Yoga nidra

….contd….

During ‘yoga-nidra’ a person looks inactive externally as he is lying down with eyes closed, but actually since the conscious is active and aware, it can experience so many events that’s termed as ‘miracle’ by laymen – like healing, saving someone, astral travel, understanding scriptures or the great Truths – you name it – it’s possible!

So, imagine if we can do so much during our ‘yoga-nidra’, then how much ‘leela’ (plays) He can perform during His. (Now can you term it as tamasic?)

Can everyone experience ‘state of yoga-nidra’  at mortal level? Yes of course! Why else did you think I came into teaching reiki and related topics. This is a very beautiful phase of experience that everyone is capable of experiencing and has right to. Only think that stops is the inclination. “Yes. You are the stumbling block in the possibility called You!”

How? By logging on to all and sundry like anger, hatred, envy, ingratitude et like characters, you miss the greater possibility of these experiences. Like a glass can either contain nectar or poison – likewise what you contain within gives expression to the experiences you have in your life. I can’t stand if others are praised or if I find someone more eligible than me – other negative qualities, I don’t have – then can I have these insights. It’s like saying in a glass of nectar, I have just put a drop of poison (you see I just wanted to know how it tastes or the person who gave me poison would feel bad if I didn’t atleast taste little of what he gave!) does this logic appeal to you? Or does it sound fundamentally stupid?

And all of techniques that I’ve taught are just to remove these latencies in us completely to enable us to experience these beautiful and higher possibilities (refer posts dated Sunday, March 29, 2009, Wednesday, April 1,2009,Saturday, May 16, 2009, Tuesday, May 3, 2011 to understand importance of various sadhan techniques!)

Now, you decide what you want and act accordingly! Need I tell more! You are a better judge and hopefully a well-wisher – a shreyobhilashi of ‘self’. So, I am sure you can’t take a decision that’s harmful for you.

chaturmas - yoga nidra of vishnu

…contd…

Now Lord Vishnu sleeps during Chaturmas! Well, is it really true? When beings higher to us like Deva, Gandharvas don’t sleep and don’t need sleep, the protector of the world – Lord Vishnu needs one or goes to sleep? Is it possible? Then what’s the difference between ‘Nidra’ and ‘Yoga Nidra’?

‘Nidra’ or sleep is tamasic because we become inactive and are totally ignorant of everything happening and what is during our sleep. This state of inactivity is therefore termed as tamasic. But it is must for the anaerobic activity of rejuvenation and repairing of our body. This state of rest helps our body to become energized and fit to face the next day. Imagine it to be something like ‘aircraft maintenance’ after every flight! But, do we all get rejuvenated after sleep – not necessarily. Because, our bodies become inactive but our mind is kept active with all the day’s events, suppressed desires (which we usually fulfill through our dreams!), anger and what not. No doubt we get up tired, listless, irritated and dull.

But, if we do meditation like let go or re-birth or hands-on and then go to sleep then the number of thoughts reduces comparatively and we have restful sleep. This is called as first stage of ‘yoga-nidra’ or the level just below Samadhi state. In meditation there exist meditator (I), meditation (Act/process) and the meditated (object) – that is 3 things exist like singer, song and the singing. When the singer while singing looses himself in the song then only song exists – that is Samadhi state. Here the meditator is not even aware of his self as he’s become the awareness itself – the conscious itself. But, just before that state the meditator is aware – that he is sleeping, that he is dreaming and is in a position to even control that sleep and all that happens in the dream – that is yoga-nidra state. Sleep doesn’t give me any new insights, knowledge or wisdom. I get up the way I went to sleep. But in ‘yoga-nidra’ one gets up having experienced sub or super-conscious state with better insight, knowledge and wisdom. The person gets transformed after ‘yoga-nidra’. (I know you are finding it all Greek and Latin, but words fail me as I try to explain such phenomenal experiences. But still, if you think you’ve understood explain what you’ve or you haven’t and I’ll try to take over from your explanation/query and try to put it in different way!)

This is called ‘yoga-nidra’ that one (we mortals) experience during meditation. Is it same as the Lord’s.  Yes and no. yes – in a sense that he doesn’t sleep though lying down with eyes closed – but is totally super conscious. No – because the level is certainly not the same for us and Him. But, we can imagine in a way what His Yoga Nidra would be – though we can never know the exact way. Like doodhpeda and khalakand (two types of sweet prepared with milk and sugar) are prepared the same way, you can only presume about the taste of Khalakand after tasting doodhpeda but can know what it actually is only when you taste personally. Right?

….contd….

chaturmas - moving ashrams

….contd…..

Well coming to Chaturmas – it’s the period to go within and get connected to self. Why is this period selected by Rishis for this type of acts? Simple! It’s rainy season. So outdoor activities become difficult. Next, since marriages and such functions are not performed, people have more time in hand. Staying at home because of weather – should be properly utilised and hence such of activities that can be performed at home and easily.

Rishis, seers, sages and Brahmans who were teachers would with their students do ‘Deshatan’ (journeying through the length and breath of the Bharatavarsha (India as it was called in those days!). The classes were taught as they would be walking – enroute. They were classed as “moving Ashrams”. A Guru with all his shishyas (disciples) would start the journey at around 4am after completing their morning routine and after performing ‘Agnihotra’. A group of 10-12 students would walk behind a senior student who would be teaching the group allotted to him. Since everything was taught orally, everyone would be chanting and walking, learning in groups.  Imagine such groups being taught various subjects depending upon their abilities to learn – somewhat like classes. One thing was each could learn at his pace. This was headed by the Guru. Many such descriptions are found in Mahabharata of Guru Vyasa’s moving ashrams and how they were welcomed by the locales and their needs met by them. 

They would walk till 8am and eat whatever was offered by the people of the village that they happened to cross at that time. The people in the village would be informed well in advance and they would be ready with all the requirements. Guru with his shishya’s would eat, talk to villagers, guide them, help them in their conflicts if any, heal any sick person and would continue walking from 9.30-10 am onwards. They would stop only around 12.30-1 pm for lunch. This again was provided either by the locales or the kind depending upon the place that they reached. After doing “afternoon sandhya” and after having lunch all would rest till around 3pm. At around 3pm – no they never had tea/biscuit, they would continue walking till 5-6pm. At 6pm they would make tents and do sandhya (evening Agnihotra & Pooja) have dinner (those days dinner would be completed before sunset. This is one of the traditions that jains follow even today. Staunch or religious jains even today follow this tradition even in marriages. Their reception is completed before sunset. It is very good for health and the obesity can be kept at bay if one eats before sunset and takes nothing till 4am next day. 10-12 hrs of fasting at night keeps cholesterol level at check and diabetes can be totally avoided by just following this food habit.

Coming to our ‘Moving Ashrams’ or ‘Ashrams on move’ all students would gather around the Guru and he would clear all their doubts etc till 9pm. They would retire to get up at 3am next day. And the routine would be same.

In rainy season, it would be very difficult to do this. Hence, they would rest in one of the capital for 4 months and teach the local students and the princes various vidya and the kings would be every so eager to cater to such ashrams. These were called as “rainy retrests”.

Even jains and Buddhist monks or other sanyasis would find they couldn’t be safe during travels in such season and that fulfilling their needs also took most of their time and energy and hence preferred to stay in one place. 

Thus, we have climatic, religious, social reasons for following these rituals during Chaturmas.

…contd…

wrong traditions and rituals

……contd………

So, coming to our question these months we do pooja etc for the Lord thereby working on our knowledge which would finally lead to moksha – liberation.

Look closely and you’ll see how beautifully all’s placed in life by our customs. 2/3^rd of the year to do everything to keep the wheels of life moving forward and 1/3^rd of the year to follow “Moksha Shashtra” i.e., exclusivity is not the backbone of these customs.  It’s perfect time Management between all our needs – physical, emotional, social, financial and spiritual.

Everything’s included in our life – Dharma, Kama, Artha and Moksha! All in the form of rituals and traditions.

So, does that mean we follow every tradition blindly and that all of them are right? No. certainly not! ‘Sati’ – is a tradition that is not age-old tradition of Hinduism. In fact, it’s got nothing to do with Hinduism. But, since it was followed by hindu it came to be associated with it and the ‘bad name’ brunt was borne by hinduism. 

Why did it start and when? When the Moghals started capturing Rajputs, the Rajput women deemed it fit to commit suicide than to be brutally assaulted, molested by the Moghals. It was just a desperate act of saving themselves from the inhuman treatment that was meted on women and children by the victorious army. And as we know Moghal army was a brutal tribal army known for it’s barbaric nature! But, the act was forced on innocent widow even when such need ended! This is no tradition.

Caste system was one more such foolish tradition that ate into the body of Hinduism. ‘Varna Vyavastha’ or caste system which was prescribed by the rishis was structured looking into the occupation of the person. It was never meant to mete inhuman behaviour on a fellow human being.

Rantidev, Guha, Kanappa, Valmiki and scores of such names from ‘so called lowcaste’ shine as guiding stars on the skies of ‘Great Devotees” or “Ideal devotees”.

People in power in later years for their selfish needs manipulated shastras to control and wield their power on these “castes”. So every tradition if the origin is known and as to why it is followed will tell you if it is as per “Dharma” or not.

Likewise, there are many traditions though right are not followed correctly and for the right reasons and hence have ended up being painful to the people who follow and to their fellow human beings. So, don’t blindly follow traditions too!

 

.......contd...........