• Be inspired, July 2019, VOLUME 4 / 01 Jul 2019

    Yogic psychology

    In this series of articles, DAAJI explains the fundamental principles of yogic psychology, with its foundation in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. He explains Patanjali’s descriptions of the human mind and the various mental imbalances, and furthermore gives us solutions to regain mental well-being through yogic practices. In this article he starts to explore the vikshepas, the obstacles to mental well-being that have arisen because of the accumulation of samskaras in our system. These 9 vikshepas describe so many of the maladies of modern humanity. Here Daaji focuses especially on the first two, vyadhi and styana. PART 7 – VIKSHEPAS: VYADHI AND STYANA Remembering the fundamental principle of yogic psychology: our underlying mental state is one of purity and stillness. This stillness is at the Center of our existence, like the eye of the tornado, and is present in every fiber of our being, at the center of every atom. Yoga is all about our journey home to that Center, and we start by removing all the complexities and impurities in our field of consciousness. In this series so far, we have seen how complexities and impurities start to accumulate, by exploring the normal everyday workings of the human mind – how the 5 vrittis work in the field of consciousness. Some of the vrittis are pure and in sync with mental balance, while others are colored and take us away from that pure, balanced state. Then we explored the next layer of complexity – the 5 kleshas or mental afflictions that take us further away from our Center of balance and result in suffering. Now we continue further away from the Center, into the realm of entropy, complexity and instability, as we become more and more entangled in those afflictions playing out in our daily lives. We create behavioral patterns and…

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  • In the Field, July 2019, VOLUME 4 / 30 Jun 2019

    Spirit of humanity forum

    RESETTING THE COMPASS TOWARDS CORE HUMAN VALUES Reykjavik, Iceland, 30 May to 1 June 2019 Heartfulness was a partner in the fourth Spirit of Humanity (SoH) Forum, which took place in Iceland. A small team of Heartfulness trainers offered a taste of Heartfulness Meditation, interviewed participants and helped with the Forum’s social media outreach. The SoH Forum is a global platform where world leaders gather, share views and experiences, and meet in a positive, supportive and harmonious atmosphere, promoting a spiritual approach to global problems. The main theme of this year’s event was “Discovering Harmony in a World of Difference.” Iceland’s Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, opened the event with a passionate speech about Iceland’s history of conflict resolution and its place in promoting peace in today’s world. She mentioned the 1986 talks between President Ronald Reagan of the US and the Soviet Union’s General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev, which took place in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. These talks are now viewed as the turning point in ending the Cold War between the two countries. Iceland is a beautiful, clean and welcoming country. Although the climate is harsh and the winter nights interminable, its people are very warm, open and generous. The country has no military presence and over the past three decades it has continued to promote peace. There is a Peace Centre founded by the University of Iceland and the City of Reykjavik, and Iceland has been voted the most peaceful country in the world. It also ranks highly as one of the world’s happiest countries. At the opening event of the Forum, local children from the city’s junior schools shared a project they had been working on and which featured their three wishes: To have peace all over the world. That all children know their rights. That all children have…

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  • July 2019, Taste of life, VOLUME 4 / 30 Jun 2019

    Once upon a time …

    … THERE WAS A STORYTELLER VIKRAM SRIDHAR is a modern day storyteller from Bangalore, India. Here he shares with MEGHANA ANAND some insights about the art of storytelling and how it is an enabler of the wisdom bridge. Q: Hi Vikram. Tell us how you came to be a storyteller. VS: Storytelling connects three broad areas of my interest – theater, conservation and social work – though my academic qualification is in engineering and management. Theater for me meant acting, production, backstage, and ticketing; basically producing a play. I used to work with wildlife organizations in the rescue space in Bangalore, rescuing kites, monkeys and snakes. I also used to work with children, senior citizens and others in the social sector. Storytelling first happened once when someone asked me, as a theater person, to come and tell a story. But when I looked at the story world a little more deeply, I understood that actually every folktale has flora and fauna deeply embedded in it. And if you extrapolate that into Indian mythology also, every deity has an animal or a bird and a tree or a plant. That means conservation is not outside, it’s already there in our households and folklore, and these stories are what we today call folktales. Conservation is not only about flora and fauna. It can be about our languages, the textiles we wear, and even our emotions. For example, how do you express anger? How do you use it? That is conserving your own emotions. The Bhagavad Gita says, “Ahankaram balam darpam kamam krodham,” meaning, “Arrogance, strength, pride, lust and anger.” These are all part of our emotional palette. Every story has these emotions. Either as a listener or as a teller we are going through these emotions. That’s what makes us human beings….

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  • Focus, July 2019, VOLUME 4 / 30 Jun 2019

    The wisdom bridge

    DAAJI shares his views and personal experience with ELIZABETH DENLEY, about the transfer of wisdom between generations, between friends, and between organizations, using the concept he has coined called the Wisdom Bridge. Q: Hello Daaji. Can you please tell us about the Wisdom Bridge? DAAJI: It’s an interesting concept to ponder – building the wisdom bridge. Will one bridge be enough? Knowing how many hills we carry within ourselves and how many rivers flow through us, we need many bridges to connect all these various aspects. Not only within, but when a friend has an idea, and I have to understand that idea, I have to extend my awareness, respectfully honor it and build some sort of a connection with that person’s idea. I need to build a connection with the other person and their ideas. That is a bridge. Between hills, bridges help connect people and make life less strenuous. Across rivers, also, we see bridges. It’s easier to cross; it’s easier to connect. How do we build bridges that connect individuals, with a purpose? We need to build bridges with a variety of individuals – those we love, those we don’t like so much, and people who make no difference in our life but with whom we need to interact. The most important is to build a bridge with those who will not be with us for much longer: I mean to say our grandparents. Many of us who were born in the 50s and 60s were not so fortunate as to have grandparents around for many years, because their life span was shorter, whereas today, millennials especially are familiar with their grandparents. Recently I happened to meet one girl who has grown up in front of me. She is now 26 or 27. Casually I asked her,…

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  • It changes everything, July 2019, VOLUME 4 / 30 Jun 2019

    Silence

    FAUSTO RUSSO was an Italian seeker who arrived at the feet of Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur (Babuji) in Rome in 1976, and who left this world in December 2014. This is a posthumous publication of one of his articles, in which he shares his experience of the role of a Guide in his own evolution, and the importance of silence and learning to listen to the heart. We see anxiety and tension all round us – in people, organizations, nations and events. It is easy to be disturbed by the confusion they produce. I have often wondered where exactly this disturbance comes from, and the conclusion I have come to is that it comes from the ego. In fact the desires produced by the ego trouble our minds in such a way that we feel great anxiety if they are not fulfilled, when reality doesn’t meet our expectations. If, on the other hand, we follow our inner voice rather than our desires, then deeper guidance prevails and we experience calmness and freedom. I remember my Guide once saying, “When Babuji is in my heart, I go free like the air because he looks after me. But when he is not with me I have to look after myself, I’m in tension, I’m responsible, and that is a very tragic situation.” In that situation anxiety creeps in and also fear. We feel like a child who has lost sight of his parents and starts wandering around in anguish, with tears in his eyes. Looking at this situation from another point of view, I have noticed the negative effect that anxiety and agitation have in any field of endeavor – our actions become unbalanced and risk creating further problems. We try to use a crane to pick up a needle, whereas when…

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THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

It changes everything
Thought in action
Focus
The wisdom bridge

The wisdom bridge

in Focus, July 2019, VOLUME 4

DAAJI shares his views and personal experience with ELIZABETH DENLEY, about the transfer of wisdom between generations, between friends, and between organizations, using the concept he has coined called the...

Be Inspired
Yogic Psychology

Yogic psychology

in Be inspired, July 2019, VOLUME 4

In this series of articles, DAAJI explains the fundamental principles of yogic psychology, with its foundation in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. He explains Patanjali’s descriptions of the human mind and the...

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