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The Threefold Path: Svādhyāya, Manan, and Abhyāsa

The process of inner refinement moves from study to self-realization. Svādhyāya is studying the scriptures and the chapter of one's own life. Manana is deep reflection, churning experiences to extract wisdom like butter from milk. Abhyāsa is the practice, a purifying fire that turns that butter into ghee. Three obstacles block self-knowledge: mala, the impurity of thoughts and actions; vikṣepa, the disturbances of life's waves; and āvaraṇa, the curtain of ignorance. Impurity is cleansed by positive deeds. Disturbances are stilled through meditation and steadfastness. The curtain is removed by holy company and study. When these are gone, you see what is within.

"Through the instrument of your vivekā (discernment), you churn all of it—and the butter, the cream, emerges."

"Meditation techniques are developed to see what is within you. And if you see God through meditation, it means God is within you, not outside."

Svādhyāya, manana, and abhyāsa. Svādhyāya is studying. Manana is reflection, or deep thinking. When you want to gain the butter from the milk, you must churn it for a long time. Only then does the butter come out. Everything you experience, what you hear and learn, is like milk. You develop this in your intellect. Then, through the instrument of your vivekā (discernment), you churn all of it—your experiences and everything—and the butter, the cream, emerges. The best part of the milk, they say, is the butter. But I don’t understand. Nowadays, doctors say, "Don’t eat butter; it’s not good." I like to eat butter so much. And now, I don’t even see how the butter looks. All my disciples take the butter away. They say, "Master, you have eaten enough butter. Now it is our time; we eat the butter, and you drink the buttermilk." When you already have children, the best thing goes to the children. That is the butter. Manana. Manana means deep reflection. Through it, you will get the best result from everything. Then there is abhyāsa, practice. Practice is very difficult. Practice is a tapasyā. Tapasyā is a fire. So, though the butter is there, it is still not pure. We put it on the fire to make ghee out of the butter. And that is sādhanā, and it relates to svādhyāya. There are two kinds of svādhyāya. One is to read the best books which can inspire you. Studying in school and learning is also svādhyāya. We call such a person a vidyārthī. Vidyā and artha, these are two. Artha means prosperity, and vidyā is knowledge. Truly rich are those who have the prosperity of knowledge. Artha, dharma, kāma, and mokṣa—these are the four puruṣārthas (human goals). The second, real meaning of svādhyāya is this: when you are reading books and studying in schools, that is called adhyayana, vidyādhyayana, for the vidyārthī. But when you undertake svādhyāya, then "sva" means the self and "adhyāya" means the chapter. It means to read the chapter of your own life. When you can’t concentrate, people say, "I can’t pass." You should go for a time, somewhere alone—in nature, in the forest, or on the beach—and think of your life. Many things will come out. You will see what is written in your chapter of life. That is svādhyāya. So, "sva" means oneself, one’s own, and "adhyaya" means chapter. It is the chapter of your self, the chapter of life. Everything will reflect on your inner mirror. Like a screen or monitor, you can see everything. You can read your own thoughts. That is why meditation techniques are developed. Meditation techniques are developed to see what is within you. And if you see God through meditation, it means God is within you, not outside. But there are three things which are obstacles: mala, vikṣepa, and āvaraṇa. Mala is impurity. When water is not clean, we do not see what is lying at the bottom. This is impurity—the impurity of our thoughts, the impurity of our actions, the impurity of our feelings. When our conscience, mind, intellect, and actions are impure, then you cannot see your real scriptures; you cannot perform svādhyāya. We have to remove that impurity through positive deeds. This is good karma, positive thinking: tolerance, love, understanding, heart. Then there is vikṣepa, the disturbances. The water is clean, but there are so many waves, so much restlessness. You don’t see to the bottom. In order to see the bottom, you have to use a frame to break the waves. A glass window—put it on the water, then you can see. Because at the bottom, the ocean is very calm. The waves are only on the surface. Vikṣepa means disturbances. There are many kinds: health disturbances, family disturbances, social, political, emotional, financial. Many, many things. They cause restlessness, sorrows, and troubles in our mind. But it is said a yogī is like the great Himalayas. It doesn’t matter how strong the storm is, the Himalayas don’t move. So you must be steadfast, solid; your Mūlādhāra is so strong that nothing can move you. Your foundation is strong. Āvaraṇa is a curtain. Why do we use curtains on our doors and windows? So that someone doesn’t see in, or so you don’t see outside because the light is too strong. Our curtain, that āvaraṇa, is like a wall. We cannot see through the wall. So mala, vikṣepa, and āvaraṇa—these three principles should be removed. We can clean and purify mala through positive deeds. We can control and purify vikṣepa through meditation and tolerance. And the āvaraṇa of ignorance we can remove through satsaṅg—through the company of masters and through holy books. When mala, vikṣepa, and āvaraṇa are removed, then you will see God within you.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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