14 Sept '11 Continuing from the last class
There are situations where one requires help and someone can help him. There can be situations where no one will be able to help. One such is where one wants to grow spiritually. Only the person has to try for it. One should not be a slave of one's own body,mind complex but should be the master. Since there is no clarity between self (atma) and one's body-mind complex (anatma), one gets into the problem of self serving the body and mind.
Sloka 7 Divinity is very close to one who has conquered the anatma. He is not affected by the changes- cold & hot; happiness and sadness; glory & disgrace; ups & downs, since nothing is permanent. The closest possession of one (self) is the body which also changes in course of time. "The wild animals desert the forest, when there is fire. Like that, one's faculties go away when the body gets older" - says Bhartruhari. Use the faculties while they are available, without developing a dependency on them.
Sloka 8 The real strength of spirituality is in managing the present life. Our wrong expectations are due to our wrong understanding. One who has good control over his senses, does not see any difference in a lump of clay, stone or gold.( He does not depend on anything). It is a general tendency to blame the world or others , for one's unhappiness.(Avivasta). One sloka says " one, whose mind is dis-organised, cannot go well with anything, anybody or anywhere".
21 Sept '11-- Sloka 9 One , who has the same attitude towards well wishers, friends ( who have mostly give & take attitude), enemies, indifferent people, mediators, hating persons, loving persons, sadhus and crooks, is a yogi. Yogi does not differentiate any of them.
Sloka 10 This sloka talks about the frame of mind for meditation. We want to be happy always, without getting disturbed.The person should be doing meditation alone, without anything around and without any expectations.
Sloka 11 This sloka gives the basic essential instructions for meditation. The place should be clean ( both inside and outside) including religious cleanliness. Puja room is better than a clean kitchen for this purpose. Seating should be separate for each person. It should not be too high or too low. It should be made of three layers- darba grass, deer skin and cloth. These are mentioned for people living in a forest or in a natural surrounding. Darba grass prevents the insects crawling up, deer skin with its smell acts as a repellent for many insects and cloth for comfort. In our present day situation,one should have a comfortable asanam in a clean and non disturbing place for meditating.
28 Sept '11 Sloka 12 After seating comfortably, the mind should not wander. The mind should be focused on single thought of Ishta devata. Even though
Grama devata,kula devata are to be worshipped, Ishta devata is the deity you worship most. The place should not only be clean but free from any disturbances to all senses. The aim of meditation is only to get chitta suddhi not any siddhis ( powers).
Sloka 13 This sloka tells about the control of the body. Dhegam, head & neck should be straight in one line, without any movement like a statue. To concentrate one should look at the tip of own nose, without looking anywhere else.
Sloka 14 The time should be selected such that there is no disturbance. In the early morning,the mind will be calm and the body fully relaxed. The calm mind , without any fear or anxiety, with discipline should be fixed on the Ishta devata.( Krishna in case of Arjuna)
Sloka 15 In this manner, the person who is doing dhyanam with concentration will achieve Moksham.Many steps are not mentioned here. Yoga will lead only through steps.
Sloka 16 Two words are introduced here.first is 'ati' - ( extreme). It may be in any field. Anything extreme is not desirable. Extremely rich as well as extremely poor persons have their own problems. But the problems are not the same for both. the second word is 'yukta'( moderate)
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