Sanskaric Desires - 06.17.10

Student Question: Within the context of what he was talking about (meditating at great lengths vs. processing one’s ego), where do sanskaras fit in?

“They are what you have to battle,” explains Shunyamurti, the director of the Sat Yoga Institute. And the sanskaric desires, “won’t let you stop thinking about them. And the lower three chakras are the main ones that people’s minds are wrapped around. And they are aggression, paranoia, security needs, [and] sexual desires. . . . And then those get projected on particular people, and situations your in, and suddenly you’re thinking about all of that, and you're not meditating on God-consciousness; you’re using that time to focus on ‘Why is this happening to me?’ or ‘How am I gonna get this person in bed?’ or ‘How am I gonna get rid of this enemy?’ and ‘How am I gonna conquer this and that?’ All of these scenarios are much more interesting to the ego than the blissful silence. And so it takes a lot of work to be able to gain such a center that’s detached from all of that—that you can silence the mind in the midst of that, and then burn up all of these sanskaras.” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, June 17, 2010.