BG 2.41: …, the intellect of those who are on this path is resolute, and their aim is one-pointed. But the intellect of those who are irresolute is many-branched.

Through the science of life known as Ayurveda, the map way to embody the physiology of the ‘higher Self' known as Yoga, (unity)’ and the discovery of awakening to the subtle body known as 'Being" through TM, we enter into “that field of life,” as Maharishi explains in his book ‘Science of Being and Art of Living, 2001, “Whatever the state of evolution of the aspirant, whether or not he is emotionally developed or intellectually advanced, his mind, by its very tendency to go to a field of greater happiness, finds its way to transcend the subtlest state of thinking and arrive at the bliss of absolute Being.”

“Attachment is a function of the mind. Its manifestation is that the mind repeatedly runs toward the object of its attachment, which could be persons, sensual objects, prestige, bodily comfort, situations, and so on. So if thoughts of some person or object repeatedly come to the mind, it is a possible indication of the mind being attached to it.” (Mukundananda, 2014)

In yoga, we know this attachment to be Devesha, which is one of the Five Kleshas, which are the self-limiting branches of self-defeat or Pragya aparadh, ignorance of the intellect.

"...we are constantly being funneled toward defining ourselves within the context of what we do and how we do it instead of who we are. Rarely are we taught that it is enough to just be."

I feel our society as a whole is caught up in "defining ourselves" based on being "success-driven" because of the need to have "identity" and "purpose." We are attached to the role, therefore confining ourselves in a cage with the gate wide open. Driving ourselves into silent suffering to remain a representative of what we thought we needed to be and not allowing ourselves to evolve into what we are becoming.

Not understanding that the 'identity' we seek is our Being. It is our dharma and the reason we have the gifts we have. To share the blessings of the gifts we uniquely have and educate our communities with what we know via the experiences that we have been through in human development. As mentioned, the “Role identification” has become an attachment to living the representative that we want the outside to see, but how authentic is it, to the true Being of our Self? As a self, (small s), we become attached to the ego of the role, "I am a teacher, I am a yogi, I am a professor, I am a doctor, I am x,y,z," and tend to live in the shadow of what would happen if we let that role, representative, or false identity go. The fear of freedom is when we forget that we already are "I AM," there is nothing else to add.

One needs to be willing to allow themself to recognize that from the external, you are joined by the internal and therefore expanding as the eternal. Your destiny or dharma can never be taken from you because you were created to deliver just that.

The "funneling" is of our own choosing." Rarely are we taught that it is enough to just be."... because there is no teaching ourselves how "to just be" we just do it. TM is a method of awakening to our full potentiality and liberating ourselves from the attachment of the small self or Devesha, Ragas, Avidya, Asmita, and Abhinevesha (the Five Kleshas we have spoken about).

When we sit in front of the ocean or turn our gaze towards the window, hear a song that fills our hearts, or experience the wind on the skin, for that mOMent, just look without attaching, we are in the space of transcendence. Liberation from boundaries.

In Japanese they call this "Bokito, which means to gaze into the distance without thinking at all, just being." (taken from Bob Roth in TM group meditation). Our driven culture barely knows what it means to take a “break."

“Within our body is the subtle antaḥ karaṇ, which we also colloquially referred to as the heart. It consists of the mind, the intellect, and the ego. In this subtle machine, the intellect is superior to the mind. It makes decisions while the mind creates desires and gets attached to the object of affection as determined by the intellect. “(Mukundananda, 2014)

“For instance, if the intellect decides that money is the source of happiness, the mind hankers for wealth. If the intellect decides that prestige is the most important thing in life, the mind craves reputation and fame. In other words, the mind develops desires in accordance with the knowledge of the intellect.”(Mukundananda, 2014)

In order to liberate oneself from these binding thoughts, in which most become so upset when not achieving these vanity goals, it is important to remember that thoughts will manifest and then disappear (fluctuations or bubbles of thought). These thoughts may begin in the subtlest of ways, which is considered the “subtle level of Feeling” we come to know as ‘the experiencer.’ “It is a level of restful awareness, fewer boundaries, and is at the heart level. The level of love, emotion, and feeling.” (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 2001).

Like the oxygen that gives us life, we don’t talk to it, we receive it. We breathe it in and we feel it. There is no vocal exchange, just the unbounded love of the exchange of life. In my opinion, it reminds me of the verse in Genesis 2:7, when God breathed life into Adam (man) to give him a soul. Which is the essence of life. “The maintainer of all levels of life and all process of evolution.” (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)

Breath is Prana -lifeforce. Instead of being caught up in the should have, could have, would have, take time to breathe life into the smaller goals that will ultimately refine the larger ones that will manifest as you evolve. Nothing is done in Your time, all is delivered in due time.

This temporal plane is a journey in our introspective personal discovery of our karma that is expressed through our dharma to include the relationship to the Being that dwells within. “…a path by which to find the kingdom within himself which Christ, and every great prophet, knew and described.” - Charles F.Lutes, Science of Being and art of living. New York: Plume Publications. [Original work published 1963] (p.xiii) One can not bound the unbounded.

"Verbalizing the idea of being "stuck" is actually what is keeping you there." Liberate yourself by beginning the journey of freeing yourSelf from yourself through meditation, yoga, and the quantum shifts that take you from the Kleshas and into liberation.

Next week we will dive deeper into the paths of attaining this liberation that brings us into the Higher States of our Consciousness.

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References:

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (2001). Science of Being and art of living. New York: Plume Publications. [Original work published 1963] (p. 9)

Yoga Sutra Patanjali 1.2- 1.4 Tantra of the Yoga Sutras by Alan Finger and Wendy Newton

Bible: Genesis 2:7 NIV. You Version APP (version 8.23.1, RED 2.10.1.2389)

Swami Mukundananda. (2014) Commentary of the Bhagavad Gita

“Raise your words, not your voice, it is. rain that grows flowers, not thunder. ”

— Rumi

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