Slaves of Past or Masters of future? Choice is ours!

Veda essentially means knowledge, it doesn’t denote a book. It is the knowledge that got revealed to masters who dedicated their lives in the quest of the same. To those dedicated masters who achieved the highest degree of concentration, the knowledge got revealed in the form of a flash of illumination.

Modern minds can correlate the same with Archimedes, the great Greek philosopher/scientist who in one such flash of illumination exclaimed “Eureka”, and went on to propound the famous Archimedes Principle that we study in Physics.

All of us are curious about our future. Deep inside us this curiosity takes us towards occult sciences such as Astrology. Astrology is also known as Jyotish and it is a Vedanga. Which means it is a limb of Vedas. Is it really possible to know the future? Do planets far away from us have a bearing on our lives? Why should some planets be beneficial and why should some bring in ill results?

What harm did a newly born Baby could have possibly caused to the planets? Why is it that Babies born in the same hospital and at equal distances from planets have different futures?

Is there a possible way to know the future or is Astrology a mere superstition?

For now, let us presume that Jyotish is a real possibility and there is a way to find what lies in store for us in the future. We will explore other questions on Astrology in a separate blog since this is a huge debate in itself. I seek you to be with me in believing that Astrology is indeed a science and it does provide us with a ray of hope.

If this position is acceptable, then let me also add to it that planets just do their jobs. They are governed by their duty without any prejudices against anyone of us. Their position at the time of our birth is an indication of a combination of our past lives actions. This is otherwise known as “Karma”. The planets do the duty of dispelling the fruits of our past actions. They are impartial in doing their duties. As mentioned earlier, we will explore some other time in more detail on how to appease the planets and how to atone the deeds of past lives.

For now, let us realize the intricacies of our Karma & how it affects us in our day to day lives.

If you consider life to be reflection of thoughts then you also need to analyze which type of thoughts you are getting and why is it that you alone get such thoughts?

Thoughts are based on past actions and unfulfilled desires which are deep rooted and often not known even to your conscious mind. These are hidden in deeper layers of memory that we carry from one birth to another.

"Buddhi Karma anusarena”

‘Intellect or Buddhi follows Karma’.

Meaning, we get exactly the same kind of thoughts that are in accordance to our past Karma. So where is the escape? Are we hostages to our past or is there any freedom provided to us?

The next question that comes to us is how we can change the pattern of thoughts, so that we come to lead a life like the one that we want to, instead of getting trapped in the past patterns lying deep in our memory or so to say subconscious.

Unless we answer these questions, the future is not ours. That is we can't create our future. It will just be continuation of our present thoughts that sprouted out of past actions.

So, how do we change the pattern of thoughts that come to us? We often react instinctively to the circumstances. We are often speechless when someone asks us about our likes and dislikes about certain persons or things. Why is it that we get good vibes on meeting someone for the first time even before we may have interacted with that person or we may instinctively dislike a person? A psychologist tends to point fingers towards the subconscious mind.

I would want to introduce to you the concept of memory. We carry a record of each of our interaction, feeling, emotion, perception etc, through memory. We record even though we may not be conscious. Hypnotists unlock the same memory. I would go one step further and say that this memory keeps a record of all our past lives.

You may want to study a book by a famous Psychologist Dr.Brain Weiss “Many Masters Many Lives”. In this book, he records his sessions with his patients whom he takes into past using hypnotism and accidentally uncovers past life regression.

Let us come back to our subject on taking control over our thoughts.

Let us analyze what actually happens when we come in contact with a person or object in the external world. When our senses of sight, touch, smell, hearing, taste come in contact with the external world, a stimulus reaches to our localized version of mind. The mind immediately responds to this external stimulus by checking the records in our memory to see if there is any past record for this stimulus. Almost 99.99% times the mind finds a record and responds to the stimulus basis its past association. This way, the thought patterns are almost always the same and in accordance to the past association. All the processes mentioned above happen in a minuscule fraction of a second without the realization of our conscious mind even.

The above process in itself can be a part of a separate discussion and lead us to fundamentals of meditation and how to meditate. For now, I confine myself to the present topic.

 "What you are getting in your life is pre-decided". However, what you are doing with what you are getting is within your control. This decides what you are going to get in future. Astrology gives us a glimpse about what we have been getting as well as what we are going to get. Planets show the same.

Unless we take a conscious decision and think deeper and get the correct guidance, what happens is that "what you are doing with what you are getting" also will fall in the same old thought pattern and we remain a slave of our past.

This happens to 97% of people and once this happens, there is no conscious effort. The first statement "what you are getting in your life is pre-decided" becomes true.

So the choice is ours; whether we want to be trapped like 97% of people and remain a slave of our past or want to be among 3% of people who consciously create their future.

How can we control thoughts? The moment we want to control a thought at that same moment we are creating another thought that I should control my thoughts. So, is the key in controlling thoughts or modifying the thoughts?

Is there an escape to us?

"Asamsahyam maha baho mano durnigraham chalam, abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyencha guhyate” is what Krishna told Arjuna when a great yogi like Arjuna asked Krishna about how to control mind. Now Arjuna was no lesser yogi himself; he possessed the knowledge of all the divine weapons and he pleased even lord Shiva.

If someone as accomplished as Arjuna couldn't control his mind, mere mortals like us need to think twice before even attempt. Controlling mind the hasn't got to do with concentration since Arjuna possessed such a high degree of concentration that his arrow would never miss its mark.

So, to translate what Krishna told Arjuna, the one I put in Sanskrit, "There is no doubt Arjuna; mind is very fickle, it can't be controlled as such. However, through continuous and repetitive self effort and through non attachment to present circumstances, the same mind can be tamed”.

So, the key to be in 3% of people is not to get bogged down by the circumstances around us. We need to detach ourselves from the circumstances. Circumstances are all in our mind. In the outer world there are only people and things. Our thoughts, presumptions, judgments, perceptions about the external people and things are what create circumstances in the first place. The moment we make a conscious self effort to detach from our circumstances and thought pattern and create a new habit or thought pattern and keep doing the same thought pattern through the application of this new habit; we create a new world for ourselves. You are a wonderful creator made with the same substance that Almighty is made up of, since Almighty is omnipresent and all pervading. You are the reflection of the same consciousness. ‘God created us in the same mould that he is made up of’.

Awake and take control of your life without getting bogged down by the so called circumstances which are nothing but your own mental creations. Detach yourself (Vairagya) from the circumstances bogging you down. Create new thought patterns through a conscious self effort and make it a habit (Abhayasa).

“Abhayasa Vairagyabhayam tannirodaha” is what the great Sage Patanjali propounds. Using these tools, try to find a new center for our activity that breaks the chains of our past. Irrespective of the people and things around us, we can change ourselves the moment we take a step back in reacting to the stimulus that comes within us from external world and chose to act in a certain way. We can surround ourselves with positive thoughts and can exhort ourselves in developing good habits. Nature gives us this freedom since it always accentuates our progress. We can learn lessons out of our past actions and fruits we got out of the same in the same birth. We can develop faith and involve in holistic spiritual practices and studies.

“Tapah, Swadhyayah & Eswara Pranidhanani eti kriya yogaha”. Tapas is fiery determination (there are 3 types of Tapas: (1) Done through physical body, one can indulge in acts of selfless service (2) Done through mind, through constant maintenance of pure and higher thoughts forms (3) Done through speech, kindness shown through words when we speak to others. Swadhaya means reading scriptures which in turn uplift our thoughts through a story and its characters or through providing info on how to lead life. Following which, we can create new thought patterns or ape what has been successfully followed by our forefathers in the past. Eswara Pranidhanani is a huge subject in itself; however, in our context, let us say it means surrendering ourselves at the mercy of the Almighty. This helps in keeping a check of our egoistic thought forms and actions and ultimately, toward equanimity of seeing the same lord in all beings.

Abhyasa (continuous effort till it becomes a habit) of the above and detachment from the so called circumstances leads us towards a new center and new thought forms and breaks our past patterns.

 This is the ‘purushartha’ that Sage Vasistha refers to in Yoga Vasistyam, where he expounds the truths to none other than Rama on Karma & Purushartha (self-effort)

Don't be a slave of your past. Be a master of your future.