How to maintain and reach a higher consciousness in our everyday life?
Well, that is the problem of humanity. That is the problem of every individual. We deal with the problems of our life with a small mind. In order to deal with the problems of day-to-day life, it is important to broaden the scope of our vision. I will give you a very true example.
Many years ago I was living in Rishikesh, India. The place is situated at the foot of the Himalayas. By the side of the ashram where I was living, there was a family. One day I heard so many people screaming in the family. I went there and I wanted to know why they were screaming. They told me that their old father had died. I told them, “But then why do you cry? He is an old man, he had to die. He was 85. You should be happy he is gone.” I gave them a lot of wisdom like this. For two days, three days, I gave them a lot of wisdom, but still they were crying. They were wailing and screaming. When I went to them they became peaceful, but when I left they started wailing again.
Many years passed. In the ashram where I was living, I had a parrot. I used to teach the parrot Sanskrit, and the parrot used to repeat Sanskrit to me. In a few years that parrot became a very good speaker, orator in Sanskrit. It used to wake me up in the morning at 4 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 2 o’clock. I used to tell the parrot in the evening, ‘I have work and you must wake me up at 2 o’clock.’ I used to put the timepiece on the table. At 2 o’clock it used to look at the timepiece and say, “Swamiji, please get up,” and all in Sanskrit.
So, you can understand how much I loved that parrot. One day he died. I was very sorry. I did not go to the kitchen. I did not go to my duties. I did not cry, because that is not my nature. I have a strong heart, so I will not cry. I felt the death of the parrot, so much that I absented myself for weeks together. The news of the death of that parrot somehow reached that family. One of the members of the family came to me and said, “Why are you so sorry?” I said, “My parrot is dead.” He said, “But after all he has to die.” I got angry. I said, “You are teaching me wisdom.” He said, “When my father died, you taught me the wisdom and when your parrot is dead, I will teach you the wisdom.”
You see, this is the answer to the question. When their father died, I had a deepened consciousness. When my parrot died I did not have that consciousness, because of attachment. He had no attachment for my parrot and I had no attachment for his father. Naturally the state of mind was different. If you want to deal with the problems of your life, the first thing you have to learn is detachment.
I can make it clear by another example. There is a family of parents and children; the youngest is a girl. They have a maidservant. The maidservant takes care of the baby girl.
She looks after her day and night. When the baby falls sick, she wakes at night and looks after her. As a maidservant, she is doing all the duties for the baby. Sometimes she gets a bit tired and exhausted, that’s all and nothing more. One day she receives a telegram from her family, “Your daughter is sick, come immediately.” She is completely disturbed. She does not live with her daughter, but she is disturbed. She is living with the baby, she is working for her.
There is a very important point in human life, and that point is one of attachment. If you can involve yourself with your day-to-day life, without attachment, then the problem is solved. This attachment is with us because we are insecure. Because of this deep-rooted insecurity in us, we are banking on attachments. It is not difficult to remove attachment. You can run your family without attachment. You can love your husband, your children, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, without attachment. But we don’t want it, because we are insecure. Therefore, the root cause is insecurity. If you reflect deep on this point you will find that the root cause is insecurity. Once you are able to eliminate this sense of insecurity, you can deal with your life with a higher mind.
What is the concept of right and wrong in yoga?
To answer this question, I will explain a little bit about raja yoga to you. Raja yoga is one of the four major forms of yoga. Raja yoga was actually founded by a great yogi, named Patanjali. He wrote a book on raja yoga and the book is known as the Yoga Sutras. This book is translated in almost every language. Of course, the science of raja yoga existed for a long time before him, but he formulated it. He divided raja yoga into eight grades.
These eight grades are known as the eight limbs of raja yoga. The first grade is known as yama, self-restraint. The second grade is known as niyama, regulation. The third grade is asana, postures. The fourth grade is known as pranayama, which is the breathing techniques. The fifth one is known as pratyahara, which means sense withdrawal. The sixth one is known as dharana, concentration. The seventh one is dhyana, meditation and the eighth one, the last, is known as samadhi which means total awareness. These are the eight steps of raja yoga.
Out of these eight, the first two are supposed to be the foundation. The first one is called discipline. It is fivefold: truth, non-violence, continence, non-stealing and non- aggrandisement. It is very easy to understand these five. Everybody knows that truth is necessary for spiritual evolution, as are also non-violence and continence. In the same way, non-stealing and non-aggrandizement. If one practises these five, one will find one’s spiritual path much easier.
Then comes the second grade of raja yoga, which means the rules and regulations. The first rule is purification, purification in every respect. Hatha yoga comes in here. Then comes contentment and the third one is self-enquiry, looking into your own light. The fourth one is austerity, penance. And the fifth one is surrender to God. These are five rules which are helpful for one’s spiritual life.
Everybody understands that total purification of the body is essential. At the same time, contentment is no less important. A person, who is not contented in life, will have to face frustrations. The third one is self-enquiry. Most people do not understand and realize their own faults. It is easy for me to see your faults, but it is difficult to see my own faults. This is man’s greatest tragedy in life and therefore he does not make any progress in his life. Just as you study others, you should study yourself. Then in the course of time, you will be able to pick up the negative elements of your personality.
The fourth rule is austerity. What is austerity? To get out of the luxuries of the day-to-day-life. Get out of your comfortable life a little bit. Get out of your luxurious food habits a little bit. Get away from your lovely friends a little bit. Whatever is pleasant in life, you should try to avoid for a little time. That is austerity. Austerity is a little bit uncomfortable, but it reshapes your mind completely. It makes your mind and your nerves very strong. Those who are victims of luxury are very weak people. Therefore, in order to elevate your mind, you should rip it off from luxuries for a period of time.
The fifth rule is surrender to God, because the fact is that we are a very tiny part of an infinite creation, but on account of ignorance we have a very big ego. We think we are responsible for ourselves. If you go deep into the reality of things, you will find that there is a greater power than ourselves which moves us all throughout, from the womb of the mother up to the grave. Once you know how to surrender to God, your mind becomes so peaceful.
These two steps of raja yoga are necessary to be practised for better and faster speed. If you practise other forms of yoga, without doing these, you are likely to encounter a lot of difficulties in your mental life.
Imagine that you are practising yoga and you have murdered somebody. What will be the state of your mind? Can you make any progress in meditation? Imagine that you are practising yoga but you are very greedy. All the time you want to acquire things. Do you think you can make progress in meditation? Imagine that you are practising yoga, but you are always dissatisfied. Can you make any progress? Therefore, these two steps are the foundations of yoga. And this is the concept of right and wrong.
What is conducive to inner peace is right. What does not disturb your mind is right. What does not cause fear and anxiety in your mind is right. And what does not distract your mind from the path of yoga or life is right. But what disturbs your mind, what causes fear in your mind, anxiety and animosity, passion and excitement, or depression that cannot be right. Definitely, that is wrong. Therefore, according to yoga, the concept of right and wrong is very much based on its effect on the mind.
July 1981, Finland