Great to see Sadhguru Vasudev on Fox TV New York show, speak about reminding ourselves: I am not the body, I am not the mind
Sadhguru on Fox TV Show Good Day New York, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hs6zpkb9s, around 10 mins, published on 1st April 2019
Around 7 min 24 secs, Sadhguru says, "With inhalation you just remind yourself I am not the body. With exhalation you remind yourself that you are not even the mind."
One of the two hosts says, "I am not the body. I am not the mind."
The other host says, "So what are you?"
...
Sadhguru says (responding to above question), "See the most important thing is, at least you know I do not know. All right? I do not know is a tremendous possibility. The moment you say, I do not know, the longing to know and the possibility to know, .. naturally happens."
Ravi: It is really great to see that Sadhguru Vasudev made it to a Fox TV New York program. I think he spoke and conducted himself very well and very positively in this interview. At the beginning of the show, one of the hosts says that New Yorkers tend to be a little high strung! As a former Mumbaikar/Dombivlikar-working-in-Mumbai (Bombayite) I can fully empathize with big city folks being "a little high strung". As an aside, I have always felt that New York City is quite similar to Mumbai/Bombay in many ways, and I found myself to be quite comfortable in New York City whenever I visited it due to me having been a Mumbaikar (Bombayite). Of course, New York city was far more wealthy and prosperous as compared to Mumbai in the days I visited New York city (second half of 1980s) and I am sure, continues to be more wealthy and prosperous today than Mumbai. But I am talking about the attitude of the people in the city and how they go about their lives in it. That is where I found a lot of similarity.
So I loved the way Sadhguru Vasudev gave a short and specific suggestion of the above Kriya (or whatever is its specific name in Sadhguru Vasudev's teachings and methods) as something that may help watchers of the show.
The approach of I am not the body, I am not the mind, seems to me to be a pretty well established Hindu contemplative tradition at least in the second half of the 20th century and this early 21st century. I think it may have emanated from the age-old Hindu contemplative tradition of Neti Neti - not this not this (leading eventually to something that simply cannot be negated and which is our ultimate truth of existence). For more on Neti Neti, see its wiki page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neti_neti.
Around 7 min 24 secs, Sadhguru says, "With inhalation you just remind yourself I am not the body. With exhalation you remind yourself that you are not even the mind."
One of the two hosts says, "I am not the body. I am not the mind."
The other host says, "So what are you?"
...
Sadhguru says (responding to above question), "See the most important thing is, at least you know I do not know. All right? I do not know is a tremendous possibility. The moment you say, I do not know, the longing to know and the possibility to know, .. naturally happens."
Ravi: It is really great to see that Sadhguru Vasudev made it to a Fox TV New York program. I think he spoke and conducted himself very well and very positively in this interview. At the beginning of the show, one of the hosts says that New Yorkers tend to be a little high strung! As a former Mumbaikar/Dombivlikar-working-in-Mumbai (Bombayite) I can fully empathize with big city folks being "a little high strung". As an aside, I have always felt that New York City is quite similar to Mumbai/Bombay in many ways, and I found myself to be quite comfortable in New York City whenever I visited it due to me having been a Mumbaikar (Bombayite). Of course, New York city was far more wealthy and prosperous as compared to Mumbai in the days I visited New York city (second half of 1980s) and I am sure, continues to be more wealthy and prosperous today than Mumbai. But I am talking about the attitude of the people in the city and how they go about their lives in it. That is where I found a lot of similarity.
So I loved the way Sadhguru Vasudev gave a short and specific suggestion of the above Kriya (or whatever is its specific name in Sadhguru Vasudev's teachings and methods) as something that may help watchers of the show.
The approach of I am not the body, I am not the mind, seems to me to be a pretty well established Hindu contemplative tradition at least in the second half of the 20th century and this early 21st century. I think it may have emanated from the age-old Hindu contemplative tradition of Neti Neti - not this not this (leading eventually to something that simply cannot be negated and which is our ultimate truth of existence). For more on Neti Neti, see its wiki page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neti_neti.
Om Sri Sairam
ReplyDeleteNeti Neti is a preliminary step not the ultimate step to know the truth of existence.
Ramana Maharshi said : “The I-thought is the mother of the world.”
The idea that I am the limited finite subject self is the cause of the understanding that we are in a limited finite world.
To correct this (mis)understanding we have to first reach the truth and reality that we are an unlimited infinite self and then to the logical derivative that the world is an extension of same unlimited infinite self.
This assumption is necessary because everything we know of this world is known through and in direct correspondence to the self. It is the inside world gives birth to the outside world.
“Neti, Neti” is thus a useful preliminary step towards the full and final feeling and understanding that I am everything.
Neti, Neti refers to path of exclusion whereby a subject distinguishes himself from the mind-body, thereby establishing what he essentially is, namely awareness. Through this process, the subject realizes “I am not my thoughts; I am aware of my thoughts,” “I am not my feelings; I am aware of my feelings,” “I am not this sensation; I am aware of this sensation.” The first step is taken to realize that we are the witnessing background of all experiences (whether we call that background –awareness/consciousness/self is just nomenclature
To know that I am awareness is one thing; to know the nature of this awareness is another matter.
To know its nature, we explore the experience of ourselves, that is, awareness’s experience of itself. We ask: Does awareness have any experience of itself coming and going? Does awareness have any experience of a limit to itself? Is awareness localized in any particular space or place. The goal of the second step is to realize through this inquiry the everpresent and unlimited nature of awareness.
Then we follow the path of inclusion. Having realized the everpresent and unlimited nature of awareness, we make a return to the world of objects and see all objects as made out of awareness. This is the path of inclusion. Yes, I am my body, thoughts, etc., but not exclusively these things. I am also the world itself and indeed everything in the world
Jai Sairam