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Yoga

How to Make the Right Decision

How To Make A Decision
Imagine being able to go to a place of clarity every time you feel confused about a decision you need to make.

By day the sun’s rays light a vast land of competing options, but as night falls, the moon shines a single beam of light that guides your vision into the ocean’s depths—your psyche.

As your awareness travels down, the deep blue below and the light above, your conscious and the unconscious minds meet. This is alchemy. At that moment, a bolt of insight strikes, and your decision is crystal clear.

Now you see that while there were many options, there was only one right choice. And with clarity, vitality returns. And with vitality comes motion—you are free to move forward again.

The difference between confusion and clarity is perception.

Your physical eyes perceive the world of infinite things which gives rise to infinite, competing desires. The physical eyes belong to the thinking mind, the mind that calculates, compares and conceptualizes.

Your third eye belongs to the intuitive mind, the mind that perceives the inner world and the spirit within matter. It sparks insight that penetrates what Lao Tzu called the ten thousand things, to reveal one thing. One right choice.

The ten thousand things flourish and then each returns to the root from which it came. Returning to the root is stillness. Through stillness, each fulfills its destiny. ~ Lao Tzu

When awakened, the third eye opens the door to knowledge, creativity, and wisdom. When asleep, perception defaults to thinking with its inherent doubts and limitations.

The information age is a good example of a sleeping third eye. The information age values thinking above all other human faculties. Data gathered by logic-based systems is the primary driver of decision-making.

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Mantras as the Language of the Gods

Mantras are said to be the language of the gods. What does this mean and how do mantras work?

  • Do mantra simply calm the mind or are they magical words of power that can unlock the secrets in the deep unconscious parts of you?
  • Why is it said that mantras can both liberate and protect you?
  • Why is initiation so important? Why is it said that mantras can only unlock the secrets within you if you have had an initiation from a guru or experienced teacher?

These and other questions will be answered in the upcoming Yoga Tantra Study Group Masterclass, which is focusing on the higher aspects of chakras, mantras and yantras.

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Desires and the Chakras on the Yoga Tantra Path

Desire is a fundamental concern that has occupied spiritual traditions and societies for centuries. What are we to do with these raw energies that have the potential to take us to divine heights and to plunge us into the underworld of darkness?

Attempts to deal with desire range from the uninhibited revelry of Greco-Roman cults, the ‘desire is good’ approach, to the strict asceticism of old-world traditions such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, the ‘desire is bad’ approach. 

These two approaches still exist today.

For example, The Law of Attraction encourages the pursuit of desires and teaches that whatever you want, believe, and focus on will manifest. On this path, be careful what you wish for. If your desires are not dharmic (aligned with your nature), they may either fail to manifest or cannot bring the satisfaction you imagined.

The ascetic approach aims for a desireless, egoless, and selfless existence. Asceticism views the body and its appetites as separate and inferior to the spirit and prescribes transcendence of the body. To succeed in the ascetic life, the seeker needs a particular temperament, the right environment, conditions, and training. Who of us can truly give up desire? Even the intention to surrender desire is a desire. When desires arise, the ascetic may feel they have failed at spiritual life. 

There is a third approach that balances the extremes. More suited to the contemporary seeker, the yoga tantra approach regards both desire and desirelessness as equally important. Yoga tantra forges a conscious connection between dharma, desire, and transcendence. This enables seekers to fulfill their desires in a balanced way while striving for spiritual growth.

We teach the yoga tantra path at Big Shakti.

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The Nine Nights Of The Goddess – Navarātri

Yoga and tantra provide maps and paths through the maze of complex existence. They aim to transform the body-mind from raw, mundane states of existence to refined, exalted states of experience and realization.

Within many yogic and tantric traditions, certain seasons, months, and times of the day are given special importance.

They are ‘auspicious’ times when cosmic energies are heightened and, as such, support psycho-spiritual practice. These auspicious moments in time assist us in achieving positive results. For example, dawn and dusk are said to be ideal times for yoga and meditation.

The festival of Navarātri or Nine Nights (‘nav’ is nine and ‘rātri’ is nights) is one of the great ceremonies in the lives of Hindus in India. The exact time of this celebration varies according to the lunar calendar. It begins on a dark moon in the Indian autumn (in the month of Ashwin, usually in October) and ends ten days after. In 2020 Navaratri starts on the 17th of October (depending on which part of the world and time zone you live in).

This period of The Nine Nights is devoted to invoking The Great Mother Goddess, The Divine Creative Power, or Shakti, the creator and supporter of the universe. She is most closely identified with Durga, an exquisitely beautiful goddess who rides a lion, and who wields in her many hands’ awesome weapons, including the ‘shul’ (pike), ‘chakra’ (wheel), ‘parashu’ (ax), and ‘talvar’ (sword).

Durga is said to be the manifestation of the power of all the goddesses that, long ago, faced a terrible and irresistible demon called Mahishasura.

Mahishāsura is a mythic representation of the human ego in its demonic form

Many yogis do not see Navaratri as a religious process, but rather as a psycho-spiritual one, and a unique opportunity for yogic practice. 

They adopt certain practices and rituals to understand their psychological shadow and to confront their egos.

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