Thursday, May 10, 2012

Sahaj Samadhi Meditation with Rishi Vidyadhar Ji - Day 3


What a day it was! Attended Ganpati Homa with Rishi ji in morning and then an amazing knowledge session in evening. Feeling so grateful to be on this path. 
Below is what I could capture from the Q&A session during Sahaj: 

  • The purpose of meditation is to get in touch with something that is non changing - the Suchetan Mann. 
  • Meditate not for having a good experience but to experience who is experiencing all the experiences. 
  • Everything is changing, but the one who experiences the changes remains unchanged. 
  • By running behind material things we are satisfying only our ego not our self. 
  • Spending health to gain wealth and then spending wealth to gain the health back is ignorance. 
  • Sadhna is the real wealth, which will go forward to your birth(s). Rest all - money, name, fame - will remain here for our kids and relatives to fight for. 
  • All the mantras have power to give you enlightenment, to take you the highest. 

Secret of silencing our mind: 
If you make a sound higher than our normal pitch, our mind goes into silence. That is why during Pujas Veda boys chant at higher pitch. 

Number of thoughts in each of tamas/rajas/satva 
Tamas 14-21 thoughts per minute 
Rajas 7-14 thoughts per minute 
Satva 4-7 thoughts per minute  

Doshas and their effect 
Vats leads to thoughts of futures. 
Pitta leads to thoughts of past. 
Kapha leads to lethargy. 
Aama gives rise to doubts - leads to stiffness of ego and attachments. 

Food - how much? 
Ayurveda recommends light breakfast and light dinner and appropriate lunch. A glass of milk is good enough as dinner. 
  • Whether you believe or not we humans are recycled materials. 
  • Our time management is different from time management of consciousness. Mind can be with one topic only for 20 mins and intellect can be with one topic for 45 mins. 
  • Every emotion has a corresponding breath pattern. In general, every negative emotion we breath fast and with every positive emotion we breath slow. 
  • There are 72400 nerves required to transport energy in our system. 

Vata aggravation and its affect 
With vata aggravation these four emotions come - greed, jealousy, lust and inertia. As per ayurveda, vata aggravation is responsible for 57% diseases. 

  • All fast food digest slow. Opposite values are complementary ;) And before it digests, you stuff more! 
  • If you are worrying and hurrying to make your future bright, you are mistaken. Only by removing your past you can make your future bright. Those who run behind money, name and fame, health and happiness never come behind them. Those who take care of health and happiness (which is by keeping mind in present), money, name and fame follow them. 
  • Only if you do something to free your mind from the prison of past, only & only then you will be designer of your future. 
  • If you try to control your mind (which can happen only for sometime) once it goes out of control, you will be in bigger trouble. 
  • What are desires - all our desires are for Love. The moment we start getting it, all our expectations and desires will go away. 
  • If you can not be child, be child-like. 
  • Lord Krishna lived in body for 126 years.  Three people - Arjuna, Yasodha and Udhava - got enlightened during the life time of Krishna. 
  • Only when people start feeling your absence, you have lived your life successfully. People should feel your absence more not your presence. 

How to live our life: 
  • Always work for a cause not for applause. 
  • Don't do things to impress others, but to express your love.  
  • You should not get value from things but things should value because you used them. 
  • People should not feel your presence but people should feel your absence when you are not present.  

Present Moment 
Our life is like an hour glass. The sand that is poured down in past, the sand above and yet to pour down is future and the sand that is passing through the hole is our present. In any case our future will have to pass through the present. Therefore, if you take care of your present, you are automatically taking care of your future. If you are in present moment, you don't have to handle situations, you become the handler. 
  • Time and mind are related. You don't have to mange your time if you manage your mind. All your management study is helpful only if you know mind management. When time is ahead of you, you are agitated. If you are ahead of time, you will be frustrated. So be with the time - be in present moment. 
  • Don't think you will change the world; you change yourself. During Krishna, Rama, Jesus's time did world change? No. Only those who wanted to change, changed. 

    12 'S' formula of a happy living: 
    1. Sri Sri Ayurveda 
    2. Sadhna 
    3. Seva 
    4. Satsang 
    5. Smile 
    6. Silence 
    7. Swadhyaya 
    8. Simran 
    9. Samarpan 
    ... 

    Three things happen when a person lives in moment: 
    1. Pura Kul Mukt Ho Jata Hai 
    2. Darti Pavitr Ho Jati Hai 
    3. Scripture Become Alive 

  • In meditation you lose your grip on your body. 
  • Events have reference; Knowledge has relevance; Life has reverence. 
  • Those who don't spend time to know their existence, they are like someone sitting on a treasure and still begging. 
  • Judgments can not be removed from life. Make your judgments light like breeze. If you level a person good - attachment happens; if you level a person bad - detachment happens. Both are not good. Be dispassionate. Be physically close but mentally distant - that is dispassion.  Dispassion can not be practiced; it is a happening - a by product of our sadhna. 
  • There is no harm on planning but if it changes, accept people and situations and move on. 
  • Any good or bad thought of past will bring misery. Your past is invalid data, but learning from past is gem. An course is an event, it will not have any relevance after sometime but learning is gem. 

Sahaj Samadhi Meditation with Rishi Vidyadhar Ji - Day 2


God will not take your problem(s) away. He or she or it will only help you tackle it. 
Otherwise Krishna would have told Arjuna - dude you chill, I will take care of the stuff ;) 

Why should one do Aasanas? 
Ashnas help us to kill Tamas (which is responsible for thoughts of past and future) and Rajas (which is responsible for thoughts of past and future in some degree and of present in some degree) 

Doing exercise with music helps in using both the brain hemispheres. 

Emotions associated with past and future 
5 emotions when mind goes to past: 
  1. Ego 
  2. Attachment 
  3. Anger 
  4. Regret 
  5. Hatred 
First rob away our happiness and then health. 

5 emotions when mind goes to future: 
  1. Greed 
  2. Fear 
  3. Jealousy 
  4. Lust 
  5. Inertia (or insensitivity - happens when mind is obsessed with money, fame, power or progeny; people can go to any extent for these four) 
Robs away first happiness and then our health. 

And each of these are responsible for some chemical reaction in our body, which over time leads to disease(s). 
Only way to bring mind to present moment is having some discipline of mind. 

Consciousness, its states and layers 
Consciousness or mind has four layers and four stages. Layers are subtler than stages. 

Total Alertness state: It is connected to conscious layer of mind or simply the mind where all the unfulfilled desires (whether valid or invalid) are stored. If we don't clear this stuff from our consciousness, we remain restlessness and may further lead to insomnia or sleeping disorders. 

Sleeping state: State of total rest but no awareness. This is connected to unconscious mind or the intellect. Here we have 50% impression of this birth and rest 50% of the immediate past birth. 
  • Everyone of us has some habits (doing something or not doing something)  If we keep indulging in it we get bored and if don't get to do it, we get disappointed. And both are not good. 
  • And 50% habits will be of your own and rest 50% will be of your parents (when your energy level match the energy level of parents, you come to this world through your parents). 

Dreaming state: State of neither total rest nor total alertness. This is connected to subconscious mind. Subconscious layer is your memory where you have impressions of all the births that you have taken. We have taken birth in 8.4 million species and the total life span has been 1.19 billion years. 

State of Total Alertness and Total rest: State of mind where you have total rest and total alertness. Here every negative thought is ventilated. And once you ventilate all the negative stuff, what remains is positivity. This is connected to super  conscious mind or the higher state of consciousness. Here either you will have no thoughts or you will be witness to all the thoughts. This is the source of infinite energy. 

Why should you practice Sahaj twice daily 
One should do Sahaj twice - once in morning (to become more intuitive & creative at work for the rest of the day) and once in the evening (to have contentment and gratitude in life). You are blessing yourself by doing Sahaj twice a day. 

Your impressions govern your life. Your mind, intellect, memory is governing your life. You are slave of your conscious, unconscious and subconscious mind. Your future is very bright provided you erase your past. Otherwise you will remain same after 10 years as you are today. 

The more you hold on to your past, the more trouble you invite in your life. That's why you smile 400 times when you are a kid (no past) and then when you grow you smile only 17 times that too for reasons (because of sensory pleasures) and if you don't delete anything of the past, you grow into a state where neither you smile nor you let others smile). 

Qualities essential to be successful: 
6 qualities that are essential for anyone to be successful: 
  1. Sham (focus of mind) 
  2. Dam (say over your mind) 
  3. Titiksha (forbearance in life; centeredness in all states) 
  4. Uprati (never dieing enthusiasm) 
  5. Shradha (faith - in yourself in others around you) 
  6. Samadhan (anyone coming to your presence after leaving you should feel your absence; anyone coming to your presence will feel lighter and burden less - this happens when your memory is free from impressions). 

With meditation, all these six qualities start manifest in life. 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Sahaj Samadhi Meditation with Rishi Vidyadhar Ji - Day 1

Sahaj Samadhi remains one of the sweetest courses of the Art of Living. I love to repeat Sahaj Samadhi course  because it acts as a recharge for my Sahaj Samadhi practice. I was fortunate to attend Day 1 of Sahaj Samadhi yesterday with Rishi Vidyadhar Ji. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to meet Rishi ji, know that he is an epitome of wisdom.

Below is what I could capture from his session yesterday.


Day 1: Sahaj Samadhi with Rishi Vidyadhar Ji
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What is stress? 
The difference between reality and your perception. To the amount the perception varies from reality, someone is stressed.  Reality is something that can not be changed but perception can be changed. 

There is something in us that doesn't allow us to be free and natural 24 X 7 - these are the impressions of the past. These impressions bound us to the past.  
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Ignorance of humanity 

The ignorance in humanity is that we are trying to improve our future without dropping the past. Our past is holding us and until we drop it we can not be happy. Money can give us all the comforts but only dropping our past can give us happiness. Comfort is at physical level but happiness is at the level of mind. To be comfortable you need to put effort but to be happy you have to be effortless. 
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Samadhi is a delicate balance of total rest and total awareness. 
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Hemispheres of brain 

Left hemisphere - responsible for alertness. 
Right hemisphere - responsible for rest. 
At a given point of time only one hemisphere is used which is basically imbalance. Samadhi is basically striking the balance. 

Following things happen when someone uses one of the hemisphere more than the other one: 
1. 
Left - attitude of 'I am right', leads to offence. 
Right - attitude of 'I am not wrong' leads to defence. 

Free from both of above - you become  peaceful. 

2. 
Left - always think of someone else as reason of your problems. They often complain. They seldom praise. 
Right - see themselves as the reason for others' problem. They don't mingle. They remain aloof. 

Free from both of above - you experience love. 

3. 
Left - feel insulted & victimized 
Right - feel guilty 

Free from both of above - you are joyful. 

4. 
Left - intolerant & jealous 
Right - impatient 

Free from both of above - you are content. 
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Any secret (whether good or bad) keeps your sub conscious mind alert. Once your sub conscious mind knows that other than you someone knows your secret, it looses its power. 
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Beej Mantra 
Usually a Mantra has a specific purpose. But 'Beej' Mantras have infinite possibilities. So if you google the meaning of your Mantra, you are limiting the benefits of your mantra to what you are reading and hence telling your subconscious mind. 
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There are 3 things required to reach a place (say you want to Bangalore).  
Instrument such as a car 
Driver  (or knowledge of using the instrument) 
Fuel 

Similarly to reach state of Samadhi, we require 3 things. 
Mantra  (instrument) 
Knowledge of using the mantra (driver)  
Grace  (fuel) 
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