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Man is endowed with intellect, emotion and the mystic faculty of introspection, and the yoga that suits a particular person is in measure to that particular faculty which is predominant in his nature. If the occult faculty of introspection is predominant, then Raja Yoga is made use of. Raja Yoga is also called Dhyana Yoga. In Raja Yoga there are eight distinct stages. Therefore it is called ashtanga yoga. Ashta means eight and anga means limb. In Jnana Yoga, in the beginning there is a stage where the sadhaka (aspirant) should acquire the sadhana-chatushtaya (the fourfold qualifications)- discrimination, dispassion, the six fold virtues such as control of mind, control of senses, endurance, etc. and lastly a keen and intense longing for liberation. Equipped with these qualifications you have to approach a Guru and hear from his lips the nature of Reality. This hearing is called sravana. Then you should reflect over what you have heard. This is called manana. Then you should ceaselessly contemplate on that. This is nididhyasana. Just as there are these steps in Jnana Yoga, in Raja Yoga there are eight steps or limbs. Hence it is called ashtanga yoga. It is also called 'Patanjala yoga,' because Patanjali was the sage who expounded this yoga. Raja Yoga is the most scientific and logical of all yogas. Hence the term yoga generally refers to Raja Yoga. Yoga Darsana means ashtanga yoga of Patanjali. By tradition it is called Raja Yoga. In fact all paths have to culminate in meditation. Because of the great importance it attaches to meditation, Raja Yoga is also known as Dhyana Yoga. The eight limbs of Raja Yoga are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Out of these, yama, niyama, asana and pranayama are the preliminary stages. The yoga proper starts from pratyahara or abstraction of the mind and the senses. Yama is the cultivation of certain virtues. Niyama is the following of certain daily observances. Asana is the acquisition of perfect steadiness of pose and pranayama is the discipline, control and regulation of our gross physical breath, which is connected with the inner subtle nerve-currents. Pratyahara is the withdrawal of senses and mind from the external objects of this universe, and dharana is the fixing of the mind on the object of meditation. Dhyana is mastery over dharana, and continuous, unbroken fixing of the mind on the object of meditation. Dharana is sporadic, but when you have attained mastery over dharana, you are able to fix your mind upon the object of meditation steadily for a long time. In the depths of meditation, you transcend the lower, physical consciousness and you experience the highest super-consciousness. This is called samadhi. Here, you should make a distinction between the asana of Hatha Yoga and the asana of Raja Yoga. The asanas in Raja Yoga are not the asanas (of which there are about eighty-four lakhs) taught in Hatha Yoga. The asana in Raja Yoga means any one steady pose that is required for the practice of contemplation. The purpose of the asanas taught in Hatha Yoga is different. In Raja Yoga the definition of asana is Sthirasukhamasanam - holding of the body in a steady and comfortable pose. Any comfortable pose in which you can keep the body steady for a long period of time is asana. It is laid down that if a yogi has to take up pranayama, pratyahara, etc., certainly he should be able to sit in a steady pose at least for three hours. Thus, we have to distinguish the asana in Raja Yoga from the asana in Hatha Yoga. Raja Yoga helps us first to control the gross, physical body, and then step-by-step it leads us on to the control of subtler sheaths - the pranic sheath, the mental sheath, the intellectual sheath and the bliss-sheath - and takes us to the eternal, ever perfect Self that is beyond all these sheaths. Thus the approach is made starting from the most external, the physical body, and proceeding to subtler and subtler body, and so, Raja Yoga is a very scientific and logical method of inner purification and self-perfection. |
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