Aug. 18, 2024
Each Person Can Make a Positive Difference by Turning All Life into Yoga
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YouTube it is time to overcome discouragement, depression and apathy and step up to the challenge of transformation that is required to address the existential crisis of humanity that threatens to destroy the entire human race and much of the world with it. This can be done by undertaking an inner practice of growth and development and extending it into our interactions in the world through conversion of all life into yoga.
#Sri Aurobindo #The Mother #yoga #Patanjali #existential crisis
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Namaste.
People are discouraged,
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depressed, worried.
The world is seemingly breaking
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down in a number of different
ways.
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We're focused on the political
disruptions, the economic
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concerns, the toxic chemicals
that are polluting our
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environment and increasing our
health issues.
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We're concerned about the
climate change and the change in
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disease vectors and the wars and
the mass migrations and all
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these other problems.
We've discussed endless times.
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And people are simply tired,
burned out, discouraged.
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00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:06,520
What can I do as just some small
individual here to solve any of
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these problems?
And this leads to either apathy
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or distraction.
But we have another option, and
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that is to support the
development of a new form of
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consciousness that can transform
the way we look at things,
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transform the way we act, the
way we think, and the way we
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interact with others and with
the world around us.
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We think, what can I do?
I'm just some individual here
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out of 8 billion or more people
on the planet.
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But there is a way forward, and
that way forward is really not
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complicated.
We think, oh, there's 8 billion
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people, but not all 8 billion
people have the same influence
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or power of concentration and
focus and action.
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And so we find that there are
what was called in some
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sociological research done back
in the 1960s, what we may call
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opinion makers.
These are people who have an
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outside, outsize influence on
what people think, what they do,
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and how they act.
Many of us have heard about the
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100th monkey phenomenon.
The 100th monkey phenomenon was
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an observation made by some
anthropologists and some
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primatologists that there were
certain monkeys in a part of the
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world where one monkey started
washing his fruit before eating
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it and then other monkeys
started copying it and pretty
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soon that whole tribe of monkeys
began to wash their fruit.
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The interesting part was that
once a certain number of monkeys
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started washing their fruit,
this behavior seemingly
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promulgated to monkeys worldwide
who were not in contact directly
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with the specific group of
monkeys that initiated this
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behavior.
So this was called the 100th
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monkey phenomenon, and it
involved what we might call a
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tipping point by which a certain
consciousness, a certain
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awareness, a certain capacity
suddenly develops and manifests
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across a population when a
certain number of that
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population make the change and
adjust their awareness, their
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consciousness and their action.
And so the question that we
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raise is if we do something, if
I do something, if you do
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something, if the next person
next to you does something and
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we influence other people and
they do something just by our
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actions and behaviors and
thought patterns.
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Who will be the corresponding
100th monkey in the human race
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to change the approach of
fragmentation and separation and
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division and conflict into one
of cooperation and harmony and
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increasing understanding of the
unity of all existence?
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We need to reflect on that, and
then with that understanding, we
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can begin to act.
What can we do?
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First of all, each individual
can take up spiritual practices
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for inner growth.
This is not a prescription for a
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specific religious background,
philosophical background,
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scientific background.
It's simply that each
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individual, where they are, with
whatever their belief system is,
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should take up the practice of
inward observation, meditation,
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concentration, to begin to
understand the forces that move
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them and begin to separate
themselves from that motivating
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energetic force that just drops
on them from outside, from the
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world around them, from their
contacts and their
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correspondence with other
people.
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And begin to understand that
they have the ability to choose,
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the ability to refocus their
attention on higher things,
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higher principles, more
harmonious resolutions, rather
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than a vital reactive nature
based in separation,
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fragmentation and hostility.
When that happens, we begin to
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see that our own lives take on a
new tenor.
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We begin to change.
Our understanding of things
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grows and develops.
And as that happens, we begin to
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interact with people in a
different way, and that begins
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to change the way other people
respond and react.
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So this is a way for each
individual to become part of the
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solution rather than remaining
part of the problem.
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Now, we also work externally, We
do things in the world.
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And generally we try to separate
our inner life, our spiritual
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life, our spiritual practices
from our outer life.
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And we say, I'm going to sit for
meditation, or I'm going to go
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and pray, or I'm going to do a
retreat.
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And then we come back to our
outer life and we seemingly
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forget all that.
We go out and we do our jobs and
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we earn money and we live our
lives.
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And it's like we've made an
artificial separation.
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When we get to the point of
seeing that the outer work can
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and should express the inner
consciousness, then we begin to
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extend the influence of our new
insights, our new capacities,
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and our new standpoint into
everything we do.
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Whether it's some work that we
consider trivial or meaningless,
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or it's some larger program in
the economic, political,
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scientific, or technical fields.
Whatever it may be, if we treat
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it with an understanding that it
is the expression of our
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spirituality, then we begin to
have an outside and outsize
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influence on things, events and
people around us.
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And so we look at what Trio
Robindo had to say that all life
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is yoga.
What does that mean?
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It implies that we can transform
our activities, our lives and
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our purpose into a yogic
process.
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If we look at the Eightfold Path
of Patanjali, the first step is
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to develop an asana.
Asana means seat in their
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traditional yogic practice.
It means that you sit in a
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particular posture, with your
legs crossed, sitting upright
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and still, quiet and relaxed, in
order to undertake the spiritual
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discipline.
But in a broader sense, our
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asana is the standpoint we take
in society, in each situation,
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in our work, in our families,
the seat of our consciousness.
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The next step is pranayam.
Pranayam is the control of the
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breath, and in the traditional
path of yoga they have
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particular breathing techniques
that you have to do and
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practice.
But in a broader sense,
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pranayama is the control of the
vital energy that comes into you
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and that you absorb and that you
then transmit through your being
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and that you then release back
into the world.
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And so we can make our vital
interchange into a form of
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pranayam.
Before the practice of asana and
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pranayam come the preliminary
practices called the yamas and
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the niyamas, and these are
really usually treated as some
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kind of moral observations.
You shouldn't harm other beings.
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You shouldn't be jealous, you
should have contentment, you
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should treat others with
respect, etcetera.
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These are however, not moral
statements.
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They are practical scientific
statements.
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They are statements to create
the correct mental, emotional
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and vital basis to hold higher
energies as they begin to
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manifest, without spilling them,
without erupting and without
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breaking down our physical,
mental, emotional, nervous and
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vital being through the force of
those higher energies.
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And so practicing the Yamas and
the Niyamas is essential, not
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necessarily as a moral statement
of rules, but as a methodology
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for understanding the vibrations
that can act upon us and that
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distract, disturb and disperse
the energies of our lives.
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We then come to pratyahara,
which is withdrawing the
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attention from the energies that
are active in our lives so that
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we can then begin to concentrate
and focus.
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And this means to in the
practical sense of the
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traditional yoga, it means
withdrawing your attention from
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all the senses.
But in a wider sense, pratyahara
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means simply to change the focus
and attention of what we deal
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with in the world.
Do we focus our attention on the
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various energies of
accumulation, of food, of sex,
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of fame, of vanity?
In other words, are we trying to
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aggrandize our ego or are we
switching our attention to the
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spiritual purpose, the meaning
of our lives, the opportunities
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we have to contact and attain a
higher state of consciousness?
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Withdrawing our attention from
activities which are dispersing
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and lowering of our level of
awareness that are distracting
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to us is the deeper meaning on
an external sense of the
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practice of pratyahara.
The obvious next step in the
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eightfold path is called
dharana, which is the focus of
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the concentration.
And again in the practice of
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yoga, it means to then
concentrate the force.
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Generally, there are
prescriptions to concentrate it
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in the energy center between the
eyebrows or behind the heart or
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above the head, and that's
important.
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But the real sense of dharana in
a wider viewpoint is to focus or
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concentrate on the positive
uplifting activities and the
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growth of awareness, the
consciousness, beauty and
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positivity in the world to begin
to enhance our ability to tune
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and focus to these higher forces
and energies and concepts as
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opposed to being distracted.
The next is tiana or meditation.
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This is to again create a mental
space of calm and quiet that can
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be centered, that doesn't get
drawn out every time something
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happens that is not externally
focused and reactive, and which
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can then appreciate what is
taking place in the world from a
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new, calmer, more balanced
perspective.
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We come then to Samadhi, which
is in the practice of the
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traditional path of yoga, the
development of a trance like
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state in which all outer
awareness is withdrawn and we
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are totally focused inwardly.
And this also can be reapplied
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on an external sentence to just
maintain throughout our lives in
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all of our activities, all of
our actions, that centered
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space, that separation of the
witness consciousness from the
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active nature of our being,
where we can see and act and
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respond totally from what we
might call a divine standpoint
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as opposed to the ego
standpoint.
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Now, there are certain other
formations that are used to
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enhance the yogic practice in
the traditional paths of yoga.
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One of them is called mudra.
Mudra is the physical expression
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or gesture, and mudra is the
stance we take in the world in
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how we interact with others.
The energy we put into the world
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and our receptivity to higher
vibrational forces is what we
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could call our mudra.
There is the mantra, which is
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the use of various sounds to
concentrate and develop energies
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on certain vibrational levels.
And the mantra in the world is
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the way we express ourselves,
the way we put energy out into
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the world using the power of
voice as a mode of expression of
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our consciousness.
And then there's bhava.
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And bhava is more or less the
mood or the standpoint we take,
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the energetic stance we take as
we go through the world.
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We can convert every action,
every deed, every expression
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into a form of yogic practice.
There is no separation between
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our inner life and our outer
life.
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When we do this, we can find
that the influence that occurs
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naturally not through some kind
of power of money or politics or
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connections or whatever else the
world has traditionally found,
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but through simply the power of
the radiance of your being.
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You begin to have an impact and
build around you people and
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circumstances that support the
expression of a higher mode of
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consciousness.
And this is the first step in
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the solution towards creating a
better world.
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There are many more steps, and
we can discuss those in future
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sessions, but for now let's take
away from it that the first step
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is to Orient ourselves towards
turning all life into the
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practice of yoga.
00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:12,520
Namaste.
People are discouraged,
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depressed, worried.
The world is seemingly breaking
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00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,600
down in a number of different
ways.
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We're focused on the political
disruptions, the economic
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concerns, the toxic chemicals
that are polluting our
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environment and increasing our
health issues.
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We're concerned about the
climate change and the change in
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disease vectors and the wars and
the mass migrations and all
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these other problems.
We've discussed endless times.
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And people are simply tired,
burned out, discouraged.
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What can I do as just some small
individual here to solve any of
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these problems?
And this leads to either apathy
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or distraction.
But we have another option, and
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that is to support the
development of a new form of
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consciousness that can transform
the way we look at things,
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transform the way we act, the
way we think, and the way we
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interact with others and with
the world around us.
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We think, what can I do?
I'm just some individual here
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out of 8 billion or more people
on the planet.
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But there is a way forward, and
that way forward is really not
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complicated.
We think, oh, there's 8 billion
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people, but not all 8 billion
people have the same influence
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or power of concentration and
focus and action.
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And so we find that there are
what was called in some
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sociological research done back
in the 1960s, what we may call
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opinion makers.
These are people who have an
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00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:51,320
outside, outsize influence on
what people think, what they do,
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00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:58,440
and how they act.
Many of us have heard about the
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00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:03,360
100th monkey phenomenon.
The 100th monkey phenomenon was
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00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,960
an observation made by some
anthropologists and some
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00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,480
primatologists that there were
certain monkeys in a part of the
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00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,960
world where one monkey started
washing his fruit before eating
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00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:22,440
it and then other monkeys
started copying it and pretty
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00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:27,280
soon that whole tribe of monkeys
began to wash their fruit.
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00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:34,360
The interesting part was that
once a certain number of monkeys
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00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,560
started washing their fruit,
this behavior seemingly
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00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:45,880
promulgated to monkeys worldwide
who were not in contact directly
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00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:52,720
with the specific group of
monkeys that initiated this
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00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,880
behavior.
So this was called the 100th
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00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:01,480
monkey phenomenon, and it
involved what we might call a
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00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:09,000
tipping point by which a certain
consciousness, a certain
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00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:15,480
awareness, a certain capacity
suddenly develops and manifests
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00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:21,279
across a population when a
certain number of that
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00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:27,760
population make the change and
adjust their awareness, their
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00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:32,280
consciousness and their action.
And so the question that we
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00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:40,800
raise is if we do something, if
I do something, if you do
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00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,000
something, if the next person
next to you does something and
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00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,160
we influence other people and
they do something just by our
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00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,080
actions and behaviors and
thought patterns.
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Who will be the corresponding
100th monkey in the human race
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00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:10,720
to change the approach of
fragmentation and separation and
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00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:18,040
division and conflict into one
of cooperation and harmony and
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00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:22,720
increasing understanding of the
unity of all existence?
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00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:33,400
We need to reflect on that, and
then with that understanding, we
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00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,240
can begin to act.
What can we do?
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00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:43,760
First of all, each individual
can take up spiritual practices
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for inner growth.
This is not a prescription for a
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specific religious background,
philosophical background,
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00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,280
scientific background.
It's simply that each
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individual, where they are, with
whatever their belief system is,
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00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:09,320
should take up the practice of
inward observation, meditation,
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00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:15,920
concentration, to begin to
understand the forces that move
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00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:25,000
them and begin to separate
themselves from that motivating
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00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:32,400
energetic force that just drops
on them from outside, from the
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00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,040
world around them, from their
contacts and their
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00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,560
correspondence with other
people.
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00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:43,760
And begin to understand that
they have the ability to choose,
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00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:51,040
the ability to refocus their
attention on higher things,
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00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:57,360
higher principles, more
harmonious resolutions, rather
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than a vital reactive nature
based in separation,
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00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:09,760
fragmentation and hostility.
When that happens, we begin to
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see that our own lives take on a
new tenor.
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We begin to change.
Our understanding of things
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grows and develops.
And as that happens, we begin to
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interact with people in a
different way, and that begins
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to change the way other people
respond and react.
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So this is a way for each
individual to become part of the
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solution rather than remaining
part of the problem.
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Now, we also work externally, We
do things in the world.
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And generally we try to separate
our inner life, our spiritual
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life, our spiritual practices
from our outer life.
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00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,720
And we say, I'm going to sit for
meditation, or I'm going to go
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and pray, or I'm going to do a
retreat.
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And then we come back to our
outer life and we seemingly
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forget all that.
We go out and we do our jobs and
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we earn money and we live our
lives.
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00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:33,080
And it's like we've made an
artificial separation.
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00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:42,600
When we get to the point of
seeing that the outer work can
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00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:50,640
and should express the inner
consciousness, then we begin to
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00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:58,320
extend the influence of our new
insights, our new capacities,
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and our new standpoint into
everything we do.
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00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:11,120
Whether it's some work that we
consider trivial or meaningless,
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00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:19,520
or it's some larger program in
the economic, political,
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00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:27,160
scientific, or technical fields.
Whatever it may be, if we treat
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00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:32,840
it with an understanding that it
is the expression of our
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00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:41,920
spirituality, then we begin to
have an outside and outsize
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00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,960
influence on things, events and
people around us.
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And so we look at what Trio
Robindo had to say that all life
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is yoga.
What does that mean?
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It implies that we can transform
our activities, our lives and
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00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,360
our purpose into a yogic
process.
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If we look at the Eightfold Path
of Patanjali, the first step is
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to develop an asana.
Asana means seat in their
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traditional yogic practice.
It means that you sit in a
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particular posture, with your
legs crossed, sitting upright
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and still, quiet and relaxed, in
order to undertake the spiritual
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00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,520
discipline.
But in a broader sense, our
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asana is the standpoint we take
in society, in each situation,
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in our work, in our families,
the seat of our consciousness.
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The next step is pranayam.
Pranayam is the control of the
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00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,800
breath, and in the traditional
path of yoga they have
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00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:13,000
particular breathing techniques
that you have to do and
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practice.
But in a broader sense,
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pranayama is the control of the
vital energy that comes into you
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and that you absorb and that you
then transmit through your being
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and that you then release back
into the world.
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And so we can make our vital
interchange into a form of
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pranayam.
Before the practice of asana and
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pranayam come the preliminary
practices called the yamas and
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the niyamas, and these are
really usually treated as some
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00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,680
kind of moral observations.
You shouldn't harm other beings.
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00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:08,280
You shouldn't be jealous, you
should have contentment, you
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should treat others with
respect, etcetera.
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00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,840
These are however, not moral
statements.
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00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,080
They are practical scientific
statements.
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00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:26,480
They are statements to create
the correct mental, emotional
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00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:33,480
and vital basis to hold higher
energies as they begin to
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00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:39,960
manifest, without spilling them,
without erupting and without
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00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:45,800
breaking down our physical,
mental, emotional, nervous and
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vital being through the force of
those higher energies.
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And so practicing the Yamas and
the Niyamas is essential, not
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00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:06,800
necessarily as a moral statement
of rules, but as a methodology
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for understanding the vibrations
that can act upon us and that
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00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:21,720
distract, disturb and disperse
the energies of our lives.
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00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:28,760
We then come to pratyahara,
which is withdrawing the
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attention from the energies that
are active in our lives so that
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we can then begin to concentrate
and focus.
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And this means to in the
practical sense of the
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00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:48,360
traditional yoga, it means
withdrawing your attention from
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all the senses.
But in a wider sense, pratyahara
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00:13:53,360 --> 00:14:02,440
means simply to change the focus
and attention of what we deal
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00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:08,400
with in the world.
Do we focus our attention on the
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00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:15,080
various energies of
accumulation, of food, of sex,
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00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:21,800
of fame, of vanity?
In other words, are we trying to
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00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:29,240
aggrandize our ego or are we
switching our attention to the
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00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:38,160
spiritual purpose, the meaning
of our lives, the opportunities
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00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:43,200
we have to contact and attain a
higher state of consciousness?
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00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:48,320
Withdrawing our attention from
activities which are dispersing
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00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:54,400
and lowering of our level of
awareness that are distracting
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00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:59,920
to us is the deeper meaning on
an external sense of the
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00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:06,160
practice of pratyahara.
The obvious next step in the
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00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:10,320
eightfold path is called
dharana, which is the focus of
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00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,360
the concentration.
And again in the practice of
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yoga, it means to then
concentrate the force.
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00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,480
Generally, there are
prescriptions to concentrate it
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00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,720
in the energy center between the
eyebrows or behind the heart or
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00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,760
above the head, and that's
important.
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00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:38,200
But the real sense of dharana in
a wider viewpoint is to focus or
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00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:42,240
concentrate on the positive
uplifting activities and the
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00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,880
growth of awareness, the
consciousness, beauty and
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00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:54,880
positivity in the world to begin
to enhance our ability to tune
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00:15:54,880 --> 00:16:00,040
and focus to these higher forces
and energies and concepts as
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opposed to being distracted.
The next is tiana or meditation.
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00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:20,280
This is to again create a mental
space of calm and quiet that can
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00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:25,000
be centered, that doesn't get
drawn out every time something
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00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:31,760
happens that is not externally
focused and reactive, and which
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00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:39,560
can then appreciate what is
taking place in the world from a
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00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:44,840
new, calmer, more balanced
perspective.
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We come then to Samadhi, which
is in the practice of the
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traditional path of yoga, the
development of a trance like
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state in which all outer
awareness is withdrawn and we
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00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:14,520
are totally focused inwardly.
And this also can be reapplied
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on an external sentence to just
maintain throughout our lives in
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00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,200
all of our activities, all of
our actions, that centered
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00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:30,280
space, that separation of the
witness consciousness from the
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00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:38,160
active nature of our being,
where we can see and act and
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00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:44,520
respond totally from what we
might call a divine standpoint
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as opposed to the ego
standpoint.
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00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,880
Now, there are certain other
formations that are used to
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enhance the yogic practice in
the traditional paths of yoga.
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00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:03,280
One of them is called mudra.
Mudra is the physical expression
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or gesture, and mudra is the
stance we take in the world in
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00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:17,480
how we interact with others.
The energy we put into the world
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00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:24,920
and our receptivity to higher
vibrational forces is what we
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00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:30,600
could call our mudra.
There is the mantra, which is
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00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:40,080
the use of various sounds to
concentrate and develop energies
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00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:45,600
on certain vibrational levels.
And the mantra in the world is
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00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,280
the way we express ourselves,
the way we put energy out into
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00:18:50,280 --> 00:19:00,320
the world using the power of
voice as a mode of expression of
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00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,600
our consciousness.
And then there's bhava.
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00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:12,640
And bhava is more or less the
mood or the standpoint we take,
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00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,880
the energetic stance we take as
we go through the world.
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00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:26,680
We can convert every action,
every deed, every expression
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00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:37,720
into a form of yogic practice.
There is no separation between
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00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,240
our inner life and our outer
life.
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00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:54,240
When we do this, we can find
that the influence that occurs
197
00:19:54,240 --> 00:20:00,800
naturally not through some kind
of power of money or politics or
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00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:05,960
connections or whatever else the
world has traditionally found,
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00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:11,040
but through simply the power of
the radiance of your being.
200
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:21,840
You begin to have an impact and
build around you people and
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00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:29,160
circumstances that support the
expression of a higher mode of
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00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:36,560
consciousness.
And this is the first step in
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00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,960
the solution towards creating a
better world.
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00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:47,600
There are many more steps, and
we can discuss those in future
205
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:55,400
sessions, but for now let's take
away from it that the first step
206
00:20:56,120 --> 00:21:03,760
is to Orient ourselves towards
turning all life into the
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00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,400
practice of yoga.