samatvam (means equanimity, state of balance or harmony) is called yoga.
The child does not differentiate between gold and stone. He does not know the difference. Is this equanimity? No. When we take food the tongue is conditioned to a particular taste and if it does not come to your expectation. We do not like it. If there is less salt in the food we immediately add some. We are conditioned from childhood to a particular taste or habit and if it deviates from what we expect we immediately try to rectify it. This is just an example of the taste. In life we expect many things and if something does not happen according to our expectation we become unhappy and if it exceeds our expectation we become overjoyed. These two states of our being do not make a balanced life.
Equanimity is not being overjoyed or depressed. It is a state of balance free from happiness and unhappiness- remaining equally balanced under all conditions. This is the state of Yoga. How would it come? It will not come by just intellectual understanding. It will not come so easily. It requires systematic and regular practice with patience.
Yogi's Day and Night
I will give you some yogic interpretations and explain what real equanimity is. In the entire year, two days are described as the day of equinox when the sun remains on the equator and day and night are of exactly of the same duration. During the rest of the year some times the day is longer and sometimes the night.
In our body also there is the sun and the equator is the line that divides the body into two equal halves and this is the spine in the human body. From fontanel to the coccyx is the line of division, on the front side from top of the head through the nose.
A verse from a yogic scripture says
na diva pujayet devam naktam naivacha naivacha
sarvada pujayet devam diva naktam vivarjayet
Do not worship God during day, never during night. Worship God always disregarding day and night.
This appears to be contradictory. All yogic scriptures including the Bhagavad Gita have a deeper inner significance. What is day and night? Ordinarily day starts with sunrise. In India many spiritual groups get up much before sunrise and go for nagarsankirtan, walking on the streets singing beautiful songs about God to wake up others. Many people meditate in the early hours of the dawn, called as the Hours of God. Getting up after sunrise is a bad habit. Most of us may be getting up early during the weekdays but late on the weekend. This is not good. God has given us day to work and night to sleep. On the weekend also get up at the same time and if regular work is not there do some spiritual work. Early in the morning is a good time to meditate more. Day is the symbol of activity and night is the symbol of calmness and rest. Most people try to meditate early in the morning or in the evening. These periods are junctions of night becoming day or day becoming night and are called ‘sandhyas’, the junctions of time even the noon. So there are actually three sandhyas called trisandhya.
In our body if you observe our breath (under normal conditions when one is not suffering sinus problems) the breath is sometimes through the right nostril and some times through the left. The breath flows through one nostril for forty- five minutes then equally through both nostrils for nine minutes and then changes to the other nostril for forty- five minutes. This keeps repeating in a very natural and rhythmic way.
When breath flows through the right nostril, the body, mind and brainpower are all active and when through the left, usually the mind is less active and dull. When breath should flow with equal pressure in both the nostrils the mind is more balanced and is in rest. When flowing through the right nostril it is day and when through left nostril it is night. When you sit for meditation or prayer if your breath is in the right nostril, you get many thoughts and become restless. You can observe this when you are sitting alone for prayer. When in the left it makes you dull and drowsy.
Good Time to Meditate
So neither the breath in the right nostril, nor in the left nostril are good for meditation. In Sanskrit, meditation is called dhyana.
Meditation is good when the breath flows equally through both the nostrils. How would this happen? Those who practice Kriya Yoga, if they practice the first and fourth technique more, naturally breath flows equally in both nostrils with equal pressure.
I will give you the yogic terminology of what is happening at that time. When breath is passing through the left nostril it is going through ida nadi and when in the right through pingala and if equally through both nostrils then it is in sushumna. When you practice the first and the fourth step of Kriya more, the breath will be calm and quiet and you can enter into a deeper state of meditation.
Balance in Thought, Word and Deed
How can we get balance in thought, word and deed? Yogis say any word we speak goes through four stages before it is uttered through the mouth
para pratayakciti rupa pashyanti paradevata
madhyama vaikhari rupa bhakta manasa hamsika
(Lalithasahasranama)
1. para - coming from the supreme state.
2. pashyanti - we mentally see the thought (the word is seen)
3. madhyama - coming into the mouth (the process of)
4. vaikhari - coming out of the mouth (expressed)
Where does the thought occur? Yogis say thought comes from the right lobe and speech come through the left lobe of the brain. If there is no balance between the thought and words then through our talk we can create enmity, confusion and misunderstanding as well as friendship or understanding. Most of our troubles in life start either with wrong thoughts or by wrong words.
A Wrong word is worse than wrong thought. A simple wrong word that comes out of our mouth even if it is unintentional can hurt the emotions and feelings of others and that hurt can remain for a long time. So to bring a balance between the thought and the word it is important to regulate our activities. All our actions are reflections of our thoughts and words.
Now the brain has two lobes. In some, the right lobe is more active and in some, the left is more active. Some people think a lot and some talk a lot. Meditation helps. Kriya meditation in which you go from left to right and right to left is an easy way of bringing our brain into a balanced state. Our thoughts and words are well regulated through the process of meditation.
Only by listening to directions you cannot achieve this. You have to practice. Even simple yogic exercises help. Don’t be excited when you are happy and don’t be depressed when you have sorrow; be balanced. If your thought and words are not regulated, the mind cannot be controlled. In life when problems arise we should look with in ourselves and see if we are strong in every situation or not. We can judge ourselves. If we are becoming excited or depressed by every little situation then we are not in a state of yoga. This state can come only through meditation and not in any other way.