The Difference between the Body and the Self

The age old yogic teaching as taught at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga is that death is when the body and self become separated. the body dies and the self lives on.

Socrates had a very good yogic understanding of how the self is only temporarily inhabiting the body, Even at the time of his passing away he was able to instruct his students as to their real identity.

Socrates was a very wise Greek philosopher from the 5th Century BC who was put on trial for his uncompromising and rebellious words and behaviour. To the great disappointment of his students and well wishers he was condemned to death. Just before he was to take the poison which was to kill him one of his students asked him how he would like to be buried. Socrates jokingly replied that they could bury him however they liked but they must first get hold of him and take care that he did not walk away from them! He then went on to explain to his students that the Socrates whom they would soon see as a dead body was not the same Socrates with whom they now talked and knew and that when his body died he would be leaving and going somewhere else. This knowledge, Socrates hoped, would greatly reduce their suffering at his death and be as great a comfort to them as it was to him.


Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.
Bhagavad-gita 2:17

HAPPINESS COMES FROM WITHIN AND SO DO OUR PROBLEMS

Tension, anxiety and worry can be threatening to our health and so often are completely unnecessary. Often they are simply due to our wrongful perception of a situation or ungrounded fears for the future. In this connection there is a joke my grandson told me that I have been telling my yoga classes at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga this week.

Once there were three construction workers who sat down for their lunch on the flat rooftop fifteen stories up. The first one opened his lunch box, saw his sandwiches and said, “Oh no, vegemite sandwiches again! If I ever get another vegemite sandwich I’m going to kill myself!’

The second man opened his lunch box and said, “Oh no, peanut butter sandwiches again! If I ever get another peanut butter sandwich I’m going to kill myself!”

The third man opened his lunch box and said, “Oh no, jam sandwiches, if I ever get another jam sandwich I’m going to kill myself!”

The next day they were again sitting down for lunch and when the first man opened his lunch box and saw his vegemite sandwich he threw himself off the top of the building. The second man saw his peanut butter sandwich and followed him and the third man opened his lunch box, saw his jam sandwich and also hurled himself off the building.

A few days later at the funeral the three wives were gathered around the coffins. The first wife was crying and crying, wringing her hands, she said “Oh if only I’d known, if only I’d known, I’d never have given him vegemite sandwiches.”

The second wife was also crying and crying, “Yes,” she says, “If I’d only known I’d never have given him peanut butter sandwiches again!”

The third wife however was not crying. The other two turned to her and said, “Why aren’t you upset that you gave him jam sandwiches all the time.”

“Well,” said the third wife, “It’s very unfortunate that he didn’t like jam sandwiches, he could have had any type he wanted, but you know….
he always made his own lunch!!”

The Value of Truthfulness

The Value of Truthfulness

Once there was an emperor who loved flowers and gardens indeed all the people of the empire were avid gardeners, especially one little boy called Ping. Ping loved to tend his garden and everything he planted grew to be exceptionally beautiful.
One day the emperor thought to himself that he was getting old and had no heirs and he should choose someone to succeed him. So he sent out a message far and wide that he had some flower seeds to give all the children and that the child who grew the most beautiful flower would be the next emperor when he grew up. All the children collected their seed and set about planting it, fertilising it and watering it. Ping was sure that his flower would blossom beautifully and was very excited. He planted his seed and waited for it to sprout. But it didn’t sprout. He changed pots, new soil, fertiliser, it still wouldn’t grow. No matter how hard he tried this seed would not sprout and when it came time to return to the emperor and bring the flowers Ping was very tempted to just bring another flower that he had grown. He saw all the other children passing by with towering big beautifully blooming flowers of exquisite fragrance and colour and he looked at his miserable little empty pot and decided that this was the best he could have done and took it to the emperor.

All the children assembled in the courtyard with their flowers and Ping with his empty pot and the emperor inspected them all and when he had finished he announced the winner……it was Ping! The boy with the empty pot. Everyone gasped.
“Ping will make the best emperor,” he said, “because he is humble and honest. All the seeds had been boiled and so not one should have sprouted!”

The Importance of Relaxation

Saint John the Apostle was a great saintly person whose life was dedicated to pleasing God. From time to time he used to like to play with his pet sparrow. Once a man came to visit him and was very surprised to see this reputed holy man simply playing. "How is it that you take time away from your saintly activities to merely play?" he asked. "Surely this is a frivolous activity?"

Saint John looked at the man and noted that he carried a bow and a quiver full of arrows. "My dear hunter," he answered, "I notice that you carry a bow and arrows but your bow string is not tight. Why is that?"

"We hunters know to keep our bow string slack otherwise too much tension in it overworks it and then it becomes useless for firing arrows." replied the man.

"Similarly," said Saint John, "if we do not release the tension inside of us it can accumulate and we may also become useless for our chosen undertaking."

Release your tension with meditation and yoga at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

ENVY

A story is told of ancient Greece where athletes were given high status and respect. One such athlete had for many years outperformed all his peers, his prowess was known far and wide and so the municipality being very proud of him erected a statue in the town centre to commemorate his talents. There was another athlete who was almost as good and who felt that he also deserved a statue to be made of him. Every time this athlete saw the statue of his rival his hatred and envy grew until one night he decided to go there and pull the statue down and smash it to pieces. The statue was made of stone and very heavy, the man pulled and pushed with all his might, finally it moved a little, the man pulled some more and the statue toppled over and landed right on top of him, crushing his whole body. This man’s envy had destroyed him.

In the Bible it says,
‘Envy and anger shorten one’s life!”

The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates said,
“Envy is the ulcer of the soul.’

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote
“To be rich in admiration and free from envy
To rejoice greatly in the good of others
To love with such generosity of heart that your love
Is still a dear possession in absence or unkindness –
These are the gifts which money cannot buy.”

How to Know the Truth

A king was constantly asking the sage questions. He asked what the term spiritual meant, he asked what the meaning of self realisation was, he asked how does it feel to be a self realised soul, he ask what does transcendence mean. He enquired again and again and each time the sage patiently answered him according to the yoga scriptures.

Finally one day after another barrage of questions the sage pointed to a mango, "How would you convey the taste of this mango to someone who had never eaten anything sweet?" he asked.

No matter how hard the king tried, he could not adequately describe the flavour of the fruit, and, in frustration, he demanded of the sage "Tell me then, how would you describe it?"
The sage picked up the mango and handed it to the king saying, "This is very sweet, try it! "

When we have tasted spiritual truth then we will understand it.

Alexander the Great and the Sage Dandini

Here is an interesting encounter which Alexander the Great had with a yogi by the name of Dandini. Shortly after Alexander arrived in India, tales of the great forest-dwelling yogi reached him and desiring an audience with the sage he sent his messenger to fetch him.

"Praise be to you O, learned teacher of Brahmins. The son of the mighty God Zeus, Alexander, sovereign of the World, commands you to go to him.” The yogi however remained in deep meditation and did not reply. Whereupon the messenger said, “ The mighty warrior Alexander does not take kindly to refusals, if you comply, you will be richly rewarded if not, your head will be cut off."

The Yogi was neither amused nor intimidated by this rather threatening invitation. He looked up from his couch of grass and leaves and said: "You may tell your master the mighty son of Zeus that firstly all sons of Zeus are my brothers and we are all equal in the eyes of our father. Secondly that I am content with what I have so I do not need any gifts and thirdly he may be able to cut off my head, but will never be able to disturb the peace of my soul, something which clearly Alexander does not have in spite of all his conquests.”

When Alexander received the message, he was seized by the greatest desire to meet such a fearless and wise yogi, and came to him willingly to learn the wisdom of yoga.

Thus Alexander was taking the first step in his spiritual life. This all-important step is mentioned in the yogic scripture - the Bhagavad-gita, which was spoken over 5 000 years ago:

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a self-realised soul,

enquire from him submissively and render service unto him.

The self realised soul can impart knowledge unto you

because he has seen the truth.” Bg 4.34