Nature of mind, matter, spirit and consciousness and the methods of meditation like yoga, Vipassana, Pranayam, Namaz, Prayer, chanting etc. to develop positive thinking and mindset

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Rev. Prof Dr Vishwanath D Karad

Prof Dr Vishwanath D Karad took to the dais and started the session on the nature of mind. He stated that his quest began many years ago. The journey was supplanted by his longtime friend in the endeavour in the person of Dr Bhatkar who he warmly remembered. The very nature of the mind has always puzzled, intrigued and excited Prof Dr Karad. He states that he was asked this question while attending a convention in Salt Lake City. The question was what essentially is the mind. Along with that, he was told that his speech and questions reflect very closely the speech and questioning of Swami Vivekananda when he gave his speech in Chicago almost a hundred years ago. That question started Prof Karad on his own quest to understand the mind, something which even prompted him to ask the learned people at a conference in MIT, Boston this question. Prof Karad finally organized a symposium headed by a famed neurosurgeon from Chennai to answer that question. It is in the pursuit of that very question that this august session has been called so that we may understand the intricacies of the mind, soul and consciousness.

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Rajyogi Brahmakumar Mrityunjaya

The Rajyogi started by thanking Prof Dr Vishwanath D Karad for having called him to this event. He further stated that this dome is heartening as it gives the Rajyogi hope and belief that achieving universal human peace is not far away. He further states that while religions may seem different, science cannot be different at all. Thus science is the same for a Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Sikh. This is an interesting way to look at life and what life is willing to provide us with. In this world of terror, anarchy and chaos there are still avenues by which we can feel inner peace and bliss. For this reason and many others, Yoga ought to be practised by us all as Yoga nourishes the soul itself. Yoga is not a creed that is bound to any particular religion and is the benchmark on which one can hope to achieve a cosmic balance within oneself. The Rajyoga helps eliminate all negativities from us and brings us all closer to the universal consciousness that we all belong to. He concluded by saying that it is as important to search for inner peace and happiness as it is to achieve the materialistic aims if life. He thanked Prof Dr Vishwanath D Karad for having given him the opportunity to speak on these issues at this conference.

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Dr Buddhacharan Das

He started by reciting a prayer and then proclaiming that we are all just flowing wakefulness. When that wakefulness becomes knowledge it becomes Vedas. When that Wakefulness becomes Brahma it is total wakefulness. He further states that when the ocean wakes it makes waves. We as individuals are similar to that each individual wave, but we are bound to it. Thus the ocean is called the ocean and not the wave. In a similar manner, we can understand consciousness to be binding all of us and is more important than the individual. He likened the arrows of Rama to the power of the speech. Thus when he speaks it comes out like an arrow and it strikes the heart and minds of its target. In today's educational system, Nirukta is not being appreciated or developed. Nirukta can be construed as a fulfilling nothingness, not to be confused by emptiness. Thus the wave of the ocean is created again and again. But even the wave is nothing but drops of water, and they are but the ocean.

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Rajyogini Binny Sareen

She started by asking what is the nature of mind, nature of consciousness. It is important to understand that the soul is the key power of who we are. Thus consciousness is also part of the soul. When she was doing her PhD it was Swami Vivekananda’s words which were, 'Arise, awake and does not stop'. She also believes that where science fails reality begins. She started doing Rajyoga when she was 6 years old. Then she took everyone through a short meditation to discover the powers held within each of our minds. She concluded by ending the refreshing meditative session.

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Dr R S Kaushal

He started by saying that his entire thesis in physics is to give a scientific flair to the teachings of the Gita, but more specifically to the Sanatan Dharma. There are two sciences, one is subjective and the other is objective. Objective relies on observation while subjective tries to understand the world through experience. Spirituality is this a subjective science. But he believes is it possible to give these subjective sciences a formula or an equation through which they can be understood. He postulates that the truth of our life experience is best summed in the Gita and its shlokas which can ensure that ultimate bliss is the moksha that everyone looks for.

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Dr Mohan Agashe

Mind matters much, matter doesn’t matter that much. With this phrase, Dr Mohan started his speech. What matters is the mind hidden within the matter. Matter must obey laws of matter thus leading to our end and perishing. but the mind does not obey the laws of matter and thus its existence is not so certain. The analogy is that the instrument can perish, but the music it makes does not perish. nonetheless you must tune that instrument otherwise it will just make noise. This, when applied to us humans, means that we must tune our bodies to understand the mind and consciousness by practising Yoga and other forms of meditations to attain that. Our current patterns of education boosts intelligence but at the expense of personal sensitivities. Thus we have massive cognition, but limited sensibilities. When I and what you see becomes one when matter, mind, spirit and conciseness becomes one it is the surest way to ensure peace were the words with which he concluded his lecture.

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Prof Russel Frank D'souza

He started by questioning how meditation and introspection can be linked with positive thinking. From the Judeo Christian tradition of prayer and contemplation is simply a way to understand our own consciousness and the world we find ourselves in. Prayer is done before contemplation as prayer is a tool which enhances another tool we have which is concentration. It is only through concentration on our contemplative thoughts that we can hope to achieve any semblance of understanding how to better understand any topic in general and to better ourselves specifically. The use of these practices is in ensuring that we retain as much positivity within our thoughts and minds as is possible utilizing which we can try and understand the interconnection of universal consciousness. Meditation thus is a very important tool to revitalize the body while providing succour for the soul. With these remarks, The professor concluded his speech.

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Shri Chandra Mohan Bhandari

Shri Chandra Mohan Bhandari took the stage and made everyone do some light breathing exercises so as to relax them and draw out their negativity. Then he quoted the example of a driver and a car. if something goes wrong with the car then it is the driver who usually has the answers to it. But this only works if the driver knows which car has an issue and where. Without this knowledge, the driver is powerless to help. then he asked everyone to understand their own body and mind vessel as akin to a car, and it has a driver which is not us ourselves. It is a combination or an amalgamation of your body, mind, soul and consciousness. In whichever capacity that driver exists, it must be kept healthy and safe. The way to do so is through the various meditative practices that will aim to keep the body, the mind and the soul in sync with each other so that we may all reach out to our collective consciousness which keeps us all. Thus the importance of medication and introspection for all of us 'cars' is to keep our driver as healthy as possible. With this, he concluded his speech.