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• WHAT IS PERSONALITY ? : Our personality is the sum total of our character, emotions,
intellect, behaviour, capabilities, qualities etc. which includes conception of ourselves and the
also the estimate of outside people about us. In total, personality means what we are, what we
think and what we do.
Purification of mind and body through moral disciplines and codes of conduct ( Yama and Niyama) :
Patanjali in his philosophy of YOGA, explains YAMA and NIYAMA to be the fundamental requisites for
personality development. Non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving are called
Yamas.. .Internal and external purification, contentment, mortification, study, and worship of God are the
Niyamas. Swami Vivekananda says that external purification keeps the body pure .Internal purification is
obtained by the virtues named above. Of course, internal purity is of greater value than external, but both are
necessary, and external purity, without internal, is of no good.
Control of emotions like anger etc.: How to prevent the negative thoughts that crop in the process of Yama
and Niyama? Patanjali says that to obstruct thoughts, which are inimical to our goal, contrary thoughts should be
brought in. For instance, when a big wave of anger has come into the mind, how are we to control that? Just by
raising an opposing wave. Think of love. Sometimes a mother is very angry with her husband, and while in that
state, the baby comes in, and she kisses the baby; the old wave dies out and a new wave arises, love for the child.
That suppresses the other one. Love is opposite to anger. Similarly, when the idea of stealing comes, non-stealing
should be thought of; when the idea of receiving gifts comes, replace it by a contrary thought. ( Raja Yoga of
Swami Vivekananda)
Directing the thoughts and emotions through proper channels - KARMA YOGA, BHAKTI YOGA :
2) Pranayama: Control of vital energy. Pranayama is generally described as breath control. It leads to
control over vital air, which in turn is helpful in concentrating the mind
The concentration or meditation involves three steps. Only the last step is called Dhyana
3) Pratyahara: The withholding of the mind from going out along the channels of perception and
“ingathering” it is Pratyahara, which literally means “ gathering towards”. The capacity to do so is the
essence of all self-mastery.
4) Dharana: After practicing the Pratyahara one should go to next step, that is, Dharana, which means
holding the mind at certain point. Long and arduous practice is required for success in Dharana or
complete fixing of the mind.
5) Dhyana: When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there
comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called
Dhyana.
6) Samadhi: Yogis hold that the mind can go beyond the self-conscious level of the mind. When the mind
goes beyond this line of self-consciousness it is called Samadhi of super-consciousness. It is the only
proof of religion and ethics since it substantiates the statements of prophets and preachers that inspiration
comes from beyond the circle of reason.
Disciplines for the penetrative and discriminative intellect
Self-Study : SWADHAYA -
Directing the intellect through higher channel : JNANA YOGA : under standing ourselves
REAL PERSONALITY : The Meaning of I : Original and pure idea of personality lies the
concept of "I-ness" i.e. who am I ? What does the word "I" refer to? The experience of “I” is
common to all. Nobody can deny the existence of “I”. But the understanding of “I” is diverse in
people depending upon their thinking and understanding capacity. Any kind of experience of “I
-ness” is indicated by the word “Atman”. If I feel I am hurt by a stone, my concept of Atman is
limited to body. If I feel I am hurt by some one’s abuse, then Atman refers to mind. If I identify
myself with the breath that forms the vital air through which the body functions, then Atman refers to
Prana or Vital energy. If I feel I have understood a particular subject, then I am relating my “ I-
ness” to “Intellect”. When I am experiencing the unalloyed bliss during the deep sleep I am relating
my “ I- ness” to “Bliss". the blissful aspect of my personality. This raises the following questions:
Am I body ? Am I mind ? Am I Intellect? If not, Who am I ? Another interesting thing is it is
possible to indicate body as my body, mind as my mind and intellect as my Intellect. Through this it
can be deduced that "I- ness" is different from all these. This I-ness or Atman is the pure and
original concept of personality.