Testimonial for The Digital Docs

My four-year old desktop computer, HAL started acting like an old dog last week: falling asleep; getting up less often; her sparkle was gone.

This is the part I hate: taking them to the vet for the last time.

I called Stephen Bach, the surgeon on call at the Digital Docs.

Stephen kindly spent more time than he billed me for trying to figure out what was draining the old girl’s energy – before she literally died in his arms. Thankfully, this time I wasn’t there.

Farewell HAL.💔 Hello HAL2!❤

The next day, like a stork the good doctor presented me with a virtual replica of HAL (though HAL2 is a little curvier: no muffin top).

The good doctor Frankenstein created a clone of HAL, transferring HAL’s brain and consciousness into a new body!

HAL has been reincarnated as HAL2!

Aside from the arm and leg Apple charged for the new hardware, no one could have made the transition easier, or the grieving process shorter.

Thank you Stephen.

There are three parts of you that you CAN’T SEE!

1. Your sub-conscious mind;
2. Your conscious mind;
3. Your consciousness.

Have you ever tried? I mean seriously tried? Technically, humans aren’t capable of understanding, let alone experiencing, the concept or dimension of God. [For purposes of this blog, “God” refers to the Source of everything – however that concept manifests in your mind.]

How did we go from yoga to God?

Raja Yoga is the prehistoric practice of meditation or mind control, a devotional discipline that fosters a deep, intuitive sense of self-awareness.

What Raja Yoga refers to as consciousness has become commonly referred to as our “spirit” or “soul” by historical religion – similar to the way that meditation has evolved into prayer over the millennia.

Raja Yoga recognizes that we are truly three-dimensional beings: a tangible body/mind with an intangible awareness. According to some, the latter is essentially divine.

The discipline of Raja Yoga makes it abundantly clear to the practioner that the awareness OF our thoughts is as distinct and different from our thoughts as our thoughts are from our physical body.

 

Here’s the bottom line: we’re aware that we’re alive.

That awareness is our consciousness. It’s the one aspect of all of us that literally NEVER changes – at least not in a manner that we can experience, simply because it’s not affected by time and space the same way our physical bodies and tangible minds are. Right, “not affected by time and space”!! See where this is going?

Our awareness OF what our body/mind is doing/thinking is immutable.

The ancient, pre-historic Raja Yoga texts say it’s the part of each of us that no amount of fire or water (hint: polar opposites) can affect – BUT without which you wouldn’t realize you were alive(!) let alone reading this life-altering post! Just sayin’…..

We are all (yes, ALL) are miraculous – in the same scientific, factual sense that all life is miraculous. Try calculating the odds of you reading this post given that literarily everything that’s ever happened since the dawn of time had to happen EXACTLY as it did in order for this to be your current reality. Right: friggin’ miraculous!!

But the part of each of us that’s most miraculous – our consciousness – without which there would be no point to life – is literally indistinguishable from one of us to the next. For better or worse, your awareness is EXACTLY like mine, though obviously, WHAT we’re each aware of is unique to us – forever (again with the polar opposite theme: simultaneously universal AND unique!)

NOW, once you accept that simple yet mind-altering factoid, you begin to wonder about the nature of this immutable (eternal?! WTF?!) yet crucial aspect of all living things, and guess what?

It’s not something you can look up online. Sorry. It’s not something you can ask someone else about and be convinced (too bad for yours truly)! You have to go there. You literally have to experience the affects of drawing closer to the part of you that you literally can’t experience (again with the ironic, bipolar theme) – which convinces you of your own – and everything’s – true nature.

BOOM. Mind blown. Mike drop. Is anyone listening?!?!

Krishna

My simplistic understanding of the complexity of thoughts, practices and beliefs that constitute Indian philosophy (of which Raja Yoga is one of six orthodox systems) is that there’s general consensus that THE God or Source of the universe is Krishna.

I’m not aware of a singular term like “Christians” that refers to Krishna devotees (I’m not sure all “Hindus” believe that Krishna is the Big Dog) but there seems to be consensus among them that at some distant point in human history, God manifest as the blue-hued, impish Krishna who explains life in metaphors to Arjuna midfield (think basketball court: two-sided) on the brink of battle in the Bhagavad Gita (literally, “God’s song”).

Personal opinion: Krishna’s well-intended modern day, orange-robed, bald-headed friends have done Him a grave marketing disservice!

Ganesha

While Krishna is the widely recognized as the Big Dog (“God” in the subsequent Judeo-Christian system of divine thought), his buddy Ganesha – who’s likeness is reflected in the picture – is a “lesser” god [sorry to be irreverent if not seasonal, but think “Santa’s helper”!] who’s primary job to is facilitate our earnest endeavors. Ganesha is believed to be the “remover of obstacles” but like the Big Dog, Ganesh has a sense of humor. He essentially runs the school of hard knocks.

According to Wikipedia, “Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the [god – lower case] of intellect and wisdom.”

According to Chopra.com, “Ganesha plays the dual role of a supreme being powerful enough to A. remove obstacles and ensure success – OR – B. create obstructions for those whose ambition has become destructive.”

Who’s crazy?

When you comprehend that a part of YOU is virtually – if not – eternal, you begin to wonder about the Source of that part of you. Bones, muscles and thoughts (the whole body/mind bits) are readily explained away by modern science, but you won’t find ANY scientific research on consciousness – BECAUSE IT CAN’T BE DONE. Consciousness – our awareness OF our thoughts – is NOT of this earthly realm!

Once that sets in and you accept the completely intangible nature of the essence of who we are (like my mom used to say, “it’s not about what’s on the outside” whenever she had a prospective date in mind for me!) – but if you’e like me, having nary a clue as to WTF the Source of our consciousness might be like – we pick something simple that we CAN relate to in some personal way to remind us of the Truth. Recently the image of Ganesha keeps pooping up for me.

Raja Yoga is a science – there’s no such thing as coincidence.

The statue was my mom’s – no idea where she got it, but it became mine last year. I wink at him; I have conversations with him. Am I crazy imagining that somewhere in a dimension beyond my comprehension, my intentions are heard, received – and heaven forbid – acknowledged?! Maybe. Does meditation, or trying to draw closer to the Source help keep my stress level under the boiling point? ABSOLUTELY.

Perhaps best of all, meditation never produces a hangover – ever.

Why Ganesha? I don’t know; maybe because our daughter loves elephants. I have no mental image of God – the Big Dog – the creator and CEO of the universe. Not a clue. BUT – having something tangible like a crucifix, a statue of Buddha – or Ganesha – or pictures of ancestors – whatever resonates with you personally and elicits a sense of connection with something beyond your experience and understanding – keeping it around as a constant, silent reminder of one’s purpose and pursuit – I don’t see the harm.

And besides, it’s not technically crazy. Devotees of any faith expect to experience the same consequence every time they pray/meditate: an odd sense of intimacy with something “other-worldly”: something divine.

Hugs to those who need one,

Allan [“Skip” to my family and pre-enlightenment friends! C’mon; that’s funny, right?!]

Mind vs. Consciousness

Our mind is tangible and perpetually changing; it has two aspects: (i) our conscious mind: the aspect we’re aware of, evidenced by thoughts, and (ii) our sub-conscious mind, the aspect we’re not conscious of, evidenced by sensations and actions.

Our consciousness, on the other hand – is as different from our thoughts, as they are from our body! Our consciousness is the intangible, immutable awareness OF our thoughts; it’s the essence of what and who we are.

Conscious vs. Sub-Conscious Mind

Our conscious mind generates a perpetual stream of individual thoughts which are either analytical or observational, and which either elicit emotions or not.

We can’t stop our mind from thinking any more than we can stop our heart from beating – though seriously advanced Raja yogis can feign death!

Our conscious mind works like our heart and lungs: generating single, consecutive, hopefully constant beats, breaths and thoughts. One of the side-benefits of meditation is that after awhile, the three systems tend to synchronize, eliciting a sense of deep inner calm.

Our sub-conscious mind contrarily, simultaneously processes countless bits of information received from our environment, and issues countless commands in response. Our sub-conscious mind also stores our memories, the source of our emotions, which color our thoughts and precipitate our actions.

Under stress our most pressing fears and desires (energetic manifestations of memories) percolate up into our conscious mind via sensations and images and we become aware of otherwise sub-conscious concerns.

Obviously, the two aspects of our mind function very differently:

• in short, one we hear, the other we don’t;
• one communicates bluntly using words, the other communicates subtly using sensations and imagery; and
• one makes decisions; the other affects our decision-making, and precipitates our actions.

They both play equally critical roles in our survival: effectively, our sub-conscious mind runs the ship, and our conscious mind acts as the ship’s rudder!

Meditation vs. Concentration

Concentration may involve focusing our attention externally, for example on our actions, an object or a mantra; concentration teaches us how to control our conscious mind; specifically, to distinguish between the two aspects of our mind, and distinguish between analytical and observational thoughts.

Meditation focuses our attention internally; it teaches us to hold our conscious mind in benign, compassionate observation mode – to bear witness to the energy of our memories, fears and desires – exposing them – albeit indirectly through our open conscious mind – to the infinitely calm acceptance of our own essence: our consciousness.

Observation vs. Analysis

“Mindfulness” is synonymous with our conscious mind’s “observation” mode. It’s a passive mental state of witnessing without analysis or judgment – NOT evidenced by the voice in our head. To get a sense of the difference between analytical and mindful or observational conscious thought:

>  If we’re making a decision, we’re engaging our conscious mind and thinking analytically; [i.e., we’re “in our head”; we’re not being “in the moment” or mindfully observant; we’re not being “mindful”]; however,

>  If we’re silently, wondrously watching a Monarch butterfly land on a big, bright yellow sunflower, and the butterfly begins to slowly open and close its wings, and it strikes us that it seems to be sunning itself – our conscious mind is likely in observation (aka “open”, “pause”, “neutral”, “sleep”) mode: just witnessing (without analysis or judgment) whatever sensations and/or actions our sub-conscious mind is processing [i.e., we’re being “mindful” inasmuch as we’re wholly engrossed in what we’re sensing]; and

>  If we’re so engrossed in a task that we sub-consciously tune out our other senses, (e.g., we don’t hear the phone ring!) – and we don’t hear the distracting voice in our head – it’s very likely that our conscious mind is simply observing our sub-conscious mind in action [i.e., we’re being “mindful” inasmuch as we are wholly engrossed in what we’re doing].

Walking the Dog

Walking the dog around mother-in-law’s hood

Want to practice mindfulness? The next time you’re walking the dog around your mother-in-law’s neighborhood (or whatever YOU happen to be doing), pay attention individually and sequentially to your five inbound senses: literally witness what your body is experiencing and doing (e.g., being aware of the temperature, wind, the sensation of each footfall).

Thich Nhat Hanh may have said it best: the real miracle isn’t walking on water, it’s simply putting one foot in front of the other!

God bless.

EMPATHY

“You have to reach people’s hearts first – THEN their minds!” – so says my teacher whom I vacillate between loathing and loving! <3

The people in our lives are all teachers whom we learn life lessons from: some good, some not. The teacher I’m referring to is Milena Origgi, a guru in the truest sense.

I get it. If I’m closed off emotionally because of some invisible mental barrier I’ve constructed over a lifetime to protect my self, I’m not coming from a place of empathy, and thus, I can’t be as effective as a teacher/healer.

So this damned nuclear-resistant mental wall of mine (which would give Little Fingers a hard-on) has to come down. I literally have to change my view of MYSELF – to embrace and love myself – if I’m going to help others do so; in short, I need to walk the talk – though in this case, the walk conjures up images of walking the plank!!

INTROSPECTION

At our essence, we are EACH miraculous.

The entire purpose of meditation is to tap into something deep within us: an aspect described as indescribable, immutable, intangible, eternal, compassionate, curious, impelling, pervading, impelling, aware, intuitive, and blissful.

The only way to reach people’s hearts is to speak from our own – and the only way to do that is to come from a place of empathy and compassion (to be truly selfless).

One way to foster compassion for ourselves and others is through meditation or introspection: consciously and benignly observing our otherwise sub-conscious fears and desires, effectively, reverse-engineering our behavior at an intuitive level, and in the process, venting the underlying emotions triggering our behavior.

When we meditate, we lovingly and non-judgmentally accept, absorb and release the energy triggered by our negative memories – consciously, embracing and accepting that energy for what it is: something which has been affecting our body/mind, but which CAN’T affect the essence of who and what we are: our consciousness. Without awareness we wouldn’t even realize we were alive – so wtf would be the point?!!

LEGEND OF OUR DIVINITY

Milena also shared the following old Hindu legend with me this morning:

“…there was once a time when all human beings were gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief god, decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found.

Where to hide their divinity was the question. So Brahma called a council of the gods to help him decide.

“Let’s bury it deep in the earth,” said the gods. But Brahma answered, “No, that will not do because humans will dig into the earth and find it.”

Then the gods said, “Let’s sink it in the deepest ocean.” But Brahma said, “No, not there, for they will learn to dive into the ocean and will find it.”

Then the gods said, “Let’s take it to the top of the highest mountain and hide it there.” But once again Brahma replied, “No, that will not do either, because they will eventually climb every mountain and once again take up their divinity.”

Then the gods gave up and said, “We do not know where to hide it, because it seems that there is no place on earth or in the sea that human beings will not eventually reach.”

Brahma thought for a long time and then said, “Here is what we will do. We will hide their divinity deep in the center of their own being, for humans will never think to look for it there.”

All the gods agreed that this was the perfect hiding place, and the deed was done. And since that time humans have been going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring-searching for something already within themselves.” – Author unknown

I am a devout Raja Yogi (think, monk or “open-minded spiritualist”).

A dozen years ago I dis-believed virtually everything; it made me a good auditor but won me few friends.

But after 14 years of studying Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, I favor the Hindu concept that God (by whatever name you personally refer to God) is perfectly capable of walking among us in whatever guise God so chooses because – here’s the crazy part – God can simultaneously be everywhere; God isn’t “of this earth”; God isn’t subject to Karma (time & space); because God is of an ENTIRELY different dimension – as is consciousness!!

Here’s the bottom line: realizing that there’s an aspect of you that never changes – that’s not subject to time and space – THAT awareness will drive you to the nearest place of worship asking about the source of THAT part of you!! Hence, people refer to Raja Yoga as a spiritual practice.

Analogy: Bible & Mind

There’s an analogy to be drawn between the evolution of our awareness of consciousness and the Bible. Just as the Bible has two chronological parts, the Old and New Testaments, our non-physical mind also has two chronologically-developed parts, our sub-conscious and conscious mind.

Sub-conscious mind is the oldest in the sense that it’s the more well-established or developed aspect of our mind. This is our “alligator” mind: essentially, anything an alligator’s mind can do, this part of our mind can do.

For purposes of the Bible/Mind analogy, evolution is assumed to be a “Truth”: that time and space – and everything subject to them – evolve (i.e., that dinosaurs existed, rather than the earth as we know it came to exist in just a few days).

To my knowledge, humans have the most highly developed conscious mind on earth: the greatest ability of any known species to cognate uber-sophisticated concepts in our mind (at least we used to, before becoming reliant on machines).

And what, pray tell, does that mean? We alone on earth have the mental capacity to distinguish between consciousness (the eternal awareness OF our conscious thoughts) and our perpetually-changing thoughts themselves: to literally distinguish between who we are and what we are.

Beyond Mind?

Amma (the hugging nun – check her out!!) says that consciousness “infills everything, pervades everywhere, and impels all.” In other words, consciousness underlies life as we understand it.

If that resonates with you it’s not a long jump to believe, given the nature of evolution and consciousness, that through time and the confluence of an infinite events, humans have become the most evolved expression of consciousness on earth – SO FAR.

Between Mind and Consciousness?

I spoke with a Rabbi the other day, and after politely listening to me for an hour, he told me there’s an entire sect of the Jewish faith devoted to understanding and practicing what he referred to as “mysticism”. Who knew?! Raja Yoga was literally intended for all; specifically, to reduce suffering.

Witness the effects of the deepest, still aspect of yourself that Amma says is “essentially divine” through meditation: the original form of prayer.

Class Schedule

I don’t generally teach this because a) obviously, I’m still alive so what do I know about the hereafter, and b) it doesn’t matter. Raja Yoga is about reducing suffering now.

But here’s the theory: we have a super-subtle energetic aspect or dimension between our sub-conscious mind and consciousness which survives death along with consciousness!

Right – that’s why I don’t teach it. However, if you’ve read this far…….

The theory is that:

• Everything is a unique, perpetually-changing manifestation of two polarized energetic molecular states of matter (yin & yang);

• This, our subtlest dimension (other than consciousness) is where the really cool stuff happens: where intuition and insight come from, including for example, the sense that we’re being watched, or that something’s “not right”.

• When our material body stops functioning and returns to dust – and the energy that was sustaining it, and consciousness leave it – something remains: our “energetically imbalanced memories”; specifically, our countless sub-conscious, un-sated emotions which – as of the moment of death – still have the potential to trigger action. That uber-subtle, potential energy is transferred – along with its corresponding emotion-evoking capability or triggers – to another “host”.

• These energized (albeit super-low frequency) “samskara” obviously don’t remain with the material part of us that returns to dust upon death [i.e., just like the energy that sustains our body in the moments before death, these energetic “memories” or triggers somehow dissipate]; however, some fraction of the energy released upon the death of our physical body somehow remains attached to these samskara (i.e., they remain energized and thus survive indefinitely: life after life) because energy can neither be created nor destroyed – until the underlying emotions are sated and their potential energy is released.

• Our samskara’s unique net energetic polarity, strength and nature at the moment of death affects the time, place, and circumstances of our rebirth: literally, the next time – like consciousness – our “memories” are absorbed into another body.

• Like consciousness, our memories or “un-fructified seeds” aren’t subject to time and space – but unlike consciousness, they can be removed, “burnt up”, or drained energetically via meditation.

• Because of the eternal, immutable, serene, knowledgeable, curious and compassionate nature of consciousness, meditating or indirectly exposing our sub-conscious fears and desires to consciousness, quells their action-provoking potential [read: meditation lowers stress!]; especially, when done with love for our self (we are each a miracle – I sincerely hope that’s clear!!) and earnest devotion – and we accept whatever the consequences. NEVER GIVE UP – ALWAYS LET GO.

• The cycle of karma (of birth, death and rebirth) continues until a host [or the universe] intercedes to let us off the merry-go-round – and that only happens when we see ourselves NOT as the reflection in the mirror and the voice in our head – but as the observer of those things: the part of each of us that NEVER changes: our consciousness.

God bless.

Class schedule

You know that sense you get when something just doesn’t feel right?

That’s evidence of your sub-conscious mind trying to communicate with your conscious mind in the only way it knows how: with images and sensations – not words.

Remember Lennie from Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”? Our sub-conscious mind is a lot like Lenny: big, strong, devoted, hard-working – but not a lot happening upstairs.

George, on the other hand, Lennie’s friend and guardian, was the brains of the outfit.

George and Lennie are a wonderful analogy of our conscious, and sub-conscious mind, respectively.

The trick to peace of mind is finding a practical balance between being George and being Lenny…

…and most importantly, realizing that without energy you wouldn’t be alive, and without awareness – even if you were, you wouldn’t realize it!!

I can help the people you love who seem out of touch, lost or disconnected. It’s amazing what a little help can do!

Thank you, Allan (“Skip”) Dowds

September class schedule

There’s a sign outside a church in Reading MA that says “God is Love.” I’ve always wanted to stop in and point out that means “Love is God”.

My youngest brother – generally, not my go-to source for healthy living tips (sorry Bud; love you!!) – taught me something years ago that I think of virtually every day: love is infinite.

Raja Yoga is a practice in genuinely learning to love our self and to truly and fully appreciate life – and in the process, learning to respect the body and mind which house our “essentially divine” consciousness, evidence of the existence of God within each of us!

We tap into our immutable, eternal essence, our awareness or consciousness thru meditation.

We sit patiently, attentively, holding our conscious mind in observation or mindful mode (without judgment; without analysis; without words) allowing consciousness to witness our sub-conscious thoughts, expressions of the fears and desires that affect our conscious thoughts, words, and thus behavior.

Consciousness reveals itself as curiosity, compassion, awareness, truth, and serenity. You know it intuitively when you’re in the neighborhood!

It’s inside you. Sense it; feel it; distinguish between it and your thoughts – and you WILL begin to see and act differently.

Raja Yoga (Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras) can help people suffering at their own hands: over eating, drinking, smoking, or otherwise overindulging (i.e., caught up in the material plane of our existence, which PALES in comparison to our sub-conscious planes!).

It’s difficult and takes time to develop new habits; hence, Patanjali’s most important rejoinder to “never give up; always let go”. With constant practice over time we see our self differently: we begin to realize that our body and mind are a vehicle through which we experience life rather than who we are.

THAT paradigm shift changes us forever. God bless our planet!!

Hugs, Allan

I had a wonderful class this morning with a new student, who got an earful of information about how our mind works. Ms. V – this is for you, though I’ve expanded the egg “shell-white-yolk” analogy of our “body-mind-spirit” to include the space between the shell and the egg white, and between the white and yolk (see the picture). Since the shell and white are distinct from one another, regardless of how small, there is a “space” between them!

EGG SHELL

This represents our outer body: the aspect that protects and propels us; including the bones and muscles of our arms, legs, torso, neck and head: our energetically densest – or least conductive – physical parts.

Stretching exercises increase the strength, flexibility and range of motion of this part of us, and facilitate meditating for long periods of time.

SPACE (between the egg white and shell)

This represents our inner physical body & energy: the aspect that sustains and keeps us alive. Just as it takes fuel, air and heat to generate fire, we need food, water and energy to stay alive. These are our subtlest – or most energetically conductive – physical parts.

Breathing exercises massage and manipulate – clearing and regulating (calming) – the flow of physical and mental energy and blood, facilitating bodily function.

EGG WHITE

This represents our conscious mind: this is our control function; it’s the aspect of our mind that we’re aware of; it’s evidenced by two types of thought: i) cognitive thoughts (e.g., we use this part of our mind to solve math problems), and ii) the ones that just pop into our mind without invitation: our “monkey mind”; this part of our mind communicates using words; in fact, it’s the part of we use when we talk to ourselves!

Because we’re aware of our thoughts, they are denser (less energetically conductive) than our sub-conscious mind’s communication system.

Concentrating or focusing exercises train our conscious mind (our attention) on a single thing. Training our mind to “SIT” and observe our thoughts without analysis or judgment is a prerequisite for meditation, or getting it to “STAY”!

SPACE (between the yolk and egg white)

This represents our sub-conscious mind (aka our “lower”, or “reptilian” mind) which has three basic functions:

(i) sensory processing; our sub-conscious mind controls bodily function; this part of our mind has relatively limited cognitive capability, but it does have alligator-level intelligence and it can be programmed via repetition to remember things; this is where our habit “programs” are stored; when we sense something, this part of our mind receives and processes that info, and triggers a physical response;

(ii), memory storage; we carry around a mental image of every thought we’ve ever had. Let’s be thankful we’re NOT conscious of all of them all the time(!!); and

(iii) our sense of self, or the “I am” or sub-conscious portion of our ego.

Our sub-conscious mind does not communicate using words; rather, it uses sensations and images to get our attention – like a child, albeit an extremely talented one!

Since we can’t hear this part of our mind issuing the internal commands between our brain and toes to wiggle them, by definition, this part of our mind is energetically more subtle or conductive that our conscious or thinking mind.

Meditation, or practicing holding our conscious mind in “neutral” (i.e., holding it steady, correctly and without emotion) is a form of loving sacrifice (we could be doing ANYTHING else, yet we chose to sit, and give up the most valuable thing we have: time) – to sit with curiosity and compassion, listening attentively and patiently (like a doting grandparent listening to an excited 2-3 year old grandchild telling a story) to our otherwise sub-conscious fears and desires.

Meditation provides a safe environment in which to confront our fears and desires: to literally allow whatever is most energetically pressing on our sub-conscious mind to be heard or witnessed as directly as possible by consciousness (while our conscious mind is in “neutral”). While we can’t affect consciousness, it affects us; it’s infinitely patient and expresses itself as heightened intuition, truth, curiosity, compassion, and bliss.

EGG YOLK

This represents our consciousness; this aspect of our selves is literally of a different dimension than our physical body and non-physical mind. No amount of physical or mental effort or exercise will ever affect consciousness – however, maintaining a healthy body and mind allows consciousness (our “divine essence”) to shine or radiate through our body and mind more clearly.

Raja Yoga’s concentrating and meditating exercises are likened to polishing a clouded mirror: eventually, we clear our mind of sensations, memories and even our sense of individuality. The more often we vent our sub-conscious mind to un-cloud the mirror of our mind’s eye, the closer we come to witnessing the aspect of our selves that’s literally of a subtler dimension than our memories!

Our consciousness is often referred to as our spirit (as in body-mind-spirit); however, it’s not surprising that the message of the miracle of our consciousness has largely been lost over time:

• Raja Yoga predates any written language – at least in India;
• We don’t naturally perceive something that’s literally unperceivable;
• It’s esoteric: “a different dimension?! Wtf?! Yeah, no thanks!”
• The benefits of meditating or mind control aren’t as intuitive as physical control or exercise. We intuitively understand that we’ll be in better physical shape and feel better if we go for an hour’s walk every day – but sitting on the floor with our legs crossed – not so much!

The original yogic concept of consciousness (the awareness OF our thoughts) has morphed into the modern religious concept of a “soul” (something divinely intangible that mysteriously leaves our body/mind upon death). Christians believe that our or “soul” returns to God when our body/mind dies – assuming of course, we act in a manner pleasing to God while we’re here! “Heaven help you if you don’t!” is Christianity’s take on karma!

You say to-mato. I say to-moto.

I highly suggest not worrying about the hereafter and focusing on the now – because for all intents and purposes, your consciousness IS eternal – at least as far as your body/mind is concerned; it NEVER changes; nothing affects this aspect of you! It’s bullet proof!

MEDITATE WITH LOVE & DEVOTION

Meditation is the predecessor of modern prayer. One of my teachers holds an image of his understanding of God in his mind as he trains and calms his thoughts.

Holding your body upright, settle yourself physically and mentally, sit still and comfortably, breathe rhythmically, deeply and subtly – try not to hear words in your mind – just images and sensations – and allow your sub-conscious mind to vent its most pressing fears and desires – to be “heard” with compassion and curiosity – and without judgment – by your still, calm, and eternal consciousness.

Remember that the two parts of our mind are inextricable parts of us – not unlike petals and a stem are both integral parts of a flower: both the have the flower’s overall wellbeing at heart! The trick is to get our conscious and sub-conscious mind to work together! Unfortunately, left to their own, there’s rarely a balance between our heart and our head, causing stress, anxiety and tension to manifest mentally and physically.

Like a child that doesn’t feel heard: our sub-conscious mind will keep screaming until she gets our attention!! Show your inner child (your sub-conscious mind – a part of YOU) some love: meditate. You’ll be glad you did.

September class schedule