காரடையார் நோன்பு நன்றி

பஞ்சவரின் கீர்த்திக்கும் பார்த்தனின் கேள்விக்கும்
ஆதி பாஞ்சாலியின் வேள்வி

மனையாள்

மனையாள் இல்லார்க்கில்லை இவ்வுலகம்
அவளிடம் யோகம் இல்லையெனில் இல்லை அவ்வுலகம்!

Ancestral identity

संस्कारसाक्षात्करणात् पूर्वजातिज्ञानम्
saṁskāra-sākṣātkaraṇāt pūrva-jāti-jñānam ||3.18||

As one pays deep attention to ones habit patterns, ones identity as a separate entity begins to segue into an entirely different identity where one experiences oneself as the present state of a continuum that goes back to ones ancestors!

Samyama

A small note after that talk on the relationship between sthayi and sanchari by Jyotsna. For those who missed it, sthayi is the unchanging centre around which the sanchari flows and weaves a story.

Just felt a lot of sutras in the third chapter of the yoga sutra are an application of this simple logic. Samyama on the sthayi leads to understanding of the sanchari and vice versa.

Some of the sutras are:

1. Samyama on the navel (sthayi) leads to understanding of the body (sanchari)
2. Samyama on the sun (sthayi) leads to understanding of the world (sanchari)
3. Samyama on the habit patterns (sanchari) leads to understanding of prior jati (sthayi)
4. Samyama on the heart (sthayi) leads to understanding of the citta (sanchari)

The connections are amazing!

Locus of control

"Shift the locus of control from the ego to the breath." - Great piece of guideline on the core of the daily yoga practice from Saras!

First word

Interesting discussion about the first word usage in some of the key books in Indian thought in a workshop at YogaNidhi

1. Bhagawad gita stats with
"dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre ..."
First word is dharma (complex questions on decision making in life) indicating what to expect from the Bhagawad gita.

2. Ramayana starts with
"tapaH svaadhyaaya nirataam tapasvii..."
First word is tapah (cleansing of personal impurities) indicating what to expect from Ramayana.

3. Yoga sutras start with
"atha yoganusasanam"
First word is atha (engaging with ones life afresh this / each / every moment) indicating what to expect from Yoga sutras.

அகக் கடல்

ஆழ் கடலே அமைதி கொண்டிருக்க
அகக் கடல் மட்டும் கொந்தளிப்பதேனோ?

Yoga

योगः विपर्यय उत्कर्षः
Yoga is the steady and progressive improvement of ones perception of reality!

Schools these days!

1. Saw an ad of a school which showed a parent saying - 'I am filled with pride when other parents in my apartment look at my child with envy as he goes to XYZ school'.

Yoga sutras talk about five key impurities - ignorance, false identity, desire, hatred and desire for perpetuity! Seeing all five of them in this ad and that too of an educational institute.


2. Was reading the notes section of a school diary. It had tips for teenagers. One of them said - 'Make friends with studious companions'.

Good way to normalize the whole class into a batch of clerks huh!!

Nakula

Was doing some self-reflective sessions in my yoga class at a ladies college. We were discussing what does it mean to be 'inspiring' for each one of us and giving examples of the same. Of the girls, 5 said they found their dads to be inspiring. 5 others said some other random person. Only 1 girl found her mom to be inspiring.

The general socio-economic profile is that of girls from upper middle class families were the dad has worked his way up the society. The mom for sure had to ensure lot of things fell in place at home but, as usual, did not get noted. This too when all the respondents were young women!
Poor old Nakulas - the healer amongst the pandavas who takes care of everything but never gets credit!

Awesome and apt dialogues

Awesome and apt dialogues! To be reflected regularly

கிருஷ்ணன்
--------------
என்ன இருக்தாலும் உன் பண்பும் என் மேல் இருக்கம் அன்பும் அளவிடகூடியதா என்ன?

சகுனி
-------
எனக்கும் உனக்கம் நல குறைவு எது கிருஷ்ணா?
கிருஷ்ணன்
--------------
தோல்வி மனிதனுக்கு வெறியூட்டும்
வெறியில் மதி மாறும்
எதிரி அது சமயம் இடம் கண்டு இடிப்பான்
வெறி மேலும் வீம்பும்
நெறி கேட்டு அறம் விட்டு தடம் மாறி படு குழியில் விழுவான்
இல்லை. எதிரி விழ வைப்பான்

குந்தி: சரி, இனிமேல் என்ன முடிவு
கிருஷ்ணன்: உன் மக்கள், உன் முடிவு. முடிவு செய்ய வேண்டியது நீ

கிருஷ்ணன்
-------------
சண்டையை தடுக்கும் பொருட்டு நீ குடிசையிலும் வாழ சம்மதிப்பாய் என்று நினைத்தேன்
ஆனால் ஆசை யாரை விட்டது

கிருஷ்ணன்
-------------
பாவ காரியங்கள் என்றும் அழிந்துவிடாது அத்தை
அது எப்புடியோ வெளியே வந்துவிடும்

Stability

When the connection of ones mind with ones breath is stronger than the pull of any external stimulus, stability is experienced.

Bheeshma

Hey! Bheeshma! Leave that Partha alone!

Yoga sutras and Thirukural

Inhale - Yoga sutras (Darsanam), Exhale - Thirukural (Dharmam)
Inhale - Thirukural (Dharmam), Exhale - Yoga sutras (Darsanam)

My nadi sodana :)

Darsanam & Dharmam

A precocious sounding 15 year old (a student of mine) asked - 'Why do we do all these crazy religious practices like doing aarthi for vehicles? I have a sense that the practices in ancient India had a different goal. Do you have any idea about them?'.

I said religion is a highly loaded word. Different groups of people make different meanings for it. As I experience it (and as I understand it), it traditionally does the following two things:

a. Darsanam - Each individual is a complex spectrum of characteristics. Religion and its practice should help the individual discover oneself in all it full glory.

b. Dharma - The world being so complex, we are continuously forced to make choices in the world (with complex consequences). Religion must provide cultural practices that help us in making increasingly healthy and socially optimal choices. Towards this, It also provides practices for us to nurture our ideals. For example, there will be a devata to nurture the quality of heroism. For example, Lord Muruga who is the ideal warrior, if worshipped will help to nurture those qualities in an individual who desires them.
In order to accomplish the above two goals, lot of social / political / economic / cultural practices came up in India as the above two D's were the explicit goals for most people here once upon a time. In modern times, much of these are practices are inappropriately applied to people who do not need them. For example, a tailor need not worship Lord Muruga as he/she is unlikely to need wartime bravery. Since people have mostly lost touch with the goals of darsanam and dharmam, inappropriate cultural practices are followed and hence they appear crazy So, each individual should figure out their goals in life and choose appropriate practices.
 

Breath and heart

Q: What does the breath do in Yoga practice?

A: The ever agitated mind is connected with the ever peaceful heart. Refreshed by this contact, the mind is now ready to engage with the world again. Hopefully, the mind would have learnt to reduce the degree of participation in cyclical actions.

पत्नी चित्त

शान्त प्रत्यय पत्नी चित्त ज्ञानं
When the transactional mind is serene, one understands ones wife's reactions to the situation at hand!

Suffering

வெள்ளத் தனைய இடும்பை அவரவர்
உள்ளத் தனைய துன்பம்
Problems come like a flood
Suffering then is determined by ones depth!

Some questions to ponder

Here are some wonderful questions that the Mahabharatha asks and provides a framework which people can use to discover their answers for themselves. Feeling the need to seriously engage with all of these!

1. What is happiness/ unhappiness?
2. What is health / sickness?
3. What is pleasure/ pain?
4. What is wealth / poverty?
5. What is truth / untruth?
6. In what relation mind exists in the body?
7. What is nature of sex pleasure?
8. What kind of energy is sex?
9. What are conditions in which it flourishes ?
10. What are the conditions in which it dies?
11. What is violence?
12. From where does violence arise?
13. What kind of relation is there between what one does and thinks and what one becomes?
14. What is it freedom / bondage?
15. Who is wise / fool?
16. What is it to be saint?
17. What is pilgrimage?
18. Why did a thing the way it happened?
19. Is one free to make what one is or is one determined by some other force : fate or God?
20. What is right ordering of one’s relationship with one self and with others?
21. What relation does it have with time and place?
22. What is governance?
23. What  are  its  foundation?
24. What is order / disorder?
25. What relation they have with time and place?
26. What is death?
27. What is that which is deathless?

From the first chapter of the book "The Mahabharata - An enquiry in the human condition" by Mr Chaturvedi Badrinath.

Ramana & Yoga

"Words entertain, silence transforms", said Ramana.
Yoga adds a little detail. "Words entertain, breath heals, silence transforms"