My newsletters are mostly in the form of Gnana Yoga, which is the Yoga of Spiritual discrimination or Viveka. It is sometimes so acutely discerning that it sometimes upsets people who hold firmly to an ideal or a religious belief.

One must remember in times like this , in being upset with what is being said, that Gnana works on the principle of chucking everything in the mind out, so that one is left only with their true identity, the SELF, the Atman. This is the true and absolute reality. True and absolute will be explained further in the studies as we go along.

LETTERS! LETTERS! LETTERS!

Thank Goodness people write. There are so many mixed up ideas about Yoga and what one should do.

According to Gnana Yoga, this world does not exist. It is a shadow play on the screen of pure consciousness. It is the director of this great play, Maya, who entraps everyone in to believing that the shadow pictures are real, giving the movie such a sense of reality, that when lost in it, one really believes that one is the character playing out their role in this life, as John Doe or Mary Smith. This is quite easily understood when one thinks of themselves going to see a scary movie and being lost in it to such a degree that real fear strikes them when the villain jumps out from behind the curtain.

That villain and all else in the movie are only shadow pictures on a blank white screen, but through our involvement and attachment to the personalities in the movie we think they are real The attributes which go in to making up a movie rely on actors directors and producers - the men with the money - and all sorts of mechanical things like light (the illumination) and film etc . In this way, it's construction makes it captivating . We are trapped in the story and are affected by it IN DIRECT RELATIONSHIP TO THE AMOUNT OF INVOLVEMENT WE HAVE..

The Producer of this real-world movie - the man with the power, the Paramatman, God, hires a director Maya, to make a movie for him The mechanics of this movie which give it the sense of reality which it has, are called the concomitant laws of the physical world. These are gravity, time and space, and the attributes of the mind's ability to be deceived by them

Well, what a lot of these letters have been about are the idea of becoming MORE SPIRITUAL - or becoming a better person - and even, by giving up this or that, by renouncing , and by being celibate.

I would like you to use your (viveka) spiritual discrimination at this point and be sensible about your aspirations toward self realization.

The reason why there has been little success in the attainment of Moksha, liberation, from this illusion is because religions and dogma have laid upon its success the need to do all sorts of silly things, like being celibate for example - giving up certain foods. Keeping company with so called "spiritual people" and just going around being a smiling type of goofy spiritual person - whatever that means.

It does not matter one iota whether you are good or evil - you are still just a shadow picture - still an illusion - still not really here - just a figment of your mind - a dream, no different than the dream you dream at night in sleep time. You think it real while dreaming, yet when you awaken you realize it was all a mind construct.

Well whether you are good , evil or indifferent, whether you eat red meat, or lettuce, whether you renounce one thing after the other, or put yourself through austerities beyond belief, you are doing nothing more than adding to the illusion you have about yourself being real in the first place.

If for instance you are concerned about health - then, you may want to give up meat and become a vegetarian. Although there is no proof one way or the other that one is better than the other-one should strike a balance with moderation in either diet.

If you have bought into the idea that celibacy will bring you closer to God, then go for it. If you really believe that meditation which puts you into some soporific state, or trance, or to sleep for that matter will bring you closer to God, then go for that also

There are so many other things I could mention that the Yoga of the West has stamped onto the mind of modern man which has nothing at all to do with regaining one's birthright - Satchitananda

Real Yoga, before it became westernized you must remember, was initiated in the East and in this regard the simple methods of eating a vegetarian diet was due mostly to two reasons. One was the distaste for killing another living creature in order to sustain life, and also for cleanliness. Meat would just not keep well in temperatures soaring into the hundreds of degrees of heat. Preservation of foods was practiced by using spices and herbs and curries It also covered much of the taste of foods on their way to be coming spoilage.

In this regard - vegetarianism it would appear, must be adhered to in order to become spiritual . Especially in the sense that if an animal life was taken, karmic retribution would be thundered into one's life.

Rules and regulations grew from that - along with the admirable Sattwic method of choosing foods. These clean, non hotly spiced foods of vegetarian and fruitarian mien were considered necessary to palliate the emotions and gain some control over passion. This was solely in order to allow the aspirant to gain control of his body and remain still, and hopefully at the same time control his thoughts to a greater degree in order to remain still and quiet in the mind.

It sounds nice - much in the same manner that the Jews really do believe they are the Chosen people. It sounds nice for them also.

Jehovah Witness believe that 144,000 of them shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Now that is very special for those who make it, yet every last one of them think they will be one of the 144,000. Very special that.

I think possibly one could go through every religion to find out what makes one feel very special and unique.

I have met Yogis who when invited for a dinner somewhere and state with pride, "Oh I do not eat meat" or "No - not eggs either, especially if they are fertilized," And on it goes, giving that person for the moment a 15 second period of being "not the same as and quite unique from the hosts."

Now why couldn't they just accept the dinner without saying anything. Oh! That would be scary - think of the karma!!

Well, without going on and on about conditioning and rules and regulations, and idealism, it is all nonsense. People have not realized that no matter how they live , or what they do, or what they eat, they are still just part of the shadow play and none of it is real, and by living in certain ways brings no one any closer to realizing SELF.

The SELF is the real You that has been lost by all the shadow pictures, and worse still by the pride slides cast upon the screen that make you feel special and safe on your way to God.

In the beginning of Real Yoga, teachers knew that their students must be brought to a point of first, intellectual knowledge, then with that knowledge, the spiritual discernment to know what to do to GET STILL AND SILENT. That is all! Once one gets still and silent, one can, in essence ,begin to BE.

I don't write this article to say that one method is better than the other or whether one is a killer for food or not, whether one is good or evil, as most of all these things are pre determined by your conditioning, nurturing, and geographical placement and genetic make up.

We have psychiatrists and the like stating that there is a bad gene. Some people are born to be bad. Others, will say the opposite. Controversy exists as it is Maya's method of creating confusion. We are blinded by getting lost in the shadow play, forgetting what has to be done in order to attain our birthright Our birthright is Bliss.

This is why in the beginning of my classes there is some formality until one can be brought to the understanding that all of us, no matter what we do, are in a great shadow play that is a mind construct, and no matter what is done , it is just a play. Not one person being better than the other.

How to walk out of the theatre when the best of the play is going on is what is difficult. I have seen people leave a theatre or hide behind a seat because it is too scary or too horrible. Usually one wants to get to Ultimate Reality for the same reason . The pain of this physical reality is too painful for them, else why is one trying to be spiritual.

When life is good - when the belly is fat, and the comfort levels high, you don't see many doing what is absolutely necessary - nor even questioning, "What's all about?" until of course satiation, loss, grieving and illness strike. Of course the real poor of the world have had those problems always, and have always been LOOKING for the way

It is not to say that the search cannot begin with a vision when one is young and happy and healthy, but it is not until true distress or pain in some disguise drives one inwards, that seeking self realization is pursued with the one pointed concentration needed.

So in the beginning of these lessons in Real Yoga I give a meditation technique which is ongoing all the time, training the mind to "constant remembrance".

I repeat for all the new members Patanjali's two great aphorisms - as this is what it comes down to - nothing else. "Abbyhasa of the Chitta Vritti" which means , Restraint of all mental fluctuations.

And then "Chitta Vritti Nirhoda" complete and total annihilation of all mental fluctuations.

All these mental fluctuations are your thoughts. These are Vrittis. Some of these vrittis become deep grooves that are hard to get rid of, like a needle getting stuck in a record groove.

These Vrittis are all the things you think - your ideals, your preciousness in thinking you are being a good person - or there are even some who feel pretty precious about being evil also.

The Vrittis are your conditioning by parents , schools, friends, politics etc. Everything that goes into your head HAS TO BE THROWN OUT while still remaining conscious and awake.

Well say some, what will one be conscious of in that state? For that , send for the past newsletters for free , where I have taken selected passage to explain it, or order The Portal at http://www.real-yoga.com/portal.yoga

Begin to think in a different way about spirituality. You are already spiritual. Right now. You don't know that because you are caught up in the movie of Maya, and no matter who is in this movie, they ARE ALL YOU, playing different roles.

All these actors in this movie are holding up a mirror for you to see yourself. Much of what you see in others you do not want to admit you have also, thus we lay blame on the other person. But now begin to see the mirror as a faceted mirror, seeing many thousands of different aspects of life all at the same time - seeing you.

You and I are the same person, or Pure Consciousness, but Maya sees to it that it will be hidden from you by having you believe we are separate. It is we in this shadow picture that make the separation.

When the Seer, the act of seeing and the seen become one, you have unity - Samadhi - Oneness, and from that oneness we gain our birthright Satchitananda which is , BEING ever existent, ever conscious, and ever blissful So go for it!