Ishavasya Upanishad: Mantra 5

Por otro lado, es interesante acotar que ningún lugar es santo o diabólico por sí mismo, somos nosotros, los seres que nos encontramos en ese lugar, los que, a través de nuestra actitud, conciencia y actividades, lo transformamos en un lugar de combate o en un sitio divino de peregrinación. Un país, una organización, una institución, una iglesia o una sinagoga, no son lugares santos desde sus simientes, estos se santifican debido a las personas santas que residen en ellos y a sus actividades piadosas. La palabra Kuru Kshetre se encuentra aquí para señalarnos que los Kauravas habían convertido el lugar en un campo de batalla. Sin embargo, antes que nada, el término Dharma Kshetre nos recuerda que este mismo sitio es un lugar de peregrinación...

तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद्वन्तिके ।

When we think or say: “I am sad” or "I am angry", we identify with our emotions, and when we think or say "I am tired”, we identify with the physical body. Regardless of what we identify ourselves with, the moment that we set limits around what we consider to be the “subject”, we place something within those borders and then relate to everything outside those limits as if it were an “object”, or something “objective”. However, our identification is ultimately with an idea. The “I”, or ego, has a mental character; it is the mind, which has situated itself as the subject. Concentration is related to the object, meditation refers to the subject and samādhi transcends both.Since the ego is an idea, after all, and our mind has adopted the position of the subject, it is essential to observe the mind. By focusing the attention on the mental activity, without identifying with the thoughts, but watching them attentively, we are taking two very important steps. In the first step, by disidentifying with the mind, we realize that we are not what we observe, and we shed our false identification with the mental contents. This directly affects the egoic phenomenon, as we cease to conceive of the ego as subject, and situate it as object. In the second step, meditation, we situate ourselves in the now, where all that is happening unfolds.Meditation is making contact with the present moment, it is to relate to what is happening now. Our fear of situating ourselves in the present is the main obstacle to meditation, since we dread finding ourselves thrust abruptly into a dimension filled with uncertainty and insecurity, in which we have no control over what is happening. For this reason we continue to reject the now by escaping from this moment.All spiritual practice is an effort to create the ideal condition for enlightenment to occur. Our ability to establish ourselves in the present, in the now, is an essential part of this condition, since from the point of view of consciousness, this moment is the only real time there is.

Stay in halāsana effortlessly for only 20 seconds to begin with and gradually increase its duration until you can remain for 10 minutes. 5. The back stretch posture or paścimottānāsanaatha paścimottānāsanamprasārya pādau bhuvi daṇḍa-rūpausaṁnyasta-bhālaṁ citiyugma-madhyeyatnena pādau ca dhṛtau karābhyāṁtat paścimottānam ihāsanaṁ syāt“Spreading out the legs on the ground like two sticks, the forehead placed on the knees, and the feet held tightly with the hands, that is paścimottānāsana.”Lie flat on your back (Photo Number 37). Stretch your arms behind your head and join the legs (Photo Number 38). With an exhalation, lift the arms towards the ceiling (Photo Number 39), then the head(Photo Number 40 ), the upper back (Photo Number 41), the middle back (Photo Number 42) and the lower back (Photo Number 43), vertebra by vertebra, until you are seated with your legs straight (Photo Number 44). As you inhale, extend your arms straight upwards (Photo Number 45). Gradually bend and extend the trunk forward, extending and elongating the lower back (Photo Number 47), until the abdomen rests on the thighs, the chest on the knees, and the forehead on the calves.Grab the big toes with the index fingers, placing the thumbs on top (Photo Number 48). Extend the toes towards the face. The elbows lie on the ground close to the legs (Photo Number 49).While inhaling, extend forward from the base of the vertebral column, along the back. While you exhale, try to descend more towards the legs. Keep the knees as straight as possible without straightening them completely. As you reach the final phase of the posture, stop moving and relax gently. Breathe deeply from the abdomen.Keep the posture for at least 30 seconds in the beginning. Little by little, prolong the duration to be able to hold the posture effortlessly for ten minutes.6. The cobra or bhujaṅgāsanaatha bhujaṅgāsanam:aṅguṣṭhanābhiparyantam adhobhūmau vininyasetk

anyathā pātityaśaṅkayā | Traducción: De otra manera, existe el riesgo de la caída y la degradación. Comentario:En el Bhagavad-gita (16.23), el Señor Kṛṣṇa dice:yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim"Aquel que descuida las disposiciones de las sagradas escrituras y actúa de acuerdo a su propio deseo, no consigue ni la perfección, ni la felicidad, ni el destino supremo." Las sagradas escrituras son un mensaje divino y trascendental, la palabra de Dios, descuidarlas es descuidar a Dios... y descuidando a Dios no podemos hablar ni de religión ni de vida espiritual... El verso anterior dice que las sagradas escrituras deben ser protegidas, mientras tanto este verso habla del peligro de una caída al descuidarlas, es decir, que indirectamente existe una cierta reciprocidad entre el hombre y las escrituras...El hombre protege las sagradas escrituras, éstas cuidan del ser humano... el hombre cuida del dharma, el dharma protege a la humanidad... El hinduismo se refiere a veces a las sagradas escrituras como "Veda mata" o "Madre Veda", ya que contienen dentro de sí la guía y las enseñanzas básicas en el arte de vivir para la humanidad, las santas escrituras védicas guían a la humanidad de acuerdo al dharma, son la base y raíces mismas del dharma... Si se descuidan las escrituras védicas, el dharma caerá en el olvido lo cual significaría la degradación de la humanidad...Las escrituras dan una gran importancia al orden familiar y social...El hinduismo otorga un papel de gran importancia a la familia como base de la sociedad, a la cual divide en cuatro órdenes sociales, (Brahmanas, Kshatryas, Vaishyas y Sudras) y cuatro órdenes de carácter espiritual (Brahmachary, Grihastha, Vanaprastha y Sanyas). Si la religión y las sagradas escrituras no son protegidas, existe el peligro de una caída, no para el santo o el iluminado por supuesto, sino que para la iglesia y la comunidad de fieles, para el colectivo, el público, para el orden familiar, y por ende el de la sociedad y la humanidad en general...

तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्य बाह्यतः ॥ ५॥

Indramātra (the author of the Ṛg-Veda 10.53)

yallabdhvā pumān sidhdo bhavati amṛto bhavati tṛpto bhavati Transliteración:Ganar eso (el amor divino), es la perfección, la inmortalidad y la satisfacción. Comentario:Ganar aquel amor... no de tu amor...Tu amor es aquel que proviene de la mente, es aquel que se origina en el plano mental, en el nivel del tú y tuyo... tu amor es adicción con todo el dolor y sufrimiento que ésta conlleva...Tu amor es esclavitud... Aquel amor, o el amor divino, es el que florece y se desarrolla desde el silencio de la meditación, ese amor es Dios, el otro no es más que un llamado a la continuación de la especie... S iddho bhavati... "el devoto realiza la perfección" ...Observando el mundo a nuestro alrededor, hemos llegado a la conclusión que nada ni nadie es perfecto... Aunque el ser humano trata y se esfuerza, no puede alcanzar lo que supone o imagina es la perfección, la ha llegado a situar como un ideal inalcanzable...La perfección es algo a lo que buscamos o aspiramos, sin haberla conocido en realidad más que en nuestra imaginación...Lo que el mundo denomina "perfección" no es más que una fantasía producto de nuestra imaginación... Una de las grandes equivocaciones de la humanidad es que en nuestra búsqueda de la perfección adquirimos casas, autos, personas, tierras, hijos, fama, honor, joyas, títulos etc. Sin darnos cuenta que ésta no florece como consecuencia de que poseemos mucho, de que tenemos grandes cantidades, sino que sólo y únicamente cuando no precisamos nada... el auténtico siddhi o poder no consiste en la adquisición de todo... sino que en la experiencia que no hay nada que precisas obtener... Aparece junto a una profunda experiencia que no es necesario adherir algo... No se manifiesta porque hayas logrado algo, sino cuando deseas darlo todo...No olvides que tú eres divino, que Dios es amor, que tu verdadera naturaleza es amor...Que al amar realizas tu autenticidad...Y tú, tal y como eres, en tu pureza e inocencia eres perfecto, el amor es aquella lámpara capaz de iluminar tu interior mostrándote la perfección en ti... Tú, la vida, la existencia tal y como es.

tān samīkṣya sa kaunteyaḥ sarvān bandhūn avasthitān kṛpayā parayāviṣṭo viṣīdann idam abravīt Translation:When Arjuna saw his relatives and friends standing close, he was overpowered by pity, and said the following. Commentary:It is obvious that Arjuna was imposed into a state of illusion, with the purpose of giving the Bhagavad Gita. In this illusory state, this so called compassion is nothing but a complete forgetfulness of his warrior nature and his duty as a Kshatrya. For a soldier in the battlefield there cannot be a more important duty but to fight... any sentiment contrary to his warrior nature cannot mean anything but a great error... This so called compassion is nothing but simple attachment to those who are related to our physical body...

tad ejati tan naijatitad dure tad v antiketad antar asya sarvasyatad u sarvasyasya bahyatah

They possessed such a level of purity that they were able to access higher and subtler levels of consciousness and directly perceive that transcendental dimension called Veda or “wisdom”. By transmitting into an oral form a part of what they saw, the ṛṣis served as veritable bridges between the human and the Divine. Directly visualizing the mantras, they served as channels for humanity to receive them from Brahman. For this reason, they are called mantra-draṣṭṛs, as is stated in the following śloka of the Mahā-bhārata:

Another reference concerning the origin of the Vedas and the rest of the śāstras is that they emanated from the four mouths of Brahmā. This description can be found in the Bhāgavata-purāṇa (3.12.37-39)

“The ṛṣis , or seers, were initiated into the meaning of the great words by performing yajñas or sacrifice. The meanings were revealed to and received by the heart of the essence-knowing ṛṣis . After receiving the revealed words, the ṛṣis popularized them. In this way they expressed the divine speech in the form of prayers.” Ṛg-Veda (10.71.3)

Yoga is not to flee from the earthly, but to integrate it with the divine; its intention is not only the transcendence of illusion, or mundane consciousness, but to manifest the celestial in this world, to create a paradise on earth. Into dark ignorance, yoga brings the power of light.

Translation:

In most people, the serpent power lies sleeping or is moving only in the lower chakras. This indicates a life lived on the level of materialistic consciousness, dominated by all the different kinds of sense pleasures. All the chakras function or remain active, but notall are awakened. A center is awakened only when it is reached by the kuṇḍalinī-śakti.When the kuṇḍalinī begins to awaken, a gentle tingling expands upwards from the feet and throughout the entire body.When the kuṇḍalinī reaches the fourth or fifth center, we can still speak and communicate with others, but when it ascends beyond the fifth, the experience transcends words, and is therefore indescribable.In the sixth center, or ājñā-cakra, Bhagavan, or Divinity with qualities, in its personal aspect, awaits the elevation of the creative energy. But fusion does not occur until the divine energy reaches the seventh center or sahasrāra-cakra. Only then is one blessed with that state of supraconsciousness in which the ego is transcended and universal love is realized. The death of the relative reality of names and forms is experienced, along with the complete evaporation of the difference between subject and object. To reach the center at the crown of the head is to lose the separate personality completely, and to fuse with the infinite ocean of existence, wisdom and absolute bliss, with the Whole.The kuṇḍalinī is compared to a snake that usually will not attack, but which can be very dangerous if its rest is disturbed. Similarly, it is not recommended to try to awaken the kuṇḍalinī without fullfilling the basic requisites which were previously mentioned. If one tries to awaken the kuṇḍalinī without proper guidance and without being adequately prepared, these premature attempts can cause irreparable damage, on the physical as well as the mental level.Moreover, while it is one thing to awaken the kuṇḍalinī, to elevate it is something completely different. Its elevation is more difficult, because it does not depend on practices or techniques, but on our state of purity, and requires a deep transformation.

Oṁ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṁ

“The Varāha-purāṇa is 24,000 verses, the Skanda-purāṇa, 81,100, and the Vāmana-purāṇa is said to be 10,000.”

drupado draupadeyāś casarvaśaḥ pṛthivī-patesaubhadraś ca mahā-bāhuḥśaṅkhān dadhmuḥ pṛthak pṛthak

While moving He is motionless. He is far also very close. He is both inside and outside of everything.

*My Sanskrit teacher told me that etymology have the freedom to take any meaning into consideration as far as it has the right sounds, but I think what Dr. Narayanan meant is that this is only ethymology but the main meaning is not mentioned. It can be added also something like this way:

he liṅga and the yoniAlthough these ancient sacred symbols are used by Hinduism and in general, by all its branches, they are perhaps the most characteristic and venerated symbols of tantra.Liṅga means, in Sanskrit, "symbol” "sign" or “characteristic”. To offer an example of the use and general significance of the word as a symbol, we can look to the Bhagavad-gītā (14.21):arjuna uvācakair liṅgais trīn guṇān etānatīto bhavati prabhokim ācāraḥ kathaṁ caitāṁstrīn guṇān ativartate“Arjuna said: ‘O Lord, what characteristics does one who has transcended the three guṇas have and what is his behavior? How can one transcend these three guṇas?’”In this verse of the Gītā we can clearly see that the term liṅgais -the plural of the word liṅga – means signs or characteristics. In the same way, there are visible signs or marks of the awakening of the Divine in a man.A symbol such as the liṅga is a sign of the presence of something, and in the same way, the Śiva-liṅga invokes the presence of Śiva in the world- or in the earthly – reminding us of the divine presence, the Self that lies in the depths of every living being. Each time that we see divine qualities, signs of sanctity in a human being, they are liṅgas, signs that prove the presence of the Lord on earth.The yoni, for its part, symbolizes the womb, the feminine, the divine creative energy.The tantric texts designate the Śiva-liṅga as the symbol composed of the masculine sexual organ set in the yoni, or the representation of the feminine sexual organ, that represents procreation, the creative power of the universe. It is, then, the masculine reproductive organ within the vaginal vessel, which on a cosmic scale is the creative union that generates life.The Śiva-liṅga is the saguṇa aspect of Śiva and, consequently, it is worshiped as Lord Śiva, Himself. In general, the devotees of Śiva, or Śiva-bhaktas, carry out pañca-yatana-pūjā, in which, in addition to Śiva, they also worship Gaṇeśa, Pārvatī, Sūrya, Narāyaṇa and Śālagrāma.

They stem from you, they are part of you; they are you.Just as the wave is not the ocean—the wave is limited, it has a beginning and an end, it is temporal. It is not the sea, the immense ocean. But at the same time, the wave is the ocean in the sense that the wave is water, is made of water. Similarly, the ideas and thoughts, the concepts and conclusions, and the “I,” are not you, but they are you in the sense that when you see them, observe them, all of this is revealed as consciousness.Every thought that you observe, every idea that you observe, evaporates as something separate, evaporates as something disconnected, but is in turn  revealed as consciousness. Then consciousness acquires solidity and grows, and the ocean becomes perceptible. Consciousness becomes perceptible until finally, you don’t see waves, bubbles, or foam, but the infinite ocean of consciousness. The infinite ocean of consciousness—tat tvam asi—that infinite ocean of consciousness that is you, or what you really are.oṁoṁoṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ¡oṁ bolo bhagavān bābājī mahārāja ki jaya!¡oṁ bolo sad-guru brahmānanda mahārāja ki jaya! hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Commentary:

In Judaism, the book of Pirkey Avot (1.1) states: Moshe kibel Torah mi-Sinai u-mesarah li-Yehoshua, which in Hebrew means "Moses received the Torah of Sinai and gave it to Joshua”, indicating a transmission of wisdom from a spiritual master to his disciple. We can take an example of this order in the Pirkey Avot (1.6): "Ase leja Rav" or "Make for yourself a rabbi”. That is to say, as a believing Jew, one is invited to meet with a rabbi, a master who can help one to clear up doubts about the Halajá, problems of a personal type that arise both in the religious path and in general. A person with more experience can help in one’s process of development and growth in religion. Of course, speaking within the context of Hasidism, the concept of the rabbi acquires greater dimensions, in that his disciples refer to him as Edmor, the initials in Hebrew of Adoneinu, the moreinu and rabbi, or "our Lord (beloved), Master and Rabbi”. In general, the word rabbi is derived from the Hebrew Rav, which means very great or eminent, evidently giving the connotation of a master in the largest sense of the word.The concept of the master is very deep-rooted in the Christian religion, which is not only seen in Jesus as the Messiah, but also as a master, (this is the word, rabbi in Aramaic, with which his disciples are directed to him in the New Testament). Something very similar occurs with Catholic priests and nuns. Within Catholicism, Saint Francis of Assisi and his disciples will forever remain a beautiful example of the master-disciple relationship. Throughout history, we can see an infinite number of examples. In ancient Greece, Plato studied with Socrates, who in turn taught Aristotle. In medieval Europe, Saint Thomas Aquinas, a very intelligent and deeply analytic Dominican priest, studied under the tutelage of Albertus Magnus.The role of a pope or cardinal in Catholicism, a pastor in Protestantism, a Hasidic rabbi in Judaism, a murshid in Islam, a lama in Tibetan Buddhism, a roshi in Zen, or a master in Shamanism, all show that, in every religious tradition, despite cultural differences, there has arisen the idea of a initiating guide, an instructor, master or spiritual preceptor, the concept of a self-realized saint or sage, who one voluntarily chooses to be influenced by.

This wonderful verse of the Upanishad is a continuation of the previous one, and it invites us to perceive The Totality... ejati means "moving" and naijati means exactly the opposite, "motionless"... The Upanishads invite us to observe existence, life, totally. Unless you analyze this verse in this way, it will appear to be infested with incongruities, full of contradictions and paradoxes, you will find it absurd...

athitā muni-puṅgavaiḥ“Being helpful in mantra-yoga, chiefly only two postures (āsanas) have been accepted, which are svastikāsana and padmāsana. Āsana-śuddhi (purification of āsana) is done by differentiation of āsana, purification of āsana and practice of āsana. The object on which a sādhaka should sit has been variously specified by the sages in Vedas and tantras..." (Mantra-yoga-saṁhitā, 38.1-2)4.Pañca-aṅga-sevana or the service of the five aṅgas or limbs: Pañca-aṅga-sevana consists in the daily reading of the Bhagavad-gitā and the Sahasra-nāma, or "thousand names of God", as well as the recitation of stavana, or chants of glorification; kavaca, or mantras for protection; and hṛdaya, or hymns of glorification to our Iṣṭa-deva, which are intended to open the heart.The natural consequence of this very powerful method is the directionalization of our attention towards God. The intent of sadhana is not to obtain God as a result, nor is it a form of exchange by which we procure enlightenment. The divine experience is not an acquisition but it is something that happens by divesting oneself of all possessions. Any spiritual practice is intended to create the propitious situation for the celestial to happen to us, to allow something of God to occur in us. This is the idea that lies behind Pañca-aṅga-sevana.gītā sahasra-nāmānistavaḥ kavacam eva cahṛdayaṁ ceti pañcaitepañcāṅgaṁ procyate budhaiḥ svopāsanā-‘nusāreṇagītāyāḥ paṭhanād dhruvamsahasra-nāmādhyayanātsva-paddhaty-anusārataḥ stotrasya kavacasyāpihṛdayasya ca pāṭhataḥyoga-siddhim avāpnotiyogī vigata-kalmaṣaḥ “Gītā, sahasra-nāma (thousand names of the deity), stava (chanting), kavaca (mantras for protection), and hṛdaya (hymns of glorification) have been enumerated by the erudites as pañcāṇga (five organs). By daily reading of Gīta according to one’s own sect of worship and recitation of sahasra-nāma, stava, kavaca and hṛdaya according to one’s own sectarian procedures, a yogi divesting himself of impurities achieves yoga-siddhi (fulfillment of yogic aims)……" (Mantra-yoga-saṁhitā, 40.

Just like when you analyze and study the messages of sages and saintly enlightened masters through logic, you will find many contradictions, paradoxes, nonsense and incongruities...

If possible, try to keep both buttocks on the ground. During this long movement, the entire vertebral column should elongate and twist to the left. Turn the neck and the head as much as possible to the left (Photo Number 79). Look over the left shoulder, with the objective of attaining the twist of the cervical area of the spinal column, which stays in a spiral form. If you can maintain balance, extend the arm behind your back until reaching with the right hand to the left ankle (Photo Number 81 ) and with left hand the right thigh (Photo Number 82), or locate the back of the left hand on the right side of the lower back (Photo Number 83). In the beginning, stay in the posture for at least 20 seconds on each side. Little by little, increase the duration up to three minutes on each side.10. The crow (kakāsana) and the peacock (mayūrāsana)Stand and separate your feet as wide as the shoulders (Photo Number 84). Squat with the knees separate and rest the weight of the body on the toes, heels in the air (Photo Number 85 and 85.b). Separate the hands as wide as the shoulders and place them firmly on the ground between the legs, separating and extending the fingers, for better balance (Photo Number 86). Separate the forearms in order to create a small space on the elbows in order to be able to lean on the knees (Photo Number 87 and 87.b). Place the internal part of the knees on the back of your arms, above the elbows (Photo Number 88 and 88.b). While inhaling, raise your hips and slowly displace the weight of the body from your feet towards your hands (Photo Number 89). Slowly incline forward until you manage to lift the feet off the ground, and are able to balance on your hands alone. Bring the heels closer to the hips and point the toes upwards (Photo Number 90). Breathe abdominally. With every exhalation, raise the buttocks.Maintain the posture for a few seconds in the beginning. Gradually increase the duration up to one minute without interruption. You may repeat the posture three times.

Maharṣi: refers to the great sages such as Vālmīki, Vyāsadeva, and Vasiṣṭha.

The mind is a part and, no matter how hard it tries, it can only catch parts. The attempt to embrace the Totality while you only catch parts is useless. At the moment you feel you have it... it will be a part... never the whole...

With this we are referring to all that we perceive through our senses. It is a manifestation of kriya śakti or the power of action. It belongs to the awakened state of physical consciousness or jagrat. Vaikhari emanates from vagbhava or the center of the throat. Vāc or speechIt is important to examine, in the light of the sacred scriptures, the meaning and implications of the wordvāc. While the literal significance of the word is “voice” or “speech”, it has been given different meanings throughout Vedic literature, confusing more than one aspirant. The word vāc refers to:Vac, the goddess of the word. The goddess Vāc represents communication through language, the ability to share with our peers our emotions, ideas, thoughts and conclusions. She enables us to share with others the experiences we have had in different situations. The Vedic ṛṣi experienced his soul, and saw God, so it was his duty to reveal to humanity something of what he has seen. Within this context we can understand the importance of Vāc in making possible such a revelation.The existence of the goddess Vāc is the negation of language as an invention of the human being produced by his need to communicate; it is the affirmation of the divine and prehuman origin of verbal communication. We read in the Ṛg-veda (8.100)yád vâg vádanty avicetanâni / râṣṭrī devânāṃ niṣasâda mandrâcátasra ûrjaṃ duduhe páyāṃsi / kvà svid asyāḥ paramáṃ jagāmadevîṃ vâcam ajanayanta devâs / tâṃ viśvárūpāḥ paśávo vadantisâ no mandréṣam ûrjaṃ dúhānā / dhenúr vâg asmân úpa súṣṭutaítu"WhenVāc, the Queen of the Goddesses, the Refulgent, was seated uttering words that no one understood, the four regions of paradise brought forth drink and vitality: where has her most honored portion disappeared now?”"The Deities generated goddess Vāc into existence, and animals of all forms utter her.May she, the Refulgent one, producing food and vitality, milk cow Vāc, approach us, appropriately praised.

As the observer is transformed into the observed, the fracture of subject-object gradually disappears with the collapse of the platforms such as space and time, on which are based all of our usual cognitive states within a dual and relative reality. In reality, nothing changes but everything is different because what has never been, ceases to be, while that which cannot cease to be….is…...in relation to this, there is a very beautiful verse in the Bhagavad-gītā (13. 22) in which Kṛṣṇa points to Himself as the Observer or witness…upadraṣṭā ‘numantā cabhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥparamātmeti cāpy uktodehe ‘smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ"The Paramātmā, or the Supreme Soul in this body is called the Witness, the Grantor, the Maintainer, the Experiencer, the great Lord and the Supreme “I”."Not by accident Sākṣi one of the names of Kṛṣṇa is Sākṣi Gopāl.Because we are observation, it is our authentic nature, observation is God…Study and learningNot all that is studied is learned, that is to say, study and learning are not the same....Instruction leads to knowledge, to erudition, whereas learning is wisdom. The former is instruction, and the latter education. Although with all of their programs of study, colleges and universities are considered to be educational establishments, unfortunately the majority of them are merely centers of instruction. The objective of our educational system, especially in the West, is not to help us to study or learn, but to adapt people to the social order and to society, which unfortunately restricts the freedom they need to study, learn, develop, and evolve. This atrophies our creativity, disconnecting it from our intelligence. The instruction that is offered to people through our schools, high schools and universities, does not try to create people who will study by themselves, that know what and who they are; instead these schools are only an instrument of adaptation that serves the function of keeping us aligned within the limits of society, limits which form the enclosure within which people are kept in order by providing them with a certain sense of security, obviously illusory.

Yamī Vaivasvatī (the author of the Ṛg-Veda 10.10, 10.154)

Tad ejati tan naijati or "while moving He is motionless"... in the Holy Bhagavad-gita (2.13) Krishna says:

In this way, our actions may become more sophisticated, but our slavery will keep us at an internal standstill. As long as we try to reach a goal, there will be the structure of jñāna ("knowledge"),cikīrṣā or desire, pravṛtti or the will to act, ceṣtā or motor effect, and action or kārya. Karma is a result of a process composed of these factors.Types of karmaNegative, positive, and combined karma. The sage Patañjali Maharṣi writes in his Yoga-sūtras (4.7) that karma can be of a negative, positive or combined character.karmāśuklākṛṣṇaṁ yoginas trividham itareṣām"For the yogi, karma is neither white nor black; for others it can be of three types, (white, black, or gray)."1. Negative karmatatra kṛṣṇā durātmanām“There, black (karma) is of the sinful ones.” (Yoga-sūtra-bhāṣya of Vyāsa on sūtra 4.7)Negative reactions are generated by activities that damage, injure and create separation. He who acts violently and aggressively, humiliating and offending others and causing pain, must not be surprised or protest if their response is equally hostile.On subtler levels of thought and feeling, negative karma stems from a depressive attitude toward life. Looking for weaknesses in others, searching for their faults, and judging and condemning can lead to depression, psychological disorders and mental illnesses.The result of negative karma will be birth into lower forms of life. Evil actions lead to degradation in the evolutionary spiritual process.2. Positive KarmaPositive karma consists in good actions. However, one should not confuse good or charitable actions with karma-yoga. Although goodness elevates us, transforming us into celestial beings, it can only lead to happiness; not transcendental bliss. Good actions can bring us positive karmatic results, but in karma-yoga, we transcend all results. A karma-yogī is not “good” but transcendental, because he does not create good karma but renounces it completely.Philanthropy and performing voluntary work for charitable organizations is not necessarily karma-yoga. Not every activity that seems beneficial can be categorized as karma-yoga. Throughout history, tyrants and dictators have considered the murder of millions of people to be a service to humanity. Nuclear weapons are being developed by world powers in the belief that it serves their national interest.

As an organic being, man emerges from unity but as an ego, he is assembled from incoherent parts and pieces. As an organic individuality, he is a lotus flower whose symmetrically aligned petals naturally unfold; as an ego or personality, he is a functional machine, assembled from parts that have come from outside, from others.

También en el Javalopanishad 1: 2 se describe al lugar de Kurukshetra como un Yajna-sthali, es decir, un lugar destinado a sacrificios, tanto para los devatas o semidioses, como para todas las entidades vivientes. En el Sat-Patha Brahmana se dice:

Other important works that merit inclusion in this list are:

dehino 'smin yatha dehe

In antiquity, the social life, politics, and spirituality of Vedic society were inspired by the holy scriptures. Far more than religious books, they are a veritable cornucopia of wisdom. They may be considered a genuine encyclopedia of knowledge, since they also cover topics such as artistic expression, music, astrology, architecture, medicine and the art of war. In this sense, one might say that the Vedas constitute an enormous archive of knowledge about the physical, metaphysical and spiritual aspects of the human being.

kaumaram yauvanam jara

It remains closed as long as one is attached to mystical powers, spiritual experiences and the desire to attain enlightenment. It is related to the modality of benevolence, or sattva-guna. One of the major obsacles to transcending this valve is perceiving ourselves as disconnectedfrom the Whole. The rudra-granthi will not open as long as our conception about ourselves is of personalities separated from the totality and while there still remains even a shadow of the egoic phenomenon. No matter how much time we dedicate ourselves to practice, the serpentine energy will not reach the higher centers if the mentioned knots have not been transcended.The experience of the Truth requires an instrument with the appropriate endurancefor one to be the recipient of such intensity withoutthe danger of disintegration.The preservation of the attained developmentis essential to prevent the decline of the kuṇḍalinī-śakti. In this regard, after it hastranscended the granthis, there is not longer any concern that the energy will descend again, because since these valves become closed in the opposite direction, they will not allow the kuṇḍalinīto recede.The sādhana of kuṇḍalinī-yogaKuṇḍalinī-yoga is a sophisticated system dedicated to our preparation in every aspect for the awakening of the kuṇḍalinī-śakti. These practices are intended to create the necessary conditions that will produce the experience of the elevation of the serpentine power.All who wish to study kuṇḍalinī-yoga must comply with the required fundamentals that the scriptures demand: to be duly initiated by an authentic spiritual master and to practice under his expert guidance, following his teachings faithfully.As egos we live in a bustling world tightly packed with ideas, concepts, conclusions; there is no space for anything to happen.There isn’t enoughspace for any movement.Through sādhana, we create space or rather, we expand our interior space and silence.The path demands a highly elevated level of purity, both on the physical as well as the astral level. Strict vegetarianism is essential if one wants to advance on this path.

It is a single step from ignorance to wisdom, from pain to bliss, from the relative to the absolute, from the temporal to the eternal. Our entire perception of the world changes in a single instant. It is a small leap from darkness towards the light of divinity. The path from the human to the divine is not such a long road, but it consists of just a single step. What makes it longer are the preparations; the creation of the appropriate conditions. The path is nothing more than a simple step outside the mind. It is the apex of the devotional process, because in reality, all eight previous steps were intended to create the basis and foundation for the last step. All the previous levels are designed to support our surrender to God. Different stages on the path of bhaktiBhakti is divided into gauṇī-bhakti, madhyama-bhakti and para-bhakti.vaidhÄ« rāgānugā ceti sā dvidhā sādhanābhidhā"There are two classes of sādhana-bhakti: vaidhi and rāgānuga."2.a) Vaidhi-bhakti is the sādhanā motivated by obedience to the guru or to the śastras. The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.6) defines it is the following way:yatra rāgānavāptatvātpravṛttir upajāyateśāsanenaiva śāstrasyasā vaidhÄ« bhaktir ucyate “Where the practice of bhakti does not emanate from the attainment of raga, but from the teachings of the scriptures, it is called vaidhi-bhakti.”2.b) Rāgānuga-bhakti is the sādhanā motivated solely by spontaneous attachment to God.   The intense attraction for God is called rāgā. That rāgā, as it is located in the soul or ātma of the inhabitants of Vraja, is called rāgātmika. Sooner or later, the nectar of rāgātmika-bhakti will awaken in the hearts of the devoted followers of rāgānuga-bhakti.  In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.272) rāgātmika-bhakti is defined in this way:iṣṭe svārasikÄ« rāgaḥparamāviṣṭatā bhavettan-mayÄ« yā bhaved bhaktiḥs

tatha dehantara-praptir

The Rāmāyaṇa is an epic written by the sage Vālmīki about the pastimes, adventures and exploits of the seventh incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, King Rāma. It consists of 24,000 verses distributed over seven cantos.

The Śruti and the Smṛti

Place the palms on the floor to the sides of the feet. Align the tip of the fingers with the tip of the toes (photo number 126). 11.        Hastotthānāsana or raised arms posture: Inhale and extend your arms forward (photo number 127), straighten up (photo number 128) and continue arching the back backwards (photo number 129). The arms continue to stretch back over the head.12.        Praṇamāsana or the salutation posture: Inhaling fully, join the palms in front of the chest and relax back to the starting position (photo number 130).The twelve principal āsanasGheraṇḍa uvāca:āsanāni samastāniyāvanto jÄ«va-jantavaḥcatur-aśīti lakṣāṇiśivena kathitāni ca “Gheraṇḍa said: Śiva has described 8,400,000 āsanas. There are as many postures as there are species of living creatures in this universe” Gheraṇḍa-saṁhitā (2.1)Originally there existed 8,400,000 āsanas. However, 84,000 are the most important, and the most recommended are reduced to 84, with 32 of these considered to be most useful. But the basic postures and essentials that I generally recommend to include in every class, following the direction of my master, are the following twelve:1.        The headstand or śīrṣāsana.2.        The shoulderstand or sarvāṅgāsana.3.        The plow or halāsana.4.        The fish or matsyāsana.5.        The pincers or paścimottānāsana.6.        The cobra or bhujaṅgāsana.7.        The locust or śalabhāsana.8.        The bow or dhanurāsana.9.        Spinal twist or ardha-matsyendrāsana (half matsyendrāsana).10.        The crow or bakāsana, and the peacock or mayÅ«rāsana.11.        The vertical pincer, or pāda-hastāsana (hand-to-foot posture).12.        The triangle or trikoṇāsana.Instructions for the twelve classic postures of hatÌ£ha-yoga1. The headstand, śirṣāsana or viparÄ«ta-karaṇī.

The mind is made up of different pieces, segments, or fragments; it is a collection of innumerable external opinions, ideas, conclusions, and concepts accumulated since our earliest days on the planet from everyone we have ever associated with, who themselves have been formed in turn, by others. Therefore, the mind is the history of humanity.

Life is change, constant movement, from fetus to the moment of birth, later on the infancy and toys... then adolescence and its particularities, maturity, old age...

And Kṛṣṇa says, do not fear, you are protected. Not protected in the sense that nothing can happen to you, but in the sense that there isn’t anything or anyone that anything could happen to…You are an idea. Renounce yourself as a dream, and surrender to what you really are…as a fact, as a reality.

Our true and authentic reality belongs to the unknown and unmanifest reality... You... what you really are, is the unknown for you... It is incredible to think and pay attention to the fact that the greatest mystery of existence is you...

vādhyāya as the study of the Self The study of ourselves is not directed at accepting certain information about ourselves in the same way that we study geography or history. It is not that after studying, we will know new information about ourselves that we didn’t know before, or store up a little more knowledge that up until now we had not possessed.For persons who have been accustomed to studying to obtain recognition, to earn a livelihood, to obtain a diploma and be someone in life, to win the affection and pride of our parents, to obtain power, a job, honor, money, admiration, fame, etc., it is very difficult to understand the true meaning of a religious education, which is not designed to obtain or add anything but to rid us of everything.Religious and spiritual education prepares us, not to obtain a job in society or secure a place for us in the other world, but to perceive reality without this mental phenomenon that is called the ego, to perceive life without the prism of the mind. To really learn, we need to understand that the magnitude of life far outweighs any job, certificate or profession. The study of the Self is an impossibility. I can study about oranges or melons, because there exists a distance between myself and the oranges or the melons, because I am not an orange or a melon, and what is more important, because there are other objects that are neither oranges nor melons. On the other hand, the study of the Self presents problems. For example, there does not exist any distance between you and the Self; you are the Self and the worst of the matter is that there is nothing that is not the Self. Therefore there is nothing like “to know the Self”, because one can only be the Self, or in other words, to know the Self is to be the Self.In the process of studying the Self in order to attain the realization of the Self, one observes the “I” - idea, observing oneself as an egoic phenomenon.

TheSanskrit letters related to its petals are: Baṁ, Bhaṁ, Maṁ, Yaṁ, Raṁ and Laṁ. The pulsation of the very center of the svādhiśṭhāna-cakra is represented by the Vaṁ.Animal of the chakra: The animal corresponding to this chakra is the crocodile, which is the mount of Gaṅga and the vāhana or “vehicle” of Varuṇa, the Lord of the cosmic oceans who is mentioned in the Vedas as the most important God after Indra. The crocodile is one of the largest and most ferocious reptiles in the world. It has enough strength to dismember its prey in the water. Its skin is covered with scales, which serve as protection due to their durability and resistence. When submerged under the water, only the eyes and the wings of the nose of the crocodile protrude, which gives him the capacity to watch his victims without being seen and to perform surprise attacks. He moves in the water with ease and amazing agility.The crocodile represents the grave dangers of sexuality, and of pleasure in general, together with idleness and insensitivity. The risk lies in an excessive identification with the energy of this center when disconnected from the context of the chakric system, resulting in an excessive attraction towards pleasure and sensual enjoyment.The life of such a person is characterized by permissiveness. Loka or plane: The second center corresponds to the astral plane or bhuvar-loka. It is a plane of existence and consciousness which parallels our physical reality. While sleeping, we expand in order to enter into this reality which is completely unknown to most people.To penetrate the astral world we use the sūkṣma-śarīra also calledliṅga-śarīra, our astral body, which has similar characteristics to our physical aspect, but is much more subtle.Senses: The svādhiśṭhāna-cakra is related to the the sense of taste, perhaps the most intimate of our senses. Human beings can detect five different types of pure tastes, sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami, which does not result from the combination of the former, but corresponds to the taste of the salts of glutamic acid. The ability to perceive the taste of different foods brings to people as well as animals the advantage of detecting poisonous substances and rotten food and avoiding their ingestion.

However, movement is produced only in the shell, in the exterior. Consciousness or the Self does not undergo changes or movments. The dhiras, or the sensible being who has realized the above mentioned is not disturbed, the changes do not confuse him... Life is a turning wheel, the superficial moves, changes, but its eternal axis remains quiet and immobile... illusion consists of accepting only the superficial, change, movement, and completely forgetting the center of existence...

The candidates for initiation into the process of bhakti yoga can be divided into three levels:The Bhāgavata-purāṇa describes this process with exquisite beauty (1.2.18-21):naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣunityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayābhagavaty uttama-ślokebhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī"Through service to the saints, just as through the study of the scriptures, our demonic inclinations are annihilated and at the same time constant devotion develops towards God.”tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥkāma-lobhādayaś ca yeceta etair anāviddhaṁsthitaṁ sattve prasīdati“Then, the mind ceases to be affected by the instinctive passions produced by rajas and tamas, such as covetousness and lust, and they become calm when the mind is established in sattva.”evaṁ prasanna-manasobhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥbhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁmukta-saṅgasya jāyate“Thus, in one whom devotion has lead to purity and serenity, the intuition of the Supreme Self manifests as an absolute Reality and he is liberated from all forms of mundane attachment.”bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiśchidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥkṣīyante cāsya karmāṇidṛṣṭa evātmanīśvare“When the Supreme Soul is realized in oneself, the knots of the heart that create the sensation of separation are disentangled; doubts disappear and the accumulated karma with its fruits comes to an end.”ĪśvaraĪśvara means “the supreme controller of nature,” so that this word holds within itself the monotheistic aspect of Hinduism. Īśvara is the personal aspect of God, the supreme Self. Our understanding of bhakti-yoga depends on the proper understanding of this word, without which we will stagnate at the very basic and elemental levels of bhakti.Here God is being referred to as omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. For the Vaishnavas, He is Vishnu or Krishna, and for the Saivas He is Shiva. Seen from the dual platform, He is Brahman. Īśvara is the Absolute seen from the relative, the Divine observed from the human.In the Pancadaśī (3.37) it says:S