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# 2016-12-05 - Yoga Lessons by Swami Mukerji | |
Rainbow Dawn | |
Book notes written in 2015. I appreciated the author's bold | |
optimism. The world is growing kinder by reason of this dawning | |
consciousness. | |
# Chapter 1, The yogi conception of life | |
Life is a series of awakenings. Ideas dawn upon the mind from time | |
to time, are caught up by brain and body and find physical expression | |
as acts. It is quite necessary that we should pass through certain | |
experiences, that we rise from ideal to ideal. | |
There is a fire burning. Heap coals. The more coals, the brighter | |
and steadier the flame. All obstacles are really "coal" feeding the | |
"flame" of the spirit. They spur a man on. The vibrations of pain | |
are often blessings in disguise. They drive the lesson home. | |
# Chapter 2, The ideal, and the practical | |
A man is what his ideals are. All muscular actions, whether mental | |
or physical, are simply fragments from the ideal. The very fact of | |
the ideal being present in your mind foreshadows its fulfillment. | |
Each tree brings forth fruits of its kind. Our ideal is the hinge | |
upon which our future turns. We create our own fate. | |
The privacy of your own room, aye, of your own mind is the place | |
where you must play the man. | |
# Chapter 3, Read and reflect | |
Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. Our deeds are | |
accomplished best when we put heart in them. Diffusion of thoughts | |
leads to confusion of results. Reading conveys suggestions to the | |
brain and induces certain trains of thought. Now far greater | |
pressure is exerted if we think by ourselves. We should read only | |
those books which yield us fresh strong thoughts, in a line with our | |
own aims and aspirations in life. Read for five minutes; think for | |
ten. | |
Books contain thoughts. If these thoughts are clean, pure, | |
uplifting, stimulating, and instructive in nature, we should pause | |
upon them and suck all the life out of them. Let a student read a | |
sentence slowly; then try to grap the thought and think it over | |
intently. One thought suggests other thoughts. Thus stretch the | |
imagination in connection with that thought as far as possible, and | |
drop it only when arriving at a clear-cut, distinct conclusion. | |
Continue thus for fifteen minutes. One will possibly feel quite | |
tired at the end. As one continues the practice of deliberate | |
thinking, one will feel a new assurance of power awakening in the | |
mind. | |
# Chapter 4, Man, animal and divine | |
God is love. Love is unselfish. It burns for everyone. It does not | |
come easily. Only when we have suffered much, thought much,-then and | |
then alone gleams of this Universal Love shine upon us. It is the | |
dawn of divinity-Spiritual Awakening. To serve others is a high | |
privilege. Therefore train yourself to serve others, if only one | |
soul. If you have a father, a mother, or someone else depending upon | |
you, serve them with whole-hearted zeal. LIVE UP TO IT. If you | |
fail, rise again, and again and yet again. | |
# Chapter 5, Double consciousness | |
The Higher Mind or the Active Intellect in each individual is a ray | |
from the Universal Mind and since that is the common source, all | |
minds are resolvable into One Mind. | |
# Chapter 6, Spiritual unfoldment | |
Desire moves man more than aught else. All this unrest and | |
discomfort is quite in the nature of things. Something more abiding, | |
more permanent, is wanted. This yearning after the Eternal makes us | |
call a halt upon the pursuit of blind passions... | |
The abolition of Fear places in the hands of man a weapon of defence | |
and power which renders him almost invincible. Why do you not take | |
this gift which is so freely offered you? Let your watchwords be "I | |
am;" "I am fearless and free." | |
Thus we see that Spiritual Unfoldment means a gradual stripping off | |
of the dense and subtle sheaths in which man is clothed for the | |
manifestation of the spirit. | |
What is the Spirit? The spirit is the highest principle, the most | |
sublime attribute of Man. The spirit in man is a spark from the | |
Divine Flame. Man is not a finished product of nature. He is a | |
developing creature. We are all of us traveling God-wards. We have | |
not been born to dance to the orders of others; nor is enjoyment the | |
aim of life. None of us are spotless. If there is anyone who repels | |
us, let us not hate him. | |
# Chapter 7, Cause and effect | |
The lips of wisdom are closed except to the ears of understanding. | |
The One Thing that I want of you is EARNESTNESS. One must study to | |
know, know to understand, and understand to judge. | |
Give and it shall be given unto you. Everything is in a circle. | |
What we do, that we have. He who works his hardest, has the most | |
energy. Energy is ever withdrawn from those that would spend same | |
with a niggardly hand. The supply is exactly in proportion to the | |
exhaust. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in | |
the year. No man has learned anything rightly until he knows that | |
every day is Doomsday. 'Tis the oldest secret of the gods that they | |
come in low disguises. To be able to appreciate greatness at its | |
full value, we must ourselves have the germs of greatness stirring | |
within us. Intensify yourself along these channels. | |
# Chapter 8, Man-the master | |
Man's central Being is infinite bliss. I am Happiness itself. I am | |
unhappy because my eyes have grown blind. Man is punished not for | |
his sins so much as by them. | |
... the parts of Infinity are an Infinity; you too are Infinite. | |
You wish, you command, you demand, you assent, and you get-what you | |
want; though you go to sleep, your thought if sufficiently | |
vitalized by concentration will come to pass. Determine the | |
breadth, the solidity, the soundness of the plank of life you stand | |
upon. You are your master. Here Life is self-determined. | |
# Chapter 9, Self-development | |
Man should ever strive to develop intrinsic worth. [Ben's note: as | |
opposed to utility value.] | |
You shall be at the top of your condition if you ever obey the | |
suggestions of your soul, for your heart shall never tell a lie | |
although your tongue may. | |
# Chapter 10, Developing the spiritual consciousness | |
One thing at a time and that with your entire heart and soul. The | |
ideal you have set up for yourself must absorb the best and richest | |
forces in you. Introduce the thin edge of the wedge. Each stroke | |
shall drive it deeper. Do not scatter your energy. Do not burn your | |
candle at both ends. | |
You must stand body and soul, for your ideas, taking up each and | |
quietly working them out in life. | |
One thought repeated for days, months and years will become very | |
strongly vitalized. Tremendous will be its telling force. It will | |
go to make or mar your destiny. Thought, then, is the fine cause. | |
Stamp it well upon your mind. It is a tremendous fact. | |
Your thoughts have been energized by constant repetition. Now you | |
must learn to dominate them: to command them to stillness: to relax | |
the tension which your mind is constantly putting itself: to save | |
your brain from giving way under this surcharge of unmarshalled | |
energy; to absolutely vanquish the waves of force that bubble up each | |
time you think of your ideal; for it is intoxication-the irresistable | |
spell of a "fixed idea." | |
Exercise is the first, last, and only condition of growth. Stand | |
rigidly by your ideal. Do not force it upon others. But do not be | |
forced out of it. Simply be earnest. | |
The vibrations of a stronger mind impinge upon your receptive | |
consciousness, shake up some if its grossness, and implant seeds | |
that, fructifying in the long run, work for your spiritual | |
upliftment. Associate with good men. Let their thought-magnetism | |
encircle you and exercise its subtle, mysteriously spiritualizing | |
influence upon you. The mere contact will act as a Living Force and | |
awaken your latent powers. It will shed benediction by its mere | |
touch. Spirituality is not intellectual gymnastics. | |
# Chapter 11, Who can be a yogi? | |
... conquer the flesh before you question the mysteries of life. | |
forces that act on man: | |
* Sathva -- rhythm. power used for good purposes alone. | |
* Rajas -- mobility. active. powerful. | |
* Tamas -- intertia. laziness. eat, drink, and be merry. | |
stages (states) of consciousness: | |
* Kshipta -- butterfly mind | |
* Mudha -- pleasures have lost their joy | |
* Vikshipta -- draws help from spiritual people and books. forms a | |
fixed ideal. Learns viveka, discrimination between the real and | |
the unreal. Learns ekagrata, one-pointedness. | |
* Vairagya -- dispassionate | |
* Nirudha -- self-controlled. spiritual activity. | |
You are great. Compared to your nature this world is but a pinch of | |
star-dust. | |
# Chapter 12, Constructive idealism | |
Constructive idealism is a process whereby we strive to construct, | |
develop and project an ideal personality on the spiritual, mental and | |
physical rungs of human evolution. It is training, self-imposed and | |
self-directed. A life-building assimilation of the highest and the | |
best within the reach of our mental and spiritual vision. A | |
determined effort to intensify ourselves along lines of human uplift | |
by a systemized application of the laws of psychology. It is the | |
putting forth of positive effort to develop and expand our spiritual | |
stature. Life in this world is a gymnasium for the exercise of the | |
will. | |
You have to develop a life-purpose. Our work is our life-preserver. | |
Power ceases in the instant of repose: it resides in the moment of | |
transition from a past state into a new state... | |
The first requisite in Constructive Idealism is self-reliance. You | |
must stand upon your own feet. Locked up in your soul is to be found | |
Infinite Knowledge, Infinite Existence, Infinite Bliss. | |
So not they that hear most, or read most, but they that meditate most | |
and pray most and in the silent mystic way of Love give out the most | |
are the most edified and nourished and enriched unto everlasting | |
life, here, now, and forever. Therefore, shut yourself up in your | |
room and with strenuous and earnest zeal, go on adding stroke after | |
stroke of steady work for your soul-expression. Results will come in | |
their own good time and that moment is best for you and the world | |
when you get great gleams of light from your higher nature. | |
# Chapter 13, Higher reason and judgment | |
Another requisite is Fearlessness. Few people possess this virtue. | |
You have to take them up and meditate upon them. Thus alone can they | |
become inwoven with your nature. | |
# Chapter 14, Conquest of fear | |
You must understand your own nature, if you are to be Fearless. How? | |
Learn to draw inwards and upwards. The lower mind ever darts | |
outwards. Abbyasa - constant practice, unremitting effort at control | |
of the mind. Vairagya - dispassion, renouncing mentally all | |
attachment to impermanent ends. Resolve to be perfectly Fearless and | |
so shall you be in according to the strength of your resolution. | |
# Chapter 15, The role of prayer | |
Nowadays it is the way with some to run down the intellect and to | |
give emotions the first place. Again, there are others who ask you | |
to kill out the seat of emotion and to give the the seat of reason | |
the first place. Both schools are dogmatic and their reasoning is | |
very shallow. The fact is; neither can be suppressed and crushed | |
out... each is great in its own place... complement themselves, and | |
both are ultimately resolvable into Infinity-which is Unity, pure and | |
simple. | |
The soul must contemplate the glories of the Infinite Intelligence. | |
Then, the love-force,-the all-consuming fire-shall inundate your | |
heart. It will make your whole being vibrate in tune with the | |
Infinite. | |
The worship of the worldly man has back of it the all-consuming | |
forces of pecuniomania. An infectious disease that plays man against | |
man. Worshipping the Golden Calf, praying to Plutus-the god of gold. | |
Did you ever see a man whose earnest enthusiasm and noble aims, shine | |
in his eyes, dwell in the ring of his voice, seem to have entered his | |
hands and feet and compel his entire being? These are true devotees | |
of the Supreme Intelligence. | |
Such alone can pray. Prayer is the sincere lifting of the soul to | |
the source of All-power. Prayer is the burning desire of the soul to | |
achieve inner wisdom. Prayer is the earnest strain upwards of the | |
intelligence to pierce the dark penetralia of Ignorance. Prayer is | |
the ceaseless pressure upon the Superconscious mind-the Divine part | |
of ourselves-to expand our sphere of insight. Prayer is the | |
deepening of the intellect and the expansion of the Heart. ... | |
Prayer is the struggle of the soul to free its wings; the flutter of | |
the heart through the awe of lofty Idealism; the instinctive leaning | |
on our secret selves; the drawing inwards for more light and life. | |
Prayer is the concentration of the spirit on the Problems of the | |
Divine life; the turning of the search-light of the | |
Super-conscious-self upon the riddles of existence. ... Prayer is the | |
meditation on the Infinite in the silence. Prayer is the | |
contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. | |
It is a soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is the spirit | |
of God pronouncing His works good. As soon as the man is at one with | |
the God he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action. The | |
thoughts of a purified soul are all prayer. | |
"When thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy | |
door, pray to thy Father in secret," says the Nazarene. | |
Now, reader, understand, once for ever, prayer is willing. ... The | |
Great Law operates always and everywhere. Here, then, you have all | |
the switches and levers of energy and inspiration. | |
# Chapter 16, Thought: creative and exhaustive | |
The right exercise of thought-power is an act of creation. Certain | |
thoughts exhaust the life-force, others create it. Injurious | |
thought-currents can be suppressed by raising an opposition wave. | |
Hatred should be replaced by love, worry by hopefulness, hesitation | |
by decision, anger by calmness and so forth: the finer always | |
suppresses the grosser, mark you. Training is necessary. Knowledge | |
must be gained. Strength of will-power must be developed. | |
The mind is capable of existing in two states-Positive and Negative. | |
Both are necessary for the up-keep of mental and physical equipose. | |
We must be able to call up either state at will and without the least | |
friction and strenuous effort. The positive state is a state of | |
tension, alertness, centrality. The negative state is an attitude of | |
receptivity, relaxation and non-resistance. The former if sustained | |
all through the day would mean exhaustion and nervous breakdown. The | |
latter, unless self-induced, would render us a victim to the world, | |
the flesh, and the devil. The former calls for an increase of | |
nerve-force. The latter conserves this force and replenishes the | |
store house. | |
The mind can think of only one thing at a time. Think nobly and | |
loftily and the evil thoughts will soon "take the hint" and cease to | |
disturb you. Express the Good, the Pure, the Powerful in yourself | |
and you can easily repress the Evil, the Impure and the Weak. | |
# Chapter 17, Meditation exercises | |
You are but part of the whole. The whole is Spirit. There is only | |
one Spirit, and God is Spirit. Therefore you are spiritual. | |
No kind of material trouble can affect the spiritual. Everything is | |
spirit. Lo! you are a being having everything in you. What you | |
want is within your grasp. You can be what you wish to be. All that | |
appears to be obstacles to your advancement is false, and does not | |
exist. | |
# Chapter 18, Self-de-hypnotisation | |
We have been under the impression that from external conditions we | |
can devlop inner stage of consciousness. This is the master-spell | |
which is an illusion or Maya. To pluck it out we must draw inwards | |
and realise that inner states of consciousness wield an evermoulding | |
influence upon matter and hew out ever varying forms, just as the | |
image projected upon the specular screen of a magic lantern is really | |
determined by the slide in the lantern. Change the slide images and | |
you have other images on the screen. Change the thought in your mind | |
and you change the form materialised thereby. | |
# Chapter 19, Self-de-hypnotisation II | |
We are half devil, half divine. Sheathed in our coat of flesh, our | |
powers hooped in by the physical form, we cannot expect to come face | |
to face with the Infinite. But there is within us, behind us, | |
before, above and around us, God's Spirit, and we can realize our | |
relation to it by putting ourselves En rapport therewith. | |
But there are more and more of these people every year-they are coming | |
in great numbers and when they reach a sufficient number, this old | |
earth will undergo a peaceful revolution. In that day man no longer | |
will be content to enjoy luxury while his brother starves, he will | |
not be able to oppress and exploit his own kind, he will not be able | |
to endure much that today is passed over without thought or feeling | |
by the majority of people. ... the man who has experienced this new | |
consciousness has broken down the old feeling of separateness, and | |
his brother's pain is felt by him-his brother's joys are experienced | |
by him-he is in touch with others. | |
From whence comes this uneasiness that causes men to erect hospitals | |
and other charitable institutions-from whence comes this feeling of | |
discomfort at the sight of suffering? From the Spiritual mind that | |
is causing the feeling of nearness to all life to awaken in the mind | |
of men, and thus renders it more and more painful for them to see and | |
be aware of the pain of others because they begin to feel it, and it | |
renders them uncomfortable and they make at least some effort to | |
relieve it. | |
The world is growing kinder by reason of this dawning consciousness, | |
although it is still in a barbarous state as compared to its future | |
condition. | |
# Chapter 20, Character-building | |
Self-control in Yogis is demonstrated by perfect Soul-Calm. A | |
perfect Yogi ... When he sees distress and pain, he does not make the | |
whole air throb with his cries but he calmly sets about finding a | |
remedy for the evil. | |
Habit is a rhythm established by the Will. It compels all organized | |
life. It works along sub-conscious lines of mentation. It is the | |
same pitch of vibration repeating itself. | |
The tool of thought and, shaping what he wills, brings forth a | |
thousand joys, a thousand ills: | |
> He thinks in secret and it comes to pass; | |
> "Environment is but his looking-glass." | |
> We build our future, thought by thought, | |
> Or good or bad, and know it not- | |
> Yet so the universe is wrought, | |
> Thought is another name for Fate- | |
> Choose then thy destiny, and wait- | |
> For Love brings Love, and Hate brings Hate- | |
> Again: All that we are is the result of thought. | |
> -- Lord Buddha, The Dharmmapada | |
Another important fact to remember is that if at some hour today you | |
go into your room and send forth an intense thought, the next day the | |
same thought shall start up in your mind at the same point of time. | |
This is known as Periodicity. Therefore supposing you want to | |
perform some difficult task with which your mind is not accustomed to | |
cope, sit up a few hours previous to that time and suggest to | |
yourself, "I wish you, subjective mind, to prepare yourself for the | |
performance of such and such a task tomorrow at 4 o'clock. Be sure | |
you do it. Now prepare yourself." Next day you will find yourself | |
quite prepared to accomplish the task. Suppose you wanted to get up | |
at 4 o'clock in the morning. Before retiring to bed say to yourself | |
on your subjective mind "Look here-I wish to get up (or wake me up) | |
at 4 o'clock. Be sure you do it." You will wake at that hour. | |
author: Mukerji, A. P., Swami | |
LOC: B132.Y6 M8 | |
source: gopher://tilde.pink/1/~bencollver/ia/details/yogalessonsforde00muke | |
tags: ebook,non-fiction,self-help,spirit,yoga | |
title: Yoga Lessons For Developing Spiritual Consciousness | |
# Tags | |
ebook | |
non-fiction | |
self-help | |
spirit | |
yoga |