|
Especially in the Western countries when one hears the
word "Yoga," it is assumed to mean the Hatha Yoga postures that
more and more people are learning and practicing. However, to limit Yoga
to merely this is to do a disservice to the all-encompassing nature of
the word. "Yoga" comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which translates
"to join or yoke together." Yoga means finally the joining of
the soul with God; it is the divine science that disentangles the individual
from the phenomenal world. Yoga means also to live in God, to commune
with God. In the words of Swami Sivananda, "To become harmoniously
balanced in all directions, and to become established in God is the ideal
of Yoga; this can be achieved by the Yoga of Synthesis."
This concept of "The Yoga of Synthesis" is crucial to understanding
Gurudev's philosophy of Yoga. He believed in harmonizing the head, heart,
and hand into a holistic practice of divine integration in the human life.
Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Japa Yoga
and all the other yogic paths should be skillfully combined into one seamless
practice that leads the seeker ultimately to Liberation.
Common Understanding :
The term 'Yoga' is one of the most commonly used terms. It is used by
different persons to mean different things. On one hand, there are millions
who are deeply interested in asanas, which is recognised as one of the
best systems for maintaining physical fitness, and which gives many other
benefits as well. For them, the term yoga means certain physical postures
of Hatha Yoga. The supreme goal of Self-realisation can be attained only
after complete purification and control over the mind and senses. Asanas
and pranayamas are very much helpful for this. The practice of asanas
and pranayamas purifies the inner system, and removes the tossing of the
mind and makes it steady. The ancient rishis (sages) have given due importance
to this practice. As this practice makes the mind more focussed, the practitioner
is able to perform his routine worldly duty also more efficiently. So,
this practice has become very popular in the modern world. But a spiritual
seeker should always bear in mind that this is an aid to the goal and
is not the goal.
Secondly, there are many spiritual seekers who are very
eager to know all about Yoga system and pracitse it in right earnest.
For them, Raja Yoga is the meaning of the word Yoga. However, very few
aspirants focus their attention on the basic issue of the purpose and
goal of Yoga practices.
The Meaning : The literal meaning of the word 'yoga'
is union, and the implied meaning is the union of the individual soul
with the Supreme Soul. Therefore, any practice that leads to the union
of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul is Yoga.
The Purpose :
The ancient seers have declared that the real nature of man is divine.
In essence the individual soul is no other than the Supreme Soul. Man
has forgotten his inherent Divinity. The very purpose of human birth is
to evolve into perfection and to unveil the hidden Divinity, and become
merged into the Supreme Soul. Yoga is a practical and systematic science,
which speeds up this process of evolution into perfection and becoming
established in the hidden Atman, Brahman Itself.
Yoga and Occult Powers: Suppose you want to go to a magnificent
mansion. As you reach there, you find a beautiful courtyard and you forget
to go into the mansion proper. Likewise, when the seeker makes some progress,
he acquires some occult powers. But these are only temptations on the
way so as to prevent the aspirant going further if he is lacking proper
purification and dispassion. These are to be ignored by the true seeker,
and he should continue his onward journey to the final destination.
Yoga Paths :
There are many different paths leading to the same destination
of Self-realisation. So, there are many different spiritual practices
and Yoga Paths to suit different aptitudes and abilities of seekers. Yoga
is a systemic analysis of man and his mind. It has no direct indispensable
link with any particular religion. But the practice of Yoga makes a man
more religious in his own religion.
We present here a simple, explicit and authentic explanation
of various topics related to this concept. This will provide proper understanding
of Yoga and remove doubts and confusion from the minds of the aspirants.
For this purpose we have chosen the following topics on Yoga and put some
commonly asked questions on them and have given the necessary answers
from the writings of the two Masters - Swami Sivananda (Gurudev), and
Swami Chidananda (Swamiji). The topics chosen are:
|
