[Quick links] [Pause]   Akka Mahadevi is on the final phase of her journey. She wants to make the impossible possible. Though without a body consciousness, she does have a body and that body has its own limitations. It wants to see the formless in some form. That is because it can only perceive forms. It does not understand abstract things.

[Quick links] [Pause]   In the previous episode, we saw how a young girl namely Mahadevi dared to take on the entire world. She did not care how the worldly people look at her. She discarded all identities, even the identity as a female! She went around naked without any hesitation or feeling of shame.

[Quick links]     Before we get into this dreaming business, let us start this episode with a startling incident. It was an assembly of great saints, all of whom had experienced God in their own way. There were men and women who had gathered together to share their individual experiences with each other. They had also come for a serious discussion about how the society can be reformed.

[Quick links]     We were discussing the story of one of most revered mediaeval saints of India, namely Goda. Goda is in love with God! And she has no hesitation to admit it openly. So, she sings expressing her love to God. She imagines herself to be one of the cowherd girls who lived with Krishna, when the God descended on earth in the human form of Krishna.

[Quick links] [Pause]   Probably a Christian or a Muslim may even shudder to think of such a thing. Romance with God?! Maybe it sounds blasphemous. But not in India among Hindus. There, it is perfectly alright to have a ‘love affair with God’. Well, only if you are a female. As a female devotee, it is perfectly all right to look upon God as your male companion, your beloved, your lover.

[Quick links] [Pause]    Many modern Yoga teachers define Yoga as union. Union with what? Many definitions have been given. But the fact remains that most of us mean body exercises, when we say Yoga. It is about manipulation of the body, it is about fitness of the body, it is about ‘control’ of the body and its instincts. That is the domain of Hatayoga. So, what is this union about? Patanjali Yoga goes a step further. It talks about moving beyond the body and mind. It talks about the soul. And if at all you can use such a word, it talks about uniting with your real self, or attaining Kaivalya – a state where the soul is completely free. But is that the end? That is what we will be seeing in this episode.

[Quick links] [Pause]   Con el tipo de popularidad que ha alcanzado el Yoga estos días, estoy segura de que habrás probado alguna "forma" de Yoga. Probablemente también te haya beneficiado. Pero si quieres saber más sobre lo que el yoga puede hacer y cómo funciona realmente, este episodio es para ti. Por favor sigue escuchando.

[Quick links] [Pause]   Just like our modern-day computers, our minds too have EPROMS with pre-stored instructions that enables us to boot strap, and go on with our lives. These instructions are essential for living. But they become a problem when they somehow get corrupted. Imagine how a computer would behave if its EPROM is corrupted. It just crashes 😉 That would also be our state, if we have a faulty mental EPROM. Before we talk about how the practice of Yoga helps in setting right a corrupted mental EPROM, let us face the fundamental question namely -

[Quick links] [Pause]  One goes through a long process of Yoga, following its 8 steps. And finally, he or she attains the state of Samadhi. Is that the end of the journey? What exactly happens at that final stage, in anticipation of which the Yogi had dedicated all his life, going through the arduous practice of Yoga? That is what we are going to discuss in this episode.

[Quick links] [Pause]    Upanishads always fascinated me. For those people who are not familiar, Upanishads are the philosophic parts of the ancient Indian Vedas. And Vedas are probably, the oldest available scriptures of the world. While most Indians view Upanishads with lot of reverence, many westerners, which include well known scientists and intellectuals, consider them as the peak of human intellectual endeavors.

[Quick links] [Pause]   Patanjali’s Yoga is centered around mind. But throughout the discussion about Yoga, Patanjali rarely describes this mind nor how it functions. The reason is that Patanjali assumes the model of the mind as put forth by Samkhya. So, it becomes necessary to know what Samkhya says about the mind in order to fully understand Yoga. In this episode, we will be doing exactly that.

[Quick links] [Pause]   It is amazing how ancient Indians were preoccupied with coming up with various theories about the mind. These theories were not aimed at understanding the mind, the way our modern neuroscience does. But they were driven by practical applications. One such theory of mind was Buddhist theory of mind as recorded in the Buddhist scripture, namely the Abhidamma Pitaka. Based on this theory, Buddhists developed various meditative practices. We will discuss this Buddhist theory of mind in this episode.

[Quick links] [Pause]   Whether mind is just the brain or is it something mysterious, has always been a point of debate. The more we understand our brain, more we will be closer to understanding the mind, as well as the limitations in our scientific methodology. For more than one reason, it seems that there is something more to the mind than just the brain. In this episode, we will see why it is necessary to keep an open mind before arriving at any conclusions.

[Quick links] [Pause]  In the previous episode we stopped at ‘stages of samadhi with awareness’ and showed how all the steps of Yoga till that point can be completely explained in terms of neuroscience. That means, all that can be scientifically verified.But beyond that point, when one gets into the ‘stages of samadhi without awareness’, we have to leave behind science since our brain has no direct role in those stages.Does that mean that there is something even beyond brain? That is what I am going to discuss in this episode.

[Quick links] [Pause]  Contrary to common perception, Yoga has more to do with Meditation than physical exercises. There are lot of misconception about these real aspects of Yoga. Lack of knowledge and willful distortion by many commercially motivated Gurus, have earned the name pseudoscience to Yoga. This is quite unfortunate.In this episode, we will discuss how the entire Yoga, including the meditation, can be scientifically studied and verified. Our current knowledge of neuroscience and the gadgets that we have at our disposal, empower us to undertake such an objective study.

[Quick links] [Pause]   In the past episodes we saw how yoga helps in minimizing the thought-wars that generally give rise to stress. But mere stress reduction is not the ultimate goal of Yoga.In the previous episode we also saw why it is necessary to minimize the thoughts completely to march towards a completely tranquil mind – an entry point to the final goal.We talked about focusing the mind on specific targets through a process called Dharana – the 6th step of Yoga. Dharana is the precursor to meditation or Dhyana that takes us to the ultimate goal of Yoga.Before we dive deeply into Dhyana, let us look at some interesting aspects of Dhyana or meditation in this episode.

[Quick links] [Pause]   In the past episodes we saw how yoga helps in minimizing stress. Lesser stress means better health. Most people turn to Yoga with that goal. But Yoga is not really about stress reduction, though that is one of its byproducts. There are far more interesting things that Yoga can achieve. It takes us to an altogether new dimension of our existence far beyond mundane. That is achieved by the advanced steps of Yoga that we are going to discuss in this as well as subsequent episodes.

[Quick links] [Pause]   Unless you are a novice who is just introduced to Yoga, you probably have noticed that the effectiveness of Yoga practice gradually tapers off over a period of time. It is no longer as effective as it once used to be. Why does that happen?

[Quick links] [Pause]   For most of us asana or body posture is purely a physical thing – stretching, contracting and balancing the body in a specific way. So, you must be wondering what has neuroscience got to do with it! But you may be surprised that even this seemingly physical ‘thing’ has underlying neurological basis! That is what I am going to discuss in this episode.

[Quick links] [Pause]   In this episode, we will briefly discuss the neuroscience behind many techniques that result in a sharply focused mind – or ‘Ekaagra Citta as Patanjali calls it. Along with the well-known Pranayama of Patanjali, I will touch upon the so called ‘Mindfulness’ techniques as well.