Tag Archives: Seva

3 Types of Dhrutis by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

29 Thursday May 2014

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This is a question that was asked in the satsang with Sri Sri in the Bangalore ashram. Enjoy!

Q: What are the three types of dhrutis that Lord Krishna mentions in the 18th chapter of Gita?

Sri Sri: Dhruti means that which upholds or sustains life. For many people, the mind goes hay wire, They cannot even sustain or tolerate a small insult. A little bit of imperfection they cannot tolerate. Sattvic dhruti is that which sustains the mind, life energy, and activities of the senses. That which helps you to be steadfast in your yoga. Not like one day you do yoga and next you go for bhoga. Not like that. That which upholds your senses, your life is sattvic dhruti. Rajasic dhruti is of the type when I get results then I will deliver. This sort of mindset where your enthusiasm is related to some little reward is rajasic dhruti. It could be related to Dharma or it may not be related. Any work that is taken with the intention of getting results, such as fasting to achieve some results. What is God going to get is you fast? 
Tamasic dhruti is one who sleeps a lot. That is most important for them. Nothing else. Very fearful. You look at their face, they are always down, depressed.
If you cannot get married, you are upset. You get married, you are upset. This is tamasic dhruti. Always regretful. That should not have happened. I should have had like that. After 40 years of marriage, they think they should have married someone else. And arrogance. And one is unable to get of this negativity in the mind. Some people try to get out of it, but they are not able to get out of it. Lazy people, who can sleep anywhere, any time. In Kerela, I heard about a person that he can sleep at the dining table while he eats. Once I stayed at such a person’s home. That person’s servant, told me that my Master falls asleep while talking! Doctor said lets do a scan. A few years ago, the CT Scan was a new machine. He went for the scan. The doctors were wondering why is the machine making so much noise. He slept in the scanning machine and was snoring!
This happens when you do not have any aim in life. Often Ashrams are the base for lazy people. But we do not have this issue. In Ashrams, there is a issue about how to keep people busy. If you keep doing some activity, then you will not get lazy. 
One who is lazy, gets scared easily. Then behind fear, comes negative thoughts such as who will cremate me when I die, who will take care of me when I grow old. Some one will complete the cremation rights. Man is mad. If you do not want to leave the madness, then be mad for that which has made all these things not for the things made by Him. Then after this comes vishaad: they think about what happened many years ago and get upset. People will reach Mumbai from Bangalore, and then they will continue to say we should have booked another ticket. Vishaad has become a habit. A person who is enthusiastic and happy, they will not go into vishaad.

Then comes ego. People are in vishaad, often walk with arrogance. Have you seen the people who lost the elections? A wrestler falls and then he says there is no mud on my mustache, where have I fallen? One who cannot come out from a negative mindset. 
Now we have to see what type of dhruti we have: sattvic, rajasic, tamasic.

How to get out of this? 
Do seva, sadhana, satsang. 
Tamas gets converted to Rajasic and then to Sattva. 
If you are surrounded by Tamasic people then you will have more of that type of dhruti. Often kids say, throughout my life, no one has done anything for me. The way you behave in front of kids affects kids also. If you are in Tamo guna or rajas guna, then kids catch on to it very fast. Similarly, when four people get together, and one person says something negative and everyone else contributes negativity, then after half an hour when people go home they are so tired.

How to transform from Tamasic dhruti?

This path: Seva, Sadhana, satsang, right company.
Like dhrutis, doers are also of three types. Sattvic doer is happy whether work happens or not. 
Rajasic doer is happy if work gets done and unhappy when the work does not get done.
Tamasic doer is one who does not know what they have to do. And they are in vishaad.

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Which yoga should I practice?

11 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Katha Vidya, Knowledge

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[NOTE: this blog post is not to hurt anyone following any particular practice of yoga. This is plainly my perspective and view of what I think :)]

I was conversing with a friend and our talk took us to how our spiritual practices were faring. Deep into the conversation we started discussing the different types of yoga that we do and what is to be followed and practiced. Strangely, recently I have been coming across many people who follow a particular type of yoga and only that. For those dont know the different types of yoga – there are broadly classified into four types. (NOTE : The different yogas are very broadly classified and simply defined. Each of these yoga have deep spiritual significance in their own right. Yes, there are so many yogas – raja yoga, swara yoga, etc. I have just the four most followed yogas here).

  1. Jnana yoga – Yoga of Knowledge and Intelligence
  2. Bhakti yoga – Yoga of devotion
  3. Karma yoga – Yoga of selfless service
  4. Kriya yoga – Yoga dealing with energy

It might be due to the various teachings in the scripture and in the tradition of teaching that we stick to one particular path. This was taught probably because you don’t go around trying all different things and don’t get result anywhere. Though I get that, I believe that these are different but INCLUSIVE ways to reach the highest. Not exclusive. And as a seeker, we need to tap into all of these in order to get help and progress. You will notice that these different types of yoga are complementary to each other. This conversation reminded me of a story which I had heard from a Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and wanted to share it here.

There were four yogis walking together. They were Jnana yogi(one who follows the path of intelligence and knowledge), bhakti yogi(follows devotion), karma yogi(follows selfless service as path of yoga) and lastly a kriya yogi(one who follows a path that deals with rising up the energy). Usually all these four yogis, don’t stay together. The jnana yogi thinks all others are a fool. Especially those who go on singing the name of God. In his mind these acts are utter foolish. The bhakti yogis have pity for everyone. Because they think that when God is here, why do all these actions and what use is knowledge. Rather just take his hand and walk to him. So they have pity for others. The karma yogis think all these other people are lazy because when you want some thing to happen you should do it. Because they are lazy and unwilling to do they have invented all the other yogas. So they feel the others are lazy. Lastly, the kriya yogis have utter disdain for every body because for them the entire universe is because of energy and without transcending the energy, there is no possibility. Due to all these reasons, these four people don’t come together. 

But today these four yogis were walking together when the rain storm hit them. They were running from getting wet when the bhakti yogi said that he knew a historic temple close by where they can take shelter. So they all go to this temple. The temple is a very old temple with just collapsed walls and just a few columns and a roof. In the center there was a deity of the God. They ran to this place not seeking God in love but to escape the rain. They stood in the temple in four corners. The rain started lashing in all directions and all the four yogis were getting drenched. The only place they could sit was around the deity in the center. They sat around the deity hugging and holding the deity and each other. Again not because out of love or seeking. Just to escape the rain. 

Suddenly God came to them. In all their minds, there came the same question – “WHY NOW? We did so much yoga, did so many pooja(rituals), read so many scriptures(knowledge) and so many things. You didn’t come then. Why now?”. God said – “At last, you four idiots got together. That is why!”. 

The idea here is unless your head(knowledge_, your heart(bhakti – devotion), hands & legs(that is needed for selfless action) and energy(kriya) get together and reach the peak together enlightenment will not dawn. These different yogas are different avenues to help us develop our selves and we need to tap into all of these to peak. So get to know all the types of yoga and enjoy each of them as much as the one you practice. You dont have master all of them but get to know them and practice them and check for yourself. They will only help you in different ways. So infuse all these different types of yoga in your practice and be more happy!