7 posts tagged with "svadhyaya"

I have a collection of books I wanted to read. Books that are all over the place and don’t help with my goal or purpose. So I am no longer going to be focusing too much on just randomly reading and will focus on improving the Cycles. While this may seem like it will limit my focus and understanding of the world I do not think that is necessarily the case. The books I tend to read are within the cycles anyways, but they are focused too much on singular pieces.

My goal now is to improve the specific piece of the puzzle for a particular section. This can incorporate any reading that I want but it also drives me to focus on a few things. How this transpires is that I will be focused on reading to improve a single limb or part of a cycle that I want to improve, incorporate the ideas of what I read, and move to the next limb to improve. This means a continuous improvement of the limbs by removing the waste and simplification of each limb.

This also means that any improvements I make also need to be focused on the specific cycle.

To get started in my reading I am focusing my energies on a few sections:

• Biographies. Read biographies of saints and yogis.
• Meditation. Learn the foundations of meditation.
• Cooking. Learn how to cook well.

This also includes a general study of the Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. The goal is to deepen the study of these three texts.

However, to understand the texts is to study the saints who lived the yogic life. The stories are easier to remember than prescriptions so that is the focus of my energies. Once the stories are internalized then I can then understand the Bhakti and Prayer. The Sadhana portion is there to remove the blemishes and figure out how to lead a more yogic life.

The goal is to build devotion. It is not at this point to decern Brahman or get into pure meditation. It is to purify myself and to get into a belief of Isvara without doubt.

As part of my Meditation routine I had the study of supplemental texts, but what I found was that this I am going through too many different supplemental texts and not really focusing on any one of them at a time. Secondly, reading secular texts was not happening such as how to be a better father. So I am making some changes to my Routine to solidify the Study & Work time.

They will be two hour chunks of time and I will focus on my work but the first Study & Work will start with 30 minutes of spritual study and the last Study & Work will end with 30 minutes of spiritual study. My focus on these spritual studies will be to the read the same text so that I can focus on getting through a single book.

The primary textual focuses are the Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita. Everything else being supplemental to these three core texts. By reading only one supplemntal text at a time I can then focus on improving a single area of weakness instead of spreading myself thin.

The supplemental texts are texts to assist in understanding and put into practice the core texts better. For example, reading "Meditation and Spiritual Life" is there to assist my understanding of the Yoga Sutras. My reading of the "Gospel of Ramakrisha" is a way to understand the Bhagavad Gita better. My reading of Vivekananda is a way to understand the Hanuman Chalisa better.

Finally, since I am moving my study of these texts into the Study & Work period I can spend larger chunks of time reading them when I have time. This allows me to have a larger chunk of time to focus on these texts instead of just small chunks. Each of these supplemental texts are not just for reading but for putting into practice and so having larger chunks of time is important so I can take the knowledge and implement it.

One of the reasons I think this change is also good is that if I do not make it to reading the supplementary texts so I can read other texts I don't mentally feel bad. I still am reading the sastras so it is okay. I can read other texts when I have time.

For a person of action Jnana Yoga and the nature of the self are difficult. Understanding the basic tenants of science including physics and chemistry I understand where Jnana Yoga is coming from. That the true nature of reality is none other that the universe and since we all came from the Big Bang that the universe and the individual are the same.

The energy that animates the universe is within us and we are part of it. It is beautiful, inspiring, and impossible to practice as a householder. While, Jnana Yoga appeals to the logical aspect of my brain, it is the Ista that I turn to in times of crisis. It is easier to mentally visualize and pray to an embodied representation versus a formless entity.

While Bhakti eventually leads to Jnana I do think I need to develop my heart through Bhakti. It is easier for me to think of myself as a servant than as the same as the Self. Ironically, I find that when I think of myself as the Self I become a bit more egoistic and lazy. As a servant I am motivated and have a purpose.

So I am putting my deep study of Advaita Vedanta on hold for a couple of years. While I will continue to engage with the Bhagavad Gita it will be at a higher level versus a deep philosophical inquiry. This will be the same for the Upanishads. If I find that I get more inclined towards Jnana Yoga in the future I will revisit it as I open up to it but I will not force it.

The core philosophy of Vedanta is immensely subtle and I don’t think I have the correct mindset or the predisposition to attack that path. But as a householder I think it is best to focus on Karma, Bhakti and Raja Yoga as my main paths. The Jnana Yoga will still be there to understand the ultimate nature of reality but I will not focus on it as a main path for now.

So for now I will focus on:

• Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga to purify my heart
• Raja Yoga to calm my mind

This is the study plan that Swami Chinamaya recommends within Kindle Life. This is a long term study plan that covers a wide variety of Vedantic texts and scriptures. It is an eventual goal to complete this study plan over a period of time.

• Hanuman Chalisa (Karma/Bhakti): Devotion
• Yoga Sutras (Raja): Discipline
• Bhagavad Gita (Karma/Bhakti/Jnana): Wisdom

These three shastras encompass the spirit of the Four Yogas and it seems just understanding these three fully and deeply seems to be sufficient. As I stated on v0.11 that I was going toward this path but I didn’t fully understand the depth of each. Frankly, I didn’t think much of the Hanuman Chalisa and now have absolutely fallen in love with it.

The Hanuman Chalisa is not just a song but each sloka is a mantra and an aspiration of behavior that was exuded by Lord Hanuman. Each sloka has a depth of meaning of the trials of Hanuman and how he overcame them. It is in essence the ultimate in the Karma Yoga texts that are succinct to follow the understanding versus reading Ramakrisha or Vivekananda. While, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda act as gurus to guide us to the Four Yogas the Hanuman Chalisa is a condensed version of the values that they want us to lead.

The Yoga Sutras act as a means for disciplining oneself. If the Hanuman Chalisa teaches how to act outwardly then the Yoga Sutras teaches us how the inner world should be. The Yoga Sutras are a guide on how to structure and setup the inner world so that you can act like Lord Hanuman to always be focused on Lord Ram. Since Rama means “light within” it is also a representation the Brahman.

Lastly, the Bhagavad Gita acts as a bridge between the outer and inner world. While the Hanuman Chalisa deals with outer virtues, the Yoga Sutras the inner world, the Bhagavad Gita deals with the battlefield of life of how to deal with yourself as an individual in society at large. It has the ideas that are included in both the Chalisa and Yoga Sutras as well as the Upanishads. It acts as the source of Jnana Yoga encompassing the why of it all.

These shastras have a lifetime of study ahead of them and I am content knowing what I need to focus my energies around.

Jai Shree Ram

Instead of having a half-hazard study I have codified my study of the different teachers that I follow. The outcome of this is that I have a strict end to end for my Yoga-Vedanta studies that encompass the different paths. But there are a lot of texts and the teachers I have decided to follow have created a lot of writing. The preliminary study of these texts will take me a minimum of three years with some other texts likely taking me a lifetime to finish.

I will be updating this site with the readings as I go through them organized according to the various limbs of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. So I will not be listing them out here individually until I have read them.

Interestingly, most of the teachers I ascribe to have various paths that they teach or orient around. Karma Yoga/yama is Vivekananda, Bhakti-Jnana Yoga/niyama is Ramakrishna, Chinnamayananda and Daryananada, Hatha Yoga/asana & pranayama is Satyananda and Raja Yoga is Aurobindo. Sivananda Saraswati seems to be a combination of all of these paths.

Beyond this I haven't even started on the Vedantic texts such as the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Vaishista and the commentaries. Those will be included in my study as well, but with the preliminary focus on the writings of the teachers I follow.