Monday, September 30, 2013

Evolution

One of the greatest intellectual discoveries of mankind is the discovery of evolution by natural selection by Darwin. I have enjoyed countless stories connected to Evolution provided by Richard Dawkins in books such as 'The Blind Watchmaker', 'Ancestors Tale' etc. This is one angle in which evolution can be studied. This is the perspective of the evolution of form where fishes evolved into land creatures which over a period of time evolved into small mammals to primates and currently into humans.

Ancient India, in particular, the philosophical system of Samkhya too studied evolution. It studied evolution from a different perspective. It is the perspective of the evolution of the function living beings perform at an abstract level. Unfortunately, unlike evolution at the level of form, this cannot be understood just by the intellect. One has to consciously identify the various levels of oneself, develop all of them and then look at ones function in life after that. Any attempt before that will be biased by improperly developed parts of the individual. For example, if one is faced with lot of failures in life, lot of cynicism will be present in that individual. Such people will usually reject the idea of any possible function for life forms.

But, it is not impossible. When does identify all such parts of oneself and cleanses them, the following functions are commonly seen:
  1. Gnanam - Understanding the nature of oneself / various components of oneself and the nature of the society at large.
  2. Dharmam - Understanding the intricate complexities of life and figuring out a way of life were there is tremendous alignment of the various components of the individual and through that one produces compassionate and meaningful response to the world.
  3. Aiswaryam - Control (lordship) over various parts of life and connected property.
  4. Vairagyam - Dispassion from events that happen to the individual and in the world
Different people evolve to different extent on all of these four lines. For example, someone like Ramana Maharishi had achieved unimaginable levels in Vairagyam and Gnanam at the individual level but may not have accomplished so much on Dharmam or Gnanam at the level of the world. But, someone like Gandhi may have gone further on the dimension of Dharmam but not so much on Vairagyam.

Conscious cultivation of these characteristics is Yoga. Rarest of rare is the individual who has developed so much on all these lines that all actions of them are spontaneous and without conflict and achieve the highest in all these four dimensions. The mythical / historical example of Ram (Maryada Purushottam) seems to be the individual who accomplished all four!

The following is a rough map for evolving in this direction


To understand all or this, first of all life's relentless existential pressures need to give way. Without this, the mind will not develop any interest in these things for it is caught up purely with survival / procreation etc. Being free of these pressures is easy for sannyasis who with great fervour hold on to tremendous vairagyam (genuine dispassion towards one's and one's families well being) and hence directly bypass all such pressures. But, sannyasa is possible for only rare individuals. For the rest, dealing with life's existential pressures skilfully becomes most important. This is the first step - 'staying ahead of the curve' to ensure ones health, close relationships and finances are in place to give one the necessary freedom from life's existential pressures. It is very difficult to find out exactly what is enough on any of these dimensions without a clear reference point. Normally most individuals do not even cross this level. Even those who claim to be trying to, do not have clear reference points.

This reference point is usually obtained by those who have the courage to enter the second step. In this, one is motivated by a deep global vision for oneself in the context of the world that one finds oneself in. Today, there are serious problems in the world in many dimensions (poverty / violence / biosphere degradation / corrupted leaders / severe cruelty towards other beings etc). If one is motivated from within to position ones life as a response to all of this, then that provides all the necessary energy for Yoga. This also assists tremendously in identifying the various thresholds in the previous step. Now, this vision is not a borrowed vision. It is ones own personal vision but in the context of producing a dharmic response to the world. Working to produce a dharmic response to the world provides a lot of energy to the individual. Working on a personal program also provides a different quality of energy to that individual. But, when these two combine, a tremendous unceasing wellspring of energy is discovered within and this will be the booster that will help the individual get over all the challenges along the way.

To accomplish that vision, one has to develop various components of oneself. This is the conquest of the characteristics of the five elements on us. The ability to take up a task and relentlessly go after this is a great asset to have and this comes from developing tremendous discipline (conquest of earth). All of this will work only when one is utterly sincere to the task (conquest of water). The vision that provides the energy for all of this is conquest of fire. Life is not always a straight easy path. There are lots of random challenges from life. One has to find creative solutions to these things. Developing this is conquest of air. Finally all things do not happen as per plan and hence maintenance of equanimity is a tremendous challenge. Developing this is conquest of space.

Very few individuals come up to this second level. Most are stuck in the first level purely due to ignorance. They are caught up with ideas such as wealth / fame / career etc. If one does not understand the subtler aspects of evolution and flow with it, then one is necessarily flowing against it. This will cause resistance and will lead to suffering. That suffering is the indicator that things are not moving in the right direction. But, those who can see this, will try to skilfully deal with local concerns (health / finances etc) and try to quickly move on to the following steps.

Individuals who accomplish step 2, start experiencing life in subtler terms. Subtler realities combine to produce grosser manifestations. These subtler realities are referred to as the three gunas - the three basic characteristics of all of matter which combine in various ratios to produce the various forms. These gunas are rajas (action), tamas (stability) and sattva (clarity). As one develops on the path of Yoga, one starts to see all of form in terms of these three characteristics. For example, one does not experience anger but experiences rajas. This is not just a change in terminology. Since this is a subtler reality, the individual now gains tremendous control on grosser realities as there are subtler intervention points. Normally, when there is anger, the flight or fight syndrome is the only method to deal with it. But, when this has resolved into rajas for the individual, pranayama can be used to deal with it.

Finally, the characteristics developed in stage 2 are applied on the three gunas in stage 3. As one applies discipline and sincerity to tamas, one develops tremendous control on the various facets of life one is involved in. This leads to lordship or Aiswaryam. When vision and creativity are applied to the rajas component in us, all of aggression is converted to action. Energy that is scattered all over the place is directed into specific direction and with the specific purpose of producing a compassionate response to the world. Naturally this cleansed energy will lead to the development of Dharmam.

When this develops, tremendous understanding of oneself and the world develops leading to Gnanam. Increased equanimity now leads to dispassion from all events around leading to development of Vairagyam. This is not a linear development but all four characteristics develop simultaneously.

At the highest level, one develops all these characteristics to such tremendous levels that all these appear perfectly spontaneous to the rest of humanity. This ultimate state is called Kaivalyam.

This is the evolution of the function of form. Developing in this way appears to be the ultimate goal of human life as this is the subtlest process behind all other processes. Since these functions are seen in all life forms and only humans appear to be able to manifest all four to very high levels, the human form evolved via Yoga seems to be the highest manifestation (so far) of all of form.

When a society encourages such an evolution in most of its citizens, the society is destined for tremendous health and greatness!!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Butterflies

The number and variety of butterflies in an ecology is an indicator of its health. Likewise, the freedom feminine characteristics enjoy in a society (individual / family / community / state) is an indicator of its health.

பழக்க படுத்தி கொல்லாதே பார்த்தா

காலை எழுந்தவுடன் யோகசாலை
பின்பு பகல் முழுவதும் நெருக்கடி வேலை
இரவு வீடு திரும்பியதும் அன்பு தொல்லை
என்று பழக்க படுத்தி கொல்லாதே பார்த்தா!

யோக சுருக்கம்

மூன்றே சொற்களில் யோக சுருக்கம்: "முயற்சி திருவினை ஆக்கும்"!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Krishna ni begane baro

'All this is trivial', averred the master. He was referring to asana and pranayama. He continued, 'All this is for beginners. At the highest level one is in direct communion with the divine and completely lets that to operate.

This is a valid view held by many who are focussed on personal enlightenment. Personal enlightenment is of course one of the revered goals of Yoga. The underlying statement is that when that is accomplished, everything that happens through that being is the most perfect thing that can happen through them and absolutely nothing more can be done.

But, there are other views. As long as one is obsessed with ones views, either one will be obsessed with this view or its opposite. But, when one is more focussed on what is ones own dharma, views can be discarded. This dharma arises so deep within that it refuses to bend to lower desires of the being like wanting to be correct / be justified etc. At this point, the opposing view is considered deeply and is integrated with ones view.

One such (supposedly) opposing view is that every single effort done after deeply considering the state of the world and ones own place in it, is of tremendous value. Such efforts, little by little, raise the consciousness of humanity as a whole. Organic farming, afforestation, asana and pranayama are just a few in that list. One need not necessarily worry about personal enlightenment only. For, it is too far away for most and things that are far cannot be seen clearly. For most, it is just an idea in the head.

Evolution being such a complex process, needs effort from many countless little organisms to push it towards a desired direction. Only because countless organisms tried to fly, despite failing repeatedly and that too fatally for some, do we have birds today. Likewise, if we were to direct human evolution towards producing a society that is less caught up in conflict and violent self-destruction like the one we live in, countless humans have to push it towards the right direction. For this one has to look deeply within and extensively at the world to come up with an optimal response from oneself. When such forces work in synch, I am sure it is the real life equivalent of a chorus rendition of 'Krishna nee begane baro'. For only such a cumulative effort will result in the birth of humans that imbibe the high nature of krishna consciousness.

A sculpture of the mythical / historical Krishna at the Ramaswamy temple (Kumbakonam)


The masters themselves, I feel, did not magically appear. It is quite possible that the masters own ancestors (at least a significant in the immediate vicinity of the family tree) have practised yoga (in its deep sense) and / or implemented many of its applications (like asana / ayurveda / chanting / social responsibility etc). For without this, the master hirself, would not have acquired such a mastery over the lower self so as to take it and surrender the same at the feet of the higher.

Thus, may we all work towards contributing ones might in bringing Krishna consciousness here. There have been many on this path and their lives have produced varied results such as social change / art etc. But, one needs to be careful of falling into the trap of imitating the external actions of personal involved in this. That is why we have many superficially singing this song and imagining many things about bhakthi. One needs to be careful about this and has to come up with ones own unique response. When many such original responses synch up, that in my opinion, is the chorus rendition of 'Krishna nee begane baaro' or 'Krishna, may you descend into this world fast.'

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Permanence



A night at a hospital each month, just as an attender, suffices to keep all illusions of permanence away.

Pride

There aren't too many other deceptions as subtle and powerful as pride for the accomplished mind.

When Dharma arises

When Dharma arises, where is my view? Where is your view?

Ram to Krishna

Yoga punch dialogue of the day: 'When Ram develops an ego, Krishna is born.'

Nest yoga session at IIT

Heard lines from the book 'Siddhartha' being read out under a huge banyan tree under dark thundering skies. My yoga demo that followed it though had to be shifted into a room as the skies started pouring! Next batch of yoga classes starting at IIT Madras from Sep 25.

Monday, September 16, 2013

சீரிய சிங்கம்

"மாரி மலை முழைஞ்சில் மன்னிக் கிடந்து உறங்கும்
சீரிய சிங்கம் அறிவுற்றுத் தீ விழித்தது!
வேரி மயிர் பொங்க எப்பாடும் பேர்ந்து உதறி
மூரி நிமிர்ந்து முழங்கிப் புறப்பட்டது!"
 

அதை கண்டு கேட்ட இவன் உள்ளத்தில்
பயம் கலந்த கிளர்சசி பொங்கி எழுந்தது!

Saturday, September 07, 2013

தர்மம் ஞானம் ஐஷ்வர்யம் வைராகியம்

முயன்று சிறுகாலை நாம் விழித்து
கால் தூக்கி தலை கீழே நிறுத்தினால்
தமஸ நீங்கி மனதில் சத்வம் நிறைய
தெளிந்த பார்வை உலகில் செயல்படுமே!
மேற்கொண்டு யோகம் விடாமல் செய்திருந்தால்
ஆழ்ந்த மனம் ஒருநிலை பட்டிருக்க
பூதங்களை கடந்து த்ரிகுணம் உறவாட
தர்மம் ஞானம் ஐஷ்வர்யம் வைராகியம்
நீங்காத பிரக்ருதி அங்கே உருவாகுமே!

Stay ahead of the curve

In chapter 2 of Yoga sutras it is said,

हेयं दुःखमनागतम् ॥१६॥
heyaṁ duḥkham-anāgatam ||16||

Most translate it as 'Future sufferring can be avoided.'

A translation more apt for action would be
Stay ahead of the curve.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

தர்ம வாழ்வும் ஆன்ம ஞானமும்

தர்ம வாழ்வும் ஆன்ம ஞானமும் பிறர் தர வாரா!