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RAJA YOGA BASIC COURSE

Benefits

The topics covered in this course lead to a deeper understanding

of yourself, your intrinsic positive qualities and your innate value.
In time, this understanding becomes a natural part of your day to
day awareness, constructively influencing how you see yourself
and how you relate to your world.In the process of exploring these
universal concepts in the privacy of your own inner world through
meditation, you will come to a first hand awareness of the
interconnectedness of the human family and the rights, roles and
responsibilities of individuals. This is very important in your
spiritual development and will give you a fresh perspective on
values such as justice, freedom, respect and love. The concepts
presented in this course are simple yet profound and are
accessible to individuals of all backgrounds and beliefs. Simple
and honest effort is the only prerequisites for success in
meditation. As in any field of endeavor, the rewards of meditation
and spiritual study are in proportion to the time and effort you
invest.
RAJA YOGA BASIC COURSE - Lesson 1: SOUL
CONSCIOUSNESS
In the practice of meditation, there is a need to know and
understand who and what is meditating. Who and what lost the
inner balance. Therefore, who is the one who experiences
unhappiness, depression or hopelessness?
Explore the common knowledge about Mind and Body as two
different kinds of energy. Today, we are uncertain of the
difference and tend to mix the two. Instead of seeing the body as
the package, and the mind as the contents, we see ourselves
mainly as the body.
1. The most obvious difference between
SOUL:BODY
-----Physical
-----Material
-----Tangible (evident)
----Visible (perceptible by eyes)
-----

my body and I the

SOUL
Meta-Physical
Mental
Intangible
Invisible

Perishable

-----

Imperishable

2. Now, experience the difference :

Close your eyes and
be aware of your true Self. You are able to be aware of the
different parts of Your body (legs, arms, feet, etc.). Do Your legs,
Your stomach, etc. have self -awareness? The body is the human
(container) where the Being resides. The Being, which is YOU,
situated just above and behind the eyes (center of the forehead)
within the brain. This is Your driver's seat where You do your
thinking, analyzing, and directing every movement of - the vehicle
- Your body (made up of the five elements), through the 5
physical sense organs. You are not Your body.
3. After the short exercise, understand the difference between
the Point of Consciousness, and the mind. This is where You are
seated, conscious of your-Self and the world. In fact YOU are
Pure consciousness itself, and Your mind is your conscious ability
to think.
The Mind is not separate from you, but an integral part of You the
Soul.
YOU ARE THE POINT OF CONSCIOUSNESS within the body, which
is called by many names: Soul, Spirit, Atma, Living-Being,
Inner-Self, Life-Energy, Pure-Consciousness, Essence,
Seed... etc.
( For our study and purpose, we will refer to SOUL.).
Remember, You are not Your body.
4. What are the CHARACTERISTICS of I the SOUL:* Form - Conscious point of Spiritual (metaphysical) Light
Energy, and cannot be seen by the physical eyes.
* Position - Center of the forehead, just above and behind the
eyes, inside the brain, but separate from the brain. The brain is
the computer, and You, the Soul, are the programmer.
* Task / Role - Animates and directs the body. It is the soul
(the actor), that brings the body (the costume) to life. Without
the body the Soul cannot express itself.

* Life span - Eternal, imperishable, immortal: The Soul cannot

be created nor destroyed. There is no such thing as death of
the imperishable Soul, only the death of the perishable body; at
which point, the Soul (the actor) leaves the body (costume) and
takes rebirth (takes a new body, to play a new role).
* Purpose - Self-expression in relationship with others (without
the body one could not express and relate to others).
* Original qualities - Purity, Peace, Love. Joy, Truth, Humility,
Contentment. The aim of meditation is to experience each of
these original (innate) qualities, which are responsible for our
pure feelings, emotions
* The Faculties (energies) Of 'I' The Soul When the soul is in the body it functions through three faculties
(non-physical entities). Although each faculty (entity) can be
given a different name, it is actually the same energy, the soul,
functioning on three different levels simultaneously. These are
the mind (mann), the intellect(buddhi), and the
personality traits (sanskaras).
Mind is the thinking energy of the soul. It is the mind that
imagines, thinks and forms ideas. The thought process is the
basis of all emotions, desires and sensations. It is through this
faculty that, in an instant, thoughts can be projected to a far off
place (one can travel to a far off place on the thought level); past
experiences and emotions can be relived or even the future
anticipated in less than a second. It is the mind that experiences
the variations of moods. The mind is an energy of the nonphysical soul, not to be confused with the heart or even the brain.
Intellect is used to assess thoughts. This is the faculty (energy)
of the soul used for understanding and decision-making which
stands out as the most crucial faculty of the three. With the
deepening and broadening of the intellect, clear understanding
and realization of knowledge becomes natural, and the power to

decide and reason becomes clear. It is the intellect which

remembers, discriminates, judges and exercises its power in the
form of will-power.
Sanskaras is a Hindi word which best describes what we could
call impressions. They are the record of all the soul's past
experiences and actions. Sanskaras can take the forms of habits,
talents, nature, personality traits, beliefs, values or instincts.
Every action performed by a soul either creates a sanskar (this is
how a habit begins) or reinforces an old one. Whatever impression
is etched in the soul remains within the soul, forming a complete
collection of all the experiences that the soul has had. When we
speak of defects, specialties or virtues we are referring to the
sanskaras. The sanskaras are the basis of the soul's individuality.
I the SOULs three faculties (energies): The mind through which
we create thoughts, the intellect with which we understand, judge
and decide, and the sanskaras, which are impressions in the form
of memories, personality characteristics and habits. All three
work together: the mind is influenced by both external and
internal factors, which can be either positive or negative. The
intellect has to understand, judge and decide what something
means and then act. If the intellect is unclear or confused, then
understanding and decisions are faulty and, consequently, actions
and behaviour result in a lot of negativity, both for the self and
others.
Throughout history, teachers have come to give spiritual
knowledge, through which they attempt to awaken people's
consciousness in order to make relationships, attitudes, thoughts
and actions more positive and loving. For this to happen, there
has to be a 'click' in the intellect, that is, a realization and
willingness to change old habits and negative personality
characteristics and to become better ethically and spiritually.
The Car-Driver Comparison To Aid Self Realization
One of the comparisons which help in self realization i.e. in
strengthening the awareness that I, the soul, a non-physical
energy am different from this physical body is that of the driver
and the car, where the driver represents the spiritual energy and

the car represents the body which is controlled by the spiritual

energy. The biggest reason why I do not have the desired
control over my physical body, my vehicle, my sense
organs today is that I lost the consciousness of being a
driver which could control and rule the vehicle. Instead I
developed the consciousness that I am this vehicle, this physical
body. This consciousness disconnected me from the ability and
the power I possessed inside me to control the vehicle. If I want to
achieve the desired control, I need to be in a driver consciousness
i.e. in the awareness that I am a soul and my body is a vehicle,
through which I experience life. Being in this awareness, in this
consciousness awakens me and empowers me to regain the much
required control over my body.
The car controls are the gears, brakes, accelerator and steering
wheel which can be compared to the sense organs of the soul
which are the mind, intellect and sanskars and those of the body
which are the eyes, ears, nose, hands and tongue. A good driver
is one who remains extremely alert and is able to use the gears,
brakes, accelerator and steering wheel effectively and efficiently,
in order to be fully in control of the vehicle and avoid any
accidents. In the same way, as I move on the road of life, I
need to keep my mental and physical sense organs
(mentioned above) in complete control. If I do that, they
will keep my journey enjoyable and take me to my desired
destination of mental peace and happiness safely and
successfully. If I don't do that and let them overpower me,
accidents will definitely occur, making me peaceless and
sorrowful.
If a good driver, while driving a car is distracted by the negative
and disturbing scenes which he comes across and his attention is
pulled in many different directions, he will make his journey
unsafe increasing the probability of meeting with accidents. When
the same principles are applied to the soul and the body, I also
need to take care that, while traveling on the road of life, I
am not distracted by scenes that are not useful to me e.g.
when looking out through my eyes and I don't have to take in all
the images, scenes and information along the way, otherwise I
may meet with an accident. When listening through my ears, I

don't have to take in all the words and everything that people
say, otherwise I may meet with an accident. I can choose to take
in what is useful for me, but I do not have to register distracting,
negative and harmful images and words. Just like a driver, I see
and understand situations, too I keep my eyes and ears
open - it would be unsafe to ignore them completely, I
need to be aware of them - but I look only for the positive
in them, so that I remain focused and am not deflected
from my goal of experiencing inner contentment and bliss,
while making the journey.
I, as the driver in charge of this vehicle, the body, also need to
take care that I do not drive rashly i.e. I learn to monitor the
feelings and attitude that are transmitted outwards
through my eyes, my words and my complete body
language. Driving rashly i.e. transmitting negative energy in this
way could harm any co-traveler on the road of life. When these
feelings stay positive, filled with sweetness, purity and respect,
that too helps to ensure that my journey passes smoothly and
enjoyably. When I stay alert and aware in a driver conscious and
drive carefully as explained in this and yesterday's message, my
actions bring me closer to my spiritual truth and I am able to
share my positivity with others around me. When I lose awareness
for even a moment, there's danger either from me to others or
vice versa.
Effects of Over Identifying Ourselves with the physical
form the body : Experiences of the senses - we think that the
5 senses are our only sources of experiences, and we begin to
depend on external things for our Happiness and Peace. In the
physical world everything changes and comes to an end. When
those physical pleasures (experience through the sense organs)
end, we become unhappy and peaceless. We desire more, and
become more and more dependent on external stimulus. Our
moods go up and down, conditioned by how satisfied our physical
senses are.
Anger results when we do not get what we want Greed
increases when we get what we want, and we want more Ego
develops when we show off what we have. Feeling OK one minute

and not OK the next makes us feel powerless and unhappy.

Meditation can help re-charge our inner strength and re-discover
our original power of inner peace and freedom, in a life full of ups
and downs.
Traps of Limited Identities - First effect is, when we think we
are the body, we give it labels. Each label is a different identity nationality, family, religion, profession, race, gender, etc. Each
identity brings with it certain values, which determine certain
ways of thinking and acting.
Second side effect is to put labels on others. We put them in
boxes and that also ends in conflict. Christian against Muslim,
black against white, labor against management, and so on. Once
again the result is anger, jealousy, conflict. contrary to our true
nature and our desire for peace. However, there is no need to
reject your body. When you know the right relationship between
you the Soul and your body, you can control and take care of it in
the right way, because then it will not govern or take care of You!
My True Identity as SOUL - is the key to experiencing my true,
original nature of peace and happiness. The key to understanding
myself, and key to harmonizing with others. Meditation is the
method to experience naturally, and cultivate that "I am a Soul"
or Soul-consciousness. To remain pure and peaceful, observe
the Self for a second. It feels very good to be in this state. When
there is purity there is peace, there is love. When there is love
there is happiness. When there is happiness there is power. Purity
has to be imbibed first - Then what was missing in life becomes
filled.
Method of Meditation: In meditation, you experience yourself
as a Soul. Sit in a comfortable position, let go of all different
limited bodily identities, try to let go of all sounds and sights
around you and turn inward toward yourself. Focus your attention
up to that point in the forehead where you the soul is seated. If
your mind seems to be running with many thoughts or memories,
just observe them and watch them come and go. Gently keep
bringing your attention back to your-Self here-and-now, sitting on
your seat of consciousness. Gradually your mind becomes more
peaceful and your thoughts slow down. Create the thought of

peace, concentrate your attention on that thought and gradually

it becomes your experience. Try this with total concentration once
or twice a day to start with, in a quiet place at home or at work.
These are the first steps to learn how to meditate and regain
control of your thoughts, feelings and your life experience. If you
find it a little difficult, be patient. Don't give yourself a hard time.
Regular practice will make you perfect.
OM SHANTI - a greeting of peace = I am a peaceful soul.
A greeting to remind each other of our innate original personality.
{ OM means - I am, a soul; and SHANTI means - peaceful. }