Pratyaksa anumana agamah pramanani

Valid cognition is based on direct observation, inference and reference to reliable authorities.

The mind understands the situation directly using the senses. This is perception. Everyone’s perception of the same situation is different as other faculties like logic and memory are brought in to make sense of what is being observed. When we are in a State of Yoga, we understand the situation correctly with clarity. When there is not enough information to go by, the mind uses inference to fill in the gaps. Inferences may be wrong.

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MP3 playback? Check. Two cameras? Check. Built-in mobile Buddhist altar? Che… Wait, WTF?! The idea is to allow Buddhists to perform their dedications and rituals conveniently when away from home. You can simulate incense burning, purification rites and play music to help you meditate wherever you happen to be.

I really doubt if the Buddhists I know will approve of this. Anyway, it is fun to see how much time has been spent on designing this. I really like the Lotus motif that covers the speakers.

vrttayah pancatayyah klistaklistah

Patanjali describes the mind by the activities of the mind. There are five activities and each one of them can be beneficial or cause problems. Whether these activities are beneficial or cause suffering cannot be immediately seen. Time alone will confirm their effects.

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Until a few months back, I had come across the word Sraddha only in books. The first time I heard someone actually use it was in a Kalari class. My Gurukkal would whack the kids and say, sraddhikanum kutti. He would say this so many times in the class and I heard it every day. It is an interesting word and it defines my journey through India. I heard it everywhere since then and have come across it in Buddhist texts, Bhagavad Gita and in newspapers.

Sraddha means a deep faith. I heard a different meaning this morning, bull headed determination. (more…)

Pattabhi Jois died in Mysore yesterday at age 94. He was one of the most famous students of Sri T Krishnamacharya. I have read about him in some of the books from KYM.

When he was 12 years old, he attended a yoga demonstration at his middle school in Hassan. He was amazed by the asanas and by the strong, graceful yogi jumping from pose to pose. The next day, he went to meet the yogi who had given the demonstration, a man by the name of T Krishnamacharya. Bravely, for a boy of only twelve, he requested to be instructed in yoga. For the next two years, Pattabhi Jois learnt yoga from T Krishnamacharya. He continued his studies with his guru again after a break.

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Please, don’t pee.

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Vritti sarupyam itaratra

At other times (when not in the state of Yoga), the mind identifies with the distorted conception of the object or a total lack of comprehension.

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The picture is that of Shiva from the Indus Valley times. (more…)

Here’s a hilarious post written by Papi on being Indian when Bollywood music, Slumdog Millionaire, and yoga are cool.

I’ve long cherished the notion that one cannot be authentic as well as cool if one is Indian. It is either one or the other. Read more here.

It is a common enough saying – a picture is worth a thousand words – and unlike certain other oft-repeated proverbs, this is one that we know instinctively to be true. Human beings like pictures. A graph is easier to understand than a list of numbers, a picture is easier to grasp than a long-winded description. Some yoga posture are well nigh impossible to describe in words, yet a simple stick figure can show you exactly how to fold and twist your arms, legs and other appendages to achieve it, should you choose to do so. For that matter, the use of an Indian toilet is so much easier to understand when drawn in a picture. Easier drawn than used, of course, but that’s a different story altogether.

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