INTRODUCTION
From time immemorial Indian mystics, the first seers of truth, in their relentless struggle to solve the mystery of creation, unravelled the subtle forces of nature. Constant search and personal experience revealed to them the laws that control our physical, mental and spiritual existence.
In this distant pilgrimage through time, they took care to record in detail their practice and their findings. What they experienced, they preached to their disciples and to public gatherings, who in turn put them into practice. Over time, earnest seekers would replicate them and realise their authenticity for themselves.
These will further develop into different disciplines to help advance man’s spiritual growth. They will be known under one name, ‘Yoga’. Of Sanskrit origin, ‘Yoga’ refers to the practical aspect of religion. Yoga means the union of Jivatma with Paramatma, the individual soul with the universal soul, the Absolute.
Religion means individual personal experience, through the practice of the different paths of yoga. Religion is not mere theorising or speculation. Book knowledge will not make us any more religious. Yoga is gaining control over the mind through concentration and meditation. The end and aim of religion is freedom from the cycle of life and death.
Men are not all the same. Some are less developed, others more and some, highly developed; the primitive, the literate and the scholarly; the unawakened soul, the half awakened soul and the awakened soul. We have an array of possibilities to choose from and it depends entirely on us. There are different types of yoga to suit these different tendencies or temperaments.
Hatha yoga helps us cater more to our physical needs. This has been dealt at length in our first volume*. Suffice to say that it is a branch of the science of Yoga.
Hatha yoga deals with our health, hunger, sleep; how to enjoy perfect health and alleviate disease; how to keep young and increase our store of ‘prana’. The primary object of hatha yoga is to gain control over the involuntary functions of the body. Some breathing exercises and eye exercises help to increase concentration and gain psychic powers.
Hatha yoga has different kinds of asanas, yoga postures for sitting in meditation. Before any attempt to meditation, one has to be physically and mentally prepared and fit. A sitting posture has to be mastered where the back and spinal cord has no obstruction. Breathing being an important component, the body has to be maintained upright, that breathing is easy and smooth. Prana, vital force, is stored up in the nerve centres of the spinal cord. Keeping the back and spine straight facilitates prana circulation through the spinal cord. Prana is also responsible for the motion of the lungs to allow breathing to take place freely. Keeping the body straight will facilitate all body systems working perfectly.
In modern times many yoga postures have been altered by laymen to include elements of acrobatics etc. Those basic yoga postures which realised gurus spontaneously get during meditation are of help to the seeker in his meditation. It is advised that only such hatha yoga exercises be practiced which are helpful to Raja yoga, the yoga that leads man to realisation of cosmic consciousness or God consciousness.
Raja yoga is considered the surest path to perfection. It deals exclusively with the power of the mind. It is also known as the science of applied psychology. Raja yoga teaches how to control the mind, strengthen the will power, and develop the powers of concentration and meditation, opening the way to the state of Cosmic Consciousness. The practice of meditation, the highest form of concentration, transforms the mind into pure consciousness.
Our spiritual ancestors established meditation as a necessity for humanity and evolved the science of Raja yoga, a perfect science within reach of every human being. Sage Patanjali’s Yoga aphorisms are accepted as the highest authority on Raja Yoga. Known as Ashtanga yoga, it comprises eight steps: Yamas and Niyamas are the first two steps, Asana the third; Pranayama the fourth; Pratyahara is the fifth, sixth is Dharana, Dhyana is seventh and the highest step is Samadhi, the state of super consciousness.
Bhakti yoga is the path of complete devotion to a personal God, a chosen ideal. It is one of the spiritual paths to realise union with God. Bhakti is the means as also the end result. It is a practice based entirely on complete surrender to the Lord, through extreme intensive love to Him.
Bhakti yoga as a path will undoubtedly lead to the same goal as any other path of yoga. It represents the ideal path for those who are highly emotional and sensitive. It is for those who are best at outwardly expressing their love and devotion for God.
God’s love is for the taking. Concentrating and devoting our love to God is the highest ideal that takes man to the height of absolute evolution, union with the Absolute. It is the greatest power in the universe. It does not happen overnight, nor is it a matter of days or months. It may take long years of struggle. Bhakti is essentially spiritual devotion. It is best suited or recommended to those with a great sense of love and devotion.
Jnana yoga is the path of wisdom. It is based on the principle of monism, the non dualistic system of the Vedanta. Everything in the universe is but apparent manifestations of Brahman, the One Substance. They may appear real but in fact are having a relative reality. Jnana yoga teaches discrimination and analysis for acquiring knowledge of the reality underlying all phenomenal objects.
Karma yoga is the secret of action. When work is performed as a spiritual discipline it is called karma yoga. Non attachment to the fruits of our action is the secret. It is not renouncing of action, but conscious action done without any desire for personal gain. There will arise evenness of mind in success or failure, loss or gain.
Kriya yoga, Laya yoga and Mantra yoga are other yoga paths. In kriya yoga, certain exercises, kriyas and mudras, are performed for spiritual development. Mantra yoga involves chanting a sacred word or phrase, a mantra, in an attempt to transcend the mind and emotions to experience the superconscious.
Siddha Kundalini Maha Yoga
Siddha Kundalini Maha Yoga is the true synthesis of all other yogas. All other yoga paths find their origin and finally converge to this yoga. Here, the different yogas spontaneously occur according to the aspirant’s needs. One may spontaneously perform hatha yoga postures, glide into a meditative state as in Raja yoga, get specific kriyas as in Kriya yoga, repeat mantras as in Mantra yoga, experience the most devotional moods as in Bhakti yoga, gain new awareness as in Jnana yoga, indulge in service to others as in Karma yoga or experience visions of lights and colours as in Laya yoga.
All paths eventually lead to the superconscious state experienced in Raja Yoga. The higher states of Raja Yoga merge into Siddha Kundalini Maha Yoga. All other yogas require long struggles and decades of practice. In Siddha Kundalini Maha Yoga one spontaneously experiences the superconscious state through the grace of a siddha guru.