Lineage of yoga and Parapsychology

We have studied the depths of Karma Yoga for a long time. We discussed how to enhance a human mind, how to redirect the downward spiral of mind into to an upward expanding path. In the last session we have discussed about how sublimation can be used to achieve this redirection. बुद्देः परं बुद्द्वा Budde param buddwa was the master key of this technique. Coming to the fourth chapter, Krishna puts forth a chronological order of how yoga has come to us.         

इमं विवस्वते योगं प्रोक्तवानहमव्ययम्।

विवस्वान्मनवे प्राह मनुरिक्ष्वाकवेऽब्रवीत्॥गीता ४-१॥

एवं परंपराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदुः।

स कालेनेह महता योगो नष्टः परंतप॥गीता ४-२॥

He says, Yoga is purely a divine content, I have given it to Surya, he is the minister / gate keeper of health.

आरोग्यम् भास्करदिच्चेद् मोक्षम् एच्चेद् जनार्धन

Surya then gave this to Vaivasvata manu, Vavaswata manu gave this to great king of Surya vamsha Iksvaku and this is how Yoga has come to us passed on among Rajarushis and other qualified learned people. It was good initially, but having fallen into the hands of incapable people, it deteriorated over a period of time.

दुर्बलान् अजितेन्द्रियान् योगो नश्टः

One big Yoga master from India went to America to spread Yoga, after some time he married an American lady there, later the lady went to court saying she had been cheated in the name of Yoga. Court ruled in favour of her, which lead to serious depression and suicide of the great Yoga master. Yoga degraded having fallen in the hands of weak minded people who haven't mastered their Indriyas. Shankara has advised for renewal of Yoga whenever it degrades. Educating common people by producing more and more receivers like Arjunas is a way to renew this Yoga.

Important characteristic of Arjuna is never let go attitude. If fallen down for some reason, he can quickly come back and standup on his own feet. Out of five Pandavas, Krishna choose Arjuna to give Gita because of his dashing nature. In the fight with Shiva, having lost all his arrows, he fought with the Dhanus itself. Shiva was impressed by this never giveup attitude and later offered him Pashupatastra. We have to enhance real receivers like Arjunas in today's world. Many people do not know, they think Krishna gave 700 sholkas of Gita in the middle of Kurukshetra. Actually it would have been a small quick discussion between a highly capable Karma Yogi himself, Krishna and the most eligible receiver Arjuna.

Through Yoga we have to develop Jana Shakti, Gradual degradation, going up and going down is a natural phenomenon, when a person reaches the top, if he looses his concentration, deterioration starts the very next moment. Such a deterioration has to be reversed by reinstating the values of Yoga.

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥गीता ४-७॥

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्।

धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे॥गीता ४-८॥

Krishna says I will reincarnate time and again whenever there is deterioration of yogic values in the society and organize Jana Shakti to reinstate Yoga dharma again and again.

बहूनि मे व्यतीगानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन।

तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परंतप॥गीता ४-५॥

Krishna says, I have taken many bodies over a period of time, came down to organise Jana Shakti and reinstate Dharma. Taking new body is as simple as changing cloths for me. He gives a hint of Parapsychology here. While Psychology is Manashastra (Science of mind ), Parapsychology is about Para Manashastra. Its the science of life after death. There are many people who discard this concept of life after death. Our very own Charuvaka is an example for this. However, there are many real instances which are beyond any Psychological explanation.

Edgar Cayce, an American mystic had developed some wonderful healing capacities in his deep sleep. Many unknown people suffering from ailments would approach him and he would offer solutions based on his readings. Many a times, he has referred to previous life experiences which had resulted in present life ailments. He himself being a devote Christian did not believe in rebirth and was astonished by his own utterances. His experiences are documented in a book called "Many Mansions" written by Gina Cerminara.

Ian Stevenson is another western psychiatrist, Professor at University of Virginia School of Medicine who did intense research in the field of reincarnation. He has written a book by name "Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation", which documents 20 real cases about spontaneous recall of information about previous lives by young children.

Swami Jagadatmananda from Ramakrishna Ashrama Mysuru, has written a book in Kannada by name "Badukalu Kaliyiri", which has Parapsychology and Punarjanma related aspects. Jaipur University has collected many such Parapsychology related case studies. Lot of modern research is going on in this field, a very subtle area of research.

At S-VYASA, we are running a separate Journal called as IJOY-PPP (International Journal of Yoga Philosophy Psychology and Parapsychology). One can find many Parapsychology related research articles in this Journal. With the help of fourth chapter, I have briefly introduced the field of Parapsychology to you all. If anybody is interested in this field, they can read the book by Swami Jagadatmananda and we can discuss more in future.

References:

     1.      Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation, by  Gina Cerminara, Penguin USA (5 October 1988), ISBN-13: 978-0451168177.

     2.      Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation, Ian Stevenson, University Press of Virginia, ISBN: 0-8139-0872-8, 1974.

     3.      Badukalu Kaliyiri Combined Volume (Kannada) Learn to Live,  Swami Jagadatmananda, Ramakrishna Ashrama Mysore (2014), ISBN-13: 978-9384883065.

   4.      International Journal of Yoga Philosophy Psychology and Parapsychology, http://www.ijoyppp.org/aboutus.asp

Human instincts: Transforming vices into virtues

Arjuna asks, what is that which is inside me which never lets me do what I like to do, which tempts me to act against my own consciousness. Though I decide to put on a good behavior I end up doing exactly the opposite, Sankalpa becomes Vikalpa.

अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः।

अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः॥गीता ३-३६॥

Duryodhana too has expressed similar helplessness in the following shloka.

जानामि धर्मम् न च मे प्रवृत्तिः जानामि अधर्मम् न च मे निवृत्तिः।

त्वया हृषीकेश हृदि स्थितेन यथा नियुक्तः अस्मि तथा करोमि॥

This Duryodhana complex is common in modern society, Psychology defines this as Instinct.

काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः।

महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्द्येनमिह वैरिणम्॥गीता ३-३७॥

Krishna portrays the root cause of this Instinct in the above shloka. There are two main instincts Kama (Lust) and Krodha (Anger) which are born out of Rajo guna. This is what drove Duryodhana and also Ravana to make mistakes even though they knew it was wrong.

Nowadays every other home has this bad behavior problem of teenage children. There have been many instances when a high school child gets into an argument and ends up shooting the other person. They call it as Big Bully tendency in America. Parents and teachers are not able to handle this, many a times, even remind homes and police stations cannot handle these children. Setting up more and more remind homes, police stations, Juvenile courts will not solve the problem. Even NIMHANS is flooded with such adolescence complications. So then, what is the solution? Krishna beautifully describes the solution in the following two shlokas.

इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्यः परं मनः।

मनसस्तु परा बुद्दिर्यो बुद्देः परतस्तु सः॥गीता ३-४२॥

Today we humnas have been enslaved by the world of sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, toungue and touch) as if, we have been born only to enjoy this external world through them. This attitude along with overplay by media is corrupting young minds. There is very little motivation to look inwards. However, there are things which are more powerful than sense organs. This hierarchy is portrayed in the above shloka. Indriyas are more powerful than the gross body, Manas is more than Indriyas, Buddhi more than Manas and Atma more than Buddhi. 

        Atma (Spiritual)

Buddhi (Psychological) ->

Manas (Mental) ->

Indriyas (Vital) ->

Gross body (Physical) ->

 

एवं बुद्देः परं बुद्द्वा संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना।

जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो कामरूपं दुरासदम्॥गीता ३-४३॥

There is one inner eyes corresponding to this external eye, one inner ear corresponding to this external ear. Due to over indulgence in the external world, we have lost the skill of listening to that inner voice, that inner voice which may be called as Manasakshi, Anthakarana or Atmasakshi. One of the key tools used by counselors today is to inculcate the habit of listening to this Atmasakshi by consciously reinforcing strengths of a person and help him/her gradually move from body level to mind, mind to buddhi and from buddhi to Atma. This is exactly what Jambavanta did to Hanuman before he could decide to jump across the ocean and Krishna used this technique to help Arjuna come out of his depression.

A good looking person will feel proud about his/her beauty which gradually leads to superiority complex, arrogance and egoistic attitude. On the other hand, a not so good looking person may feel inferior which may either lead to depression or jealousy resulting in conflicts. Root cause for all these evils is over indulgence in body level and forgetting the existence of higher levels. The very definition of beauty is the one which creates a pleasant feeling in the others person's mind. Internal beauty is the real beauty. This technique given by Krishna helps us lookout for this internal beauty. Any relationship (whether between a parent and a child or between husband and wife) when based on this internal beauty will last long and will lead to a harmonious life.

To summarize, one who transcends the traps of Kaya (Body), Indriyas, Manas, Buddhi and reaches Atma level will never be driven by these instincts. These instincts or Vices become virtues. This transformation technique is called as Sublimation in modern Psychology.

·         Kama (Lust)              -> Positive desires

·         Krodha (Anger)        -> Mission to change for good

·         Lobha (Greed)          -> Rightful ambition

·         Moha (Attachment) -> Art of loving (Bhakti)

·         Mada (Ego)               -> Self-confidence (Assertiveness)

·         Matsarya (Jealousy) -> Healthy competition

·         Shoka (Pathos)          -> Empathy

·         Bhaya (Fear)              -> Moral fear

Behavioral reflection of human psyche: Transfer of training

Bhagavadita is a guide book, a work book for human psychology. It helps us understand the normal human mind, depressed minds as that of partha, how krishna used jnana yoga to address vishada, disgust, disappointment, depression. After Jnana yoga, we are analyzing the 3rd chapter of Bhagavadgita and trying to understand the inner secrets of karma yoga. Last week we discussed about Lokasangraha dimension of human behavior. One very important aspect here is behavioral positivity or in other words, behavioral reflection of human psyche. It's about how we human beings think, and how it gets reflected in our actions.

Our modern city life forces one to behave according to some set norms. Though boiling from inside, one has to put on a pleasant smiling face outside. One needs to hide true emotions and behave in a superficial way. If an innocent person behaves naturally and speaks his mind he would be discarded as a manner less fellow. However, modern psychology says these inner feelings can never be hidden completely, they will come out and show up in the behavior.

Now, if we reflect this thought on Krishna's behavior, we may conclude that he is a split personality. One who indulges in all worldly activities, though being an Sampoorna avatara purusha. For this he says, I cannot put myself on a higher pedestal and get disconnected with common people. If I do so, I will never be able to understand them and help them move up in the ladder of evolution. My behavior influences others and that's how I can bring about change in their lives. Hence, my involvement in worldly activities is not a pretention but a genuine interest to understand the people involved and then, add value by demonstrating better behavior. While doing so, I do not get attached either to the action or to the person, my individual identity is intact.

Once, Mysore Maharaja wanted to improve the language of palace workers. So he approached one of the well-known senior pandits and they both together identified a good teacher by name Subbaraya Sharma. Subbaraya Sharma was brought to the palace from a remote village and given the responsibility of polishing the Kannada language of palace workers. After couple of months, the senior Pandit wanted to know the progress and hence visited the palace, where he couldn't locate the teacher at all. After a long search, a person in shabby dress appeared before Pandit ji and addressed him in a crude language, "here I am, Subbu, the Kannada teacher". So, Subbaraya Sharma who came to polish the language of palace workers had become Subbu, a person who dresses and speaks like Palace workers. Important lesson here is, while being involved in common activities, one has to maintain his/her own true identity.

Value addition without losing once own identity

Krishna very well demonstrated this role model behavior, while rearing cows he gave education to other Gopalakas, while being a charioteer he gave Bhagavadgita to us. Such a role model behavior to motivate and transfer that behavior to others is called as transfer of training in today's terminologies. We need to understand behavioral reflection with this concept of Lokasangraha in mind. Using Lokasangraha as a technique we can culture and transform the behavior of common people.

Being a role model is a way to culture one's own behavior and that of others; this value is called as Lokasangraha.

Lokasangraha: A best module for individual and societal transformation