In addition to the lectures, this course includes a number of exercises designed to provide experiences which can evolve into a complete sadhana (program for spiritual practices) based upon the Gita. The exercises include:
This syllabus is reproduced from the original and contains some variations in typography and usage from the rest of this book.
A. KEEPING A JOURNAL
During this five-week journey, beginning as soon as possible, keep a journal in which you record the insights and experiences that arise from going deeply into the Gita. Like the other exercises, writing will be used as a vehicle for becoming more conscious, for becoming an open book. Journals have a way of reminding us that we are constantly changing, that we are constantly changing, that there is no immutable, fixed self. “I seem to be a verb,” says Buckminster Fuller in his journal.
The first entry should concern the personalizing for you of Arjuna’s predicament as defined in chapter 1. His despair, confusion, inner struggle, depression, loss of savour of experiences, desire to cling to old habits, etc., are to be recognized as part of the journey.What specific anecdotes or immediate states from your own “personal history” can you bring to mind which are a foundation for your empathy with Arjuna’s situation.
Subsequent entries will include your reactions to each of the various exercises in the course as well as to points in the text or lectures from which you experience a profound affect. Entries can be as brief or extensive as you wish to make them.
The entries can be in any form, whatever form feels right for the transmission. Some might be in discursive diary form; others might be less linear, more poetic. You may want to include quotes from other beings who are connected to your spiritual growth, or pictures, or anything that fits between the pages. Don’t write for an audience or reader. It should should be your honest experience, a record of your own journey through these paths of consciousness, simple comments on what you are seeing about yourself, your world, and your relation to the teachings of the Gita.
It is helpful to meditate before writing, to get closer to the source of the Word. If you can clear your mind, if you can create an open space where there is no thinking, no trying, the words will arise spontaneously and you will only have to transfer them to paper.
At the beginning of the fifth week those of you who wish formal course credit will be asked to submit your journal. In general, they will be scanned for the administrative purpose of determining a “pass” or “not pass” for the course. Any sincere journal effort will, of course, get a “pass.”
Because of the number of students registered in the course and the time limitations, it will be impossible to read more than a page or two of any journal. If there are one or two specific pages which you wish the staff to read or comment upon—please note and clearly mark the page numbers on the cover. If there are specific pages you do not wish to have read, also clearly make note of these. The journals will be returned to you.
B. CONTEMPLATION
The characteristic of intellectuals is that they like what they cannot understand. If they do not understand it they will say, “Very good, very good.” If it is something they can easily understand, they say,“Nothing new, nothing special.”
In true spiritual work, intellectual achievement per se is inadequate. The mind must carry out its conclusions in the heart, the seat of the emotions. The emotions, in turn, must effect actual deeds.
Scriptural study can bring to us both exhilaration and humility.The sublimity of the words of truth will bring delight and inspiration to our minds and hearts. We will be stimulated to continue our study. Humility will come as we realize the inherent limitations in the intellect’s attempt to fully integrate and understand the Nature of Truth. The Word may be a taste, but we humbly realize that the “word” is not the thing. Our minds are continually inspired, humbled and blown as we advance in our studies.
When we concentrate, we always concentrate on an object produced by our own mind. However, when a person is calm enough and pure enough, the act of concentration may, as Aldous Huxley says, merge into “the state of openness and alert passivity in which true contemplation becomes possible.” True contemplation is true prayer, a state of union with the divine. Contemplation in its lower forms is discursive thought. Don’t get lost in the lower forms.
Optimally this exercise with the Gita would be done daily during the entire five weeks of the course.
In addition, select from time to time other objects of contemplation, such as:
1. A holy picture (you will find later that any picture can become holy through contemplation).
2. A flower, leaf, rock, tree, etc. Sitting by a stream and contemplating the water is a very powerful exercise.
3. A divine quality such as loving-kindness for all beings, compassion, equanimity, etc.
4. The marketplace as you sit on a bench at a bus stop, etc.
5. Anything else (e.g., relationships, etc.) which brings you to a place of deeper understanding.
6. Time.
The body is always in time, the spirit is always timeless and the psyche is an amphibious creature, compelled by the laws of man’s being to associate itself to some extent with its body, but capable, if it so desires, of experiencing and identifying itself with its spirit.”
—A. Huxley
Time is what keeps the light from reaching us.There is no greater obstacle to God than time.
—Eckehart
Our true future is our own growth in Now, not in the tomorrow of passing time.
—Nicoll
In order to open the doors to a feeling of what time is and how our lives function in relationship to it, it is useful to experiment with the following:
In your journal keep a list of the objects of contemplation you work with and diary notes if you wish. If you are not able to “grok” or fully incorporate one or more of them initially, perhaps you will want to work with them again later.
C. MEDITATION
The quieting of the mind is perhaps the single most important foundation for all other yogic practices. Naropa has provided meditation halls for us. If you are not in the habit of meditating regularly, it would be useful for you to attend a regular sitting each day at one of these halls.The presence of other meditators and a meditation master helps. Later, as you prefer, you can meditate in any quiet place where you will not be disturbed during the period of practice.
Each week throughout the course, during a lecture period, a meditation teacher of Satipatthana Vipassana from the Theravadin Buddhist tradition will introduce one of a series of formal meditation exercises. He and other members of the staff will be available during office hours to advise you about any difficulties you may encounter.
If you are already an adept in another form of meditation, or are simultaneously receiving meditation instructions in another course at Naropa, feel free to pursue these other practices if you prefer.
D. THE WITNESS
“Suddenly I remembered that I had forgotten to remember myself !”
—Ouspensky
The method of developing the witness is useful practice on the path although it must be eventually left behind with other methods. The blossom must go as the fruit will grow. It is a voluntary creation of the intellect, a place of detached watching of phenomenal activity, where no judging or comparing takes place. (“If you wish to see the truth/then hold no opinions for or against anything.”) Just see what is. The witness dwells in the cool space between the heat of one’s imagined self and one’s projections. It is an aspect of ego used to extricate yourself from unconscious attachments to other aspects of ego.
Moments of consciousness are brief compared to the vast intervals of unconscious, mechanical, conditioned ways of being. We are continuously losing the thread of attention, seeing who we are, losing it again, finding it again, being pulled this way and that by the forces around us.
The witness, however, does not come into existence by desire or decision alone. It must be developed by specific techniques and exercises. Certain meditation practices of mindfulness may be used as well as exercises that take us out of our normal patterns. Many of the exercises in this course will allow us to observe our beings through new lenses. Special mindfulness meditations will also be taught during the course to help in establishing the witness.
Situations that take us out of our normal patterns often allow us to observe our workings more clearly. Time of silence and fasting are examples of this.Yet all our daily actions are available to the witness, particularly if we slow them down enough to see the precise quality inherent in them. Opening a door, eating a salad, washing a dish—all are potential exercises in mindfulness. Any of our usually “thrown away” actions can have the clarity of the tea ceremony.
The witness is not evaluative. It does not judge your actions. It merely notes them.Thus, if you perform an act because of desire, such as eating something that is not helpful to your sadhana, and then you put yourself down for having eaten it . . . the witness—when it finally appears—would merely note: (a) he is eating such-and-such, and (b) he is putting himself down for eating such-and-such. Thus the witness has noted a “you” of desires and a super-ego you . . . two “you’s.”
This point is important. Most of the time the inner voices of most people are continually evaluative. “I’m good for doing this” or “I’m bad for doing that.” You must make that evaluative role an object of contemplation as well. Keep in mind that the witness does not care whether you become enlightened or not. It merely notes how it all is.
Appearance of the Witness
At first the witness is adopted because of an intellectual understanding of the need to separate the Self from the Doer. You probably remember your witness only now and then, when you are in a calm dispassionate state of mind. The moment you get distracted you lose the witness. Later you “come to” and remember that you forgot.
For example, you are walking down a street witnessing yourself walking down a street.You feel happy and witness feeling happy . . . and so it goes.Then you meet someone or see something that irritates you. Immediately you get irritated and forget all about the witness. The adrenaline pumps through you and you think angry thoughts. At this point “angry me” is who you are. Only much later do you remember that you were attempting to witness.
At that point you promise yourself that you won’t forget again. Ah, how little you know about the subtleties of the seductions of the other “you’s.” Again you are walking and again witnessing walking and so forth. This time you meet with another situation which irritates you. Again you lose your witness (or center as it is called sometimes) and again your endocrine glands secrete and you think angry thoughts. But this time right in the middle of the entire drama you “wake up” . . . that is, you realize your predicament. But at this point it is difficult to get free of the angry you because you are already getting much gratification. (It’s like trying to stop in the midst of a sexual act.) And so you use some rationalization such as “I know I should be witnessing but after all he deserves to be punished” and with that you climb back into the “angry you” role with a certain amount of self-righteousness. And so it goes through thousands of such experiences.
After a time (however long is necessary) you notice that although you still lose the witness (fall asleep) as often as before, you are starting to “remember” sooner. That is, you are getting to the point where the actual falling asleep is starting to “wake” you.This is a big step forward.
Again, after some time, it all gets much more subtle. Now you are walking down the street and again you witness it all . . . and again an “irritant” presents itself. This time—as you are about to get angry— the witness says, “Ah, about to get angry, I see.” This often short-circuits the energy the “angry you” was fueling up with, and it falls away. So now the lapse between being awake and being asleep is getting much smaller. Simultaneously, you begin to note that you don’t fall asleep (i.e., fall out of the witness) nearly as often. Throughout the day you are remaining centered in the witness watching the drama of life unfold.
Later, when you are established in the witness, it will begin to disappear as a conscious stance and you will be left with a feeling of spacious, timeless presence surrounding each act.
E. GIVING AND RECEIVING
“Neither give nor receive.”
—Patanjali
“Not as the world gives do I give.”
—Jesus
“Saints and birds don’t collect.”
—Neem Karoli Baba
True giving and receiving are just part of the energy flow of the constantly changing universe in which we are all one and everything belongs to all of us . . . all the food and all the books and all the houses and cars and clothes and all the energy of the universe. Maharajji, who owned nothing but a blanket, and he periodically gave that away, said, “Why give me money? All the money in the universe is mine.” (Then he laughed.) We all share in it—it belongs to all of us and none of us. “Neither give nor receive,” warned Patanjali. Don’t be a giver or a receiver, just a void channel for the ever-changing energy. True giving is dwelling in a state of spontaneous compassion, dwelling in the open heartspace. True receiving is the same. From that space you perceive a need in someone and you fill it if you can. No ego motives. Pure action.
That’s one level. At another level, most of us own things and desire to own more things. When we give, there is usually some feeling that “This is mine. I’m giving it to you, then it will be yours. And you should thank me and think that I am a generous person and love me a little more than if I hadn’t given it to you.” Often our gifts are Greek horses in Troy—they are filled with soldiers of the mind. They are given to fulfill our desires for power over others.
In Hindi there is no commonly used word for “Thank you.” One rarely hears it expressed. The Indian tradition holds that giving is part of doing your dharma. One gives what is appropriate and prescribed for him to give and “why should I be thanked for doing what is my duty?”
Most of our giving and receiving habits are based on the ego-created sense of separateness. They keep us from experiencing true giving and receiving, which is simply dwelling in the heartspace, the center, and letting the energy flow through. When we are being still within that space, compassion—unconditioned love—arises spontaneously. For many of us, the most direct path to the center is meditation.When you’re there, you know openness.You know you are not the doer, the giver, the receiver.
To work with these exercises is to try to give and receive from within that consciousness and to witness yourself doing it. Choose two of the following exercises—one that seems difficult to you (it will show you where you’re deeply attached) and one that seems easy (it will allow you to be more gentle with yourself, go more slowly, spend more time witnessing your attachment). After doing each of the exercises, write about it in your journal.
“Satisfied with whatever comes unasked . . . even acting he is not bound.”
—Gita 4,22
“Tukaram, a saint in India and a poor man, was once given ten sticks of sugarcane as a gift. On his way home, he gave away nine of the sticks to beggars, saving one for himself. When he arrived home and told his wife, she beat him with the remaining stick.”
—Story told by Maharajji
F. SILENCE
“The whole world is tormented by words And there is no one who does without words. But only insofar as one is free from words Does one really understand words.”
—Saraha (early Tantric Buddhist)
Select a day when you can arrange to go deeply into silence. Choose a time with the least obligation for speaking, having previously taken care of business matters and concerns for physical maintenance. It is probably best to tell your friends about the exercise so they will understand. Don’t speak to anyone during the day, though at least part of the day should be spent among people. Use brief written notes when necessary. Be compassionate in your silence; don’t make other people uptight in your presence. If you are becoming too fierce in your resolve, and your living situation is becoming awkward or uncomfortable, stop and wait for a day when you can handle it better.
This day of silence is part of the continuing exercise of developing the witness and its reflection in your journal. Silence gives us the space to listen to the many voices we are. Journal entries might include some of this inner dialogue as well as other teachings of the silence, such as an awareness of how others around you use conversation.
When the impulse to speak arises, this energy might be channeled into a spiritual affirmation or mantra, the Prayer of the Heart, the Triple Refuge, or whatever method is right for you.
Sometime during the day, reserve at least one hour for the silence of body, speech, and mind. Find a comfortable position for the body, keeping the spine erect, and determine to sit for an hour without moving at all. At the same time, practice the silence of the mind through meditation or prayer. (“The inner silence is self-surrender— living without the sense of ego.”—Ramana Maharshi) You will already be practicing the silence of speech. These three silences—of body, speech, and mind—are known as the Noble Silence.
Some inspirational words on the unspoken:
“I realized in this place that people feared silence more than anything else, that our tendency to talk arises from self-defense and is always based upon a reluctance to see something, a reluctance to confess something to oneself. Directly a person is quiet himself, that is, awakes a little, he hears the di ferent intonations and begins to distinguishother people’s lies.”
—Ouspensky
“Quietness is master of the deed.”
—Tao Te Ching
“My life is a listening— His is a speaking. My salvation is to hear and respond. For this, my life must be silent. Hence my silence is my salvation.”
—Thomas Merton
“Silence provides economy of psychic energy and increased power of concentration.”
—Meher Baba (silent for the last 40 years of his life)
“Silence is the language of God— It is also the language of the heart.”
—Swami Sivananda
“Be still and know that I am God.”
—Psalm XLVI
“Silence is the mother of truth.”
—Thomas Merton
“Only that which can be expressed in words is being said.”
—Ananda Mai Ma
G. TAPASYA
“When in recollection he withdraws all his senses from the attractions of the pleasures of sense, even as a tortoise withdraws all its limbs, then his is a serene wisdom.”
—Bhagavad Gita, 4–58
Tapasya or religious austerity is the most direct way of dealing with attachment. Fasting, silence, and sexual continence are widely practiced tapasyas.
Fasting as a spiritual practice not only cleanses your body, but alters your consciousness just enough to allow you to hear the inner voices a little more clearly than usual. Fasting also gives those voices something to struggle with. If you can dwell in the witness place, you’ll be able to hear arguments from the grossest to the most subtle.
Try jumping into the fire. Completely stop eating for a prescribed period of time.This gives you the space in which to witness the desire (probably over and over again)—space in which to see that you are not the desire; space in which to see how the desire rises and then falls away. And from this inner struggle comes the fire which will eventually consume your impurities.
Resolve firmly to fast for a full day (24 hours).You might make the resolve just before sleep or just after your morning meditation, when you’ll hear it in the deeper places. Then, in the middle of the morning, when one of the many voices of the ego announces, “Tomorrow would really be better—I have so much to do today,” or “Small bites don’t count,” you can refer that voice to your resolve and get on with the business of fasting.
Decide before you begin whether you will take juices, or fruit, or just water during the day. Some say the purest fast is to take just water; Maharajji said, “Always take a little something.” Whatever you do, it is important to take plenty of liquids (water, unsweetened herbal tea, etc.) to prevent dehydration. If you have to decide during the day what you will take, you may become confused about whether you are really keeping the fast. The simplest practices are best— decide on the rules for the day and then just remind yourself every time you are tempted. “Pleasures of the senses, but not desires, disappear from the austere soul.” Gita, 4–59
It is best to do this fast on a relatively quiet day—if you’re concentrated on busy-ness all day, you may not even realize that you are fasting—you’ll be aware only of a gnawing hunger.You should try to stay quiet enough to hear the workings of the ego.
Austerities are an act of will and will can be used to strengthen the ego as well as to subjugate it. Be aware of any spiritual pride, self-pity, or feelings of competition that may develop. But if you undertake this exercise as an offering to the one Divine Being, there will be little room for these ego manifestations to arise.
Make your journal entries either during the fast or just when it is over. Such insights are elusive.
Re-enter the food realm gently, respectfully. “From food creatures come into being.” Take juice or fruit as your first meal and be careful not to overeat the day after your fast—your digestive system may not be able to handle it. Continue to witness your relation to food. Watch to see how not eating has made the habits of eating a little more conscious.
“Offer unto Me that which is very dear to thee— which thou holdest most covetable. Infinite are the results of such an o fering.”
—Srimad Bhagavatam
H. HATHA YOGA ASANAS AND PRANAYAM
During the course it would be useful for you to become tuned to your body as the temple in which you dwell; as the most immediate environment in which you reside. An unhealthy or tense body can be a major impediment to one’s effort to open one’s heart and concentrate one’s mind.While it is true that the changing of mental and emotional tendencies will in itself cool out and harmonize your body, conversely, purifying of the physical will help in harmonizing the mind and heart.
The traditional Hindu method for tuning, calming, and vitalizing the body is Hatha Yoga, which involves consciously assuming a set of meditative postures or “asanas” and controlling the breath (pranayam). Certain of the asanas, in addition, are primarily concerned with liberating or transmuting energy from one form to another or from one part of the body to another, and with purification of the blood and “nadis” (spiritual nerves).
Intensive hatha yoga practiced for five weeks would rather dramatically change:
1. Your ability to sit quietly in meditation without being preoccupied with your body.
2. Your desires with regard to certain foods, tobacco, drugs, by sensitizing you to your subtle body reactions.
3. Your general body tone and sense of well being.
However, even twenty minutes a day would be a useful start.
Many of you already know a set of asanas and pranayamic exercies. For those of you who do not and wish to receive an instruction manual and guidance, please see one of the teaching fellows.
Here we offer one composite exercise known as Soorya Namaskaram—the Sun Worship. It should be done four to six times on a level space in a quiet place. Clothing should be light and flexible. It should not be done within two hours after eating.
Sun Salutation: This was an illustration from the original Course Syllabus. It shows the twelve poses of Soorya Namaskaram, the sequence of yoga postures known as the Salutation to the Sun.
I. JAPA YOGA
The “Word” is one of the most powerful devices for transforming your perceptions of daily life experiences. Repeating a word or phrase which is associated with your ever-deepening spiritual awareness can become a moment-to-moment way of “remembering.” Repetition of the name, such as RAM and KRISHNA, which have come to represent the various aspects of God, work in this way. Or a mantra such as the Tibetan OM MANI PADMA HUM, which reminds us of the jewel on the lotus which is manifest in our heart, is used in a similar fashion.
To help keep your mantric word or phrase going, it is often useful to work with a kinesthetic reminder such as beads (called a mala or rosary). We will provide you with a small mala which you can use for this purpose.
In beginning to work with mantra it is advisable to set aside an extensive period of time for doing only the mantra: three or four hours at least, preferably longer. This is the investment period.
Then, each morning, as you start to awaken, come as quickly as you can “remember” into the mantra. At first, say it aloud. When it feels right, let the mantric repetition become sub-vocal. Later it becomes mental and finally continues to sound only in your heart. If the mental repetition falls away and all that is left is the feeling, just keep “listening” to this feeling of the mantra.
During the remainder of the day keep the mantra going as much as possible. If the mantra is on your lips but not in your heart, don’t worry.The sound itself will eventually find its way to the cave of your heart if you persist.
Co-ordinate the mantra with your steps as you walk. Realize the vibration of the mantra in each person you meet, even their (and your own) impurities. Notice that when your mind is calm, the mantra is as delicate and subtle as you will allow; when you are floundering, the mantra is also there, as strong and as gross as you need. Notice which desires, which situations, separate you from the mantra. And then gently come back to it. No blame.
One of the most beautiful stories of the use of mantra is The Way of the Pilgrim, translated by R. M. French. In this tale, a simple man transforms his life, and the lives of those around him, through the use of “the Jesus prayer.”
“I go about now and ceaselessly repeat the prayer of Jesus, which is more precious and sweet to me than anything in the world. At times I do as much as forty-three or -four miles a day and do not feel that I am walking at all. I am aware only of the fact that I am saying my prayer. When the bitter cold pierces me, I begin to say my prayer more earnestly, and I quickly get warm all over . . . and doing this I am filled with joy. God knows what is happening to me.” “The power and the e fect of a mantra depend on the spiritual attitude, the knowledge and the responsiveness of the individual.The sabda or sound of the mantra is not a physical sound (though it may be accompanied by such aone), but a spiritual one. It cannot be heard by the ears but only by the heart.”
—Lama Govinda
“Place the name of RAMA as a jeweled lamp at the door of your lips and there will be light, as you will, both inside and out.”
—Tulsi Das
J. GOING TO CHURCH OR TEMPLE
“If even two come together in my name, I am there.”
—Jesus
“He who worships me comes to me.”
—Krishna
“Christ and Krishna are one.”
—Maharajji
The yoga of worship is America’s chosen path. Much American energy has gone into institutionalizing worship as a path. In most cities there are dozens of temples and churches.To most people in America, spiritual paths other than church worship (such as meditation, renunciation, contemplation, and service) seem alien. Unfortunately, often the church rituals have lost much of the spiritual powers with which they were initially invested.
So many people came to church to “get something” that many churches have little spirit remaining. Yet the rituals often were designed “in the Spirit” and need only a re-investment or re-consecration in order to once again become forms for sharing the Light.
By attending church with the devotional stance of the Gita, which can allow you to see the living Spirit in existing rituals, you can participate in this process of re-investing the Spirit. Through the interaction of the devotional heart you bring and the form of the service, you will realize again the Living God.
As our witness develops, we can begin to strip away the many veils between us and the place where we really dwell with the divine energy.
K. KIRTAN
Kirtan is the chanting of the names of God—a devotional yogic technique which has the power to purify and open our hearts. Just as devotion has many levels, kirtan can be done from any state of mind or level of evolution and it will lead to deeper levels of opening and understanding.
Kirtan uses music as a vehicle of communication, but is not concerned with musical ability. Singing beautifully is not important; what is important is singing from the heart. In devotional singing in India, many times it was the old man who sang last, with no teeth, raspy broken voice, and hacking cough, who would totally blow everyone out because he knew what and to whom he was singing, and the beauty of this communication with God was moving and powerful.
To practice kirtan, the instruction is always to do it in a disinterested spirit. Give up wanting to “get off” and give up a judgmental, evaluating attitude. Go into it with an open mind, allowing yourself to make the effort necessary to experience the way in which this method works. It isn’t necessary to be “feeling devotional” to sing kirtan; let thoughts and moods pass through making space for new things to come from within. If you’re blissful, be blissful and singing; if bored, be bored and singing. Just keep offering it all into the fire of the name. The more you can give up, the more your attention will orbit around the mantra.
If someone is leading the chanting (call and response), listening is as important as singing and will help keep the monkey-mind from wandering.
During the night from about 9:30 p.m. of July 3rd until 8:00 a.m. of July 4th, we will share a traditional Hindu “yagya” (fire ceremony) and the singing of a chant.
For the all-night chant, bring a blanket or pillow to sit or sleep on. If you need to nap, do it right there—you may find yourself dreaming the mantra. It’s an informal experience of sharing space for the night, so bring whatever you need to keep the physical plane together ( juice to drink, etc.), but keep it simple.
The deeper you go, the less you know, the more you are.You may wonder at times whether you’re chanting the mantra or the mantra is chanting you. Or you may find that you’ve stepped back far enough so that while you are chanting, the whole process and all thoughts are being witnessed from a deep calm space within, and that with each repetition of the mantra this place gets deeper and more “here.”
Kirtan is a devotional yogic technique. For the lovers of God, the very sound of His name brings joy. It’s said that “in its highest aspect, divine love is nothing less than the immortal bliss of liberation.”
“Taking the name of God, dive deep, O mind Into the heart’s fathomless depths, Where many precious gems (of love) lie hid. Never believe that the bed of the ocean is bare, If in the first few dives, you fail. With firm resolve and self control Dive deep and make your way into God’s realm.”
—Ramakrishna
“God is not di ferent from His name.”
—Old saying
“When hearing the name once, you shed tears and your hair stands on end, then you may know for certain that you do not have to perform devotional rituals any more. It will be enough just to repeat the name.”
—Ramakrishna
“However huge may be the stock of our accumulated sins, the whole of it gets burnt as fuel, is burnt by fire, as soon as the name of God is uttered with a sincere heart.”
—H. P. Poddar
L. SATSANG COLLABORATION
Sharing your inner work with another person who is also on the path can be useful: helping each other. There are many ways in which such a collaborative contract to become conscious through one another can be carried out.
M. PUJA TABLE
In developing an inner Center, a meditative stance, or connecting with your heart cave, it is most useful to create an external quiet space where you can hook up for refueling.
When setting up the puja table, choose a quiet place, a place that can be a refuge.You come home feeling speedy, you’re angry at someone—whatever—sit down in front of the puja table and Remember.
Typically, pictures of holy beings, statues, flowers, fruit, beautiful stones or shells, or things which you associate with the highest place in yourself, are put on a puja table. Here you may worship God with form in any way that opens your heart.You can sing, meditate, offer food, perform ritualistic worship with bells, candles and mantras, incense, or you may just want to hang out in the space that you and the puja table create together.
You may want only one picture on the table. Buddha, say, is your connection, your refuge, and one statue or picture of Buddha is all you want or need on the altar. Or there may be many manifestations of the One that brings you to that place.
A puja table is a good place to do conscious work on yourself as well as a place to worship. For example, you feel great love for Christ and His picture is there, right in the middle. But Shiva is an energy that you would rather not think about—too fierce. Put His picture or a symbolic Shiva lingam (or a picture of someone with whom you have real difficulty being conscious) next to the picture of Christ. In the supportive, quiet atmosphere you are in while in front of your puja table, your relationship with Shiva can be more deeply established and the relationship between and the identity of Christ and Shiva can be realized. Possibly you’re preoccupied with sex. Then work with a picture of Mary the Mother of Christ or of Anandamayi Ma and perhaps a pornographic photo, too (if you are a male this time around), and later in the day try to feel the divine essence in all women that you meet. Perhaps putting a picture of your parents right between Christ and Buddha would be meaningful work for you right now.
The statue of Buddha is not just a symbol of Buddha, it is Buddha. The picture of Lord Rama is not just a piece of paper, but a manifestation of the true spirit of Rama. Realize this and later wherever you are becomes your puja table, a place to open your heart and feel the presence of the One Supreme Being.
“Not by the Vedas, or an austere life, or gifts to the poor or ritual o ferings can I be seen as thou hast seen me. Only by love can men see me, and know me, and come to me.”
—Bhagavad Gita XI, 53, 54
N. KARMA YOGA
“Do whatever you do, but consecrate the fruit of your actions to me.”
—Krishna in the Gita
“He who sees the inaction that is in action, and the action that is in inaction, is wise indeed. Even when he is engaged in action he remains poised in the tranquility of the Atman.”
—Gita
Actions done as a sacrifice or offering or in a disinterested fashion are the central component of the Bhagavad Gita. We consider this yoga at length in the lectures.
In order to experience the process of this yoga, you will have to look around you for opportunities to serve as an offering to God. Of course, ultimately you will experience every act (including the taking of this course) as an exercise in karma yoga. However, until you become familiar with the stance of a karma yogi, it would be well to carry out some specific exercises.Try to do at least one specific karma yogic exercise a week during the duration of the course. By keeping notes in your journal you will be able to see changes in your approach and appreciation of the subtlety of this method in even the short time we are together.
Try to choose a project where you don’t immediately fall into your old role as the doer, i.e., do something that is not usually part of your daily activities. If you are primarily an intellectual person and choose a project which is manual in nature, it will probably be easier to remember to keep remembering to offer your actions.
Also take a few activities you regularly do each day and attempt to do them in the spirit of karma yoga. Choose one activity you usually “enjoy” and another which you usually “dislike.” Notice the relation of the karma yogic stance to these emotional concomitants of the action.