Continuing with the automotive analogy, last week we said our conscious mind (the aspect we hear; our thinking mind) has three forward gears (correct, incorrect and imagined), reverse (memories) and neutral.
But what fuels those conscious thoughts [aside from the bio-magnetic energy that literally keeps our heart beating, lungs breathing, and mind thinking]?
There are five fuel (energetic) impurities or mental blockages (“emotions”) that affect how well our body/mind functions. To the extent they are present, all five can affect our every conscious thought.
The first is “Ignorance”. This gets right to the heart of Patanjali’s Raja Yoga; overcome this obstacle to continuous clear, correct thinking and you’re virtually home free! Herein “ignorance” has nothing to do with our aptitude or IQ; rather, it simply refers to whether or not we are aware of the distinction between our thoughts and the awareness OF our thoughts:
thoughts are evidence of our conscious mind; awareness OF our thoughts is evidence of our consciousness.
The other four impurities to clear, correct, completely objective, balanced thinking are a consequence of Ignorance: Ego, Attraction, Aversion and Fear.
The objective of the mental discipline of Raja Yoga is to continuously think clearly and correctly – recognizing that
our emotions affect our thoughts which precipitate our behavior which accounts for most of what bothers us!!
If you have a friend or neighbor who spends all day every day doing things for other people to the point that they’re not taking care of themselves (e.g., not eating, sleeping and/or exercising adequately – my mother comes to mind)…..
….with love, let them know that there’s a reason the stewardess tells us to put our own oxygen mask on first: so we can do a BETTER job serving others.
Take care of ALL of you, including your non-physical bits!
Learn to distinguish between your conscious and sub-conscious mind….
1 Conscious mind “thinks” – this aspect of our mind:
is evidenced by the voice in our head: words, typically of judgment or analysis;
functions like our heart and lungs: single, consecutive, constant beats, breaths, and thoughts;
has five operating “gears” or functions: 1,2,3, R & N [when we meditate, we’re looking for “Neutral” or observation-only mode]!
2 Sub-conscious mind “does” – this aspect of our mind:
“runs the ship” (i.e., controls physical movement: walking, talking, pooping, blood circulation, organ function, etc.) without our having to consciously think about doing those things;
stores our memories;
is typically taken for granted because we can’t “hear” it; rather, our sub-conscious mind is evidenced by actions, sensations, insights, instinct, and intuition.
……and between mind and consciousness.
3 Consciousness “is” – the awareness OF our thoughts (i.e., the witness: the “YOU” behind your thoughts) doesn’t “do” anything, nor can anything be “done” to it! For all intents and purposes, as long as your body/mind is sustained by energy, this aspect of you benignly “witnesses” it all – WITHOUT judgment (which is a product of our conscious mind).
Our deep, calm, quiet, still, underlying, non-judgmental consciousness is a source of indescribable bliss.
Tap into it!
Learn to drop beneath the static and noise (and the voice!) of your conscious mind – and experience a holistically restoring and energizing state of being – AT WILL!!
To a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile who’s been under considerable stress:
For five minutes, once a day, for three weeks – take your mind offline as follows:
[If you can’t sit comfortably on the floor, sit in a chair. The physical part of this Rx is to eventually be able to readily get up and down off the floor!]
Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Optional: use a meditation app if it helps you focus. I like “Insight Timer”. I suggest something you can synchronize your breath to.
Sit comfortably. Close your eyes almost all the way.
Breathe “manually” into your stomach: expand your stomach as you inhale; contract it as you exhale. “Navel away on the inhalation. Navel back on the exhalation.”
Focus 100% of your attention on the mechanics of breathing. Observe the sensations. Try not to hear words of judgement or analysis in your head. Literally just enjoy witnessing your body breathe.
The long-term goal is to be able to sit upright comfortably while breathing rhythmically and subtly (i.e., quieting our physical bits in preparation to still our mental bits).
I recommend a pre and post flight system check: scan your self (again, without words) observing your physical, mental and emotional states. Did anything change between check-ins?
Mechanically, you’re distracting the typically noisy, thinking conscious part of your mind, and settling into your quieter, deeper, calmer, otherwise sub-conscious mind – thereby taking it “offline”.
Learn to give yourself, specifically your busy tired mind, a chance to rest, restore, recharge, and refresh – at will!
As an added bonus, each time you do, you draw a little closer to nirvana: the source of that sense of calm stillness, your awareness itself.
Feel free to come to any regularly-scheduled class. All exercises are tailored to the individual student.
I teach Raja Yoga as outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras (a prehistoric 200-line poem, the origin & practice behind the universal Serenity Prayer).
It’s a multi-faceted discipline to control our emotions and thoughts – and thus our actions, which account for 70% of what bothers us!
In short, meditation is about mind control. It’s a dual practice in self-awareness & self-control.
There’s no wrong time or place to start practicing!
FYI – here are links to a rough translation of the first half Patanjali’s poem:
Why is a 60 year-old white guy from Boston jumping up & down and screaming about consciousness?
Because I just discovered mine two years ago.
Why did it take me so long (13 years of devout searching)?
Unlike Eastern cultures which revere and honor this aspect of each of us, here in the States I was raised to believe that if I couldn’t see, smell, hear, taste or touch something, it probably wasn’t “true” – and according to my grandfather (whom I love beyond measure) not worth wasting time on.
Sigh. I lived 58 years of my life with the light out. Please don’t do the same.
Ironically, it’s only through the Eastern practices of self-reflection and control that it’s possible to sense some things: to know them as “true” on an intuitional level MUCH deeper than thought. [I teach Raja Yoga and Medical Qigong].
Meditate. You can’t do it wrong, but it helps to have a teacher. That’s why I’m here.
Here’s a link to my favorite online resource on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras – specifically to a section on the koshas – described therein as five lampshades covering our light: Swamij.com/Koshas.
I suggest that there’s a very direct correlation between the five koshas and the last six of Patanjali’s eight limbs: as we gain proficiency with a limb, we begin to experience a deeper, subtler aspect of our being:
Limb
Kosha
Postures
Outer physical
Breathing
Inner physical/energetic
Concentration
Conscious mind
Meditation (3 levels)
Sub-conscious mind (3 functions)
When we meditate, we sequentially transcend [from densest to subtlest energetically] three states of generally sub-conscious mind, evidenced by our (i) sensory processing, (ii) memory storage and (iii) sense of individuality.
Beyond that point we meditate without specific focus or obstruction, having come as close as physically/mentally possible to consciousness itself.
I skinny the eight limbs down to six: the four above plus the yamas & niyamas [the two most important based on prioritization and because they make up ~70% of the eight limbs!!].
I group the last three limbs together – not just because they’re very notably placed in a separate chapter in the Sutras – but because the physical/mental action associated with them (seated meditation) is identical.
While we sit and meditate, we descend three progressively subtle energetic densities of sub-conscious mind (each evidenced by a distinct mental function – and very different perspective!) – which takes a LONG time.
At the end of the day there’s no incorrect way to meditate – it just takes practice, and as Patanjali said, we’ll know it when we get there!
😊❤️🕉
Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!
The four spinning wheels represent its different energetic densities and corresponding functions according to the science underlying Patanjali’s Raja Yoga:
1. Conscious mind – the most evident, only thinks five types of thought: three original (“correct”, “incorrect” and “imagined”) plus it can “remember” previous thoughts, and wait for it……it has a “pause” or “neutral” function – although you can’t shut off your mind any more than you can stop your heart from beating or your lungs from breathing.
Thoughts are colored by emotions stemming from our sub-consciousness mind, which coordinates bodily function, stores memories and houses our vital ego: the recognition that we are unique and have needs.
2. Sub-conscious mind (third floor – 3rd because it’s the least subtle energetically, and when we meditate we experience a deepening over time) – the only evidence of this aspect of mind – since we can’t “hear” it the way we hear our conscious thoughts – are our five inbound senses and bodily functioning. This aspect of mind multi-tasks big-time!
3. Sub-conscious mind (second floor) – memory storage; memories are less energetically dense than sensations, but denser than ego.
4. Sub-conscious mind (bottom floor) – root or vital ego: the most subtle aspect of our tangible, temporal body/mind.
The flashlight is consciousness.
When it’s on, it represents the eternal immutable awareness OF our thoughts, and thus by definition, is NOT itself a mental function!!
Patanjali’s eight-limbed practice proves that beyond doubt. As Amma says, consciousness is essentially divine. Without it, you don’t realize you’re alive!!
Meditating…
… (i.e., simply observing without emotion, analyzing or judging) indirectly exposes your otherwise sub-conscious fears and desires to the soothing effects of consciousness – diminishing their potential to influence future thoughts and actions.
…with intent…
The self-induced holistically [physically, energetically & mentally] calming and restorative effects lasts LONG after your time on the mat – and becomes turbocharged when practiced as it was originally intended: as a form of self-sacrifice, an expression of gratitude and humility directed toward the Source of everything, whatever that means to you!
Meditating is about trying to connect with God via consciousness, the intangible aspect of each of us without which we don’t know we’re alive – the aspect of us that’s not subject to time and space!
But you don’t have to adapt an old-school devotional mindset to benefit from meditating. Meditation is a free and holistic practice!! Patanjali memorialized the Yoga Sutras for all mankind forever. ❤
All you have to do to get started is close your eyes and smile!
…as outlined by Patanjali…
Once you’ve progressed in the second and third limbs of Patanjali’s eight-limbed Raja Yoga, the science of mind control or meditation (i.e., having developed some degree of physical self-control over your body internally and externally), the last four limbs are mental exercises in which we a) learn to focus our conscious mind correctly without emotion – a prerequisite for holding it in neutral, and b) eventually settle through three VERY deep sub-conscious mental states – beneath which lies the awareness of life itself: consciousness. ❤
…proves it to yourself.
The next time you have five minutes, sit still. While you’re sitting there, just watch your body breathe. Relax. And just watch. You CAN’T do it wrong! When you become distracted bring your attention back to your breath. Eventually, the distractions become less frequent.
The longer you can hold your conscious mind in neutral – just observing – mimicking consciousness – the deeper your experience will be.
It’s sort of like holding the door open to a butterfly garden: eventually, all the butterflies (the beautiful and butt-ugly) find their way out energetically – because when fears and desires are exposed to divine consciousness they lose their potential to influence thoughts and actions.
The trick to smiling more often is realizing there’s a LOT more to you than you see in the mirror!
Practice self-awareness and self-control. Read Patanjali’s prehistoric, 200-line poem and meditate! 😉
Try simultaneously counting and reciting the alphabet.
Right. That’s not happening. Our conscious mind (the aspect we’re aware of) can literally only do one thing at a time!
But we constantly multitask even when we’re not aware of it. Thankfully, we don’t need to consciously think about every breath and step! Walking and chewing gum would be difficult!
That’s because our sub-conscious mind is silently processing all of our less challenging mental and routine physical tasks. Anything an alligator can do, our sub-conscious mind is capable of: walking, breathing, chewing, pooping.
Knowing that our conscious mind can only do one thing at a time, and our sub-conscious mind is silent…..
…..do a math problem in your head.
Got it? OK. Two things just happenedsimultaneously. WHAT?! YUP:
Your conscious mind did the math problem, and
You were aware that you were doing it.
The latter is your consciousness.
Without it you wouldn’t know you were alive, let alone doing math problems!
Meditate – it’s what’s good for you!
We are literally three dimensional beings: our awareness OF our thoughts is as distinct from our thoughts as our thoughts are from our bodies.
Here’s the real challenge:#meditatein2018. Restore, refresh and recharge. Tap into the aspect of you that’s unaffected by anything: your consciousness.
How do you know you’re getting close? Consciousness is evidenced by three things: awareness, intuition and bliss. It’s also the source of curiosity and compassion.
Meditation literally provides access to a different dimension of our self, deepening our intuition and fostering a relationship with the Source of the universe.
This holiday season take a break and see for yourself. Meditate and be transformed by your essence.
This is a shout out to the young lady I met at Starbucks this morning! I hope you had an awesome birthday! It’s always a pleasure to meet kindred spirits – especially those who meditate!
I wish we’d had longer to chat. As you know, meditation is a deeply personal, unique experience every time we do it!
The easy part is sitting as still! The effectiveness of doing so depends on our intention, preparation and experience level – which is part of the reason we’re encouraged to meditate daily!
Here’s how Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (the prehistoric poem I mentioned: the bible of Raja Yoga) breaks down the practice in terms of emphasis and priority:
80% – to be practiced all day, every day: think and act with serenity, courage, wisdom and devotion, treating others and ourselves lovingly.
20% – to be practiced routinely: (15%) three types of physical and mental exercises to still the body and mind to facilitate meditation; (5%) actual meditation.
In other words, 95% of what’s required to find eternal bliss takes place before we even sit down to meditate!
That makes intuitive sense: if we’re constantly scheming or otherwise playing mental ping pong over what we could or should have done, we’re going to have a much harder time settling our emotional energy and the thoughts it triggers.
And if we haven’t stretched our legs, practiced rhythmic breathing and concentration exercises, we’re not as likely to have a fruitful quest to witness our True Self – which requires prolonged physical and mental virtual stillness!
Patanjali’s Mind Control
While we’re sitting there simply witnessing our thoughts, the aim is to become intuitively (NOT cerebrally) aware of the source of the emotions > that trigger our thoughts > which precipitate our actions > which account for 80% of what’s preventing us from experiencing eternal bliss: effectively, union or “yoga” with the Divine! Yes – Amma says consciousness is essentially divine – and I believe her!!
To do that we first need to distinguish between our mind and consciousness; specifically, between our a) conscious and b) sub-conscious mind – characterized by words/thoughts, and images/sensations, respectively, and c) our awareness OF the voice, sensations and images reflected in our conscious mind. Our mind obscures our underlying essence: our consciousness.
Conscious mind’s words and mental chatter obstruct awareness of what our body is sub-consciously sensing and doing, and keeps our memories at bay.
Sub-conscious mind’s images and sensations – including manifest affects of our fears and desires – obstruct awareness of our essence: the immutable awareness OF what we’re thinking and doing!!
That awareness – our consciousness – is the aspect of each of us that’s not affected by time and space; in that sense, it’s eternal – at least for as long as it’s associated with our body/mind.
Consciousness is evidenced first and foremost by our awareness, but also by curiosity, compassion, intuition and true bliss. Exposing fears and desires to the eternal compassion of consciousness lessens their energy!
New Age Stuff
I haven’t read Tolle or any of the other – what did you call them? “Modern Transcendentalists”(?) because I’m a devotee of Patanjali.
While I certainly applaud and admire the help they’ve provided millions of people, it ALL seems to trace back to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the original treasure map to eternal life: Truth and nothing less than union or “yoga” with God.
Our [My] True Self
The Truth is that we ARE intangible, eternal beings living a tangible, temporary experience.
At our essence we are the awareness OF what we are thinking and doing.
That awareness – our consciousness – is NOT of-this-earth. It’s literally the only “thing” known to exist (remember, without it you don’t know you’re reading this) that’s NOT affected by time and space.
That immutability becomes abundantly clear once we understand the distinction between our own thoughts and consciousness. Without the latter we wouldn’t know we were alive – let alone reading another of these paradigm-shifting, life-altering posts!
Once we accept that part of us is immutable (“bulletproof” according to the adolescent in me), life becomes MUCH less stressful and our time and experiences – on and off the mat – become turbo-charged!
Wishing you many more happy birthdays, and wonder-filled journeys on and off your mat!
