MENTAL PROCESSES IN YOGA Mental Processes in YOGA By Swami Durgananda "How can I keep up my regular yoga practice if I live in a big city, amongst all possible circumstances <strong>of</strong> daily life, with very little time for yoga?" 8 YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015
MENTAL PROCESSES IN YOGA <strong>The</strong> mental capacity for yoga sadhana or spiritual practice requires preparation in daily life. Swami Vishnudevananda’s guide for spiritual practice consists <strong>of</strong> the five points: proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet, positive thinking and meditation. All <strong>of</strong> them ultimately lead to spiritual practice: concentration is developed in the yoga asanas and becomes even deeper in pranayama. Finding the right kind <strong>of</strong> relaxation is absolutely necessary in this day and age if you want to keep your inner balance. Spiritual development is further enhanced by applying even a few principles <strong>of</strong> pure diet. <strong>The</strong> last <strong>of</strong> the five points is explicitly mental: positive thinking and meditation. In this perspective, “time for yoga” is a mental process. <strong>The</strong> yoga postures and breathing exercises keep the body sufficiently fit for mental work. Swami Sivananda says that this mental work requires a cool head, emotional balance and a strong and healthy body. On the other hand, yoga practitioners who actually have physical ailments <strong>of</strong>ten do not appear as sick, and do not feel as bad as the severity <strong>of</strong> their disease would suggest; this is the power <strong>of</strong> the yogic attitude. A yogi is a person who is aware <strong>of</strong> the mental activities and knows how to direct them. <strong>The</strong>re is no mental repression in this process, as the thoughts are actually being redirected. Constantly giving in to the tendency <strong>of</strong> the senses weakens the will power. <strong>The</strong> practice <strong>of</strong> asanas and pranayama builds up the necessary energy to resist this pulling <strong>of</strong> the senses. Simple tapas or austerities protect the mind and can be integrated easily into daily life: one day without sugar or without a news - paper or other media. <strong>The</strong> mind may try to resist and say: “I want it now”. But due to your own rational decision, the mind will not get it. Viveka, the power <strong>of</strong> discrimination, kept the upper hand. This results in a quiet state, away from the non-stop chase <strong>of</strong> “I want to possess this” and “I want to enjoy that”. As one desire is fulfilled, the next one comes up, and this happens faster than the speed <strong>of</strong> light, which is 300,000 kilometres per second. <strong>The</strong> mind moves faster than the speed <strong>of</strong> light. We know that we are creating our future with our thoughts: what I am now corresponds to what I thought in the past, and in the future I will be what I am thinking now. So there is hope that things can change. Hate may change, greed may change. In this process <strong>of</strong> transformation there is no repression. New synapses are formed in the brain as new thoughts are repeatedly being affirmed. A new mode <strong>of</strong> thinking is created. Science is now able to detect thought patterns and major mental trends in the brain. Patanjali Maharishi, who formulated the principles <strong>of</strong> raja yoga, called these thoughts samskaras, thoughts which repeat themselves and form strong impressions. Both raja yoga and modern science affirm that these impressions can be changed. However it requires a great amount <strong>of</strong> mental work. Another aspect <strong>of</strong> this mental work is a gradual awareness <strong>of</strong> your sensory perceptions. You become aware that everything you see, hear, smell, taste and touch is a relative impression. <strong>The</strong>se impressions are finite. This awareness changes the way we look at the world around us. Also disease, physical impair - ments and aging will look different. <strong>The</strong> same is true for beauty and personal talents. <strong>The</strong> way we look at them changes. You virtually take a bird's eye view, you do not remain stuck in any sensory impression. When we come to understand that everything that surrounds us exists in exactly the same way within ourselves, that is what the masters call ‘real thinking’ or ‘cosmic thinking’. Nature constantly changes: the planets, the Milky Way, the explosions, etc. <strong>The</strong> body undergoes the same changes. Outside we call it natural disasters, and inside these can be diseases. This type <strong>of</strong> thinking stimulates the reflection on what is infinite and what is finite, what is true and what is not true, what is permanent and what is impermanent. One begins to observe one’s own habits, for example, from where the anger arises, and you wonder how it can be overcome. One comes to the conclusion that new habits are necessary. Master Sivananda speaks <strong>of</strong> ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ action. If the quality <strong>of</strong> the action is recognised, then new tendencies can replace the old habits. ‘Wrong’ thoughts are those which drag us down: fear, jealousy, envy, greed, etc. ‘Right’ thoughts, however, are full <strong>of</strong> joy and serenity. Negative action may have closed up certain mental “A yogi is a person who is aware <strong>of</strong> the mental activities and knows how to direct them.” functions, but it is possible to reopen them. Negative actions or thought currents are those which do not lead to a more open, healthy worldview. Suppose, for example, there is fear <strong>of</strong> spiders. One can train oneself to overcome this phobia, by welcoming the spider when it shows up. <strong>The</strong> mental function must undergo training so that we can experience inner peace. It is possible to meet the spider peacefully rather than crushing it. <strong>The</strong> same goes for colleagues and other people whom you may not particularly like: you can deal with them peacefully rather than crush them. This is <strong>Yoga</strong> in daily life: you may not be able to choose the people around you. And even if it all started in a positive way, the controlled and gracious behaviour that was shown at the recruitment interview may change then when there is time pressure, fatigue and work overload. As it may not be possible to simply move away from the situation, it requires mental training to keep your balance, which in turn needs energy, and that energy can be drawn from the practice <strong>of</strong> asanas and pranayama. <strong>The</strong> mind learns not to immediately respond to everything, not immediately to be angry, not to fall immediately into the “Me” and “Mine” thought: “Why me? Why does this happen always to ME? And I, I, I ...“. That is what distinguishes great yogis. It does not really matter how long they can stand on the head or hold their breath, live without food or are able to control certain body functions. Circus artists may do this even better, but that is not the real thing. One recognises the Yogi by the equanimity, the serenity and the fresh attitude towards situations and people. He does not say, "I already know this, it is always the same problem", and then proceed according to his own mental habits. Habitual thought patterns veil the intuition and make it difficult to pursue new paths in an enthusiastic way. Meaningful austerity includes doing good to someone else, giving the most precious thing we have, and that is our time. Love takes time. Health takes time. Serving people takes time. Really doing a favour takes time. A really good gift for example, needs a lot <strong>of</strong> time until we find what the other person can YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015 9
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