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<\/p>\nSaturday\u00a0Aug 29, 2020 NYC<\/p>\n
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Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0Pranavadipa Volume\u00a069<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n During this time of great change in our lives and in our world, perhaps the opportunity to face questions pertaining to our very existence may be urgently knocking at our door. The Satsangha<\/em> in this month\u2019s issue of Pranavadipa<\/em> (Vol. 69) <\/a>is incredibly rich, the content being gathered from parts of the question and answer that happened during various Satsangha <\/em>taking place over the course of several consecutive weeks in 2012, all falling under the theme of the main title, \u201cConfronting \u2018Life\u2019 and \u2018Death.\u2019\u201d The content probably relates to one of the closest matters that all human beings have in common, as without life there is no death, and without death, there is no life; such matters relate directly to how we want to live our lives; and this is very closely related to the sense of \u201cI\u201d.<\/p>\n Life and Death\u2014some people may think of these as philosophical matters. But, is it really so? If we think about it seriously and objectively, we come to realize that these relate to everything we do and think, whether we are aware of it or not\u2014and this is quite universal.<\/p>\n Satsangha<\/em> begins with a question from a first-time attendee; her daughter, when down, asks her, \u201cWhat are we living for?\u201d So, she asked Shri Mahayogi for advice on how to answer her. Shri Mahayogi responded:<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, all of humanity living on this earth is facing a similar issue. The Yoga that began in ancient times has also tried to answer that question. What are we living for, and who is living\u2014\u201cI am living\u201d may be how you answer that. Then, what is that \u201cI\u201d? Who am \u201cI\u201d? Being born, growing up, then going through various studies, jobs, and making a living, then dying. What is the meaning of all of this? After all, the answer cannot come unless you ultimately come to know who you are. <\/em><\/p>\n The answer that Yoga found, which is actually related to this conversation I just mentioned, is that the essence\u2014\u201cI\u201d\u2014is neither the body nor the mind, it is the Soul that exists deeper within. And Yoga teaches through experience that this Soul is the Eternal Existence; and that the Soul of the person who experiences this and the soul of others, or the substance that is abiding as the essence of the entire universe, do not differ one iota and are exactly the same. It is the One without a second. It is merely this Eternal Existence that is repeating being born and dying again and again within the limited realm of space and time. By knowing the true substance, you will become unentangled in things like ephemeral joy and pain, or the sadness that arises from the experiences in the world. These are just like inevitable conditions that refer to the world, so you just have to deal with them accordingly.<\/em><\/p>\n What\u2019s more important is to know that even though it is within this limited time frame, the brilliance of this Existence\u2014this sacred Life\u2014is within everyone and you yourself are That. By knowing that, if you come to know the most important thing for yourself, then you will no longer be entangled so much in other things, meaning the experiences of this world. Realizing that is <\/em>Satori (Awakening)<\/em>, and [that Truth] is the very essence of everyone. [It is important to] tell your own mind this, since the mind does not know it. For that is the only absolute salvation.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n The teaching of Yoga is the universal Truth, so I am sure that if your daughter hears it or reads about it a little, she will be able to find the answers there; when she is having doubts like that, then she must be seeking, therefore it is a good opportunity [to open herself to find a real answer].\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n At another point in the Satsangha<\/em>, a long-time practitioner asks: \u201cShri Mahayogi tells us to discriminate on death and to make death the object of meditation. I deduce that we ourselves are not clear how we want to live our own lives, perhaps because of not thinking thoroughly about death. Is it indeed necessary to think about death? Or, is it enough to just simply and steadily concentrate on Yoga?\u201d<\/p>\n Then Shri Mahayogi started to answer:<\/p>\n \u201cWithin the process of concentrating on Yoga, over time, there comes an inevitable point in which one must conquer death. Why?\u2014because a large part of the attachments that occupy the depths of the mind are resting upon death. In order to make progress in Yoga, you cannot avoid eradicating the <\/em>sanskara of the fear of death. Conversely, simply and precisely because we were born, ignorance, pain-bearing obstacles, and various attachments, including the fear of death arise. Despite this fact, humans forget that they were born, and are deluded into or fancy living in their own physical body forever. This is the huge illusion of ignorance. That is exactly why you meditate on death and conquer and transcend it; and through that you will transcend the mind itself.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Then he continues on about meditation on death in Yoga, and at one point speaks:<\/p>\n \u201cConcentration and meditation [on death] are like putting death itself on top of an operating table\u2014this concentration, this meditation, is, so to speak, like being a surgeon! It is extremely scientific, medical, philosophical, and psychological. <\/em>You must not bring your preconceived notions! Truly, you put death itself on the operating table, dissect it, and find out what\u2019s in there! It is a scientific task of discerning it. There are, as mentioned now too, conceptual thoughts, medical concepts, philosophical, psychological, and various elements that are vaguely creating the image of death. You must dissect each and every one of them, discriminate and make them completely naked! Meditation is like anatomy, so to say. You must thoroughly perform it, so much so that it is like that!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Shri Mahayogi also spoke, answering a question, about his own inquiry into death\u2014the thought that initiated him to experience it and enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi<\/em> at the age of 8.<\/p>\n Shri Mahayogi\u2019s teachings, through answering the questions that come from the more advanced or long-time practitioners to those who are beginners, speak to all of our hearts. His way of guiding us is very clear and powerful, yet it is always enveloped in serenity. It is quite lively, quite spirited\u2014absolutely FREE!!! It most definitely does not come from the kind of explanation one would receive from a scholar, it is of a completely different quality\u2014Shri Mahayogi is not theoretically explaining when he answers, he is speaking the facts, which are purely coming from a type of knowing that is in a completely different category from that of intellectual knowledge, and rather it is the knowing coming from directly experiencing the Truth. We can clearly feel this from his presence and his words. From that state of Truth, from the realm of Fact that is beyond time and space, he speaks, explains, and guides us towards It, telling us again and again that we are all That and we must realize That\u2014the entirety of our inner Self, the true Self, is the brilliance of this Existence\u2014this sacred Life!<\/p>\n Shri Mahayogi does not give lectures, nor does he prepare any material to speak, he simply answers questions because we ask him. It is always simply that, he just answers from the state of Truth\u2014his wisdom is unfathomable! But are his words what matter most? His presence itself is the immeasurable blessing and most tangible teaching for us to be guided towards returning to our origin!<\/p>\n But because we ask, he answers. And he answers for the sole purpose of us returning to our original Self, the true Self.<\/p>\n He explains the fact of why we can\u2019t see It, and that for us to be able to see It, the work we need to do is to remove the obstacles that we ourselves have created on our own that block it. Thus, he explains the way to remove the obstacles, the block, is through the practice of discrimination between the Truth and the thoughts that arise in our minds over and over. Shri Mahayogi says:<\/p>\n \u201cDeepen meditation. In order to do that, what is crucial is to purify the mind\u2014to purify means to eradicate pain-bearing obstacles and ignorance. The biggest power for that is indeed, FAITH. Pure faith will bring you the power to proceed with leaps and bounds. And then you yourself awaken to the Truth that is within you. That is the supreme directive of Yoga.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Shri Mahayogi also explains that \u201cwhat the <\/em>yogi practice is <\/em>nivritti, a backtracking, or going against the flow<\/em>.\u201d It is quite fascinating that this nivritti<\/em>, or \u201cgoing against\u201d the natural flow of outward development and manifestation that takes place in the world, is precisely what envelops us in an illusion that we believe to be real. It is this \u201cgoing against\u201d in all aspects that is at the heart of the discrimination that Shri Mahayogi is teaching in this Satsangha<\/em>. We should put to the test everything we know and believe about what this life is and who we are, including the very content of what death itself is.<\/p>\n