Posted on

Meditation and faith

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

Posted on

I’m a Raja Yogi

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

Posted on

Raja Yoga – misconception #1: no time to practice!

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

Posted on

CONSCIOUSNESS

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

Posted on

Radio Head

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!

Posted on

Meditation tips

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!

Posted on

Meditation isn’t for our minds

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.

Posted on

Chapter II: Preparing to Meditate

Having devoted the first 50 lines (or 25%) of the Yoga Sutras to the science behind meditating (the intent, types of thought, importance of correct thinking, the four stages of mental awareness, etc.), Patanjali devotes the entire second chapter (the next 50 lines, or 25% of the poem) to PREPARING to meditate. Chapter two describes the constant, routine stress-reducing practices of Raja Yoga: 1) fostering and maintaining a positive attitude, 2) following the Golden Rule and Serenity Prayer, and 3) exercising your body and mind to increase self control and reduce stress and fatigue.

Posted on

From the first chapter of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

• Raja Yoga is a practice in quieting your mind.

• Your mind constantly processes four types of thought: correct, incorrect, imagined, and remembered.

• Quieting your mind requires correct thinking.

• By practicing clear correct thinking with single-pointed concentration, you gradually pass through four progressively clearer states of mental awareness before experiencing unfiltered consciousness.

• To succeed: never give up; always let go.

Posted on

Takeaways from chapter one of Patanajali’s Yoga Sutras (see recent FB posts)

Raja Yoga is a life-long endeavor to control our thoughts – because our thoughts precede our actions, which directly impact our health and wellbeing.

The crux of Raja Yoga comes in understanding the difference between our mind and consciousness. Our mind is tangible; it has four functions: thinking, sensing, remembering, and identity; however, our consciousness is IN-tangible; it doesn’t “do” anything; it never changes (in that sense it’s eternal!); its simply the awareness OF our thoughts; without it, our body and mind would function, we just wouldn’t be aware of it!

In short, consciousness is the essence of who and what we are. The object of Raja Yoga is to progressively subdue and calm the four functions of our mind, successively passing through four gradually clearer states of mind, until eventually realizing our own nature with absolute clarity: the blissful stillness of consciousness itself.

Patanjali’s only instruction in the first chapter: never give up; always let go.