Newsletter March 28, 2007

Synopsis of Last Week Classes

Friday - Raja Yoga Class - March 23

Aphorisms: 4: 22-27
The mind appears to 'know' because of the proximity of the knower (self) on one side and the known (the world) on the other. But it is really only an instrument used by the knower. The fact that the mind is an assembled combination, shows that it is working for someone else. All assemblages are for somebody 'who assembles them' for his use. When the mind is known to be an instrument and not the self, then this is a special knowledge, removing the identification of self with the mind. The mind is now seen separate from the self and the self is then seen as 'itself'. As itself, it is pure, ever free and ever perfect.
The realization of this is obstructed by the momentum of the past impressions. Even when one gets this intellectual information, it does not automatically become experience. The life lived in ignorance and running after the sense-enjoyments, has generated its momentum opposing the knowledge. So the spiritual practice - Yoga - is necessary to counter and ultimately eradicate the impressions.

Sunday - Finding the right companion - Swami Yogatmananda - March 25
The need to be connected with others is a very important element of human psyche having far reaching consequences on individual as well as social level. We need company at various conflicting levels to share a variety of emotions/ thoughts/ experiences. Abraham Maslow, an eminent psychologist, proposed a hierarchy of human needs - from bottom to top, they are classified as - 1) basic physical needs 2) Safety and security 3) need for belongingness or to be connected 4) need for self-esteem 5) cognitive needs 6) aesthetic needs 7) need for fulfilling one's potential. The last one is what Vedanta mentions as the ultimate goal of life - to manifest the potential divinity. A companionship which is compatible on certain levels but does not encourage you to evolve on this ladder is not a right companionship. A right companion should boost self confidence of the partner and encourage him/her for higher goals.
According to Vedanta our real companion is right within us. Upanishads mention it with the analogy of two birds dwelling on the tree of the body (world). One bird (embodied soul) is on lower branches, hopping hither-thither and testing sweet and bitter fruits and experiencing happiness and sorrow thereby. The other bird (real Self) is sitting on the top calmly and witnessing the things. Propelled by the suffering from the bitter fruits, the embodied self tries to go to his companion - the witness, the unchanging real Self - and after repeated attempts finally overcomes the temptations of the enjoyments in the world and merges with the real Self. Then he comes to know that the separation between the two was an illusion.
A human companion should encourage us to meet our real companion and hence scriptures emphasize the importance of being in the holy company. In family and society, if you do not find right company, treat them as mere acquaintances but try to see God in them too. In Bhakti Yoga, Swami Vivekananda says that our love must be given to God alone who is Love itself, Beauty itself, Sublimity itself. He is our real companion, the real mother, father, brother, friend and everything.