Liberation Of Alertness

 31 December 18:00   There is a accurate mantra (word or byword acclimated during meditation) of which I am actual fond: Baba Nam Kevalam. It is accounting in the sanskrit accent and I accept heard it translated into English some means over the years. "God s name only" is a actual simple, absolute and advantageous one, but I tend to construe it abnormally for my yoga students. "Everything is an announcement of God" or "Everything is an announcement of the absolute consciousness." Whether that is the best adaptation or not, I can not say, but it works for me, and I accept the account to be the accuracy and along that the ability of that accuracy by a being will aftereffect in a affecting transformation in him/her. A transformation from the "normal" to the sublime, from the bent to the blissful, from the apprenticed to the wise, from the adverse to the benevolent, from the benumbed to the conscious.

    Sometimes if I artlessly reflect on the chat "conscious," I become euphoric. It is so simple, yet so liberating to be absolutely acquainted of something, anything. No big mystery. To be "aware" of something is addition way of adage it. If I acquaint my kids that it is snowing outside, they will anon run to the window to verify the story, and bold I accept told the truth, they will anon become "conscious" of the snow. They run to the window, not because they don t assurance me, but because they are athirst for that acquaintance of acquaintance of the snow. Snow is something they accept apparent afore but alone rarely in the backing breadth we reside in. Yet, it is something they adulation for some reasons. Snow gives them abundant joy and they alcohol in the "vision" from the window. What a absolution it is that holds their absorption (another chat for alertness I believe) so firmly. The snow is so white and pure, and it floats so alluringly to the Apple acutely from Heaven. Ten account ago they ability accept been argument over a toy they don t even wish to play with, but now they are administration a window as they both attestant snow. Their minds are focused, joyful, one with the snow. For my kids, snow is accomplishing the purpose of art, appropriation their minds up from their accustomed actuality to a added aerial state.

    But what is consciousness? It is something we all accept to some extent, some humans assume to accept added of it than others, and if we get hit on the arch too hard, we lose if for a while. But is it something we can breed and grow? Can we aggrandize or somehow strengthen our consciousness? I am not talking about the intellect. That is something absolutely different. That is the computer, the advice manipulator, the little addle solver. I am talking about consciousness. The alertness that tells us "I am breathing", "I am cold", "The sun just came up", "I am hungry", "I exist" "You exist" "I accept a beatific activity in my heart."

    I adduce that we accede alertness a admired article that can be expanded/developed, and something that can be acclimated to an admeasurement we would never accept dreamed possible. Furthermore, I am traveling to go actual far out on a limb now and acquaint you I accept we can use this "super-consciousness" to accommodate our claimed actuality and accord us undreamed of powers. Next, I would like to acquaint the abstraction of "intuition". Actuality is a chat we are all accustomed with, but not about in agreement of religion. Acutely intuition is anticipation of as not abundant added than a advantageous anticipation actuality and there, but I anticipate it is a accustomed admitting abortive claimed ability, which is both reliable and annihilation added than an addendum of that day to day "consciousness" that I mentioned above.

    So what s the problem? Why aren t we all awash over with the ability of intuition? Because: A. We are drowning in a sea of brainy babble B. There is no "B"

    OK, authority on to your hat; this is the way I see it.... Our primary actuality is consciousness. Essentially, we are annihilation added or beneath than a define of authentic consciousness. That define is amidst by the blow of the cosmos, which I will alarm "reality." We are the subject, "reality" is the item (signal) we are aggravating to be "conscious" of, but (for bigger or worse) in amid we accept a band of noise, which I will alarm the "ego", a apocryphal faculty of self, a confounding of who we are, and that assiduous acceptance that we are this cool dream character is the alone affair preventing us from experiencing heaven appropriate actuality on Earth.

    So, how do we get rid of the babble and attain this cool consciousness? For wish of a bigger word, let s alarm it "yoga." yoga anon translated agency "union," agnate to the adaptation of the chat "religion" by the way. yoga promises to affiliate us with our true attributes accepted in yoga circles as "the Self." The abounding attributes of yoga convenance goes way above the ambit of this abbreviate essay, but for the account of the amateur who may authority the confounding that yoga is alone a set of addition exercises, I will briefly run over the 8 "limbs" of yoga as originally presented by the abundant yogi Pantanjali:

    1. Yama (a accumulation of 5 morel rules of the road) 2. Niyama; some added guidelines for day to day behavior (study, allowance others etc) 3. Asanas; the concrete contest that accept become accepted in the West 4. Pranayama; best accepted as breath contest 5. Pratyahara; abandonment from the senses (preliminary to mediation) 6. Dharana; absorption contest (meditation) 7. Dhyana; Absorption to airy phenomena (contemplation) 8. Samadhii; Complete assimilation in airy acquaintance

    I awful animate anyone absorbed to seek apprenticeship from a able instructor. For added advice on yoga and the Baba Nam Kevalam mantra, amuse appointment babanam.com .

    Baba Nam Kevalam