The lifeway of Yogins and Yoginis handed us down the highest yoga knowledge. Vadim Zaporozhtsev. Lecture. Pt.3. 04.19.2008

Theme 1. “People Classification According to Their Self-Consciousness Degree”

1.1. Disbalances resulting from wrong people discrimination

The last week we stopped at differences in souls situated in human bodies. These souls differ in self-consciousness degree, in degree of responsibility, in spiritual stage level. We touched this topic because we should judge a man not by any external factors such as his appearance, etc. as it often happens. In the first place one should judge a man by stage of evolutional development of his “I”, of his soul, of his Atma, or more exactly – by his Atma self-consciousness degree. That’s because we all have equivalent souls or they all are the same in their ideal; but degrees of their self-consciousness are different. Remember the most terrible disbalances in human history: the wars have been declared, one race exterminated another one, and one nationality exterminated another one, people with certain views exterminated people with other views, sometimes they did it really hideously. It was an attempt of people discrimination by any external signs. As a matter of fact this didn’t refer to people differentiation, but it occurred.

Unfortunately this happened in many large groups of people. Let us suppose you would study pre-Columbian American history. Sometimes one tribal of Indians exterminated another one there. And on the question “Why did you do this with the same people as you are?” they answered: “They weren’t the same people, they were inhuman monsters.” I.e. they considered other Indians animals with their inner structure in spite of they were breathers with human bodies. So there was struggle for existence carried on very hideously. And sometimes they had to do everything not to allow annihilate them. But it doesn’t explain all evil deeds done under the auspices of this struggle.

I call you upon from your first steps in yoga to understand that the world is much more complicated that it seems ex facte: what is fair or unfair, right or wrong, proper lifestyle or not. If you study in detail conditions in which people lived you will begin to understand that the Universe is balanced in general. Lamentably enough every happening has two sides. And encountering some traditions that seem absolutely unacceptable for our lifestyle we shouldn’t judge them severely. There are Manu’s laws in India. It’s rather interesting code of rules regulating people’s life. God forbid you to live according to them. But these were the most optimal, just and progressive laws for those times, for those people, for those self-consciousness degrees of their souls. That’s why we should reject this judgement: this is good and that is bad.

Here they say: “The slaveholding system is bad”. Yes, it’s bad indeed, though it exists still in some African or any other countries as it is shown on TV. But analyzing the state of things somewhere in Roman Empire many-many thousands years ago you’ll see that initially the slaves were people with extremely low extent of their souls self-consciousness and development. So it was common structure without disbalances; and it was advantageous for everybody. It’s clear that immediately we remember how the owners jeered at their slaves, how they beat and humble them; these were monstrous disbalances. But on the other hand these slaves didn’t starve; they didn’t die of starvation caused by failure of crops somewhere in Africa; they were protected from wild animals’ aggression. The same situation was in tsarist Russia. They say sometimes: “The serfdom is very hideously, is very bad. How come? It’s a disgrace indeed!” And it has become real disgrace in the last years of serfdom because very developed souls began to be born. But analyzing this situation one thousand years ago let us say when serfdom began to arise you understand that serfdom didn’t arise in blank space. Just imagine the situation: a person has down-and-out psychology and he swapped his things for drink. He incurs indebtedness and also swapped. And so he enslaves himself.

You have to understand everything happened in history. Sometimes they want to represent historical events thereby that some groups or classes start to depress other, they strive for power; but if only it was so simple. Unfortunately everything is much more difficult. Every system, every way of life builds proceeding from available people. Do you remember the proverb: “Everyone is worthy of the rulers that he has.” And don’t judge severely this poor India with its caste remain, with its numerous things that would make us shudder. Everything is good on its place and in its time. And don’t blindly copy it.

Why did this subject become so important in yoga too? That’s because ancient yoga knowledge penetrates here into West and we begin to do these or those practices, meditations. Reaching some higher levels in yoga we begin to transfer uncritically these achievements to everything else. We start to deify Indian caste system; or their way of living; or their food and clothes. As a result we get serious disbalance that makes everything to be at a loss including yoga. In this connection we have to deal with a very serious problem: how to form our own way of living, how to separate the wheat from the chaff. How to separate wisdom preserved in India, Nepal, Tibet and other countries with yoga knowledge from husks that surround it sometimes. It’s very simple to do this ex facte. It would seem we have to retain everything that works and throw away everything that doesn’t work. But it doesn’t succeed so simply. That’s why the only thing to do is to deep comprehend tradition of that epoch and that place where yoga has been preserved. You have to understand why everything happens one way and not another. But don’t copy it blindly. We should try to take it into our soil, into our lifestyle, into our relationships and so on.

So let’s sum up.

There are tree big groups of souls:

• Those souls which were animals not long ago; and it’s useless to tell them something exquisite because them won’t even understand what you are talking about;
• Those souls for which yoga knowledge is destined;
• The third group we can’t say anything about; these are yoga teachers.

We have to draw a definite and unambiguous conclusion for ourselves: we do judge a person by stage of his soul in the first place in spite of what an appearance he has or what a nationality, race, religion or anything else he belongs to. This is the people discrimination indeed; and we can do nothing with it. Unfortunately nobody understood this law in times of French revolution or revolution in Russia. These were the desperate attempts to make the Kingdom of God on the Earth. And these were very good and fair attempts. For example: building of the communist society when everybody is equal, when everybody has equal potentialities, rights and so on. But you know what it has always led to either in France, or in Russia, or in any other countries. For some reason every time a noble impulse of humanity to change life for the better has failed. Let’s analyse those revolutionaries’ life. Now they are communicated to be the worst kind of villains and maniacs. But it wasn’t so after all. These were the cleverest people, the most honest people. But they became hostages of their wrong opinions of human nature; they believed we all were the same, we all were equal. Yes, we are equal indeed but this equality will start only when we reach the enlightenment, Samadhi, liberation; and we aren’t all equal just now. How can you put a man without this self-consciousness, a man that is at semi animal stage on the leading post? Roughly speaking he is just a dog with human body and he will abuse his leading position. Our revolutionaries didn’t see this of course and it has happened as it has happened. In truth people are wiser and all the same they began to dispose of unnecessary people somehow. There started a small transformation all the same without which our state would be in full collapse. Here is the next very important moment we have to remember: the forming of such an idealistic society becomes possible only with taking into consideration absolutely different self-consciousness degree of every individual. An analogical example from yoga: there are people that are able to be trusted with any secret knowledge for yoga practice; and we don’t allow some other people within shooting range to this knowledge. Here another complication appears. How simply everything was in ancient times: “He has another skin color so he isn’t our lot, he is a stranger. He has to be separated or better annihilated not to get under feet”. How simple it becomes to discriminate if there is obvious criterion serving as a thing to go by. But you can’t do the same thing with respect to a soul. How can you estimate at what is a stage of soul evolutional development? So there is nothing else left for us to do but to estimate who this or that person is in the course of communication with them. Sometimes it’s very difficult to do. Our prejudice plays a mean trick on us sometimes. So we begin to communicate with those people whom we shouldn’t communicate with; and stop communicating with those people whom we need to. And it takes us too far sideways.

1.2. Necessity of communication with like-minded persons

Now let’s directly touch upon ways of living reached us as part of yoga. Yoga requires you in the first place to communicate only with your’s like people and to avoid communication with needless people. So if you have an alternative to communicate with people of low development stage (i.e. it doesn’t clear whether they are people or animals) or with people of high development stage you have to choose the second variant of course. Our karma brings us sometimes to very strange conditions. For example: you were born somewhere and didn’t suspect that your stairway enclosure neighbours or neighbour friends were the future criminals. Children play together but every child has differently developed degree of his “I”. Sometimes a child gets in absolutely monstrous marginal environment, he communicates with future offenders, killers and so on. So this is his karma and we can do nothing here: we are born where we are. But we are able not to associate with those people whom we don’t need to. And we are able to make our children not to associate with people they don’t need to. I teach yoga to a girl, she was a teacher in primary school. In her school she received such directory for teachers: “You have high achievers and poor students. Let’s mix them together to make high achievers to help poor students”. It’s a noble impulse ex facte. But on the other hand it clips high achievers’ wings because they will communicate with the devil knows whom, the devil knows which habits they will pick up from them; and it may gives up for lost their future. That’s why such noble impulses are fraught with somebody’s broken fate. So we have to select people for our personal contacts’ circle very carefully. But it is quite natural that we have not everything in our hands.

We can choose with whom to communicate or not. If we are responsible for other people (children for example) we have to protect them for communication with needless people. Or their souls will get into hostile environment before one could bat an eye. And then a great disbalance will begin and it will be a disbalance for all the life! It’s very difficult to do. But if we can do it we should. We can’t reform people, we haven’t got this potential. We can’t create a person of high development stage from a person at low stage. We haven’t got this potential; even the Lord struggles and struggles but he needs several lives to raise this person up to the next stage. That’s why don’t kick in the behind like this: “Come on! Develop quicker!” Doing like this you won’t attain anything because it’s not your task. Only the God or the Absolute or even Cosmic Dao Law (somehow calling it) are able to do this but not you. So you can’t reform people; it’s not in your hand. But you are able to communicate with wanted people and not to communicate with needless people.

Of course you have to try your best to further people walk up the stairs of spiritual evolution. But here you can do so little that it would be practically nothing. Me, Vadim Zaporozhtsev, I run yoga teacher training courses in Moscow Open Yoga Univercity (www.openyoga.ru) and there we study very strange texts including “Aphorisms for yoga teachers to be” (it turns out this science has been remained). It is said there: “You can’t teach somebody yoga, you haven’t got this potential. Only the one thing you can do is to remove barriers from the other person’s road to make him to rediscover yoga on his own”. They tell me sometimes: “Here you teach us yoga”. I don’t teach yoga anybody; I only remove obstacles from people roads to help them to rediscover yoga themselves. And I do nothing more. If I remove these obstacles skillfully and at the right time theу all honour to me! And if I wrongly do this it means I don’t conform to my position. But I don’t teach yoga anybody. We can’t teach yoga. People only can rediscover yoga inside themselves. The same situation is communication with people: don’t try to make them better; you won’t do this. Better try to remove barriers from their way to let them become better on their own. Both these things seem to be the same but they have an important distinction in kind.

At last the second part is to seek for people who are already at higher development stage. That’s why it is said in all ancient treatises to stay in mind field of any teacher as soon as possible. It’s everywhere in India: you have to receive darshan (or contemplation) from teacher, to hang about him in every possible way. You know how they say: “He who lies down with dogs, gets up with fleas”? This works; so we have to learn things that would be helpful for us and wouldn’t pull us down.

Here appears the next point determining the way of life: always look for like-minded persons, always look for people at your level of spiritual development and avoid communication with people at lower stage. In any event while communicating we have to filter it. Otherwise we may learn a lot of negative things like louses from dog: spending much time with a dog don’t be surprised at louses. In the same way we begin to copy certain behavior templates, certain reactions on irritants, certain priorities, etc. at our subconsciousness level. More over you will be even unaware of how quickly you will learn bad things starting to communicate with needless people. They say me sometimes: “Well, communicating with such people I receive experience, knowledge of life. How do I know what the world is like? But I already talk to experienced criminal and he told me in bright colours about their life in prison camp”. But what for you need this? You simply don’t even understand that you become geared up for criminal acts thereby. And if you have seeds of negative karma related with criminal world think them to be watered. Karma is germinating exactly so. That’s why sometimes you don’t receive this experience only; you also create conditions for germination of negative karma seeds if you have it. If you don’t have this negative karma you can communicate even with criminals if you like; it won’t be passed on you.

I have many pupils; sometimes I’m very astonished how unpredictable is people’s fate and karma. For example childhood of one pupil passed in barracks settlement of former prisoners and they were convicted for very dismal crimes: murders, etc. Their children were the same as parents, when they grew up they have been put away into prison because they all were criminals. But my pupil played with them in his childhood and nothing stuck to him. Why it didn’t stick? Because he didn’t have negative karma related with criminal acts. But having it he would find himself in prison as karma only looks for necessary conditions to unfold. Or he could not to find himself in prison as well… We have negative karma seeds inside us and we even don’t remember what karma it is. So what to tempt the Higher for? We don’t know about our previous transgressions. What to tempt for? What for to water field being unaware if there really are negative karma seeds or not? That’s why don’t communicate with people who can share their experience with you, it won’t be of use to you if you don’t have such karma. It won’t be of use to you all the more if you have it. So we have to understand this point: communicate with useful people and avoid communication with needless people.

1.3. Problem of solitude

Sometimes people turn a blind eye to this point and continue to live in the world and to communicate no matter with whom. The reverse of this coin will come through a very unpleasant form, i.e. through loneliness. It happens so because communicating no matter with whom you didn’t communicate with useful people. So your internal fervour of energy and power has run out but slough around you has retained as it were. Sometimes problem of solitude is one of the most severe scourges in every human life; it is also one of the most severe scourges in spiritual life of every Yogin and Yogini. But everybody has to pass through solitude to be grateful then for communication. Otherwise person doesn’t then value communication; he doesn’t care with whom to communicate: with like-minded people or make nothing with whom. And only going through all the stages of loneliness we begin to be grateful for communication. This is the cause of the next point in Yogins and Yoginis way of life. In general this finding or law is the main topic: everybody comes in yoga alone. I.e. everybody goes through this period when a person stays face to face with the Universe. You know he sits alone in his cave and meditates; nothing and nobody remain interesting for him. This is so called “cave yogin”. But then such cave yogin begins to look for like-minded people; it’s the absolutely logical next step. Sometimes a question appears: “Is it possible to deceive nature? Can I find a cave to stay in private and attain Enlightenment not to be born in this world anymore? Why I have to spend my time to communicate with like-minded people? I’m sitting and meditating to attain mind unidirectionality, Samadhi and the Higher Enlightenment. And what for I will spend my time on communication? I will better practice yoga two hours more…” It sounds very logical indeed: more efforts you will make in this direction quicker you will attain your purpose. But here another moment which you have to remember appears: there are no any exercises, practices, yantras or mantras, asanas or meditations that would assured your attainment of Samadhi state or state of the Higher; they simply don’t exist in nature at all. All the methods only remove the obstacles from your road. But it’s a sealed secret what engenders the last burst up to the higher. How does it happen? What does it happen due to? – we can’t even talk profusely about this and judge it. So it’s impossible to program your spiritual development, to work out a five-year plan for example: I will become proficient in this technique in half a year, in this stage in two years, in that – in three, and then in five years I will reach Samadhi, i.e. to draw out such a layout. Oh, it’s a good plan; you have to follow it exactly. It would be even better to stint yourself in one little year and not to protract it for five years. What for to waste time? An approach should be the next: everything and immediately. The trouble is that you will attain many states, many superabilities indeed; but the highest stage you won’t attain in principle. There are no techniques to take you to the Higher, it’s just nonsense. The Higher uncovers itself somehow by itself. But without doing all these techniques, practices it won’t uncovers itself to you for sure. And doing it you will remove the obstacles from the road of this Higher in any event; but there are no guarantees that it will uncover itself to you. I will remind you of this statement once again: “The Higher uncovers itself only for those for whom it wants to do it.” And we can’t make the Higher to uncover itself; we don’t have necessary strings for this.

1.4. We are doomed to communicate with each other

Let’s go back to the first lecture scheme, i.e. five life principles of ancient Yogins and Yoginis. This scheme is rather good but it isn’t full. That’s because roughly speaking while attaining Enlightenment or Samadhi state it won’t be you who attain this state. Your entire personal universe, every its atom will attain Enlightenment or Samadhi. So I’d like to remember you: though we live in the same universe it’s an illusion indeed. Everybody has his own universe. More over our universes intersect somewhere and somewhere they don’t. So attainment of the Higher is possible only immediately for everybody; it’s impossible when only one person spurts into the lead. In just that moment this state is perceived in a way differently because everybody wanting to be immersed is being immersed in it. Pay attention to this subtle moment: certain differentiation between me and society, between me and other people is groundless; it’s impossible to draw a boundary line where you finish and something outward for you, for your universe begins. We are one whole in everything. An accent here begins to shift a lot and suddenly you begin to understand that you can’t avoid communication with like-minded persons. Roughly speaking you can’t break away anywhere until you won’t pass from the Yogin – loner stage to the next stage, i.e. communication, interaction and practice with like-minded persons. Otherwise it will be an attempt to run away from your own shadow. That’s why communication with like-minded persons matters a lot in Yogins and Yoginis life. Everything is invented so intricately that you won’t be able to achieve anything until you become a part of a single whole. I.e. you should be harmoniously integrated into this whole. You should develop yourself and develop everything around you; and then you will attain Samadhi and everything will attain it together with you in a common burst; and everything remained won’t contradict your enlightenment. It’s simply another point of view to the same thing, another game. They ask sometimes just by this reason: “Why that great yogin attained Samadhi state, overstepped the limits of our universe and became able to change everything (superabilities are described in yoga rather thoroughly)? What he only can’t do: raise from the dead and annihilate, build and destroy? But why no one yogin didn’t avail himself of his abilities, didn’t redraw the human history?” That’s because everything is harmonious as it is though only for him. And from the other people stand there is a disbalance. It’s not his disbalance; it’s disbalance of other people. But he sees the situation in general from his peak and he doesn’t understand for what to interfere in it because everything is going perfectly well as it is. You know everybody like to criticize the Lord: “How poorly he has done our world”. But try to make it better. The only thing we can do concerns only ourselves. And other people live as they like and don’t disturb them, please.

This temptation to achieve everything and immediately alone contains delayed-action bombs in itself, i.e. obstacles that won’t allow yogin to do the next step in principle. So we are doomed to communicate with each other. More over we are doomed to work some yoga moments while communicating with each other; it can’t happen in a different way. They say sometimes: “How can it be? Here is an example of the great saint who lived alone and reached the Higher”. But we simply know nothing about his life. We know nothing at all, even about yoga though it is interesting for us. And here the matter is the great saint’s private life and we don’t know how, where and what he practiced.

You know there is such a story; they usually tell it about Shankaracharja but this subject is very popular in Indian mythology? Once upon a time a saint suddenly realized that he didn’t interact with other energies in certain aspects and these aspects of human organization left unknown to him. During one philosophic public debate he had to get sensual sexual experience. And he was a monk and made a very severe vow of chastity. What a sensual sexual experience can really be in such situation? He thank of very cunning way out from this casuistry: he left his body with yoga force and enter another human body. This human was another rajah died and left huge harem of his wives (though sometimes this story is told in different ways). So a saint took this occasion, entered rajah body, took pleasure with his wives in every possible way and finally has received this experience. True it led him to the loss in this serious debate; he had to acknowledge defeat as there were very severe rules of debating. I.e. he made a vow of chastity, but this vow was for him and not for his body. And it happened so that he broke his vow. Because you know it doesn’t matter whether you break it at the level of your body while making love to the women or in your sleep and dreams – all these are the same. There is a sensitive entity and it is person’s “I”. In this story a woman caught a saint out; but we have to do him justice: he called her his teacher and admitted his deception. Sometimes it happens so but very rarely. The Universe doesn’t allow you jump over steps especially if you are going to live here five or ten lives. You will have to be born again and again and it’s a big question where you will be born. There’s a world of difference between these two situations: to be born in criminal environment or among Yogins and Yoginis. There is such a statement: “The biggest luck is to be born among Yogins and Yoginis”, i.e. all the others births are only relative happiness.

1.5. Selfishness renunciation.

The next step on the road to the spiritual, to the Higher is the renunciation of selfishness, renunciation of a “cave state” in yoga. We should reject such position: “Here I’m so small. I’ll just reach enlightenment and I’ll be fine. I don’t care about others; to be more precise let’s talk about it after I reach enlightenment: may be I will help you somehow, may be not; we’ll see it later”. If we say such person: “My dear, do something useful for the mankind, the only one thing at least” he replies in the vein that “How can I teach somebody until attain the Higher?” This statement is absolutely impenetrable but it’s absurd indeed. But when you reach the Higher you will dissolve in it. So whom will you teach then? But now you have certain karmic debts and don’t make reference to the Higher. Ego sometimes looks for a beautiful self-justification: “And what can I do? I’m so small, orphan and cripple, I know absolutely nothing, I’m good at nothing, and I wallowed myself. How I will help other people? I need help for my own; so help me”. I won’t speak here about selfishness though it is obvious, such exploitative treatment of the Universe. Here more terrible thing, theoretic thing, steals in indeed: “How you will name your ship so it will sail”. Considering you small, orphan and cripple, worthy only of condescension and compassion you make yourself just the same. Do you understand this snare? You become whom you believe you are.

1.6. About communication and egoism in Tantras

In Tantras right contrary approach is proclaimed: “Oh, I realized that my essence and essence of the Universe are an entity. My potential has no limits; and I begin to help people to change this universe for the better. I’m not waiting for my enlightenment but starting to work right now. I begin to work right now in size I understand, want and can; I don’t wait for tomorrow when my third eye will open or Kundalini will wake up”. So there is such a very powerful statement in Tantras: “Wanting to be a god behave as a god”. It’s a very strange statement; we have to think about it. The same thing is our friends – Buddhists’ facetious saying, they like to quote “about the indissolubility of Sansara and Nirvana” all the time. It means that there is no difference between Sansara and Nirvana. By Sansara they mean a thing we call “daily routine” and by Nirvana they mean enlightenment, paradise, something Higher. It’s a very strange statement: there is no difference; nobody prevents you to make your life such as you’d like to see it right now. That’s another story when before you wished anything else and had already enough time to have tons to do. So now you have to move further in view of your previous wishes. But this is per se the main Tantra method. That’s why this point of meeting like-minded people is very important among Yogins and Yoginis. And this communication shouldn’t be such exploitative as this: “I’m so small and teachers from Himalayas have to come and teach and help me etc.”. No, you should apply to the teachers from Himalayas but everything you can do by yourself you have to do by yourself. Don’t wait until any teacher will come from Himalayas and will hammer in a nail instead of you; hammer it in by yourself. Don’t wait until any teacher will come from Himalayas and will teach you Hatha Yoga; open a book, read something about Hatha Yoga (you know how to read of course?), practice by yourself a little at least, stir a finger at least. So this is a very serious aspect in Yogins and Yoginis’ environment: it is not enough that you meet like-minded people you also remove obstacles from the spiritual road for those who are needed in it; every time you lend your ear to something Higher, to the teachers, to the yoga knowledge but you lead a very active life at that time.

1.7. One should not disseminate knowledge destined for Vira among Pashus

Secrecy and openness in Yoga.

Earlier we considered a state of person practicing yoga. In Tantras he is called Vira; one of this word translations is “a hero”. Julius Caesar said: “Live each day of your life as it would be your last day”. I.e. you shouldn’t think about tomorrow: tomorrow you’ll be buried and yesterday has become a thing of the past; so live now, do something important. That’s why this state is called Vira (a hero) or in other words: “Wanting to be a god behave as a god”. And naturally all the further practices, moments, etc. follow from this point.

But now pay your attention to what will happen if we put such a statement in semi-animals semi-humans environment. Just imagine that you tell “Wanting to be a god behave as a god” to any backward criminal which finished off, robed, raped people. Understandably enough it will incite him to more severe crimes. It is clear that nobody has abrogated karma law: if you have done something not quite wonderful it is only a question of time when the results of your actions come. So imagine that this higher knowledge begins to penetrate in semi-animals semi-humans environment. They will really feel themselves gods for five minutes, they will really make obscenities, and God knows what they will do. Don’t do this because it’s really terrible.

Here the next very important moment concerning Yogins and Yoginis’ methods appears. This is not to say these methods were hidden; this is not to say they were put by for a rainy day; no, they were used every day. The point is that we don’t have to blab about these methods among the wrong people. Otherwise we will urge somebody on feats in negative meaning of this word with blabbing. And this man heard plenty a lot of our talks will do something obscene; this becomes dangerous indeed because both this man and we will receive negative karma. He will receive it because he did it; we will receive it because we had to hold our tongue. And it is impossible to understand as well whose karma will be more severe. That’s why there should be no paranoia (of course) as well as no reverse side: “Guys, be drawn into yoga, come on, practice fast methods. Here is Kundalini, here are sexual practices, magical mantras and yantras. Let’s do it all together; we are all equal, we are all good and splendid people; tomorrow communism will come”. But no communism will come tomorrow and god knows what will begin. Of course these methods will fall into good hands as well as into bad accidental hands and such mishmash will begin in exit. This was very good understood by Yogins and Yoginis but they ran to another extreme, i.e. total secrecy in yoga practices. Today you can go to the cultural center “Enlightenment” situated near Novoslobodskaya metro station in Moscow city (www.yogacenter.ru) and take a yoga course or visit any yoga seminar when any esteemed guru comes and teach you some high-powered practices, mantras or yantras. About 200 years ago no one yogin dreamt of that. These were highly classified knowledge to bar them from getting in the wrong places.

But it happened so that secrecy stood yoga teaching in bad stead: yoga began to disappear. A pupil just couldn’t find a teacher because of this secrecy and a teacher couldn’t pass on knowledge; so this knowledge couldn’t be further come down by continuous chain. The situation became critical so that yoga could simply disappear as it is affirmed by some Yogins which I hold in high respect. We wouldn’t be able even know the word “Yoga” or “Tantras”, we would be able to know nothing about it at all. But something very serious happened 150-200 years ago, I don’t know the concrete date. It is also a very secrete thing when some ordinary key point of human development has happened. But it has happened; and knowledge that was absolutely secret began to spread and spread rather actively. The next thing comes out: there are other game rules and another way of living for us. If we were Yogins and Yoginis somewhere in closed ashram in Himalayas’ foothills we might lead absolutely closed life and nobody would know anything about us. Today the situation has changed to its opposite: our duty is to disseminate knowledge not stopping it on ourselves.

It happened so that I have prepared yoga instructors for a long time (more information about yoga instructors courses is here: www.openyoga.ru) not because I liked it but simply because nobody could do this: teachers don’t care about it, they have their own headaches. And do you know what people I always expel pitilessly (to be more precise I don’t expel anybody, students leave courses by themselves)? These are those people who acquire very powerful knowledge (about practices, etc.) but on my wishes: “Well, darling, pass on this knowledge to other people, they are waiting for it” they reply me as a rule: “Well, the time for it hasn’t come yet. I don’t know much about these matters”. Here a lot of doubts creep in. First of all it’s selfishness to hold this knowledge back for them: for example mantra solving all the problems. Do you understand that it is any kind of selfishness: “I will be stronger and other people will be weaker. I will stand out against a background of people mass because I have groundwork with initiation from ancient times; and other people don’t have it”? It’s so monstrous disbalance.

It’s just dullness sometimes when a person thinks that everybody can read thoughts because he got this ability so easily. He thinks so: “I know a thing and I will teach people mentally. Let them read my thoughts”. Well, it’s very presumptuously to confer such status of mental teacher on yourself. You have to pass knowledge in a way as you have got them! Holding back for yourself even a little thing you will never get your hand near enlightenment; this holding knowledge will burn your hands. So this point is strictly followed in our yoga instructors’ school: freeloaded something pass it to other people. The other story is that you have to pass this knowledge with competence to avoid spreading of “half-knowledge”. Spreading knowledge you have to give them in full force and effect. But pay attention lifestyle have changed.

I tell it so lengthy to make you to come to realization that we may copy a way of life of Yogin and Yoginis handed us down yoga knowledge unfortunately only in part. Another part of lifestyle we should work out by ourselves based on general yoga principles, general proposition, undertakings, etc. Formerly you got knowledge and had to think how to better hide it first of all. And now getting knowledge you have to thing how to apply better in your life and even more: how to bar from break of knowledge passing chain, from being a weak link in this chain. That’s why communicate with like-minded persons, help everybody, practice without wasting time, get rid of this sanctimonious, cynical and selfish position: “Here am I. Teach me, enlighten me – I’m so small. And I will think whether I wish to enlighten or not. We’ll think later about it”. May be you have thoughts like these: “I want knowledge for myself. I want to solve my own problems”. You’ll get this knowledge of course and you’ll solve your problems. But in the first place we pay attention to those pupils who will actively help other people or differently speaking, those who will actively begin reforming their own inner universe. There is jumble, chaos, crime and obscenities in your universe. If you don’t want such a universe for yourself so start to create another one. How to do it? You have to do it very actively from the position of Vira (a hero). There are very powerful mechanisms indeed but I don’t want to overburden you with theory. There is Associative Links Theory: if you take off an associative link from a thing that you don’t like this think will collapse like a house of cards before yours eyes; you shouldn’t even struggle with it.

Theme 2. “Purpose of life of Yogins and Yoginis handed us down the highest yoga knowledge”

And now we return to our scheme illustrating living priorities. In truth it isn’t any recommendation how to create your lifestyle. It only shows certain moment which help you better realize your own lifestyle. So there were five main principles in the environment of Yogins and Yoginis handed us down yoga.

Scheme 1. Five main principles of ancient Yogins and Yoginis lifestyle

The first point was the purpose. Everything began from here. We all go to our purpose long, poignantly and no matter what. But it was the first step among Yogins and Yoginis handed us down higher yogas.

Very often we live unconsciously: we are born, grow, and go to school as if to keep other people company. We study, get a job, choose some directions in life in place of others to keep other people company. I.e. we choose things to strive for indirectly and inactively. We don’t think enough about what is important and valuable in our life and what is minor. Thus with respect to life purposes people divide into tree groups.

2.1. Pashu’s aim

There are people at Pashu stage according Tantra terminology. There is another perfect term explaining Pashu state. There was a wonderful writer Jonathan Swift. He wrote absolutely unique philosophic work of literature “Gulliver’s Travels”. In childhood we got accustomed that it’s a very funny story for children telling about lilliputs. But it’s a very serious philosophic work. We used to know two Gulliver’s travels to Lilliput and to Brobdingnag. Also there are two more travels indeed which aren’t widespread for some reason. In “A Voyage to Houyhnhnms” he got in a place where only horses were reasonable and people turned into pigs. People there were called “Yahoos”; they were like people which are called “Pashu” in Tantras. When an opportunity presents itself find this book or perfect film with the same name shooted by the English. So for a soul at Yahoo stage (semi-animal semi-human) purposes are unconscious or they are formed to keep other people company or according any tradition. I.e. it is said somewhere: “You have to do this way and that; and all the other things are taboo”. What is taboo? The elders watch people closely to bar them from deviation otherwise the violators were sentenced to “five years shooting through hanging”. So their life was unconscious from the very childhood up to the death.

2.2. Vira’s aim

People at Vira stage (according to the Tantra terminology) have more structured living purpose. “Well, I was born. So what I want? Let us suppose I want to earn money, become rich or receive power; I want to get beautiful wife or bring forth to many children”. These purposes can be formulated or imagined. Some people may have more abstract aims: “I want Nobel prize in literature” – and he works for it for many years. Such person knows his purpose very well, he aspires to it. In this sense this person is at higher development stage then semi-animal semi-human. As we can say about Yogins and Yoginis they all were at such stage and they were in necessary riverbed from the very birth by all appearance. Here may hide itself another reason why this statement “The biggest happiness is to be born in Yogin and Yogini’s family” has sense. In their families living priorities were different from the very beginning: for example money was only the question of an experience. A person who often earned them and then often lost them becomes to take very easy about money. Do you understand it’s very difficult for people who have never earned money? A person behavior becomes freer when he understands that money may leave you as well as come to you. Strange as it may seem money love such “smooth” people: it has come and it has gone away; come and gone… And such person sees this flow and he creates a mechanism for money gathering. For example thus a stock exchange works. As a rule people who knew how to earn money during many lives and who lost money during many lives treat money easily; so money love such people.

But Yogins and Yoginis understood that people should not considered money as a life purpose because joy from getting money may be darkened by fear of their loss. Everything is more exquisite because not only real loss darkens our joy but even fear of this loss. People used to fear of something beforehand. Such thoughts as “What if they rob me? What if they make off with a thing from me?” just make person’s life unbearable. As a result they bring him more suffers than joy from money possessing.

I had one comrade. He really worked much and grew rich fabulously. But once I met him when he was heavily drunk. I wondered: “What happened to you. You should be happy…” He answered me: “Do you understand: small money means small problems and big money means big problems? They are like children”. So he couldn’t be very cheery. But it’s impossible to explain this thing to a person who had no experience. That’s why if you want money yoga advises you to meet this wish in the first place and not to reject it beforehand. I.e. don’t reject anything you have never had. Otherwise it engenders more complicated karmic reactions. If you have inclination for something and it doesn’t injure anybody then realize your inclination. But once again Yogins and Yoginis won’t live for the sake of such purpose. The same thing happens with power. The same thing happens with “I want to have beautiful wife”. And you can find for you very beautiful wife indeed but after you find her a chain of problems will begin. These problems associated with interpersonal attitudes, with interpersonal squabbles and frictions bring the joy of living together in first tree months to nothing. That’s why it is not quite reasonable to make finding beautiful wife your life aim. She may leave you in the most inappropriate time. More over you may fall out of love with her by yourself or she may all out of love with you. I.e. straight off we choose potentially dangerous game rules. As to power or superabilities (flying in the air, read thoughts or anything else) the same things happen here. As a result a person may understand to his horror that there is nothing in this world for him to clutch at. It’s the state of monk who rejected everything to lose nothing: “If you don’t live you won’t have to die”. And subconsciously we continue to clutch at some aims: I want a flat or if my flat is small I want bigger one; or we want a girlfriend with certain qualities.

2.3. How sufferings come out of “I want”

What to clutch at: at the transitory or at the eternal Higher?

As well as you said “I want” and then as well as you said: “It’s my” you should know that the next word will be “suffer”. Nobody abolished our karma. It’s only a question of time when everything will happen so adroitly that we will suffer through our wishes. A very strange thing was among Yogins and Yoginis – they wished only those things which didn’t bring them sufferings. And they didn’t wish everything that could bring sufferings. They didn’t persuade themselves to it. No. They lived millions of lives in other bodies at different development stages when they were full up with all such things. You can wish something when you are hungry but when you eat plenty of something and this thing makes you sick you don’t long for it anymore. But what does remain in yogin’s life if he aspires to nothing? Of course there were children and it seems to be very good, nobly and remarkable; yes, it was so and you remember it was their sacred debt. But in the first place it was a debt and not a purpose. It’s a splendid of modern girls which can not take their places in a world and think: “I’m going to give birth to a number of children and bring them up. So they will be a purpose of my life”. But these children grow up, become alcoholics and even tell their mother to get lost. And she begins to suffer: “I’ve given up all my life for you” – but she has chosen it by herself. It doesn’t mean you can’t behave like this, but don’t get hooked on it. As soon as you got hooked on something expect that this can unfold into absolutely different direction. I.e. what does remain? Should we completely reject this world? Don’t earn money? Don’t aspire to power? Don’t touch women? Don’t have children? Nothing remains indeed. No, it isn’t truth. It’s only our rough interpretation because we haven’t eaten plenty of these things; so they seem us having any sense. But people working something through during five lives in sixth life begin to reject this thing.

Here another parallel thing appears: monstrous ordeal waits us in future in case if we don’t draw up right priorities for life. This monstrous ordeal is waiting for all of us and at the nearest time. It’s not Armageddon, not the end of the world, not a meteorite running into us, not a nuclear war, not a terrorist number one making any bomb, no – all these things are nonsense. The very terrible ordeal is waiting for us and very soon; it’s an ordeal with abundance, with luxury. You are running and jumping now because living conditions make you to beat legs, they hold on your vitality. But tomorrow you’ll get a possibility not to work and have everything. And this luxury will kill us because all your remains from Pashu stage will blossom out if they are in you. As a result a person loses reason for being and tides of suicides begin. This happens now in developed countries incidentally. It would seem everybody lives in clover there. But we hear often that somebody has shot himself or somebody has hanged himself, etc. It happens so that bad living conditions aren’t a punishment for us at all. Sometimes they become very effective medicine for our life preservation. A person lives comfortable life and he gets in favorable circumstances, he eats plenty of everything, he is surfeited with everything he has. And he puts a bullet through his head or plays the russian roulette to hold on his vitality somehow. That’s why the extreme kinds of sport are the characteristic feature of those countries where people are well-to-do. Such lifestyle won’t occur to any Black running all the day from morning till night to earn his daily bread. Prosperity will be a very serious ordeal; not everyone will survive in it. It’s very strange but not everybody will survive in a good living conditions.

2.4. Tell “No” to the transitory and “Yes” to the Higher!

Let’s return to the purpose. So Yogins and Yoginis primordially had no aspiration to the external things. That’s why good living conditions won’t spoil them. They didn’t clutch at such things from the first. It was all the same for them whether they lived in good or bad living conditions – what’s the difference? They didn’t clutch at them. The other side of the coin is perfectly well stated in all philosophic doctrines and religions. Religions lay stress on the point that everything is perishable, transitory; and they are right in this sense. Starting to analyse life from this view point we see a very bleak prospect, it seems to be no meaning of life. But there is a sense indeed. This is the higher purpose which all the Yogins and Yoginis sought to. It can’t be put in words but from the certain moment a person feels by intuition that he has an inclination for something Higher. If he doesn’t practice yoga as well he can’t choose right words and he used to say: “There is something Higher and I have an inclination for it. I don’t want anything here; everything here brings sufferings all the same”. Seeking to the Higher you will never experience sufferings. They ask sometimes: “What do Yogins, Yoginis, ascetics seek to? Do they reject delights, joy and happiness?” No, they don’t reject all these. They just chose such things that won’t potentially bring them sufferings. So, if you see only husband in your husband it’s only a question of time when you begin to suffer with him. If you see only wife in your wife it’s only a question of time when you begin to suffer. If you see only children in your children it’s only a question of time when you begin to suffer. If you see only work in your work it’s also only a question of time when you begin to suffer. You may think up many different things and if you clutch at them it’s a question of time when you seek for them, then you will get them, then for tree seconds you will take pleasure and then they will give you troubles. Unfortunately this world has such a structure. At the same time a person choosing the Higher, aspiration for this Higher from the very beginning and going to it undergoes a very strange transformation. For example she sees not a husband in her husband but the Higher in her husband’s outward form. And he sees not a wife in his wife but the Higher in his wife’s outward form. And he sees the Higher in children’s outward form and not only children. And he sees not work in his work but stages to attain this Higher.

It’s so small and intricate substitution at first sight. It seems to be nothing essential in it. Who cares a person believed one thing to be another! But firstly it’s not very easy to do this: all the same we will clutch at forms by intuition. And secondly it is the only chance for us to live, do your work, love, give birth, work, rise to the occasions and not to be back where you started in the long run. That’s because if a person sees the Higher in all transitory things he begins to slide. Recently very often yoga teachers compare this with windsurfing: you begin to glide on a wave crest but it takes only to clutch at this wave as it breaks you against the shore. But if you will stop clutching at transitory and begin to see immutability in everything you will glide from one wave to another, take pleasure from your life without strokes against the shore or the rocks. And the purpose of Yogins and Yoginis handed us down the highest yogas including Amorousness Yoga is to be devoted to the Higher and to be able to see this Higher through transitory things.

Figure 2. It is necessary to see the immutable Higher (or the Absolute)
in all transitory things, i.e. to see a content in a form

As soon as you have learnt to do it your life transferred in a very magical way: money came to you – you are glad, money went away from you – you are glad, wife came to you – you are glad, wife left you – you are glad also, your child is small – you are glad, he grew up, he stood on his own feet, went away from you, became to live his own life – and you are happy too because your headache has ceased. I.e. stopping to clutch we begin to glide on the waves crest. But for this we have to fix our eyes on the Higher. As soon as you clutched at something waves break you against a shore and you feel pain. That’s because more is the wave so more strongly it will hit you. Or in other words who climbed high for those falling down is a long way.

In these Yogins and Yoginis’ groups this was the purpose from their birth. This was a sense on default; this didn’t need to be explained to anybody, they lived with this. Here we have certain universally recognized standards of behavior, thinking; something we believe natural. But for us it may be one thing and for other people it may be something else. For example to eat a man on holidays is naturally enough for the man-eaters in jungle just as to eat any cake on holidays is natural for us.

For these Yogins and Yoginis the Higher was the priority from the very beginning. The enjoyment went only after it with all the variety which our life gives us. But with the one precondition: not to betray the Higher. As soon as you betray the Higher i.e. clutch at a wave it hits you at a shore; so you have to scratch your head and realize: “Yes, here I wasn’t right”. I don’t want to say that all the Yogins and Yoginis were the heavenly beings. They were real people of their epochs, they also made mistakes more or less serious, sometimes they learnt from their mistakes; moreover great number of warnings reached us from those people who made a mistake, then eliminated it and left its description after them for other people not to be caught. There are absolutely wonderful texts (they are sacred for me) where Yogins and Yoginis made mistakes after which they were physically annihilated literally. The last thing they did was to write a warning: “Don’t do as we did” though they could hardly use this advice until next life. I.e. as soon as you lost thought about the Higher for only one second and clutched at transitory (sometimes it would be very refined and absolutely invisible) you get a negative result. That’s why it imposes rather serious restrictions particularly on me when I try to explain you the Higher Yogas. Sometimes they come to me and say: “Respected guru, Amorousness Yoga is so cool: love each other and everything will be ok with you. Come on, give this yoga to us straight!” And here I have a problem: I’m not entitled to keep this knowledge secret for myself only. As you remember (we just spoke about it) I have to hand it over. I’ve got it for free, so you have to get it for free. But how can I explain this for such people?

I ask such man whether he practices any yoga. He replies me: “No, I don’t practice anything”.

“Do you know any axiomatics?” – “No, I don’t”.

“Well, what’s your way of living?”

And here his clutching at things appears though rather veiledly: “I want to have a cottage in Rublyovka, a helicopter and money. I want my wife to be beautiful like a photo model. And let my little ones to be. Of course I want to have all these in enlightenment and in a big piece with a bow”.

I tell him: “I can’t give you this knowledge because everything starts from the very beginning, I mean the purpose. If you have purpose to clutch at form Amorousness Yoga turns into the ordinary amorousness which appears as well as disappears”. It is useless to draw on the sand: a wave will come and wash away everything. Here is a very serious difficulty. On this score I undertook a series of lectures on this term: way of life of Yogins and Yoginis handed us down these yogas. Without understanding their purposes, their lifestyle you won’t understand yoga itself and certain moments that make it working or not. So once again: as soon as we begin to clutch at something transitory our disappointment becomes only a question of time; it becomes only a question of time when we begin to suffer!

It is painful for me sometimes to see loving couples: “You and me we are together forever…” But I saw a lot of such loving couples during all my life and I don’t want to look at them any more… There is a very good expression or point: “Seeing lovers leave them alone or help them”. I.e. “to help them” in what sense? I mean “to remove the obstacles”. But obstacles on lovers’ road sometimes prolong amorousness lifetime strange as it may seem. I.e. while he is on the North Pole and she is far away from him waiting for him they have amorousness; and as he comes to her they quarrel and fight with each other on the third day. But if he stays there for half a year longer their amorousness would live longer too. Sometimes obstacles put our negative karma out of service strange as it may seem. So it doesn’t show itself and we don’t destroy our amorousness, such a paradox. That’s why don’t hurl yourself at a subject of your amorousness; otherwise you will grind your amorousness to powder in your embrace by analogy with an elephant in china shop.

So as soon as you said: “my”, as you clutched at: “my husband, my wife, my children, my dog, my flat, my personal account in a bank” wait that something or somebody will deprive off all these or these things will stop bringing delight for you according to YOUR negative karma (I accentuate it’s YOUR karma). Not any external force punishing us will play here a role of angry policeman; they believe sometimes that someone from the outside, some evil force try to make our life unbearable. No-no, we will make our life unbearable by ourselves by means of our negative karma which seeds are inside us. There is such a moment in Amorousness Yoga: these are our negative karma seeds which destroy amorousness and nobody from the outside takes this present away from us.

And so as soon as you said “my”, as you clutched at it, as you began to make grandiose plans for it wait for the washouts from your negative karma. But even if you attain your goal without these washouts a disappointment may come. For example you have got one million dollars but you have so an unbearable anguish that you want to hang yourself; you even loose everybody to spend these money on drink, and it’s impossible to spend so much. I.e. these are very terrible things and the idea is to teach us awareness of this from one life to another. Another time we are back where we started and in the next life we don’t clutch so a lot, we grow wiser. In general evolution is the steps that bring us higher and higher to teach us not to clutch at transitory things. But if you clutch at Higher or seek for it you may use everything as you like, the only restriction is don’t injure any live being and don’t waste your life on trifles. They ask me sometimes whether yoga is against wealth. Well, yoga is neither against nor for wealth, yoga doesn’t care about wealth. They ask me sometimes whether yoga is against beautiful wives. No, you have absolutely perfect wives especially if they are interested in yoga too; but if they aren’t also perfect, excuse me but you chose your wife by yourself. What else can I say here? Everything will start later. But yoga gets nothing for its pains here because his beautiful wife which doesn’t understand a damn thing about yoga may become his guardian angel, his inspirer and his helper. Very often women bear men even without realizing it; we should put up a monument to such women, they are the true energy. But a woman may also turn into a quarrelsome witch which will fully sweat a man. And who will look into all these? Yoga? No. Nobody will do it. So now we finish the first moment in Yogins and Yoginis’ lifestyle, i.e. their living purpose.

Figure 3. Circumstances unfolding while clutching at transitory things:
1)
(Oh, my pretty, my little car, my Premium Class Lexus.
It has hybrid engine, leather-substitute interior… (and a lot of baby talk!))

2)
(Meteorite from Mars. A-a-a, my pretty…)

3)

Figure 4. Circumstances unfolding if we don’t clutch at transitory things:
1)
(Here is my cool Lexus to show off! The Higher shows to me through it.)

2)
(Meteorite from Mars. Well.. It’s ok:
God giveth and God taketh away; easy come, easy go.)

3)
(Patties! Patties! Vegan patties!)

4)
(Here is my private garage for 108 Lexus cars.
I may give them to you to go for a drive)