As it
was taught to me, yoga is the spiritual science of mental upliftment,
and — eventually — transcendence of the mind. Its basis
is the philosophy known as Vedanta. More specifically, advaita
Vedanta. "Non-dualism."
The hardest thing about it, really, is to believe that the whole thing,
life, is only a movie that you, yourself, have created; or, perhaps,
are continuing to create. If you can do that, and truly believe it,
you're a jnana yogi. Or a yogini, if you're a woman. That's
all it takes.
Until recently, yoga has never been as popular a pathway as, say,
zen, in most intellectual, eastward-looking circles. But in zen, to
do it perfectly right, you've got to sit for a long time in very tedious
positions. In jnana yoga, you can sit in any damned position that
you like, or even lie down, if you prefer — it doesn't make a
bit of difference. Yoga's not the least bit structured. At least,
not jnana yoga. The way of knowledge and wisdom. The real yoga.
My pathway.
First, let me say that the yoga of which I speak is not the bending
and stretching popularized by early morning TV. That yoga of postures,
or asanas, is known as hatha yoga, and it attracts not
only yogi/nis, but Hindus, Christians, Jews, fat people, thin people,
gentle people and a host of other practitioners who have little (or
nothing) to do with the ancient science to which I refer — the
practice of mind-transcendency.
Hatha yoga is the mere tip of the iceberg of that spiritual science
called "yoga." Hatha yoga evolved, as I understand it, to
ensure that retreatant monks, nuns and saints got enough exercise
to keep themselves limber and healthy as they contemplated the mysteries
of Vedanta — the philosophy which underlies yoga — in their
quest for "enlightenment" and, ultimately, "liberation."
Or at the very least, to attain a profound sense of peace.
When you think of it, "peace" is kind of laughable. For
in yoga-the-pathway, you don't truly "graduate" unless and
until you can literally butcher your father, your grandfather, your
teacher, your family and friends, slaughter them all without blinking
an eye. The Bhagavad-Gita in action, you could say. Arjuna
and Krishna on the battlefield.
It's not that you truly have to massacre them, of course —
only that you could. The reason the yogi can perform such mayhem
without a second thought is because he doesn't exist. He's convinced
of this. It's all just a movie he is continuously creating. No basis
for reality. It — the movie — is known as maya, or
"delusion."
So when I meditate, I am lying in bed, continuously affirming There
is only one Creator, and I am It. I am God. I am Brahman. I am Atman.
I am The One. I am The Light. I am love. I am the Self, and My only
form is Pure Consciousness.
These profound (and to most folks, shocking) assertions are called
mahavakyas, or Highest Affirmations. Such mahavakyas illustrate
the vast differences between yoga and religion. The core of all great
religions is the worship of a God-Beyond-Oneself; and because of this,
religions are said to be "dualistic": I am here; God is
there. We are separate beings. If I am a very advanced religious thinker,
I may recognize a spark of Divinity within me; nonetheless, God and
I are mostly separate beings.
Not so in yoga.
But until I had the special experience that is required of all yogis
and yoginis to attain such enlightenment, the closest thing I had
to confirm the truth of yoga's bizarre teachings was high fever. Ten-day
measles as a child — 106 degrees, or so. Then the malaria at
the ashram.
Aside: The way I learned it was malaria was only after the
fact. I had flown home on Lufthansa, after being sick as the proverbial
dog with a raging fever for ten, maybe 12 days. But the fever stayed
behind in India when we flew home.
Stopping for a half day layover in Frankfurt, my companions and I
took a bus into town. I was still incredibly weak; hobbling, mostly.
Upon landing, I had chug-a-lugged two liters of sauerkraut juice from
the grocery shop in the Frankfurt airport basement — it had been
the most wonderful liquid I had ever tasted, at that moment. Even
better than the small bottle of amritha — that sacred
and miraculous nectar of the gods (or elixir of immortality) —
we had collected from Hulliguppa's orphanage near Mysore, several
days earlier.
Later, walking along the Frankfurt streets, we happened on to a greengrocer's
shop that was selling huge, purple plums. One of the people with me
bought several and passed them around. Tasting them, everyone ooo'd
and aww'd about how sweet and wonderful they were, so even though
I wasn't hungry, I took a bite. To my tastebuds and astonishment,
it was remarkably bitter!
I was later to learn that one of the hallmark symptoms of malaria
is to cause normally-sweet foods to taste bitter. It has to do with
the spleen, I think. At least it would according to Oriental medicine.
And other than the sauerkraut juice and some water at the ashram,
I hadn't consumed anything for more than a week, so the bitterness
came as a shock to my senses.
While in a delirious state induced by the malaria just a few days
earlier, I had "astrally travelled" deep into the universe
to a kind of triangular ... for lack of a better word, "space
station," and had observed at each corner of this "triangle"
the faces of what seemed to be three, great saints.
In one corner was Sathya Sai Baba, my guru and teacher. In the other
two corners were faces I couldn't recall. Maybe they were Shirdi Sai
Baba and Prema Sai Baba — it would make sense if they were. Well,
as much sense as any of yoga makes to a newcomer.
Let's return to the original line of thought: So if you can
believe this whole process is simply a movie that is being projected
onto the blank screen of Pure Consciousness that underlies the mind,
you've gotten the entire point of yoga.
Your body, to whatever extent it truly exists, is merely an "energy
puppet." This is why "energy medicine" — acupuncture,
acupressure, homeopathy and such — all can perform so well. They
work at an essential level of the energy system of the body-and-mind
or "bodymind." All suffering is simply an imbalance of energy,
say the energy doctors. Correct the imbalance and health is restored.
As I have said, yoga is the spiritual science of mind-upliftment (or
even -transcendence), whose underlying philosophy — Vedanta —
is said to be the root of all religions, both Western and Oriental.
A yogi or yogini does the unthinkable to a religionist:
S/he blasphemously takes credit for creating it all: The world
(indeed, the entire universe!); the past; present; future ... the
whole megillah. In many parts of America, such assertions of
being Divinity Incarnate would be all that is needed to qualify one
as being certifiably insane. And in earlier times, a witch.
Yet the goal of yoga is to fully imbue the yogi/ni's mind with a heartfelt
conviction of these bizarre assertions, and to make them firmly fixed
(to the point of being unshakable), even in the face of cosmic calamity.
And certainly in the face of one's own death.
Obviously, this is not a pathway for all to follow ... at least, not
all at the same time.
"Ok, Mr. Smart Guy," says the religionist to the yogi. "If
you're God Almighty, how does it happen that, even if you're as old
as Methuselah, the world is still older by at least several million
times?" Naturally, this obvious rebuttal opens a large can of
worms.
For the answer to that question is even more outlandish than the assertion
that raised it: The world — everything we call "real"
— simply does not exist. It is a mirage. A dream. Maya.
Of course, maya feels real enough. If I step on a thorn, it
hurts. If I have sex, or eat a fine meal, or attain a toy I've wanted,
I feel pleasure. If I am ill, I suffer, don't I?
It is said there are a number of schools of yoga. In fact, it would
be more proper to say there are a number of doorways into the
"house" of yoga, each with a separate name, but with all
eventually leading to the same destination: Ultimate yogic wisdom
... or, as it is known, "Self-realization." The heartfelt
understanding of what it actually means to "be God." Then
living the Divine life, fully and completely.
Some of these school-doorways are named after their founders (rather
egotistically, I think); others are named for the place where they
start the aspirant upon his or her journey, inward — karma yoga,
bhakti yoga, raja yoga ... even hatha yoga can be a doorway. Indeed,
there are many such starting points. The Buddha reputedly said, "there
are many pathways, but only one mountain." This certainly
holds true in yoga.
Jnana yoga is a very arcane — and some say intellectual
— gateway to liberation, and usually follows as a natural step
after one spends many years of doing service and following his or
her conscience (a penance known as "karma yoga"), then being
a heartfelt devotee of God, in whatever form the yogi/ni may visualize
the Lord to take (this devotional aspect is known as "bhakti
yoga").
Classical jnana yoga has no religious boundaries, and its wisdom holds
as true for the Westerner as for the Oriental. Yet because its roots
are buried deeply in the East Indian ("Bharatian")
culture, my organization has adapted jnana yoga for the Western mind,
and we call it "Neti Yoga."
We have named it "Neti" as a means of identifying that which
sets this doorway apart from all others. "Neti" means "not
this," in the Sanskrit language. Neti Yoga takes a so-called
"top-down" approach to teaching the ways and means to Self-realization.
This top-down approach begins by assuming we have each had the experience
of "being God," though precious few of us have actually
realized what that experience was after having it. Mostly, It is a
scary thing, even when we know what has happened. At least, in the
beginning of the process of Self-evolvement.
"Being God" is said to be indescribable ... rather, It can
only be described by what It is not. Hence, Neti. Not this; not that.
And yet, that is not totally correct, either.
There are several terms which mean "being God." One of them
is samadhi; another is nirvana. In English, this state
of Divinity is sometimes called "Pure Consciousness." Yet
each of these is a rather lofty term and has spiritual implications.
Each hints at a kind of exclusivity — samadhi or nirvana (as
the terms are classically used) are usually reached voluntarily, as
the final stage of deep meditation.
The term "God" is used for lack of anything better ... at
least, in English. This is unfortunate, because it gives the seeker
the impression of the Being with The Long, White Beard. This impression
has been fostered by religion, but is not in keeping with the message
of yoga. The word in Sanskrit Brahman — or sometimes it
is Atman — and it is far removed from the God of the religious
Westerner.
Firstly, the "God" of yoga is an inner Phenomenon, not an
outer Being. In the Bible, it is said that The Kingdom of Heaven
lies within. This is much closer to the Truth of yoga than, it
would seem, for zzz
A more apt term might be "lost time," since this is something
we have each experienced, ready or not. But I prefer the term "No-Mind
state," as this clearly and succinctly describes what is and
is not happening when one is being God ... at least, as defined by
yoga.
Typically, this No-Mind state of lost time occurs during one of several
situations: When we are intoxicated; and when we are driving —
particularly when we are driving long distances. It also occurs during
the state of deep hypnosis as well as, of course, during profound
meditation.
This peculiar state is characterized by a complete absence of thought,
or at least the absence of "I-thought." That is, any thought
which includes the concept of "I," "me," "mine"
or has a central point of view. Quite simply, it is a period of time
— usually lasting only for a few moments — when we were
not asleep, yet have no memory of being awake, and what may have occurred
during the time that was ... well, lost.
We cannot actually know if there was thought present during that time,
since the I-function, or ego, is needed to recall thoughts (and, of
course, actions). But obviously, there was something happening
during that loss of time, since activities such as driving a car were
nonetheless taking place. That requires a kind of thought, no?
Of course, the No-Mind experience is not limited to those several
times; they are just the most common situations, based upon my own
and our students' experiences. It can actually occur any time, and
is no respecter of circumstances or settings. For example, one student
had a bout of lost time while standing at a urinal in his office at
work. He "awoke" several minutes later, back at his desk,
and immediately went to the company doctor, fearing a brain tumor
or something equally unhealthy.
But all of our students over the years have, with some serious recollection,
recalled having had at least one No-Mind experience. Not too strangely,
though, they mostly remembered them with difficulty. It was if they
had put this peculiar phenomenon on the "back burner" of
their mind, since they had no, ready explanation for the experience.
I contend those are only the most dramatic examples of a perfectly
natural and normal phenomenon, one that occurs regularly to us all.
But it happens for such a brief time, in most cases, that we don't
even know it has occurred. It may be at work, while driving, while
eating or watching TV — the common characteristic is that we
have no recollection of what actually happened during the "blank-out."
This may be the reason why a wide variety of cultures believe that
one is at least communicating with (if not being) God during an epileptic
seizure, while sleepwalking, during a voodoo trance or in other circumstances
wherein the experiencer loses all sense of conscious perception and
has no memory of what occurred during that period of time.
How did a nice, Jewish boy, first from Canton, Ohio, then Fort Lauderdale,
Florida — and lately from a 100 acre organic farm in western
North Carolina — find himself also believing in many of these
foreign concepts and ideas? The road was long and twisty, and, in
thinking back on it, has been an adventure that often reads like a
Hollywood movie script! Whatever it is, I'm glad I've walked the path.
