April 2025 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-- Who Am I--3
Srivatsa Ramaswami
April 2025 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami–Who Am I 3
I am scheduled to teach a 4 day 8hr online workshop on vinyasakrama yoga in April 2025 hosted by One Yoga in Canada. Here is the link
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100 hr Vinyasakrama program in June/July 2025
Hosts Atmayogashala Chennai
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This 100-hour Vinyasakrama TT program is designed to learn the wide range of yoga practices taught by Sri Krishnamacharya. This has two components. The 60 hr program during forenoons for 3hrs for 20 days will cover vinyasakrama asanas. It will include more than 100 asana subroutines with more than 500 breath-oriented vinyasas encompassed in 10 major sequences learnt by Srivatsa Ramaswami from his Guru Sri Krishnamacharya over decades long study. The 20-day sessions will include study and extended practice of a variety of Pranayamas given much importance by Krishnamacharya. Important mudras and dharana meditation practice along with mantra chants are also included.
Reference book Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga by Srivatsa Ramaswami
Morning (In-Studio) and on line
9:00am - 12:00pm IST /8.30pm-11.30pm PST
- 60 Hours Vinyasa Krama Asana Training
- 100 + asana subroutines, 500+ Vinyasas
- Pranayama , Mudras, Dharana & Mantra
Evening (On line) 6:00pm- 8:00pm IST
- Yoga Rahasya (First 10 days)
- Yoga Yajnavaikya ( Next 10 days)
Who Am I—3
Sivaswami felt a little more comfortable with the nagging “spiritual
question” of who am I? So when he met his school friend Govindaswami again, he was doubly happy. After exchanging pleasantries they settled down to continue with their discussion of “Who am I?”
Govindaswami repeated the questions his friend had asked in the previous meeting and began answering them
1. What is the benefit of knowing the real nature of the Self?
2. What should one do to reach the third stage of direct realization of the Self and the additional benefits thereof?
3. What is the import of the mahavakya " aham brahmasmi"?
Sivaswami interrupted and suggested that he would summarize what he had learnt in his own words before proceeding further. He said that all creatures, all human beings are conscious beings. Every human being is aware of the objects in one’s world through the senses. One is also aware of one’s own physical person through the internal nervous system. She/he also is aware of thoughts and emotions taking place in one's own mind, Anything that is experienced is by the experiencer. That is,
the outside objects, the inside thoughts and emotions and the physical person are all experienced by an experiencer. The essential nature of the experiencer is consciousness and that should be called as ”I”. It is also seen that the experiencer is aware all the 24 hrs, all through life. It is aware of the happenings during the waking hours, is aware of the dream happenings and aware of the peace of good sleep.
But is it, the consciousness, a product of the mind? Since all the objects experienced keep changing including the mind/brain nothing in the physical person including the brain can be the source of the non changing consciousness. Since it is non changing it can never end or go away. So it is immortal. The entity that should be called as “I” is immortal though the empirical visible person would die. So who am I? According to these philosophies, Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta every being (the real Self “I”) is immortal. “I am immortal. You are immortal. Every creature is immortal”, so thunders Lord Krishna in the second chapter of the Gita.
Govindaswami smiled and started answering the questions. Firstly what would be the use of knowing the true nature of the Self. Knowing the Truth is always useful so that one can take appropriate action. In this case knowing the truth about oneself as the three nivritti sastras show could be a tremendous help in overcoming emotional hang ups for those who are convinced about these teachings. As mentioned, truth is known through different stages. In the Gita the Lord declares the nature of the Self at the outset itself and follows it with precise reasoning to bring about conviction in the mind of Arjuna. With this paroksha (indirect) and anumana ( inference) prajna about the nature of the Self, Arjuna was able to function as a true Karmayogi.
In respect of action or karma, actors may be divided into three groups, karmis, karmayogis and yogis. Karmis or kamya karmis form a disproportionately high percentage of human beings. They, by default, identify themselves completely with the prakritic or empirical person. With shifting desires, they follow two types of activities viz., pravritti and nivritti. They act to get what they think is good for them or what they like. Nivritti is all activities that they do to get rid of what they do not like or want. The whole life is spent in these pursuits. According to karma theory, with these kamya karmas they accumulate good or bad residual karmas which, along with earlier karmas give a succession of births and deaths. Their lives are filled with excitement and despair, the latter dominating.
The second group are karma yogis. They are those who do their duty completely focused without any distraction due to thinking/gloating/worrying about the results. Many scholars of the Gita would say that one should do one’s duty without thinking of the results. But is it possible?
According to an old saying “Not even a dumbwit would undertake any task without the benefit in mind; it is not possible to function without a goal in mind.
प्रयोजनमनुद्दिश्य न मन्दोऽपि प्रवर्तते ।prayojanam anuddiśya na mando’pi pravartate |
(Kumārila Bhaṭṭa)
So by and large this platitude, that one has to act without desire for the results, has a very minimal effect. But in the Gita, Karma yoga is taken after a complete grounding about the nature of the real Self or what should be recognized as “I”. Arjuna after listening to the Lord’s detailed description and reasoning about the nature of the Self as unvarying immortal consciousness was able to come out of his ignorance of the Atman and the consequent emotional turmoil. How is it possible for the karmayogi to be free from attachment to the benefits of action? It is because the Karma yogi knows for sure that the body mind complex is not the Self but the unvarying consciousness is the one. Because it is unvarying, it is not affected by the pairs of opposites like success/failure, elation/depression, praise and ridicule, comfort and discomfort and others.. With this attitude the karma yogi is able to do one’s duty very well and is free from the painful emotional turmoil. Govindaswami then took a deep breath and said “Siva! Karma yoga is not possible with mere platitudes, shaming or admonitions by scholars and preachers but by the understanding and conviction about the nature of the Self or “Who am I?” as per the averments of Samkhya yoga and vedanta seers.” So one of the benefits of knowing “Who am I” would be to function as a karmayogi concentrating on one’s duty and dispensing with the enormous bundle of crippling emotions
Then we have the Yogi. Some yogis are born yogis who have the capacity to go into samadhi, Samadhi is a single minded state wherein the yogi is said to be oblivious not only to the outside world (other than the object of one pointedness) but also one’s own body (svarupa sunyam iva). In that state the yogi or the yogi’s thinking faculty or Buddhi is able to directly perceive the nature of the Self or Atman or “I” . This is the direct perception or pratyaksha state of knowing the truth about the Self. With this direct perception variously called as Rtambhara prajna, aparoksha jnana, yougika pratyaksha the yogi's mind is said to reach a state of nirodha or total satisfaction and peace. A satisfied citta has no residual desire to propel to take another birth. It will cease to transmigrate (ns punaravritti). This will be the highest benefit of atmajnana or knowing “Who am I?”
What about people who are desirous of the third stage but do not have the mental discipline for Samadhi, is the next question. Patanjali in his yogasutras would indicate that generally samadhi is not possible because the average aspirant is very rajasic and tamasic. A tamasic mind is inattentive and a rajasic mind is highly distracted. So the first goal of yoga is to make the mind or citta, absolutely satvic. It is said to be achieved by yama niyamas to prevent the ingestion of rajas and tamas from the external objects through the senses. And the systemic rajas and tamas are said to be brought under control by asanas and pranayama. Once the mind become predominantly satvic, the yogabhyasi trains the mind for one pointedness or ekagrata through internal practice or antaranga sadhana. which would result in samadhi
And now the third question of the mahavakya “Aham Brahmasmi” Here there are two terms aham or “I” and then Brahma. The word aham of “I” has been described by samkhyas and yogis (as we have seen in the discussions during the three meetings). Vedanta also accepts that but adds something more to say that “I” and Brahman which the upanishads say as also pure consciousness (prajnanam Brahma) and the source of the universe are one and the same. They say that what is represented by "I” and what is represented by “ Brahman” are one and the same. They are not two identical entities but the same entity.
Many major upanishads and commentators have dealt with this extensively and it is better to study them. We may try with the line of reasoning we have followed hitherto to get an appreciation of this mahavakya. You remember that we have found that outside objects are known only through sensations and electrical impulses going to the brain. The brain or citta processes them. Alongside there is experience of one’s own body through the nervous system. So the total picture anyone has at the moment is the processed information from outside along with the internal information. Both are processed and we have a composite picture that each of us (the real “I”) sees or experiences at a particular moment. The yogis call it as cittavritti and the experiencer is the Self or “I”, pure unvarying consciousness.
The vedantins point out that the cittavritti is the projection of the citta or brain and the vritti contains the projection of the individual person also. Since the projection is from citta and the projection also contains the form of the person which includes the individual’s brain or citta along with the rest of the body, how can the brain, which is part of the individual, project itself? So even as they agree that the subject is pure consciousness and the object is the composite projection experienced, they say that the projection may not be from the brain or cittaa (cittavritti) but a projection that includes everything that one experiences at a moment –the outside objects, the emotions and whole body including the brain or citta. So it cannot be the projection of the brain or citta but something else. Since it is a projection it has no material substance. And that they say is from the atman itself. But the term is used to indicate the source of the universe; the projection or vritti is from the Brahman itself. According to what we had discussed, the self "I” is non changing consciousness. So it can not create something substantive and can only project something without substance like an illusion. So Aham which is the self and brahman which is the source of the universe, my universe and what I experience are one and the same. Aham Brahmasmi. Since the Atman/brahman is non changing and it cannot produce anything substantive, some vedantin’s say it is a projection of Maya rooted in brahman. The Lord in the Gita says I created the prakriti through my power of Maya. So it is mayavritti and not cittavritti accordion to a Vefanta school.
And Govindaswami and Sivaswami then started talking about family and worldly matters over a nice dinner. The discussion on IPL matches was more animated