Eliminate Mental Clutter Through Meditation

[nandm]

The trunk, or foundation, of yoga is that we are spiritual beings in human form who are here to find out that we are spiritual beings in human form! I am oversimplifying, of course, but according to the basic science of yoga, there is the soul, or transcendental self, called the atman, and there is the mind-body. Our true identity is found in merging these parts into a unified whole. This, then, is the trunk of yog from which the spreading limbs, or guiding principles, of yoga emerge and derive their strength. The science of yoga was known and practiced but not clearly documented until AD 200, when a physician-sage named Patanjali systematized and codified the science of yoga into eight limbs. The name given to this text is the Yoga sutras.

There is a lucid and very readable book on Patanjali's Yoga called How to Know God, by Christopher Isherwood and Swami Prabhavanda. This work is a "must have" classic for serious students of life!

The Yoga Sutras are the codification of yoga's principles into a written system. Sutra means "thread" (as in the Latin "suture"). Just as you might thread keys on a chain, one for your car and one for your house, in order to keep track of them, the Yoga sutras served to thread together and keep track of yoga's teachings for many centuries.

[nandm]

Patanjali's system of yoga is a map of the process of awakening the possible human in each of us. Although the eight limbs, or basic beliefs, or yoga are intertwined, rather than linear, for clarity's sake I will divide them into two groups. The first four are associated with how a person conducts his life. I think of them as the "goods" of yoga. They are:

• Yama. Do good. This boils down to the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The yamas encourage moderation and discourage violence, stealing, lying, and possessiveness.
• Niyama. Be good. The niyamas give the ground rules for self-discipline and inner awareness. They encourage purity, contentment, chastity, self-study, and awareness of the spirit.
• Asana. Feel good. The physical body is a temple for the spirit. Yoga postures, or asanas, keep the body healthy and the mind calm, creating an atmosphere in which the spirit can more easily flow. Asanas, literally, "steady poses," are yoga postures and exercises that enhance physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
• Pranayama. Live good. Pranayama focuses on understanding the link between the breath, mind, and body. The practice of conscious breath control allows for a vital and long life.

The importance of theses four first limbs is reflected in yoga as it is practiced today. Sometimes yoga is further reduced to a simple emphasis on the physical body through asanas (yoga poses). But, as you will see, the second four teachings are just as important in developing the body/mind/spirit connection. They focus on meditation, which is the process of quieting or controlling the constant waves of thought. They are:

• Pratyahara. Inner focus. This is the process of becoming aware of, and learning to control, thought patterns. One's attention is drawn away from the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Instead, the meditator is focused inwardly in order to quiet the mind.
• Dharana. One-pointedness. The mind, once withdrawn into itself, is fixed in one-pointed inner concentration.
• Dyana. Deep meditation. This is meditation without focus on an object, and is rooted in a deep, inner space of awareness.
• Samadhi. Absorption. This is the ecstatic state of being in which the mediator becomes one with the object of meditation. Here, one is spiritually awake and absorbed in the Infinite.

[nandm]

To extend the image of the yoga tree, with its core trunk and limbs, explore the branches. Remember climbing trees as a kid? Just as there were many branches to choose from as you climbed, there are many types of yoga from which to choose as well. You can choose all of them if you like!

• Hatha yoga.
• Raja yoga.
• Karma yoga.
• Bhakti yoga.
• Jnana yoga.
• Tantra yoga.
• Mantra yoga.

[nandm]

Hatha yoga. This is what most people think of as yoga. Here you find the physical postures, poses, and exercises that work directly on the body and, in turn, on the mind. People are attracted to Hatha yoga because its benefits are felt immediately. It relaxes the body, calms the mind, and brings greater awareness to your life. The most popular form of yoga today can be defined in two ways. First the word divides into "ha," which in Sanskrt means snu, and "that," which is the moon. Therefore, Hatha is often interpreted to mean the "balance" of opposites (male) and (female) within a person. Another meaning of Hatha is "forceful" or "effort," which signifies transformation through the effort or force of the physical body.

[nandm]

Raja yoga. Raja literally means "royal," and it is commonly known as classic yoga. The eight limbs discussed earlier fall under Raja yoga. The focus here is on training the mind to serve the spirit through meditation. The practice of Raja yoga typeically starts with Hatha yoga in order to prepare the body and mind for meditation. Raja yoga emphasizes training the mid through meditation and is generally preceeded by Hatha yoga, which adds mental prepartation.

[nandm]

Karma yoga. Karma means "right" action. People who love to serve others and help out whenever they can, without any thought of reward, are practicing Karma yoga. It's amazing, but you can feel just as great slaying away for something you really believe in as you would if you practices a lot of Hatha yoga and meditation.

[nandm]

Bhakti yoga. Bhakti means devotion and selfless love. Have you ever heard someone say, "MY heart just went out to her, and I offered to help"? That's Bhakti yoga, and it is Karma yoga, too. Bhakti yoga and Karma yoga oftne are thought of as two sides of the same coin. When you feel love, you want to serve, and when you serve in a selfless way, you also feel the love and devotion of that action.

[nandm]

Jnana yoga. this is the path of wisdom and of discerning that which is real from that which is unreal. Through this path of wisdeom comes the inspiration to view life from the perspective of huams as spiritual beings. The writings of the great sage Jiddu Krishnamutrit are a good example of Jnana yoga.

[nandm]

Tantra yoga. Tantra means the place where opposites meet and become one. For this reason, it is often associated with sexual union. But the bit picure of Tantra teaches that here is no difference between the big opposites----the finite and the infinite, or the Divine with a capital D and the divinity that is ordinary life. Because of the powerful nature of Tantra, it should always be taught by a master teacher.

[nandm]

Mantra yoga. Sometimes considered an aspect of Tantra yoga. Mantra yoga is the yoga of potent sound. The word mantra translates literally as "mind projection." It is a technique for using patterns of sound (through chanting or reciting) to help focus the mind.

[nandm]

Two great examples of practitioners of Karma-Bhakti yoga are Mother Teresa and Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati.

Mother Teresa attended to the needs of India's untouchable caste, people who had leprosy and were dying with no one to care for them. Her love and devotion inspired the world so much that she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, who is known simply as "Ma," carries out her labor of love for people who are dying of cancer and AIDS, helping them make the transition into death. Children of AIDS victims find a loving and spiritual home at her center in Florida. To learn more about Ma's work, see her web site: Kashi Ashram: Interfaith Spiritual Community

[Fluttering]

nandm.. you are a wonderful wealth of information. Thank You

[nandm]

www.yrec.org

Check this site for an in-depth understanding of the who, the what , and the where of yoga. Its founder, Georg Feurstein, is one of the top ten yoga scholars and he has written numerous books on yoga, including Living Yoga, authored with Stephan Bodian, and The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga.
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kra.org
Krishnamurti Information Network

Both of these sites are dedicated to the teachings of J. Krishnamurti: One is the site of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America, founded by J. Krishnamurti in 1969, and the other features volumes of books and articles by Krishnamurti

[nandm]

J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) was undoubtedly one of the greatest philosophical minds of the 20th century. A speaker, author, and educator from India, he conveyed a profound sense of truth to audiences around the world for more than half a century. The following quote is from his book, Life Ahead:

To experience what is solitude and what is meditation, one must be in a state of inquiry; only a mind that is in a state of inquiry is capable of learning. But when inquiry is suppressed by previous knowledge, or by the authority and experience of another, then learning becomes mere imitation, and imitation causes a human being to repeat what is learnt without experiencing it.

[nandm]

When something works as well as yoga does, you can't keep it a secret forever. Considering how long it's been around, it is pretty remarkable that yoga didn't make its debut in the Western world (specifically the United States) until the mid-1800s. At that time groups of intellectual wrtiers discovered yoga through their interest in teh esoteric teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Amos Bronson Alcott. Some time later, a Victorian-era biography of Guatama Buddha called the Light of Asia, by Edwin Ranold, sold half a million copies. So, at least within intellectual circles in the West, Eastern philosophy had arrived.

A real live yogi came on the scene at the Parliamnet of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. It was at this event that the young Swami Vivekananda, who came to the United States at the request of his teacher, even though he didn't know a soul, made a big and lasting impression on the American people. In the years that followed, he traveled and taught widely, attracting many to yoga in the process.

DEFINITION:
A yogi s an accomplished male student of yoga.
A female is called a yogini.
Swami is a title for a spiritual master.

[nandm]

Swami Vivekananda taught Raja yoga, which concentrates on meditation and control of the mind. Hatha yoga was introduced to America by Yogendra mastamani, who came to New York in 1919. Then, in 1920, the International Congress of Religious Liberals hosted the Indian spiritual leader Paramahansa Yogananda at its conference in Boston, and 5 yeras later he founded the Self Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles. In 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda wrote the classic Autobiography of a Yogi, a miraculous story of his spiritual life, which has done more to introduce the Western world to yoga and meditation than any other publication.

Hatha yoga, the yoga of physical postures, entered mainstream America when the Russian-born Indra Devi opened a studio in Hollywood in 1947 and began to teach movie stars like Jennifer Jones, Gloria Swanson, and Robert Ryan. "The First Lady of Yoga," now in her 90's is still an influential voice in yoga.

TRIVIA:
The British colonization of India helped introduce yoga to the West by translating sacred texts containing yoga themes, like The Bhagavad Gita, into English.

[nandm]

In 1971, I ran across my best friend and college roommate avidly reading Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi in our favorite diner. She was so engrossed that at first it bugged me because she wasn't talking to me at all. Then I became curious. What could be so captivating about a paperback book that had a picture of a man in a woman's hairdo on the cover? "Read a little to me," I urged her.

She began:

One night, when a cloud of mosquitoes surrounded us, Master failed to isssue his usual instructions (to use a mosquite curtain). I listened nervously to the anticipatory hum of the insects. Getting into bed, I threw a prpiriatory prayer in their general direction. A half hour later, I coughed pretentiously to attract my guru's attention. I thought I would go mad with the bites and especially the singing drone as the mosquitoes celebrated bloodthirsty rites.

No response stir from Master; I approached him cautiously. He was not breathing. This was my firts close observation of him in the yogic trance; it filled me with fright.

His heart must have failed! I placed a mirror under his nose; no breath vapor appeared. To make doubly certain, for minutes I closed his mouth and nostrils with my fingers. His body was cold and motionless. In a daze, I turned toward the door to summon help.

"So! A budding experimentalist! My poor nose!" Master's voice was shaky with laughter. "Why don't you go to bed? Is the whole world going to change for you? Change yourself; be rid of the mosquito consciousness."

Meekly I returned to my bed. Not one insect ventured near. I realized that my guru had preciously agreed to the curtains only to please me; he had no fear of mosquitoes. By yogic power he could prevent them from biting him, or, if he chose, he could escape to an inner invulnerability.

I listened to this anecdote with fascination. I was hooked. I bought my own copy of the book, and thus began a life-long journey into Eastern teachings and yoga.

----Shakta Kaur Khalsa

[nandm]

With the advent of telivision came Richard Hittleman's yoga program, in 1961. Hittleman offered the public a simple exxercise plan that matched the standards of the West---minimum effort with maximum results. Ten years later came Lilias Folan's series on public television, which boasts over 500 shows, many of which are still shown today to a large viewership.

The Woodstock generation had a huge influence on bringing yoga to the forefront of American popular culture.

Ram Dass, formerly Dr. Richard Alpert, carried a whole generation on a spiritual journey to India, and to the transcendental self within, when his touchstone book Be Here Now was published in 1971. At about the same time, the Beatle's attraction to Indian gurus and masters not only influenced other young seekers, but exemplified a generation that was looking for something more from life, and was willing to go out and get it.

Guru literally means "one who takes you from the darkness to the light," and is often casually used to denote a teacher or master.

Eastern teachers and masters of yoga heard the call, and by the late 1970's the West was won. Yoga was making inroads into universities and community centers, and ashrams (spiritual communities) were springing up all over America. The yoga movement, tailored to fit the Western psyche, was here to stay.

INTERNET:
Yoga Movement -- an Index to Yoga Information and Resources
Created for both beginners and experienced yoga practitioners, this site is a great source for everything yoga-related.

[barb dwyer]

"Be Here Now' ... zowie. that take me back. I think I read that in Jr. High School ... 1974?

[nandm]

• Yoga's aim is to unite the body, mind, and spirit. Practicing yoga helps you feel healthy, happy, and whole.
• You are not required to be in perfect physical shape to do yoga. Yoga is vastly adaptable to every person's particular needs.
• Yoga came into existence thousands of years ago, and was passed on from master to student, from generation to generation.
• Yoga provides a system for achieving the union of body, mind, and spirit. Its seven brancehs represent the paths you can take toward that end.
• Hatha yoga is the most popular form of yoga practiced today.
• Yoga came to the West in the late 19th century. Hatha yoga entered the mainstream in the late 1940s, and since the 1970s has become the most widely practiced exercise system in the world.

[nandm]

Yoga is the best self-help treatment you can give yourself. A regular yoga practice revitalizes every single part of you, right down to the cellular level. In this chapter you'll learn how yoga affects your body and mind, and discover that when it comes to effectiveness, nothing quite beats yoga as a great source of natural health care.

Over the next few days we will be discussing:

• What yoga can do for you
• Conscious breathing
• Just want to relax
• The mind-body connection
• Acupressure and yoga

[nandm]

There are as many reasons to practice yoga as there are challenges in our daily lives. Yoga grants physical health and vitality, relief from pain and stress, emotional strength, and clarity during diffficult times, and on and on.

One of my favorite T-shirt sayings is "Whatever the question, the answer is......More yoga!" and that seems about right. Of course, not even yoga can be touted as a cure for every ill, but if I find myself needing a mental or physical boost, a little yoga goes a long way. On the next few pages you'll see how simple it is to make yoga work for you.
----Shakta Kaur Khalsa

[nandm]

Creating a toned, flexible body

How you look has an impact on how you feel, and vice versa. A youthful appearance is one of the many blessings of consistent yoga practice. Like isometric exercise, yoga postures tone your muscles. When you add inner focus to your yoga stretches, there will be little or no chance of muscle injury. Besides, healthy, toned muscles have less chance of injury, and they hold your posture erect and give you a beautiful physique.

Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone. Because yoga helps to maintain a balanced metabolism, it also helps to regulate weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be eliminated around the cells, thus reducing cellulite.

Yoga can help you look and feel years younger than your age. In India, age is measured by the flexibility of the body and, especially, of the spine. The spine is the "switchboard" of your nervous system and the messenger to your brain. When the spine is flexible, the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain and organs is unrestricted. Many yoga postures and exercises keep the spine flexible by gently twisting or flexing the spine in all directions.

[nandm]

Less stress, more energy

Stress is an energy zapper. Enjoying life is an energy builder. This explains how a young office worker, who on Friday afternoon says she's exhausted and has no energy left, can go out on the town Friday night and dance until dawn!

What does this have to do with yoga? Yoga gives you the tools to transform stress inot energy. If you're wondering how (and since experience is the best teacher), let's try an actual yoga pose right now. Don't worry, it's an easy one -- a simple forward stretch.

1. Sit on the floor (use a mat if needed) with your legs stretched out in front of you. Your legs should be about 6 inches (15 cm) apart. Lean forward and touch whatever part of you that your hands can reach, whether it's your toes, ankles, or shins. Inhale deeply through your nose and stretch your arms up while lengthening your spine and stretching upward.

2. Now exhale slowly and deeply, and just let yourself fall forward from the hips. Bring your arms down, and hold onto your legs or ankles with your arms relaxed and your elbows bent. Hold this position and take a few more deep breaths. Every time you exhale, let your muscles relax a little more, and allow gravity to draw you even further forward.

3. Continue stretching and relaxing for five more breaths. Now sit up straight and cross your legs. With your eyes closed, notice how you are feeling from the inside and become aware of your breath moving through your body. Do you feel different? How? As tension is released, can you feel how the subsequent relaxation circulates energy within your body and mind?

If you're wondering what the "stress" is in the previous exercise, it is the tension you feel in your back or legs when you stretch forward, or the tightness in your chest when you attempt to breath deeply. The "letting go" feeling that you experience on the exhale is the release of that stress.

[nandm]

Off the mat

Let's take yoga off the mat and into the real world for a moment. Imagine you've been practicing the earlier exercise enough to make it a regular habit and then put yourself in a scenerio like this one: Your boss, your child, or your spoise is angry at you about something. At the outset, fear may begin to overtake you. Notice any tightness in your solar plexus (the area above your navel), neck, back, or face, as you prepare your mind for defense and attack. Now, put this scene on "pause" and....

Begin to breathe consciously into the tight spots. Release the need to be defensive. Feel yourself sinking into your body, as you did when you allowed gravity to help you stretch forward. Consciously relax yourself. Feel the ensuing energy. Imagine you have the energy to handle this challenging situation creatively. It takes trust in yourself the first few times you try. But learning this response to stress takes the nasty punches out of life and puts the fun back into it!

TRIVIA:
Harvard Medical School researcher Herbert Benson, M.D., foudn that the body responds to meditation by decreasing blood pressure, heart rate, breath rate, and metobolic rates, and increasing slow alpha waves (restful brain waves of deep sleep). Benson coined the phrase "relaxation response" to describe this phenomenon.