Mind is an action, you can stop it!

By on January 8, 2016   /   Health  

Are you struggling to still your restless mind?
Do you find it impossible to stop your inner chatters?

If this is what you find a challenge, the insight from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali will bring you the right understanding and solution to go beyond the mind.

In the second Yoga Sutra, it states that ‘Yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha’, meaning ‘Withdrawal from mental patterns is Yoga’. This is the essence of Yoga as captured by Patanjali – a great sage who compiled the Yoga sutras in a systematic and scientific way more than 5,000 years ago.

In order for you to appreciate this truth and connect with the higher consciousness, you need to come into the present moment – NOW and come into the space of pure listening in order to catch the subtle dimension of the MIND which was revealed by my master, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji). He opened up this profound understanding of the subtle mind in me!

First of all, he said that mind is not an object or a thing as we are taught by society, it is an action. Mind is not a thing to struggle with, suppress or destroy, mind is an action. Just like you are walking as an action, if you don’t feel like walking, you just sit down. When you don’t feel like talking anymore, you just shut your mouth and be in silence. In the same way, mind is an action, if you don’t want it to think anymore, you can stop it. That’s all.

However, you will say ‘No, I have already tried this in many ways, it doesn’t work for me!’ The truth is thinking is a simple yet subtle action, you are doing it, nobody else inside you is doing it. You are the only one who is responsible for the mind to go on in action.

Second, if you feel that the thinking comes back again after sometime, be very clear, it comes back because you want it to come back. At any moment, if you really don’t want it, you can just stop it. Whenever the mind comes back, it is simply because you want it to come back. You have the complete freedom to switch it off and start it again but the problem is you forget that it is YOU who have started it again due to your unawareness of this subtle truth. If you have this basic clarity that you are the one starting the mind, at least you will not feel powerless in front of your mind because you respect your decision. Just understand – “When I want the mind, I am starting it. When I don’t want it, I am relaxing from it.”

The essence of Yoga is only this one sutra – yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha, Yoga is cessation of mind. Yoga is withdrawal from mental patterns. Mind is not a thing, it is an action which is entirely in your hands. This sutra has to be approached with openness and devotion of the space it is delivered. You will have the same click as I had if you can just bring a cognitive shift in the understanding. Just knowing this simple truth makes me feel powerful to handle my mind intelligently and effortlessly.

Third, you don’t need the mind to be alive. We always think that mind is bigger than the brain. Swamiji’s guru – Yogi Yogananda Puri once revealed that the mind is just one action of the brain. See, when you are asleep or in silence, your brain continues to operate your daily life, your brain is able to keep your body functioning perfectly. So understand, the mind is just one part of your brain – this is the shift you need to have. If you have the courage to switch off your mind as and when it is not required, the mind becomes your slave as it is under your full control. If not, you are a slave to your mind!

Lastly, Swamiji shared that “Living your life without what you call as mind is living enlightenment.” Living independent of the mind is what he called as living enlightenment. To live with the freedom of the mind, you need to take the responsibility completely on your shoulders. The moment you feel you are responsible for your thinking, you know very clearly that you can stop it. Only when you don’t want to take responsibility, you resort to postponing life or blaming life. We need to take responsibility for our subtle action – which is the mind, and knowing when to stop the mind so that we can get back to the natural space of completion and vibrant silence.

In short, Yoga means being able to play with your mind or completely relax from it. Namaste 😀

  • Source – 108 truths of the Yoga of Enlightenment by Paramahamsa Nithyananda.
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Surrender to Life

By on November 27, 2015   /   Life Solutions  

From my last article, many of you may have read about the phenomenal 21-day yoga retreat called Nithyanandoham 1008 which is going to take place in Phuket from December 7-27 by a living incarnation, Paramahama Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji). Frankly, this program itself can’t be verbalised because it is going to be very experiential energy process which awakens the God particle in you. It is an open invitation from LIFE itself to explore the Unknown dimension of you. For some people who have been seeking in their life for a long time and who are in tune with their Being, the moment they cognise this invitation, they simply take the jump with a leap of faith and a deep trust in the Master.

However, for most people who are centred on the mind, they need more understanding, convincing and removing the obstacles they face in their life. In the process of enriching people for this life-transforming opportunity, it made me learn so much about the work of the cunning mind and the ways how people miss LIFE again and again. I also cognise that the whole process of making the conscious decision to spend 21-day with a living incarnation is a process of surrendering one’s mind.

Swamiji once said that ‘Surrender is nothing but merging with Existence, with no identity of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. When you surrender, it means the death of the mind, your ego. Ego is nothing but feeling yourself to be a separate entity from Existence. This feeling happens as a result of a strong ‘I’ and ‘mine’. The mind is a direct conflict to the being whereas the being always concurs with Existence.’

In the process of going to this retreat, one can see how the mind invariably comes in the way. Although the Being knows, but the cunning mind continues to doubt. Our mind can only exist in the oscillation between the past or the future. It is only in the present moment that the mind does not exist, hence there is no past nor future, we become open and innocent like a child.

I’ve seen that so many devotees and seekers who are not able to surrender the mind. There is one devotee who is very stuck in the past, he is so afraid to open up his traumatic past that he just drops out of the opportunity to be healed and transformed by life. Even if life gives the blessing for him to be there without any struggle on the financial part, somehow he finds a way to either postpone or escape from life. Another devotee who is too busy working on her future business plan, she was unable to let go her plan and live with utter insecurity of loss of future income. She missed life too. Another seeker who was stuck on the fear of her Unknown and the need for acceptance by her family, she just gave up on herself because she was not able to convince her family why she had to attend this retreat. One intelligent devotee who was able to surrender his intellect when he saw someone like Ma Nithyadevi who is more intelligent than him and she was able to answer all his doubts, he simply surrendered and took the jump to life. Good for him!

For those who are more centred on the heart, the emotional surrender happens when they feel deeply connected to the Master. They start respecting master’s guidance much more than their emotions. For these people, the master has become the centre of their life and a shift in priority happens. For them, a feeling connection with the master is enough to move them there.

Finally the deeper level of surrender is the surrender of the senses to the Master. The Master stands for the ideal “You are Infinite.” There are many dimensions in your being, which you have not yet explored and experienced. He is showing you so many dimensions of your being to yourself! As of now, your senses can only cognise that you are body and mind. But according to him, you are God. Only when you trust the Master more than your senses, you will realize – Master’s words are true. I’ve seen one seeker who had surrender her senses to the Master, she simply starts having direct guidance from him and expresses extraordinary intuition in sensing people. She made a list of her friends to the Master whom she would like them to attend this retreat. By surrendering her senses and constantly making herself available for her friends in removing the obstacles that come their way, everyone on her list made it to the retreat!

In this process, one thing I am still learning – that is to drop everything and surrender whatever I know as life, whatever I know is only my knowledge; it is not what is. The “I” and “Mine” need to drop at the Master’s feet!

In essence, ‘Surrender’ does not mean you will lose everything in life, you are not going to lose anything when you surrender, you are only going to gain everything and merge with Existence. Namaste 😀

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Be Aware of Your Mind

By on October 2, 2015   /   Life Solutions  

Yesterday I was reading the notes of Yoga Sutras 181 & 182 by the great sage, Patanjali as interpreted by Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji) and I found so many clicks which could help humanity become aware of the workings of the mind and how we can raise ourselves to our peak possibility.

Here are some sacred truths about the human mind that you need to grasp:

By the nature of the mind, it jumps from this to that and that to this and goes on and on. The mind is the jump between consciousness and thought. It is the constant jump that we do and we justify it due to our own ignorance of trusting the mind and others’ minds which lead us into suffering and you blame Existence or God. It is like you drink the poison and you expect your enemy to die. By blaming God, you are not going to destroy the real enemy – which is your unstable MIND.

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