The O-town Scene

Yoga Life Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra has been a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He is SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy and founder of the Yoga and Meditation Society at SUNY Oneonta. His articles are condensed from his books on "An Introduction to Yoga Philosophy," *"Journal of Yoga and Meditation Now," "Transcreation of the Bhagavad Gita," *"Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching," *"Instant Nirvana," and *"Sartre and Yoga." These books are available through www.amazon.com. Contemplation can bring a feeling of quiet calm Vipassana meditation is the Buddhist method of contemplation that originated in the Yogasutras of Patanjali, an Indian sage from 500 B.C. It is very popular with diverse segments of society in the 21st century. Vipassana, which means "insight meditation," consists of watching the workings of one's own mind without passing any judgment or getting involved in its extraneous reach or its distractions. It is relaxed observation where one lets the mind be while it displays itself through diverse colors: observing the mind and its functioning without being dragged away by its joys and sorrows, its attractions and repulsions and its fears and certitudes. Vipassana meditation takes 8 O-Town Scene Jan. 10, 2013 the analogy of the two birds and reverses their roles. Instead of the agitated bird jumping from one branch of the tree to desire a fruit, nibbles on it, call it sweet, sour, bitter or tasteless and continue to pursue its restless desires to go after the next branch with more fruit and constantly think about the bird sitting on the top branch doing nothing, the emphasis is shifted to the witnessing bird, who does nothing more than looking at this entire drama in which the agitated bird is engrossed. In Vipassana, the witnessing bird is our calm and serene inner self. It looks at or witnesses the melodrama of our ordinary mind: our ego involved in sensing, feeling, emoting, imagining, ideating, desiring, acting and evaluating every action or deed. Moreover, while our ego passes judgment of feeling frustration or happiness, satisfaction or dissatisfaction, achievement or failure, attraction or repulsion, connection or disconnection and pain or pleasure, it decides which one of these actions to pursue so as to avoid discomfort. While this ordinary agitated mind is constantly occupied with all these endeavors and moves from one task to another, it is unclear about the causes that propel it to such an incessant hankering after goals. However, the witnessing consciousness on the other hand, just observes without getting involved and acts as a detached or unattached onlooker. The constant practice of this unattached observation or detached witnessing aids one to understand the causes of one's pain, anxiety, worries and unhappiness thus leading to self-understanding and contentment. Exercise: The exercise listed below is offered as a suggestion only. When done regularly and correctly, it might be helpful. Lie down on your back. Breathe in and out. Place your hand flat on your stomach below the rib cage. Breathe in and feel the hand rising. When you have taken all the air in, slowly breathe out and feel the hand falling gently. Keep breathing in and out while feeling your hand moving up with breathing in and falling down with breathing out. After breathing in and out for five minutes, take you hand away and rest it next to your body. Breathe in and out normally for two minutes. Again, put your hand flat on your stomach and breathe in and out for five minutes while feeling the movements of your stomach rising and falling. After breathing in and out for five minutes, take your hand away and rest it next to your body. Breathe in and out normally for two minutes. While still in bed, start your day and/ or end your day with this exercise. This exercise can also be done while sitting in the easy posture. Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra is working in India through Jan. 13 to build schools for underprivileged female and minority children through the Ninash Foundation. For more information, visit www. ninash.org.

• Cover