“Spirituality means to become aware of spirit, consciousness, or the Supreme Person, God. All the other knowledge is related to matter, and in the Upanishads it is called inferior knowledge, because it does not uplift you. Your character remains the same. You still remain full of material desires – anger, lust, greed delusion, depression, fear, anxiety, stress. You remain in all of these things. You are groping in the darkness of matter. And mind is matter. Spiritual knowledge is that which uplifts your awareness from matter. And then only you can see who you are. And unless you know who you are, you suffer continuously, perpetually. The only thing is that the type of suffering changes. And sometimes you consider this change as happiness.”
Babaji Dr. Satyanarayana Dasa
Jiva Vedic Psychology is a new field of science designed by Babaji that combines theory from shastra with practical psychotherapy techniques, by Joshika Devi Dasi (Jessica Richmond). Its purpose is to help people to understand, control, and ultimately transcend their mind so they can experience true happiness and ultimately unconditional love. Especially for spiritualists, it is very important to understand the mind, its workings, and its dealings if they want to achieve success in their endeavors.
Every sincere spiritual practitioner, no matter which path he or she is following, is trying to bring some change in his/her mental state – a change in his/her mental awareness. Therefore, it is very important to know how the mind is working. What are its characteristics? What are its functions? How it is related to intellect, or ego, or the senses? How does it deal with impressions and how do certain situations trigger certain reactions and emotions? Some people may already know these concepts theoretically, but yet are still not able to effectively apply them to their own mind. It takes a lot of practice, discipline, and guidance to observe and manage our own mind, to clear it from negative thinking patterns, and blind spots. If we are not able to clear and control our mind, how can we perceive our true self, free from mental conditioning?
Blend of Scriptural Knowledge and Modern Psychotherapy
Jiva Vedic Psychology is based on four decades of Babaji’s dedicated studies and teachings from the Vedic scriptures, the most profound and thorough body of knowledge on all aspects of the human mind and self. This dynamic approach blends a framework of ultimate truths shared by self-realized beings, with modern day hands-on psychotherapy, yoga, and Ayurveda techniques. It is about sharpening self-awareness, self-observation, and introspection skills, by putting the theory into practice. Vedic psychology, which is based on scriptures, does not deal with the symptoms. It deals with the disease itself and goes to the root of the problem. It is an internal journey towards the truth of who we really are.
In practical terms, it also gives powerful strategies on how to stay neutral and calm in the present moment, and how to avoid acting impulsively upon the moody and convincing mind’s likes and dislikes, desires, pleasures, or pains. Vedic Psychology teaches how the mind can be a friend or an enemy, depending on if you know your mind and how to control it.
Lack of control of the mind is the culprit for many modern day diseases, which are all too often erroneously blamed on external circumstances. The study of the human mind is useful for every person, as it helps in cultivating loving, compassionate relationships in all aspects of life. Vedic Psychology helps you to understand the aspects of the mind and how they behave, just like understanding the parts of a car before you drive it. Knowing this enables you to detach from the mind, so you can gain control of it, ultimately liberating you to become free and situated in peace.
Jiva Vedic Psychology Consultant in Practice
Over the past year, Babaji has been training his student, an American Psychotherapist, Joshika Devi Dasi (Jessica Richmond), on Vedic Psychology. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development, and a Master of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling, as well as a yoga teacher training certification from Sivananda ashram in Nasik, India. She also received an Ayurvedic practitioner training from the Kripalu School of Ayurveda. As a Jiva Vedic Psychology consultant, Joshika draws upon her decades of experience of studying people, observing their behavior, and analyzing their minds, in order to teach her clients how to manage anxiety, addiction, trauma, depression, anger, jealousy, loss, fear and difficult relationships. Babaji and Joshika have been working for the past year on applying these Vedic Psychology concepts in a practical way to her clients, and have seen tremendous results. They have decided to bring their approach to the larger community of devotees and yogis to help everyone learn how to apply this ancient theory blended with practical tools to manage the mind.
To give readers a better taste of Vedic Psychology, they will be answering weekly questions on how to apply Vedic Psychology concepts to everyday life situations which will be posted here. Additionally, Joshika is offering private Vedic Psychology Skype sessions for anyone who would like to apply Vedic Psychology to a specific life issue. Please email her at joshika@german.jiva.org, and indicate if you would like Babaji and her to answer your question here or if you would like to arrange for an individual Skype consult, or if you would like both.
Babaji and Jiva Vedic Psychology Consultant Joshika
On Anger
QUESTION:
I am feeling angry at a friend who betrayed me a few weeks ago by talking behind my back, and saying untrue things about me to someone who is very important in my life. Even though I have not reacted to my friend openly, I find myself still feeling angry internally. How can I work with this anger?
ANSWER
Anger is like fire. It first burns you before you make plan or act to harm the person you are angry at. Getting angry and holding onto it is like drinking poison and yet thinking that the person you are angry at will be hurt. So, it is very good that you are aware of your anger, and are wanting to work on removing it.
In anger, your mind gets into the groove of making plans against that person – how you are going to smash this guy? Like a belt highway, your mind gets in a groove going around and around with no exit. This shows that our thought process is messed up. We see things according to our own lens, which is muddy. Your mind just reacts on instinct to the situation, and it is not helpful. We make a mistake in our perception and then we make the wrong decisions and actions based on this misconception. Vedic Psychology helps us to better understand the reason why our mind behaves the way it does, and then what to do about it. We will be teaching the mechanics of the mind, so you can understand why it does what it does, in our in-person workshops. For now, we will share what to do about the mind when it gets out of balance with anger, in this practical exercise below.
PRACTICAL EXERCISE
You can use your Intelligence, or Buddhi, to put an end to your anger. Your Buddhi helps you to become aware of the anger, and then actively process it, so you are not held slave to it. When anger does not get acknowledged and processed, it builds up inside and comes out in other ways. It could be an anger outburst, or heartburn, or many other manifestations. So, it needs to be released somehow. Here is one way: You can try writing an angry letter. In the letter, let yourself be raw with your feelings. Focus the letter on your feelings, not so much on the other person’s actions, which you cannot change. Write specifically what they did and how it made you feel. Do not write what you thought about what they did, because that storyline has already been running in your head for too long. Permit yourself to drop into the raw feelings, using words like: betrayed, furious, unimportant, hostile, disappointed, irate, hurt, disgusted. Feelings are malleable – they can and do change as quickly as the wind changes directions. So, if you are willing to take an honest look at your feelings, stay with them and see them through, you can have some relief in your mind. Once you have completed your angry letter, then find a picture of that person, or visualize a picture of them in your head. Pull up a chair, and bring their energy (and or picture) into the chair. Sit in a chair directly across from them, and look directly at the chair. Read the letter aloud to them, letting your true feelings out. You may need to read it more than one time, to really get in touch with your anger. Let your anger be heard in your voice. Let it out. When you have finished reading your letter, take it to a safe place, and burn it. Watch your toxic anger that was burning inside of you, now burning up outside of you.
