On Bliss

As your awareness moves from the Body to your Mind, there is this transitionary layer called the Energy Layer.  

The physical body consists of energy that vibrates very slowly, which is why it appears to our physical eyes to be solid. This has lead us to focus mainly on the physical aspect of ourselves without recognizing that it is actually created from and sustained by the energetic layers that are outside of our normal perception.  These energy channels are part of our subtle body and are called Chakras. The chanting of an appropriate mantra helps you to clear the blockages of these energy channels.

There are 5 syllables in Nama Shivaya.  In exploring the manifestations of the absolute the number five comes up. Five toes, fingers, senses, elements, acts etc. Shiva Energy is said to have five actions - to create, to maintain, to destroy, to conceal, and to gracefully reveal.  Shiva Energy is most popular for destruction. When we chant the mantra we are destroying the blockages in our subtle body. When the blockages are gone, the positive energy flows uniformly creating a unified field for easier and faster meditation

The Nama shivaya mantra purifies our actions and behaviors tuning them to the pure actions of Shiva, of the source. Our five senses of smelling, tasting, seeing, feeling, and hearing are also purified and refined. 

First of all, you are making progress already. You have observed that your mind is distracted.

Your mind is a stream of thoughts. 

Just like a stream has a lot of things going with the flow, your mind has a lot of things going on with its flow.

Just observe that some of these thoughts are intense. Some are less intense.  That thought of the person offending you yesterday is intense.  That appointment which you have coming up in the morning is less intense. 

Just like a fish uses its own power to swim and move vigorously in the stream, your intense thoughts will have it's own energy.  Let it go by. Let it flow. The stream will move a fish forward and another fish will come in it's place.  A thought will move forward and another thought will take it's place.  

Resistance is futile.

Just like a log of wood floats on the stream, a thought with less intensity will also float in your mind. 

When you look at the stream from a distance  - the fish or the log are just moving in this stream.  When you look at your mind all these thoughts are moving in the mind's stream.

The space between the fishes change.   Observe that space.

All of us succumb to our temptations or cravings once in a while. That scoop of ice cream, a puff of cigarette or even browsing your favority social networking site when you have other important things you need to do.

The will power required to resist the temptation requires quite a bit of energy.

My simple technique is a visualization technique.  I accept the temptation or craving and visualize it as a strong Wind blowing at me. The stronger the temptation, the more stronger my visualized wind is. I know the Wind will pass and will not blow at me for a long period.

I become aware of the temptation Wind blowing at me and I slowly allow it to pass through me not resisting it keeping a smile on my face.   

This visualization usually lasts less than a minute and is very effective.

Lots of people just don't get the difference between what they want and what they need. 

 For example, I want to drink a can of Coca-Cola. I don't need one. A 'want' is usually a 'mental' formulation and a 'need' is more closely associated to a 'physical' requirement.

 You can argue that the thirst for a Coca-Cola is 'physical'.  The truth is that you have a  'physical' need on which you have layered the 'mental' want. You will need to decouple them and become aware of the qualitative differences between these two.

Awareness is the fundamental building block for happiness.

The ability of the mind to observe without adding layers of bias, criticism and unnececessary analysis make the awareness non-judgemental.

It is like you watching a fish swim in a pond or an aquarium.  You don't know where it is going to swim to next and you just simply observe its motion flowing easily and effortlessly through the water.

The concept of natural awareness is alien to lots of us. The buddhists call it 'Sati' or Mindfulness.

It is 'before thought' in the perceptual chain of events.  'Before thought' is the state where you register an event. It is the direct and immediate experience of whatever is happening.

When I think of how everyone can simply be happy, I usually think of some fundamental layers which need to exist to build the foundation of your happiness.

These layers are not 'really' layers but a simple way to comprehend the concept of the interdependent components.

All these layers needs to be taken care of on a daily basis.  What I mean by 'taken care of' is that we need to pay attention to these layers by doing things which are appropriate for each of the layers so that the layer remains strong.  If we don't, the layer deteriorates and causes the Happiness Stack to fall apart.

It is like not watering our favorite plant. The plant can probably go up to a couple of days without water. But after some time its health will start deteriorating. 

So what layers does the Personal Happiness Layer comprise of :

Physical layer  ( the body)

Energy layer  ( breath, food , rest)

Mental layer  ( your thoughts and related feelings)

Intellectual layer ( your knowledge based activities which accesses memories and experiences) 

Awareness layer ( the pure consciousness)

Each of the layers can interact with any other layer and that is the key thing to note here.

Supreme happiness (Bliss) is attained when all these layers work efficiently and interact properly.

This concept of 'happiness layers' is not something I invented. In fact, it has been around for ages. The hindu tradition (from India) labels its the 5 sheaths of human existence

Anna-maya kosha  - Organic body

Prana-maya kosha - Energy body

Mana-maya kosha -Psychic body, thoughts and feelings

Vigyana-maya kosha -  Intellectual body, spiritual discrimination and wisdom

Awareness is the fundamental building block for happiness.

The ability of the mind to observe without adding layers of bias, criticism and unnececessary analysis make the awareness non-judgemental.

It is like you watching a fish swim in a pond or an aquarium.  You don't know where it is going to swim to next and you just simply observe its motion flowing easily and effortlessly through the water.

Again, a very powerful knowledge element from the Bhagavad Gita :

 (2.46)  One has the ability and privilege to do one's respective duty, but has no control over the results. The fruits of work should not be the motive. Also, one should never remain inactive.

When you do anything with most of your attention spent on how the results will be, then you split between two things. You are split between the present moment and the future. Instead of paying full attention to what you are doing, you are constantly worrying about what the results will be.

Managing energy across the 5 layers is a key technique to ensure you are happy. Even though most of the energy management happens in the 'Energy Layer', the other layers are directly affected by this.

How do you manage energy?

STEP 1 : You begin this by accepting everything which is happening now.

I cannot explain how simple this is and how important this first step is. The easiest way to explain this by showing how I put this into practice.

When I am working at home, usually on my laptop, my 4 year old comes by, once-in-a-while , and nags me. She usually wants to sit on my lap. The initial reaction for me is a little bit of irritation. But with my awareness I fully accept her and her demand and I request her to do something more interesting like reading a book.  If she still persists, I ask her to wait for a minute so that I can logically stop my work at a place I can come back to without much effort. Then I put her on my lap and with a smile from my heart, I give her a hug and tell her that Acha (daddy in our mother tongue) has work to do and she can sit with daddy for a couple of minutes. And I do nothing else other than giving her a light hug. After a couple of minutes, she usually gets down by herself and happily goes to her next task.

The essence of the above example is that accepting whatever is coming to you, whether it is a request from the outside, or something your mind creates will help you lay the foundation so that you continue to practice awareness.

Resistance of what is happening now is counteractive to optimal energy management.

The layer where this applies is the Awareness layer.

STEP 2 : Have the right kind of food

Avoid animal and high fat products as much as you can.

Animal products contain fat, especially saturated fat, which is linked to heart disease, insulin resistance, and certain forms of cancer. These products also contain cholesterol, something never found in foods from plants. And, of course, animal products contain animal protein. It may surprise you to learn that diets high in animal protein can aggravate kidney problems and calcium losses. Animal products never provide fiber or healthful complex carbohydrate.  

These products do not help with optimizing your energy. On the other hand, to digest animal products and to deal with the effects it has on your health it takes up lots of your good energy.

STEP 3 : Have the right kind of rest at the right intervals

Finding the right 'pace' for your activities and sprinkling breaks in between can make the activities more enjoyable.

For example, when I wrote this article, I use a hard rule of not writing for more than 20 minutes at a stretch. I also start writing with an intention of not getting distracted with anything else - e.g. browsing or emailing.  If a random actionable thought comes up, I write it down into my plain blank sheet of paper which is always beside me.

Getting into the 'flow' is a practice which everybody can get into. Energy management for your activities is primarily done with getting the right kind of rest so that you are recharged when you get back to the activity.

STEP 4:  Breathe properly

Proper breathing can be an important coping skill to learn. It may sound silly, but many people do not breathe properly. Natural breathing involves your diaphragm, a large muscle in your abdomen. When you breathe in, your belly should expand. When you breathe out, your belly should fall. Overtime, people forget how to breathe this way and instead use their chest and shoulders. This causes short and shallow breaths, which can increase stress and anxiety.

STEP 5:   Get some sunlight    

There is a sort of spiritual significance when you get some 'light'. Most vegetation extracts its energy from the sunlight, which is absorbed directly by the chlorophyll of plants. In men, it is absorbed by mitochondria, which are like miniature batteries that store the indispensable energy for its organism.

Getting out in the morning or sitting close to a window, you can expose yourself to some sunlight. Experiencing the warmth generates some emotional warmth, energy and revitalizes you.

STEP 6:  You put energy in the places where you get more energy back 

This is about spending time on things which are good for you long term. For example, avoid television as much as possible unless you watch something which is energizing or informative. Don't gossip, because it creates a lot of negative energy. 

Spend time on projects or activities where the minimum you get back is the knowledge and experience. Do some gardening; see plants and flowers grow. Spend time with small children and enjoy their spontaneity. Spend time on activities with family and friends which all of you enjoy.

Show gratitude. Gratitude is an expression of positive energy. When you sow positive energy into the universe it multiplies.

Clinging is the worst form of attachment. A restless form of attachment which does not allow you to settle down. If you haven't settled down, it will be hard to apply awareness. Your mind is full of the object which you are clinging on to.

Often we get so caught up in this 'Clinging' that we barely even notice we are caught by it, we never sit back and get any perspective on this ongoing craving or deep uncontrollable desire that we have.  

Understanding Clinging

We need to get a good understanding on how all types of desires work, not just one particular desire. Understanding the creation of the 'clinging' will help us understand how to overcome it. So this is what I want to spend some time about here and show how the process of desires and sensual pleasures repeats in our lives – eating issues, addiction problems, cheating on our spouses etc. These are all 'clinging' in one form or another, even down to the subtle stuff like desire for a morning cup of tea or a wanting for a hug from your little one.

What do we cling on to 

According to Buddhist teaching there are five types of phenomena (aggregates) which serves as objects which we cling on to. They are :

Aggregate

External Sense Base

Internal Sense Base

Form

mental visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch

objects eye, ear, nose, tongue, ear, nose, tongue, body

Sensation

mental objects

Perception

Formation

Conscousness

 mind

    Step #1 : Identifying the form

Once we identify the different objects we cling on to, we can start being aware of the attachment associated to these objects.

That sounded easy but as you know this is not easily done. An example can help you understand the workings of this. I am currently fond of 'honey roasted peanuts'. I eat them almost regularly because I have this plastic see through bottle sitting on the kitchen counter and its clearly in sight. The object of my attachment is the visible form 'honey roasted peanuts'. But there isanother form associated with it and that is the form of taste.

Step #2 : Identifying the Sensation , Perception or Formation

Once you have identified the forms, you can start identifying the sensation associated with the form. So in my example it could be sensation of craving. A formation of temporary hunger. A perception that eating the snack can take your mind off something boring you are doing.

Step #3: Watching the Desire

A desire arises almost as soon as the sensation arises. People usually confuse the two. The sensation in the step above is the trigger to the desire.

This is where awareness plays a vital role. We have gone through a process of identifying the form, finding the associated sensations and identifying the desire triggered by the sensations.

Just watching the desire as an observer will reduce the impact the desire has on you. The proper response is to let go of the desire little-by-little. By not pushing the desire away, by not fighting it or resisting it, you become automatically detached but your need to take action does not automatically happen. This last line is very important and I sincerely advice you to read that again.

I constantly hear from my friends and family members about them wanting to get 'Peace of mind'. It is interesting to hear the responses when you ask them what exactly are they referring to when they use the phrase 'Peace of mind'. Some of them refer to not having peace of mind when things or events do not go the way they expect to or when people behave or act in a way which is irritating or not conducive to what my friends or family members perceive to be acceptable.

They are saying that their mind's peace was disturbed because of an event or a person. So the question I always ask is - 'You' are aware that your mind is disturbed ?.  Who is that 'You' ?.

Just like your hand is part of 'You' , your mind is just a part of 'You'. It's not really 'You'.

I am pretty sure the title is self-explanatory. I had recently written about energy management and one of the places I had suggested that you put your energy into was to show gratitude. Showing or expressing gratitude has this positive viral effect which can transform your life and is key to simply being happy.

Since it requires energy, it requires some effort. There are numerous ways to use awareness to cultivate gratitude. Of course you acknowledge your appreciation when things are going well. But even more helpful is to notice those things for which you are grateful when you are affected physically or emotionally in a not so positive manner. I often instruct readers to respond to a difficult situation by acknowledging it as such, then saying to themselves, 'Yes, this is upsetting, and I am grateful for...' An example would be, 'I am angry at this moment, and I am grateful I have a mind which knows this is so and can deal with it.'

Even though initially practicing Gratitude requires effort, the practice will turn to become a natural habit. But like every other positive habit there are things which can prevent you from cultivating this one. Let's talk about some of them. 

Sometimes you shortchange gratitude because your mind is stuck in problem-fixing mode; it only notices what isn't working and sets about trying to resolve it. 

Another reason is that the mind loses interest quickly and moves on to the next thing. It tends to take for granted whatever is both desirable and present. You can see this for yourself around drinking your favorite drink: Notice how the first few sips taste so delicious, then how quickly the mind ceases to register the pleasant sensations.

The phenomenon of comparing mind is another hindrance to practicing gratitude. It is the aspect of your mind that notices, 'She has a nicer house than I do,' 'He is taller than I am,' or 'He makes more money than me.' Understand that there is a difference between discernment, the factor of mind that sees things clearly, and comparing mind, which exercises judgment and hides a belief system that says, 'If only I have more of the right things, I will be happy.'

I don't mean the channels on TV, but your input channels when you are experiencing something. What usually happens in a common activity (e.g.  a conversation or climbing the stairs or even while reading a book) is that you are eager to quickly finish that activity. The details and subtilty of that activity is not fully experienced. The tendency to quickly flip the page or quickly ascend or descend the stairs is high among all of us.

How to Practice this Today

Stay with the activity a little longer than usual. Understand there is a history of creation within the activity. For example, when you climb the stairs, you can be conscious of nature's wonder in creating the stones or the substances required for the cement, the wood required or even the hard work of the construction workers in putting this safe structure in place. When you read a book, there is nature in every page you touch, every word you read. The creativity of the author when you absorb each word.