Thought
One who has control over the mind
Is tranquil in heat and cold,
In pleasure and pain, and in honor and dishonor;
And is ever steadfast with the Supreme Self.
—The Bhagavad Gita, 6.7
Application
Today as we continue our conversation about mindfulness, we look even further back than the Greek Skeptics toward the deep traditions which inspired the Bhagavad Gita. I was excited to dive into this synopsis, because the spiritual practices originating from the Indus River Valley are almost certainly the oldest in the world—and by far the longest lasting.
And so this is a great place to begin a short study of meditation, as it is most likely the oldest surviving example in the world of the mindful practice.
There exists (so far as I can tell) really 4 or so primary ways that people from within these traditions have used to help to cultivate mindfulness:
Karma Yoga (work in the world)
Jnana Yoga (intellectual growth)
Bhakti Yoga (devotion)
Dyhana Yoga (meditation)
Yoga is a word most referring to any discipline or practice that leads to a desired awareness. In western countries like America, they mostly refer to “yoga” as a general term for various types of Asana, or posture, yoga. Rather, Asana is a separate yogic discipline with its own history and desired outcomes.
But today we are most interested in Dyhana Yoga. And inside of Dyhana meditation is the road that leads to a state of bliss or transcendence through which one finds a deeper Self.
Meditation is an exercise in which one gains deeper awareness of how they are in the world. Above all else, Meditation is cultivated awareness. It’s where one observes non judgmentally. But what does one observe?
Thoughts. Feelings. The air. An object. A mantra. An idea.
The intention is to quiet the mind and find what exists in between the space of constant thought. What is there, who is having those thoughts, who is observing the thinking and feeling?
That taking a step back into a quiet, observational posture is the beginning of the discovery that you are in fact not your “self,” but something much deeper and grander than your day to day experiences. This is the deepest practice of mindful awareness.
And this process is the state that Dyhana cultivates.
Backstory
I’ve recently come to learn that the name Hindu is actually a British word retroactively leveled on a multitude of spiritual, wisdom, and religious practices that British academics discovered in the Indus Valley region during their long colonial rule.
This matters because in modern scholarship, great care must be taken to examine, separate, and appreciate the diversity of wisdom that has emerged in what westerners could easily ascribe as general Hinduism in English.
Rather, people in this region of the world have been having profound psycho-spiritual experiences for thousands of years which they have been meticulously recording with one another in a loose framework of common language and religiosity.
In fact, it was most likely these traditions which served as the scaffolding for Siddhartha Gautama to discover The Buddha nature inside himself and spawn a new religious order. In many ways, the myriad of traditions and practices was an emerging phenomenon that was not well understood by western colonialists whose work dominates the academic research in this field.
And so carefully, one can begin to aggregate within this ancient conversation and spiritual evolution, a handful of common practices and themes which have emerged amongst the various practitioners and sects in the Indus Valley Region over the centuries.
At the core of the surviving literature is an understanding that mindful awareness is the the key to spiritual enlightenment, and at the end of this path is an understanding of connection to the universe itself. Some say, one moves from self awareness to Self awareness.
I remember the first time I was introduced to the idea of “little s” self versus “big s” Self. It was so hard for my highly materialistic, dualistic thought patterns to work around it. And instead, it has become an understanding (one that is not quite articulable, and one which I don’t yet fully comprehend) which began emerging over time from the process of meditation and finding control over thoughts—a path which I still have long to travel personally. In this way, this growth is itself an emerging awareness cultived by Dyhana.
But I take great solace and feel deep gratitude in the thousands of years of practice and experience that has been left for us modern practitioners and spiritual seekers.
I hope this was enjoyable and helpful friends.
Please share with anyone you think would find this interesting, and have a great rest of the day,
Matt
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhy%C4%81na_in_Hinduism#Bhagavad_Gita
https://www.britannica.com/search?query=diyhana+yoga
http://www.santosha.com/gita-chapter6.html
https://chopra.com/articles/dhyana-the-seventh-limb-of-yoga
Philosophy of Mindfulness