Question:

JGD Ekta di, we acquire certain belief systems and patterns from our past birth as a result of Sanchita karma and these are strong impressions embedded in us that makes us act and react in a certain manner. The objective is to develop awareness to clearly see these patterns with the help of regular knowledge sessions and then wipe out these impressions by pranayama, spiritual knowledge and meditation. My question here is whether just being aware is enough? Should not focus be on changing those karmic belief systems and impressions that we can and accepting those which we cannot and doing the Sankalpa stating what positive goals we want to achieve and work towards it? Also advise how to drive this change effectively?

Answers:

Absolutely! You must take an action in the direction of changing the areas where your belief systems and patterns are causing Agami Karma for you.

But how will you take an action without being aware of what is creating suffering for you?

Not possible, right? Almost everyone is leading their life unconsciously.

What does it mean to live unconsciously?

If a person is just lost in his mind and its cravings and aversions, he is living unconsciously. He is driven by Maaya. He is not living with awareness as his senses are the master and he has become a slave to objects of the 5 senses.

What does it mean to live consciously?

Conscious does not mean ‘with eyes open’. Conscious means constantly aware of everything that is happening in the mind. Conscious means letting go of thoughts of the past and of the future and completely living in the present. Living consciously means living in the now!

• Living consciously means letting go of all thoughts of the past whether related to a disturbing boss, or a painful spouse or troublesome kids or poor situations or broken things.
• Living consciously means letting go of every thought about the future whether it is a hope/expectation/fear/anxiety/worry related to a person [beloved or not], situation [difficult or not] or a thing [attractive or not].

That is the meaning of living consciously! That is the meaning of being constantly aware.

Steps to follow to erase patterns:

1. Awareness/Living consciously is the first key point as explained above. This awareness that you are in the past or in the future, brings you to the present again and again. This practice of coming to the present again and again is sufficient enough. This will help fade the impression you are harboring from the past.

For e.g. if you have a habit pattern of constantly being angry with someone. And a volatile situation arises, unconsciously you will behave with the person from the memory of the past hidden in the subconscious in the form of an impression. You will behave unconsciously in the same angry manner. An aware person will realize when the first spark of anger comes up and be able to let go of the spark and pour cold water of knowledge on it. This is exactly where the spiritual knowledge helps. It lodges as an impression in your mind which overrides the impression of a negative pattern!

2. Second key point is to let go of any expectation that you have related to your impression of the patterns, because your expectation will create an agami karma. For e.g. Just because you were successful in controlling your mind once, it does not mean that the habit impression is erased. You created the impression by 1000’s of anger episodes. You will have to give it, its due time to get erased now, so you will have to learn to win over the impression repeatedly.

So let go of the expectation that this habit pattern is gone now or will go soon, otherwise constantly thinking about the expectation will create a new agami karma for you, Got it?