What is personality?
Human personality is a very complex topic by itself. There are many
definitions of personality. For the sake of simplicity we can consider it as a
collection of physical, mental and behavioral traits and patterns that we
exhibit in our life.
Often personality development is either misunderstood or ignored. It is
acknowledged mostly in professional fields. Companies conduct training programs
on communication skills, leadership skills, and creativity and so on. They
collectively call these trainings as ?Personality Development?. Unfortunately
they are talking about only one side of the coin. No doubt that these traits are
important but they are just ?external?. These programs miss the more important
factor ? body and mind. There are hundreds of books available in the marked who
are supposed to tell you ?how to win? or ?how to be happy? but how many really
get benefited just by reading the books? Books will tell you to think positive
but the poor individuals do not know how. Just by thinking that ?I will think
positive? you can not be positive. It requires practice and fine tuning of body
and mind. Unless you have proper foundation of body and mind you simply can not
build any superior personality infrastructure.
Do I need personality development?
Majority of people feel that they already have a developed personality and
they don?t need to enhance it further. After all they are working in
professional and personal sector for years! But let me tell you that if you are
thinking on the same lines then its time to introspect. The first step in
personality development is to acknowledge that you need to improve your
personality.
How do you know whether you need fine tuning of the personality? Just sit
peacefully and try to answer the following questions:
* Do you feel that you work hard but still don?t get expected returns?
* Do you often feel that you deserved a promotion but somebody else
grabbed it instead?
* Do you feel drained after your job hours?
* Do you feel stressed ? physically and mentally?
* Does your job affect your health?
* How are your interpersonal relationships?
* Do you feel void ness in your life?
* Do you often feel unhappy (many times not knowing why)?
* Do you feel that you can not deliver 100% of your potential?
The answers to the above questions will tell you whether there is any
friction within yourself.
The yogic view of of personality
As per Yoga the human body consists of five sheaths or layers. They are:
* Conscious physical sheath (Annayama Kosha
* Subconscious physical sheath (Pranamaya Kosha)
* Mental sheath (Manomaya Kosha)
* Intellectual Sheath (Vigyanmaya Kosha)
* Blissful sheath (Anandamaya Kosha)
The Annamaya Kosha is related to our conscious physical deeps including
walking, talking, viewing and other such functions. These are the functions that
we perform using our physical body deliberately.
The Pranamaya Kosha deals with physical activities that we do in subconscious
state. Digestion, movement of the heart and lungs fall in this category. We
never do any deliberate efforts for these actions; still the body knows how to
perform them.
The Maniomaya Kosha deals with mind, emotions and thoughts. All our gross
thinking and emotions fall in this category.
Intellect is that faculty that decides what is good and what is bad. It is
the ability for rational thought or inference or discrimination. The Vigyanmaya
Kosha helps us to identify true from false. We can choose the correct path in
this “maya” filled world with the help of nourished Vigyanmaya Kosha.
Anandamaya Kosha or bliss is a pure state of happiness and joy which is
beyond any material pleasure. Samadhi or deep meditation gives such a joy.
The Anandamaya Kosha is the innermost sheath wrapped by other sheaths in
succession.
If you observe carefully you will realize that each sheath affects certain
part of our personality. Accordingly we can classify our personality as follows:
* Conscious physical personality
* Subconscious physical personality
* Mental personality
* Intellectual personality
* Spiritual personality
How Yoga can nourish these personalities?
The conscious as well as subconscious physical personality can be greatly
improved by Yoga postures. Yoga postures stretch your body and induce
relaxation. They affect the vital force or Prana and cause it to flow in
specific parts of the body. They are excellent remedy for back aches, digestion
problems and heart problems. The modern life forces us to sit at a place without
much physical activities. Yoga postures can strengthen the joints and various
parts of the body.
The mental personality is greatly affected through Pranayama and
concentration. Our mind remains focused at our work and in home enabling us to
do the things with full dedication and interest. In naturally results in better
personal and professional gains.
Meditation enriches the intellectual personality. Your mind becomes calm and
clear. You can think with more care and affection for others. Maya can not
delude you any more. Your decisions prove to be correct.
Finally, the deep meditation or Samadhi brings you the ultimate bliss. The
joy that is impossible to achieve through worldly enjoyments. This is the final
aim for any Yogi.
In summary practicing Yoga regularly nourishes all these five personalities
and makes your life joyous, happy and healthy.
Bipin Joshi is a .NET Trainer and consultant by profession and run his own consulting firm - BinaryIntellect Consulting. His serious journey with Yoga started in the year 1995 when he came across Hathayoga Pradipika. Inspite of his busy professional schedules he studied many texts on Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Upanishads and Bhagvat Gita. He runs a web site dedicated to Yoga, well-being and spirituality at http://www.binaryintellect.info When away from computers he spends time in deep meditation exploring the Divine.
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
February 24, 2009
Karmic Yoga and the Inner Work
It was said that the Dalai Lama meditates four hours a day. When one of his close associates were asked how he spend so much time meditating with his busy schedule he said that the Dalai Lama ?meditated for other people, rather then himself.? He also said that the meditation ?allowed him to do the work.? The way he was affected by his spiritual path gave him the patience and energy to work with others. The ripples that he sent out while working with others were more positive because of this, so his meditation and self care actually created a win, win situation for everyone involved.
As we speak of Karmic Yoga many people think of it as doing only the outer work Mistakenly they think that the outer work is enough. They think that concentrating on working on the outside will make the work that needs to be done on the inside happen automatically. To the contrary, the truth is that a unhealthy and unhealed inside will taint and dampen one?s abilities and effectiveness on the outside. But if one uses their energy on the inside, instead of on the outside, doing the inner work and cultivating character, clarity, and joy while doing the outer-work, eventually the outer work will take care of itself.
The outer work will flourish because of what is happening on the inside. One?s performance will be the fruit of a healthy, loving individual and will come from a core of being, rather than an act of performing. One of the main tasks of all yoga, especially Karmic, is to free oneself from attachment not only to things, but to Maya, or the way that we have been taught to believe things are.
The world of Maya is the world of illusion. It was a world put together piece by piece to help us understand our world. Maya gives us the illusion that we can predict what is going to happen in our lives. It gives us the illusion that we can control nature and control other people. It takes away our fear and gives us comfort, but Maya, in fact, is an illusion. It is a tool created in order to comfort us, as well as being a poor substitution for faith.
If we work on the inside through meditation, contemplation, and prayer, we break free from the illusion and enter into reality. We reconnect with and become one with the divine presence in the world?the creative power that we call god. We then use Maya as it was meant, as a tool, or a doorway to enter and exit as is necessary, to get things done in the physical world. This can only be done by being engaged in the inner work. The inner work is difficult. It means going inside and challenging all of our ideas about the world. It means letting go of our false identity and claiming our true one. This work is difficult when we have conditioned for so many years and when every book, movie, television show, newspaper, and even friends and relatives keep feeding us an identity that really isn?t ours. Letting go is like a death?the death before resurrection.
As you do the great work of Karmic Yoga, working to make the world a better place, remember that the inner work is always necessary. It is something that you must do to remain healthy, strong, and to stay in touch with reality. Not only the reality of the world, but the reality of your greater self. When this is done your work will come from the heart and you will fill the world with the joy of your spirit.
Dr. J. W. Gilmore is a Writer, Spiritual Director, Anti-oppression Consultant and Wellness Consultant. He is a Certified Massage Therapist and Reflexologist, a Reiki Master Teacher, a Martial Arts Instructor and a Spiritual Coach living in Costa Rica. For more article like this or similar information visit: http://www.dswellness.com
On Being Love?s Warrior: A Warrior?s Manual on Becoming the Compassionate Warrior Within, Dr. Kendall Ronin.
As we speak of Karmic Yoga many people think of it as doing only the outer work Mistakenly they think that the outer work is enough. They think that concentrating on working on the outside will make the work that needs to be done on the inside happen automatically. To the contrary, the truth is that a unhealthy and unhealed inside will taint and dampen one?s abilities and effectiveness on the outside. But if one uses their energy on the inside, instead of on the outside, doing the inner work and cultivating character, clarity, and joy while doing the outer-work, eventually the outer work will take care of itself.
The outer work will flourish because of what is happening on the inside. One?s performance will be the fruit of a healthy, loving individual and will come from a core of being, rather than an act of performing. One of the main tasks of all yoga, especially Karmic, is to free oneself from attachment not only to things, but to Maya, or the way that we have been taught to believe things are.
The world of Maya is the world of illusion. It was a world put together piece by piece to help us understand our world. Maya gives us the illusion that we can predict what is going to happen in our lives. It gives us the illusion that we can control nature and control other people. It takes away our fear and gives us comfort, but Maya, in fact, is an illusion. It is a tool created in order to comfort us, as well as being a poor substitution for faith.
If we work on the inside through meditation, contemplation, and prayer, we break free from the illusion and enter into reality. We reconnect with and become one with the divine presence in the world?the creative power that we call god. We then use Maya as it was meant, as a tool, or a doorway to enter and exit as is necessary, to get things done in the physical world. This can only be done by being engaged in the inner work. The inner work is difficult. It means going inside and challenging all of our ideas about the world. It means letting go of our false identity and claiming our true one. This work is difficult when we have conditioned for so many years and when every book, movie, television show, newspaper, and even friends and relatives keep feeding us an identity that really isn?t ours. Letting go is like a death?the death before resurrection.
As you do the great work of Karmic Yoga, working to make the world a better place, remember that the inner work is always necessary. It is something that you must do to remain healthy, strong, and to stay in touch with reality. Not only the reality of the world, but the reality of your greater self. When this is done your work will come from the heart and you will fill the world with the joy of your spirit.
Dr. J. W. Gilmore is a Writer, Spiritual Director, Anti-oppression Consultant and Wellness Consultant. He is a Certified Massage Therapist and Reflexologist, a Reiki Master Teacher, a Martial Arts Instructor and a Spiritual Coach living in Costa Rica. For more article like this or similar information visit: http://www.dswellness.com
On Being Love?s Warrior: A Warrior?s Manual on Becoming the Compassionate Warrior Within, Dr. Kendall Ronin.
February 23, 2009
Yoga for Mind Development
Sri Aurobindo , the sage of Pondicherry, India once narrated his experience thus:
?While I was practicing Pranayam, I was doing it for about five to six hours a day, three hours in the morning and two or three hours in the evening. I felt there was a great accession of light and power in the mind. I used to write poetry in those days. Earlier, I could sometimes write only about 200 lines a month. After I began practicing Pranayam I could write 200 lines in half an hour. My memory was rather dull before. But afterwards I composed whenever I had inspiration and remembered ad seriatum the whole, till I committed it to paper at leisure?
R.R.Divakar has recorded this experience of the great sage in his book Mahayogi Shri Aurobindo.
By practicing yogic disciplines one could attain exalted mental state and high inspiration so that his/her creative power knows no bounds.
Pranayama means practice of breathing exercises to get control over vital forces.
This is the fourth limb of Yoga, the other seven being Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pratyahara,Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. The equivalent English meanings for these Sanskrit words are ethical restraints, ethical observances , physical poses for the practice of meditation, withdrawal of senses, concentration of mind, meditation and super consciousness, respectively.
One should learn all these yogic disciplines from a true Yogi. Doing on one?s own will
lead to disaster.
If properly practiced as prescribed by the Yoga sutra , one could attain eight psychic powers.
They are
Anima : Minuteness (one can become small)
Mahima: Heaviness (one can become big and heavy)
Laghima : lightness(one can become light)
Prapti :Attainment (one can approach distance objects)
Prakamya :Infallible desires ( one can have immense will power)
Ishittwa : Lordliness (one can get the power to create)
Vashittwa : Control (one can control all objects)
Kamavasaittwa : Highest Bliss ( one can attain the highest bliss)
Mind Development can be ensured by simple breath control exercises.
Pranayam ensures:
Increased efficiency
Functioning of both left and right brain.
Creativity
Enhancement of memory power
Positive mental attitude
Good health
Longevity
Daily practice of pranayam will be the first step to learn Yoga..
S.Nagarajan is a vehicle body engineer by profession. He has written more than 1300 articles in 16 magazines and published 18 books so far. He is revealing Eastern Secret Wisdom through T.V.Programmes, magazine articles, seminars, courses. His email
address is : snagarajans@gmail.com.
?While I was practicing Pranayam, I was doing it for about five to six hours a day, three hours in the morning and two or three hours in the evening. I felt there was a great accession of light and power in the mind. I used to write poetry in those days. Earlier, I could sometimes write only about 200 lines a month. After I began practicing Pranayam I could write 200 lines in half an hour. My memory was rather dull before. But afterwards I composed whenever I had inspiration and remembered ad seriatum the whole, till I committed it to paper at leisure?
R.R.Divakar has recorded this experience of the great sage in his book Mahayogi Shri Aurobindo.
By practicing yogic disciplines one could attain exalted mental state and high inspiration so that his/her creative power knows no bounds.
Pranayama means practice of breathing exercises to get control over vital forces.
This is the fourth limb of Yoga, the other seven being Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pratyahara,Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. The equivalent English meanings for these Sanskrit words are ethical restraints, ethical observances , physical poses for the practice of meditation, withdrawal of senses, concentration of mind, meditation and super consciousness, respectively.
One should learn all these yogic disciplines from a true Yogi. Doing on one?s own will
lead to disaster.
If properly practiced as prescribed by the Yoga sutra , one could attain eight psychic powers.
They are
Anima : Minuteness (one can become small)
Mahima: Heaviness (one can become big and heavy)
Laghima : lightness(one can become light)
Prapti :Attainment (one can approach distance objects)
Prakamya :Infallible desires ( one can have immense will power)
Ishittwa : Lordliness (one can get the power to create)
Vashittwa : Control (one can control all objects)
Kamavasaittwa : Highest Bliss ( one can attain the highest bliss)
Mind Development can be ensured by simple breath control exercises.
Pranayam ensures:
Increased efficiency
Functioning of both left and right brain.
Creativity
Enhancement of memory power
Positive mental attitude
Good health
Longevity
Daily practice of pranayam will be the first step to learn Yoga..
S.Nagarajan is a vehicle body engineer by profession. He has written more than 1300 articles in 16 magazines and published 18 books so far. He is revealing Eastern Secret Wisdom through T.V.Programmes, magazine articles, seminars, courses. His email
address is : snagarajans@gmail.com.
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