What is life after death… As long as the vayu (air and prana: or vital force) remains in the body, that is called life.

Death is when it leaves the body. Therefore, retain vayu.

Life and death in the prana?

Death is not total. This is the transmission of Vedic knowledges and yoga practice.

Life and death of the mind and body

The physical body dies, or the mind dies, but not the soul.

Death is not extinction; it is a process of disintegration.

The components of the body, the five tattwas: akasha – ether, vayu – air, agni – fire, apas – water, prithvi – earth; which are associated with the five prana vayus, disintegrate and go back to their original source.

Akasha (ether element) tattwa goes back to akasha, vayu to vayu (wind element), agni to agni (fire element), apas to apas (water element), prithvi to prithvi (earth element), and then the jivatma (the individual soul or self) moves out.

This jivatma, spirit, ego, astral body, or whatever you might like to call it, is something which survives death. The pranas also do not die, they move out of the body and return to their source. If death is to be averted the process unlinking all the three components i.e. prana, mind and soul, has to be stopped.

In this sloka, (couplet of Sanskrit verse), we are told to retain the vayu.

Vayu means air, but it does not refer only to the gross air and its chemical properties, it indicates pranic air.

The reason why we feel better after a yoga class is because we have changed our prana, or our energy body. We have moved energy (that may have been stuck in our shoulders or hips from a day of work) into different parts of our bodies, and in this way, cleared out any minor blockages that may have occurred throughout the day

What is Life?

Prana shakti is the primordial cosmic energy that governs all physical functions in our body.

Life force energy is Prana and shakti is associated with feminine and creative energy.

And one of three forms of Shakti is Prana shakti that energizes our body, mind and soul.

In the pranic body, pingala nadi channelizes prana shakti, but prana vayu moves throughout the whole body like waves of energy. It can be likened to an electromagnetic field where the energy is in constant motion.

The five types of Prana Vayu

There are five main vayu functions, known as apana, prana, samana, udana and vyana.

They are the different processes and manifestations of the one vayu, just as the various limbs of a man comprise the one body.

Pranic absorption takes place on a major scale in the thoracic region and is the function of prana vayu.

Elimination takes place largely through the urinary/excretory and reproductive organs and is powered by apana.

In between apana and prana, in the stomach region, is the area of assimilation, which is the function of samana.

Movement in the throat and facial expressions are due to udana and circulation is powered by vyana which pervades the whole body.

The Pranic Body

All the processes which affect absorption or inward movement of the subtle cosmic force are due to prana.

Those which affect elimination or outward movement are due to apana.

Assimilation, preservation, and continuation are the work of samana.

Ascension and refining are the work of udana, and pervasiveness is the property of vyana.

These actions occur within the various realms of existence.

The vayu, however, is specifically concerned with the pranic body or pranamaya kosha.

Pranic body and pranyama kosha

Pranamaya kosha is the vital life energy which organises the body parts and provides movement for mental and physical expression. It allows the invisible indweller, our True Self to be able to animate in the external world

In the Upanishads, prana vayu is also called the “in breath”, apana the “out breath”, samana “the middle breath”, and udana “the up breath”.

In other words, prana vayu is inhalation, apana exhalation, samana the time between inhalation and exhalation, and udana, the extension of samana.

According to the Maitri Upanishad (11:6), “Samana is the higher form of vyana and between them is the production of udana.

That which brings up or carries down what has been drunk or eaten is udana.

From a yogic point of view the most important is:

• Vayu is samana related to sushumna nadi.
• Prana vayu is related to ida,
• Apana to pingala,
• and ascension of kundalini to udana.

Samana vayu has to be developed. This takes place by suspending apana and prana within the region of samana.

Each vayu is interdependent and interconnected.

In the Chandogya Upanishad it is asked:

How are you body, senses and yourself (soul) supported?

• On prana.

How prana is supported?

• On apana.

And how is apana supported?

• On vyana.

How is vyana supported?

• On samana.

Because of these five main movements, five subsidiary or upapranas are produced.

These are known as koorma which stimulates blinking, krikara which generates hunger, thirst, sneezing and coughing, devadatta which induces sleep and yawning, naga which causes hiccups and belching, and dhananjaya which lingers immediately after death.

What is death?

From the time of conception up until four months, the fetus survives purely on the mother’s prana.

After four months it is said that prana enters the fetus and individual life begins. As the individual pranas begin to move, so the individual body functions become active. However, the child is only independent once it is born and starts breathing.

The moment prana completely leaves the body, consciousness departs, because prana and consciousness are the two poles of the one source, the Self.

The Prashnopanishad says, “This prana is born of the Self. Just as there can be a shadow when a man is there, so this prana is fixed on the Self…” (3.3)

At death, when the breath stops and the prana leaves, the magnetic force which held the body together deteriorates and along with it, so does the body. Therefore, the breath and prana are likened to a thread in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, verily by air, as by a thread, this world, the other world and all beings are held together.

Therefore, it is said, when an individual dies his limbs have been loosened because they are held together by air like a thread.”

When prana leaves the body there is no force to animate it. As long as prana is retained the body will not die.

What generates life?

Life is generated with inhalation, with exhalation there is loss of prana. When the breath is held, the prana does not move out or in, it becomes stabilized.

Prana is the basis of life and can be directly controlled through the breath.

The yogis who go underground for days together in a place where no air can penetrate, completely stop the breath.

These yogis concentrate on the prana as a point of light in the mid-eyebrow center. When their consciousness is completely absorbed in that light, the breath stops automatically.

Prana remains in the body, but there is no breathing process. There is no absorption of prana, no elimination, no function of prana and apana; only of vyana. The body functions are suspended as long as consciousness remains absorbed in the point of light. It is a state of suspended animation.

The moment the awareness starts to come back to the physical body, the breath starts and the yogi has to come out.

Through the breath, prana and consciousness are essentially linked; they can be separated by a scientific means which starts with the yogic technique of learning to retain the breath.

Prana is the tangible manifestation of the higher Self and Hatha yoga uses prana as the key to expand the awareness of consciousness and realize the Self.

Some systems of yoga aim at self-realization by purifying and concentrating the mind, others by purifying and channelizing the emotions, and some by purifying the intellect and developing wisdom.

There are so many ways of redirecting the vital life force from the lower to the higher centers.

Hatha yoga achieves it by a means which is most practical for everybody through the physical body and by working directly on the pranic movements.

References:

Effects of Yoga Respiratory Practice (Bhastrika pranayama) on Anxiety, Affect, and Brain Functional Connectivity and Activity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Pranayamas and Their Neurophysiological Effects

Oxygen Consumption Changes With Yoga Practices A Systematic Review

Prana: The functional basis of life

Treatment of Insomnia by Pranic Healing

A Pilot Study of the effects of Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) protocols on social behaviour, cognitive abilities and IQ of mentally challenged children

Discovering the self brings to perfect happiness. All fears are overcome when Self-knowledge is acquired

Knowledge of God is not as commonly discussed in India as knowledge of the true Self.

Self-knowledge reveals knowledge of the true nature of the Absolute and of Supreme Deity.

Realizing our true Self, or Atman according to Vedanta philosophy

Ordinarily we use the word ‘self’ in the sense of ego, but the term ‘self-knowledge’ does not mean mere knowledge of the ego.

The ego in us is the doer, the thinker and the perceiver. That which performs all the functions of body and mind is generally known as the “I” or ego; but it is only the reflection of the Absolute Brahman, which is the source of all intelligence.

The ego is the image of that divine spark within us which gives it vitality and makes it do all mental and physical work. So when we speak of knowledge of the Self, we mean not just knowledge of the lower animal Self or ego, but also of the higher Self. The higher Self is identical with the Absolute which is at the base of the phenomenal universe.

Absolute Substance or Brahman is beyond space and time, therefore it is formless and immutable. When it manifests as an individualized, self-aware entity, it is known as the ego.

It also appears as an object of consciousness, so it is called matter; the Absolute Being, however, is neither matter nor the same as the ego. It forms the background of our ego; therefore, it is our true Self.

When we realized this, we knew God and the relationship that the phenomenal universe has with him. And the best method to become aware of this Absolute Being is to realize our true Self, or Atman, as it is called in Sanskrit.

Some people think that self-annihilation is the ideal of Vedanta philosophy, but it is not. The true Self, according to Vedanta, can never be destroyed.

If self-annihilation were the ideal then the Self would be subject to change and destruction, it cannot be the same as the Absolute Being.

How then is it possible for anyone to think of his annihilation?

Vedanta philosophy, on the contrary, teaches that the true Self is absolutely indestructible and immutable.

The destruction of the Self is just as impossible as the destruction of the Absolute. Therefore, self-annihilation cannot be the highest goal and ideal of life. Only self-knowledge helps us to realize absolute Truth and achieve perfection. It is considered the highest wisdom.

When Socrates asked the Oracle of Delphi “What is the highest knowledge?” the answer came, “Know thyself.”

By the word “self” here is meant not only the ego, but the true Self. The same knowledge of the real Self has been glorified in India since the earliest Vedic period.

Self-knowledge as the highest ideal of life

Vedanta, the rationalist part of the Vedas, describes self-knowledge as the highest ideal of life. If we want to know God, we must first know our true Self; we must ask ourselves who and what we really are, where we come from and what we become after death?

These questions are of vital importance. Ordinary people cannot solve such problems, their minds are too busy with the affairs of the phenomenal world.

Buta serious seeker of Truth, who is dissatisfied with the knowledge of material objects, wishes to go beneath the surface of phenomenal appearances and stop until the ultimate goal, the reality which underlies all phenomena, be discovered.

His goal is to find the right solution to these problems by knowing the true nature of his ego as well as the universe. He may begin with the objective world, but gradually, as he advances step by step and goes deeper and deeper in his search for Truth, he eventually returns to his own Self.

Because the true Self is the center of the universe. The phenomenal world, which consists of objects of sense perception, can be compared to a great circle whose circumference is found in gross material forms and whose innermost center is Atman, the true Self.

The nature of this true Self, according to Vedanta, is infinite.

It is neither limited in time nor conditioned by spatial relations. The scriptures describe God as the center of the universe, but Vedanta says that the Self or Atman is also the center of the universe, and the true Self is one with Divinity.

The moment we realize the Divine Self within us, we understand that the domain of the same Atman extends to the sun, the moon, the stars and even the most distant planets, whose light puts hundreds and thousands of years to reach us.

Wherever there is existence, whether on the physical or mental plane, there is also the manifestation of this Divine Self.

That by which we know the existence of the external world, by which we are aware of our body, our senses and our mental powers, is our true Self. It is not far from us, but it is beyond the reach of the mind and intellect.

The Self is beyond all vibration

The Self is described in the fourth verse of the Isha Upanishad thus: “It (the Self) is beyond all vibration, it moves without moving…”  

Our senses have never reached it, it has transcended them all. Although immobile, it transcends the mind and the senses. It is the source of all mental activities, sensory powers and the various forces of nature. “Modern science tells us that the whole world is the product of matter and material forces. Matter, again, is nothing but a certain state of motion or vibration of a substance whose true nature is unknown and unknowable. A particle in the universe is in constant motion or vibration.

What we call heat or light, sound or taste, smell, touch or any old sensory object, is nothing but a state of vibration of the same unknown substance.

William Crookes says: “At thirty-two vibrations per second it is shown that we have the first beginning of audible sound, and that sound ceases to be audible when it reaches something less than thirty-three thousand vibrations per second. second.

The vibrations of heat and light rays are almost inconceivably faster. They are expressed in no less than fifteen digits, while the vibrations in a single second of the newly discovered radium are expressed in more than nine thousand millions of millions.”

The whole world consists of the vibration of atoms, or the tiniest particles of material substance, but above and beyond all that vibration there is Absolute Reality, the true Self, which is the source of knowledge, intelligence and consciousness

. Self that we know that there is such a thing as vibration

Who knows that the world is vibration

“Motion produces only motion” is one of the laws of nature which has been confirmed by the modern scientists. Movement cannot produce knowledge.

Knowledge is something which is not the effect of movement or vibration, but it is what enlightens our mind and makes us see and understand that it is there is such a thing as motion or vibration .

Therefore, the Upanishad says, “That which is not vibrating is our true Self.”

Search within and see that which is not vibrating, but who is the Knower of all vibrations and actions.

“It goes faster than the mind.” “We know that the mind is the fastest thing in the world.

Thought travels faster than electricity or any other current that exists on the physical plane. William Crookes explains that “thought vibrations that come from the brain can really take place where it becomes impossible to estimate the vibrations that are caused by the subtlest forces of physical nature.”

Further, he adds, “If we can somehow realize the concept of ‘a force capable of creating thousands of trillions of vibrations in a second, and if we add to this idea that the speed of these vibrations thunders by their rapidity, we see quite easily that thought can put a belt around the earth in an infinitesimal fraction of time.

“We can exchange messages wirelessly between here and another part of the world, but thought transfer is faster than that.

What is faster than the mind is the true Self.

Our true Self can go faster than the stream of thought and even where the mind cannot reach. He is still traveling.

The Self or Atman forms the background of the mind, so the Self is faster and faster than the activity of the mind.

The mind cannot go anywhere without depending on the Self, knowing it. It remains absolutely inactive when separated from the Self.

“The senses never reached him, he transcended them all.”

The senses cannot reveal it; the powers of the senses cannot express the true nature of the Self, because they are limited by time and space. Whereas the knower of time and space must necessarily be beyond the reach of the senses.

When we see the sun, the very sight depends on self-awareness, that is, we must be aware that we are seeing something, and the consciousness must depend on our true Self.

The sun will not be seen if our mind and eyes are separated and cut off from the Self, the source of knowledge, intelligence and consciousness. Based on this source of consciousness and intelligence, our mind functions, our senses perform their functions, and the body moves.

“It (the Self) moves and it does not move; it is far and also near. He is inside and also outside of it all. “

When the body moves, the source of intelligence, or our true Self, appears to be moving, but in reality does not move.

All of life is a mystery.

We strive to find an explanation by studying nature, but nature confuses us further, science does not help us, it takes us up to a certain point and leaves us there without showing anything beyond it, without telling us what to do and where to go of our relative knowledge.

When properly analyzed, it appears as a partial expression of absolute knowledge, which is the true nature of the true Self.

Relative knowledge, however, will not help us solve the riddles of the universe.If we wish to know the ultimate Truth of the world, we must go beyond nature and seek the explanation in the realm of the Absolute

Nature is called in Sanskrit Maya

It deceives us, yet we live in nature , and our body, our senses and our spirit are part of nature.

The more we study nature, the more we are deceived; we are not arriving at a definitive solution. Scientists have come to certain conclusions in which nothing is concluded. Science tells us that the ultimate goal of everything is unknown and unknowable.

Here the Vedanta comes and advises its students to study not only nature but our Self or Atman.

Then all confusion will be removed and Absolute Truth will be attained.

Nature shows us that the Self moves when the body is in motion, but in reality the Self is still. Nature makes us feel that the Self is very far from us, but it is the closest thing we have, closer than that body and mind that we consider closest; our true Self, however, is actually the closest of all. “He dwells in faith just like his soul or his inner nature, but he is outside of everything.”

How is it possible ?

If he lives inside, how can he live outside?

Space exists inside and out. Take the space in this room, which is confined by its walls.

This space appears as inside the room; but what are the walls, are they separated from the space?

No. They exist in and through space.

The space of the walls limits the space that is inside the room; but does it actually limit? No. It’s outside too. Can we limit infinite space?

Never. Likewise, if we try to limit our Self by our mind, we fail, because the mind is not big enough and strong enough to keep the Self out.

The powers of the senses cannot limit it, the physical forms can never divide it, because each of them exists in relation to the Self.

The Self or Atman, when properly realized, appears boundless and infinite.

We say we are finite beings, but in reality we are not finite.

“He who realizes all beings in the Self, and the Self in everything animate and inanimate, (objects of the universe), never hates anything or any being.”

Hatred proceeds from an imperfect relative knowledge, which makes us perceive objects as separate from each other.

But when we see our true Self in others, how can we hate the other without hating our own Self?

It would be impossible for the Self to hate itself.

As it is impossible to hate our true Self, it would be impossible to hate the Self of any being.

This is one of the results of self-knowledge, where self-knowledge is that there can be no feeling of hatred.

When hatred is gone, jealousy and all other selfish feelings, which we call wicked, disappear.

What’s left?

Ordinary love, which opposes hatred, vanishes; but Divine love begins to reign in the heart. True love means the expression of unity. As love of the body makes us feline with the body, love of the true Self makes us feel one with the true Self.

And if we see this Self in others, we cannot help but love them as we love our Self.

We now understand the meaning of “Love your neighbor as yourself”. It is not an extraordinary teaching. Vedanta has always taught this truth.

Christ was the only one who also taught in this way, but they do not know that this is the very basis of Vedanta ethics.

Love means the expression of unity in thought, word and deed.

“Where all beings have become one with the Self, what illusion, what pain can there be for one who has once achieved this oneness?”

Self-knowledge leads to the realization of oneness with all beings.

When all beings appear as parts of one universal Self, there is no illusion, fear or sorrow, for there can be no other thing besides the Self or Atman to grieve for. or from which we can suffer.

Grief and fear arise as long as there is a sense of duality or multiplicity. Isha Upanishad, verse 7.

If all objects of fear and grief become one with the all-pervading Divine Self, then fear and grief must disappear.

But as long as we think of other beings that exist outside of our Self, we cannot avoid the grief and suffering that arise because of them.

In absolute unity, however, there cannot remain fear, grief, suffering, separation, or self-delusion. This is another risk of self-knowledge. Some people may think that Vedanta teaches us to be selfish, but that is far from true.

The lower self dies, the self disappears, and with its disappearance all egoism is destroyed.

The word “Self” should not be taken for the lower self or selfishness.

Atman means, the higher Self, which is our divine nature.

This Atman (the Self), which is the center of the universe, is omnipresent.

Wherever our mind goes, the Atman goes.

Itis the source of the light of intelligence ; he is pure, spotless, sinless.

Here the Vedanta teaches that we are not soaring in sin and iniquity, but that our Atman or true Self is sinless.

By this, he is not encouraging to commit sinful acts, but he is telling us thatthe moment one acquires Self-knowledge, from that moment one ceases to do anything wrong..

The Atman is in the body, but it has no body. It is formless, that is, beyond gross and subtle forms. There are forms we can only see through the most powerful microscope, even these tiniest forms do not affect the Self.

He is beyond all forms, but at the same time he can appear in any form, and all forms that exist.

Atman is beyond any nerve activity or brain function.

Materialists hold that when the brain and nerve centers vibrate, self-consciousness is produced. But the Vedanta contradicts their statement by saying, “Beyond the reach of the nerve centers and untouched by the powers of the brain.”unaffected by changes in the body; there may be variations in the color or shape of the physical body, or the body may be diseased or have a mutilated part, but that disease or mutilation will not produce any change in the true Self or Atman.

Therefore, self-knowledge frees from nervousness and other physical ailments. The word “Kavi” means poet, and also means the seer of things. Self is described as the greatest poet in the universe, it is one of the most beautiful expressions and attributes one can give to one’s Divinity.

He is the poet. His poetry is the universe.

He is also described as the greatest entertainer. His art we see in sunrise and sunset. The sun, moon and stars are none other than the infinite space paintings by the artist Almighty.

The true Self or Atman is above good and evil, beyond virtue and vice.

How can he be above good and evil?

Good and evil, however, are two relative terms.

Evil exists in relation to good, and we cannot separate one from the other.

If we want to take the good, we should also take the bad.

Thus, with virtue and vice, one cannot exist without being linked to the other.

The Absolute Self is above all relativity and therefore it is above good and evil, above virtue and vice. “There is no other seer but this Atman, no other knower.

The vast majority of mankind do not know this great truth. Preachers do not teach it, because they themselves do notand

If God is the Knower of all, then the Knower in us is part of God.

Vedanta tells us to realize first the individual knower then the Knower of the universe will be known. The Atman or the true Self is never the object of knowledge, but is always the subject.

The cosmic or universal Knower is the same one whom people worship as God. Thus by the light of Vedanta we can see God near of our souls; but in the scriptures of the special religions it is made aloof. It is driven far from our reach.

Vedanta draws it nearer than anything we possess. Though this Atman permeates all, yet it is beyond of everything; he dwells in all things

The Attributes Generally Given to God

It is never about phenomenal conditions. descends the changes of nature, but it permeates nature. It is its own cause, the cause and the effect are identical there. Our Atman has no cause yet it is the cause of everything, and at the same time it is beyond the law of cause and effect.

The Self has existed by itself since the beginningless past and will continue to exist through eternity.

“All relative knowledge is only a partial expression of that wisdom which constitutes the nature of the Atman. Now we see that the attributes which people generally give to God, such as.

He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, infinite, are also given by Vedanta to the true Self. The true Self is the soul of our souls. Self-knowledge reveals that the attributes of God are also the attributes of the Atman.

“Those who do not realize this Self, dwell in the darkness of ignorance and pass through the misery and sufferings that exist in this darkness. Isha Upanishad.

They are always fearful and unhappy.

They fear death and all that threatensexistence, and they make their life miserable by attaching themselves to a particular form of manifestation which they are afraid of.

losing earthlyfind them, and they consider that this earthly life has no other higher purpose or ideal. The life of these people is nothing but a continuous chain of fear and unhappiness.

Those who are rich fear losing their wealth; those who have a reputation and a high position are afraid of losing them. While every man or woman suffers from the fear of sickness and death. Do you believe that these people will ever experience true happiness on this earth? No.

Only those who have become absolutely free from fear are truly happy.

Perfect Happiness: when Self-Knowledge is Acquired

Perfect happiness comes and all fear is overcome when Self-knowledge is acquired. For this reason, each of us must make constant efforts to acquire it in this life.

The light of Self-knowledge dispels the darkness of ignorance and sets us free from fear, sorrow, misery, birth and death, and from bondage, imperfection and weakness. illusion. And which proceed from ignorance.

This ignorance is also the mother of selfishness.

It has the power to veil the divine and absolute Atman and make us identify our true Self with the material body. So when we are forced by the inscrutable power of ignorance (Avidya) to forget our true Self, to regard ourselves as the sons or daughters of mortals, we become finite and subject to limitations as understood by the term “selfishness”.

Self-knowledge destroys ignorance and makes one absolutely altruistic. Blessed is who lives in the sunshine of Self-knowledge, having risen above the clouds of fear and selfishness that gather in the night of ignorance.

What is this world?

It is produced by ignorance and bound by fear.

Self-knowledge destroys all worldliness, brings spiritual strength and makes one fearless, as God is fearless.

The moment we realize that God dwells within us, how can we be afraid?

How can we be afraid of death when we know that death simply means passing from one body to another, and our true Self or Atman is immutable?

Those who do not possess the knowledge of the Self are miserable and will explode again and again on this plane of ignorance until they have learned to realize their true Self.

Self-knowledge is the only source of happiness.

This will lead to perfection and freedom.

You may seek freedom, but how can you get it when you have become a slave to fear and earthly conditions?

You are part of the Divinity.

Feel it, realize it, and all those tics will disappear and you will be free.

Alignment of this freedom through knowledge of the Self will bring you the realization of your oneness with Divinity.

Then you will be able to say: “This light which is seen in the sun is in me, and what is in me is in the sun.

I am Lord of body, senses and spirit, and all phenomenal objects, the light of the universe, through me shine the sun, the moon, the stars and the lightning.

I have realized my true Self.

I’m the true Self of the universe and therefore I am a with the Absolute.”

Namaste

Julie

Therefore, according to the scriptures, Veda and Bhagavad Gita, the fundamental human problem is misplaced search for something in a place, where it is not available. 

And therefore, the intelligent approach is to search for something in a place where it is available.

Now the question is: 

Why do the human beings commit such a mistake? 

And make the life a soup and go from struggle to struggle to struggle. Why? 

The Vedas point out that these three basic needs are available within but hidden. 

They are covered like the treasure that is covered under the ground or like the borewell water which is under the ground. 

Struggling

One Swami who had an ashram, was struggling for water. Even an ordinary house, needs a lot of water. Imagine an ashram, where several members are there.

And that Swamiji dug all the ground, all over the ashram, to tap some source of water, he could not and he was struggling to get it from outside several places and 10 years he had to struggle sometime he gets, sometimes he does not. 

This is a real incident. And one day he was standing outside waiting for someone and one government official from water department came with some hydrometer instrument, which can detect the ground water, it seems. 

Then he said, why can’t we try and he asked the Swamiji to move a little bit standing on the gate and he kept the meter and found out that right underneath there is a huge and perennial source of water. 

He has dug everywhere except that place. 

So that Swamiji was jumping it seems like mokṣa. 

Why was the struggle for 10 years. What he wanted he had but it was covered. 

Similarly, the scriptures point out, we have the perennial borewell, which has got the permanent; what you call, source of these fundamental needs, viz., security, peace and happiness. But the problem is it is hidden by layers of covering. 

And sometimes the water is so deep, we have different layers, one clay layer, some rubble layer, some other layer. Similarly, it is covered. And therefore, what is required to get these three. 

What the Bhagavad Gita and Veda point out?

Remove the layers of covering and tap the borewell. 

Tap the eternal spring of security, peace and happiness. May you tap from the eternal spring. And this process is called discovery. Discovery means what? Dissing the cover. 

Dissing means what, removing the cover. 

The Swamiji did not produce water, because water was already there. He only removed the covering which was between him and water. Now the next question is: what are the layers that cover these three, so that I can handle appropriately. If the cover is stone and rubbles, you have to use a different weapon, instrument; if it is wet clay, you have to use an appropriate instrument; depends upon the type of covering. 

The scriptures point out that there are three layers covering the spring security, peace and happiness within us is covered by three layers. The grossest, subtle and the subtlest, the finest layer and what are those three layers. 

They are known as: 

• Malam: literally meaning impurity. 

• No.2 vikṣepaḥ: means a extrovertedness and literally means disturbance; disturbance caused by extrovertedness. Outgoing tendency. 

• And the third layer : avaraṇam, otherwise ajnanam, ignorance. 

Malam, vikṣepaḥ and ajnanam. 

Malam or impurity refers to varieties of mental problems, normally enumerated as the six fold impurities; six fold enemies, six fold obstacles to discover our inner joy. And those impurities are kamaḥ, krodhaḥ, lobhaḥ, mohaḥ, madaḥ, matsaryaḥ. 

You would have heard kamaḥ, (desire), krodhaḥ, (Anger); lobhaḥ (Greed); mohaḥ (delusion); madaḥ (arrogance or vanity); matsaryaḥ (jealousy or competitiveness). These are the main six fold impurities in the mind. They make the first layer of obstacles in unearthing our inner joy. 

Then the second layer of obstacle is, Vikṣepaḥ, the mental restlessness, mental wandering, mental extrovertedness is the second layer of obstacle, because of which I am not able to see; like when the water is turbulent, you cannot see the bottom of the river properly. If the water is muddied, you cannot see. That muddied water has got Malam (impurities). 

The turbulent water has got Vikṣepaḥ (obstacle). When these two are there, you do not see what is down below. Similarly when the mind has got impurities and turbulence, you cannot recognize the truth behind. 

And the third obstacle is called Ignorance; ignorance of the fact that I am the only source of these three. I am the spring of ananda (extreme happiness), the embodiment of security. I am full of, I have abundance of Shanti. This fact, I am ignorant. Ignorance is the third layer. 

Therefore what is required; remove these three layers. 

Three layers by appropriate: sadhana.

Sadhana means any discipline or exercise.

You may call it spiritual exercise, spiritual discipline, you have to practice. to remove these three obstacles.

And each discipline is called a yoga.

Yoga means that which unites the seeker with the destination.

Yoga means that which unites the seeker.

Me, with what?

The destination called security, peace and happiness. Like when the treasure-hunter uses different instruments, each one is like yoga because when obstacles are removed, who is united with whom?

The treasure-hunter is united with the treasure. So the hunter treasure-union is caused by this and that one which causes the union is called the Yoga. 

The whole Ramayaṇa is compared to a spiritual journey. We have to use three different disciplines or yogas to recover the treasure; to claim my own treasure. 

Three different disciplines or yoga to recover the treasure

And the three yogas prescribed in the scriptures.

Karma Yoga : to remove the first layer of obstacle.

The second yoga is called Upasana yoga to remove the second layer of obstacle.

The third one is called Jnana yoga to remove the third layer. 

Karma Yogena mala nivrithi, you can understand these three Sanskrit sentences. 

These three yogas do not bring anything but it connects me to my own treasure. It helps me claim my own wealth.

Like some people die, without writing proper will, and for the other survivor, to claim the property; it is his own property, their own property, but you have to go through so many procedures, and ultimately, what do you get. You do not get money, you have claimed the money which has been already yours. you are claiming your birthright

Thus three yogas are prescribed.

Karma Yoga is a life style consisting of proper action and proper attitude. What do you mean proper action? Any action which will primarily contribute to the reduction of kamaḥ, krodhaḥ, lobhaḥ, mohaḥ; instead of increasing them. Any action which will help in the reduction of the impurities is called proper action. 

And proper attitude is the right attitude towards the action as well as the result of the action. A healthy attitude towards the action and its result which will help me grow through every experience. Healthy attitude is that which will help me.

The 3 Yoga mentioned in Bhagavad gita

Proper action plus proper attitude is Karma Yoga. 

Karma Yoga removes the first layer of impurity.

Then the second yoga is upasana Yoga; which consists of different types of meditations, different forms of meditations will help in quietening the mind. The extrovert, turbulent, restless, outgoing, wandering, fidgety mind has to have some relaxation. A stress-free mind is the result of Upasana yoga.

Removal of impurity can be translated as attaining purity.

Upasana Yoga will lead to Vikṣepaḥ nivṛttiḥ. Removal of restlessness which can be positively presented as attaining the steadiness of the mind; instead of wandering, the mind is steady and calm. 

And then comes the third Yoga called: Jnana yoga.

It consists of enquiry into my real nature.

Do I require Peace from outside or is my very nature is peaceful?

Or am I the ever secure Aatma (soul) ?

Do I need happiness from outside or can I tap it from myself?

So Jnana yoga consists of self-enquiry, Self-analysis, atma vicaraḥ.

And if a person goes through Karma Yoga, Upasana Yogaḥ and Jnana Yoga, all these three layers are removed.

And there is no option in these three, because we have all these three layers; in fact very very thick; thick layers we have got. And therefore, to help us ingoing through these three yoga, and also discover the inner security, peace and happiness, our scriptures guide us and these wonderful scriptures who guide us are called the Vedas. 

What the purpose of Vedas?

The Vedas are these wonderful scriptures whose only aim is helping us to tap our own wealth. 

Veda means source of knowledge, and these Vedas are revelations from the Source itself. Vedas have down to us through the Riṣhis. Rishis are the receiving centers; just as we have transmission station and receiving station.

Source: Swami Paramathananda’s Bhagavad Gita, Lectures in Chennai

References

Psychiatry and the Bhagavad Gita – Psychiatry in sacred texts – PubMed (nih.gov)

Impact of Bhagavad Gita Course on College Students: A Study Based on Students Feedback – PubMed (nih.gov)

Psychotherapy in the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu scriptural text – PubMed (nih.gov)

Stress and its Expression According to Contemporary Science and Ancient Indian Wisdom: Perseverative Cognition and the Pañca kośas – PubMed (nih.gov)

Physiological patterns during practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique compared with patterns while reading Sanskrit and a modern language – PubMed (nih.gov)