Human Thoughts, and Beyond

Human Thoughts, and Beyond

Spirituality! The very word brings different thoughts to all of us. To some, it is a source of mental peace and happiness. To some others, it might appear as something holy, sacred or even ritualistic, religious or something that relates to the worship of various deities. Again, to few others it is something “boring” or something to be done when you are very old and have nothing else to do.
Actually, spirituality cannot be defined as any of these!

Then what does spirituality mean? What is it all about? What should it mean to us?
Spirituality in its true form is an assurance of permanent happiness and peace. Spirituality is something that can keep us in our purest form, with great devotion to the Lord, the Almighty. Spirituality is the science of the Spirit (Soul).

So why do we need spirituality? We need spirituality to attain everlasting peace and happiness.

How does spirituality assure perpetual happiness? To know this, we need first find out why we feel happy or unhappy. Where do these feelings evolve from? What are these feelings? If we know the exact source or cause of the problem, we can sure work in a correct direction to cure it, or to get rid of it.
But no matter what research we do inside our body, we cannot see or document the exact point from where these feelings are evolving. Nor can we find the point which is the reason for all kind of pains and unhappiness. No great surgery or microscope can show us our mind or the soul. These are something too subtle, or minute for any physical device.
Then what do we do? How do we find out the source of our emotions?

The physical science has done wonders. With help of microscopes we can see very minute objects, cells and even molecules. It magnifies the target to a level of our understanding. Logical, but it has a limit.
Spirituality is a similar technique to find the subtlest entities, with no limits. Spirituality works on the principle of “reverse magnification”, where we make our consciousness finer and subtler to the level of our mind, a very subtle entity, which is the source of all mood swings.

Now that we know the source, we must find out the reason. Why do we suffer? Why do we feel so low or so high sometimes? Once again, mind is the cause. We must understand that we are not our mind. It is the mind’s thought process what keeps us occupied all times. Whenever we are resting in a state of very few or almost no thoughts, we feel so relaxed and calm. E.g. coming home and lying down in bed after a hectic day, when one gives away all the thoughts for a moment, he feels so peaceful. Even though the body might not be tired, a resting mind gives us lots of peace and relaxation. A simple breathing exercise, which many people practice at times -- by trying to follow the breathing rhythm for few minutes-- or a deep, dreamless sleep completely rejuvenates us. What is the reason? The reason is the reduced activity of mind. It is proven that the mind consumes the maximum amount of our body oxygen. The mind keeps doing several activities continuously, consuming the conscious energies of the soul, leaving us restless and exhausted after some time. We do not realize this all-time-running mind which is tiring us and consuming all our mental and physical energies. An unstable mind can make our life miserable.

Behind most of the unpleasant moments in ones life, it is just the mischievous mind. Then how to control the mind? How to tame this beast?

For that, we must first analyze as to what the mind is. As mentioned earlier, we are not the mind and so, we must not identify ourselves as our mind. This might surprise you: mind is just an organ, just like the hands, legs, mouth etc. It has its own place, shape and size and can be seen in the higher stages of meditation practice. Shocking isn’t it? But true. The mind is a wonderful tool which helps us do all the worldly deeds. At the same time, for better control on our life, we need to control this mind, rather than the mind controlling us.

How will that happen? All the spiritual books or gurus talk about thoughtlessness, a state of no thoughts to gain mental peace. If we notice carefully, our mind is always in the past or the future, by either recalling good and bad incidences or by imagining about the future. Disappointment and fear are two very common results of thoughts in past and future respectively. If we manage to stay in the present, we can do away with many unhappy moments. True! Honestly speaking, for most of the events that occurred in the past, there is no use thinking now: you cannot change what has already happened. Similarly, you have no control over the future and most of the times a mere imagination is nothing but waste of time and energy. Staying in the “present” can make us do wonders in life. Be it exams, jobs, business or even relationships. Our thought processes, make us think of the unnecessary. This over-analysis often results in disasters.

Take a couple for instance - The wife comes back very late one evening when the husband is waiting to take her to a party. The first thing he thinks is that the wife doesn’t care for him. Next day, she doesn’t cook well. The husband again feels that she has stopped bothering for him. And the third day when he needed her support, she has to go to a close friend’s house. Few more of such small incidents and the husband jumps to a conclusion: “My wife doesn’t love me anymore”. Well, if we look back individually over all these incidents, they can all have independent and valid reasons. It is the mind which starts making a series of past unpleasant incidents – called a “pain chain” -- and comes to a conclusion. Instead of picking on the pleasant instances, the mind chooses to pick the bad ones. This is how a relationship breaks. No one wants the relations to break. In fact marriage is one of the happiest moments for many people. We put in so much effort to build a relationship, but it takes no time to break it because of the adventures of the mind. Issues which could have been openly discussed upon, become deadlocks because of our ego and presumptions. Had there been a presence in “present time”, this would have not happened. The moment we stop bothering about the past, many problems get solved automatically. Not thinking about the past or future, makes us powerful.

Most of the meditation methods teach us the same. We are asked to imagine something pleasant or soothing. For a moment, we are away from the thoughts of past or future. It relaxes us for the moment. But bringing one thought to remove another is no solution. Truly speaking, the thoughtlessness is not yet achieved. The mind is very much there, just in a little suppressed form. However, there is a way to overcome that as well. It will take you to the purest form of yourself, towards the conscious properties of a pure soul. The more we reach towards thoughtlessness, the more unaffected we remain from all kinds of agonies and grief. We grow beyond the plane from which all the pains are felt. We become more matured and stable.

The meditations practiced from the plane of mind, i.e. meditation done by imagining things with your mind itself, cannot help you stop the mind. Think of a person who wants to get away from the force of gravity. He can drive the fastest car and keep changing his locations one after another, but he cannot get away from the force. He is always based on a platform of ground, just the way a meditation practitioner might be based on the plane of his mind. He can keep bringing good thoughts when the bad ones appear, but it is no permanent solution. Even if one takes an airplane, he is away from the ground only for a limited time and is always under a pull. Sooner or later he has to come down. Similarly, few forms of yoga, like Raj Yoga can make you almost thoughtless for a short duration but once you are out of meditation, the mind is back to its form. You again get lost in your thought process. How to get rid of it then? What we need is something like a rocket which can pull us out completely from the gravitational forces. Yes it is possible. There are ways to reach the state where there is no mind, only a pure soul. The state where there are no agonies, no worries. This is what is called as the “sustained enlightenment”.

To reach this state, we need to find that rocket which straight away takes us beyond the limits of this physical world. The institution of Vihangam Yoga helps us find it out. That device exists and it is called the Sadguru. The Sadguru is a messenger of God, and is here to take us away from all grief and pain. Under the guidance of a Sadgurudeo one learns to reach a stage where there are no thoughts, no ego, but only the pure soul. This is a state beyond the limits of the physical nature, a state where the practitioner is not bound by any materialistic bondage. This stage is known as “Akshar Brahma”. Here appears the Sadgurudeo and guides us to our original abode, the lap of the Almighty, God. When a person achieves this state, he experiences eternal, infinite bliss. He is away from all kinds of pain. God is the only source of happiness and Vihangam Yoga is the way to reach Him. As we get closer to God, happiness streams into our lives. So let us all surrender ourselves to the holy feet of the Sadgurudeo, to take us to the land of immortality, the land of untold bliss.

Adbhut maarag yoga Vihangam, Main tumako batalaunga |
Yadi vidhivat tum Saadhan Kariho, Amar lok pahuchaunga ||
--Anant Shri Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj.

Memory & Yoga

“Memory enlarges our world. Without it, we would lack the sense of continuity and each morning we would encounter a stranger looking back at us from the mirror. Every event would exist in isolation; we could neither learn from the past nor prepare for the future.”

Why is it that some birds can remember, even months later, the places where they stored seeds for the winter and squirrels can remember where they buried nuts, but we may forget where we left our keys an hour ago? Nevertheless, the human brain, imperfect as it may be, is still the smartest among all the creatures.

The human brain weighs about three pounds and is roughly the size of an American grapefruit, yet it contains some 100 billion neurons, or nerve cells, forming an incredibly complex network. Indeed, just one neuron may be connected to 100,000 others. This wiring gives the brain the potential to process and retain a vast amount of information. The challenge of course, is for the person to recall the information when it is needed.

Even though our mind has an amazing capability to learn and remember, many of us complain of a faulty memory. What can we do on a regular basis to improve our memory and so to make the most of our mind’s capabilities?

Simple lifestyle changes such as undertaking memory exercises, eating healthily, engaging in moderate physical activity, and reducing stress are advocated to improve memory. These methods do help because they relax a person and hence free his mind to produce a better recall rate. However, the results may take a long time to come, are limited and go down significantly once the change is done away with. It is ‘yoga’ that offers a quick, significant and permanent solution to the memory problem.
Yoga and Memory: The Indisputable Link
Memory is the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information. Yoga assists in improving memory power through aasanas, Pranayamas (breathing exercises) and meditation. These yogic practices increase the circulation of blood to the brain. This helps calm the mind and enhances concentration. Memory lapses can also be prevented through these practices because they enhance the power of recall. The brain functions of attention, visual perception, cognition and processing of sensory information are also honed with yogic practices. One can draw upon the immense power of the mind with consistent yogic endeavor.

Aasanas: The inverted postures nourish the brain with increased blood supply, and supply of oxygen to the cells that help in developing memory. Some of the Aasanas that aid in memory enhancement are Sheershasana, and Chakrasana. In addition, many Aasanas and mudras (yogic postures) induce relaxation and hence rejuvenate the memory cells, like Shavasana and Yoga Mudra.

Pranayama: Pranayama is the process of regulating the pranas or the vital powers in a positive way. It is a deep breathing exercise that helps in the increased flow of prana and oxygen to all body parts including the brain. In this, the psyche of the individual is concentrated on his breathing rhythm. Oxygen and energy are positively altered in the entire body including the brain by the regulation of breath. Hence, Pranayamas nurture the brain and boost concentration. Pranayamas especially help in enhancing memory power and improving intelligence. The pranayama that helps the most is known as Nadi Shodhan or Anulom-Vilom pranayama. It powers the brain to work at a much higher capacity. Other beneficial Pranayamas include bhraamari and Ujjaayi Pranayamas.

Meditation: Pranayama might be a very powerful method of increasing memory. Nevertheless, the science of consciousness recommends meditation very strongly due to its quick and long lasting effect. Meditation helps to clear the mind of unwanted thoughts and reduces excessive and needless thinking. Excessive thinking saps the mental energy of a person. Daily meditation helps to keep the mind calm and free of tension thus enhancing our memory capabilities.
A regular practice of the first level of Vihangam Yoga takes a person to the heights of mental excellence and soon promotes him to even greater heights.


-- Mrs. Ritu Bhat, Secretary
North America Institute of Vihangam Yoga
USA

Vihangam Yoga unveils the mystery of the Universe

Vihangam Yoga unveils the mystery of the Universe

Ever since the dawn of civilization on this planet, the bipedal animals -- human beings -- have wondered about the creation of this universe. Science has been trying to unravel the mystery surrounding its origin since many centuries now but it is only within the last century that this problem has received significant attention. Since the early 20th century, scientists have believed that the universe was created by a cosmic explosion. This explosion originated from a place and the universe came into existence within the first 2 micro seconds of its creation. This explosion is popularly known as ‘the big bang’. With the big bang, along with the creation of galaxies, a radiation called the ‘Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Radiation’ was also emitted. It is the study of this CMB radiation that reveals the origin and the composition of the universe. This radiation was discovered by two radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson in 1965. They received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1978 for this path-breaking finding.

In 1989, John Mather, a scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, curious to understand the origin of the universe and to better quantify the CMB radiation, sent out a satellite named COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) into orbit. Startling revelations about cosmic particles and the origin of universe came to light. In 2001, yet another satellite WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) followed the path of COBE to scan the universe. WMAP data endorsed the findings of COBE and established that the universe was, indeed, created with ‘a big bang’. The bulk constituent matters forming the cosmos were also now quantified. For this breakthrough and remarkable achievement, John Mather was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006. Through a series of research works done by Mather, it is now established that the universe is composed of ‘Dark Energy’- making the bulk of cosmos (~72%), ‘Dark Matter’ (23.4%) and ‘Baryonic Matter’ constituting the remaining 4.6% of the universe.

Let us understand these new and unfamiliar terminologies of cosmic physics. Newtonian physics states that it is the gravitational force that holds all celestial objects in the universe. Hence, all planets and their moons, solar systems, galaxies and super galaxies are bound together by this force. In 1929, Edwin Hubble (the Hubble Telescope is named after this great scientist) surprised the scientific community by proving theoretically that all super galaxies are tearing away from each other and the universe is expanding, defying gravity in some sense. Later in 1990, the pictures of the universe from NASA’s Hubble telescope confirmed Hubble’s proposition. This mysterious ‘anti-gravitational’ force causing the universe to expand was termed by cosmologists as ‘Dark Energy’. Yet another cosmic puzzle was the existence of ‘Dark Matter’. It is known that millions of solar systems form a galaxy. From a simple mathematics, the mass of all the solar systems in a galaxy when added should be equivalent to the total mass of the galaxy. However, the mass of a galaxy is found to be much more than the mass of all the solar systems in it. This ‘extra mass’ or the ‘missing mass’ is termed as ‘Dark Matter’. Dark Matter is the minutest form of matter that exerts gravitational pull and is formed of particles unknown to cosmologists. The matter which forms all objects around us and is detectable by instruments is called ‘Baryonic Matter’.

In a nutshell, even after decades and centuries of efforts, and the significant advances science has made, only 4-5% of the universe is known and the remaining 95-96% remains a mystery. Baryonic matter (4.6%) is known to us, but dark matter (23.4%) and dark energy (72%) is yet to be understood or even to be detected by instruments. And, the relative proportion of matter (dark matter + baryonic matter) to non-matter (dark energy) in the universe works out to ~ ¼:¾.

These discoveries may have been another addition to facts accumulated in mankind’s incessant quest to unfold mysteries of this queer universe, but this knowledge and much else that is yet to be unravelled, was already known to the yogis and sages of India. Sophisticated scientific instruments, satellites and atomic particle detectors, like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) located at Geneva, Switzerland can definitely help us understand gross and subtler form of matter, but not all of the minutest forms. The smallest particles, their energy field, the science of creation and dissolution of the universe and more such things that are yet unknown to the scientific community are the domain of a yogi. A true yogi is one who possesses not only the secret knowledge of nature (or Paramanu) but also completely understands the spiritual science. In the last century, one such great yogi, His Holiness Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj, acquired all the secret knowledge of the cosmos through the practice of Vihangam Yoga. He wrote his experiences in the encyclopaedia of spirituality, the Swarveda. One of the verses says:

HetCe& ªHe ceQ peevelee, ye´ïe®e¬eÀ efJemleej~
ye´ïeefJeÐee ieæt{ leÊJe nw, meodieg© ke=ÀHee DeHeej~~
Poorn roop main jaanta, Brahmachakra vistaar |
Brahmvidya gudha tatva hai, Sadguru kripa apaar ||
--Swarveda 05/03/82

His Holiness says that through the knowledge of Brahmavidya (the knowledge of the supremely conscious entity), one can know the complete science of cosmos- from the minutest particles to the vast expanse of the universe. It is achieved by the blessings of the Sadguru, the eternal teacher of spirituality and the source of all hidden and secret knowledge. The following verse of Swarveda specifies the relative proportion of matter and non-matter spread across the universe.

SkeÀ Heeo ceW me=efä nw, Dece=le nw leerve Heeo~
ye× cegkeÌlemLeeve nw, DevegYeJe ieefle ieceJeeo ~~
Ek paad mein srishti hai, Amrit hai teen paad |
Baddh muktasthaan hai, Anubhav gati gamvaad ||
--Swarveda 04/11/18

The subtle most forms of matter, the Paramanu, interact with each other and create this gamut of solar systems, stars and galaxies within 1/4th of the Brahma (the supremely conscious plane), while the remaining 3/4th is pure nectarine bliss. This can only be experienced through meditation.

Although much of the universe is yet to be understood, but the proportion of ¼:¾ constituting the matter and non-matter, as known through modern science and as experienced by a yogi, is remarkably similar. There however is a subtle difference here in the definition of the supremely conscious plane, the Brahma, and the mysterious force, the dark energy. Although they both occupy the same proportion and engulf the universe, the dark energy operates within the nature or creation while the Brahma is beyond this creation and does not interact with nature. Even after significant advancement in the understanding of cosmic constituent elements, there are questions that remain unresolved. For instance, what is this mysterious force that is keeping the celestial objects in motion? Who created this force and how is it being governed and sustained?

Today, scientists do not have answers to these questions, but Swarveda provides an answer to this mystery. According to Swarveda it is the ‘Akshara Brahma’ (the cosmic executor, the conscious plane of spiritual energy), who creates, sustains and governs all forces in the universe. This cosmic executor created this universe and will finally dissolve it. Swarveda reveals:

efve:De#ej mes De#ej, De#ej mes mebmeej~
Deefcele me=efä ye´ïeeC[ keÀes, keÀjlee me=efä Hemeej ~~
Nihakshara se akshara, akshara se sansaar |
Amit srishti brahmand ko, karta srishti pasaar ||
-- Swarveda 05/09/37

De#ej keÀes ye´ïe keÀnle nQ, DekeÀn ÒepeeHeefle mees³e~
Deeefo Meyo meb®eeuekeÀ, Òeke=Àefle ceW ieefle nes³e ~~
Akshara ko brahma kahat hain, akah prajapati soye |
Aadi shabd sanchalak, prakriti mein gati hoye ||
--Swarveda 01/08/01

The ‘Akshara Brahma’ reveals itself from the ‘Nihakshara’ or the Supremely Conscious entity. It is this Akshara Brahma that provides energy to the inert elements of nature (minutest particles), which sets them in motion. Subsequently, the vast expanse of galaxies and super galaxies is created with interaction among these particles.

Parallel to the theory of the big bang, a process which created the universe, there are conjectures supporting the end of this creation. Similar to the theory of creation, science believes that the universe will come to an end. The end will perhaps happen in one of the following two ways: 1) the ‘big crunch’ hypothesis that the expanding universe will come to a stop, and galaxies will come together again, alternatively, 2) the universe will expand endlessly. For scientists, it is nearly impossible to comprehend the physics behind the process of ‘dissolution’ of the universe as it is not happening now and there are no data to verify any of these propositions. Scientists can hypothesise based on theoretical predictions but cannot confirm any conjectures. Swarveda describes the guiding force which dissolves the creation into its original state and how this creation and dissolution of universe repeats itself. The following verse explains:

De#ej ®esleve efvel³e nw, ÒekeÀì iegHle oes ªHe ~
me=efä Òeue³e peie leeefn mes, lee Hej Meyo DevetHe ~~
Akshara chetan nitya hai, prakat gupt do roop |
Srishti pralay jag tahi se, ta par shabd anoop ||
--Swarveda 05/09/01

Akshara Brahma is a conscious entity which creates the universe when it is present. The universe dissolves when the Akshara Brahma conceals itself. The Lord Almighty is beyond this creation and dissolution. This can be realised and experienced by a yogi in a higher spiritual state. Another spiritual book ‘Sankat Mochan’, written by His Holiness Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj, narrates the dissolution in a very elegant way as follows:

ue³ekeÀejer leJe MeeqkeÌle DeHeeje~ peemes ve<ì nes³e mebmeeje~~
ef#eefle HejceeCeg nukeÀe nesF&~ Jee³eg Jesie veYe T[le meesF&~~
ûenceeuee ìtìs Heue ceeefnb~ Òeue³e Ye³ebkeÀj ªHe meceeefnb~~
keÀejpe keÀejCe leÊJe efJeueervee~ jn HejceeCeg leÊJe DeYeervee~~
De#ej MJeeme DeblecegKe nesF&~ j®evee me=efä jns veefnb keÀesF&~~
DeeHe DeeHe jn Heg©Laykari tav shakti apaara | Jaase nasht hoye sansaara ||
Kshiti parmanu halka hoyi | Vayu vegh nabh udath soyi ||
Grahmala tute pal mahin | Pralay bhayankar roop samahin ||
Kaaraj kaaran tatva vilina | Rah parmanu tatw abhinaa ||
Akshara Swans antmukh hoyi | Rachna srishti rahe nahin koyi ||
Aap aap rah purush akela | Shabd akhand anant amela ||
--Sankat Mochan

During the dissolution, the ‘parmanu’ or inert elements, devoid of energy from Akshara Brahma, tear apart and fly off in the universe at an incredible speed. The solar system, galaxies and super clusters in the cosmos fall apart in a moment. The Akshara Brahma conceals itself in the Supreme Lord Almighty and there is no creation then. The moving particles do not move any more and they go back to their primordial state of existence or the ‘mool prakriti’.

This vivid explanation of the creation and destruction of the universe found in the spiritual treatise written by Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj, is the experience and insight of a yogi, the knowledge a yogi achieves after years of hard penance. No scientist can ever know all the secrets of the cosmos without the blessings of the Sadguru, the spiritual master. And with His blessings all the mysteries can be unravelled!

Scientists can definitely unravel some of the mysteries, but not all of them, separated as they are by billions of years in time and space. Science has its limitations. A true seeker aspiring to become a complete scientist, who wants to understand the creation and dissolution of the universe and wants to gain knowledge ranging from the most minute particles to the vast expanse of our universe, has to necessarily first seek the Sadguru. This knowledge is only one of the many which the Vihangam Yoga science of spirituality offers to its regular practitioners.


-- Kumar Hemant Singh
Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Associate Research Scientist, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland
Instructor, North America Institute of Vihangam Yoga
Email: hemantgfz@gmail.com