THE FIRST DIMENSION: OUR PHYSICAL BODY
Our health and wellness depend a great deal on how skillfully we care for our body. The relationship between the body and our happiness is simple and direct: when you aren’t healthy you don’t enjoy life and you don’t function well. The body is an extremely sensitive barometer to both the mind and the world around us.
The more sensitive we are to the body’s messages, the easier it is for us to stay healthy. The body always lets us know when we are out of balance. For example, high blood pressure is most often a clear signal that we are not handling pressure well. If we don’t know that we have high blood pressure it can lead to a disaster, such as stroke or heart attack. Once aware of the problem we can easily take steps – deep relaxation, proper breathing, the right kind of exercise, greater emotional control – to correct it.
When we ignore the signs or symptoms of our bodies – or worse, eliminate the symptoms without dealing with the cause – we only create a bigger problem. Taking pain medication for a tension headache relieves the symptoms, but it doesn’t change the underlying cause, the chronic tension in our muscle. As a consequence, we end up taking the pills over and over again because we didn’t solve the real problem of chronic tension.
The main control of our body is our brain and the nervous system. There are two types of nervous system, voluntary nervous system (sensori-motor nervous system), which controls our sense organs and our muscles. The other is called the autonomic nervous system and regulates our internal organ systems, such as cardiovascular functioning and digestion.
The Balancing Act
The autonomic nervous system is made up of two distinct nervous systems called the sympathetic and parasympathetic. Together these two systems regulate the activities of our organs. The sympathetic system creates arousal in the body, while parasympathetic does just the opposite. When we are healthy, these two systems work together like right and left-hand work together to accomplish a task. They balance each other, exchanging dominance as the need requires, and maintaining equilibrium as dominance shifts.
THE SECOND DIMENSION: ENERGY – THE MISSING LINK
When we touch these pages (or whatever), they feel substantial, thing that you can touch and see, even smell, hear and taste. That’s because you are using your body senses. From physics, we know that what appears to our senses as a solid object is really not solid At all, but a complex patterning of atomic and subatomic energy particles. If we put this page under an electron microscope, we would find nothing solid, only pattern of energy. The body is no different from any other physical object. If we could look at our body beneath an electron microscope, we would find only patterns of energy. This energy substructure is the foundation of our material reality, and forms the second dimension of our personality. Western science and medicine approach the body on the physical level, as if the only reality is biochemical. When you go to a doctor, she doesn’t talk about the energy, she prescribes medication to create a biochemical change. Even the physicist whose entire professional career involves studying energy forgets his knowledge when he is sick, and treats his body as if the chemical (physical) level were the only reality.
This life force has been the intense study of our Indian meditative and self-mastery disciplines as well as other eastern yogic traditions like Zen, Reiki and the martial arts. In spite all the differences these tradition universally understand energy to be the connecting link between body and mind. These energy channels are referred as “Nadis” in yogic tradition, as “Chi” in china and are known as “Ki” in Japanese tradition.
We get energy from variety of sources – food, sleep, sunlight. But the most important source of energy is our breath. We can go without food for weeks, without water for days, but we can live only a few moments without breathing. Because of its critical power function, our breathing has become so much a part of us that as long as we aren’t deprived, we pay little attention to it. We don’t realize that the way we breathe plays a critical role in self-mastery. Each tradition has an extensive repertoire of breathing exercises, which are used to develop a sophisticated control over the breathing process and, through these exercises, a high degree of control over what happens in the body.
Elmer green and his wife Alice green in their book “beyond Biofeedback” reported on laboratory research on Swami Rama, the yogic master. In different experiments, he
· Consciously and intentionally stopped his heart from pumping blood by creating arterial fibrillation in which his heart fluttered at 300 beats per minute;
· Lowered the temperature at one point on his hand by 5 degrees Fahrenheit while simultaneously raising the temperature by 5 degrees at another point on his hand only millimeters away;
· Voluntarily controlled the production of different brain waves;
· Was fully conscious of the surrounding while sleeping as was evident by the steady stream of delta brain-wave rhythms.
Whether or not we learn the remarkable control of this great Yoga Master is not the point. The critical issue is whether or not we learn how to use our breathing to gain greater self-mastery. While may not reach the degree of skill demonstrated by a yoga master, we can certainly learn to use the subtle energy dimension to maintain physical and mental balance regardless of the situation in which we find ourselves. Unfortunately, most of us have a habit of breathing that causes more work for our heart, leads to chronic stress, and often causes hypertension.
THE THIRD DIMENSION: THE SENSORY MIND
Don’t confuse the mind with the brain. The brain is the physical organ, part of the body, which serves as the control room for the mind. Brain changes the subtle energy of the mind into biochemical and neurological events that move the body. Of course the quality of the mind’s expression is greatly influenced by the condition of the brain. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your software program is – if the circuits are damaged that program will not run properly.
We call the third dimension of the personality the sensory mind because it collects, organizes, and interprets sensory data. The sensory mind is a busy, noisy place filled with sensory stimulation, emotions, wants and desires, habits and feelings. Its primary job is to interpret the world around us, and to create a personal sense of reality, the context through which we view the world. The sensory mind makes meaningful patterns from sensory input. It does this through four power functions:
1. Perception –
Two people sitting I the same room, having the same experience, will see and interpret that experience in highly individual ways, and will not always agree as to what really happened. A favorite story of mine:
In the clubhouse, three umpires were discussing the pending World Series game. The youngest, proud of being selected to participate in the World Series, bragged to his colleagues: “ I never worry about mistakes. I call them as I see them.”
The other two umpires started laughing, and the middle-aged umpire retorted: “ Well, you are still a little wet behind your ears. I call them as they are!”
The old umpire smiled and looked out the window.
“What are you smiling at?” the middle aged umpire finally asked his elder.
“Well,” said the old wise one. “It seems as if there are two here who are still little wet behind the ears. They are what I call them.
A particular event in our life can be good or bad, exiting or dull, awful or wonderful. We don’t actually describe the actual event but what that event means to us.
2. Language –
Language is the tool we use to create meaning. Once we use language, we are stuck with the consequences of our interpretations. Much of the unhappiness that we create for ourselves happens because we don’t realize the impact that our language has, nor do we know how to use language as a tool to help ourselves.
3. Emotions –
The interpretations we make determine our emotional reaction. In turn, our emotional reactions distort our perceptions, interfere with thinking, lead to conflicts and create disease. Many of feel victims of our emotions and yet we alone create them. We need emotional energy to succeed in life. Our emotions stimulate, challenge and motivate us to accomplish what we want. But all this depends where we channel our emotions.
4. Habits –
Whether we use our emotions to help or to hurt ourselves depends a great deal on our habits, the fourth function of sensory mind. Habits are the most deep-rooted and pervasive functions of the mind. We express our entire personalities through habits. It’s easy to see the enormous impact habits have in your life. Try shifting a habit when you get dressed tomorrow morning. As you put on your slacks, stop, and put the other leg in first. Most people fall over as they alter this simple, almost meaningless pattern of behavior.
Habits dominate the three outer levels of the personality – sensory mind, energy, and the body. We have habits of driving, eating, walking, and talking. How we react, feel, whether or not keep our muscles tense, even how we think are all regulated by the power of habit. All our skills – typing, playing cricket, managing, building a fire – are determined and controlled by habit. The friends we choose, the work we do, and the clothes we wear are all controlled by habit. Of course there are other factors involved in behavior, such as the power function of the mind, genetics and the environment. But habits provide the structure of what we think, what we do, and how we react. Habits allow us to live skillfully and usefully. Habits can also kill us.
As we shall see later, habits are the power behind our skill. But we didn’t consciously choose most of our habit, and many of them are destructive because they feed the three dragons of the mind. However, if we know how to take control of the powerful function of the mind, we can build habits that help us create a healthy body and mind instead of chronic conditions of stress, unhappiness and disease.
Don’t confuse the mind with the brain. The brain is the physical organ, part of the body, which serves as the control room for the mind. Brain changes the subtle energy of the mind into biochemical and neurological events that move the body. Of course the quality of the mind’s expression is greatly influenced by the condition of the brain. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your software program is – if the circuits are damaged that program will not run properly.
We call the third dimension of the personality the sensory mind because it collects, organizes, and interprets sensory data. The sensory mind is a busy, noisy place filled with sensory stimulation, emotions, wants and desires, habits and feelings. Its primary job is to interpret the world around us, and to create a personal sense of reality, the context through which we view the world. The sensory mind makes meaningful patterns from sensory input. It does this through four power functions:
1. Perception –
Two people sitting I the same room, having the same experience, will see and interpret that experience in highly individual ways, and will not always agree as to what really happened. A favorite story of mine:
In the clubhouse, three umpires were discussing the pending World Series game. The youngest, proud of being selected to participate in the World Series, bragged to his colleagues: “ I never worry about mistakes. I call them as I see them.”
The other two umpires started laughing, and the middle-aged umpire retorted: “ Well, you are still a little wet behind your ears. I call them as they are!”
The old umpire smiled and looked out the window.
“What are you smiling at?” the middle aged umpire finally asked his elder.
“Well,” said the old wise one. “It seems as if there are two here who are still little wet behind the ears. They are what I call them.
A particular event in our life can be good or bad, exiting or dull, awful or wonderful. We don’t actually describe the actual event but what that event means to us.
2. Language –
Language is the tool we use to create meaning. Once we use language, we are stuck with the consequences of our interpretations. Much of the unhappiness that we create for ourselves happens because we don’t realize the impact that our language has, nor do we know how to use language as a tool to help ourselves.
3. Emotions –
The interpretations we make determine our emotional reaction. In turn, our emotional reactions distort our perceptions, interfere with thinking, lead to conflicts and create disease. Many of feel victims of our emotions and yet we alone create them. We need emotional energy to succeed in life. Our emotions stimulate, challenge and motivate us to accomplish what we want. But all this depends where we channel our emotions.
4. Habits –
Whether we use our emotions to help or to hurt ourselves depends a great deal on our habits, the fourth function of sensory mind. Habits are the most deep-rooted and pervasive functions of the mind. We express our entire personalities through habits. It’s easy to see the enormous impact habits have in your life. Try shifting a habit when you get dressed tomorrow morning. As you put on your slacks, stop, and put the other leg in first. Most people fall over as they alter this simple, almost meaningless pattern of behavior.
Habits dominate the three outer levels of the personality – sensory mind, energy, and the body. We have habits of driving, eating, walking, and talking. How we react, feel, whether or not keep our muscles tense, even how we think are all regulated by the power of habit. All our skills – typing, playing cricket, managing, building a fire – are determined and controlled by habit. The friends we choose, the work we do, and the clothes we wear are all controlled by habit. Of course there are other factors involved in behavior, such as the power function of the mind, genetics and the environment. But habits provide the structure of what we think, what we do, and how we react. Habits allow us to live skillfully and usefully. Habits can also kill us.
As we shall see later, habits are the power behind our skill. But we didn’t consciously choose most of our habit, and many of them are destructive because they feed the three dragons of the mind. However, if we know how to take control of the powerful function of the mind, we can build habits that help us create a healthy body and mind instead of chronic conditions of stress, unhappiness and disease.
The deeper we go into the personality, the greater the calm and quiet will be regardless of how stormy the sea of life becomes. The three deepest, most subtle levels of the personality are never disturbed no matter how intense the dragons become. If we can access the resources of these deeper levels, and use them skillfully, we maintain control of ourselves no matter what kind of crises we face.
THE FOURTH DIMENSION: DISCRIMATION AND POWER OF INNER WISDOM
Deep within every mind is the capacity to know the truth, to understand reality as it is. This capacity is known as the discriminating mind. Discrimination is the quite realization that, for all the promises and planning, the project you are working on is not going to get off the ground, or that illusive contract will be signed even though it appears unlikely now. This is the power of knowledge, our capacity to know the truth, to understand reality as it really is, not as we have learned to think it is.
The discriminating mind allows us to think things out, to analyze situations effectively, and to make choices. When we don’t use it, we act solely on habit. For instance if we go to a movie every Saturday night, we don’t really make decision, we act of habit. We use our discrimination only to pick the movie. However, if we make conscious decision about where to go – visit friends, go to relative’s place, or take in a movie – then we use our capacity for discrimination. It allows us to make decisions on the basis of information and reasoning rather from habit.
On the deeper level, discrimination provides us with intuition: insight into the real consequences of our actions. Our inner wisdom allows us to make the right kinds of choices, avoiding regret and guilt often created through hasty action. We have all had the experience of taking an action that we are convinced was right. But before we did it, a small, quiet voice inside said, “better not do that.” We pause for a moment, but reassure ourselves that haven’t all been planned and go ahead with the plan. Three days later everything fell apart, which led to the thought, “I knew I shouldn’t have done that.” And we did know. We just didn’t know how to listen to our discriminating mind.
This dimension of the mind is very subtle and quiet. When the sensory mind is noisy and active, it can easily bury the subtle voice of our wisdom. Distracted by our desires and fears, and locked into our habits, it becomes difficult to access and listen to that still, quiet, inner voice. The more disturbances we have, the more difficult it is to think things through, to discern the subtle cause/effect relationships in our choices and actions.
The key to wisdom lies in the ability to create a deeply calm and quiet mind through concentration. In the yogic tradition, as in other tradition of self-mastery, we first learn to bring balance and flexibility to the body, stabilize our energy systems, and calm the noisy sensory mind. Then the emphasize of the training begins to shift as we learn to develop our insight into the nature of things. Variety of techniques and approaches are used to develop the power of this pure intellect. As we become more aware of this power of discrimination, and more skilled in its use, we make better decisions and avoid many of the troubles that we would normally create for ourselves.
THE FIFTH DIMENSION: BALANCE AND CONFIDENCE
At the center of the mind lies the fifth and even more subtle dimension, the balance state. Here, the mind’s energy is in a state of pure harmony and balance, and not yet modified into patterns of thought and knowledge. In this condition of purity, it is beyond the influence of language, emotions, and habits, and totally unaffected by any external disturbances. At this level of the personality, we are at peace with ourselves and the world. This center of tranquillity is the source of genuine self-confidence. Much of the stress that we experience stems from fear and worry. In other words stress is often the result of failure of self-confidence. The less confident we are, the more we worry and berate ourselves. The more worry and failure we create, the less confident we feel and hence get caught up in this vicious circle negative reinforcement. And yet every human being is born with center of self-confidence that lies unaffected by failures and disaster. However, distracted by the noisy sensory mind, we often don’t recognize it, nor do we learn how to tap this enormous resource.
We all have this experience of pure confidence from time to time. Sometime when you are alone, taking a walk. All of a sudden, you felt as “God’s with you – all’s right with the world,’ an overwhelming experience of contentment. The experience is for short time, but for that time you were completely free of any worry and self-doubt. You felt absolutely wonderful and content. This didn’t happened because you won a lottery, or taking some drug. In fact world was same with all the same problems to resolve. The magic was all you. You did it by relaxing, quieting the noisy chatter in your mind, and allowing your mind to focus inwardly. You became conscious of your own calm center, which was always there. What if you could access this strength anytime you needed it? How would the ability effect your stress level and performance?
At the center of the mind lies the fifth and even more subtle dimension, the balance state. Here, the mind’s energy is in a state of pure harmony and balance, and not yet modified into patterns of thought and knowledge. In this condition of purity, it is beyond the influence of language, emotions, and habits, and totally unaffected by any external disturbances. At this level of the personality, we are at peace with ourselves and the world. This center of tranquillity is the source of genuine self-confidence. Much of the stress that we experience stems from fear and worry. In other words stress is often the result of failure of self-confidence. The less confident we are, the more we worry and berate ourselves. The more worry and failure we create, the less confident we feel and hence get caught up in this vicious circle negative reinforcement. And yet every human being is born with center of self-confidence that lies unaffected by failures and disaster. However, distracted by the noisy sensory mind, we often don’t recognize it, nor do we learn how to tap this enormous resource.
We all have this experience of pure confidence from time to time. Sometime when you are alone, taking a walk. All of a sudden, you felt as “God’s with you – all’s right with the world,’ an overwhelming experience of contentment. The experience is for short time, but for that time you were completely free of any worry and self-doubt. You felt absolutely wonderful and content. This didn’t happened because you won a lottery, or taking some drug. In fact world was same with all the same problems to resolve. The magic was all you. You did it by relaxing, quieting the noisy chatter in your mind, and allowing your mind to focus inwardly. You became conscious of your own calm center, which was always there. What if you could access this strength anytime you needed it? How would the ability effect your stress level and performance?
THE SIXTH DIMENSION: THE SPIRITUAL CENTER 0F CONTROL
The human mind and body are complex instrument with great many resources. But there is a spiritual core beyond the mind and body that we must acknowledge, experience, and learn to use. The mind/body complex has tremendous resources, but the final power lies in Self, the spiritual force which uses the personality as a tool. Depending upon your perspective and belief you may call it the soul, higher power, or center of consciousness. We in this program will mention as the spiritual self. Unless we access and experience this indomitable spiritual core, we cannot gain our final freedom from the dragons of the mind or achieve self-mastery.
When we act in ways that are counter to our own human spirit, we create the most subtle and pervasive kind of suffering. We seldom recognize the price we pay when our actions are inconsistent with our values and beliefs. This inconsistency affects not only the relationship we have with ourselves, but also with others. Our inner strength depends on personal integrity, the ability to be consistent with our own values. When we stand up for what we believe, not only do we strengthen the will, but we also experience self-respect and inner strength. On the other hand, if we act in ways inconsistent with our own humanity and beliefs, we create inconsistencies in the mind that lead to feelings of guilt and weakness.
We all have experiences that allow us to touch this spiritual core in some small way. For some, it happens when they have close brush with death, often referred as “ near death experience,” and have actually experienced dying and being brought back to life. For others, it happens during a religious retreat after long days of silence and prayer. Still others seem to have them by accident, not knowing what precipitated the experience. Probably the most known and famous incident is the experience gained by “Buddha.” When he saw the three stages of life and the never-ending circle of life with all kinds of suffering. After seeing which, Lord Buddha meditated under the Banyan tree. There he was able to gain what we call self-mastery, which lead to enlightenment.
Fortunately, the meditative traditions provide the systematic methodology where anyone who makes the effort can develop the capacity for this experience and the knowledge it brings. The yogic tradition is dedicated to the personal mastery of this spiritual core. Because it is the highest of our human experiences, there are no simple and quick exercises or techniques on the way to enlightenment. But as we gain in self-mastery, as we become more balanced, stronger, and achieve greater insight, we acquire the capacity to experience this powerful spiritual core.
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