Thu Feb 8th, 2018    NYC

EXPERIENCE: Validation of the Scriptures

Lately I started to notice that whenever I spend several hours in a day engaged with something that involves looking at pictures, like researching something online for example, the images I see tend to flash back into my mind for the rest of that day. This seems to be even more powerful if I have a strong emotion associated with the thing I’m looking at, or if I desire it strongly. Not only that, but if the object from those images is somewhat familiar, like in the case of a piece of clothing, if I know how the material feels, then the images that I’m seeing in my mind bring with them the feeling or sensation of that material, even though I’ve never before touched the exact item in the picture.

These images are most vivid, and come back most powerfully, at the end of the day when I sit for meditation, making the process of calming the mind and trying to bring its focus to the subject of meditation more difficult. And, at the same time, the period of time that my mind can stay focused is shorter, as it more frequently fluctuates from being somewhat concentrated to being involved with those images.

But, on the contrary, if I spend a long period of the day, or almost all of the day being involved with the work of the Mission, or reading and studying sacred scriptures, this never happens. My mind seems to be light and, in a way, fresh, with more energy to bring towards concentration and without any images or sensations that distract it.

After speaking to our senior disciple Anandamali about the above experiences, she commented that interestingly this was one of the topics that was recently spoken about in relation to the Yoga Sutra during the meditation class led by our brother disciple Sananda in Kyoto. So she suggested I look in the Yoga Sutra to find the sutra that refers to this topic. In the back of my mind I remembered that when I was in my teens I read several books on Yoga and also tried to read the Yoga Sutra, but not too long after I began reading it I had to stop completely—the sutra was so hard to understand! My mind just couldn’t register what I was reading at all, therefore I couldn’t grasp the meaning or the practical value they have. This was probably because I was trying to understand them using my intellect alone.

So when I got home that evening I started to search for that sutra in Swami Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga. After reading for a while I found a couple of sutra that were related to what I was experiencing, but sutra 1.4 revealed the exact phenomena that my mind was going through. While reading it I felt a deep sense of excitement building within me, and an intimate childlike curiosity to continue to try to experience more of the teachings by applying them in my daily life was immediately sparked.

This experience made me believe that we should apply the teachings using our bodies and minds, and honestly look at the relationship between the mind and the world. And I also believe now that by practicing in this way, little by little, the secrets behind the teachings will be revealed, taking on a life of their own in our very own experiences.

This gives me confidence that under the guidance of Shri Mahayogi, and through dedicated practice, the final realization is actually attainable and within our reach, and that one day we will come to the realization, through our own experience, that:

     “the mind; when it is calm, we see what our own nature is;
we do not mix ourselves but remain our own selves.”
Yoga Sutra 1.3

        “At other times (other than that of concentration)
the seer is identified with the modifications.”
Yoga Sutra 1.4

Ekanta