Marblehead School of Raja Yoga
Self-awareness and meditation – group, private and online classes
Patanjali said that peace comes when we think and act:
WISELY – understanding the nature and distinction between mind (the source of our thoughts), and consciousness (the awareness of our thoughts);
COURAGEOUSLY – never giving up; practicing selflessness; being physically disciplined; and
SERENELY – always letting go; practicing non-attachment and mindfulness; being mentally disciplined.
Peace and blessings, Allan (“Skip”)
Karma is unavoidable; it’s the natural law of cause & effect: every action has consequences. A few things to remember about actions:
Raja Yoga is an effort to control our minds, and to the limited extent we can, our karma through thought and action, according to time and circumstance:
Guru Satchidananda used the analogy of an archer’s arrows:
Aim carefully, and act wisely.
Patanjali said, “never give up; always let go”, but most importantly emphasized never forgetting that consciousness (the uber-subtle, never-changing, awareness OF our thoughts) is the only thing not affected by karma (or time and space). It’s the aspect of each of us that our ancestors said was impervious to fire and water! So in a practical sense, our consciousness IS eternal! Draw contentment and courage (oppositional aspects of energetic matter) from that knowledge.
And never forget: you are a miracle!! You are a consequence of L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y everything that’s ever happened since the inception of time and space – as are all the people and things in your life, so please act accordingly, starting by lovingly caring for the body and mind you are gifted with.
Namaste, Skip
God grant me:
1) Serenity – to accept the things I can not change,
2) Courage – to change the things I can, and
3) Wisdom – to know the difference.
The Serenity Prayer accounts for 50% of the practice of Raja Yoga.
Courage, “tapas” in Sanskrit, is described by Sri Swami Satchidananda in his 1978 “Integral Yoga: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” as follows:
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The direct meaning of “tapas” is “to burn”. By the physical tapas of fasting, we burn our excess fat away along with the toxins our bodies have accumulated. By mental tapas, we burn all our old impressions. By verbal tapas, observing silence, we control speech. When we burn, we feel some heat and pain. We undergo suffering. So, tapas [courage] also means to accept suffering. If someone suffers, he or she is blessed, because by that suffering some impurities are purged out.
In order to make our minds clean and steady we must accept suffering, pain and poverty. It is even more beneficial if, at the same time that we accept pain, we bring happiness to others. So, accept the pain of others. [This is why therapists counsel depressed patients to volunteer: helping others feels good.] We never lose by accepting pain. We should never run from it.
In our lives there are hundreds of opportunities for tapas [to be courageous – in attitude AND in action]. Even a cloth must undergo tapas to become clean. What will the laundryman do with my cloth? Will he fold it, put some sandalwood paste and a flower on it and give it back to me? No. First, he’ll soak it in boiling water with soap. Then he’ll beat it every which way. Then he’ll tumble and roll and squeeze it in the washing machine. After that, he’ll dry it in a hot chamber and iron it. Only then does the cloth lose all its dirt and grime. It undergoes tapas to become pure. The laundryman has no hatred for the cloth when he does all those things to it. He only wants to make it pure. It is out of his love that he inflicts pain.
The mind too must be washed, squeezed, tossed, dried and ironed. Don’t think that if someone causes us pain they hate us, but rather that they are helping us to purify ourselves. If we can think like this, we are real Yogis. If anybody hurts our feelings, we should just smile at them….If we understand this point and accept it, we’ll never find fault with anybody who abuses, scolds or insults us. If flowery words make us happy but insults upset us, we know our minds are not yet strong. My teacher said, “Adapt, adjust, accommodate. Bear insult. Bear injury. That is the highest spiritual practice.” To go to a corner and pray is easy…but to be insulted and keep a serene mind requires tapas.
The power to control the body and senses comes from tapas [courage].
Once a man tried to anger a saint. He began insulting him, “You dirty rogue. See how many people you have ruined with your teachings?”
The saint remained quiet, smiling at his tormentor.
“Don’t you understand my language?” the man asked.
“Yes. Sure.”
“You mean, you’ve understood my insults?” The man was incredulous.
“I did.”
“Then how can you keep quiet?”
The saint answered, “Son, suppose you brought me some fruit and I refused it. What would you do?”
“I would have to take it back.”
“Yes,” continued the saint. “In the same way, I don’t enjoy all these things you have brought me. So you can just take them back.”
Handling things this way takes real strength and courage. A person who can only strike back physically may be physically strong but mentally weak. Mental strength comes from tapas.
A link to Satchidananda’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Sutras-Patanjali-Swami-Satchidananda/dp/1938477073
Meditating can turbocharge your faith. Understanding the difference between your mind and consciousness begs questions that only faith can answer.
Conscious mind
Your thoughts are evidence of this aspect of your mind; conscious thoughts are like breaths and heartbeats: single, consecutive and constant. Yes, your conscious or thinking mind can only handle one task at a time! If you need convincing, try simultaneously counting and reciting the alphabet. Right, so don’t text and drive! This is the aspect of your mind that you hear; it’s the part you interact with; you’re either engaging it to make a decision or it’s engaging you, acting like a monkey dredging up permutations of ego, memory and sensation from your sub-conscious mind. You CAN learn to control the conscious aspect of your mind and thus the clarity and nature of your thoughts.
Subconscious mind
You can’t hear this aspect of your mind nor can you control it; the only evidence of it is its functionality. This aspect of your mind is responsible for three things: (i) sensory receipt and processing, including seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, feeling, moving, talking, eliminating, and reproducing – things you don’t have to think to do; (ii) memory storage; you carry around a mental impression of every conscious thought (e.g., sight, sound) you’ve ever had; and (iii) the root of your ego: your sense of “I”.
Consciousness
When you tried counting and reciting the alphabet at the same time, two things did happen simultaneously: the thinking – and the awareness of your thoughts. The awareness OF your thoughts is your consciousness. Your thoughts change constantly, but your awareness OF them never does. The ancient texts say this part of you can’t be drowned or burned with fire – and yet you know it exists because without it you wouldn’t realize that you were reading this! Without it life would be pretty dull; imagine being unaware of being alive! What would be the point?!
Meditation
Think of your subconscious mind as a child bringing things to show you. To listen effectively to your subconscious mind, your conscious mind should be in neutral: observing without thinking. You know you’re simply observing if you don’t hear your inner voice analyzing, judging, or commenting. When your conscious mind is not obscured by thoughts, consciousness sees what your subconscious mind wants it to be aware of. As your subconscious mind unburdens itself, you draw closer to the deepest, most subtle aspect of you, your essence: your immutable consciousness.
Understanding the nature of consciousness – and tapping into its quiet, calm, stillness though meditation – opens your mind to an entire universe of questions that only faith can answer!
Happy trails, Skip
Technically, Raja Yoga is the pursuit of consciousness through meditation; practically, it’s about living in harmony with the world around us.
Several thousand years ago, before the advent of written language, someone named Patanjali concocted a 200-line poem, the Yoga Sutras, a recipe for living more joyfully and peacefully.
The practice is entirely personal; it’s intended to foster faith in YOURSELF (yes, though technically in your consciousness) because faith can be a source of strength, courage and wisdom. Sound familiar? Patanjali’s poem is the source of the Serenity Prayer.
Practicing Raja Yoga boils down to conducting yourself in a manner that will minimize your physical and mental distress, and practicing four types of exercise: two physical (inside-out & outside-in) and two mental (conscious & subconscious). All are intended to drive home something you already know intuitively: that there’s a difference between thinking and being aware of your thoughts. The latter is your consciousness.
Raja Yoga is an attempt to better understand and somehow tap into the subtlest aspect of yourself: your consciousness. The practice will either turbo-charge your existing religious or spiritual faith or engender it in you – as it did in me.
The spiritually deepening practice of Raja Yoga doesn’t require a leap of faith in something that you can’t readily verify. The holy grail of Raja Yoga is your own consciousness: the aspect without which you wouldn’t realize that you were reading this!
Here’s an excerpt from a letter to a new friend, a Buddhist:
“Since I set out on this quest, I’ve been under the apparent misconception that my teacher, Patanjali – and yours, the Buddha – were seeking and had found the same thing.
I’ve told people for years that Thich Nhat Hanh [a universally renowned and respected Buddhist teacher] does the best job of describing what I thought was our shared objective: to literally bear witness to consciousness. But your guest assured me that she’s seeking something BEYOND consciousness – which in my mind, makes your practice more of a religion than a purely objective quest or practice – in the sense that yours is a quest for something you literally CAN’T experience or witness with your tangible human body and mind: the source of the universe, “God”.
Raja Yoga doesn’t ask that we make THAT leap of faith; ours is a practice in self-awareness and control. You KNOW that your quiet, still, calm consciousness exists because YOU’RE AWARE THAT YOU’RE READING THIS!
Consciousness doesn’t function; it’s merely the awareness OF your thoughts. Without it, you’d be sitting there, reading this – completely unaware that you were doing so! So Raja Yoga celebrates THAT aspect of ourselves – and rewards us physically, mentally and spiritually (body – mind – consciousness) in our pursuit!
Sorry to blather on – I thought you may be receptive. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Center and I’ll be back – where else can I meditate for half a day?! Certainly not at home! Susan would surely find something else for me to do. Which may be the biggest difference between our practices: my teacher reminded me just recently that Raja Yoga is for “householders” – those of us who for practical or other personal reasons don’t sit in meditation for extended periods of time – though joyfully look forward to the limited times we do. Accordingly, 75% of the practice of Raja Yoga is done BEFORE sitting to meditate to make the most of the experience.”
May you find some part of this post useful.
Skip Dowds
skip@rajamarblehead.com
Raja Yoga is a “householder’s” practice. In other words, it’s for those of us who don’t or can’t devote hours a day to living mindfully – but certainly want to know how!
Ninety percent of the practice of Raja Yoga takes place BEFORE we sit to meditate. We may not have time to sit still every day, but we can act in a manner that will make it easier and more rewarding when we do. Here’s how:
1). Follow the Golden Rule.
2) Treat yourself respectfully.
3) In thought and deed be faithful, courageous, strong & wise.
4) Practice controlling your body – so you can sit upright & comfortably when you do meditate.
5) Practice controlling your breathing – so you can breathe deeply & subtly when you do meditate.
6) Practice controlling your thoughts – so you can focus when you do meditate, and
7) Meditate when you want or need to draw closer to the subtlest aspect of yourself: your still, calm, quiet consciousness: the awareness OF your thoughts.
The physical, energetic and mental affects of meditation are similar to massage: almost blissful, though fading.
Raja Yoga is one path to realizing beyond any doubt what you already know intuitively: that your consciousness is different than your mind. That realization WILL change your life.
From my heart to yours, Skip
skip@rajamarblehead.com www.rajamarblehead.com
Consciousness is the subtlest aspect of each of us; it’s subtler than our subconscious mind.
Humans are three-dimensional: body, mind and consciousness. Ancient texts describe consciousness as the aspect of us that “can neither be wetted nor burned”. It’s the part of us that’s not subject to the laws of karma (i.e., it doesn’t age or change; it’s immutable). In the same way that matter and energy can’t be lost or destroyed, neither can consciousness.
Consciousness doesn’t operate or function in the same sense that our bodies and minds do; it’s so subtle, the only way to verify it’s existence is to recognize that without it, you wouldn’t be aware that you were reading this (your body & mind may still work, but without awareness you’d effectively be a biological, non-sentient robot).
Your consciousness is identical to mine, though obviously WHAT yours has witnessed – in essence, what you have witnessed – is entirely different than what I have. Collectively, our individual consciousness is referred to as Universal Consciousness.
The general nature of consciousness or awareness is: Calm – Still – Quiet – Observing – Witnessing – Non-judgmentally accepting – Unconditionally loving – and it’s at the center of each of us!
Your consciousness has witnessed EVERY thought you’ve EVER had, EVERY word you’ve EVER uttered, and EVERYTHING you’ve EVER done – without judging you.
Raja Yogis celebrate consciousness for what it is, but we also turn inward via meditation to “get me some o’ that”. We meditate to literally draw closer to, or better understand – and perhaps begin to experience – our own true nature, or at least allow it to have a greater affect on our body and mind!
The holy grail of this practice is to remove our physical and mental self as obstacles to our consciousness becoming Self-aware. In that sense, meditation is a form of self-sacrifice (self for Self). This practice grew out of a time in human history when we were literally sacrificing our animals and possessions in hopes of changing our fate; Raja Yoga piggybacked on the concept of sacrifice, though teaches us to find faith in ourselves!
BKS Iyengar [a universally revered, modern day yogi] said “Yoga isn’t a religion; it’s the study of religion.”
I’ve never met a Raja Yogi who wasn’t a spiritual person, though I’ve met several whose yoga practice has clearly turbocharged their religious practice!
As you practice this form of yoga, you begin to see yourself (and frankly, everything) as miraculous, and in the process develop a curiosity about your own intangible, immutable consciousness – which leads to even more fundamental questions about the source of THAT, which is why we go to church, synagogue, temple – places of prayer, study and devotion!
Studying various understandings of the source of the universe can only deepen and broaden our own spiritual and/or religious practice; however, developing faith in something BEYOND our readily verifiable individual consciousness is beyond the scope of Raja Yoga. This practice just expedites that process.
Meditation, the inward quest for answers to questions about THIS life, fosters faith and confidence in yourself (Self and self) and engenders in you – if you’re not already so blessed – reverence and devotion to something you can only imagine: the source of life itself.
Here’s the thing: your consciousness is not just the essence of who you are – it is who you are.
God bless, Skip
If you don’t like what you hear in your head, change the channel!
Your conscious or thinking mind generates a perpetual stream of thoughts which your consciousness is simultaneously aware of; in essence, your consciousness “hears” your conscious thoughts. Mechanically, your gross or higher thinking mental function operates the same way your physical heart and lungs do: single, consecutive, perpetual beats, breaths – and conscious thoughts. Your conscious mind is your controller; it’s the aspect you use throughout the day to make decisions, but when you’re not engaging it, it “thinks” on its own, scanning your subconscious mind and projecting random memories, emotions, fears and desires onto your conscious mind’s eye!
Your subconscious or sensory mind receives information from your environment through your five inbound senses, and processes the information internally, virtually without you being aware of it, directing your body to perform rote or “reptilian” tasks: eliminating, reproducing, moving, grasping, and speaking. This subtle or lower sensory processing mental function also stores your memories and is the source of your identity. Subconscious thoughts aren’t the source of your distress; this part of your mind functions beautifully as long as your conscious mind is operating clearly and correctly.
So, if you don’t like the subconscious thoughts being dredged up by your conscious mind, change the channel! Your conscious mind is like a radio: it has selection and volume controls. Since your conscious mind can only make one decision or perform one cognitive task at a time (try simultaneously counting, and reciting the alphabet – not going to happen!) – you can decide what to listen to! It’s literally as simple as “A, B, C”: as long as you’re reciting the alphabet (or any clear and correct mantra) your thinking mind CAN’T dredge up fears, concerns, desires, etc.
The next time you don’t like what the voice in your head is saying, change the channel! Try reciting the alphabet silently to yourself (it’s same concept as counting to ten before you act). If at first that’s difficult, turn up the volume: if you scream the alphabet loudly enough in your conscious mind, I promise you’ll drown out ANY other thoughts!
Don’t forget your training!
Raja Yoga’s posture and breathing exercises prepare you to hold your physical body very still – specifically, your brain:
• Asana (posture exercises) help maintain a strong, stable outer body so you can hold your skull properly-positioned and still.
• Pranayama (breathing exercises) help maintain a subtle, rhythmically functioning inner body minimizing internal disturbances to your brain.
Raja Yoga’s concentration exercises prepare you to still your conscious, thinking mind, while the three stages of meditation sequentially quiet the sensory, memory, and ego functions of your subconscious mind.
Initially,
Sit balancing a notepad on your head; hold your head up as if you were looking out at the horizon, but look down your nose to a spot on the floor about arm’s length in front of you. I like to use a candle as the object of my focus. Try keeping your spine (which your brain rests on top of) still.
Focus on the mechanics and sensation of your inhalations and exhalations; allow enough time for your breathing to settle into a subtle, rhythmic pace.
Try “creating space” in your body:
• Vertically – as you inhale (the bottom of your diaphragm contracts, pulling it down and drawing air into your lungs), energetically press your perineum down into whatever your sitting on – and as you exhale (the top of your diaphragm contracts, pulling it up and forcing air out of your lungs), energetically press the crown of your head up into the notepad.
• Circumferentially – energetically emphasize the 360-degree expansion of your chest as you inhale.
It’s a matter of self-awareness and control: as you sit still, eyelids partially closed, staring down and concentrating on the candle flame, monitor and make any necessary adjustments to your posture, breath, and thoughts.
Remember that your attitude makes a huge difference: practicing for physical and mental benefits will produce very different results than practicing as a tribute or homage to consciousness (the universally common aspect of each of us that makes life rich!) – so that consciousness might witness the awesomeness of itself!
We exist in three dimensions: body, thoughts and consciousness. The latter is our awareness, without which we wouldn’t realize we were reading this!
Raja Yoga’s conduct, posture, breathing and concentration exercises prepare us to meditate: to still our thoughts so that our consciousness might become self-aware. Meditation progressively settles our entire body and mind – quieting our four, incessant mental functions (thinking, sensing, remembering and ego) from obscuring consciousness.
Why bother?!
Without consciousness, our bodies would still act, and our thoughts would still direct our actions – we just wouldn’t realize it! In essence, our body and mind serve as a vehicle for our consciousness to experience life. Said differently, we experience life thorough our body and mind, or we are our consciousness, not our body/mind.
Consciousness is intangible. Our awareness OF something can’t be manipulated like our bodies and thoughts; thus, it’s not subject to the vagaries of time and space (karma); in that sense, it’s eternal and not unlike the concept of a soul or spirit, but you can readily verify the existence of your consciousness!
Your consciousness, the observation OF your thoughts is no different than the observation OF mine, even though what we’re aware of is unique to each of us.
Raja Yoga – the science of meditation – is a personal sacrifice of body and mind in service of our collective, universal consciousness for which our tangible body and mind are rewarded with a blissful sense of union, belonging, acceptance, and love. Note that the sense of bliss is precipitated by our motivation to serve rather than any expectation of reward.
Meditation tips:
• Hold your body comfortably still in an effort to hold the brain inside your skull perfectly still.
• Breathe rhythmically and subtly to minimize the physical disturbance to your brain; focus for a while on your breath: the inhalations, pauses, and exhalations.
• Settle your conscious mind first; quietly, softly recite a simple mantra.
• Continue concentrating single-pointedly until you’ve progressively quieted or mesmerized the three functions of your subconscious mind: sensing, remembering and ego.
• Practice in tribute to our collective, universal consciousness – without which we’d all be robotic rather than sentient beings.
