Transforming Lobha

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ABOUT THE BOOK The six conditions of the mind are kama, desire; krodha, anger; lobha, greed, modo, arrogance, moho, infatuation; and matsaryo, envy or jealousy. These conditions prevent the free flow of positive emotion and your expression of the best human qualities. The six conditions are responsible for disconnecting you from your peace, joy and inner luminosity and they have to be confronted if you wish to experience your spiritual nature.

Transforming Lobha explores the many faces of greed, Lobha is based on insecurity and the fear of not having enough. Overcoming greed is an essential goal for every one of us, as both our inner evolution and the ecological health of the world we live in depend on it. Practical sadhanas are given to manage any form of greed in our day-to day life.

This is the first book in the series on the the six conditions of the mind.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Swami Ratnashakti Saraswati has been a resident sannyasin of Ganga Darshan Vishwa Yogapeeth since 2002. She was initiated into Poorna Sannyasa in 2011 by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati. Based in Munger she con tinues to participate in yoga and sannyasa training.

PREFACE Our entire life we are dealing with one element, the mind. for every learning, every achievement and action we use the help of this great power called the mind. Mamas, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara are the four aspects that constitute the whole mind. There is also a nature in the mind which is in fluenced by the senses, the karmendriyas and the inanendrijas, organs of action and organs of perception. Everybody thinks of manas, buddhi, chitta, ahamakara, yet beyond this clas sification is the nature of mind.

From the perspectives of tantra, yoga, Vedanta and Sam khya, the mind is coloured by the three gunas-sattwa, rajas and tamas which represent the condition and the influence under which the mind functions. If the mind is under the tamasic influence, every response, thought and pattern of action and behaviour will be tamasic. If the mind is under the rajasic influence, everything will be rajasic. If the mind is under the influence of sattwa, everything will be sattwic, positive, uplifting and inspirational.

Every spiritual tradition teaches us how to manage and transform the negatives, the conditions of tamoguna and rajoguna. The moment people look at the nature of the mind, they find it difficult to accept that they are negative. Therefore, everybody looks at the classification of the mind and nobody looks at the subhave of the mind, the nature and behaviour of the mind. This is an important aspect of becoming a yoga sadhaka, managing the conditions of the mind and recognizing the barriers which stop your progress. Don't live in a world of imagination and fantasy, instead see what stops you, what the blockages are and how you can overcome them. Once you are able to manage your tamoguna, you will attain sattwa. Enlightenment is something which you achieve when you have overcome the six conditions of mind which hold you grounded to this dimension and plane; and that is the final challenge.

There are six basic conditions in the mind which are coloured by the gunas: kama, krodha, lubha, maha, mada, matara, desire, anger, greed, infatuation, arrogance and envy. They become the cause of your discontentment and dissatisfactions in life. Everything in your life and in your mind rotates along these six conditions. In the Indian tradition, these six have been called by many names. Some call them the shatripu or the six enemies which ensure that the human mind is confined to this gross dimension and do not allow it to be awakened. Some people call them the six friends.

I have called them six friends for they are with us right from birth. They are an integral part of how we think, how we act, live and behave. They are conditions which life receives in which it has to develop, grow and evolve. Similarly, in order to evolve spiritually the six conditions have to be dealt with and managed. This is an important part of the yogic sadhana.

**Contents and Sample Pages**