Apr 22, 2014

Sutra1.2. Chitta-Vritti-Nirodha and Shamanic Experience

In this blog, as well as in other works of mine, I have more than once mentioned shamanic roots of yoga much as of other psychopractices. However there comes a question: are the key goals and practices of yoga as laid down by Patanjali correlated with analogous goals and practices of shamanism? It may be difficult to see the commonality at first (and unsophisticated) glance; but in terms of a more detailed analysis based upon an attempt to comprehend the underlying content of the psychotechnical experience described by means of available metaphors rather than the externals that each system is known by, the continuity of shamanism and yoga in this aspect will become obvious. 

Apr 8, 2014

The Lessons of Mahabharata and “Traditional” Values

Have you ever paid attention to the fact that allgrand classic epics are utterly tragic and their endingsare worlds away from those happy-ends of Hollywoodthat we are used to? So that even if the principal (allegedly positive) characters attain their goals they experience heavy disappointment all the same.Gilgamesh loses the magical herb of immortality andaccepts his destiny of a mortal man; Rama is not ableto enjoy the company of his wife whose bringing backcost him significant efforts, and so he suffers from loneliness; the Pandavas, the principle characters of Mahabharata, having survived the tragic death of almost all of their relatives and fellows-in-arms during the war that they had launched are ill-fated in their attempts to ascend to heaven alive and end up finding themselves in the realms of the hell (having in factcommitted a ritual suicide).