atma yoga teacher training - yoga psychology and the healing of identity

Yoga, Psychology, & Identity

yoga psychology is healing identity.yoga psychology is about healing identity.

the modes of self identity or false ego are three fold: according to the proportion of the individual’s clarity:

1. servant of the self - ädhyätmika, or self-identification with the body and mind,

2. servant of others - ädhibhautika, or self-identification with the material products, and…

3. servant of the divine - ädhidaivika, or self-identification as a servant of god.

yoga psychology is healing identity. functionality of

identification: (three levels)level 1 - dysfunctional identity is based on identity in the mode of ädhyätmika (body/mind) which can manifest as a spectrum of dysfunction and will sometimes vacillate between the poles of the spectrum and sometimes adhere to one extreme or the other.

(Below this level is the fractured identity in which the false ego itself is so damaged that it cannot impose a singular sense of self.)

the spectrum of dysfunction: defeatist – so called

negative or victim self esteem

deserving –self sufficient esteem; believes they have the power to heal themselves

delusional – so called positive self esteem –ranging from positivist to monist fashion

No discernible bhakti at this stage

yoga psychology is healing identity.

functionality of identification: (three levels) level 2 - marginally functional identity is based on the mode of ädhibhautika – identifying oneself as a servant of humanity or mother nature. Aka kanista adhikari. (mixed bhakti)

yoga psychology is healing identity.

functionality of identification (three levels) level 3 - functional identity is based on the mode of ädhidaivika – identifying oneself as a servant of the divine or the absolute truth [satvatas] (it is this which leads to the synthesis of consciousness – one consciousness based on agreement not on dissolution) undiluted bhakti

Prabhupäda: There is a nice example in this connection. In the pond, reservoir of water, if you drop one stone, it becomes a circle. The circle increases, increasing, increasing... Unless it comes to the shore, the circle increases. Similarly, our loving propensity increases. In the primary stage, a child whatever he gets, he puts into his mouth. Anna-brahman. Then gradually, as the child grows, sometimes he distributes to his other brother or parents, the love increases. In this way, self-centered, then family-centered, then community-centered, society-centered, nation-centered, international centered... So this increase of our loving propensity will not be satisfied unless it reaches the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the Kåñëa consciousness movement. We love.

Yoga is about healing identity

Victim (defeated) Deserving Godlike (delusional) Surrendered/searching Serious student Inner cleansing Humble / service minded Taste for the divine Spiritual attachments Spiritual emotions Our soul's pure love for God

servant of the self – ädhyätmika

servant of others – ädhibhautika

servant of the divine – ädhidaivika

Madness? Not at all—we all do it. As psychologist Shelley E. Taylor writes in her book Positive Illusions, “In many ways, the healthy mind is a self-deceptive one.”

Mentally healthy people, she says, enhance their self-esteem by creating flattering illusions about themselves; people who can’t do it suffer an overdose of reality.

“Depressed people clearly lack the illusions that in normal people promote mental health and buffer them against setbacks,” she writes. “In addition, there is now considerable evidence that depression is marked not by unrealistic pessimism but by depressive realism and the absence of illusion.”


Victim (defeated) Deserving Godlike (delusional) Surrendered/searching Serious student Inner cleansing Humble / service minded Taste for the divine Spiritual attachments Spiritual emotions Our soul's pure love for

God

adhama jévere or patitä: the downtrodden or exploited. The key to rising from this deplorable state of identity is healthy association. It is essential to have the contact and support of those whose see you as spirit souls and children of God. (hope heals…)



God

The deserving identity has sufficient self confidence to believe in themselves. They are commonly atheists or objectivists. However if the become very ambitious, or very curious, or suffer some very bad luck they may shift up to the identity of ‘surrendered/searching’



God

Identifying as the sole maker or cause of one’s destiny and experience or even putting oneself on the same level as God. This can be a difficult identity to dislodge by rational means. Usually life has to get round to demonstrating the inutility of this identity (a painful way to go.)



God

Surrendered/searching:In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated.



God

Serious student :In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte aspirant begins the process of spiritual development (yama & niyamas are steadily pursued)

[preparatory/sadhana (vaidhi) yoga]



God

Inner cleansing:By execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, one is becoming cleansed of bad habits (anartha-nivåtti).




God

Humble / service minded:attains steadiness in self-realization, at this stage one identifies so strongly with their spiritual nature that nothing can dissuade them otherwise.




God

Taste for the divine:acquires a taste for hearing transcendental sound vibration. At this stage the aspirants identity is healed to the point that earthly delights no matter how appealing pale in comparison to purely spiritual or transcendental activities




God

Spiritual attachments:taste for the divine leads one further forward towards attachment to the absolute truth and very much detached to worldly experiences or desires (a clinging to the divine.)




God

Spiritual emotions:the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God



God

Our soul's pure love for God:Real love for God is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life." In the prema stage there is constant engagement in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

8 Steps to understand & heal the mind

1. Establish the awareness of the mind as an “other”

2. Initiate friendly relations

3. Practice listening to the mind’s issues (daily basis)

4. Ask to meet the other members of the mind

5. Learn about the needs & concerns of all parts of the mind and develop a cooperative relationship

6. Present the goals of your training program. Your ideas for spiritual progress to your mind, listen to objections and concerns and try to gain mutual agreement.

7. Introduce the concept of a spiritual coach or guide(s) (multiple forms are possible: teacher, acarya, deity, mantra)

8. Practice techniques & activities to build a relationship with a spiritual guide

Caveat

If you talk to God, you are praying; if God talks to you, you have

schizophrenia. Thomas Szasz (b. 1920), U.S. psychiatrist.

atma yoga teacher training - yoga psychology and the healing of identity

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