famous may be in the entire city, state or even whole of the country for their a very limited varioety of very tasty foodies since decades. Yet no branches. No extended time of services, rather restricted time of their service. Yet people standing in the queue even before they open the hotel !!

    His Himalayan pilgrimage gave the right setting to his body and mind. It put him in a balanced state of being. This is called chitta prasadana as mentioned in the Patanjali yoga sutras (PYS, 1.33). Meaning, a citta prasadanam mind is considered favorable, wholesome and pleasant.This in turn sets the right stage for the body to perform to the optimum level. Such a condition is also the platform for gaining further the mental faculties that are required for an ideal software engineer. However, if this condition needs to be developed wherever we are and maintained permanently, then it can be achieved by practicing what Patangali mentions:

maitrī karuṇā mudito-pekṣāṇāṁ-sukha-duḥkha puṇya-apuṇya-viṣayāṇāṁ bhāvanātaḥ citta-prasādanam [ PYS: 1.33 ]

The Mind Becomes Purified By The Cultivation Of Feelings Of Friendliness, Compassion, Goodwill , And Indifference Respectively Towards Those Who Are Happy , Miserable , Virtuous , And Sinful.

    This together with Yama and Niyama ( PYS, 2.30,32 ) helps achieve the condition conducive for higher experiences. For ex., one of the virtuous habits of Niyama, Shoucha means not only the cleanliness of mind, body and speech but also the air we breath, water we drink, food we eat, should also be kept clean. The place we live, the people we interact with can also pollute our mind. The methods to deal with the latter is what the above shloka talks about. Isn't it? The practices of the above methods and visiting a pilgrimage place are complementary to each other. While the first, helps develop and make the condition permanent. the latter helps to reinforce and supports such a condition.

    Moreover, the oxygenation of the blood is an important effect of exercise. Especially, activities such as climbing a mountain results in maximal oxygen uptake of the body ( search "Altitude training" on Google for more details ). Regular and adequate exercise especially in the early morning in the fresh air will make us fitter.

The experience itself that he went through is the condition that is conducive for Dhyana - Meditative state in which there is no disturbances of any sort. This is result of the pure satvik state. He never needed stimulants such as music, coffee, tea, smoking, chatting, etc. Nor was there a need for great amount of rest. The body was more or less under rest most of the time. All he needed was a bit of rest for his eyes and brain activities. The most important part of his wonderful experience that we should make note is that he did not stop his yoga practices. So, yoga, healthy food as well as sleep were just adequate that kept him to push to his limits and yet be unaffected.

The reason Swyog called it a mistake to have slept in the afternoon is because he knows its not correct to sleep in the afternoon for long duration. In the dinacharya of Ayurveda, it clearly rules out the idea of midday sleeping as it increases kapha dosha and phlegm disorders. And isn't this exactly what he experienced? However, 15-20mins of power nap is recommended. Thus for Swyog, the balanced state of the body was thrown away due to excess sleeping in the midday.

Man experiences the gift of nature. However, because of the greed and ignorance that he posses, he destroys the gift. Before we proceed any further with the investigation, let me tell an anecdote. It is well known that the river Ganga washes away all our sins. Once a sinner realized his mistakes and decided that he wanted to get rid of the effects of all the sins that he had committed so far.

So, he went to the Ganga river. As he even approached near to the Ganges, seeing it, he experienced the pleasantness with his mind. And his body filled with a new energy. A Sadhu who was sitting in silence at a distance, with his yogic power saw that all the sins in that sinner jumped on to the nearby tree as he walked closer to the Ganges. The sinner took a dip and felt even more energetic and joyful in his heart.The mind was fresh as was the atmosphere of the early morning. He felt happy and bowed to the Ganga thanking her to have washed away all his sins. As he walked away from the Ganges and came closer to that same tree were the sins were sitting there waiting for their host, The Sadhu noticed that they again jumped onto him!!

The most important part of his experience - loosing his balanced state, is the very first sign of crossing the limits. Those who wants to live on the edge must be super alert. Same goes with our Jawans who lives in our borders, the edge of the nation. Isn't it? Unfortunately, our friend Swyog ignored that first signal. If he would have acted upon it immediately, then probably things would have been completely different. So the robber of dullness of the mind, stealthily swept in him in the form of excess sleep on the third day.

Now, the question is what caused him to ignore the mild signal that came in, in the form of intuition? When one of us asked this question, it was hard even for Swyog to figure out why exactly he ignored this thought. This happens with many of us. Isn't it? This is because our thoughts, words and actions are not in sync. This is one reason, that Patanjali asks us to be truthful - the very second Yama (code of conducts). Being truthful ensures that we keep a check on our thoughts at all times. Our intellect becomes sharp. On the other hand, we do not tend to listen even to a strong warnings, because of our attachment to the fruits of action : The karma yoga clearly teaches us to ignore the fruits of action or leave it to the lord or the vidhi or the fate. The point of analysis we are at now, is the best example to illustrate this idea. Swyog's desire to meet the deadline is his attachment to the fruit of the actions. Fear, hesitation, anxiety are all the result of one's attachment to something or the other. Expectation, is the other form of attachment. We expect to prove ourselves to the management because, we need promotions and salary hikes. We expect the salary hike beyond our ability because we are bound some where else - either because we have a home loan or some other commitment. Taking loans and credits were considered next to crime in the culture and tradition of Bharatha only for this reason. We become bound. We are compelled to become attached. We loose freedom and in turn our thoughts, words and deeds become diverged.

Alabdhabhumikatva and anavasthitatva: As Swyog mentioned, for a long time, he wanted to start practizing yoga. However, he had failed several attempts. He even found it the hardest to sleep early too. This is called alabdhabhumikatva (inability to start or progress), one of the nine obstacles mentioned in yoga sutras. He has now overcome this condition as he is able to practice regularly. Though he started practicing yoga, the balanced state that he achieved in a short period of time, has been lost. This is called the anavasthitatva (inability to maintain the state we worked hard to attain). We saw the reasons for this condition. He needs to work harder and smarter in order to not only achieve that state again, but also learn the art of maintaining the state that he achieves. 

 

 

Climax - A Revelation:

    Now, after having all this discussion and analysis, after about 3 months of this whole episode, Swyog came across another subtle and yet profound revelation that he shared with us in another such yoga group meeting. While he said he was continuing to do the regular practice, over a period of time, gradually, his strength, vigor and enthusiasm came down to such an extent that he could not even do his practices with fullness of mind. He said he needed to play some music or some lecture or something in the background and at times, he would even browse his whatsapp in between his practices, to manage and motivate his mind for the practice. After the lockdown due to covid-19 is lifted he happened to visit a medieval temple of a great saint near his hometown where he was locked during the lock-down

period as many software engineers would have. He spent a few hours there in contemplation and then came the revelation - while he did his practices regularly, during his high on his work - his heart was beating - "Ye Dil Mange More"! He wanted to learn more yogic practices and adopt them in his daily schedule. He had setup a deadline of one year and had plans to achieve certain milestone in that period. In that process he no doubt learnt new things but in order to accommodate it in his daily practice, he compromised on the number of repetitions of the existing practices which had complimented his renewed state of being on his return from the Himalayan pilgrimage.

     

This "Ye Dil MAnge More" attitude is the result of intense rajas in us. Here is an anecdote - A man had been practicing meditation since quite sometime. Now, since a few days he has started experiencing a wonderful state of silence of the mind - Wherever he wished he could just absorb himself into nothing. Just sit there and do nothing sometimes upto two hours. It was a wonderful experience to be in. For a while he enjoyed this. Then he approached his guru, and asked - "Ok, this is wonderful, Guruji. But what will I do doing nothing in life. So, what's next? What is the next experience I need to aspire for? I am eager to learn the new lesson, Please teach" The guru said, "You Idiot, For what else on earth or beyond, you were meditating, all this while??" Such is the funny condition of the Rajasic mind! 

 

    Now, Swyog reinforced what was compromised and corrected the mistakes in his practices. Within a few days he noticed a considerable improvement in the quality of his involvement in the practices!


Conclusion:
   Chitta-prasadana helps raise our ability to perform beyond our known normal. Not only so, it can set for us a new normal too. We analyzed how such a state can be achieved  apart from what Swyog achieved. There are many examples around us who work tirelessly for long hours and yet remain healthy, enthusiastic and energetic. Our prime minister, Narendra modi is the most well known example in today's world. In one of the videos, I have heard sadguru Jaggi Vasudev also saying that he has been working for the past 25 years with only 2.5hrs of sleep per day. though lately he says he has become a little "lazy" that he sleeps about 4-5 hours!

    There are some countries where we see exponential economic growth happening in a short period of time, where the entire nation has been working tirelessly for decades, either by force or by patriotism, etc. However, working tirelessly and yet remain healthy, enthusiastic, energetic and above all, joyful is the ideal way to be working. Can we, the Bharatiyas achieve such a condition in our work culture? Such a work culture alone can be the foundation stone of aatma nirbhara bharat in its truest sense! This story not only illustrates such a condition, but also explains the obstacles and the way to avoid it. Its not only about the work culture. Such a self-disciplined lifestyle is also a means to eliminate any kind of psychosomatic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, migraine, etc. It is but for such a self discipline and periodic recreation (from their self imposed confinement, say, to go on a pilgrimage, or even a trek ) that any amount of yogic practices or exercises will not help eliminate the conditions of illness. I hope this article motivates and helps gain new confidence in the path of sadhana!

Happy Yoga Day! 

Jai Hind!

Stories from Jammu: Patriotism, a new subject in our school curriculum?

Around 12pm, the same day, I was returning to my room, after meeting the Swami at the RKM mission office that was about a furlong away. I met the same three men from the SSB who had just started their lunch. It was a cemented platform used as a play area by the RKM who often conduct sports activities for school children and youths. Though the swami had suggested them to use the dining hall, these men of action and alertness were comfortable enough to sit in the open place for having their lunch. Their lunch boxes had been delivered to their place. They cordially invited me to have lunch with them. For the kind of activity they perform, and the size of the box they get for lunch, I would have felt guilty, if I would have had even a morsel of food from their share! When one of them insisted, I just sat along with them. I shared some of my experiences of visiting the abode of Matha Vaishno Devi. Within minutes they were almost done with their lunch.
One of the jawan said, "it is another 10 years of service before being retired if this body exists till then." Ah! What a statement! this shows that our spiritual roots knowingly or unknowingly stays in our very blood. He referred to his body, not himself. Since, it is his body that perishes, not himself - the Atman!

 They get retired early - somewhere between 32-40 years of age. And that is why they are honourably referred to as the Jawans. It is not only in army. Any physically intensive and mental alertness intensive work including sports involves early retirement. One has to find alternative jobs if required for managing the financial commitments for rest of his life.

He said, he liked to spend time with children. He even narrated his story of an assignment in a school where he spent good amount of time happily, with children.

    Since there was still several years before these men retired, I put across my question as a generic one - "Since Jawans retire early... usually, how would they spend their time post retirement.?"

These are the men, our heroes, who are considered trustworthy, unbiased, disciplined, those who are above any religious/comunity narrowness and men of alertness.

One of them said, "We don't know anything other than this work - more of physical, about safeguarding... So generally we would join as security manager in some companies, physical excercise trainer in schools, etc.

Discipline, patriotism and self confidence are the three key things that lacks in our country by and large. And these are the men who are the embodiments of these qualities.

I said, "I wish every citizen of this nation serves the army at least a few years! That way, we can not only seek the real unity in diversity, but also a stronger nation in all respect. While that is not possible yet, at least you can bridge that gap!"
  The worst part of our education system is it has three components in it that are not treated the same way - curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular. Patriotism must be a mandatory subject along with sports and music. Today, Unfortunately, it doesn't even occur in extra curricular activities at the least.
The other Jawan said "Yes, I agree... But how can it be done?"

I suggested, "See, take yourself for example, you anyhow like to spend time with children. And you said, the only thing you know is this ( their job at hand ). That is your greatest strength. Once you are retired, you could certainly conduct some workshops to the children such that you enhance their adventurous skills, discipline and their confidence. Apart from that you can give some presentations, talks about armed forces, patriotism and the sacrifices your men have done to this nation. Such talks can be given at various schools, colleges and corporate offices on a regular basis. Imagine, if almost every retired jawan is involved in such activities in their surrounding areas. Also, while you talk, you can also offer to conduct the workshops/training sessions similar but scaled-down version to the one you would have done during your army training!"

I thought to myself - what if there was an institution that could help bridge this gap between our jawans and other institutions like schools, etc so that this process becomes wide spread and effortless?
    On the other hand, we should push the government to make policies such that it not only helps the Jawans to lead a respectful retired life, but also spreads and enhances patriotism among the citizens.

Stories from Jammu: Revelations from the interaction with Kashmiri Pandits!

Today, 19th January, thirty years ago, was the worst nightmare in the life of Kashmiri Pandits!

My visit to Jammu would have seemed incomplete had I not met and interacted with the Kashmiri Pandits! The neighbour of my room was a retired Kashmiri pandit (KP) who migrated to Jammu in 1990 during the genocide. He used to visit Jammu since when he was in grade 7 in early 70s along with his father. He later moved to Delhi for the higher studies and worked as part of a public sector... As part of our conversation, I asked him as to why didn't they revolt at the time of genocide. The natural answer came, saying it was because they were minority 1% of the 1.5 crore population in the entire Jammu and Kashmir and the then govt didn't help them in anyway. I commented, saying that at least I didn't come to know about it till only recently!

KP: That's because the then govt never let that happen - to be known to the rest of the world. The people fled to different places such as Jammu, Delhi, etc. People who were well educated took up jobs elsewhere however those who were peasants and landlords of orchids, etc. couldn't make a living. So they settled in the refugees camps in Jammu and later, govt allotted them lands in Jammu and they have settled here permanently.

Me: What surprised to me was that following the removal of article 370 and 35A, due to the curfew, there were lots to hue and cry that communication is cut off, human rights violations, etc. However there was hardly any voices from the Kashmiri pandits about the sufferings they had gone through 30years ago, except a few here and there.

KP: There are diaspora at different places such as in Delhi, Bangalore, etc of some 1000 people.

Me: But there is no collective voice... Nor has the voices made enough noise... is that because there is not enough unity among yourselves?

KP: On the other hand, not every KP wants to go back. Our children who have not seen much of the Kashmir have settled elsewhere. For ex., my daughter has studied in London and settled there. Why would she want to be going back to Kashmir?

Me: But you said there are many families who have no greater education and still remains poor. Do they not want to go back? Do you not want to support them?
KP: Yes ofcourse!

Me: However, I don't hear much of this anywhere even today.
KP: The govt will be doing it.
Me: But for the govt to make anything isn't it your responsibility to make a voice?

"We are an educated people. We don't go out throwing stones", was the swift answer from this gentleman. "We are raising the concern with the govt. We are seeking a separate settlement with retired army families staying among us! And security to be provided in our area."

Me: Do you think that will be a permanent solution. Do you think this govt will remain permanent who are making positive attempt for your welfare?
KP: Of course! Do you think the opposition will ever come back here? That's a hypothetical situation! That won't happen! We know what they have done to us. Now that article 370 is removed and the respective folks are arrested, we will not let such a govt to come again!

Me: Ok, but what if the govt changes at the centre?
KP: The Congress must be wiped out of India!

I wondered, which govt or a kingdom has remained permanent in the entire history of not just our nation, but in the entire world?? Will this gentleman and many pandits like him ever learn the right lessons from the history...? What is equally surprising to me from the interactions with a few KPs is that, I didn't hear from a single pandit expressing the idea of becoming stronger and gain ability to secure themselves than depending on others! I never heard a pandit seeking martial arts or other defensive training. It might be a sensible choice to have retired army families with them. But the history teaches us that its a futile idea to depend on someone else for the basic necessities as security, food and shelter!

Irrespective of whether it's a boy or a girl! Irrespective of whether they are in refugee camps or well settled in US or London or elsewhere, a collective lifestyle changes as a community to adopt the life saving, defending skills could bring much good to them as a race. Have you ever heard a lion hunting another lion? There was one Guru Govind Singh for Sikhs, then. I wondered, if there was one for the KPs today...

The Varna system was great when it was made. But neither did we use it sensibly nor has it remained sensible enough with 1000+ years of invasions! Have we not heard the story of a boastful Brahmin who did not know the basic life saving skills of swimming, getting drowned?

    Not just a small community, there are nations who took up a collective decision of single common goal -  Japan and Israel are two such examples. For them nation comes first and foremost than anything else. And those are the nations that are in the forefront in every profession - be it medical science, technology, business, etc. A strong nation building can only happen first, through self-discipline, whichever profession one might be in.

KPs are not the only ones who have faced persecution in the entire history of this nation. But it's the most recent, especially in a democratic independent nation. I wish at least the KPs will wake up and set an example to the rest of the Brahmins and other communities in this nation that the ideal of today's humanity is the combined growth of brahmin-hood with the valour of a kshatriya, in each individual.

While one race is racing blind-folded towards its own destruction, the other is slowing down to become vulnerable to be destroyed!

Here are a few statements made by Swami Vivekananda nearly 130years ago, which are very relevant in this context:

"I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal."

 "For our own motherland a junction of the two great systems, Hinduism and Islam — Vedanta brain and Islam body — is the only hope."

"My child, what I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made. Strength, manhood, Kshatra-Virya + Brahma-Teja."

 Leave alone our nerves being steel, is it atleast alive??

Stories from Jammu: Conversations with the Jawans

An old man was sitting next to me silently sipping a cup of tea, as if he was lost in his own world. I asked softly, "Are you local of Jammu?" He took his time to finish his last sip, stared into my eyes and replied, "Yes" in a deep & serious tone. I introduced myself saying am from Karnataka state. Immediately, his smiled a bit. He later shared his visit to Bengaluru long ago on duty. , From there, we spent a good time discussing from climate to traffic to pollution. From IT companies to present lifestyles to politics.
     Two days were passed, since NRC bill was approved. I enquired about the situation in Jammu, he asked back, "Did you see any issues around?". I said, "I see soldiers standing here and there, I didn't see any problem anywhere. In fact, throughout my journey from locals to soldiers, people were very helpful." He replied, "That is it! This is how it has been all throughout since Aug 2019. These opposition parties are unnecessarily creating wrong impression among the citizens." I nodded in acceptance.

    When i came to Jammu after having darshan at Vaishnodevi temple, the bus dropped me at some location which I had no clue about. We are so used to the modern internet technology, that my hand immediately snapped my mobile from the pocket to open the Google maps! Only to realise that the data n/w was disabled by the govt in whole of Jammu & Kashmir. This made me to fall back on the most reliable, time tested good old human technology of asking the people around! :-) I walked a little and came to the opposite side of a "Super Speciality Hospital". I looked around and saw two of our nation's most respected men, the soldiers, standing there. I asked them, with my broken Hindi, for the address I was looking for. One of them casually enquired about from where I had come, etc. He then explained, that the address was a bit far from here and asked me to catch a mini bus till a particular place and then to take an auto. He further went on to explain how much it will cost me and what does the mini bus conductor would shout about that place while nearing the bus stop, and even the different names with which he calls the same place, etc. Our dear jawan seemed still not convinced that I understood or I could manage as I had to cross two roads passing through a subway. He informed the other soldier and accompanied me till the bus stop. As we walked, I thanked him for helping me out, in hindi. He said "Why thanks, its my duty to serve you. I am privileged to do so." I was quite humbled by his act! We both then reached another road. He stood there and asked me to cross the road to reach the bus stop. I followed his instructions. After waiting for about 5mins, I got the bus which could take me to my destination. He signalled me from the other side of the road to get into that bus. The soldier was standing there till i got into the right bus.
     My solute to our wonderful soldiers! The ones whose very goal of life is to protect the civilians even at the cost of their own life just as the mothers do.

Next day morning, close to my room, I had a chance to meet three soldiers standing guard. They were from the SSB ( Sashastra Seema Bal ) which is one of the para military police forces along with ITBP, BSF, CRPF and CISF. Each where from different states. After we exchanged greetings and some casual talks including our home town, one of them said, they were deputed on the election duty, to Bengaluru, the capital of the state that I belong to. Naturally, the next talk was about the weather and then the IT industry. Another jawan joined the conversation and said, one of his relatives is working in an IT company there. Then the conversation was about family and how they spend their holidays.

    When a soldier is a bachelor and have just joined the services, during their visit to the home town, often they spend time with their friends like many of us do meeting the people, chatting with friends, partying, drinking, etc. As a Jawan get seasoned with discipline, he becomes capable of taking up any responsibility thrown upon him - from polishing his shoes to sweeping the floor to serving food. Saving the civilians during flood to guarding them from terrorist activities to fighting the enemies at the borders! Towards whom he owes his responsibilities now, are two fold - his smaller family in the home town and his much larger family, the nation. the way he looks at life and society has gone through a great transformation!

However, back in his home town, his friends are living the same mundane life as most of us do. Their greatest challenges in life are multi fold! On one side, their office or business or in search of a suitable job and on the other hand, their family of a handful members. Unlike their friend in the border, their fight is not only far more fierce, it also requires extreme intelligence. That's because, while they can fight, out of their own choice, they are not entitled to kill their enemies. And, these enemies appear and disappear every now and then. Sometimes, their spouse become the enemy, sometime the children, sometime parents or in-laws, or one's own self! Its not surprising that the some educated intellectual class expects the govt to provide free medical assistance, free education and free food too for all the citizens (in honour of their bravery?)

    Anyway, coming back to our three musketeers, one of them shared his thoughts, "when I get leave and go to my village, like before, my friends wants me to spend time in having drinks with them. However, I no more find it sensible enough. Moreover, my parents, wife and children will be waiting for months before I am granted a holiday. Neither the holiday is guaranteed nor the number of days I would stay in home. And if I go home having drunk, it doesn't look fine, isn't it?" I nodded in agreement and thoughtfulness. "But they do not understand the subtleness. All they would expect from me is to join them in partying!" At this time another senior called them. I saluted them and they left the place saying goodbye.

   Dear brave fellow citizens, let us raise above our comforts, let's be inspired by the discipline and services of these great men. When you meet a soldier next time, a salute to him will do far more good to you and him both, than a selfie. Try and see!

A very Happy Army Day!