Kriya Lesson Number 2: Tarka
I'm hoping that you have found the time to Sit'n Chill for a few minutes a day. Developing the habit of trying to meditate is about as important is the act itself. We are, by nature, creatures of habit.
When you first taste inner tranquility or some sort of positive result, it creates the mechanism that propels you to seek deeper levels of understanding.
Yoga is a lot like unraveling that mess of cords behind your computer. One day you find out that you can't pull your keyboard out as far as you would like too. You look behind you desk and see the tangle of cords bundled up like a ball of yarn. If you are like me, you will ignore that ball of spaghetti as long as you can. At some point though, your internet goes out. Oh crap, that one cord you need to communicate with the rest of the world is unplugged and you finally have to un-bundle the cords. So you think you a slick by going wireless to subvert my analogy? Ha! Lightening struck your house and you have to wait for the internet company to fix it. I had to put that in there because I like to subvert analogies.
In our consciousness, we have tangles of thought patterns called samkaras. In my last post, I spoke about how memories have subtle impressions associated with them. In the beginning stages of Yoga, we try to first identify these impressions, then work to unattached ourselves from them. Like Shrek said:
: For your information, there's a lot more to ogres than people think.
: Example?
: Example... uh... ogres are like onions!
[
holds up an onion, which Donkey sniffs
]
: They stink?
: Yes... No!
: Oh, they make you cry?
: No!
: Oh, you leave 'em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin' little white hairs...
: [
peels an onion
] NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers... You get it? We both have layers.
This brings us concept of Tarka. It's very simple in concept, but it can be hard to practice. It's the beginning of self observation. Go back and read my post about the different categories of thought. What you are trying to do is become an observer of your own thoughts without passing any judgement upon them. The very act of doing this starts the process of separating the consciousness from the thing we think of ourselves as: the mind.
Start by keeping a journal of your thoughts and try to fit them into one or more of the five categories. A good place to start is with the thoughts you find most disturbing. Those thoughts are the ones that have the highest level of attachment . I want you remember that you are not your thoughts. You are pure consciousness entangled in a ball of thought cords that need straitening. The result will eventually carry over into your St'n'Chill time. That may be the best time to do it since your mind may be the most active. If you have the time to carry a journal around with you during the day, go for it. You are just observing and trying to categorize now, nothing else.