DHYAN FOUNDATION

In the pyramid of evolution, there is plenty of space at the base but only a needlepoint space at the top. Only a few are entitled to reach the top. This entitlement is not decided by one’s looks or wealth or influence in the society, it is the result of the grace of guru which is earned by one’s karmas and one-pointed focus. This journey to the top of the pyramid is extremely easy and yet most difficult. Easy, because the guru shows you the door and also the path to the door, all you need to do is walk. Difficult because there is only space for a few, so there are energies at play that try to make the sadhaka take a turn. And these energies work at various levels and intensities. At a basic level, they manifest a desire for the sadhaka. A fraction of sadhakas are able to understand the temporariness of the pleasure and are able to keep themselves focused on the finality or the permanent, in the midst of all the pleasures. At the next level, sadhaka is endowed with ...

When you see a great work of art, you marvel at its beauty. When you hear a beautiful piece of music, you want to listen to it again and again. When you read an interesting book, it stimulates your mental faculties. But these are the creations of that artist, that composer and that author. Isn’t it ironical that we engage day in and day out in taking pleasure in things that are someone else’s thought and creation, someone who, at times, we do not even know? How many of us care to access the source which triggered that thought process in that person to create something that we all admire? In the last 20 years of teaching yog, I have met many spiritual aspirants, the most learned and well read. I have attended countless spiritual meets where the discussions and concepts usually stem from the intellectual understanding of great works by masters. Adi Shankarcharya, based on his revelations, gave us the Saundarya Lahiri. Patanjali gave the yogsutras . Krishna summarised his gyan in the...

Navratri is time when one sees long queues of people outside temples waiting for their turn to make their request before God. Whenever we pray, we ask for pleasure, how many of us ask for pain? Pleasure and pain go hand in hand. Every pleasure comes with a pain and pain comes with pleasure. Usually we only indulge in pleasure, because of which pain is forced upon us in the form of disease and financial and relationship troubles. Earlier generations understood this dynamic and therefore used to inflict pain upon themselves to compensate for the pleasures they had indulged in. This pain usually comes in the form of service, charity and tapa. So, what is tapa? It is one of the five niyamas prescribed in Ashthang Yoga , where you heat the body by giving it pain. A basic purification, it is a means to throw out your negative karmas and expedite evolution. Fasting or upavaas done during the nine days of Navratri is a form of tapa. Do remember bhoga is a never-ending process; there is...