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Transforming Fear into Faith and Courage

Transforming Fear into Faith and Courage

Transforming Fear into Faith and Courage

by Swami Sitaramananda
3
AUGUST, 2018
In Yoga philosophy, the teachers or wise people (the rishis) discuss about the relationship between the individual Self and the Absolute Reality.  They help us to understand the mysteries of life which gives us knowledge to understand our own minds and practice emotional intelligence in daily life.
In fact these teachers declare, out of their own experience and knowledge, that there is a state of perfect existence which is beyond changes, birth, and death. This unchanging state of consciousness is also called Truth (Sat). This state of being is fully aware, all-knowing beyond darkness and limitation. This state of all-knowing-at-all-time is termed Chits. Last but not least, they said when we can attain this state of bliss absolute (ananda), we go beyond any suffering and can live a life of perfect emotional intelligence.

Modern Stress can be overwhelming.

Sat Chit Ananda

This absolute positivity can be achieved by an individual, however, the moment that you achieve it, you no longer remain in an individual existence. At that time, all idea of separation and division would disappear, as the individual consciousness merges with the Supreme Consciousness.

How we would achieve this sublime state of consciousness without having any concept of it?

In truth, this absolute consciousness is all pervading and yet is beyond the mind’s concepts. Technically, the mind and intellect are limited and can not perceive something beyond itself, let alone have a relationship with it. This is the reason why, the sages talked about devoting oneself to the highest ideal or form of the divine that the mind can conceive.

In truth, this absolute consciousness is all pervading and yet is beyond the mind’s concepts.
This devotion needs to be personal, because we need to experience it in the core of our heart. We need to feel and experience truly the love of that Truth that is unfailing, all existing, all pervading, all knowing. This highest ideal needs to be understood and felt in the core of our being so that we can become it. This is the ultimate emotional intelligence.

Stress can come on at any time.

 

Our Highest Ideal

It is easier for us to love someone and become like he or she.  In fact, being a human being, we need to see the perfection alive in a human being.

This idea or ideal needs to become embodied for us to relate to and to emulate. The nature of our emotional mind is that it is easier for us to love someone and become like he or she, by the power of love and absorption.

In fact, we become what we think a lot about. We like to idealize and to be attached to someone we think is morally superior to us. We are ready to follow advice from them.

Therefore, there is the idea of a personal concept of God, Ishwara, for us to be dedicated to. Different minds need different types of teacher. Therefore, we are encouraged to seek for our own chosen ideal (ishta devata).

Truth is One

We do not need to compare ourselves with others who have different paths then ourselves. “Names and forms are many, Truth is one”. “ Paths are many, God is one”.

Ultimately, not only we have an abstract idea of the Ideal and the Truth, but we have also the live example in human form of this ideal person we can become.  This is the ultimate power of positive thinking.

Long term negative emotions can go back to before birth and display as certain personality traits.

Faith is positive thinking

Faith in the Supreme Intelligence comes from an inner feeling that there is something greater than you, a supreme being that indwells one’s essential spirit. When one is enriched with abiding faith one is able to recognize the divine grace operating in all things.  In summary, we are on a journey of self-discovery to uncover the truth of who we are, a journey guided by faith.

We can think of faith as the power of positive thinking that carries us from one experience of grace to the next.  Fear exists when we don’t know the Self (the Atman).  We must rely on faith to progress on the spiritual path until we have knowledge of the Self from our own direct experience.

The more we progress and the greater our connection with the truth within, the Atman, the more faith we will have.  Over time we will need less faith as faith is gradually replaced by knowledge of the Self.  Ultimately faith is replaced by direct experience of the Self. It is then we can say, “I know.”

Above – Learn to relax by spending time in nature and practicing yoga.

True Knowledge

Where is knowledge coming from?  In my earlier days, I experience that knowledge can be glimpsed intuitively. At that time,  I observed that people around me were unhappy and miserable.  Even when I was able to help improve their circumstances, they didn’t seem to be any happier.  But somehow, I had the thought that there must be a place that wasn’t like this where people practiced the power of positive thinking.

I went searching, thinking at first this place must be outside of the city, so I moved to the country.  I found it was not in the country either, and guessed it must be in the ashram. It soon became apparent it wasn’t even in the ashram.

Where is this Satchidananda, or knowledge?  Of course, knowledge or truth reside inside of us, but it is a long hard journey to turn within to find it, as we are always looking outside of ourselves.  This journey of turning within to find the Highest Ideal within and without must be sustained by considerable faith.

As a matter of fact, we lack experience in the beginning of our journey. However, although we do not really have a clue where we are going, faith keeps us going.  This is why we need a teacher to help show us the way to face our fears and to understand the power of positive thinking.

Consciously tensing and releasing our muscles in savasana from the toes, reaching up to the eyes, ears and head, helps to bring our body and mind to their natural efficiency.

Fear is Unreal

Fear is a very strong primitive emotion, present in all animals.  Fear serves a very basic purpose: to help us to survive.  If we were Self-realized we would know there is no danger to our survival, since we are not the individual body that we think we are. In fact, fear arises out of an external view of reality.  Fear is caused in us by things that appear unfamiliar or situations beyond our immediate understanding. Fear creates imaginations of darkness, of falling and distorts the mind.

Therefore, Fear is based in unreality, in Maya.  It comes from our attachment, our grasping on to illusory things and beliefs. We need to think a little about the effect of fear. Being fearful or anxious means we are attached. Being attached means we are stuck, bogged down, we lost our freedom; If we are afraid, we are incapable of letting go of the things that are no longer relevant or helpful to our growth.

We become paralyzed and lose our faculties when we are fearful.  We freeze, unable to do anything to solve our problem.  There was a time years ago, I stumbled on a horror movie on TV.  I was so scared!  And yet, I could not do anything, not even capable to move three feet to turn off the TV. I was paralyzed with fear. This is a small example but illustrates the point; even the simplest situations that arise can stop us in our tracks because of our illusory fearful thoughts.

Practicing Meditation and Positive Emotions we can heal ourself.

Anxiety blocks the way to knowledge

Anxiety is even worse than fear, because unlike fear we cannot identify its source.  Anxiety is fear that has no name. With anxiety, there is no creativity, no productivity, we are depressed and our minds lose the capacity to think clearly.

Now, consider the analogy in which the sun is the Atman and anxiety is a storm of clouds covering the sun. There are days when clouds fill the sky and we can’t see the sun. Yet we know it’s there behind the layer of clouds.

From time to time as the clouds pass overhead we may catch a glimpse of the sun’s brightness or feel its warmth for a moment. In the same way, the Atman is always shining within us, untouched by the clouds of fear and anxiety that we experience.

Conclusion

In summary, loose life and indulgent life is not relaxation, but a conscious, content and simple life is true relaxation and happiness.

The science of relaxation leads to spiritual relaxation, a state of freedom and joyfulness when there is no expectation or desire of anything. Instead of anxiety, we experience detachment, contentment  and fulfillment .

Upcoming Stress Relief and Relaxation courses at the Sivananda Yoga Farm that teaches these techniques.

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Yoga Shows the Way to Positive Health

Yoga Shows the Way to Positive Health

Positive Health

Positive health is that state in which all the internal organs of the body function optimally under the intelligent control of the mind.  There is an interdependence between body and mind.  The Yoga scriptures tell us that the influence of the mind on the body is far more powerful than the influence of the body on the mind. Therefore, mental exercises form the bulk of the Yoga practices, although physical exercises also have a definite place. The physical exercises (asanas) form the third limb of the Yogic path of raja yoga.

Yamas (inoffensiveness or no-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence and non-receiving) and Niyamas (purification, contentment, mortification, study and complete self-surrender to the Lord) form the foundation of the Yoga practice because, without these asanas will not give the desired result.

Physical Body

Hatha Yoga teaches how to keep the physical body in positive health so that the Jiva (individual soul) can reach safely the goal of life, Self-realization. It teaches a natural mode of living. A Yogi should have a thorough knowledge of the physical body and its functioning.

The Yogis believe that the real man is not his body. They know that the immortal “I”, of which each human being is conscious to a greater or lesser degree, is not the body, which it merely occupies and uses. They know well that the body is but as a suit of clothes which the spirit puts on and off from time to time.

Physical mastery

The Yogi develops the body knowing it to be but an instrument for the use of the real part of himself, and solely that he may perfect the instrument to the end that it be used in the work of soul growth. The physically motivated person contents himself with mere mechanical movements and exercises for developing the muscles.

The Yogi throws mind into the task, and develops not only the muscles, but every organ, cell and part of his body as well. Not only does he do this, but he obtains control over every part of his body and acquires mastery over the involuntary part of his organism, too.

When man runs contrary to the law of that great intelligence who has created his body, disharmony and disease result.

Body intelligence

It is the same intelligence which presides over each and every function of the body. That intelligence, the manifestation of which we call ‘nature’, ‘the life principle’, and similar names, is constantly on the alert to repair damage, heal wounds, knit together broken bones, to throw off harmful materials accumulated in the system and in thousands of ways to keep the machine in good running order. Much of what we call disease is really a beneficent action of nature designed to get rid of poisonous substances which we have allowed to enter and remain in our system.

Health of the Body

Endocrine glands are perhaps the foremost to react and cause functional reactions. It has been found that the endocrine secretions very powerfully affect the nervous system. If these secretions suffer, pathological conditions in different parts of the body are rapidly established.

When the thyroid secretion suffers, the cells of the most distant part of the body slowly begin to undergo a change. The hair begins to grow grey, the nails have a tendency to be brittle, fatty degeneration starts in the arteries, the face tends to be wrinkled, weakness creeps over the brain and many, many other symptoms begin to appear. Yoga aims are to restore the internal secretions to their normality by securing the health of the endocrine glands through Yogic practices.

Balance of Body functions

We have learned from physiology that there are two processes going on in our system: catabolism, or the process of waste, and anabolism, the process of repair. Both these processes put together is called metabolism. When the anabolism (that is, the process of repair) is more active than the catabolism (that is, process of waste), then the body grows.

In a growing child, anabolism is more active and makes up for the waste materials brought by the catabolic process. In a healthy adult, catabolic and anabolic processes balance themselves and thus keep up the body unimpaired. In old age, catabolism takes the upper hand and leads to steady degeneration of the tissues.

Yogic exercises reduce the catabolic activity to its minimum and thus the body is kept in a healthy condition.

Courses in Asanas and anatomy

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Read this article about the benefits of taking the Sivananda yoga teacher training

The Power of Here and Now

The Power of Here and Now

The Power of Here and Now

by Swami Sitaramananda

10

AUGUST, 2018

Take a moment to contemplate the idea that our mind is our instrument to perceive reality and to learn our lessons in life. The power of here and now is the only way to solve life’s mysteries.

As a matter of fact, all our experiences in life are through our mind, our emotions, our senses.  In Yoga, we use the term” mind” generically, for all mental functions, either perception, memory, decision making and feeling.

Indeed our mind is very powerful and it is important for us to know it better and know how to control our mind.  

Buddha statue represents one who knows the mind.

Be Here and Now

To learn our life’s lessons is the purpose of our birth. Different minds perceive different realities.

In fact there is no objective reality out there, as we see things according to our mental preconceived ideas.

This is the reason why Yoga teachings and Yoga practice and techniques help us to purify the mind in order for us to see a universal reality that is closer to the Universal Truth, which leads us to peace and happiness.

Yoga practice and techniques help us to purify the mind in order for us to see a universal reality.

Swinging of the Mind

For this reason, the yogis always observe the mind and endeavor to understand its workings.

Particularly, they observe that the mind is constantly swinging like the pendulum of a clock, between likes and dislikes.

As a matter of fact, we think a lot about what we are attracted to and what we desire and in the same token, we think a lot about the opposite, what we reject and what we have aversion for.

Really, we dislike certain things, either people, objects or places. In fact, we run away from them.  Thus, the mind is constantly in movement searching for happiness and this makes us constantly restless.

Our mind is like a swing that is constantly changing.

What is our mind doing?

See for a moment how we keep ourselves busy in our minds? We are busy with two types of thoughts: First, we are looking forward to future events or things that we expect to come in the future.

We use our imaginations, we daydream, we scheme and plan, and hope for things that will fit to our idea of a desirable outcome.

Secondly, we are so attached to what has happened that is not fitting our expectations and we spend time reacting to our past events and memories.

We spend our mental energy regretting and rearranging our past, and ruminate about what already has happened.

Birth and Rebirth

From time immemorial, the yoga masters have warned us about our mental tendency that traps us in an endless circle of desire, expectation and disappointment.

Furthermore, they warn us that we will continue to experience the same frustrations again and again and that these are our karmas, leading to births and rebirths.

We did not understand these teachings correctly most of the time.  Either we have a fatalistic view about our destined karmic situations and resign ourselves.

The other attitude is to fall into indifference, denial or resistance to any teaching, carrying on with our ways, justifying ourselves with our limited views.

The yoga masters have warned us about our mental tendency that traps us in an endless circle of desire, expectation and disappointment.

Yoga Shows us the Way

Remember, the way out is to stop the swinging of the mind and experience the liberating moment of HERE AND NOW.

In the Here and Now, we have all possibilities, all creativity, all fulfillment, all satisfaction, all happiness.

In the Here and Now, we actualize ourselves and feel powerful, becoming all that we can be.

There will be no fears, regrets, anticipations, worries, likes and dislikes, duality between self and others. Also, in the Here and Now, we are One.

Furthermore, there will be no comparison, no feeling of inferiority or superiority, no feeling of inadequacy, nor pride. Indeed, there will be no waiting for approval nor self-efforts to prove oneself in the eyes of others.

How wonderful! We are able to solve all the paradoxes in life, all the conflicts in relationships, and able to resolve the inner conflicts we have between contradicting desires.

In summary, In the Here and Now, we are free– we are who we are.

Be detached like the lotus unaffected by the world.

How to be Here and Now

Yogic philosophy declares that time and space and causality are the modes of the mind only. Without the mind, there is no time, space and causality. What that’s really mean?

It means that One lives in the Eternal without reason and conditions, in the state of unconditioned bliss, no matter where One is , and no matter the nature of life’s circumstances.

The Yogis say, “To transcend time, you need to transcend the mind.”

In fact, all yogic techniques of meditation help us to transcend the mind, or at least to calm the mind down.

Additionally, the Yogis keep the mind focused, unwavering, firm and steady in the moment, detached while performing the task at hand, without distractions.

A sublime state of being

This is also called the state of being that is “balanced with attention”, or the state of equanimity.

The yogis endeavor to keep the mind under control, not going to extremes in anything, not desiring, not disliking, not overly active nor passive or depressed, not identifying with something external and becoming attached, nor hiding from the world out of fear.

This exalted state of being is called being “in the world but not of the world,” like the lotus that grows out of the mud yet keeps its purity and fragrance.

The yogi stays focused on the eternal Here and Now of his own eternal Soul and accomplishes everything while being.

This exalted state of being is called being “in the world but not of the world.”

How to attain that state?

This is accomplished step by step by starting to practice daily asanas and pranayama to purify and calm down the mind, also to detach from our actions in life and our current identifications.

Last but not least, this transparent state of mind is achieved through daily practice of meditation and concentration.

The mind will become calmer and clearer and  its motives and behaviors will become known by the meditator.

The meditator will experience glimpses of eternity. Eventually, there will be only one experience,  there will be only One Reality.

Practicing Meditation and Pranayama can bring us back to the Hear and Now.

Emotional Health through Pure Love

Furthermore, mental and emotional relaxation is not being indifferent or being aloof. It is learning what pure love or devotion is.

Through the purification of our heart and emotions, we become mature and “emotionally intelligent”. This is an endeavor of a life time, so one needs to be patient.

How does it work? We need to learn first to regulate our emotions, avoid extremes, extreme highs or extreme lows.

Secondly, we need to learn to calm our desirous heart and to be content and grateful instead for all gifts received.

This journey of mental and emotional discipline will allow us to experience the bliss within. In turn, the bliss experienced within will free us from compulsions and desires.

Conclusion

The Sivananda Yoga of synthesis is the wonderful way to attain that sublime state of mind. Uniquely, it combines in daily life the yogic techniques from the classical 4 paths of Yoga.

We just need to immerse ourselves in  the theory and practice of Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga, plus the philosophy of Vedanta and the techniques of self enquiry of Jnana Yoga.

However, remember what Swami Sivananda said: “one ounce of practice equals tons of theory!”

Therefore, at this moment you read this line, commit ourselves to this daily marvelous practice with the help of an able teacher.  A brilliant future is awaiting you!

Upcoming courses and retreats on our Program Calendar >>

Check out the 4-week Teacher Training Course which immerses you in these techniques >>

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Q&A – Why Practice Positive Thinking?

Q&A – Why Practice Positive Thinking?

We become more positive if we hold positive thoughts. We become more negative if we think negative thoughts. The most important thing is that positive thoughts give you more energy. Positive thoughts contain more prana-energy. Negative thoughts exhaust energy. You want to cultivate positive thoughts because you want to have more energy.

Question: What is positive thinking?
Answer: Positive thinking means to keep our thoughts sattvic. Negative thoughts are tamasic thoughts or rajasic thoughts.  Negative thoughts of the tamasic nature are laziness, depression and anything that brings you down.  Negative thoughts of the rajasic nature are for example, competitive thoughts, thoughts driven by desires, self-centered thoughts, gossip, anger, etc.

Question: What is the mind?
Answer: The mind is like a lake with waves.The murky waters of the lake represent tamasic thoughts. The waves on the surface of the lake represent rajasic thoughts.When rajasic and tamasic thoughts take over the mind we do not care about the consequences of our actions. Rajas and tamas work together.

Sattvic thoughts calm the mind down. Sattvic thoughts reveal the true nature of things.They are like a light shining through the darkness.  Rajasic thoughts project, which means we throw our happiness somewhere external to our selves.  Rajasic thoughts are never whole so we always end up dissatisfied with the result.  Tamasic thoughts veil our perception of the truth.  Confusion comes from the mix of rajasic and tamasic thoughts.  Rajasic thoughts project externally and tamasic thoughts cast their veil so we don’t have any idea what to make of things.

Question: How to make your life more sattvic?
Answer: Just the fact that you are trying to make your thoughts more sattvic by living a regulated life, eating sattvic food, pranayama to balance your mind, and asanas to move the energy– already your life will improve 100%.  All these help to bring you more sattva– the quality of calmness and purity that reveals the true nature of your self.

© Swami Sitaramananda 2014 No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author.

Positive Thinking and Meditation Article

Positive Thinking and Meditation Article

We talked already about the 5 points.  Proper exercises or asanas, breathing or pranayama.  We talked about relaxation and then we talked about diet.

The body is like a vehicle and the proper exercise is like the oiling system of the body all the parts coming together.  Proper breathing is like the battery for the car.  Sometimes the battery in the car is dead like you wake up in the morning and you can’t get up.  You have no prana no energy.  You need to jump start he car that is the proper breathing.  Then for every car you need to have a cooling system and that is the relaxation.  You need to cool the system otherwise it will over heat.  You need to learn to relax.  The diet is like the fuel you put into the car.  You have to put the proper fuel so that it will work.  You have to eat a proper diet in order for you to be functioning ultimately and not having toxins blocking your system.

What do you need to get the car going?

Then you have the car that functions very well but what else do you need in order to get to your destination?  You need a good driver.  If you put a driver that is sleepy or stoned or spaced out, the car will never get to the destination.  It will crash.

Fifth point of yoga life

The fifth point is putting the driver behind the wheel.  The car is your body and mind.  You are born with the body and mind and you have a journey.  Remember we talked about that.  It is a journey from here to there, from impurity to purity, from imperfection to perfection, from fear of death to immortality, from ignorance to wisdom.  The body and mind are our vehicles.  They are not us.  The point number one in yoga is to understand that the body is not us.  It is a vehicle.  When you do asanas you slowly take back the mastership of your vehicle.  The mind is a subtle instrument and the body is a gross instrument but still the mind is not the consciousness.  It is not that which actually governs.

Positive thinking and meditation

Positive thinking and meditation is that point.  The most difficult portion is to be clear in mind and balance in mind in order for you to know what to know and progress in life.

You have to know the nature of thoughts, the nature of your mind in order for you to learn how to think.  You don’t know what influences your thought.  You don’t know that thought creates destiny. Whatever you think that is what you become.  Therefore you need to be very careful with your thinking.  The thinking is what is destroying you and is making you take the wrong decisions.  The same thinking will open all doors and it is the thinking that will free you.  It is all about how to tune.

Tuning the mind

Tune means to regulate, to change your thought wavelength.  Every thought has a wavelength.  That means that depending of the nature of the thought it has certain purity or certain power.  A low wavelength is a negative, superficial, worldly thought that is not related to your core Self.  The thought that is sublime that is high, is all inclusive, is universal and more corresponding to the true that thought has a higher wavelength.

If your thought wavelength is low all the time like when you are feeling pity for yourself, you are wondering how come I don’t have that, and you watch tv cheap novels, gossiping, and you live in an environment with people that always have these kind of thoughts then you will become that.  The thought atmosphere will influence your own thought wavelength.  By connecting to a good thought wavelength you elevate your own energy.  You can connect to us in face book or register to our blog.  There are also good positive thoughts in the environment as well as the negative ones.  They are in the subtle atmosphere.  Like right now I am broadcasting the thoughts of Vishnudevananda and you are the good listeners and hopefully when you go home you will continue to tune to the good thoughts.  It is said that thought is like an ocean and we are swimming in it at all time absorbing the vibrations.  The more you tune to high thought wavelength the better your life will be.

How to tune to positive thoughts

Driving the vehicle of our life, the body and mind on the journey to Self realization and into a higher potential demands a lot of awareness about what we are thinking and learning how to control the mind.  Everyday constantly you manipulate thoughts in your mind.  If you manipulate negative thoughts it will destroy you.  It will make you sick.  If you learn how to change the negative thoughts to positive thoughts then you have more energy.  Sometimes we are not aware of the negative thoughts in our mind and they bring our energy down.  The best thing to do is to build up a reservoir of positive thoughts.

First you need to learn how to withdraw and then you do yoga asanas breathing with awareness. Do pranayama.  Work on your diet.  Then you work on your daily routine.  You cut out of your daily life things that are not necessary.  Like hours watching TV you can cut it, keep something good that is good for you and cut off the rest.  Do little things here and there and you see how you life quality will improve, your heath will improve as well.  Any thought that is repeated has more power that something that is new.  So here in the ashram we repeat a lot because one time it sounds good but them we forget it.  That is why we have to repeat and repeat constantly and learn to watch the negative thoughts that come and let then go. The reason the thought waves take us all over the place is because we have not learned to focus.  Once we learn how to focus when the negative thoughts come and try to pull you out then you let then go and say no and stay focused.  That is how you build up your positivity and your focus.

How positive thinking influence our life

We need to make sure to send out only positive thoughts because that is what is called the karmic reaction.  That means if you send negative thoughts they will bounce back to you.  If you learn how to see only positive things in other people and send positive thoughts out what will come back to you will be positive.  Keep the mind positive nurturing the positive thoughts in your mind then you will become so generous because you will have so much.  It is not about money you have thoughts to give.  Walking in the street you send the positive thoughts out and you will find people smiling at you.  But if you walk around cursing this and that then you find all kinds of difficulties in your life.

We are all the time like a broadcasting antenna all the time sending and receiving and we receive the same nature of what our thoughts are.  That is how friends happen.  Sometimes you become friend to somebody very quickly because your thought wave is there and sometimes you can live with somebody and you are not in harmony.  Two people live in a big house and it feels small because you cannot stand somebody’s thoughts.  Sometimes many people live in a small room and they are fine because the thought waves are tuned.

Those that would like to know more you will have to take the time because this is huge topic.  I would advise you to get the book Thought Power by Swami Sivananda.  Take more courses that will help you learn more about the mind and how it works.

OM OM OM

© Swami Sitaramananda 2014 No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author.

 

10 Ways How to Control Negative Emotions

Today we will talk about positive thinking.  Choose from the words written on the board.  Which negative emotions would you like to eradicate?  Fear, procrastination, tired, anxiety, jealousy, attachment, brooding.  I would say fear and anxiety, anxiety is also fear but you don’t know what you are afraid of.  Fear is stronger so you know what it is.  Anxiety is fear but you don’t know why.

Frustration and resentment are both form of anger.  Indecisiveness and procrastination are one.  It is a difficulty to take decision and to act upon on what you decide about.  When you have too many things that pull in different directions you don’t know what to do.  Jealousy is a distorted form of love.  It has some form of attachment behind.  Brooding is also a form of attachment to the past so you cannot move on.

Know the nature of the thoughts

When you deal with something you need to know the nature of the negative thought, because you deal with anger and fear differently.  You have to know how serious it is.  You can judge how serious it is depending on how frequent the thought comes into your mind.  When you know the nature of the negative thoughts you have to define it very well.

Anxiety and worry is a form of fear that is not very well defined and it eats you from inside.  We know that fear comes from attachment to something so you are afraid that you would lose it and you will be anxious about it without reason.  You know that anger comes from desire.  If you have not desires and you are not attached to any desire you are not going to be angry.  Then you have expectations that something will happen and when it does not happen you become upset or you resent it.

Resent it means you are angry inside, underneath and that takes your energy away.  Frustration is anger.  You can be frustrated at your computer, at your dog, etc.  But in general it is a form of anger.  Your mind is contradicted.  Jealousy is not understanding your own karma and how long it takes to be worked on.  Tiredness is of the quality of tamas.  It can come from lack of enthusiasm.  That means you don’t have a goal in mind of what you want to achieve.  If you are an overachiever then you also drive your energy out.  Sometimes your inner thoughts are contradicting each other.  That makes you tire also.  You need to narrow down your goals and take one step at a time.  Then you feel like you can do it and then there is an energy behind that helps you achieve the small things.

Tools for the toolbox

1.  Oppose the negative thought with a positive thought.

There are a few things that you can try.  Number one you identify what it is.  Always you have to be aware that this negative thought is eating you up.  One is you oppose the thought.  You replace the thought with an opposite thought.

  • If you have fear you replace it with courage.  Think I can make it.  I will be fine.
  • With anxiety you replace it with every thing is fine, nothing to worry about.
  • Attachment you replace it detachment.
  • Resentment and anger are replaced by contentment.  Anger comes from desires so you drop the desire and keep whatever you have which is the contentment and feel grateful for what you have.  Turn it around completely.
  • Brooding is replaced by letting go.  Brooding means attachment of the past.  It is an emotional resentment of the change.
  • Tiredness is replaced by energy.  Tell yourself that you are full of energy and can do anything.
  • Indecisiveness is replaced by I know.  I take a decision and offer it to God.  It means I take a decision I might be right or wrong it doesn’t matter but I offer it to God.  It comes from fear of making a mistake.
  • Procrastination is opposed by first taking a decision because it comes from too much thinking and not too much action.  It comes from tamas.
  • Jealousy is replaced by accepting.
  • Dreaming is replaced by being grounded.  Dreaming means the emotional dreaming mind is stronger than the intellectual mind so it brings you into some kind of dreaming state but if you are going to have the mind very logical also there you can have some creating idea but also some practical ideas and the two balance each other and you are not just thinking or acting without thinking.

Why do we need to replace the negative thoughts?

Negative thoughts have to be replaced because otherwise they just pull you down into a tamasic state of mind.  You have to come to the conclusion that negative thoughts are useless in your life.  If you don’t get rid of them right away they would add up and will become aggravated and will get worse.  The way the mind works is when you indulge in something it wants more.  Do you want to be the one that controls the mind or do you want the mind to control you?  If you are the one that controls the mind then you know what you have to do.

This is only one way.  Lets say you oppose it.  You are grieving and you oppose it with joy.  There will be a tag of war between the two thoughts but just the fact that you try to think you are joyful and contradict the grieving thought already the sadness is not that serious.  It can be alleviated.  But if you don’t know anything the thoughts of sadness will escalate.  It is not that easy.  This technique of opposing works very well but it takes a strong character to be able to do it.

2.  Be indifferent.

Be indifferent means the negative thought is there and you are aware of it.  It is not like repressing it and denying it.  You are aware of it and then you are indifferent to it.  That means you don’t buy into it.  You don’t let the energy wave affect you.  For example when somebody in your family dies that is very closed to you.  What do you do?  You will see a comedy as a strategy to manage it.  You feel up your mind with these positive thoughts and then when you look at the problem it is already passed and you can act properly.  Being indifferent is a thought of meditation when the thought comes in your mind you let it go and bring yourself back to focus.  Look at things through the corner of your mind.  You don’t stop living completely when your problem has not been resolved.  It is better to let it go.  Do not say I am sad.  Say instead, there is sadness in my mind and so on.

3.  Sublimation.

Sublimation means you are not really expressing neither repressing.  You are channeling, transforming the energy.  Suppression means it doesn’t exist.  Expression means this is it and fall right into it.  Sublimation means you would keep doing something positive and the negative energy will be transformed.  For example you are sad because nobody loves you or you lose your love, then you go and sing love songs. You love Krishna, love Radha, Radha loves Krishna.  That love idea will come to you and your problem about love will disappear.  Lets say you have problem with work and you think my job is unfilled and I wish I could do that other job.  Then you do karma yoga. Karma yoga is sublimation of work.  Sublimation is a transformation of energy.

4.  Visualization.

It means you are going to visualize yourself to be who you want to become, because if you don’t have it in your mind you cannot do it.  For example if you would like to be a joyful sweet person, you would have to visualize yourself being that already.  Or visualize somebody that has these qualities that you seek.  You need to change the negative visualization about yourself that you have in your mind.  When you see the negative thoughts that attack your mind then you replace them with the opposite and also visualize yourself being for example a dynamic person, or a very calm and detached and open person.  You visualize yourself accepting responsibilities and being happy about it.  You visualize yourself not careless but free from fear and anxiety.  That is the power of visualization.

5.  Affirmation.

The way the mind works is with visual image and with words.  You need to use words in order to help you.  Write down how you feel and then take the words and reconstruct the words contradicting with affirmations like, I am becoming better and better everyday in every way.  That is Swami Sivananda’s formula.  It is very good because we are all the time progressing but we don’t know it.  Also, we are all the time regretting, comparing, and all the time putting our selves down.  So we need to affirm, I am becoming better everyday in every way.  So affirm positive thoughts and repeat them like medicine.  Three doses in the morning, three doses afternoon and three doses in the evening.

6.  Reduction.

It means make life simple.  You become negative when you try to do too many things.  Keep it simple.  Have one goal and do it.  That is enough.  Reduce your desires and your needs.  For example if you want three cars, have only one.

7.  Concentration.

Concentration is to focus, keep your life focused.  Do not let your mind wonder and dream.  Keep yourself busy.  You need to build the muscle of the mind by concentration, otherwise the mind wonders and you become weak.  Repeating a mantra keeps the mind focused and keeps it healthy.  It is a good way to exercise the mind and so the negative thoughts cannot enter.  You want to change but you want to change too many things at the same time and then you get discouraged and stressed out.  Just do one thought at a time and that is enough and relax.  If you can change one thought a day that is plenty good.

8.  Cheerfulness.

Cheerfulness, sense of humor.  That is another tool for your toolbox.  There is nothing very serious.  When you can laugh about things then everything is fine.  You still have to sympathize with people that are suffering but inside yourself keep it light because if you don’t you are going to dramatize it then it doesn’t help and you get pulled down with everybody else.  Take it light and you might have a chance to look at it properly.

9.  Cultivate a virtue.

Cultivating a virtue is making the mind strong.  Do not wait till the carpet is pulled from underneath your feet to cultivate a virtue. For example, love, compassion, generosity.  You can cultivate one virtue each day of the week, and every month.  What you think about is what you become.  If you think patience is important think about it for a week.   You make your list and focus on something.  You can do it like this.  Monday is the day of Siva, the moon and you say detachment.  Tuesday the day of Mars, action then you say energy, dynamism.  Wednesday the day of Krishna, love compassion.  Thursday the day of the guru, wisdom, generosity.  Friday Venus, contentment, discipline, devotion.  Saturday organize, discipline, patience.  Sunday health, giving.

You can put in your toolbox some sentences as thought formulas from the classical yoga school that will help you.  For Karma Yoga you say I am just the instrument.  I am doing my duty and I give up the results.  That means I offer my results.  I do my duty and I do the best I can.  That will help you not to get aggravated by criticism or praise.

Another sentence is for the Bhakti (Devotion) Yoga you can say everything happens all the time for the best.  God knows best.  I surrender to God’s will.  It is not my will.  It is thy will.  I surrender.  These sentences are useful when the negativity accumulates and you feel hopeless.  At that time you just surrender.  Another one is from the school Jnana (Wisdom, Knowledge) Yoga.  I am just a silence witness.  It is just like a play.  I am just an actor.  This too shall pass.  You can also say this is not it, (nety, nety).  This frustration is not me.  It is not real.  It is only a by product of my own illusion and perception.  You deny it and reject it so what is real can have a chance.

OM OM OM

© Swami Sitaramananda 2014 No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author.