Henri

@Galyna An emotion is coming after the thought and is in the head. A feeling is from the heart, to be exactly from the heart-chakra. So quite a difference don`t you think?

@LateBloomer No mate, not at all. Otherwise the Art of Living would not have posted it on you tube! It`s a quite common and known pranayama exercise and there is nothing to worry about.

@zasa joey It is aware, just you are not aware, you as ego/identity. Next to the waking state, the dreaming state and the sleeping state is a fourth state called Turiya. This is the fundamental state of consciousness where one is constantly consciousness of all states. As with meditation you can become aware of your dreams, the first step. The final step is to become aware of you while sleeping. It`s the consciousness that roots in the anandamayakosha, the fifth sheat or kosha. It`s where you experience samadhi.

@Natasha Okay, so your self, which does not have an identity, has adopted now the stage of yellow according the Graves scale. Transitions are hard and much misunderstood. In a way it is impossible to do it consciously. You have to work like a farmer who is watering his land. The only thing he can do is to remove the obstacles so the water can do what it`s supposed to do; follow it`s nature and flow! Why transition or development takes place is a total mystery! Anyway your question assumes there is a lack of knowledge. And knowledge is important to be able to interpret everything the right way according this yellow stage. Important is to gain knowledge from the turquoise stage, that is the integral knowledge and the knowledge from the mystics. This will help you to move forward, this will trigger you and this will help you with the art of interpretation. If your cognitive developmental line has not developed this far, that`s a must to do. If it`s developed in the yellow zone you`ll do it happily and naturally. Check out Integral Psychology by Ken Wilber for knowledge about your own developmental lines. After learning about all kinds of developments in you, culture and society it will become natural to be aware constantly of the fact that everything is changing constantly and you`ll change naturally in a beautiful turquoise lady! Not necessary to tell you that your spiritual work becomes even more important all the time! But do not try to evolve by will-power according all kinds of drawings or whatever, this is not the way. Live your life your way, with your karma and you`ll be good.

@Locomike These are not emotions but feelings a three month old child is experiencing. There is no real differentiation between object and subject at this time and the child is experiencing from a innocent kind of oneness.

@Kenya Yes, the wonder of existence, the joy of experiencing the secrets of life... From being somebody to becoming nobody to end up as everybody. What a blessing!

@student The dark night of the soul is mainly coming out of christian mysticism. It is something that can happen after a period of long and deep thinking without doing proper spiritual work. So you enter this by the way of the thinking mind. The fear someone can experience during meditation is something else and also very short lived. It`s just like taking a jump and the fear will be gone instantly. Learning pranayamas will even eliminate this kind of fear and give you a smooth spiritual progress without these negative tendencies.

@Cesar Alba Common mate, art is one of the eternal big three! There is the Good, the True and the Beautiful!! Together they are one.... Your art is your expression. Be it your subconscious, your ego or your trans-personal insights! Art can go all the way, go for it!

An example of the possibilities of the science of pranayamas.

@LateBloomer Try this one and when you are not able to do the ujjayi breathe, find a local teacher. There plenty of them nowadays.

Ken Wilber came up with the idea of a basic moral intuition—the idea that everyone has a general intuition of morality, but each person has to actually bring it into practice and make it relevant in one's own unique context. "The intuition is given; the unpacking is our moral dilemma, always," says Ken Wilber. This unpacking is really where the rubber hits the road. And, it is a social process, an interpersonal reckoning, where we together work out the fine details of a morality for our moment. What might have been the right thing to do yesterday may not apply to today's consciousness, culture and context. And so, what is the right thing to do? And where do we engage? There is so much need, at so many different scales, and so many intricacies to this field of work, so much shadow work remaining to do, so much self-inquiry still held at bay, and yet, all the while, regions of our world continue to rage with need or silently suffer. We can't turn away. But where and how exactly do we turn toward? Wilber also suggests that this all begins with a recognition that each and every being is an expression of spirit. And that that very recognition brings us to consider, how shall we treat others who are also expressions of spirit? This moral interest begins there, and extends to other beings, to cultures and to the systems we live in. Far beyond religious dogma and prior to mental reasoning, this moral inclination lies deep within us all.

@Taurus It`s easier to take a vow every time, for lets say one week, to eat healthy. After that just eat what you like for two days. Repeat that a few times and it will become easier to stay on the healthy food. Be gentle in this, not fanatic and rigid. Become aware of the differences in your spiritual exercises with the different foods.

@Ire This is definitely a lack of concentration. Learn some pranayamas and it will easily improve.

@ArabiaNytes Any companionship is long lasting when it goes from a place of wanting or lack, to contributing. You came into this world all alone. Even if you are born twins, you are alone. When you go from here, you are going to go alone. Do not try to run away from loneliness. It is a blessing in disguise. This is the time for you to be centred. Push away everything around you. You will find that you are the scintillating energy of the universe. You are the centre of the consciousness. You are the ultimate truth. And this loneliness is only one step away from realizing that. Loneliness exists because you want to grab something from outside. Lord Krishna has said in Gita, 'This world is impermanent and there is no fun in it; there is no joy in it. Look up to Me, merge in Me. Put your attention onto Me'. It is time for you to do this. Trying to fill your loneliness by looking for a companion or anything outside is not going to work. Know that you are on this planet to give something and then pack up and leave. Take nothing from here. I am not against you having a relationship or a family, or getting married. You can have your spouse or your companion, but not from the space of wanting something from them. You can imagine a partnership where you are content and you are only contributing to the other person. Such a relationship will last longer. When you get into this knowledge, or into the central core of your existence, you will not feel lonely at all. You will feel that the consciousness around you is alive. You will feel so big that the whole universe, the whole world feels part of you. This is the way to get rid of loneliness. When you feel lonely, sit and meditate. Listen to bhajans or songs. Your beloved is within you. You just have to look inwards. Once you find the beloved within you, then you will find him/her everywhere in creation. Once you embrace your beloved, there is no loneliness anymore, anywhere, ever. S.S.R.S.

@Shab-e Ma_araj To my opinion you`d better stop conceptualizing about enlightenment. Just move on with masturbating and exposing all those details, may be just try to find another community. The chance that you found a new way to enlightenment called `masturbating towards liberation` is very unlikely.

Suicide Is The Most Foolish Thing Q: Dear Gurudev, I have had thoughts of suicide many times in my life. What happens if one commits suicide? Suicide Is the most foolish thing a person can ever do. It is like, someone is shivering in the cold and he goes out and removes all his clothes. What will you call him? Foolish! You are already feeling cold in a heated auditorium, and you go out into the open and say, ’I am so cold’, and remove your jacket, your t-shirt, your inner garments and throw them all out. Will the cold become any less? No! People who commit suicide find themselves there because they are so attached to life. They are so attached to some pleasure, so attached to some joy, that they want to kill themselves. And when they kill themselves they find themselves in a bigger soup. They feel, ‘Oh my God, this restlessness, these desires which had created such intense agony inside me has not gone. My body has gone but the agony has remained. It is only through the body that you can dispel the agony and get rid of misery. Instead you destroy the very instrument by which you can get rid of agony. That is why this knowledge is so important. If you do pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya and meditation, you will realize that you are not the body. Dedicate Your Life For Some Higher Cause What is it that you are hankering for in life? Are you hankering for love? Attention? Money? Pleasure? What is it that you are hankering? These hankerings are boiling desires and they are creating this foolish idea inside you to commit suicide. If you feel you want to commit suicide, I tell you, I need you. I need you to do my work, so you better stay back. Dedicate your life for a social cause; for some higher cause. When you think only about yourself, ‘What about me, what about me’, then this is what happens. Depression comes in. Forget about yourself. Die for a cause but don't kill yourself. It is worth dedicating your life for something higher. I need you. Come here (to the Ashram) and do work. There is so much work to be done, help me out. Know that you are useful to me. If everyone else says you are useless, remember, 'No, I am here, born at this time because Gurudev needs me. I have some work to do for Gurudev. I am not going to commit suicide', got it?! So, do my work. If you cannot do yoga and meditation, then sweat it out and do my work. I have lots of work I can give you. I can give some work to the entire nation, and the entire population. I have plenty of work to be done. And whatever you need, I will provide you. You need a roof above you, I will provide you, I guarantee you this, but don’t kill yourself. The Human Body Is So Precious After so many different lives and different bodies you get a human body; a human birth. After being a worm, a frog, a scorpion, a chicken, a mouse somewhere in some hole, a cat jumping around here and there, a dog, a bird, etc., then you get a human life, after going through all those births. So it is very precious! Your Hankering For Pleasure Is The Cause Of Depression In You Wake up and see, all pleasures are momentary; how long will they stay? See that they are so momentary. Five to ten minutes of joy and then it is gone. What is it that you are hankering about? Some people appreciating you? My dear, it has no meaning. People appreciate you in front of you, behind you they feel jealous about you. That is what happens. They praise you today, tomorrow they criticize you. So what? Do you see what I am saying? What is appreciation? It is just a few thoughts that are passing through the mind of someone.Do you think they are going to do it forever? Some people have good comments and some people have bad comments, so what. If someone criticizes you, so what? Those who criticize you are also going to die, and you, the one being criticized are also going to die. One day all will be finished! So why are you so much bothered about somebody’s appreciation, or criticism? Why can’t you just be yourself? You know, it takes such a big load off your head not being bothered by anybody’s criticism or adulations. You can just be yourself; natural. And if you live like this, so lightly, then where is the question of depression? Do you see what I am saying? If You Get Thoughts Of Committing Suicide 1. Know that it is just your prana which is low, so do more pranayama 2. There are millions of people who are suffering more than you, look at them. When your suffering becomes smaller you will never think of committing suicide. 3. Know that you are needed, you are useful. You have to do something in the world. 4. Forget about what people think of you. People commit suicide because they think they have lost their prestige, their status. What status? What prestige? Who has time to think about your prestige? Everybody is entangled with their own problems, with their own mind. They can’t step out of their own mind, where do they have the time to think about you? These types of tendencies come because you think others are going to disrespect you. I tell you, it is worthless to worry about what the society thinks of you. Mainly, we must realize that suicide is the worst thing. This is one of the major reasons that we should conduct as many Happiness Programs as possible. Do you see what I’m saying? When you start the breathing exercises, it all goes away!

@cly May be you`ll like the following talk; There are two basic instincts in human beings and these have been with you in all your lifetimes There are two basic instincts in human beings, one is food, and the other is sex. These have been with you in all your lifetimes, when you were an animal and now as a human being. You are born out of these two – food and sex. It is so beautiful that in this country (India) they connected both of these with the Divinity. Food is connected with God. In the Upanishads, it is said ‘Food is God’. When you consider food as God you will not over eat. You don’t simply stuff food, but you eat food with so much honor. No festival in India goes without food. And when you go to temple the first thing they give is some Prasad. Prasad is just a little bit of food that is given. Without Prasad there is no pilgrimage and no festival. Food is connected with God. Similarly, sex is also connected with God. Otherwise you keep sex separate and think this is my material life and think of God as different. But here in India, the ancient people, they linked sex to God so that no aspect in you remains away from God. A basic instinct doesn’t remain away from God. So when you honor sex and consider it as part of the Divinity, then your obsession disappears, lust disappears and sacredness dawns. And the basic instinct, from being an aggressive lust, gets transformed into a submissive love. This is the ancient thought. But some people are misusing yoga for their enjoyment of the carnal instincts, this is wrong. This is a blunder. It should be the other way around. Whenever there is a carnal instinct transform that into a Divine inner experience. There is a beautiful word in Sanskrit called Atma Rati, union with one’s being, oneself; rejoicing in one’s own self. There are two things, Prakriti (nature) and Purusha (consciousness). Nature and consciousness inter play all the time. Your body and soul - your body is female and your soul is male. So their coupling is happening all the time, and seeing that union within oneself is Samadhi. That is why Samadhi is considered to be a thousand times more joyful than the carnal instincts. Whatever joy sex gives, Samadhi is thousand times more joyful because there is no effort, and there is no action there. It is only Being and just Being. So just the Being consciousness, the play and display of consciousness comes to one’s awareness, comes to one’s experience. This is very beautiful. Don’t keep any corner of your existence away from Divinity. The Divine should be interwoven into every aspect of your life and this is called Brahmacharya, which means moving with the infinity, uniting with the infinity. Isn’t that so beautiful?! It is very deep and very high knowledge. If you don’t get it in one time, never mind, keep listening and keep understanding and one day you will say, ‘Ah! That is what Guruji was talking about.’ So here (in India) when you go to any temple anywhere you find both aspects – Shiva and Parvathi which symbolize Prakrati and Purusha, consciousness and matter. This is to first recognize the duality and then see the unity. They are not two, they are not different but they are two sides of the same coin. You are complete. What does this mean? You are both man and woman. Coming out of this label, ‘I am man’, ‘I am woman’ - Getting out of your identity, this is Vedanta; the highest philosophy of the universe. We keep identifying ourselves, ‘I am a man’, ‘I am a woman’, ‘I am old’, ‘I am young’, ‘I am educated’, ‘I am illiterate’. Throw away all these labels. What remains is pure consciousness. Do not even say, ‘I am consciousness.’ Just know that you are consciousness and not even say it. Don’t go around saying I am nothing. Adi Shankar once said, ‘One who labels themselves as something is a fool and one who labels themselves as nothing is a bigger fool.’ One who is nothing does not talk, so just keep quiet. How can you say, ‘I am nothing’, when you are saying something?! There cannot be somebody there saying, ‘I am nothing.’ So keep quiet. So when you consider the basic instincts of food and sex as sacred then aggression in you disappears and surrender dawns in you. Gratefulness and love dawn in you. That is when it is said the devotee and the Divine have become One. They have merged into One! It is so fascinating, isn’t it?! By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

@electroBeam Do not try to make your meditation perfect. Let it come as it comes and be gentle with it. Frustration can only arise when the expectation is too high, you want to do your best, you want `quality-meditation`. Meditate effortlessly and be kind to yourself.

@Jan Odvarko It sounds to me you have adopted the roll of `the observer`. This will be a temporary state. Naturally there will rise the tendency to act, to move, to work. This time make sure it`s out of positive values.

@charlie2dogs Thank you for your words. It`s truly inspiring and from the heart. It makes me humble and at peace.

@appleaurorae You doubt a lot and losing interest is just something coming out of that doubt. Faith, love, beauty and truth are a hundred times more powerful than the doubt. So there is a lack of those qualities and that`s mainly because you are not practising your spiritual work enough. Only some pranayamas and the doubt will be gone. So easy...

@khalifa Take first another goal. You have to become free from the 5 deepest, strongest and oldest impressions; food, sleep, sex, fear and laziness. When you have become free from these impressions then you will know what your real purpose in life is. Do pranayamas, meditation, yoga, good sleep (7/8 hours) and healthy food (filling stomach 60%). Do this 6 weeks and avoid too much TV and computer stuff. Read knowledge books instead. You`ll find out!

@Falk Enjoy!

@brovakhiin You are like a diamond, just need to polish and polish and polish...... That`s from the outward look. Take the inward look and everything changes....

With mind-stuff to explain you need tools. These tools are knowledge and the ability to interpret the experience according to your knowledge. When that`s not working it`s mostly because a lack of knowledge in a certain field. Look after that. @Parki