Published to Self Improvement and Personal Development
Yoga View of the Self The yoga view of the self is about you —your essence. But what is your essence? Is it matter—a mere collection of material atoms and molecules? Or is it something else? “Who am I?” Maybe you’ve never even asked yourself this question. You might think you already know who you are. Unfortunately, however, it’s likely that you don’t know who you are at all. And if you don’t know your real identity, you’re in trouble. You’ll spend your life in a kind of dream... Read Full Story
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It is unfortunate that people are attracted to the beauty of this world that is not real – it shrivels and dies. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== This is why people in modern Western societies are still not satisfied, even though they are so economically advanced and thus have so much facility for sense enjoyment. They always want more. As the late British economist E. F. Schumacher points out: Is there enough to go round? Immediately we encounter a serious... Read Full Story
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Many people practice tai chi, chi gong, and so on with the aim of keeping their bodies fit for a long time. There is certainly nothing wrong with keeping one’s body fit—indeed, it is one of the aims of yoga—but unfortunately, many such people are trying to run away from the inevitable death of the body. Some mystic yogis strive to keep their bodies alive forever—but that is not possible. Even if one was the greatest yogi and could keep his body alive for thousands of years, that still is not... Read Full Story
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If you believe that you are your body, you will strive endlessly to give your body sensual pleasure. You will struggle to fill up your inner emptiness with fleeting sensual flashes. But no amount of sensual pleasure will satisfy you. No matter how many taste orgasms, sexual orgasms, and other kinds of orgasms you may have, you still won’t be actually satisfied. You’ll always have a never ending desire for more. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== No matter how... Read Full Story
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It is natural for us to want to be happy, satisfied, and free. But due to ignorance of our true identity, our natural longing becomes misdirected and leads to further bondage and unhappiness. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== If you, the self, erroneously identify with the physical body—if you believe “I am the body”—then this deluded condition is called false ego. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== If you wrongly identify... Read Full Story
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Since no amount of sense gratification is ever enough to satisfy us, we always feel we need “more.” From the poorest person to the richest person, from the slum-dweller to the person who lives in a mansion, everyone wants more sense gratification and thus more material wealth. If you are poor, you feel you need a color TV to be happy; if you’re rich, you feel you need a new yacht. No amount of material wealth is ever enough. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation... Read Full Story
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In reality, the glossy picture of the “happy rich person” that most people hold in their minds is simply an illusion. Money can buy sense gratification, but not actual happiness or satisfaction. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== Sense pleasure, although real, is quite superficial. It comes and goes quickly. It cannot compare to the sweet taste of spiritual love. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== The most ironic thing about a... Read Full Story
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The no-self philosophy is made to order for people (for the most part highly educated) who really can’t or won’t make the necessary effort and sacrifice to become enlightened masters of the senses but who nonetheless wish to think of themselves as enlightened and wise. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== Modern no-self philosophers say that when the gross body is finished, the illusion of the self ceases. The Buddhists claim that the mind is different from the... Read Full Story
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The Supreme Court has ruled that genetic technology or engineering that deals with the manipulation of the bodies of living organisms is no different from any other technology that deals in the manipulation of matter. Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation ========== As far as the Supreme Court is concerned, a machine is a machine, a product is a product, an invention is an invention. There is no difference between a so-called living invention or a living machine and a... Read Full Story
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An impersonalist yogi can be very dangerous because he may try to take the position of the Supreme Lord, believing himself to be the Supreme dominator and enjoyer of all that he surveys. This is the darkest region of ignorance. He may try to act on the illusion that he is God and that the world is his playground. He may become, in other words, a “super-hedonist.” One such “I am God”ist, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), formerly a professor at Harvard University, declares that no one exists except... Read Full Story
