Raja Yoga Foundation Course- Lesson One- “Who Am I?

Om Shanti. Om Shanti is a greeting of peace. Om means: I am a soul- shanti means:

peace. Therefore, om shanti means; I am a peaceful soul. Om Shanti, and welcome to the
first lesson of the raja yoga meditation foundation course.

What does Raja Yoga mean? Raja means: king, sovereign, or supreme. Yoga means: link
or union. The word yoke comes from it- to join together. Another definition is, that link
which makes me sovereign- not over others, because that would be artificial; but over my
own self. Over my own mind and my own body- because it is in the mind that happiness
and sorrow are experienced. A last definition is – the king of all yoga’s. Because Raja
Yoga takes the essence of each of the yoga’s: it is the synthesis of all the yoga’s put
together to make one complete yoga. This is your one stop shopping yoga place.

So, let me ask you a question. Would you say that you are a body that has a soul, or a soul
that has a body? Think about it for a minute.

If you answered that you are a soul that has a body; you are correct. Why did you say
that?

The body is a tool; it is a vehicle. It carries me around, and through it I experience life.
Much like your automobile is your vehicle. It takes me where I want to go. When you get
in your car in Miami to go to Disney World; you in essence say to the car, “O.K. car, we
are going to go north to see the mouse.” It would be pretty funny if the car said “Oh no,
we’re going south to Coconut Grove!” You’re pulling the steering wheel north. The car is
pulling south- back and forth, a tug of war. It would be counter productive, and rather
ridiculous. But what would be even more ridiculous, would be if the car won, and you
ended up in Coconut Grove!

This however, is precisely what has been happening with us and our bodies. I have been
pulled in many different directions- sometimes all at once. My eyes want to go one place.
My ears say lets go another, and my sex organs, forget about it all together! I’ve really
had very little control over myself.

What happens when I lose control? Accidents happen. When I am driving my car, what
happens if I lose control of the car for even a second? – I go off the road, and smash into
something or someone, right? I cause damage to my own vehicle, the other vehicle, and
even onlookers might get upset at the damage that was caused.

The same thing happens if I lose self control- usually in an outburst of anger or
something like that. I cause damage to my self. I cause damage to the person I’m
screaming at. And even the kids might get upset at the damage that was caused.

So we get knowledge about how to drive that vehicle, but not usually about ourselves. So,
multi-million fold congratulations for coming here today. It is really a big deal. You can
pat yourself on the back for this one!

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When you look in a mirror, what do you see? You see the color of your hair, the color of
your eyes, your approximate height and weight etc. But, does this tell you all there is
about you, or is there much more? There’s much more, right? There are your special
talents, deep thoughts, emotions, spiritual tendencies etc. What is it I see in the mirror –
just the body right? The body can be seen in the mirror. Character is revealed through
actions.

Is the soul eternal do you think? Most of you have answered yes. Is the body eternal? Of
course not, it degrades, it is perishable. So, it stands to reason that we would be the long
lasting thing and not the temporary thing, right?

Let me, at this point; tell you the difference between the living and the non-living- not in
a purely biological sense, but in a deeper spiritual context.
The living is that which has awareness of its own existence. It has memory and
recognition, emotions and feelings, and it can make its own decisions. The non-living is
everything else.

With that in mind, is there any part of your body that’s, let’s say, making decisions? – A
criteria for a living being- any part of your body making decisions?

I heard someone say, their heart is making decisions. Very loving and emotional souls
often give this response. However, it is not so. The heart is simply an organ which pumps
blood- that’s it. We don’t feel from this organ. I will explain further from where emotions
come, a bit later on.

How do we know that we don’t feel from the heart? Well, they give heart transplants,
don’t they? If emotions originate from this organ that pumps blood, that would mean that,
if after death, you donate your heart to me, I would then start loving your family and
friends. Well, thank you very much, but if that were the case I doubt anyone would take
another’s heart. I’m sure your loved ones are wonderful, but I still want to love my
husband and my children! This has never proven to be the case however; people who
have received heart transplants do not suddenly love the donor’s family and friends.

Is there any other part of your body making decisions?

Someone just suggested the brain. That is a logical and common answer as well.
However, this is incorrect as well. The brain is like a big computer. It stores a lot of data
and configures things very quickly but it does not make decisions. For example, I have a
computer in my den but right now no one is using it. No one is in there pointing and
clicking so it’s not doing anything at all. It needs the living being to go in there and tell it
what to do. I may turn open my computer to “word,” to write something; it cannot at that
point say, “Hey, check your e-mail first.” But, I can. I can say, “I think I’ll check my e-
mail first.” It can’t then say, “Hey’ where’s your attention span- write something
woman!” No, I tell it what to do; it doesn’t tell me what to do.

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Is there any other part of your body making decisions?
I think you are catching on. No part of the body is making decisions, is it?

If it got really cold in your room, your body might start to feel cold. It perhaps would
shiver and shake, and get goose bumps. This is your senses telling you to leave the room
before you die of hypothermia. It’s the body’s job to warn you of dangers like too much
cold or too much heat, but it is up to you, the living being- which we have identified as
soul- to decide whether or not you will heed the warning. Your legs cannot just arbitrarily
drag you out of the room. No, you might decide that this is the most interesting article
you have ever read and you will just stay put and be cold until you finish reading it. You
can decide whatever you want. You- the living being, which we have identified as soul-,
are the boss in this relationship. You tell the body what to do. Don’t you?

The senses will try to influence me a great deal- again, that’s their job to do so- but it is
always up to me- the living being, which we have identified as soul- to decide whether or
not to follow that influence. Whether or not it is a desire or a necessity, I and I alone
make that decision.

When my son was a child he used to like to dive under water and have me time for how
long he could hold his breath. Each time he wanted to beat his own record. Each time he
would attempt to hold his breath a few seconds longer than the previous attempt. I am
certain that his lungs were sending him signals to come up for air before he suffocated.
But because he- the living being which we have called soul- had the aim of beating his
record, he stayed below, holding his breath.

Again, the body will try to influence you a great deal but it makes no decisions at all. You
make the decisions. You make the decisions as to what to eat or drink. You decide what
goes in your mouth, don’t you? It really isn’t a matter of that piece of chocolate cake
flying into your mouth, is it? You decide if you will smoke or not. You decide if you will
over eat, take drugs, have sex or leave a room. You decide everything.

I have stated that the body is a tool as well. Let’s explore this idea a bit. Let’s say, I want
to cut some tomatoes- I’ll need a tool, right? So, I’ll get a knife. That is a tool; and I’ll
take that tool using my other tools- my hand and my arm. O.K., so now I am cutting my
tomatoes and say I lose concentration for a second and accidentally cut the tip of my
finger; Does the knife, which was my tool, get emotionally upset about that? Another
criterion for a living being is emotions; does the knife, which was my tool, get
emotionally upset?

No, who does? I do: the living being, which we have identified as soul gets upset. What
about my other tools: the arm and hand with which I was using the knife- are they
emotionally upset?
Again, no- who is? I am- the living being, which we have identified as, soul.
What about the finger that got cut: is that upset?

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This one takes a bit more thought. This finger feels pain- that’s the senses- but it’s not
emotionally upset is it?

In fact, it doesn’t even feel the pain; I do. I feel the pain through the senses of the finger.

How do we know that this is true? Well, they perform autopsies, without the benefit of
anesthesia. You have never heard a body crying out in pain saying, “Hey, be careful with
that knife!” No, once the soul has left the body the body feels nothing. In the same way, if
you are here at the computer reading this article and therefore not in your car; if someone
blew up your car right now; you wouldn’t feel any physical pain from that. However, if
you were in your car at the time of the explosion, you would probably suffer.

Once the soul leaves the body, the body has no value whatsoever. Unless the living being-
that we have identified as soul- is present in the body, the body has no function. The body
is so valueless we bury deep in the ground or burn it up altogether.

Have you heard of people having near death experiences? Most of you have. What
happens? If someone dies on the operating table, for example, he often floats up on the
ceiling and watches everything that is going on in the room. For some reason he comes
back and tells about it. He describes how he floated up on the ceiling and saw everything.
He tells how he saw the doctor pumping his heart, and Aunt Mary was crying her eyes
out, and the nurse dropped something on the floor.

Still, there might be a “Doubting Thomas” in the room who says “No no, he must have
had some kind of consciousness.” Yeah right, he was dead, but he had some kind of
consciousness. So he describes further how he floated down the hall into another
operating room. He then describes how he watched another ladies operation, who he had
never even met before. He describes the scene in that operating room perfectly as well.
There is no way he could know any of the things that went on in there, unless he had
actually been there. These things have been documented many times, right?

This is the best example that I can think of which illustrates the complete distinction and
separation of the soul and the body. I am not my body. I am the living being who is
operating this body.

Hopefully we have come to a place where you get that the body and the soul are in fact
separate. This is in much the same way that I am separate and distinct from my car. Of
course, when I am driving my car, it looks like I am my car. My hands appear as though
they are attached to the steering wheel; my butt appears attached to the seat. But we know
that, I am free to come and go from the car as I desire.

So, knowing I am a separate entity from my body, the question arises, where do you sit in
the body? Where do you sit to operate or drive the body? For example, when you sit to
drive your car, you sit in the upper left hand corner behind the steering wheel. Where do
you the soul sit in the body to drive the body? ....................................................................

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I am hearing a slew of answers this time. I am hearing everything from: all over to solar
plexus. Let’s start with the all over theory. Can you drive a car from “all over” the car? -
Of course not. You have to be in one location. You sit in the upper left hand corner
behind the steering wheel. To further refute the notion of sitting everywhere in the body,
let me remind you that you told me, I didn’t even need to tell you, that the soul is eternal.
If the soul permeates the entire body, then if you were to lose a limb, then the part of the
soul which dwelt within that limb would be lost too. Therefore that part wouldn’t be
eternal. The soul is eternal- all of it. No part can ever be lost.

Many still think that they reside in their heart, even after learning that this is simply an
organ that pumps blood. If I were to sit in the heart to try to drive the body, this would be
like trying to drive the car from the back seat.

Let me give you a little hint. You are thinking about this question, and the answer, right?

Point to where your thoughts are emanating from.

Did you point to your head?

We never tap our hearts and say; let me think, do we? Or do we point to our solar plexus
or anywhere else when we say; let me think? No we point to our heads, right?

If my thoughts are emanating from somewhere in my head, and if I am the one doing the
thinking, then I must be somewhere in the head. Specifically, we sit in the center of the
forehead.

Why do we sit there? It is because; from here I am near the organs for control. From here,
I can see through the eyes, hear through the ears, speak through the mouth and operate
the big computer. If I tried to drive the body from anywhere else, it would be like trying
to drive the car from the back seat. I need to be up front behind the steering wheel, by the
tools for control: like the gas peddle, and the radio buttons, air conditioning, mirrors and
brakes.

Many of you may have heard of the third eye. The third eye is the seat of the soul. There
isn’t actually an eye buried beneath the forehead- it’s a symbol. The whole phrase in the
east is: “third eye of knowledge.” It has been shortened in the west for some reason to
just “the third eye.” We have two eyes to see the physical, and one eye to see the meta-
physical. Meta means beyond- beyond the physical- the spiritual.

When I explain something to you and you say; “Oh, I see.” What are you really say?

“I understand.”

Yes, this is the eye of understanding- of understanding what? It is the eye of

understanding knowledge- the third of knowledge.

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So, what have you heard about the third eye? The mystery is that we want it to open up,
right? Isn’t this what you have heard? And why- why do you want it to open up? What is
it we are supposed to gain in so doing?
We have been made to understand that when the third eye opens we will attain
enlightenment, right? Isn’t this what you have heard?

What is enlightenment? The word enlightenment simply means to en lighten. It means to

turn on the light- to shed light on that which was previously in darkness. That’s it. It is
not any groovier than that.

Who do we hurt most in our life, besides ourselves?

The ones we love the most, right?

Isn’t this a ridiculous concept? Aren’t these the ones we would like to hurt the least?

The cashier at the store could be a nasty, little witch, and yet we say thank you and have a
nice day. Then we go out and take it out on our husband who is waiting in the car.
Why do we do this?

It is because we can’t see clearly what we are doing. Not see with the physical eyes- but
“see” with the third eye.
If you knew that this red crayon always gave sorrow, and that this blue crayon always
gave happiness; would you ever give red to your spouse or children or to your mommy?
No, but, if it is black as pitch in here, if you are in darkness- ignorance-
you are unenlightened; the crayons feel the same. At least fifty percent of the time, by
accident, I will be giving the red crayon of sorrow to my loved ones.

If on the other hand you turn on the light- you get enlightenment- you can easily choose
which you want to be giving to other souls- happiness, or sorrow.

If you come to The Transformation Station, we may have twenty people sitting on the
floor meditating. If it’s pitch black in there, and I ask you to make your way back to the
far corner to sit on the sofa; chances are you will kick some people, step on someone and
you might even fall down and hurt yourself as well. You will be giving and receiving
pain, sorrow and suffering. But, if I turn on the light, if you have enlightenment, unless
you are a total klutz, you will be able to tippy-toe your way back there with no trouble at
all.
So, the third eye is the seat of the soul.

What do you look like? What is the form of the soul? And yes, everything has a form!
Here is your first hint- you are sitting in the center of your forehead, you can’t be too big.

Are you ready for your next hint? I thought so. O.K., leave spiritual class for a minute
and go to science class, o.k.? You have said that the soul is eternal. What is the only thing
in the universe that can be eternal? It can’t be anything physical because physical things

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degrade and are thereby lost. Think deeply. What is it that is eternal? Ah, who said it?
Yes, energy. Energy is eternal. Energy is neither created nor can it be destroyed. It just
always was, always is, and always will be.

Water falls from the sky and forms a puddle; it looks different but the molecules are still
the exact same energy. The puddle then may freeze. Warm winds blow, and the puddle
melts into the atmosphere. At this point I may even deny the existence of this “water
energy” because it is difficult to discern water vapor in the air. And yet, when it rains
again, I see that although it had changed form it is still ever present. It can not be
destroyed. Energy can never be destroyed; it just changes form.

O.K., from this we can deduce that since the soul is eternal; the soul must be made up of
energy. Good. What type of energy do you suppose we are talking about? Now you can
think of just about any religious or metaphysical teaching you have ever studied, any
where, to come up with this answer. All peoples speak of this element. What type of
energy is the soul made up of?

Light energy.

In specific, you are a tiny pin point of light.

You are so tiny that you can not even be seen with a microscope. How do we know that
definitively? Well, again, you have said that the soul is eternal. The only thing in the
entire universe that can be eternal is a point. Anything larger can have pieces lopped off
of it, so that part would be lost- so that part wouldn’t be eternal. No part of the soul can
ever be lost.
Even an atom can be split, but a point is just that; it has no height, no depth, no width, no
nothing- it is just- a mathematical point. A point is the only thing which can be eternal.

This is a picture of you

this

not this:

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If you can identify with this

You can learn to master your mind

There are five original qualities of the soul. These things are also eternal, because
anything that’s part of the soul can never be lost. These are also the things that everyone
wants most in life. We’ll call that category soul consciousness:

Soul Consciousness

1. peace
2. love
3. purity
4. bliss
5. power

You have 100% of these qualities within you at all times. The fact that it may not be your
experience now, or ever, is because through time, the soul has become rusted over, so to
speak; so I’m no longer able to be pulled by the magnet (God.) So, in Raja Yoga we don’t
give you any of these things: peace, love, purity, bliss or power. How can we give you
what you already have? What we do, however, is teach you how to remove the rust, so
that this can be your experience fully.

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The next category, I will call body consciousness. These are the qualities, for lack of a
better word, that I interact with when I forget I am a soul and instead think I am my body.
Simply stated, if I think I am a man, or a woman. Or if I think I am young, old, black,
white, a banker, a teacher, Russian or American. These are all descriptions of the body.
They have nothing to do with who I am. The list of soul conscious qualities is the
description of who I am.
Body Consciousness

1. lust
2. greed
3. ego
4. anger
5. attachment

Which is your main experience? Are you soul conscious or are you body conscious?
Everything on the soul conscious list will create happiness, one hundred percent of the
time. Everything on the body conscious list will create sorrow, one hundred percent of the
time. There is no gray are. It is black or white. The things on the body conscious list
come on looking like- they promise happiness- but they never deliver. They give what we
call limited and temporary happiness at best.
For example, take greed. I have one thing; I like it; let me have ten! But, have you ever
seen the children who have too many toys? They don’t enjoy any of them.

The vision I get when I think of the body conscious list is this. Say, you are standing on
the other side of the room. I am the most beautiful object of your desire. There is a string
or rope attached to your chest, and I am pulling you towards myself. I keep saying to you,
as I pull your string; c’mon, you are going to like this! And you walk willingly toward me
with a glassy look in your eyes thinking; yeah, I’m gonna like this!
The limited and temporary happiness is received during this short walk because the
moment I get you into range; I clobber you on the head, hard! Limited happiness finishes;
sorrow ensues.

The other image I get for this is the alcoholic with his drink. The alcoholic is aware that
his health is failing. He is aware that his performance at work is suffering. He knows all
too well that his drinking has strained relationships. He is very aware that the source of
his problems is the alcohol and yet still he drinks. Today, he was fired from his job and
thus his wife has left him and taken the children with her. Although he knows the cause of
these events, he is so upset by the activities of the day, he is beside himself with sorrow
and not having any other ideas about how to dull the pain he anxiously cries, “I’ve got to
have a drink!” Thus the cycle of sorrow continues. The drink will yield him limited and
temporary happiness. It is limited in that the extent of happiness is not of a high quality.

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It is temporary in that, the happiness will only last for as long as he remains high. In fact,
in the morning the problem will have been acerbated.

Let us take a look at the anatomy of a soul, or how the soul works. There are three
faculties of the soul. Actually, it is the same energy operating on three different
frequencies, but for purposes of teaching we break it apart.

The first part is the mind. The mind is the part that thinks, has desires and dreams, as
well as feelings and emotions.

The next part is the intellect. The intellect is the part that reasons, understands, and
makes decisions. Therefore, the things you understand today are because you have a good
intellect. The things that are slipping by are because the intellect is a little weak.
However, the intellect is expandable, it can grow. Just like anything else, how can I get it
to grow? I need to exercise it, to use it.

The next part is a part we don’t have an English word for, so I will tell you the Hindi
word, and then I will tell you what it means. That part is called, sanskars. It is sometimes
pronounced sanskaras, depending on what region you come from. The sanskars are the
complete recording of action. Anything you’ve ever done, in this or any other lifetime, is
recorded eternally in the soul. You can never get rid of it. This is where you will find your
personality traits, your tendencies and your habits.

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 sensory input

(ch
ild)
mind
thinks, desires, feelings, emotions

(pa
ren
t)
sanskars intellect
reasons, understands,
personality traits,
makes decisions
tendencies, habits

You can see clearly that this is a cycle. Whatever I think will affect my decisions.
Whatever decisions I make will affect my personality, which in turn will affect my way of
thinking. The sequence then repeats. No matter where you begin the cycle of thinking,
understanding and actions continues.

First of all there is always, what we call, sensory input coming in front of me. Everything
you hear, touch, taste or smell is sensory input. Everything in the world is sensory input.
That is always coming in front of me.

Rather than teach in theory, I like to give an example. It is easier for both of us. Let’s say,
that the sensory input coming in front of us is that wonderful piece of chocolate cake.

The mind is like the child. What is a child’s job, besides play? I want, I want I want,
gimmee, gimme, gimmee. Right? O.K. So, the mind says; “I want it. I want the cake.”

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The intellect, which is like the parent, may say, “No, we don’t eat cake.”
The mind may say back, “C’mon, all the other kids are having it!” The intellect may fire
back, “No, it will rot your teeth, there’s no nutritional value, you’ll get fat, and it will
make you sick.”
Now the mind may say, “Oh c’mon, one time won’t cause all that damage.”
Now at this point the intellect who reasons and understands things might concede saying,
“You’re right. One time won’t cause all that damage. Go ahead, eat the cake.” The
intellect makes the decision to eat the cake. And so an action is performed- the action of,
cake eating.

Remember, every action is recorded. Therefore, a sanskar is created.

Sanskar

It’s like an etching- or a groove-

like in one of those old fashioned
record albums we used to listen to.

The next time cake comes in front of me, I have a tendency to eat it. I had it once. It was
good, and I want it again. And so, the conversation between mind and intellect begins all
over again:
Mind: I want it.
Intellect: No, we don’t eat cake
Mind: All the other kid’s are having it.
Intellect: No, it’s not good for you....
Back and forth goes the debate. Have you ever talked to yourself? It is these two- the
mind and the intellect. It is a good thing, you are not crazy. When you stop talking to your
self, then you’ll be in trouble. We will explain this further, shortly.

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O.K., so we will say that the mind wins again. The intellect “gives permission” to eat the
cake once again. The action of cake eating is performed for a second time. Every action is
recorded, not just the first time:

Cake eating for the 2nd time

It is recorded right on top of the cake

eating sanskar- not side by side- right on top
There is one sanskar for cake eating.

The next time cake comes in front of me, I still have a tendency to eat it. I have had it
twice now, it was good both times, and I want it again. Mind and intellect chat again:
good, bad; yes, no etc. I eat it again; it is recorded again.

Eat it again Eat it again eat it again

Recorded again recorded again recorded again

What is happening to this sanskar? It is getting thicker, deeper, more powerful

If I perform this action over and over, it will look like this:

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Eventually, if you repeat this action enough times, it will start to look like this:

At this point, I no longer have a tendency to eat cake; I have a habit. Then something
very interesting happens, and quite dangerous as well. I no longer consult the intellect. I
go straight from desire into action. Why is this dangerous? Look who is running the
household:

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 Sensory input

(ch
ild
)
mind
thinks, desires, emotions

(pa
ren
t)
sanskars intellect
reasons, understands,
personality traits,
makes decisions
tendencies, habits

Could you imagine if your parents left you home alone, forever, with your siblings when
you were one, three and five years old?

What would happen?

You wouldn’t do very well because:

*You are not going to eat healthily because- why eat Brussels sprouts when you
can have cake and cookies all day?

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 * You are not going to bathe properly, especially the little boys. So you will
have more germs and consequently get sick more often.
* You will not go to school, because, even if you wanted to: you can’t get up in
time because you didn’t fall asleep until 2A.M. in front of the television.
* The little boy will probably kill the little girl because: the parents aren’t there
to say, “Leave your sister alone!”

If you have read or seen the movie- Lord of The Flies- you have a very vivid image of
what transpires if the parent (intellect) is not present in the lives of children (mind.)

Another name for intellect is conscience. It tells me the consequences of my actions.

When I was growing up, there were murderers, just like there are today. They were also
interviewed on Television just as they are today. But in those days it was usually a crime
of passion and the interview typically sounded something like this:

“Yes, I killed him; I don’t know what came over me. If I could take it back I would, but
what can I do? He’s dead!”

Now the interview goes more like this:

Yeah, I killed him, and I’d do it again sucka!”

No remorse whatsoever. We call it having a stone intellect. The intellect has turned to
stone. The intellect should be like a sponge. What can a stone absorb? Not too much!
You and I have an intellect that can figure out quite easily that it just plain isn’t good or
nice to take someone’s life. These souls don’t use their intellect enough to even figure out
that; by taking his life, I have in fact taken my own- because 99% of these people get
caught (I think.) This means that one of two things will happen next. Either I will go jail
for life or I will be put to death. Both options equal, I no longer have a life!

So, if this is a sanskar that’s causing you sorrow; how can you get rid of it?

Sorrow causing sanskar

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How can you get rid of it? Oops, I’ve already told you- You can’t! So, I guess the real
question is: What can I do about it? What can you do about a sanskar that’s causing you
sorrow. Remember, that another name for a sanskar is habit. What can you do about a
habit that is causing you sorrow?

About half of you just said- “Stop doing it.” This will not work because even if that habit
was only 1% of my personality, if I stop doing it, the soul would only be 99% full. The
soul must always be 100% full. It is the minds job to look around for what to fill that
space with. What is it going to fill it with? The old habit! It’s close, it’s known, like a
comfortable old shoe, aah, I’ll change tomorrow! Isn’t this how it often goes?

The only way to get rid of one habit, is to replace it with a new habit- preferably a good
one.

So if I have the habit of getting up late for work- and I am a shift nurse or something like
that- this causes sorrow because the person I am supposed to replace never gets to go
home on time- so she’s always upset with me. I get sorrow because my boss never gives
me the promotion or raise- because let’s face it, I’m not responsible. My kids are always
upset with me, because since I don’t get the raise, I can’t afford to buy the latest gadgets
they want. The list of sorrow goes on and on.
So, if this is the sanskar of getting up late for work, let’s replace it with... getting up early
for work. What a concept!

O.K., let’s try it:

new sanskar attempt

Sorrow
Causing sanskar

O.K., so we have this little tiny David, next to this

giant Goliath!

In other words, it can seem daunting at first. But

let’s remember who won that battle.
Alright so we are trying to create a new habit- the habit of getting up early for work.
What will happen more times than not is I will fall into my old ways.

Fledgling habit falling into old ways

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:(

So what should you do when you fall in?.................................................................

Get out.
So this time you didn’t manage it; so, now what should you do?
TRY AGAIN!
When did you ever succeed at anything on the first try? – Especially something worth
while?
O.K., so now I am going to try again:

This time we’ll say we managed it.

You got up early!

This is a huge, gigantic, monumentous event!!!

I can’t make enough out of it! WHY??

Because now- you have created a new sanskar. You now have a tendency; at least,
towards behavior you just plain didn’t have at all before!

Now, how did the sorrow causing, blue sanskar get so powerful?

Repetition.

So, how do you suppose the happiness sanskar will get powerful?

Repetition as well.

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I’m going to get up early, get up early, get up early, get up early, and get up early, until
the happiness sanskar starts to look like this:

Now, it is a question of choice: blue or red- happiness or sorrow.

Further, if I keep repeating the happiness action, that sanskar will start to look like this:

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 Now who’s the David!???
I mentioned earlier, that you have 100%, peace, love, purity, bliss, and power at all times.
We also touched on that this probably is not your experience 100% of the time, if ever.
One reason for this is because the qualities just mentioned, are often in the background of
my mind; while the sorrow causing, body conscious traits are in the foreground of my
life. They need to be reversed.

If you know anything about art perspective, you know that if you want something to fade
into the background you draw it smaller.
Like this:

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You can see that a similar result has begun to happen in the sanskar diagrams. The blue
sanskars are starting to recede, while the red sanskars become prominent.

Now, I would like to have a short meditation on what we have learned today. This is a
most important step in the development of soul-consciousness. Developing soul-
consciousness is important if you wish to re-emerge your original and eternal qualities of
peace, love, purity, happiness and spiritual power.

In Raja Yoga we do something quite unique, and that is- we meditate with our eyes open.
There is a very good reason for this. It is because you live your life with your eyes open.
So rather than have a ten minute experience of peace, or an hour, or four hours, if you
could sit there that long; we learn to have a twenty-four hour experience of peace-
through a complete shift in consciousness

A lot of people have said to me that they like to close their eyes because this way they
“shut everything out.” It is true that you can get a certain amount of peace from closing
your eyes, because you have indeed shut everything out. You can get limited and
temporary peace, because the moment I open my eyes back up, “real life” comes back in
front of me, and there goes my peace.

If I have only practiced accessing my peace with my eyes closed; I will have a difficult
time accessing my peace when I need it while functioning in life. For example, if you are
driving home in rush hour traffic and you are feeling tense or stressed, you will have a bit
of trouble, if you have to shut your eyes to access your peace and drive the car at the
same time. Maybe you’ll do the safe thing and stop the car, then close your eyes and
meditate? Do you think the guy behind you is going to let you get some peace? He will
probably only add to your peacelessness by shouting obscenities at you or threatening
violence. So does it sound like a good idea to practice accessing your peace with your
eyes open? This way you can do your job, cook, tend the baby, and drive and still
meditate at the same time.

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The word meditation means.... thinking. Therefore it is something we are doing all day
long. And it is commonly done with the eyes open. So, don’t make a big deal out of it. Of
course you can blink etc.

It will be a little tricky, perhaps to meditate at the computer, but here are some thoughts
for you get started anyway:

Firstly, sit comfortably:

Read these thoughts slowly. Consider or feel each thought before going on to the next.

I sit quietly

Remembering who it is I am

I am a tiny point of light

A sparkling star... radiating in the center of my forehead

I am a thinking being

peace

Love

Purity

Bliss

Spiritual power

The more I think of these, the more I become them

I am remembering, these qualities are my original and eternal qualities

I re-emerge, consciously, these which are eternally my inherent birthright

I am relaxed, and the director of my life

I decide which thoughts to let in... and which thoughts to keep out

I am full of peace... peace full

Full of love ... love full

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I am a spiritual being

Remembering who it is I am

I am free

Just sit for a few minutes feeling this peace wash over you

I hope you enjoyed taking this first lesson in cyber space. This lesson was entitled-
“Who Am I”- Should you have the interest to explore the second lesson which is entitled
– “Who is God” you are most warmly invited to visit a center near you. Currently there
are more than 6000 centers, in more than 92 countries world-wide. To locate a center near
you, please visit our international web-site at:
bkwsu.org

If you would like to experience another meditation with music, you are invited to visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGm23BLLGRo

If you would like to listen to my just released meditation commentaries CD entitled

“Garden of Angels”,
you can check it out at cdbaby.com

It also available at amazon.com

To contact me (Bhavna) directly: transformationstation108@comcast.net

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