You Shouldn't Miss This One Thing!

A funny scene in a Malayalam movie shows how is the feeling of missing out something. A young man facing death penalty, states his last wish: "I want to taste Chicken Tikka Butter Masala, before leaving this world. I never had it before." In real life, it wouldn't be funny though.

What is it that one shouldn't miss? After spending 50 - 60 years on earth, what is that you are looking for? Even if you have everything in life - money, reputation, power, position, prestige - still, if you do not feel loved, is there some juice in your life? If you are not sensitive to beauty, you will miss a lot, isn't it? If you don't feel contentment, there will always be a sense of lack! If you don't have freedom, you will feel stifled.

If you observe, universally human beings want love, contentment, freedom and beauty. These are the values that knowingly or unknowingly everyone is seeking. They are the same across different societies, cultures, lands or times. If only we knew how to tap directly from the source of all these - the spirit within - then we could have an amazingly fulfilling life. Now, how is it to explore into one's spirit?

If you read a theory book on classical music, it is all logical. There are different notes, patterns and systems that form a musical scale, a Raga. But if only read the theory, and don't actually listen to the music, you wouldn't experience it. Logic is for the intellect, but it is the mind that can experience music.

We observe that intellect cannot experience music, that is beyond its reach. In a similar way, the spirit cannot be experienced by intellectual ideas or mental concepts. Even if you study religious, philosophical or psychological books, you will only form concepts. You will not be in touch with the reality that they are trying to describe. Your mere thinking and guessing cannot take you to the other level.

One might pass years on earth, without ever looking at what is the real stuff that one is made up of. One might think a little, gather some ideas, ponder over some of them. As the intellect alone cannot have real clarity, so one might eventually subscribe to belief systems, theories or philosophies concocted by other people.

When you follow somebody else's ideas on existential matters, even if they are good, you won't get it or you wouldn't evolve. In the opposite way, if you simply reject all of them, then you will remain a frog in the well. The right approach could be to examine, experiment and find out for yourself. Such a method would be more authentic than what scientific knowledge can give. Here, you are not just accepting what the expert says, but finding it out for yourself. In science, you depend on the expert scientist's conclusions in difficult matters, as they require elaborate equipment, higher mathematics, or specialised knowledge. What spirituality offers is first-hand direct experience.

As the intellect cannot grasp anything beyond its prior knowledge & experience, it cannot reach out to the deeper reality. That is where Yoga comes to help. Yoga is an ancient integrated science that understands and utilises the patterns of our body, breath and mind systems, in such way that man naturally gets to go beyond the barriers of thoughts and beliefs and gets in touch with the pure consciousness within.

As one temporarily frees from the constant preoccupation with bodily demands and thought distractions, in a state of deep rest, one gets a glimpse of what is beyond the mind & intellect. It is so rewarding an experience, in both success in practical life and existential clarity. Life really starts with spirituality.

See the example of a young man who falls in love with a girl. He takes a guitar and starts singing "The sky is blue; the grass is Green. And the Earth is full of love!" Wasn't the sky blue before? Wasn't the grass green before? He just didn't notice, didn't feel the connection, till love blossomed in him. This is the power of spirit that transforms one's life thoroughly.

We have several levels to our existence. You have a physical body, in it there is life breathing through. You have a mind, which knows the world through attention and sensory perception. Then there is the intellect that analyses and evaluates the experience. This is faculty which says "Yes" or "No" to what is told to it. One lives through memories of experiences. One carries a self-image, and an imagined field of self protection- that is the ego. These are the first 6 levels of our existence, from the grossest to the subtle: Body, breath, mind, intellect, memory & ego. If one can observe all these 6 levels and be a witness to their live show, then that observer can be identified as one's real self. That is the 7th level of existence, the Self.

Usually people identifies with their thoughts and feelings. To look beyond these gross levels requires some quietening of the thoughts and settling of the mind. The mind cannot be controlled by its own efforts. The patterns of the mind has a connection with the patterns of breath. Breath is controllable. Hence, using the breath, one gets to have a say over one's own mind. This is the secret of Yoga.

Yoga harmonises all the levels of our existence. Yoga offers to heal the body, so that you aren't disturbed by it. It has ways to raise your life force (Prana shakti), so that you have enough energy to pursue your goals. It makes your mind focused and intellect sharp. It cleanses the memory of negative impressions and conditioning that bias your view. It helps to make you see beyond the delusions of ego and sets you free. When the energy is good, mind is clear and spirit is high, you have come home, and got in touch with yourself.

Yoga is not mere physical stretching exercises. Yoga is not some religious practice. Yoga is natural to humans. Small children all over the world are seen practicing Yoga without any guidance or instructions. You too were a Yogi when you were a child.

You shouldn't miss what reconnects you to yourself in the most natural way.