yoga avidya (14)

are we free agents
in our bodies?


By Kulamarva Balakrishna

Vienna,Thursday,January 24:According to the
theory of =sankhya= by maya or avidya life
or consciousness is attracted into substance,
that is matter to make a human individual,who
is then resident or prisoner of the body
according to the level of awareness of the
individual.Yoga teaches an individual to free
himself so he can reconnect himself to the
source of power or life.In the course the
four chapters we come to discuss various
aspects of this play of avidya or maya and
attending mundane qualities known as gunas.
Even in Ayurveda medicine the same gunas
are evident in the substance that is nature are
harmonized as long as the consciousness
resides in the body.As an individual is gets
older it is natural for him to lose interest
in the superficials.He begins to ask himself
about the meaning of life.

Some times, even by some inexplicable
events even a young person can start
asking questions as for example Upanishadic
time Nachiketa.He was very young.His
father made a fire worship of course for
gain.The special worships in the religion
has a special reason.The reason being
influence peddling with the divine.It happens
men are guided by the ignorant or the vested
interests that divine is subject to intervention.
Historic yogi Buddha told a woman,who had
come to him with the lifeless body of her child,
bring some sesame from a household where
there was no death to open up her mind.
Nachiketa saw that his father´s worship was
futile.He saw his father donating dry cows,
and useless coins to brahmins.He asked
then his father:=father,whom are you going
to give me?=.The father got angry since
he felt the son was being impertinent. He
said I donate you to the god of death.This
made Nachiketa a spiritual investigator.
The report is made in the Kathopanishad.
This was then old =sanatana= teaching
on the meaning of life without getting into
the theory of =sankhya= which had not yet
developed.

In other words, yoga begins in search of
a meaning of life.Comes to accept the
sankhya theory that maya or avidya
attracts life or consciousness play a
game with substance of nature.It teaches
a way to conclude this futile game for
good.That is final disinterestedness in
bribing nature blindly for there is no point
as Buddha told the woman.This ultimate
understanding is what makes human life
sane and at peace at the time of death.
This is then the sum of the sutra= tatparam
purusha khyateh guna vaitrishnyam=.
That is the motivation, as far as the time
of the development of yoga system some
two thousand five hundred years ago, to
live longer, ends.Accept the reality,
rejuvenation prolongation of life by support
systems is worthless.There was then reason
to proclaim this knowledge because that
time and before rich and mighty thought
they can prolong life for continuing the fun,
enjoyment. I come to that story in the
next, which will put a normal man in
perspective.(end)