2.2 YOGIC SYSTEM OF METHODS TO CHANGE ATTITUDE.
Yogic achievements in regard to major attitudes show the direction in which attitudes of an individual must be cultivated if he wants to attain liberation or just to make in this world happier. Before discussion of particular method to change major attitudes let us have a look at the yogic system of methods which can be used for this purpose and understand how these methods work.
The first method to change attitude to mention is SATSANG. It seems the easiest and does not require much effort from the aspirant's side. However it is extremely effective if practiced regularly. Swami Satyananda Saraswati defines it in the following way: "Satsang is the essence of yogic and spiritual life. The word sat means "truth" and sang means "association" Satsang, therefore, means "association with truth" or "association with those who are following the path of truth". In the highest sense it means direct perception and communion with truth, and even more, living with awareness of truth in every action and incident of life. It means that one's being is submerged in awareness of truth. But this is a very elevated definition, at a more practical level, satsang means sitting in the company of wise mean and women and listening to what they have to say."1 We can add that satsang may be a company of books. Working at conscious and unconscious levels satsang inspires the aspirant and brings about changes in attitude. It opens up new horizons and leads to see new meaning and potential in life. Slowly it transforms the aspirant's understanding and perception of his own being. It happens because the energy vibrations of a sage, which function at a more subtle level, change the aspirant's mind and energy field. Our mind has a tendency to remain in a rut of false beliefs and conditioning; it is also full of knots. We can never remove these by ourselves. The sage's words, ideas and energy flow which brings them up shake the 'boat' of mental lethargy and fixity of mind changing it and sending in new directions. The aspirant may or may not be aware of the process, but it happens. For example suddenly you can realise the deep truth of some simple thought which was expressed by the sage long ago. Or it can happen that some idea was repeated by the sage many times at different satsangs but you never paid attention to it, and suddenly it comes to your mind as your own idea like a revelation and you can feel it's deep truth. But in some time may be you will understand that it came to you like a fruit of the tree, which were planted by the sage into your unconscious mind and watered properly by repetition. These are only a few examples in which satsang can work.
Even in more general context SATSANG can be interpreted as spending as much time as possible in company of people, books, films, generally being in environment that brings to you positive information and avoiding as much as possible contact with negative, violent, destructive information. As all information is absorbed by our unconscious mind, which can be compared to a sponge, and stays there in form of samskaras, or subtle traces, which direct our present state of conscious mind and activity in the world. So it is wise not to pollute our unconscious field and keep if clean and in this way experience less suffering and more balance and peace which will manifest among other things in positive and uplifting attitudes.
The second method which helps to change attitude is to develop AWARENESS. The first step to change attitude is to be aware of it and its influence in our every day life. From the very beginning for most people it is very difficult to understand that their suffering and unsatisfaction in life are caused by their negative reactions to daily life situations and their negative reactions are caused by their negative attitudes. You can often see the situation when you ask somebody who is getting angry "Why are you angry?", the answer will be "I am not angry." It really is difficult to be aware and to accept the fact that "I am angry," "I am scared", "I hate", "I am anxious." As soon as we notice these reactions we try to push them away, to fight them or to pretend that they do not exist switching our attention to some other things rather then being aware of these reactions accepting that they do exist, do cause suffering and do need addressing and analyzing. Awareness of our reactions brings awareness of our thoughts, the process of thinking in which attitudes manifest and triggers our reactions. To be aware of the thoughts which bring the reaction in the particular situation is even more difficult than to be aware of the reactions. And it is even more difficult to be aware of the next level of attitude or generalized attitude which causes similar thoughts, emotions and reactions in similar situations. However it is essential to develop awareness of our reactions, emotions, thoughts and ultimately attitudes in order to understand the nature of our suffering and dissatisfaction in life. After that the purposeful process of changing attitudes can be started.
The third group of methods to change attitude can be defined as techniques of MEDITATION AND PRATYAHARA. These techniques mostly work through unconscious and subconscious mind and the range of these techniques is very wide. Through techniques of pratyahara we withdraw our attention and awareness from the outer world and face our inner world in which all the causes and roots of our attitudes are stored, and we start to become aware of them. We clean our unconscious and subconscious field uprooting and letting go samskaras which bubble up in the cause of practice. This is one direction of work. The other direction of pratyahara and meditation practices is to create positive structures in unconscious and subconscious mind which, if the technique is practiced regularly, will manifest in our conscious field and everyday life as soon as this structure is well developed, nourished and mature. A good example of these techniques is YOGA NIDRA, or psychic sleep. While practicing it we get into the boarder state between sleep and wakefullness, and in this way get in touch with our subconscious field where our painful experiences may bubble and be releases. Besides one stage of yoga nidra is sankalpa repetition which is supposed to reprogramme our unconscious mind by introducing into it and nurturing a positive structure in the form of a short positive statement aiming at a positive change in your life.
Another aspect of changing attitude through MEDITATION and PRATYAHARA is that these practices help us to meet our true nature that is peaceful, blissful and luminous.
In this way our attitude towards ourselves starts to change as we start to identify ourselves with our true nature and feel that happiness, contentment, peace, love are all inside ourselves, not outside. We are already all of it and this state can't be disturbed by any of outside circumstances. The more we train ourselves to get in contact with our true nature in meditation, the more we can recall this state at any situation during the day and finally hold it all the time with us, the more our attitude to the outside world with its disturbances, which are not disturbances for us any more, changes into openness and acceptance.
The fourth group of methods to change attitude can be defined as techniques of REPROGRAMMING, or creating new programs, in the CONSCIOUS MIND. In this group it is possible to define three major methods. They are developing right thinking patterns, repetition of a certain pattern in appropriate situation and remembering the pattern as often as possible during the day and night. This group of methods is supposed to use the nature of ever moving mind at the beginner stage of spiritual practice rather than to circumvent and transcend the mind. Slowly appropriate thinking patterns, which were introduced into the conscious mind in the cause of continuous repetition and remembering go to deeper levels of mind and reprogram them as well. This process is helped by combining appropriate thinking patterns with corresponding feeling, attitude and emotion. Detailed description of the examples of these techniques will be given later, in the following subchapter 2.3. Besides the whole group of yamas and niyamas comes into this group of methods. Because of their importance, yamas and niyamas will be discussed separately in subchapter 3.
The last fifth group of methods to change attitude I would define as a large group of techniques used in BHAKTI YOGA. Of course, bhakti yoga is not a yoga specially designed to change attitude, but it is a wonderful system, and I would say one of the most effective systems, which brings about the change in attitude very soon. It includes some of methods mentioned above and pervades all sides and aspects of human life. It is this comprehensive approach that brings quick change in attitude. Bhakti yoga in its essence is yoga of devotion to God and service to God in any chosen form. All bhakta's life is restructured with one focal point that is beloved God, towards whom all emotions, thoughts, actions are directed all 24 hours a day. Ego is to be dissolved through complete surrender to beloved divinity and if happens naturally when your mind is fully and constantly directed towards beloved God, your any action is an offering to him, every person and object is a reminder that it is your beloved God in his manifestation. In this way all attitudinal substratum of life, even if there is no change in general occupation of a bhakta, is restructured.
These are the major methods in the yogic system to change attitude. And now let us have a closer look at some particular methods to change particular major attitudes.
1. Swami Satyananda Saraswati. "A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya," p.756.
The first method to change attitude to mention is SATSANG. It seems the easiest and does not require much effort from the aspirant's side. However it is extremely effective if practiced regularly. Swami Satyananda Saraswati defines it in the following way: "Satsang is the essence of yogic and spiritual life. The word sat means "truth" and sang means "association" Satsang, therefore, means "association with truth" or "association with those who are following the path of truth". In the highest sense it means direct perception and communion with truth, and even more, living with awareness of truth in every action and incident of life. It means that one's being is submerged in awareness of truth. But this is a very elevated definition, at a more practical level, satsang means sitting in the company of wise mean and women and listening to what they have to say."1 We can add that satsang may be a company of books. Working at conscious and unconscious levels satsang inspires the aspirant and brings about changes in attitude. It opens up new horizons and leads to see new meaning and potential in life. Slowly it transforms the aspirant's understanding and perception of his own being. It happens because the energy vibrations of a sage, which function at a more subtle level, change the aspirant's mind and energy field. Our mind has a tendency to remain in a rut of false beliefs and conditioning; it is also full of knots. We can never remove these by ourselves. The sage's words, ideas and energy flow which brings them up shake the 'boat' of mental lethargy and fixity of mind changing it and sending in new directions. The aspirant may or may not be aware of the process, but it happens. For example suddenly you can realise the deep truth of some simple thought which was expressed by the sage long ago. Or it can happen that some idea was repeated by the sage many times at different satsangs but you never paid attention to it, and suddenly it comes to your mind as your own idea like a revelation and you can feel it's deep truth. But in some time may be you will understand that it came to you like a fruit of the tree, which were planted by the sage into your unconscious mind and watered properly by repetition. These are only a few examples in which satsang can work.
Even in more general context SATSANG can be interpreted as spending as much time as possible in company of people, books, films, generally being in environment that brings to you positive information and avoiding as much as possible contact with negative, violent, destructive information. As all information is absorbed by our unconscious mind, which can be compared to a sponge, and stays there in form of samskaras, or subtle traces, which direct our present state of conscious mind and activity in the world. So it is wise not to pollute our unconscious field and keep if clean and in this way experience less suffering and more balance and peace which will manifest among other things in positive and uplifting attitudes.
The second method which helps to change attitude is to develop AWARENESS. The first step to change attitude is to be aware of it and its influence in our every day life. From the very beginning for most people it is very difficult to understand that their suffering and unsatisfaction in life are caused by their negative reactions to daily life situations and their negative reactions are caused by their negative attitudes. You can often see the situation when you ask somebody who is getting angry "Why are you angry?", the answer will be "I am not angry." It really is difficult to be aware and to accept the fact that "I am angry," "I am scared", "I hate", "I am anxious." As soon as we notice these reactions we try to push them away, to fight them or to pretend that they do not exist switching our attention to some other things rather then being aware of these reactions accepting that they do exist, do cause suffering and do need addressing and analyzing. Awareness of our reactions brings awareness of our thoughts, the process of thinking in which attitudes manifest and triggers our reactions. To be aware of the thoughts which bring the reaction in the particular situation is even more difficult than to be aware of the reactions. And it is even more difficult to be aware of the next level of attitude or generalized attitude which causes similar thoughts, emotions and reactions in similar situations. However it is essential to develop awareness of our reactions, emotions, thoughts and ultimately attitudes in order to understand the nature of our suffering and dissatisfaction in life. After that the purposeful process of changing attitudes can be started.
The third group of methods to change attitude can be defined as techniques of MEDITATION AND PRATYAHARA. These techniques mostly work through unconscious and subconscious mind and the range of these techniques is very wide. Through techniques of pratyahara we withdraw our attention and awareness from the outer world and face our inner world in which all the causes and roots of our attitudes are stored, and we start to become aware of them. We clean our unconscious and subconscious field uprooting and letting go samskaras which bubble up in the cause of practice. This is one direction of work. The other direction of pratyahara and meditation practices is to create positive structures in unconscious and subconscious mind which, if the technique is practiced regularly, will manifest in our conscious field and everyday life as soon as this structure is well developed, nourished and mature. A good example of these techniques is YOGA NIDRA, or psychic sleep. While practicing it we get into the boarder state between sleep and wakefullness, and in this way get in touch with our subconscious field where our painful experiences may bubble and be releases. Besides one stage of yoga nidra is sankalpa repetition which is supposed to reprogramme our unconscious mind by introducing into it and nurturing a positive structure in the form of a short positive statement aiming at a positive change in your life.
Another aspect of changing attitude through MEDITATION and PRATYAHARA is that these practices help us to meet our true nature that is peaceful, blissful and luminous.
In this way our attitude towards ourselves starts to change as we start to identify ourselves with our true nature and feel that happiness, contentment, peace, love are all inside ourselves, not outside. We are already all of it and this state can't be disturbed by any of outside circumstances. The more we train ourselves to get in contact with our true nature in meditation, the more we can recall this state at any situation during the day and finally hold it all the time with us, the more our attitude to the outside world with its disturbances, which are not disturbances for us any more, changes into openness and acceptance.
The fourth group of methods to change attitude can be defined as techniques of REPROGRAMMING, or creating new programs, in the CONSCIOUS MIND. In this group it is possible to define three major methods. They are developing right thinking patterns, repetition of a certain pattern in appropriate situation and remembering the pattern as often as possible during the day and night. This group of methods is supposed to use the nature of ever moving mind at the beginner stage of spiritual practice rather than to circumvent and transcend the mind. Slowly appropriate thinking patterns, which were introduced into the conscious mind in the cause of continuous repetition and remembering go to deeper levels of mind and reprogram them as well. This process is helped by combining appropriate thinking patterns with corresponding feeling, attitude and emotion. Detailed description of the examples of these techniques will be given later, in the following subchapter 2.3. Besides the whole group of yamas and niyamas comes into this group of methods. Because of their importance, yamas and niyamas will be discussed separately in subchapter 3.
The last fifth group of methods to change attitude I would define as a large group of techniques used in BHAKTI YOGA. Of course, bhakti yoga is not a yoga specially designed to change attitude, but it is a wonderful system, and I would say one of the most effective systems, which brings about the change in attitude very soon. It includes some of methods mentioned above and pervades all sides and aspects of human life. It is this comprehensive approach that brings quick change in attitude. Bhakti yoga in its essence is yoga of devotion to God and service to God in any chosen form. All bhakta's life is restructured with one focal point that is beloved God, towards whom all emotions, thoughts, actions are directed all 24 hours a day. Ego is to be dissolved through complete surrender to beloved divinity and if happens naturally when your mind is fully and constantly directed towards beloved God, your any action is an offering to him, every person and object is a reminder that it is your beloved God in his manifestation. In this way all attitudinal substratum of life, even if there is no change in general occupation of a bhakta, is restructured.
These are the major methods in the yogic system to change attitude. And now let us have a closer look at some particular methods to change particular major attitudes.
1. Swami Satyananda Saraswati. "A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya," p.756.
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