Live Life

The 3 gunas are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.  Sattva is the enthusiasm I feel in life. I was just having a conversation with my Yogi friends with whom I take online yoga classes. We would share nice anecdotes by Gurudev, pull each other’s leg, talk about doing Seva, discuss about the seva and impact other folks are having. It was 11:30 pm but still energy was high and had beauty care routine with head massage, face pack going strong till 12:30. But then slept post that because wanted to keep up the morning routine. Normal days I would be asleep and drowsy by 10:30. Good influence, sattvic talks & discussions always helps Sattva go high. Rajas is needed in life. I work in software industry which can be very demanding at times. High Rajas actually helps get a lot of work done. But sometime when Rajas is too high my mind just goes haywire. Unable to focus to get anything done. Start doing multiple tasks at a time and just be confused and upset at not completing any task by the end of the

Sadness happens when you don’t get what you expect. Self is looking for joy everywhere. For example: it gets attracted to a plate of pastry. Who is attracted? Actually, it is the senses getting attracted to an object, i.e. Pastry. That plate of pastry gives a lot of joy. But where is the joy? Is it in the pastry or the sense i.e. tasting it or something deep within. Many folks think it is in the pastry. So that’s why, after finishing a plate of pastry, you run behind another plate of pastry. But how many can you have? You have 10, 20, 50… At one point you get saturated. That plate of pastry doesn’t give joy anymore. If pastry was giving joy, then more pastry should give more joy. But that’s not true. So, where is the joy coming from? Joy comes when the tongue tastes the pastry, it sends signals deep within evoking the joy within. That joy comes at the peak of an experience. The joy is within. There is a limit to which senses can enjoy an object. Beyond that, the senses get saturated an

 Yoga-kshema is maintaining what you have and bringing up what you are lacking. When you are completely one with the divine, the divine takes care of you. Divine provides what you lack and maintains what you already poses. Only very recently I realized I have always been in the lacking mindset. For example: when I get my work done in office, I would focus more on what is left than what is done. Infact such work updates didn’t send positive vibrance about me. Though I got a lot done but acknowledgement was missing. After realizing I started sharing all the updates of work completed for the day and then share what needs to be done and I saw an immediate shift in acknowledgement and appreciation.  Even in life in general, when I scroll through Facebook, Instagram, we see people getting married, people visiting new places, wear bright beautiful clothes, looking beautiful and the thought that comes is oh I am not marries, I didn’t go to that place, I don’t have good clothes, all my clothes

Surrender is letting go. Surrender is not giving up. Surrender is to not hold on to anything. Be it a result of action or a thing or a memory or an emotion or a future event. Only when you are completely free, the present moment can be experienced with full awareness. For that full vibrant awareness, there is a desire to be free. Freedom means no bondage. No bondage from desire, emotion, materialistic craving or any craving. For the desire to become free, we need to surrender. I lived in Seattle downtown for 3 years and in the US for 4.5 years. I always knew I had to come back to India, but unknowingly, I developed an attachment to the place, the waterfront near my house, the people, the friends I made. The thought of letting go of all that attachment and becoming free was difficult. But I could see that unless I felt free I couldn’t enjoy the current moment. There was always anticipation of the future, of when I should return to India. So, I just had to make a decision. I set an appro

Action in inaction is seeing action while you think you are still. For example, while meditating you are sitting still. In deep meditation, even your mind is still. But, you can see a lot of activity happening. The heart is functioning, food is digesting in the body, the body is breathing and so on. These are actions that may not create impressions/samskaras since they don’t generate reaction as a result. Inaction in action is the feeling of stillness within while in action. For example, you could be working on a computer or cooking, your karmendriyas and jnanedriyas could be busy acting and receiving the response of action. But even through these actions, you can experience stillness within. One way that I felt it was when I was consciously breathing through my work. First, it was a conscious effort. After that, I, as an observer, could see the action happening when my mind and arms were working. But the observer felt detached and still unwavering towards the action the body & min

Bhakti is a path to dissolving into infinity. Bhakti is a path to become one with infinity. Bhakti is being a true devotee to the divine nature. A devotee is someone who serves the divine with utmost love. Divine is the pure consciousness which is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. Divinity is within us. Bhakti is the path to meet with this divinity within. The other way to see it is everyone around us also has the divinity within. So, serving others is serving the divine. Bhakti is then serving others because serving others is serving the divinity. From the Bhagavad Gita, this is the Daasyam form of bhakti. We can achieve oneness with the divine through Bhakti when we start seeing divine in everyone. I-ness or the ego drops when Bhakti arises. A Bhakta when he/she has obstacles in his/her daily life, he/she knows that they are coming from the divine. This shift in thought changes the perspective of a situation from an obstacle to an opportunity to get closer to divine. Since afte

Gnana yoga is one of the paths of Yoga described in Bhagawad Gita. Gnana yoga is the path of knowledge and the goal of gnana yoga is to get liberated from maya and achieve the ultimate. This can be achieved by understanding the four pillars of knowledge called Sadhana Chatushtaya. The first pillar is Viveka or discrimination. Viveka is able to discriminate between what really is and what really is not. Sometimes we think that the current situation is permanent. This suffering is permanent. We are not fit for this job. But what is reality? The situation is not permanent. The situation is not the result of just one cause. For example, a recession is an effect of multiple causes. The suffering from the death of a close family member need not be permanent. The soul has moved on and is happy with next life. You your soul, is here to understand that reality. You are not really changing, you are untouched, you are pure consciousness. The surroundings and Prakruti are changing. Such an underst

 Astanga Yoga has bought a lot of discipline in my life. There are ups and downs in life. There are success & failures, good news & bad news to digest, moody sad say and happy enthusiastic day. Opposites are just complementary in life. Both co-exist. As Purusha defined in Sankhya yoga, we tend to get either of these extremes. It takes wisdom to take the middle path and not be swayed by the 3 gunas i.e. Prakruti. Astanga Yoga is the wisdom shared by Maharshi Patanjali. I got a news that turns my life upside down, that comes at a least expected time, that adds wings to my fear of loneliness. Entangled in maya I was sad, bitter, showing all signs of a disturbed mind. It implies I was stuck in one or more of 9 obstacles. Maharshi Patanjali says  Eka Tattva Abhyasa i.e. one pointed practice to overcome these 9 obstacles. So next morning however difficult I just pushed myself on the mat and just did my regular yoga practice with asana, pranayama and meditation as described in Astanga

Yoga darshana relate to my life the most.  Samadhi pada talks about restrining the modulations of mind by practice of abhyasa and vairagya. Abhayasa and vairagya on mat has helped me release the emotions that didn’t find an outlet to release during this TTC.  Second chapter Sadhana pada explains about Kriya yoga. The complete TTC and my daily sadhana is about Kriya. Tapas to do things which requires effort and which I sometimes even don’t want to do like waking up in morning and completing all the videos within the time crunch. Swadhyaya is self study. It is the second nature to keep progressing in path at the mind and body level. Ishwara Pranidana is teaching us dissolve in infinity. Third chapter talks about the last 3 limbs and siddhis. Siddhis got me curious and have been hearing stories of great siddhas. I am yet to experience or realize a siddhi in my life. Finally last chapter talks about liberation. Though I read and try to understand the feeling the liberation, at this point I

Below is how I relate four purusharthas in my life.  Dharma – I work as a software engineer. My job is to create products and share knowledge. I look for ways to solve problems in my work life and outside work. The problems to solve can be as simple as fixing the wifi setup of printer at home to trying to renovate the washroom. Sharing knowledge is my second nature required at job and in my real life. My yoga journey started with me wanting to share my yoga practice with others and this is my dharma.  Artha – Artha means prosperity. I feel basic necessities are needed to live a peaceful and blissful life where food water and shelter is taken care of. My regular software engineer job gives me income for my daily expenditure and more money to save for future.  Kama – Kama means desire. Among the several desires my strongest desire is to serve. Serve family, teachers, near and dear ones, friends and everyone who is in need. Apart from this there are several desires that keep coming and go

Shanka Prakshalan is an ancient cleansing technique mentioned under the Dahuti in Shat kriays in Hatha Yoga Pradipika. It cleanes the intestines using luke warm salt water. As of today I did the Laghu Shanka Prakshalan 3 times. First time I did it in March 2021 during 200 hour TTP with Sri Sri Yoga. Second time in March 2022 before Shivratri fasting and the third time in October 2022 during 300 hour TTP with Sri Sri Yoga. The first time when I was doing I was doing I was afraid of the whole process. I warmed salt water but was unsure if it was right temperature and it was right amoount of salt. As per instructions we had to drink 500 ml of water at a time in each round. This was like 2 glasses of water. I still remember after drinking 1 glass I really struggled drinking the second glass and this was just the first round. Somehow used all my willpower and pushed myself to drink it. Did all the asanas as per video shared by Sri Sri Yoga and went to washroom. Nothing happened. Returned b

Satkarma helps remove impurities that not released fully. Eg: After digestion certain aama is left in the intestines which can become toxins. Satkarma help in removing these toxins from body. It also helps purify the body more thoroughly which further balances the doshas Vata, pitta and kapha and helps prana to flow freely. Free prana flow helps us progress in path and experience higher states of consciousness. It can help to permanently overcome certain health conditions like bringing strucutural change in body. 1. eg: Regular practice of Jal neti, it not only cleanses nasal passage but also helps permanently relieve from allergies, to easily catch cold. 2. eg: Similarly Vastra dhauti can permanently cure one from Asthama or skin diseases.