Hello and welcome to episode 64 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about a 5 minute exercise that will guarantee enlightenment. This is Krishna’s gift to you.
Today’s question comes from Shane and he says “all of my life I have studied consciousness but when it comes to implementation my emotions always conquer my consciousness. How can I fix this?”
That is such a great question. When your emotions take over consciousness becomes a philosophy. However, the great ones have lived in the consciousness and they have shared some great secrets.
Keep it simple
The first tip is to keep it simple. Any knowledge that appears as complex requires us to take a step back. We need to keep it simple. Move in separate parts. Conquer the smaller parts first followed by the bigger parts. Keep it simple by taking things in easily digestible chunks. Take the smaller chunks before the bigger ones. When you keep it simple you’ll be able to absorb those tiny nuggets of information better. Sometimes less is more. If we can take one small piece of information, digest it and practice it, it is better than taking in whole chunks and not really understanding it.
Celebrate
8 out of ten times I would succeed. I would be very strong and my consciousness would always conquer my emotions. But then 2 times I would get into trouble. I would pick out those two times and spend a lot of time on them and it would end up eating all the good things.
It was then that I realised that you need to celebrate small victories. If you only succeed one time then that’s still great. Keep working on it and increase it gradually to 3 and four times. Celebrate the small victories. They are important because they will motivate you to do great things.
Go deep first
The next tip is to first go deep and then go broad. Most people try and do it the other way around, they go broad and then try to go deep. That doesn’t work. You need to go deep first and then go broad. This is how you will help your consciousness conquer your emotions. Just take one book or one page or one verse and go really deep into it. I used to take one verse of the Bhagavad Gita and go really deep into it.
Now I want you to do something. I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are sitting before a beautiful river. The river is the holy Ganges. In the background are the majestic Himalayas. Beside the river there is an area full of beautiful lotus flowers. You are sitting and enjoying the site. The river is flowing, the birds are chirping and the trees are gently swaying in the wind.
There is a verse in the Bhagavad Gita that will fit this scene really well. “Sweet blow the winds, sweet flow the rivers. May the herbs be sweet to us. May the night and day bring us happiness.”
So you are sitting calmly at this river and suddenly a bunch of people come racing through. They start to throw garbage in the river and it becomes really dirty. You become very irritated and it starts to affect your mood. Remember this and write it down. Whatever happens on the surface of the lake is going to undermine our happiness. When the surface was serene so were you but when it was dirtied then it also affected you.
Below the surface are millions and millions of thought waves and below that is our consciousness. So if there are 5 horrible thoughts at the surface then you will have a horrible time that day. If there are powerful thoughts at the surface then you will feel powerful that day. There are usually only about 4 or 5 thoughts on the surface and there are millions below but what you call to the surface will determine your happiness. This is so important.
Dual nature
Krishna says “I am the source of all beings. All things proceed from me. Know all beings to be born of this dual nature.” The dual nature is comprised of the surface and what’s below. If you stay on the surface then you will go between happiness, sadness, anger, frustration and joy. You will constantly swing back and forth. Krishna says that this is your lower nature. The higher nature is when we go down deep.
Most of our lives are spend at the surface. What happens here we label as life. This is your lower nature known as a maya illusion. What really determines you is the jiva consciousness. This is deep down in the ocean. Our job is to dive down and spend more time in the consciousness. The great ones spent over 80% of their time down deep. They only surface when something has to be done.
Thoughts and thinking
There is a difference between thoughts and thinking. Thinking happens on the surface. When someone throws a stone in a river you will see ripples forming. When someone makes you angry a ripple forms and then it multiplies. We end up spending the whole day thinking about it. This happens on the surface and it’s of no use to us because it is an illusion. Even when you’re really angry your consciousness remains serene because it is deep down and away from that level of thinking. It is unaffected by your anger.
If you dive deep enough you can experience instant joy and serenity. When we don’t know how to dive we blame the outside world but we just need to use the resources that god has given us to dive down deep to the consciousness. We tend to stay bobbing at the surface. But if we throw two stones then 10 stones will be thrown back at you. That’s just the way it is. We should not be concerned with the surface.
The great ones are only concerned with thought, action and event. They do this by aligning themselves to the script. They don’t engage in thinking. Only be concerned with the bliss that is deep in your consciousness. The great ones think only when it is necessary. When they need to get something done. They go the surface, get it done and then go back down again.
Say to yourself that you will only hold on to 3 images at the surface. Hold onto three images of god. It could be Krishna, Christ or Buddha it doesn’t really matter. It could even be an image of nature.
A verse I like is: “Him the weapons cannot cut, fire cannot burn, water cannot wet, wind cannot dry. The self cannot be cut, dried, burned or wetted…Eternal, all pervasive, stable, immovable, everlasting the Self Reigns”
Hold onto those 3 images and keep them central so you can recall it easily when something troubles you or causes pain. When someone throws a stone and a ripple forms you need to dive deep to stop it growing. If we don’t then the ripples will magnify. Remember your sadness is only sadness because you are at the surface. Even when things are happy still dive down so it becomes a habit and you can do it easier when you are sad.
Stay fresh
The great ones stay deep down and then they always have a fresh supply of serenity to use when they feel sadness coming. They sit deep and pass on a beautiful rush of fresh water to the surface. Their minds are always glorified, uplifted and inspired. Without this fresh supply your mind will become stagnated. So keep only those few thoughts and your mind will stay fresh.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
