Integration

It’s kinda sad when my first post this year is in August, but oh well. No one reads this but me anyway. Life has been it’s usual whirlwind, but at least I’m getting plenty of fresh air! My studies of Yoga and Auyerveda have been progressing nicely. As usual, I want to use my new knowledge to save the world, but I understand that it will take time to develop the experience to work with my new knowledge. Slowly, I have had more people come to me and ask me for advice. I try not to offer it where it isn’t requested because it would fall on deaf ears, and may even create an aversion to the proper means of healing, not to mention what I know at this point is very limited. But, as I am asked to face more and more, I gain more experience, and I gain confidence in the methods when I see them work. I just bought a bunch of herbs from takeherb.com to help me with my own bodily challenges, as well as those challenges others have asked me to aid them with. It was just last night, so it will be a week or so before I have them. Anyway, I’ll try to be a little more prudent about posting. If there is actually anyone listening, feel free to leave a comment and/or question. I will be much more vigilant about keeping this site updated if I know my words aren’t just flying off into the ether unheard.

So I’ve been reading a lot lately… mostly Dr. David Frawley on Ayuerveda and Yoga.  I highly recommend his books… Ayurvedic Healing is a great place to start if anyone is interested.

What is Ayurveda you ask?  Ayurveda is the traditional medical system of India and other similar cultures.  It is a way of viewing the body and it’s processes that aids in understanding and healing the root causes of any diseases or discomforts.  It describes the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether and explains how each of them plays it’s role in the formation and functioning of our bodies.  Fire, for instance, is present in the body as digestion.  While there are no flames, acids and enzymes are used to heat up our food in order to break its chemical bonds.  I have read a lot, but I’m still very new to the subject.  I find it to be a very interesting view of the workings of the body that could prove to be quite a powerful contribution to modern medicine.

Ahamkara is the I-Maker.  It is the part of you that identifies things as yours.  Ahamkara is useful to the body because it provides a unifying force for the cells.  The cells can all work together because Ahamkara identifies them as part of the whole.  Ahamkara can become misused however.  If you begin to identify something that isn’t yours as yours, you bring it in and make it part of you.  Food is like this.  In fact, in the case of food, the actual physical objects that make up the food do become a part of you.  But, it is the same with objects, plants, animals, and intelligent beings.  God is within us all.  We are made in the image of God.  We are surrounded by God.

Whatever we identify with becomes part of ourselves.   Ahamkara controls what we are now and what we will become.
“”"

Nature told them that first exists Pure Existence, The One Without a Second.

When within Pure Existence a desire for Manifestation arises Consciousness and Will Appear.

These two mate together.  Their offspring is Intellect, the power of discrimination.

Intellect then individualizes itself into Ahamkara, the “I-former.”

The universe fills with numberless little individual bundles of intellect all searching for a means of expression.

According to their innate predilections these ahamkara-bundles manifest as:

waves of kinetic energy known as Rajas

material particles of potential energy known as Tamas

and the subjective consciousness known as Sattva.
“”" [1], page 13.

References
[1]. Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution.  Dr. Robert E. Svoboda.

[2]. Countless other texts, lectures, experience.

yogash- to join, to integrate
chitta- the screen of mind that consciousness observes
vritti- fluctuations, changes, modifications
nirodhah- mastery, control, regulation, channeling

My Translation:
Yoga is the art of channelling the fluctuations of mind in order to achieve an undisturbed, peaceful state of mind.

Chitta is the screen on which our world plays.  We do not see the world as directly as we think.  What we see is a combination of sensory input and memory.  Our senses do not give us complete information, but our minds fill in the missing gaps from memory.  All too often though, the screen is disturbed by memories that are not necessarily relevant to the reality we are attempting to perceive.  By a threefold process of letting go, observing without attachment, and finally inspecting these memories when they present themselves, one can gradually weaken their control over the mind.  When this is done with sincere effort, but without straining, peace of mind can be achieved.

atha- now, which implies that something has come before
yoga- to join, to integrate
anu- within, traditionally
shasanam- to explain, discipline

My Translation:
And now we will delve into the topic of integrating the mind, body, and spirit.

The three entities of mind, body, and spirit are not really separate. They are all part of one whole. A useful metaphor is the holy trinity of Christianity. Mind (the father), body (the son), and spirit (the holy ghost) are all part of on entity self. The Bible says we are made in the image of God. It also says that God is within us. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God”. This is Yoga. Through the integration of these three entities, you will find peace and stillness, and through that you will come to know God.