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WORLD AS POWER The
World As Power World As Power by Sir John Woodroffe In the mean-time, here are Roger's notes: a summarization of the chapters contained therein. We encourage those of you who are interested in studying with Roger to check http://www.ramalila.org for the latest dharma events which Roger is offering in your area. There are other events scheduled in the near future - you don't want to miss them! Introduction: Sir John Woodroffe spent his life in India devoted to the studies of the Hindu religion. In particular, he devoted his time to the teachings of the Tantra Sastra. Within these teachings, there is explanation that guides us towards the understanding of reality, the universe, and the individual. These teachings are called, "The World As Power." According to these teachings, matter, life, and mind are different aspects of the self-manifestation of the One Divine Consciousness. This basic unity, this openness of origin underlies in all forms of creation, and it's a fact of spiritual experience, which is being corroborated by the results of advanced science. Even time and space are categories of the self-extension of this Consciousness-Power, terms which refer back to its original truths of Eternity and Infinity. As a human being, you have a part to play, and you can choose whether you will live in ignorance and be a puppet, or growing in knowledge and consciousness, you can liberate yourself into an identity with dynamic power, and thus freely participate as a conscious player. This is the choice before each one of you tonight. What I find really interesting about the Tantric teachings, is that the Tantric teachings appear in both Hinduism and Buddhism. Tantra means continuum or continuation. As Rama used to say, Tantric Buddhism is the study of continuation. Within Hinduism, Tantra has been divided into two different schools. Vamachara, which is devoted to the practice of Tantric sex, and Dakshinachara, which is a strict spiritual discipline consisting of various forms of yoga, such as karma yoga, bhakti yoga, and kundalini yoga. Over the next two nights, I'm going to be talking about the second one. From the Hindu perspective, the Tantric texts are dialog between Shiva and Sakti. These teachings attempt to raise all of humanity to the level of divine perfection by awakening the cosmic force that lies within the kundalini-sakti. The basis of the Tantric teachings, in Hinduism, is the study of energy through meditation and yoga, and the influence of Consciousness in your life. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Tantric teachings are attributed to the Buddha Shakyamuni. It is said that he wrote the Tantric teachings in the latter part of his life. From the Buddhist perspective, the Tantric teachings describe spiritual development in terms of action, elaboration, yoga, and meditation. These are the means to obtain enlightenment. Tantra is strongly oriented towards a person's experimental potential. In Tantra, it is said that "the ground is the practitioner; the path is the path of meditation, which purifies his ground, and the end result is a high state of awareness that comes from the effect of Tantric practice. In other words, in the study of Tantra, you can use all of your experiences. You can learn from anything. I'm a firm believer that life is the ultimate teacher, if you are willing to look at life with open eyes. Sometimes we go through very hard experiences, but we can learn from them. You need some cloudy days to really enjoy the sunshine. The
World As Power. There are two words that I'm going to be using quiet a bit tonight. The first one if Cit, which is loosely translated as Absolute Consciousness. The power of Cit manifests itself as unity, causality, and continuity. According to the Tantric teachings, Cit gives rise to mental consciousness, which in turn projects the entire world in front us. In other words, what we see as reality, including life, mind, and matter, are manifestations of Cit. In the study of yoga, many people are deceived by the idea that in order to obtain liberation, you need to eat one meal a day, you need to fast, and emaciate your body. But liberation and enlightenment, do not come from torturing your body. The only direct cause of liberation, is the knowledge of the truth. You can use yoga and fasting to clean your system. It is very important to have a healthy physical body to hold energy. But your understanding of life has to go deeper than that. There are people that think that liberation is obtained by reason and speculation, but the Supreme Experience is not obtain in this way. A person needs to transform his nature in order to obtain liberation. This involves the path of meditation and self-discovery. When a person puts himself in line with the Forces of Life, he can tap into the reservoirs of power, which are endless, because they come from a Universal source. When a person gets in touch with this power, then you see that person developing the siddhi powers. We know of enlightened beings, who have been able to heal the sick, walk on water, fly through the sky, etc. What all of these beings have in common, is the intelligent use of energy. They have mastered their minds and the use of Consciousness. Now, what stops us from becoming liberated like all the wonderful enlightened beings? In Buddhism and Hinduism, there is a Sanskrit term called samskara. The samskaras are our mental characteristics or tendencies, which are present in our consciousness and give birth to our actions and thoughts. Samskara is the sum total of a person's character. Samskara is what lives from one incarnation to the other. Samskara determines the type of your rebirth. It can be good, bad or neutral. After the moment of death, samskara goes into the Bardo planes, and eventually seeks a new womb to bring about the existence of a new person. Samskara is like recording device. It brings back your tendencies from previous lives and it takes your forward. You have to deal with your samskaras, with your human tendencies, until you reach liberation. Once you obtain enlightenment, then your samskaras are dissolved. A lot of people in the West tend to hate themselves because of the way they are. This concept of self-hate is not known in the East. About ten years ago, someone asked the Dalai Lama about self-hate. And he said, "Self-hate? What is that?" He had no idea that people in the West have a tendency to hate themselves. The whole concept is absurd from a Buddhist perspective. You should come to realize that this is the way you are. The Universe made you into what you are today. This is the way God made you. You can call it God, the Universe, the Higher Power, whatever - those are just labels. You are what you are today. If you hate yourself, just forgive yourself. Don't be so hard on yourself. Let your self go. It's okay. It's all part of life. Some people take life too seriously, of course, there are people who don't take life seriously at all. Both of them are wrong. Nothing is gained in attempting to prove that experience is in itself not real. Some people say that life is an illusion, some say that life is real. But what I am suggesting tonight, is that we have to experience life directly. While we are on the physical plane, things are real. This table is real, I can touch it. We have to use reasoning to understand our environment. But the secret is that the reality of the world changes according to our perception. Let me repeat that again. The reality of the world changes according to our perception. If we enter a room, and we had a bad day, the room would probably look gray and unattractive. Someone else might enter the room, and be in a good state of mind. This person would notice the flowers on the base, or a beautiful painting on the wall. His experience, or his reality, would be totally different from the reality of the other person. A friend of mine recently moved to Houston, and she is living with her sister right now. She told her sister how much money she was asking for at a job interview, and her sister said, "You are crazy, no one makes that kind of money in Houston." My friend got the job at the same rate of pay of someone in New York. Why? Because that's her reality, but it's not the reality of her sister. If we reflect the nature of the ultimate Reality in our lives, then reality changes. Let me explain, on the subjective side there is consciousness and mind. We know ourselves as conscious beings. According to the Tantric teachings, the mind and the senses are instruments of consciousness. How does that work? We perceive the world as matter with properties, relations, and so forth. The sensible world is thought to be five fold, because it affects our five senses. Now, if external things exists, they must exist independently from the perceiver, that is one way to look at reality. We can also perceive the moment of life. We can see it moving, changing, coming into existence, and passing out of it. Everything in the Universe exists because there is movement. Moment is the only constant in the Universe. This orderly movement and seasonable origination makes all things what they are. But a lot of times, we only see things changing and moving, when they hold a relative position to one another. When we see that, we come to the conclusion that there is a Power that makes movement work. This movement or Kala, produces all relations, which are temporal in the sense of time. Kala is the principle of universal movement, which brings things into existence, subjecting them to change, and carrying them out of existence, giving rise to the perception and motion of time. In the world, we see constant change, and we experience continuity of consciousness as an unchanging self. We experience both Consciousness and Unconsciousness. But we experience limitations. We are aware of our limitations in life. However, Consciousness has no limits. The only thing that limits us is our own mind - our ego. Absolute Consciousness is different from mind and matter. Consciousness is changeless, spaceless, timeless, and unlimited. Mind and matter are limited by time and space. The next question is, are mind and matter separate realities or can they be reduced into one? Well, they could be reduced if shown to have qualities in common under one general concept. Mind and matter are in constant movement. Together, they create the static center of your reality. They create a common ground for reality to take place. This reality enfolds time, space, and causality, which creates relations in life. The study of Tantra is about understanding your relation to your reality, to learn about the efficiency and dynamism of the world of things, and to see your connection with the Universe in all of the forms and manifestations of the Supreme Energy or Consciousness. There is one ultimate Reality, and people who are seers can see it. This Truth is the direct experience of Samadhi. This experience is open to all who are qualified and strive to attain it. Our mission in life is to seek spiritual progress and move from the lower experiences into the higher experience, the experience of greater unity. From the point of view of the Enlightened, the world is without reality. The ultimate experience is not a world experience. It is the experience of union with the Universe. However, our reality, our individual sense of self, our samskaras or tendencies, have created a curtain in front of our eyes. Together with the collective samskaras of all the people in the world, we have created the realities that make up our world. In a state of mind in which no world is experienced no question of its reality arises. The Buddha said, "It is your mind that creates this world." We are in a world, which to us is real, but we aspire to the attainment of enlightenment or liberation. In order to achieve this goal, first we have to study movement, energy, and origination. The seed that makes us reincarnate is the collectivity of all our tendencies, our samskara. Samskara brings about perception. Perception makes physical objects real. We can see the qualities of the objects in front of us. At the same time, samskara influences our experiences with the people and objects in the world. For example, I recently attended a lecture by a Buddhist teacher who was explaining why people who seek serious self-discovery usually end up single. The reason is that if you have been a monk or a yogi, or some other type of serious spiritual seeker in a previous life, you are used to solitude. It's not that you don't want to be part of a relationship in this life, but your tendencies from previous life are telling you that you are used to being alone. After you understand your tendencies, then you can come to a better understanding of your life. All of the elements in our lives are influenced by our mental tendencies. We perceive the world according to our mental tendencies. The way out of our tendencies is not hating ourselves, but by accepting who we are first. It doesn't matter if you think that you are good or evil or whatever. First accept and forgive your self. Then identify your tendencies. And then, realize that there is something else. Your mind and the material objects in your life make you see life in a certain way, but there is more to life than that. There is an ultimate Reality, which is Absolute Consciousness. You need to discover the connection between your mind and that Consciousness. The world is a sphere of existence where nothing but conditioned existence exists. This is what we call Samsara, the wondering world of birth and rebirth. In the Wheel of Life, we see human beings being born, growing, going through different stages of evolution, and dying. But in the corner, we see the Buddha pointing in a different direction. According to the Tantric teachings, Absolute Bliss or Liberation, can only be found when you look beyond the cycle of birth and rebirth. But while we are in this cycle, we first have to understand that all that exists is a manifestation of the Universe. All there is, is God or Brahman, or the Higher Power, whatever you want to call it. The first step is to realize that you are part of what Christians called "the body of God." You are part of that Eternal Consciousness. Once you do that, then you can gain a better understanding of your life. Part Two - Power As Life In the West, matter is commonly divided into that which is organized and unorganized. In other words, living and non-living. However, everything that exists is organized. It is the degree of organization that distinguishes the so called living and non-living substance. The level of organization or activity is determined by the amount of Substance-Energy. According to the Tantric teachings, this Substance-Energy is the movement of the Spirit or Consciousness. From a philosophical point of view, we have Consciousness, which is veiled in varying degree from the mind down. Animals, plants, and objects are less aware of their Consciousness. But what is interesting, is the fact that nature creates all things, from rocks to human beings with similar materials. The difference exists in the manner they are worked up to display Consciousness, which is their true essence. The greater the display of Consciousness, the more complex the structure. A living being is made up of an aggregate of chemical compounds formed by a combination of a small number of elements. Protoplasm is the substance out of which all living things are formed. This elementary life-stuff possesses even in minute portions all the properties seen in the most complicated living structures such as assimilation, growth, sensitivity, and reproduction. The viscid albuminoid Protoplasm, which is the fundamental substance of the cells, never appears to change, though by its presence it determines the most complicated chemical reactions. All of these operations are so precise, so well adapted to one purpose, that they seem to be directed by a superior power of reason. Every living substance is said to be that which is born, breathes, moves, assimilates, grows, adapts to the environment, reproduces, and dies. To be born and to die are particular ways of coming into and leaving this passing form of existence. While we are in this form of existence, all living beings act accordingly to their samskara or innate tendencies, to realize their ends. The difference is that human beings have a greater degree of freedom, individuality, and will power. Human beings have the capacity to realize that Life is Power, life is a form of Consciousness. According to the Tantric teachings, everything which exists is a form of Supreme Power or Sakti. This Life Principle is a form of active power. This living substance is a form of God as Power. Life then, is a form of the Supreme Power, which is the origination of all individual lives. That power is in itself Consciousness Cit. This Consciousness is immersed in matter, but it is veiled - it is covered, yet it acts as the director, guide, regulator, and controller of material energies. So we can now see that the degree of Consciousness is affected by the number of veils. The mind, functioning as reason and judgement, and so on, is closer than plant life, for example. We have the capability of becoming more aware of the Absolute Consciousness. How do we do that? How do we become aware of the Absolute Consciousness? The same way that we learned about the cell, and its parts, we need to learn about our energy centers, and how they work. According to the Tantric teachings, we have seven chakras or energy centers within the subtle physical body. We also have three powerful channels of energy. The two channels on the sides are called the ida and the pingala. The center channel is the shushumna." When you are meditating, you are trying to awaken the Sakti energy that is dormant at the base of the spine in the lowest chakra. By concentrating on the different chakras or energy centers, you are awakening this energy and moving it up the spine through the shushumna, which is the main channel of energy. As this energy passes through each chakra, different states of consciousness are experienced. The root chakra is located at the base of the spine. This is gathering center of primal energy. The sex center is located in the center of the pelvic region. It is the center for sexual energy. The navel center is located about an inch below the navel. This is the center of willpower and energy. The heart center is located in the center of the chest. It is the center of balance, love, and harmony. The throat center is located at the base of the throat. This is the center of creativity. The third eye is located in the center of the forehead. It is the center for wisdom and psychic seeing. Finally, the crown chakra is located at the top of the head. This chakra represents the ultimate goal of meditation, the union of our mind with Absolute Consciousness. The ida and the pingala help you to move the energy from the lowest chakra, up the spine through the shushumna, and through all the chakras. This action helps you to remove the veil, so that you can see and experience the Absolute Consciousness. According to Sri Sathya Sai Baba, "True meditation helps us discover our inner identity. It enables us to hear the divine voice in our heart, which illuminates the path ahead. It allows us to perceive and develop greater qualities." - that is why is so important to develop a daily meditation practice. We can see the spiritual development of a person, according to the chakras. For example, I was watching an interview with Alison Hannigan, the girl that plays Willow in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." She said that in high school she was a walking hormone. She wanted to have sex all the time, and up to this day she thought that sex was the most important thing in life. So where is her level of development located? At the sex and navel chakras. Why? Because she is mostly interested in sex, and she has to have a certain amount of personal power to be in the movies and TV. Let's go back to our discussion of energy and the chakras. According to the Tantric teachings, all beings and things originate from the same source. Everything is a transformation of the Absolute Consciousness. So in essence, we are ultimately One. Someone asked the Dalai Lama to define God, and he said "God is the One Mind." This Higher Power, this Creative Energy that we call God, has various forms of manifestation. The qualities of those forms are determined by the conditions of causality, and the tendencies of each manifestation. Each of evolution is determined by the amount and type of energy stored in that manifestation. You are a manifestation of that Higher Power. Your job is to become aware of that, and then to remove the veil, so that you can evolve pass the material plane into the planes of light. You have to free your mind from the bonds of life, and decide that you want to merge with the Universe. Those who enter into the Spirit, and follow its laws gather the fruits of the world. It is up to you to realize that you are a player in the cosmic play. The goal is to reunite yourself with your true essence, which is that Absolute Consciousness - that's your assignment for this lifetime. Part Three - Power As Mind We now know that finite experience is that which is had through the mind and body, which are the products of the manifestations of the Supreme Power. Because of this can see the world as Power, and we can learn to use that Power to shape our lives. You see, the fundamental difference between Western and Eastern psychology is that Western psychology does not differentiate mind from consciousness. Western psychology interprets mind in terms of consciousness. They are seen as equivalents. In the Tantric teachings, the mind is the instrument of consciousness. Pure Consciousness is not an attribute of the mind, it is beyond mind, and independent from it. Pure Consciousness is the source of illumination. Cit is like a lamp that brings light into the mind. From a Tantric point of view, what is important is to study the relation and interaction of Absolute Consciousness and mind. Our interest is to remove the curtain that stands in the way between Absolute Consciousness and mind. According to Lama Ole, the curtain that stands in our way is made up of hate, anger, ill-will, and negative thoughts and emotions. When you start to remove some of the parts of that curtain, your life becomes brighter and more active. If you free your mind from negative emotions, it becomes freer and not as rigid. Your mind is actually very elastic. Rama used to say that his job was to loosen up the bands of attention around our minds to make our minds more flexible. The mind can be described as radiant matter, and it can go out like a ray of light and touch other people. Our minds can be very flexible and free, but they are currently involved in the cycle of samskaras. Like forces of nature, samskaras can aid or inhibit our development and mental life. For example, when I was young I went to Catholic school. When I was about 12 years old, the first book that I ever checked out of the library was Siddharta by Herman Hesse. This is the story of price Siddharta who becomes the Buddha. In this case, my samskaras were guiding me back to the path of Buddhism. Since then, I have read hundreds of books in Buddhism and self-discovery. Samskara is not something that is bad, is something that is within you and keeps track. What you have to realize is what are good and bad tendencies within you. What is helping your life and what is not. There is nothing that is good or bad. Everything is an aspect of Consciousness as Power. Active Consciousness is learning the effects that certain experiences can have in our lives. If a person's experience is unified with that Absolute Consciousness, then the world becomes a source of enjoyment and liberating timeless bliss. It is said in the Tantras that the world was created in and by bliss. It is the separation and avoidance of the Absolute Consciousness that creates pain in the world. It's like if you are on a road, and there is pavement. The road is really nice. Then you decide that it would be more fun to get off the road, and climb the fence along the road. Then you climb the fence, you get stuck on the fence, then you are hurting, because you got off the road. Tantra is about finding that road again. Finding your place in the world, and moving forward. The way to get back on the road is by learning to use the active force of your mind. This is done through your sadhana, your spiritual practice and discipline. Perfect experience is the road to Pure Consciousness. Second Lecture: Part Four - Power As Matter To begin with, we must distinguish between Perceptual Matter and Conceptual Matter. Perceptual Matter is what possesses the sensible qualities like weight, color, taste, and so on. Conceptual Matter are our ideas about particular objects and they are recorded in our memories. Now matter and energy are two aspects of power. Matter is a manifestation of Universal Substance. Energy is a manifestation of will power. Now energy, has been defined as "the capacity" to do work. The ability which the body has to move is sometimes called energy. Energy then is dependent of the amount of motion. Matter in order to exist has to have movement. There is movement within the atoms and the cells that make up matter. So it appears that energy and matter are inseparable. Energy or movement is the fundamental principle in matter. According to the Tantric teachings, all energy is Consciousness energy, and energy has two forms. Within the atom we find the nucleons. In there, there are protons and neutrons that are in constant movement. This two forces determine the shape of the atom. Now, the difference between me and a particle of dust is not in the sum of the energy which I and it represents, but in the particular distribution of the total between the kinetic energy and potential energy. This kinetic and potential energy are… What? Can anybody guess? Karma and samskara. Your karma and your samskara are the things that determine your place within the cosmic system. Your position within the cosmic scheme is determined by karma and samskara. It appears therefore that even the atom has its own karma and samskara. That's what creates movement in the life. Our job is to create balance and equilibrium within the two. At the beginning, we said that energy is the manifestation of will power. That's how we can achieve anything in life. You will it into your life. You make a decision and you make it happen. You look at your tendencies and you will a change in your life. You have two choices in life. One choice is to be a normal human being. To be normal means to be frustrated, unfulfilled, and unhappy. But there is another possibility, a person can become limitless, awake, knowledgeable. For example, if you want a new career, you decide want it is that you want to do. If you decide that you want to become a computer programmer. You go out and find out about it. Where to take courses, how to get a degree, whatever. You make a decision and use your will power. This decision, releases energy into your life. There are a lot of people out there that don't have any energy. You know why? Because they are unmotivated. They don't have any desires to do anything. They don't use any will power to make any decisions in life, and therefore they have no energy. You have to cultivate your energy to be successful. By learning to activate your will power, you will gain control over matter, over the physical world. Just remember, will power creates energy. Energy is movement, and that movement is a combination of karma and samskara. The secret here is that you need to learn to use your will power to create energy, in order to create a balance between your karma, which is your potential as a human being, and samskara, which are your tendencies from a previous life. Part Five - Power As Causality and Continuity Tantra is the study of continuation. From a Tantric point of view, the mind is never "tabula rasa," the mind is not blank at the moment of birth. On the contrary, the mind is filled with memories, impressions, and feelings. As children, we are very open to our psychic sensitivities, but as we grow older, and pass through adolescence, we tend to forget that feeling of openness, and we replace it with materialism. I was listening to a lecture on Buddhism the other day, and the teacher was talking about how in Buddhism, they talk about the concept of emptiness. They say that your mind should be filled with emptiness. However, the word emptiness in Tibetan, does not have the same meaning in English. A closer term would be openness, if you want to use one word, or to better describe the meaning of emptiness in Tibetan, it would be: "full of potential." Since our minds are full of potential, then we have to set our minds in motion. What is motion? Motion is a combination of karma and samskara. But should we let karma and samskara run rampant in out minds? No. Within the Tantric teachings, there is a concept called "efficiency." In the concept of efficiency, we learn to see the relationship between our previous tendencies and our mental states. As we know, karma is the law of cause and effect. There is nothing good or bad in Buddhism, there is only action and reaction. There is only one law in Buddhism. You cannot escape the consequences of your actions. Here I'm going to step away a little bit from our book to talk karma in more detail, because the book assumes that you know what karma is. So I'm going to explain it a little bit more. It's good not to think of karma as an alien force that's outside of yourself, because you are the generator of your own karma. Karma is your own energy - the energy patterns that emanate from your life and from your actions. In Surfing the Himalayas, Master Fwap explains the law of karma to Rama. Master Fwap says, "Karma is what happens to you today. It is simply the law of cause and effect in action. What occurs to you today is an outgrowth of what happened yesterday. All moments and occurrences are caused by the moments and occurrences that preceded them, in an endless, causal chain of karmic interactions that lead back indefinitely through time." The law of karma is simple. For every action there is a reaction; for every cause there is an effect; for every effect there is a result, and a new situation is created. The law of karma can be examined within the structure of an hour, a year, a lifetime, or a thousand of lifetimes. The active principle is the same: you, your choices, your decisions, your awareness. Karma is a Sanskrit word that literally means "deed." Karma can be studied as a mental or physical action, as the consequence of a mental or physical action, or as the sum of all consequences of the actions of an individual. A person's karma is created by his own actions. Some people think of karma in a self-defeating way. When something bad happens to them, they say, "Oh, it's my karma," as if there was someone out there giving rewards and punishments. Something good happens to you and you say, "Oh it's my karma," meaning that you have done something good in the past and it comes back to you. The law of karma is really more complicated than that. Karma comes from the mind. Karma is engendered by states of mind. For example, if you are in a happy state of mind, that would engender one kind of karma. If you are in an unhappy state of mind, that would engender another type of karma. It's best to think of karma, not so much in terms of physical action, but as wave forms of vibratory energy. One time Rama told us the most hilarious story about karma. He said, "If you and I were to go today to a nice still pond, one of those lovely still ponds that dot the New England landscape, and there was no one there at all, and that pond was near smooth, and we were to take a small hippopotamus and drop him from a height of 50 feet into the water, the hippo would crash into the water and then waves would be generated throughout the pond. Also, a lot of scandal and controversy would be created, because in small New England towns, they are not used to the hippopotamus descending from the sky, as we are here in California, where these things happen all of time, and it's no big deal at all. But be that as it may, the hippo drops, hits the water, and ripples occur. Two kinds of ripples will occur from the dropping hippo. One kind will be ripples on the lake, as the hippo crashes into the water. The ripples will go out in a circular direction and they will cause an effect. Perhaps there was someone in a small boat, and as the hippo comes down and crashes into the water, the ripples or waves will overturn the boat causing one of the two passengers on the boat, Sally, to drown. Bob will now inherit Sally's estate since he has recently married her. He saw in a psychic vision that the hippo was going to be falling from the sky in Massachusetts and hit that particular day on that particular lake. Knowing that Sally couldn't swim and he could, it was a hot opportunity to take her out on a boat trip. The karma of the hippo falling results in Bob's inheritance of a large amount of money that previously belonged to Sally. Now, another aspect of this is that Bob will then engender another type of karma because of causing Sally's death. The courts can't get him because they do not believe that you could psychically see that the hippo was going to be striking the water in a small New England town just outside of Boston. It would be ruled an accident, act of God, whatever. However if you had dropped the hippo, if you had arranged for it, naturally you could be sued for involuntary women slaughter. What business do you have dropping hippos from way up in the sky into small lakes? Also, a great amount of controversy would probably be generated if you left the scene and didn't identify yourself as the dropper of the hippo as to what to do with the hippo. Now we got a hippo in a small town. We have a dead women floating around. We have Bob going out and buying his new Volvo or whatever else with the money that he inherited from Sally. We have a lot of headlines on local papers and even a few television crews going down to the lake. 'Hippo strikes lake!' You know, that sort of thing. And what can happen? Whole careers could change: someone did a good story on the news, and might be able to leave Boston and get a job in New York at a larger station and move his family. The hippo landing site could become a new place of worship for people who believe in extraterrestrial hippopotami. People would start telling stories and gossip about the meaning of that. Harvard would dispatch a research team, and MIT would probably dispatch another competitive research team to try to understand where this hippo came from and calculate the angle of impact and so on. Graduate students would do their dissertations on the subject, because hippos just don't normally strike small ponds in New England. Meanwhile Bob is now vacationing in the Bahamas with his latest prospect, Mary." This wonderful story shows us how the effects of karma really affect the people around us. There are different levels of action related to this story. Starting from a very physical level, the action of the hippo falling into the lake will create the ripples that will turn over the boat. The action of the hippo falling could also create fear and apprehension in the other people who are hanging out at the lake. If any children have witnessed this event, they could grow up with a fear of flying hippos. According to Sri Sathya Sai Baba, karma can be divided into three different categories of actions: sukarma, vikarma and akarma. Sukarma is the result of good actions and helping others to do good deeds. Good actions will give you good results. Vikarma is the result of your negative actions and the result of influencing others to commit bad actions and then later facing the bad consequences. Akarma, meaning that you may not undertake any actions but yet you feel the results. This is the type of karma that comes from a previous life. Akarma is similar to samskara. Going back to our previous topic, we were talking about the concept of efficiency. True efficiency is to organize your mind from within. The very nature of energy is efficiently to do work, to overcome resistance, and to set your mind in motion. In Buddhism, we have the idea that we can learn to create new realities within our minds, and then we use our energy to manifest them on the outside. We believe that whatever you focus on, you become. But how does that work? Manifestation involves varied collocations of energy. We look at the relations of factors involved, and we change them. This results in a transformation of events, which manifest as mind and matter. You see, experiences in life already exists in potential form in the original productive principle. It's like a tree. If you hold a seed in your hand, that seed has the potential to become a tree. Whatever thought you hold in your mind has a potential to exists. But you have to examine the cause and the effect of that thought. Cause and effect in the Universe are different positions of the same element. The effect is in the cause and the cause exists in the effect. Cause and effect are essentially one. When you focus your mind on something that you want, you are sending energy to the Universe to try to create a new situation. It's like you are sending a message to someone. The world is not something which has a reality independent from Consciousness. The world is made up of the collective Consciousness. That's why the Buddha said, "It is your mind that creates the world." You have to be careful with what you want to create. Sometimes what we want to create, does not agree with what the Universe is sending us. You have to realize that God is the source of all mind, life, and matter, and all the modes of energy are His or Her Substance-Energy. The Power which evolves the world is both Consciousness and Maya, together they manifest mind and matter. Meditate on that for a while, and you will find your place on this world. Power As Continuity Continuity is a very interesting topic within the Tantric teachings, because continuity really exists and it's not fabricated by the mind. The reality of continuity manifests itself in thought and in the world order in a variety of forms. The question now is, how does continuity evolve in thought and reality? Let's say for example that you are driving down the street, and someone cuts you off, and flip them off and yell at them. Your actions create a certain continuity. Now this person is going to get mad and frustrated. If instead, you are driving down the street, and you smile at someone, that person is going to have a slightly better day. Now, continuity is not only your experience, but the experience of the whole Universe. For example, if you are staring at a bright star on the sky, and even if you concentrate just on that one star, your total experience at that time also includes the neighboring stars, the sounds of the night, memories, and other sensations. We are part of the whole Universe. In the Tantric teachings, this is called, "the continuity of the Spirit." In other words, Consciousness itself is the spiritual basis of all experience. In the practice of kundalini yoga and meditation, our goal is to merge with that Consciousness, and the realize that that Consciousness is the origin of the Universe, and to go back to that origin again. The path of self-discovery is a journey from God to self to God. Part Six - Power As Consciousness Most of the religions of the world believe in some kind of Universal Power. For example, the concept of Orenda, of the Native Americans, says that there is an incalculable Energy manifesting in and as the sun, the moon, the stars, waters, plants, animals, and other objects of nature, including the wind and the thunder. In the Tantras, we say that God painted a world picture with his brush, which is his will of artistic expression. We are often inspired by the beauty of nature, and this beauty invites us to learn about introspection. By learning to look within ourselves, we become aware of our connection with the Higher Consciousness. When we become aware of that, we become happier. We realize that we are not alone in the Universe. This is the concept of Being, Consciousness, and Bliss. Through the practice of meditation, we learn to transform, and he become more efficient holders of energy and power. According to the Tantric doctrine, through the practice of meditation and concentration, we learn to remove the veil little by little in order to obtain more power. At the same time, we have to learn to hold that power. People in the world want power. It's a feeling of satisfaction that everyone enjoys. There are two aspects two the study of power and energy. One is to avoid the loss; the other is how to gain energy. The primary place where most people lose energy is in their inter-relationships with others. This means that you lose your energy in your interactions with the people you know. However, you can also gain energy if you interact with people in a way that is beneficial. 13 Steps to Higher Energy I have developed 13 steps that will significantly affect and increase your level of energy.
These are the 13 steps to increase your energy. How do you make them
work? Make a schedule. Write down all the things you want to do and
take small steps to achieve your goals. It is a good idea to write down
all of your activities for the week on a piece of paper and then place
that schedule in a place where you go often, like the refrigerator door.
This is the first step of your life analysis. So now that you have a lot of energy, and your life is structured and
organized, how do you remove the veil of Consciousness? In the practice of kundalini yoga, there is a place beyond the six
chakras that we call the thousand-petalled lotus. This chakra represents
Perfect Experience. We call it perfect experience because that's our
connection to Higher Consciousness. This Consciousness is beginningless
and endless, worlds appear and disappear in it like bubbles on water.
It is unthinkable and yet all thoughts and speech proceed from it. It
is the whole and yet all aspects are its aspects. Through the practice
of meditation we can learn to quite our minds, and to connect with that
Consciousness - that's what meditation is about, merging with the eternal
light of the Universe. All that exists, whether as life, mind, or matter are forms and products
of the one fundamental substance. Learning to merge with this Consciousness,
will help us to develop better lives. Once you build a strong connection
with the Universe, you can see where your life is going, and go with
the flow of life. It's better to dance with life, than to fight with
it. When you connect with the Higher Consciousness, more power will manifest
into your life, and you will be able to do more and be more. The world
is a free play; every being is a reincarnation of joy, and every act
and event is a play out of joy. Joy and play are the birthright of every
person. If your life is not filled with joy, then you need to see where
the plug is, and reconnect yourself with that Higher Power. Tantra is not simply a path of contemplation and meditation. It is
also a path of devotion and love. It is not simply a technique that
helps you become successful, it is also an aesthetic awakening in the
aspirant of spiritual thirst and feeling, making him love and worship
the Universe whose grace is to liberate you. In the doctrine of Tantra, we recognize that complete surrender to
God and absolute reliance on God's grace is not at all a negative or
passive attitude signifying lack of will power, but it is in reality
a perfect self-exertion and conquest of divinity. To merge with divinity
equals unlimited power. Since all there is, is a manifestation of Consciousness-Power, and
every object of creation, no matter how insignificant, is part of that
power, then the realization of becoming one with it, removes all the
ignorance that removes the veil. Sai Baba says that the only difference between himself and other people,
is that he is aware of his Divinity. In the Tantric teachings, we define the world in terms of power, which
is the essence of the reality of the world, which is real, because God
is real.
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