By Yogi Ashwini

When you pick up a newspaper in the morning, what is it that you look for...good news or bad? A normal human mind is programmed to look for bad or negative. That is why negative seems more interesting.

To give you a recent example, I had written an article sometime back detailing facts and facets of subtler worlds and dimensions. The article spoke at length about experiences one has and about the evolution of a being on the path of sadhna. There was also a mention of how ego is a roadblock on the path of yoga and needs to be kept in control. Whether one is the president of chamber of commerce or a basic person, the subject has to be approached with humility for the experiences to happen.

Now, I have a friend who is the president of chamber of commerce. When he read this article, he retorted back saying I was referring to him. I only mentioned the post as an example and there maybe 45 other presidents of chamber of commerce, but of all the insightful things written in that article, this gentleman took back only that. He completely missed out on the gyan of the subject.

The above is a perfect case of how we choose negativity. It is the basic nature of a human being. Ayurveda explains this with the help of the three doshas or defects that make up a human body casting him/here into the whirlpool of diseases, imbalances, emotional congestion and an overall negative approach towards life. If there is dosha (negativity) in the body, the body will remain. That is there is always an aspect of negativity in humans, the level of negativity decides whether you are good or bad. When negativity is more, one is termed as bad, when it is less, he/she is called good. Swami Vivekanand once at a lecture expressed a similar view while speaking of a black dot on a white background that was presented to him. He explained how all our lives we focus on the tiny black dot, missing out on the limitless white expanse. This is in fact is the primary reason why whether someone drives a luxury car or travels by a bus, each one is unhappy and disturbed with the way things are. I get countless mails daily from all over the world, and 99% of them are negative. If only we could change from negative to positive, our health would improve as would the quality of life, and time (both good and bad) which seems to drag at a snail’s pace would seem to be pass away in no time. That is a sign of evolution.

Holi is a perfect time to move from negativity towards positivity. This purnima of the month of Phalgun holds within itself the phenomenal power to burn away negativity. History is proof of how when Holika sat in the lap of fire with the virtuous Prahlad, Prahlad came out unscathed while Holika’s body disintegrated, indicating the end of negativity. In the yogic philosophy, disintegration of body is not viewed as an end, but simply a transformation of elements, fire being the chief agent of change. Even as the body disintegrates, the journey of the spirit, continues. Holika on the purnima of Holi moved from negativity to positivity and so can each one of us, through specific jaaps and yagya under the sanidhya of Guru.

The night of holi is a powerful night, a night of silence and of internalization, a night when the potency of various mantras and jaaps is at its peak as is the transformational effect of fire. It is a night of chanting mantras which have been channelized by one’s Guru and of invocation of positivity through yagya in presence of your Guru. The experiences one gets and their effects on one’s being equals the sadhna of many years together, in just one night.

So the next time you read my article or listen to a lecture, please do not pick out one or two parts which are negative, look for positivity and growth.

Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Ashram and can be reached at www.dhyanfoundation.com