Why is Self awareness important?

Self Awareness Tools

• You are not alone
• No more blame, guilt, anger, resentment, despair, rejection, self-pity or self-victimization
• Practice gratitude
• Do not accept the imperfect self, the ego, the idea of who we are
• Acceptance that on another level, we are perfect and untouched by all of what is happening
• There is peace and contentment by accepting everything and loving everything
• not reject anything
• Do not thinking that something is better
• Limit the running towards and away from anything
• Breathe into pain, physical or mental
• Dissolve the pain in acceptance
• Stay calm in all conditions
• Everything is perfect as it is
• Adopt a policy of not complaining
• Adopt a smiling attitude, cooperation, flexibility
• Let go of control
• Let go of fears (that come from attachment)
• Let go of anxieties

Self awareness skills

• Faith in one’s capacity of healing
• Faith in God or Nature the healer
• Faith in the doctor or therapists
• Increase trust in oneself and others
• Avoid excessive suspicion and anxiety
• Eat with faith and confidence that the food is nourishing
• Pray before eating
• Bless the food and the cooks
• Keep an object/image that reminds yourself of the Indweller
• Repeat mantra with faith
• Read spiritual scriptures and have faith in the teaching and in the teachers
• Dare to do things are not in your comfort zone, such as trying a new posture, a new endeavor, and having faith it will workout

Awareness of Self

• Detect patterns of attachments
• Excessive attachments to something external shows lack of self love
• Take time for yourself
• Enjoy life
• Practice self affirmations and also learn to appreciate others
• Avoid comparing yourself to others
• Avoid wasting energy on something you can not change
• Be ready to change something that needs to be changed, and know the difference

Conclusion

Self awareness brings responsibility. Take the necessary steps either by taking the medicine, do the exercise, eat properly, meditate, but with the idea that you are performing duty to the body as a temple and not with the idea of the outcome.

Self awareness goes beyond death and disease.  The immortal Self, the Atman is diseaseless, deathless, birthless.  It is only the karmas that are playing out in the individual life. Once the karmas are understood, the individual becomes ready for anything and finds peace.

© Swami Sitaramananda 2018 – No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author.

The follow is a transcription from the Vedanta and Silence course taught by Swami Sitaramananda in Grass Valley, CA, November 2016.

Our tendency is to look outside for the answers

The Guru is like a mirror, a true mirror of yourself. You look at the mirror and all of the sudden the answer comes. Where does the answer come from? From within. The answer is there.  This is part of the philosophy of Jnana Yoga.

When you look out, what do you see? You see a door, you see a curtain, you see this gentleman here. You see things. Then you compare yourself to it, yes or no?

• You are there–I am here.
• I sit high–you sit low.
• This place has sun–this place has no sun

You have plenty of interpretation about everything because the mind is looking outside and you have no mirror to show you how to look; how to get the answer. But in fact the answer is there.

You get the answer in many different ways. Sometimes you have to hear it, sometimes the teacher has to shout and still you don’t get it. Sometimes you just think of the teacher and you get it. You just think–you don’t need to do anything. It depends on your purification, that means how sattvic or pure your mind is.

You can learn more about this practice by reading this article on How to Practice Silence and Introspection.

Why we need to learn from the Guru in person

Most of the time you have to be in the Guru’s presence. Why do you need be in the physical presence of the Guru?

The reason is: you identify with your body. You think, “This is called me: the body.” Therefore, you have to see the person in body form so you understand yourself because you have that experience of the physical body. If the Guru has a physical body like you, then you understand how the person can have this higher thinking while having the body.

How did they transcend the physical body while in the body, and how are you going to do it? Because you have to transcend or go beyond the body experience in order to understand there is no separation, is it not?

That’s the aim and purpose of the whole yoga teaching. There is no separation. And yet, the moment you identify with the body there will be the “I” and the “you” and there will be the multitudes–that means there will be the many.

When there are the many, then you will get lost. You are no longer understanding, “Who am I?” because you get lost in the multitude.

You think: “I try this, I like this, I like this too! And this is better than this, and this is better than this, and I am suffering from this, I’m suffering from that…” Ten thousand reasons why you are unhappy and restless and why you suffer!

You have to have the experience of seeing a person physically that has transcended that idea in order for you to see: “Oh it’s possible. If I want to understand that, I have to also transcend the body idea.” You see?

So it’s a direct learning lesson. That’s why the scriptures and the teachers say that you need to have a Guru in person.

You can learn more about this practice by reading this article on Learn from the Spiritual Masters and Become Wise.

The Real Guru is Within

The main principle is the principle of turning inward and finding the truth that is within. And seeing the Guru as the mirror. But for some, just a thought and they got it. They don’t need to have senses to see.

[Referring to the group] I want to see you; I see you but I see you with my senses. I see you wear yellow; I see you cut your hair short. I see you with my senses and I say, “Oh, this is so-and-so.” What do I see? I see a body. I intuit a little bit there’s something within this body. Nevertheless, I see the package. I don’t really see what is inside. The package covers what is inside.

Some people are able to see the inside without the package. It depends on their level. It’s possible for them to see the truth even though the Guru is not alive. It depends on your faith and desire, but it mostly it depends on your faith.

You can learn more about this practice by reading this article on Self Awareness and Intuition.

Many of us are in the throes of surviving and somehow getting through our day… we have bosses, baby-sitters, traffic, bills, spouses, in-laws to manage.  Our day starts with a to-do list of mundane items like “Buy Milk”, “Fill gas”, “Pay rent”. The more ticks we have on our list, the more we feel that we are adding value. The same routine follows day after day, week after week. Years roll on and the opportunity for a deeper life is wasted.  We are constantly doing and do not allow ourselves to be silent and to build a relationship with ourselves. There is extensive scientific research showing that silence is essential to our health and well-being.

Physical Benefits

• Loud noises over 30 decibels increase high anxiety, stress and blood pressure. Silence lowers blood pressure and allows us to deal with life’s challenges in a better way.
• Silence is an immunity booster… it helps our body fight off invading bacteria and other pathogens.
• Silence lowers blood cortisol and adrenaline levels… adding 30 minutes of silence a day can change your life.
• Silence allows for hormone regulation and interaction of the entire hormone related systems within our body.
• Silence keeps plaque from forming in our arteries… and thus helping to prevent cardiovascular disease and strokes.
• Silence makes us look and feel younger and at the same time have a lot more energy.

Mental Benefits

• Silence recharges our mind. While sleep reboots the mind, silence recharges it.
• Silence allows us to get grounded, when too many things around us are moving constantly. It helps to calm the emotions down, detach from the situation and make wise decisions.
• Silence allows us to get out of our survival and reactive mode of living and thinking and in to a deeper and more fulfilling mode.
• It is a tool for contemplation and meditation. It is meditation itself. To quiet the mind we have to get it to stop talking… and for that we have to practice being silent first.  In starting with silencing our body, specifically, our organ of speech, the mind will follow suit.
• It allows us to be the witness of our own mind. When we introspect by being alone in solitude or retiring into a calm room for an hour, sitting quiet in a room alone, with closed eyes and watch the activities of the mind, we begin to get a glimpse of who we really are, our real goals, dreams, and ambitions.  It is like revealing the glory of the sun after the clouds covering it dissipate. Calming our mind removes the thoughts (clouds), and the spirit; our Higher Self can then shine through.

Spiritual Benefits

• Silence makes us happy. Spending time in silence boosts brain chemistry… and increases our ability to concentrate.
• Silence makes us appreciate life, connect with our Higher Spirit, and be more centered.
• Silence gives us space and inspiration to ask ourselves profound questions like “who am I?” “what is the purpose of my life?” to “practice gratitude” …  We could live our entire life without ever having the time or mindset to even try to understand who we are, why we are here, what is God’s plan for us, what is our life purpose, and are we living our life according to God’s intention?
• Considerable peace follows a period of silence. The speech energy becomes transmuted into spiritual energy (Ojas).

Swami Sivananda said that Silence allows serious students to do self-analysis (Find out the nature of your mind-patterns vrittis and which quality is dominant in the mind at a certain moment – sattwa –pure and calm, tamas – lethargic and lazy, or rajas – restless). It allows the practice of self-reliance: rely on yourself alone. You are your own redeemer and savior even though spiritual books and Gurus can show the path and guide you. In reality nobody can give you self-realization (Moksha). You will have to tread the spiritual path step by step by yourself.  It helps you to self-determine (Make a strong self-determination, “I will realize the Self.”)

Practice an Hour of Silence Every Day

Swami Sivananda suggests that a vow of silence (Mouna) must be practiced once a week.

1. Schedule an hour of silence at a particular time every day.
2. For that hour turn off the phone, TV, music and computer. Put down all books and other reading material.
3. Light a candle to be a witness to your hour of silence.
4. Sit quietly and rest—or engage in work that does not require your vocal, visual and auditory senses. Gentle housekeeping or gardening is excellent activities of silence, or a long walk in nature.
5. Listen to the silence, all the time enjoying this hour-long respite from thinking, reviewing, planning, and imagining. Stay in the present moment.
6. Breathe deeply and mindfully, bringing in the silence and expelling mental “noise.”
7. At the end of your hour of silence, let your first word be an expression of gratitude or love; then put out the candle and go about your business.

Some Helpful Advice from Swami Sivananda when Observing Silence 

• In the beginning, when you observe Mouna, you will find some difficulty. There will be a severe attack of thought patterns (verities) the moment you just sit quiet.  Various kinds of thoughts will arise and force you to break the silence. There are all vain imaginations and deceptions of the mind. Concentrate all energies on a divine name (mantra) will help. Make the mind fully occupied. The desire for talk and company will die. You will get peace.
• When you take a vow of silence do your best not to assert from within, ‘I won’t talk’. This will produce agitation in the mind, because the mind wants to be heard. Simply make a determination and then remain quiet. Attend to other affairs. Do not be thinking always, ‘I won’t talk, I won’t talk.’
• For serious spiritual students, keep a record of your progress (spiritual daily diary) to help watching the mind.
• If it is distracted, you must remove the distracting causes one by one with patience and vigilance by suitable methods.

So, next time, someone asks you what are your plans for the evening, proudly state… “I plan to spend time in the company of myself, in silence!”

(Excerpt from Swami Sivananda teaching)