YOGA!!!

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YAUM NAMAH SHIVAYAY

 

 

 

YOGA

 

Yoga means the joining of the limited self with the unlimited one. Merging of the localized Consciousness of a Jiva into the Supreme Self is Yoga.. The Jiva that has sprung up from the Supreme Self tries to reach its source. The merging of individual soul with the Supreme Soul is Yoga, and when this is attained, the knots of the heart are rent asunder. This means the cessation of all sorrows and the acquisition of unlimited bliss and supreme peace. You have no more wants. You have no more cravings. You will feel yourself in a state of absolute plenitude. That is the culmination of Yogic endeavor.

 

All things upon this earth are passing. Therefore, they cannot give permanent joy. The moment the experience of enjoyment ceases, there will be disappointment. Hence they said, “Sarvam Duhkham Vivekinah.” To a man of discrimination this world is characterized by pain. Therefore, in this existence man cannot find real joy. Yet he tries to get joy, which is lasting. The sages, therefore, cry out from the housetops, “O, ye mortals! Wake up. Listen to our message. We have found that eternal thing, wherein you will enjoy imperishable bliss. Reach that state which we have reached.” So the bliss of the Eternal, the Supreme fruit of Yoga, is simply indescribable. So they say it is ecstasy. They cannot express it.

 

That is the ultimate fruit of the state of super consciousness which a Raja Yogi attains by practicing the eight stages, viz., Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. It is a limitless bliss that breaks your individual consciousness. One, who gets this bliss, cannot say anything. He becomes dumb. Suppose you give the most delicious thing to a dumb man, he cannot express the taste. That gives you an inkling of the supreme bliss into which the Yogi merges himself. Yoga bases its origin upon the necessity felt by man to rid him self of all sorrow and suffering and to free him self forever from bondage brought about by finite existence and to attain final victory over all fear, even over death itself. To this great problem, Yoga comes at the

practical solution. It provides the lost link between man and the Infinite.. Yoga plainly states that man is essentially of the nature of Bliss, Perfection, Peace and freedom. Everlastingly he is one with that. The loss of his awareness of that oneness with the infinite, all-perfect Source of his being is the very cause of his involvement in this earth-process called life. To regain a true awareness and to realize once again his everlasting oneness with the Divine is actually the practice of Yoga. The means of overcoming the defects and imperfections of this earth-life and thus experiencing union with the Supreme constitute its structure. Yoga shows how to overcome the imperfections of the lower nature and to gain complete mastery over the mind and senses.

 

All the techniques of Yoga require perfect ethical and moral purity. Purity is the foundation of Yogic life. One cannot be a bad man and yet try to practice Yoga. One cannot allow himself to be impure, insincere, untruthful, deceitful and harmful to others and at the same time try to practice Yoga. There cannot be any spiritual realization when interior circumstances are imperfect. There cannot be any religious practice or true interior life when moral goodness is not deeply implanted in the being. One has to be rooted in goodness, in purity, in truth and in selflessness. Half of the process of Yoga is in getting thus perfectly established in ideal moral conduct. When this basis has been established, then the application of the techniques of Yoga is like the striking of

a dry match upon the match-box and immediately there is a flame. Without this basis, it is like trying to strike and ignite a wet match upon a cake of soap—nothing happens.

In all phases of Yogic life, the supreme factor is the Grace of God. Call it what you will. It is the Grace of the Supreme Essence, the Source of all existence in which alone man realizes his true nature and his deathless divinity. All the practices are purposeful when they make man move towards God and merge into oneness with Him. That is the purpose of Yoga.

 

Rudra...