Yoga Is A Bawana

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HISTORY FOR YOGINS AND YOGINIS

 

 In Yoga, theory and practice, as well as left brain and right brain, go hand in hand so to speak. Study (svâdhyâya) is in fact an important aspect of many branches and schools of Yoga. This is another way in which Yoga’s balanced approach shows itself.

If you want to know where something is going, it is good to know where it came from. “To be ignorant of what happened before one was born,” said Cicero pointedly in his Orator, “is to remain ever a child.” History provides context and meaning, and Yoga is no exception to this rule. If you are fond of history, you’ll enjoy what follows. Many of the facts and ideas presented here have not yet found their way into the textbooks or even into most Yoga books. We put you in touch with the leading edge of knowledge in this area. If you are not a history buff, well, perhaps we can tempt you to suspend your preferences for a few minutes and read on anyway.

THE ORIGIN OF YOGA

Despite more than a century of research, we still don’t know much about the earliest beginnings of Yoga. We do know, though, that it originated in India 5,000 or more years ago. Until recently, many Western scholars thought that Yoga originated much later, maybe around 500 B.C., which is the time of Gautama the Buddha, the illustrious founder of Buddhism. But then, in the early 1920s, archeologists surprised the world with the discovery of the so-called Indus civilization—a culture that we now know extended over an area of roughly 300,000 square miles (the size of Texas and Ohio combined). This was in fact the largest civilization in early antiquity. In the ruins of the big cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, excavators found depictions engraved on soapstone seals that strongly resemble yogi-like figures. Many other finds show the amazing continuity between that civilization and later Hindu society and culture.

There was nothing primitive about what is now called the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, which is named after two great rivers that once flowed in Northern India; today only the Indus River flows through Pakistan. That civilization’s urbane population enjoyed multistory buildings, a sewage system unparalleled in the ancient world until the Roman empire, a huge public bath whose walls were water-proofed with bitumen, geometrically laid out brick roads, and standardized baked bricks for convenient construction. (We are so used to these technological achievements that we sometimes forget they had to be invented.) The Indus-Sarasvati people were a great maritime nation that exported a large variety of goods to Mesopotamia and other parts of the Middle East and Africa. Although only a few pieces of art have survived, some of them show exquisite craftsmanship.

For a long time, scholars thought that this magnificent civilization was abruptly destroyed by invaders from the northwest who called themselves Aryans (ârya meaning “noble” in the Sanskrit language). Some proposed that these warlike nomads invented Yoga, others credited the Indus people with its creation. Yet others took Yoga to be the joint creation of both races.

Nowadays researchers increasingly favor a completely different picture of ancient Indian history. They are coming to the conclusion that there never was an Aryan invasion and that the decline of the Indus-Sarasvati cities was due to dramatic changes in climate. These in turn appear to have been caused by a major tectonic catastrophe changing the course of rivers. In particular, it led to the drying up of what was once India’s largest river, the Sarasvati, along whose banks flourished numerous towns and villages (some 2500 sites have been identified thus far). Today the dry river bed runs through the vast Thar Desert. If it were not for satellite photography, we would not have learned about those many settlements buried under the sand.

The drying up of the Sarasvati River, which was complete by around 1900 B.C., had far-reaching consequences. Just imagine the waters of the Mississippi running dry instead of flooding constantly. What havoc this would cause! The death of the Sarasvati River forced the population to migrate to more fertile parts of the country, especially east toward the Ganges (Ganga) River and south into Central India and Tamilnadu.

Why is this important for the history of Yoga, you might ask? The Sarasvati River happens to be the most celebrated river in the Rig-Veda, which is the oldest known text in any Indo-European language. It is composed in an archaic (and difficult) form of Sanskrit and was transmitted by word of mouth for numerous generations. Sanskrit is the language in which most Yoga scriptures are written. It is related to languages like Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, and not least English. You can see this family relationship on the example of the word yoga itself, which corresponds to zugos, iugum, joug, Joch, yugo, and yoke in these languages. Sanskrit is like an older brother to the other Indo-European languages.

Now, if the Sarasvati River dried up around or before 1900 B.C., the Rig-Veda must be earlier than that benchmark date. If that is so, then the composers of this collection of hymns must have been contemporaneous with the people of the Indus civilization, which flourished between circa 3000-1900 B.C. Indeed, astronomical references in the Rig-Veda suggest that at least some of its 1,028 hymns were composed in the third or even fourth millennium B.C.

Thus, the Sanskrit-speaking Aryans, who created the Rig-Veda, did not come from outside India to destroy the Indus-Sarasvati civilization. They had been there all along. What, then, was their relationship with the Indus-Sarasvati people? Here opinions still differ, but there is a growing understanding that the Aryans and the Indus-Sarasvati people were one and the same. There is nothing in the Rig-Veda to suggest otherwise.

In fact, the Rig-Veda and the other archaic Sanskrit texts appear to be the “missing” literature of the Indus civilization. Conversely, the archeological artifacts of the Indus valley and adjoining areas give us the “missing” material base of the early Sanskrit literature—an elegant solution to a problem that has long vexed researchers.

YOGA AND THE INDUS-SARASVATI CIVILIZATION

This means that Yoga is the product of a mature civilization that was unparalleled in the ancient world. Think of it! As a Yoga practitioner you are part of an ancient and honorable stream of tradition, which makes you a descendant of that civilization at least at the level of the heart. Many of the inventions credited to Sumer rightfully belong to what is now known as the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, which evolved out of a cultural tradition that has reliably been dated back to the seventh millennium B.C. In turn it gave rise to the great religious and cultural tradition of Hinduism, but indirectly also to Buddhism and Jainism.

India’s civilization can claim to be the oldest enduring civilization in the world. Its present-day problems should not blind us to its glorious past and the lessons we can learn from it. Yoga practitioners in particular can benefit from India’s protracted experimentation with life, especially its explorations of the mysteries of the mind. The Indian civilization has produced great philosophical and spiritual geniuses who between them have covered every conceivable answer to the big questions, which are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago.

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Traditional Yoga seeks to provide plausible answers to such profound questions as, “Who am I?”, “Whence do I come?”, “Whither do I go?,” and “What must I do?” These are the sorts of questions that, sooner or later, we all end up asking ourselves. Or at least, we have our own implicit answers to them, though may not get round to consciously formulating them. Deep down, we all are philosophers, because we all need to make sense of our life. Some of us postpone thinking about these questions, but they don’t ever go away. We quickly learn this when we lose a loved one or face a serious health crisis.

So, we might as well ponder these questions while we are in good shape. And don’t think you have to feel morose to do so. Yoga doesn’t champion dark moods, but it is definitely in favor of awareness in all its forms, including self-awareness. If we know the stuff we are made of, we can function a lot better in the world. At the very least, our self-knowledge will give us the opportunity to make conscious and better choices.

THE HISTORY OF YOGA

I can provide here only the merest thumbnail sketch and, if you wish to inform yourself more about the long history of Yoga, recommend that you study my book The Yoga Tradition. This is the most comprehensive historical overview available anywhere. But be prepared for challenging reading and a fairly large tome.

The history of Yoga can conveniently be divided into the following four broad categories:

Vedic Yoga
Preclassical Yoga
Classical Yoga
Postclassical Yoga

These categories are like static snapshots of something that is in actuality in continuous motion—the “march of history.”

VEDIC YOGA

Now we are entering somewhat more technical territory, and I will have to use and explain a number of Sanskrit terms.

The yogic teachings found in the above-mentioned Rig-Veda and the other three ancient hymnodies are known as Vedic Yoga. The Sanskrit word veda means “knowledge,” while the Sanskrit term rig (from ric) means “praise.” Thus the sacred Rig-Veda is the collection of hymns that are in praise of a higher power. This collection is in fact the fountainhead of Hinduism, which has around one billion adherents today. You could say that the Rig-Veda is to Hinduism what the Book of Genesis is to Christianity.

The other three Vedic hymnodies are the Yajur-Veda (“Knowledge of Sacrifice”), Sama-Veda (“Knowledge of Chants”), and Atharva-Veda (“Knowledge of Atharvan”). The first collection contains the sacrificial formulas used by the Vedic priests. The second text contains the chants accompanying the sacrifices. The third hymnody is filled with magical incantations for all occasions but also includes a number of very powerful philosophical hymns. It is connected with Atharvan, a famous fire priest who is remembered as having been a master of magical rituals. These hymnodies can be compared to the various books of the Old Testament.

It is clear from what has been said thus far that Vedic Yoga—which could also be called Archaic Yoga—was intimately connected with the ritual life of the ancient Indians. It revolved around the idea of sacrifice as a means of joining the material world with the invisible world of the spirit. In order to perform the exacting rituals successfully, the sacrificers had to be able to focus their mind for a prolonged period of time. Such inner focusing for the sake of transcending the limitations of the ordinary mind is the root of Yoga.

When successful, the Vedic yogi was graced with a “vision” or experience of the transcendental reality. A great master of Vedic Yoga was called a “seer”—in Sanskrit rishi. The Vedic seers were able to see the very fabric of existence, and their hymns speak of their marvelous intuitions, which can still inspire us today.

PRECLASSICAL YOGA

This category covers an extensive period of approximately 2,000 years until the second century A.D. Preclassical Yoga comes in various forms and guises. The earliest manifestations were still closely associated with the Vedic sacrificial culture, as developed in the Brâhmanas and Âranyakas. The Brâhmanas are Sanskrit texts explaining the Vedic hymns and the rituals behind them. The Âranyakas are ritual texts specific to those who chose to live in seclusion in a forest hermitage.

Yoga came into its own with the Upanishads, which are gnostic texts expounding the hidden teaching about the ultimate unity of all things. There are over 200 of these scriptures, though only a handful of them were composed in the period prior to Gautama the Buddha (fifth century B.C.). These works can be likened to the New Testament, which rests on the Old Testament but at the same time goes beyond it.

One of the most remarkable Yoga scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ (“Lord’s Song”), of which the great social reformer Mahatma Gandhi spoke as follows:

When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad-Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies—and my life has been full of external tragedies—and if they have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. (Young India, 1925, pp. 1078-79)

In its significance, this work of only 700 verses perhaps is to Hindus what Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is to Christians. Its message, however, is not to turn the other cheek but to actively oppose evil in the world. In its present form, the Bhagavad-Gîtâ (Gîtâ for short) was composed around 500 B.C. and since then has been a daily inspiration to millions of Hindus. Its central teaching is to the point: To be alive means to be active and, if we want to avoid difficulties for ourselves and others, our actions must be benign and also go beyond the grip of the ego. A simple matter, really, but how difficult to accomplish in daily life!

Preclassical Yoga also comprises the many schools whose teachings can be found in India’s two great national epics, the Râmâyana and the Mahâbhârata (in which the Bhagavad-Gîtâ is embedded and which is seven times the size of the Iliad and Odyssey combined). These various preclassical schools developed all kinds of techniques for achieving deep meditation through which yogis and yoginis can transcend the body and mind and discover their true nature.

CLASSICAL YOGA

This label applies to the eightfold Yoga—also known as Râja-Yoga—taught by Patanjali in his Yoga-Sûtra. This Sanskrit text is composed of just under 200 aphoristic statements, which have been commented on over and over again through the centuries. Sooner or later all serious Yoga students discover this work and have to grapple with its terse statements. The word sûtra (which is related to Latin suture) means literally “thread.” Here it conveys a thread of memory, an aid to memorization for students eager to retain Patanjali’s knowledge and wisdom.

The Yoga-Sûtra was probably written some time in the second century A.D. The earliest available Sanskrit commentary on it is the Yoga-Bhâshya (“Speech on Yoga”) attributed to Vyâsa. It was authored in the fifth century A.D. and furnishes fundamental explanations of Patanjali’s often cryptic statements.

Beyond a few legends nothing is known about either Patanjali or Vyâsa. This is a problem with most ancient Yoga adepts and even with many more recent ones. Often all we have are their teachings, but this is of course more important than any historical information we could dig up about their personal lives.

Patanjali, who is by the way often wrongly called the “father of Yoga,” believed that each individual is a composite of matter (prakriti) and spirit (purusha). He understood the process of Yoga to bring about their separation, thereby restoring the spirit in its absolute purity. His formulation is generally characterized as philosophical dualism. This is an important point, because most of India’s philosophical systems favor one or the other kind of nondualism: The countless aspects or forms of the empirical world are in the last analysis the same “thing”—pure formless but conscious existence.

POSTCLASSICAL YOGA

This is again a very comprehensive category, which refers to all those many types and schools of Yoga that have sprung up in the period after Patanjali’s Yoga-Sûtra and that are independent of this seminal work. In contrast to classical Yoga, postclassical Yoga affirms the ultimate unity of everything. This is the core teaching of Vedânta, the philosophical system based on the teachings of the Upanishads.

In a way, the dualism of classical Yoga can be seen as a brief but powerful interlude in a stream of nondualist teachings going back to ancient Vedic times. According to these teachings, you, we, and everyone or everything else is an aspect or expression of one and the same reality. In Sanskrit that singular reality is called brahman (meaning “that which has grown expansive”) or âtman (the transcendental Self as opposed to the limited ego-self).

A few centuries after Patanjali, the evolution of Yoga took an interesting turn. Now some great adepts were beginning to probe the hidden potential of the body. Previous generations of yogis and yoginis had paid no particular attention to the body. They had been more interested in contemplation to the point where they could exit the body consciously. Their goal had been to leave the world behind and merge with the formless reality, the spirit.

Under the influence of alchemy—the spiritual forerunner of chemistry—the new breed of Yoga masters created a system of practices designed to rejuvenate the body and prolong its life. They regarded the body as a temple of the immortal spirit, not merely as a container to be discarded at the first opportunity. They even explored through advanced yogic techniques the possibility of energizing the physical body to such a degree that its biochemistry is changed and even its basic matter is reorganized to render it immortal.

This preoccupation of theirs led to the creation of Hatha-Yoga, an amateur version of which is today widely practiced throughout the world. It also led to the various branches and schools of Tantra-Yoga, of which Hatha-Yoga is just one approach.

MODERN YOGA

The history of modern Yoga is widely thought to begin with the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. It was at that congress that the young Swami Vivekananda—swami (svâmin) means “master”—made a big and lasting impression on the American public. At the behest of his teacher, the saintly Ramakrishna, he had found his way to the States where he didn’t know a soul. Thanks to some well-wishers who recognized the inner greatness of this adept of Jnâna-Yoga (the Yoga of discernment), he was invited to the Parliament and ended up being its most popular diplomat. In the following years, he traveled widely attracting many students to Yoga and Vedânta. His various books on Yoga are still useful and enjoyable to read.

Before Swami Vivekananda a few other Yoga masters had crossed the ocean to visit Europe, but their influence had remained local and ephemeral. Vivekananda’s immense success opened a sluice gate for other adepts from India, and the stream of Eastern gurus has not ceased.

After Swami Vivekananda, the most popular teacher in the early years of the Western Yoga movement was Paramahansa Yogananda, who arrived in Boston in 1920. Five years later, he established the Self-Realizaton Fellowship, which still has its headquarters in Los Angeles. Although he left his body (as yogins call it) in 1952 at the age of fifty-nine, he continues to have a worldwide following. His Autobiography of a Yogi makes for fascinating reading, but be prepared to suspend any materialistic bias you may have! As with some other yogis and Christian or Muslim saints, after his death Yogananda’s body showed no signs of decay for a full twenty days.

Of more limited appeal was Swami Rama Tirtha, a former mathematics teacher who preferred spiritual life to academia and who came to the United States in 1902 and founded a retreat center on Mount Shasta in California. He stayed for only two years and drowned in the Ganges (Ganga) River in 1906 at the young age of thirty-three. Some of his inspirational talks were gathered into the five volumes of In Woods of God-Realization, which are still worth dipping into.

In 1919, Yogendra Mastamani arrived in Long Island and for nearly three years demonstrated to astounded Americans the power and elegance of Hatha Yoga. Before returning to India, he founded the American branch of Kaivalyadhama, an Indian organization created by the late Swami Kuvalayananda, which has contributed greatly to the scientific study of Yoga.

A very popular figure for several decades after the 1920s was Ramacharaka, whose books can still be found in used bookstores. What few readers know, however, is that this Ramacharaka was apparently not an actual person. The name was the pseudonym of two people—William Walker Atkinson, who had left his law practice in Chicago to practice Yoga, and his teacher Baba Bharata.

Paul Brunton, a former journalist and editor, burst on the scene of Yoga in 1934 with his book A Search in Secret India, which introduced the great sage Ramana Maharshi to Western seekers. Many more works flowed from his pen over the following eighteen years, until the publication of The Spiritual Crisis of Man. Then, in the 1980s, his notebooks were published posthumously in sixteen volumes—a treasure-trove for serious Yoga students.

Since the early 1930s until his death in 1986, Jiddu Krishnamurti delighted or perplexed thousands of philosophically minded Westerners with his eloquent talks. He had been groomed by the Theosophical Society as the coming world leader but had rejected this mission, which surely is too big and burdensome for any one person, however great. He demonstrated the wisdom of Jnana-Yoga (the Yoga of discernment), and drew large crowds of listeners and readers. Among his close circle of friends were the likes of Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, Charles Chaplin, and Greta Garbo. Bernard Shaw described Krishnamurti as the most beautiful human being he ever saw.

Yoga, in the form of Hatha-Yoga, entered mainstream America when the Russian-born yoginî Indra Devi, who has been called the “First Lady of Yoga,” opened her Yoga studio in Hollywood in 1947. She taught stars like Gloria Swanson, Jennifer Jones, and Robert Ryan, and trained hundreds of teachers. Now in her nineties and living in Buenos Aires, she is still an influential voice for Yoga.

In the 1950s, one of the most prominent Yoga teacher was Selvarajan Yesudian whose book Sport and Yoga has been translated into fourteen or so languages, with more than 500,000 copies sold. Today, as we mentioned before, many athletes have adopted yogic exercises into their training program because . . . it works. Among them are the Chicago Bulls. Just picture these champion basket ball players stretching out on extra-long Yoga mats under the watchful eye of Yoga teacher Paula Kout! In the early 1950s, Shri Yogendra of the Yoga Institute of Santa Cruz in India, visited the United States. He pioneered medical research on Yoga as early as 1918, and his son Jayadev Yogendra is continuing his valuable work, which demonstrates the efficacy of Yoga as a therapeutic tool.

In 1961, Richard Hittleman brought Hatha-Yoga to American television, and his book The Twenty-Eight-Day Yoga Plan sold millions of copies. In the mid-1960s, the Western Yoga movement received a big boost through Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, largely because of his brief association with the Beatles. He popularized yogic contemplation in the form of Transcendental Meditation (TM), which still has tens of thousands of practitioners around the world. TM practitioners also introduced meditation and Yoga into the corporate world. It, moreover, stimulated medical research on Yoga at various American universities.

In 1965, the then sixty-nine-year-old Shrila Prabhupada arrived in New York with a suitcase full of books and $8.00 in his pockets. Six years later he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), and by the time of his death in 1977, he had created a worldwide spiritual movement based on Bhakti Yoga (the Yoga of devotion).

Also in the 1960s and 1970s, many swamis trained by the Himalayan master Swami Sivananda, a former physician who became a doctor of the soul, opened their schools in Europe and the two Americas. Most of them are still active today, and among them are Swami Vishnudevananda (author of the widely read Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga), Swami Satchitananda (well-known to Woodstock participants), Swami Sivananda Radha (a woman-swami who pioneered the link between Yoga spirituality and psychology), Swami Satyananda (about whom we will say more shortly), and Swami Chidananda (a saintly figure who directed the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh, India). The last-mentioned master’s best known American student is the gentle Lilias Folan, made famous by her PBS television series Lilias, Yoga & You, broadcast between 1970 and 1979.

In 1969, Yogi Bhajan caused an uproar among the traditional Sikh community (an offshoot of Hinduism) when he broke with tradition and began to teach Kundalini Yoga to his Western students. Today his Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization—better known as 3HO—has more than 200 centers around the world.

A more controversial but wildly popular guru in the 1970 and 1980s was Bhagavan Rajneesh (now known as Osho), whose followers constantly made the headlines for their sexual orgies and other excesses. Rajneesh, a former philosophy professor, drew his teachings from authentic Yoga sources, mixed with his own personal experiences. His numerous books line the shelves of many second-hand bookstores. Rajneesh allowed his students to act out their repressed fantasies, notably of the sexual variety, in the hope that this would free them up for the deeper processes of Yoga. Many of them, however, got trapped in a mystically tinged hedonism, which proves the common-sense rule that too much of a good thing can be bad for you. Even though many of his disciples felt bitterly disappointed by him and the sad events surrounding his organization in the years immediately preceding his death in 1990, just as many still regard him as a genuine Yoga master. His life illustrates that Yoga adepts come in all shapes and sizes and that, to coin a phrase, one person’s guru is another person’s uru. (The Sanskrit word uru denotes “empty space.”) Another maxim that applies here is caveat emptor, “buyer beware.”

Other renowned modern Yoga adepts of Indian origin are Sri Aurobindo (the father of Integral Yoga), Ramana Maharshi (an unparalleled master of Jnana-Yoga), Papa Ramdas (who lived and breathed Mantra-Yoga, the Yoga of transformative sound), Swami Nityananda (a miracle-working master of Siddha-Yoga), and his disciple Swami Muktananda (a powerful yogi who put Siddha-Yoga, which is a Tantric Yoga, on the map for Western seekers). All these teachers are no longer among us.

The great exponent in modern times of Hatha-Yoga was Sri Krishnamacharya, who died in 1989 at the ripe old age of 101. He practiced and taught the Viniyoga system of Hatha-Yoga until his last days. His son T. K. V. Desikachar continues his saintly father’s teachings and taught Yoga, among others, to the famous Jiddu Krishnamurti. Another well-known student of Sri Krishnamacharya and a master in his own right is Desikachar’s uncle B. K. S. Iyengar, who has taught tens of thousands of students, including the world-famous violinist Jehudi Menuhin.

Mention must also be made of Pattabhi Jois and Indra Devi, both of whom studied with Krishnamacharya in their early years and have since then inspired thousands of Westerners.

Of living Yoga masters from India, I can mention Sri Chinmoy and Swami Satyananda (a Tantra master who established the well-known Bihar School of Yoga, has authored numerous books, and has disciples around the world). There are of course many other great Yoga adepts, both well known and more hidden, who represent Yoga in one form or another, but I leave it up to you to discover them.

Until modern times, the overwhelming majority of Yoga practitioners have been men, yogins. But there have also always been great female adepts, yoginîs. Happily, in recent years, a few woman saints—representing Bhakti-Yoga (Yoga of devotion)—have come to the West to bring their gospel of love to open-hearted seekers. Yoga embraces so many diverse approaches that anyone can find a home in it.

An exceptional woman teacher from India who fits none of the yogic stereotypes is Meera Ma (“Mother Meera”). She doesn’t teach in words but communicates in silence through her simple presence. Of all places, she has made her home in the middle of a quaint German village in the Black Forest, and every year is attracting thousands of people from all over the world.

Since Yoga is not restricted to Hinduism, we may also mention here the Dalai Lama, champion of nonviolence and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. He is unquestionably one of the truly great yogis of modern Tibet, who, above all, demonstrates that the principles of Yoga can fruitfully be brought not only into a busy daily life but also into the arena of politics. Today Tibetan Buddhism (which is a form of Tantra-Yoga) is extremely popular among Westerners, and there are many lamas (spiritual teacher) who are willing to share with sincere seekers the secrets of their hitherto well-guarded tradition.

If you are curious about Westerners who have made a name for themselves as teachers in the modern Yoga movement (understood in the broadest terms), you may want to consult the encyclopedic work The Book of Enlightened Masters by Andrew Rawlinson. His book includes both genuine masters (like the Bulgarian teacher Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov on whom I have written a book—The Mystery of Light) and a galaxy of would-be masters.

For a comprehensive history of Yoga, see my book The Yoga Tradition, published by Hohm Press. This dimension of Yoga is also covered in my 800-hour distance-learning course.

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Obstacles in Yoga

There are certain obstacles in the path of Yoga, which you should, by all means, overcome in the very beginning of your Yogic career. If you do not adequately guard yourself against these impediments in right time by the warning voice of your Guru, they will smash all your hopes and aspirations to pieces and will eventually bring about miserable downfall.

Lust, greed, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, inertia, depression, prejudice, intolerance, evil company, arrogance, self-sufficiency, desire for name and fame, curiosity, building castles in the air and hypocrisy are foremost among these. You should ever introspect and watch your mind. You should take effective measures to remove these obstacles root and branch.

“Women, beds, seats, dresses, and riches are obstacles in Yoga. Betels, dainty dishes, carriages, kingdoms, lordliness and powers; gold, silver, as well as copper, gems, aloe wood, and kine; learning the Vedas and the Sastras; dancing, singing and ornaments; harp, flute, and drum; riding on elephants and horses; wives and children, worldly enjoyments; all these are so many impediments.” (Siva Samhita: Ch. V-3).

The Yogic student should not possess much wealth as it will drag him to worldly temptations. He may keep a small sum to get the wants of the body. Economical independence is of paramount importance to an aspirant; because it will relieve him from anxieties and will enable him to continue his practices uninterruptedly.

If you get easily offended even for trifling things, know that you cannot make any progress in Yoga and meditation. You should, hence, cultivate amiable, loving nature and adaptability. Some aspirants easily get offended, if their defects and vices are pointed out. They become indignant and begin to fight with the person who shows the defects. They think that the person is concocting them out of jealousy and hatred. This is bad. Others can very easily detect your defects. If you have no life of introspection, if your mind is of outgoing tendencies, how can you find out your own defects? Your self-conceit veils and blurs your mental vision. If you, therefore, want to grow in spirituality and Yoga, you must admit your defects, when they are pointed out by others. You must endeavour to eradicate them and must be really grateful to the man for pointing out your
defects.

It is rather a difficult business to eradicate the self-assertive nature. This nature is born of ignorance only. Everyone has built his personality from beginningless time. This personality has grown very strong. It is hard to bend this personality and make it pliable and elastic. You want to dominate over others. You do not want to hear the opinions and arguments of others, even though they are quite logical, sound and tenable. You have a pair of jaundiced eyes. You say: “Whatever I 8 Alecture delivered in the Willoughby Memorial Hall, Lakshmipur, by Swami Sivananda Sarasvati, on December
15 1932

say is correct. Whatever I do-is correct. The views and actions of others are incorrect.” You never admit your mistakes. You try your best to support your own whimsical views by crooked arguments. If arguments fail, you will take to vituperation and hand-to-hand fight also. If people fail to show you respect and honour, you are instantaneously thrown into a fit of fury. You are immensely pleased with anybody who begins to flatter you. You will tell any number of lies to justify yourself. Self-justification goes hand in hand with self-assertive Rajasic nature. You can never grow in Yoga so long as you have this self-assertive nature with the habit of self-justification. You should change your mental attitude. You must develop the habit of looking at matters from the view-point of others. You must have the new vision of righteousness and truthfulness. Then alone you will grow in Yoga and spirituality. You should treat respect and honour as offal and poison, and censure and dishonour as ornament and nectar.

You will also find it hard to adjust yourself to the ways and habits of others. Your mind is filled, as it were, with likes and dislikes, prejudice of caste, creed and colour. You are quite intolerant. The faultfinding nature is ingrained in you. You jump at once to find the faults of others. You cannot see the good in others; you have a pair of morbid eyes. You cannot appreciate the meritorious actions of others. You brag of your own abilities and merits. That is the reason why you fight with all people and cannot maintain cordial relations with others for long time. You should overcome these defects by developing tolerance, love and other good virtues.

The old Samskaras (latent impressions) of vanity, cunningness, crookedness, arrogance, petty-mindedness, fighting, boasting or bragging nature, self-esteem or thinking too much of yourself, speaking ill of others, belittling others may be still lurking in your mind. You can never shine until you remove these faults thoroughly. Success in Yoga is not possible unless these undesirable negative qualities of lower nature are completely eradicated.

Those who engage themselves in hot discussions, vain debates, wranglings, lingual warfare and intellectual gymnastics cause serious damage to their astral bodies. Much energy is wasted. The astral body gets actually inflamed and an open sore is formed. Blood becomes hot. It bubbles like milk over fire. Ignorant people have no idea of the disastrous effects of unnecessary hot discussions and argumentations. Those who are in the habit of arguing unnecessarily and entering into vain discussions cannot expect an iota of progress in Yoga. Aspirants must entirely give up unnecessary discussions. They should destroy the impulses by careful introspection.

You have heard several brilliant lectures, delivered by learned monks or Sannyasins. You have listened to several discourses and expositions on the Bhagavad-Gita, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata and the Upanishads. You have also heard several valuable moral and spiritual instructions. But you have not at all endeavoured to put anything into serious earnest practice and to do protracted solid Sadhana.

Mere intellectual assent to a religious idea, a little closing of the eyes in the morning and at night just to deceive yourself and the Indweller and the Witness, a little endeavour to stick to the daily spiritual routine and to develop some virtues in a halt-hearted, careless manner, some mild effort to carry out the instructions of your spiritual preceptor perfunctorily will not suffice. This kind of mentality should be entirely given up. You should follow the instructions of your master and the teachings of the Scriptures to the very letter. No leniency to the mind. There can be no half measures in the path of Yoga. Exact implicit and strict obedience to the instructions is what is expected of you. Do not make any thoughtless remarks. Do not speak even a single idle word. Give up idle talk, tall talk, big talk, loose talk. Avoid evil company. Become silent. Do not assert for rights in this physical, illusory plane. Do not fight for rights. Think more about your duties and less about your rights. These rights are worthless. Assert your birthright of God-consciousness. Then you are a wise man.

If you are endowed with good character, celibacy (Brahmacharya), truthfulness, mercy, love, tolerance, forgiveness, serenity these qualities will more than counterbalance many other evil qualities you may possess. Then gradually these evil qualities also will vanish, if you are careful, if you focus your attention on them.

If you remain in the company of a developed saint, you will be really benefited by his magnetic aura and wonderful spiritual currents. His company will be like a fortress for you. You will not be affected by evil influences. There is no fear of downfall. You can have rapid spiritual progress. Young aspirants should remain in the company of their Gurus or other experienced saints till they are firmly moulded and established in deep meditation. Nowadays many young aspirants wander aimlessly from place to place. They do not care to hear the instructions of their masters. They want independence from the very start. Hence they do not make any progress in Yoga. Humour is a rare gift of nature. It helps aspirants in their march on the spiritual path. It removes depression. It keeps one cheerful. It brings joy and mirth. But you should not cut jokes at the expense of others and wound their feelings. The humorous words must educate and correct others.

You should laugh in a mild, delicate and decent manner. Silly giggling, guffaw, or boisterous, indecent, unrefined laughter in a rude manner should be given up, because it prevents the spiritual progress and destroys serenity of mind and serious magnanimous attitude. Sages smile through their eyes. It is grand and thrilling. Intelligent aspirants only can understand this. Don’t be childish and silly.

Even the slight annoyance and irritability affect the mind and the astral body. You should not allow these evil modifications (Vrittis) to manifest in the mind-lake. They may burst out as big waves of anger at any moment, if you are weak and careless. They should be nipped in the bud. You should develop the noble qualities of forgiveness, love and sympathy for others. There should not be the least disturbance in the mind-lake. It should be perfectly calm and serene. Then only meditation is possible.

Success in Yoga is possible only if the aspirant practices profound and constant meditation. He must practice self-restraint at all times, because all of a sudden the senses may become turbulent. That is the reason why Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: “O son of Kunti! The excited senses of even a wise man, though he be striving impetuously, carry away his mind. For the mind, which follows in the wake of the wandering senses, carries away his discrimination, as the wind (carries away) a boat on the waters.” (Bhagavad-Gita: Ch. II-60, 67).

A terrible fit of anger shatters the physical nervous system and produces a deep and lasting impression on the astral body. Dark arrows will shoot forth from the astral body. The germs that caused the epidemic of Spanish flu may die, but the wave of influenza still continues in various parts for a long time. Even so, though the effect of the fit of anger in the mind may subside in a short time, the vibration or wave continues to exist for days or weeks together in the astral body. Slight, unpleasant feeling that lasts in the mind for five minutes may produce vibration in the astral body for two or three days. A terrible fit of wrath will produce deep inflammation of the astral body. An open sore will be formed on the surface of the astral body. It will take months for the healing of the ulcer. Have you now realised the serious consequences of anger? Do not fall a victim to anger. Control it by forgiveness, love, mercy, sympathy, enquiry (of “who am I?”) and consideration for others.

Worry, depression, unholy thoughts and hatred produce a kind of crust or dark layer on the surface of the mind or astral body. This crust or rust or dirt prevents the beneficial influences to get entry inside, but it allows the evil forces or lower influences to operate. Worry does great harm to the astral body and the mind. Energy is wasted by this worry-habit. Nothing is gained by worrying. It causes inflammation of the astral body and drains the vitality of man. It should be eradicated by the practice of cheerfulness, vigilant introspection and keeping the mind fully occupied. By continence, devotion to Guru and steady practice, success in Yoga comes after a long time. You should be patient and persevering.

Aspirants who take to seclusion generally become lazy after some time, as they do not know how to utilise their mental energy, as they do not have any daily routine, as they do not follow the instructions of their Gurus. They get Vairagya (dispassion and disgust for worldly enjoyments) in the beginning, but as they have no experience in the spiritual line, the Vairagya begins to wane. They do not make any real progress in the end. Intense and constant practice of Yoga is necessary for entering into Asamprajnata Samadhi.

If the Yogic student who practices meditation is gloomy, depressed and weak, surely there is some error in his Sadhana somewhere. True meditation makes the aspirant strong, cheerful and healthy. If the aspirants themselves are gloomy and peevish, how are they going to impart joy, peace and strength to others?

You will have to master every step in Yoga. Do not take up any higher step before completely mastering the lower step. Gradually ascend the successive stages boldly and cheerfully. This is the right royal road to perfection in Yoga. Aspirants do not possess true and unshakable faith in their Gurus and the teachings of the
Scriptures. Hence they fail to attain success in Yoga.

Sleepless vigilance is necessary, if you wish to have rapid spiritual advancement. Never rest contented with a little achievement or success in the path, a little serenity of mind, a little one-pointedness of mind, some visions of angels and Devatas, a little faculty of thought-reading, and so on. There are still higher summits to ascend, higher regions to climb.

A Yogi claims that he can attain extraordinary powers and knowledge by subduing the passions and appetites and by practicing Yama, Niyama and Yogic Samyama (concentration, meditation and Samadhi at one and the same time). Patanjali clearly warns the students that they should not be carried away by the temptations of powers. The gods themselves tempt the unwary Yogi by offering him a position similar to theirs. Aspirants run more after Siddhis (psychic powers) than after real spiritual attainment despite the clear note of warning.

Desire for powers will act like puffs of air which may blow out the lamp of Yoga that is being carefully fed. Any slackness in feeding it due to carelessness or selfishness will blow out the little spiritual lamp the Yogi has lighted after so much struggle and will hurl him down into the deep abyss of ignorance. He cannot rise up again to the original height to which he had ascended. Temptations are simply waiting to overwhelm the unwary aspirant or Yogi. Temptations of the astral, mental and the Gandharva worlds are more powerful than earthly temptations. Patanjali enumerates the following nine obstacles: Disease, languor, doubt, carelessness, laziness, sensuality, mistaken notion (false knowledge), tossing of mind and instability to remain in the state of Samadhi. He prescribes practice of concentration on one subject (Eka-Tattvabhyasa) to overcome them. This will give the aspirant steadiness and real inner strength. He further advocates the practice of friendship between equals, mercy towards inferiors, complacency towards superiors and indifference towards wicked people. This practice will generate peace of mind or composure and will destroy hatred, jealousy, etc. A new life will dawn in him, when he practices these virtues. Perseverance is needed. It is the key-note to success in Yoga. The Yogi is amply rewarded, when he gets full control over his mind. He enjoys the highest bliss of Asamprajnata Samadhi.

In the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad you will find: “Diseases are generated in one’s body through the following causes viz., sleeping in the day-time, late vigils overnight, excess of sexual intercourse, moving in crowds, the checking of the urine and the faeces, the evil of unwholesome food and laborious mental operations with Prana. If a Yogi is afraid of such diseases (when attacked by them), he says: “My diseases have arisen from the practice of Yoga.” Then he will discontinue his practice. This is said to be the first obstacle. The second obstacle is doubt, the third carelessness, the fourth laziness, the fifth sleep, the sixth not leaving of objects (of sense), the seventh erroneous perception, the eighth sensual objects, the ninth want of faith and the tenth the failure to attain the truth of Yoga. A wise man should abandon these ten obstacles after great deliberation.
Fatigue is harmful for aspirants. They should avoid long walks and much exertion. When the state of tranquillity prevails during meditation, do not disturb the mind. Do not get up from your seat. Try to prolong the meditation.

You cannot please the world. Remember the story of the old man, his son and the donkey. Stick to your ideals, convictions and principles tenaciously, whether you become popular or unpopular, even if the whole world opposes you. Stand up boldly on your own principles of right conduct and right living. Do not retrace your steps even a fraction of an inch.

Do not dig shallow pits here and there for getting water. The pits will dry up soon. Dig a deep pit in one place. Centralise all your efforts here. You will get good water throughout the year. Even so, try to imbibe the spiritual teachings from one preceptor only. Drink deep from one man

only. Sit at his feet for some years. There is no use of wandering from place to place, from one man to another man out of curiosity, losing faith in a short time. Do not have the ever-changing mind of a prostitute. Follow the spiritual instructions of one man only. If you go to several people and follow their instructions, you will be bewildered. You will be in a dilemma.

Do not relax your efforts. Keep the Divine Flame burning steadily. You are nearing the goal. The light has come. There is Brahmic aura in your face. You have crossed many peaks and insurmountable summits in the spiritual path by dint of untiring patient Sadhana. It is highly creditable indeed! You have made marvellous progress. I amhighly pleased with you, O John! You will have to ascend one more peak and go through one more narrow pass. This demands some more patient effort and strength. You will have to melt your Sattvic egoism also. You will have to transcend the blissful state of Savikalpa Samadhi. The Brahmakara Vritti also should die. Then alone you will attain Bhuma, the highest goal of life. You can do this also. I am quite confident. There at the summit of the Hill of Eternal Bliss, you can see now the Jivanmukta or the full-blown Yogi. He has climbed the stupendous heights through intense and constant struggle. He did severe rigorous spiritual Sadhana. He did profound meditation. He spent sleepless nights. He kept long vigils at night on countless occasions. He gradually ascended the heights step by step. He took rest at several halting-places. He persevered with patience and diligence. He surmounted many obstacles. He conquered despair, gloom and depression. Today he is a beacon-light to the world at large. You can also ascend to that summit if only you will.9

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Yogic Diet 

A diet that is wholly conducive to the practice of Yoga and spiritual progress is called Yogic diet. Diet has intimate connection with the mind. Mind is formed out of the subtlest portion of food. Sage Uddalaka instructs his son Svetaketu “Food, when consumed becomes threefold: the gross particles become excrement, the middling ones flesh and the fine ones the mind. My child, when curd is churned, its fine particles which rise upwards, form butter. Thus, my child, when food is consumed, the fine particles which rise upwards form the mind. Hence verily the mind is food.” Again you will find in the Chhandogya Upanishad: “By the purity of food one becomes purified in his inner nature; by the purification of his inner nature he verily gets memory of the Self; and by the attainment of the memory of the Self, all ties and attachments are severed.”

Diet is of three kinds viz., Sattvic diet, Rajasic diet and Tamasic diet. Milk, barely, wheat, cereals, butter, cheese, tomatoes, honey, dates, fruits, almonds and sugar-candy are all Sattvic foodstuffs. They render the mind pure and calm. Fish, eggs, meat, salt, chillies and asafoetida are Rajasic foodstuffs. They excite passion. Beef, wine, garlic, onions and tobacco are Tamasic foodstuffs. They fill the mind with anger, darkness and inertia.

Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: “The food which is dear to each is threefold. Hear the distinctions of these. The foods which increase vitality, energy, vigour, health and joy and which are delicious, bland, substantial and agreeable are dear to the pure. The passionate desire foods that are bitter, sour, saline, excessively hot, pungent, dry and burning and which produce pain, grief and disease. The food which is stale, tasteless, putrid and rotten, leavings and impure is dear to the Tamasic.” (Bhagavad-Gita. Ch. VII-8, 9, 10).

Food plays an important part in meditation. Different foods produce different effects on different compartments of the brain. For purposes of meditation, the food should be light, nutritious and Sattvic. Milk, fruits, almonds, butter, sugar-candy, green gram, Bengal gram soaked in water

7 Soak ten or twelve almond-seeds overnight in cold water. Peel off the skin the next morning and eat them with
sugar-candy.

overnight, bread, etc., are all very helpful in meditation. Thed (a kind of root available in abundance in the Himalayan regions) is very Sattvic. Tea and sugar should be used in moderation. It is better if you can give them up entirely. Dried ginger-powder can be mixed with milk and taken frequently. Indian Yogins like this very much. Another health-giving stuff is myrobalan of the yellow variety which can be chewed now and then. In the Vagbhata it is represented as even superior to a nourishing mother. It takes care of the body better than a mother does. A mother gets annoyed with her child sometimes, but myrobalan always keeps an even temperament and is cheerful and enthusiastic in attending to the well-being of human beings. It preserves semen and stops all nocturnal emissions. Potato, boiled without salt or baked on fire, is also an excellent food for practitioners.

A beginner should be careful in choosing food-stuffs of Sattvic nature. Food exercises tremendously vast influence over the mind. You can see it obviously in everyday-life. It is very difficult to control mind after a heavy, sumptuous, indigestible, rich meal. The mind runs, wanders and jumps like an ape all the time. Alcohol causes great excitement of the mind. Evolution is better than revolution. You should not make sudden changes in anything, particularly so in matters pertaining to food and drink. Let the change be slow and gradual. The system should accommodate it without any trouble. Nature non agit per saltum (nature never
moves by leaps).

Food is only a mass of energy. Water and air also supply energy to the body. You can live without food for several days; but you cannot live without air even for a few minutes. Oxygen is even more important. What is wanted to feed the body is energy. If you can supply this energy by any other means, you can entirely dispense with food. Yogins live without food by drinking nectar. This nectar flows through a hole in the palate. It dribbles and nourishes the body. A Jnani can draw energy directly from his pure, irresistible will and support the body without any food whatsoever. If you know the process of drawing the energy from the Cosmic Energy, then you can maintain the body for any length of time and can dispense with food completely.

Food is of four kinds. There are liquids which are drunk; solids which are pulverised by the teeth and eaten; there are semi-solids which are taken in by licking; and there are soft articles that are swallowed without mastication. All articles of food should be thoroughly masticated in the mouth until they are reduced to quite a liquid before being swallowed. Then only they can be readily digested, absorbed and assimilated in the system.

The diet should be such as can maintain physical efficiency and good health. The well-being of an individual depends more on perfect nutrition than on anything else. Various sorts of intestinal diseases, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, lack of high vitality and power of resistance, rickets, scurvy, anaemia or poverty of blood, beriberi, etc., are due to faulty nutrition. It should be remembered that it is not so much the climate as food which plays the vital role in producing a strong healthy body or a weakling suffering from a host of diseases. An appreciable knowledge of the science of dietetics is essential for everybody, especially for spiritual aspirants, to keep up physical efficiency and good health. Aspirants should be able to make out a cheap and well-balanced diet from only a certain articles of diet. What is needed is a well-balanced diet, not a rich diet. A rich diet produces diseases of the liver, kidneys and pancreas. A well-balanced diet

helps aman to grow, to turn out more work, increases his body-weight, and keeps up the efficiency, stamina and a high standard of vim and vigour. You are what you eat. Where can Sannyasins in India, who live on public alms get a well-balanced diet? On some days they get pungent stuffs only, on some other days sweetmeats only and yet on some other days sour things only. But they are able to draw the requisite energy through power of meditation. This unique Yogic method is unknown to the medical profession and to the scientists. Whenever the mind is concentrated, a divine wave bathes all the tissues with a divine elixir. All the cells are renovated and vivified.

Gluttons and epicureans cannot dream of getting success in Yoga. He who takes moderate diet, who has regulated his diet can become a Yogi, not others. That is the reason why Lord Krishna says: “Verily Yoga is not for him who eateth too much, nor who abstaineth to excess, nor who is too much addicted to sleep, nor even to wakefulness, O Arjuna! Yoga killeth out all pain for him who is regulated in eating and amusement, regulated in performing actions, regulated in sleeping and waking.” (Bhagavad-Gita: Ch. VI-16-17). Therefore take pleasant, wholesome and sweet food half-stomachful; fill a quarter stomach with water and allow the remaining quarter stomach free for expansion of gas. Offer up the act to the Lord. This is moderate diet.

All articles that are putrid, stale, decomposed, unclean, twice cooked, kept overnight, should be abandoned. The diet should be fresh, simple, light, bland, wholesome, easily digestible and nutritious. He who lives to eat is a sinner, but he who eats to live is verily a saint. In the Siva Samhita it is said: “Yoga should not be practiced immediately after a meal, nor when one is very hungry; before beginning the practice, some milk and butter should be taken.”

You will find in the Yoga-Tattva Upanishad: “The proficient in Yoga should abandon the food detrimental to the practice of Yoga. He should give up salt, mustard, sour things, hot, pungent or bitter articles, asafoetida, women, emaciation of the body by fasts etc. During the early stages of practice, food of milk and ghee is ordained; also food consisting of wheat, green pulse and red rice is said to favour the progress. Then he will be able to retain his breath as long as he likes. By thus retaining the breath as long as he likes, Kevala-Kumbhaka (cessation of breath without inhalation and exhalation) is attained. When Kevala-Kumbhaka is attained by one and thus inhalation and exhalation are dispensed with, there is nothing unattainable in the three worlds to him.” In the Bhikshuka-Upanishad you will find: “Paramahamsas like Samavartaka, Aruni, Svetaketu, Jada Bharata, Dattatreya, Suka, Vamadeva, Haritaki and others take eight mouthfuls and strive after Moksha alone through the path of Yoga.”

Manu, Jesus and Buddha exhorted the people to refrain from using liquors, intoxicants and drugs as these are deleterious in their effects. No spiritual progress is possible without abandoning them.

The vast majority of persons dig their graves through their teeth. No rest is given to the stomach. After all, man wants very little on this bountiful earth—a few loaves of bread, a little butter and some cold water. This will amply suffice to keep the life going. People, on the contrary, stuff their stomachs with all sorts of things, eatable and uneatable, on account of the force of habit

even when there is no appetite. This is very bad. All diseases take their origin in overloading the stomach. Hunger is the best sauce. If there is hunger, food can be digested well. If you have no appetite, do not take anything. Let the stomach enjoy a full holiday. A variety of dishes overworks the stomach, induces capricious appetite and renders the tongue fastidious. Then it becomes difficult to please the tongue. Therefore control the tongue first; then all the other senses can be easily controlled.

Man has invented so many kinds of dishes just to satisfy his palate and has made life complex and miserable. He calls himself a civilised man, when he is really ignorant and deluded by the senses. His mind gets upset when he cannot get his usual dishes in a new place. Is this real strength? He has become an absolute slave of his tongue. This is very deplorable. Be natural and simple in eating and drinking. Moderation is Yoga. Eat to live and not live to eat. Follow this golden rule and be happy. You can then devote more time to Yoga practices. A Yogic student who spends his time wholly in pure meditation wants very little food. One or one and a half seers of milk and some fruits per day will quite suffice. But a Yogi who ascends the platform for vigorous active work wants abundant nutritious food.

Vegetarian diet has been acclaimed to be most conducive to spiritual and psychic advancement. It has been found that meat augments animal passion and decreases intellectual capacity. While it is true that meat-eating countries are physically active and strong, the same cannot be said of their spiritual attainments. Meat is not at all necessary for the keeping up of perfect health, rigour and vitality. On the contrary, it is highly deleterious to health. It brings in its train a host of ailments such as tape-worm, albuminuria and other diseases of the kidneys. Killing of animals for food is a great sin. Instead of killing the egoism and the idea of “mine-ness,” ignorant people kill innocent animals under pretext of sacrifice to goddess, but in reality it is meant to please their own tongue or palate. What inhuman horrible crimes are being committed in the name of God and Religion! Ahimsa (non-injuring) is the first virtue that a spiritual aspirant should try to possess. You should have reverence for life. Lord Jesus says: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Mahavira shouted in a trumpet-like voice: “Regard every living being as thyself and harm no one.” The Law of Karma is inexorable, unrelenting, immutable. The pain you inflict upon another will surely rebound upon you and the happiness you radiate will come back to you adding to your happiness. He who knows this Law will not hurt anybody.

Meat-eating and alcoholism are closely allied. The craving for liquor dies a natural death, when the meat is withdrawn. The question of birth-control becomes very difficult in the case of those who take meat. To them mind-control is next to impossible. Mark how the meat-eating tiger and the cow or elephant living on green grass are poles asunder! The one is wild and ferocious, the other is mild and peaceful. Meat has direct influence on the different compartments of the brain. The first and foremost step in the spiritual advancement of an aspirant is the giving up of meat. The Divine Light will not descend, if the stomach is loaded with meat. In large meat-eating countries cancer mortality is very high. Vegetarians keep up sound health till old age. Even in the West doctors in hospitals put patients on a regimen of vegetable diet. They convalesce quickly. It is welcome sign to see that at least in some of the countries of Europe vegetarian hotels are springing

up in amazing numbers, and it is not too much to expect that in the course of a decade or two the Westerners will become quite a different race of people altogether in their food, dress, manners, habits and social customs.

Pythagoras seems to bewail when he says: “Beware, Omortals, of defiling your bodies with sinful food. There are cereals, there are fruits bending their branches down by their weight, and luxurious grapes on the vines. There are sweet vegetables and herbs which the fire can render palatable and mellow. Nor are you denied milk, nor honey, fragrance of the aroma of the thyme flower. The bountiful earth offers you an abundance of pure food and provides for meals obtainable without slaughter and bloodshed.”

Fasting is interdicted for practitioners of Yoga as it produces weakness. But occasional mild fasts are highly beneficial. They will overhaul the system thoroughly, give rest to the stomach and the intestines and eliminate uric acid. Yogic students may take one full meal at 11 o’clock, a cup of warm milk in the morning and half a seer of milk and some plantains (or oranges or apples) at night with much advantage. The night meal should be very light. If the stomach is overloaded, sleep will supervene and as too much sleep is injurious to Yogic practices, one cannot make any real headway in the path of Yoga. Therefore a diet consisting of milk and fruits alone is a splendid menu for all practitioners.

Aspirants should avoid all narcotics, coffee, tea, alcohol and smoke that stimulate the senses. Our senses are compared to restive horses, and they become uncontrollable by taking narcotics. You should control them by refraining from taking narcotics. We are all slaves of our senses more or less and the senses in turn are the slaves of narcotics. If you really crave for perfection, control of mind and success in Yoga, avoid these narcotics by all possible means. Boil half a seer of milk along with some boiled rice, ghee and sugar. This is called Charu. This is an excellent food for Yogic practitioners. This is for dinner. Half a seer of milk and some
fruits will do for the night. Try this prescription and tell me the benefits you have derived in your Sadhana.

Milk should not be boiled too much. It should be removed from fire the moment the boiling point is reached. Excessive boiling destroys all nutritious principles and vitamins and renders milk unfit for consumption. Milk is an ideal food for aspirants. It is a perfect food by itself. Fruit-diet exercises a marvellous influence upon the constitution. This is a natural diet. Fruits are tremendous energy-producers. Fruits and milk help concentration and meditation. Barley, wheat, milk, ghee and honey promote longevity of life and increase power and stamina. Fruit-juice and the water wherein sugar-candy is dissolved are very good drinks. Butter mixed with sugar-candy and almonds soaked in water overnight will cool the system.

Above all do not make much fuss about your diet. You need not advertise to everyone that you are able to live on a particular form of diet. The observance of such Niyama (rules) is for your own advancement in the spiritual path and you will not be spiritually benefited by giving publicity to your practices. There are many nowadays who make it their profession to make money and their livelihood by performing some Yoga-Asanas, Pranayama or by having some diet regulation as

eating only raw articles or leaves or roots. These people cannot have any real spiritual growth. The goal of life is Self-realisation, and aspirants should always keep this in view and do intense Sadhana with zeal and patience.

Live a natural simple life. Take simple food that is wholly agreeable to your system. You should have your own menu to suit your constitution. You are yourself the best judge to select a Sattvic diet. In the matter of food and drink you will do well to eat and drink as amaster. You should not have the least craving for any particular diet. You should not become a slave to this food or that food. Simple, natural, non-stimulating, tissue-building, energy-producing, non-alcoholic food and drink will keep the mind calm and pure and will help the student of Yoga in his practices and in the attainment of the goal of life.

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Yogic Discipline

Yoga is rooted in virtue. Ethical discipline is very necessary for success in Yoga. Ethical discipline is the practice of right conduct in life. The two moral back-bones of Yoga are Yama and Niyama, which the spirant must practice in his daily life. These correspond roughly to the ten commandments of Lord Jesus or to the noble eightfold path of Lord Buddha. Non-injuring.

(Ahimsa), truthfulness (Satyam), non-stealing (Asteya), continence (Brahmacharya) and non-covetousness (Aparigraha) are the component parts of Yama. Internal and external purification(Saucha), contentment (Santosha), austerity (Tapas), study of religious and philosophical books (Svadhyaya) and self-surrender to the Lord (Isvara-Pranidhana) come under Niyama. Practice of Yama and Niyama will eradicate all the impurities of the mind. In fact, Yama and Niyama form the corner-stones of Yoga philosophy.

Pre-eminence is given to abstention from injuring any living creature (Ahimsa) amongst all other virtues. There must be non-injuring in thought, word and deed. Non-injuring is placed first because it is the source of the following nine. The practice of universal love or brotherhood is nothing but the practice of non-injuring. He who practices non-injuring will get quick success in Yoga. The practitioner must abandon even harsh words and unkind looks. He must show goodwill and friendliness to one and all. He must respect life. He must remember that one common Self dwells in the hearts of all beings. Truthfulness (Satyam) comes next in order. Thought must agree with word, and word with action. This is truthfulness. These virtues are attainable only by the unselfish. Truth can hardly arise unless there is pure motive behind all actions. The word of the Yogi must be a blessing to others. Then comes non-stealing (Asteya). You must be satisfied with what you get by honest means. The Law of Karma is inexorable. You will have to suffer for every wrong action of yours. Action and reaction are equal and opposite. Amassing wealth is really theft. The whole wealth of all
the three worlds belongs to the Lord. You are only a caretaker of his wealth. You must willingly share what you have with all and spend it in charity.

The fourth virtue is the practice of celibacy. That portion of human energy which is expressed in sexual union when controlled, becomes transmuted into a form of special spiritual energy called Ojas-Sakti and this is stored up in the brain. If you practice Yoga and at the same time lead an impure, voluptuous and immoderate life, how can you expect progress in Yoga? All great spiritual giants of the world have practiced celibacy and that is the reason why they were able to thrill and electrify the whole world through the power of the special spiritual energy they had stored up in their brains. A Yogi with an abundance of this energy keeps his audience spell-bound, as it

6 A lecture delivered in the Hallett Hall, Gaya, by Swami Sivananda Sarasvati on March 3, 1937. were, and sways them even as a monarch sways his dominions. There is a peculiar charm in his smile and power in the words emanating from his heart. He produces a very profound impression in the minds of all with whom he comes in contact. Householders are allowed to visit their wives once in amonth at the proper time, without the idea of sexual enjoyment, but just for the sake of preservation of progeny. If this rule is observed, then it tantamounts to the practice of celibacy. Such observers of this rule are also Brahmacharins. As soon as a son is born, the wife becomes the mother, because the father himself is born in the form of the son. A son is nothing but the modified energy of the father.

Brahmacharya is the basis of acquiring immortality. Brahmacharya brings material progress and psychic advancement. Brahmacharya is the substratum for a life in the Atman. It is a potent weapon for waging a relentless war against the internal monsters—passion, greed, anger, miserliness, hypocrisy, etc. It contributes to perennial joy and uninterrupted, undecaying bliss. It gives tremendous energy, clear brain, gigantic will-power, bold understanding, retentive memory and good power of enquiry (Vichara-Sakti). It is through Brahmacharya and Brahmacharya alone that you can have physical, mental, moral and spiritual advancement.
What is wanted is restraint and not suppression of sexual desire. In restraint no sexual thought will arise in the mind. There is perfect sublimation of sex-energy. But in suppression the aspirant is not safe. There are sexual thoughts. When favourable opportunities occur, the repressed desire manifests with redoubled force and vengeance, and there is the danger of a miserable downfall. One should be very careful.

After Dhanvantari had taught all the secrets of the Ayurveda system of medicine to his disciples, they enquired the key-note of this science. The master replied: “I tell you that Brahmacharya is truly a precious jewel; it is the one most effective medicine, nectar indeed, which destroys disease, decay and death. For attaining peace, brightness, memory, knowledge, health and Self-realisation, one should observe Brahmacharya which is the highest duty. Brahmacharya is the highest knowledge; Brahmacharya is the greatest strength. Of the nature of Brahmacharya is verily this Atman, and in Brahmacharya It resides. Saluting Brahmacharya first, the cases beyond cure I cure. Aye, Brahmacharya can undo all the inauspicious signs.”

What is wanted is deep inner life. Silence the bubbling thoughts. Keep the mind cool and calm. Open yourself to higher spiritual consciousness. Feel the Divine Presence and Divine Guidance. Fix your mind at the Lotus-Feet of the Lord. Become like a child. Speak to Him freely. Become absolutely candid. Do not hide your thoughts. You cannot do so, because He is the Inner Ruler (Antaryamin). He watches all your thoughts. Pray for Mercy, Light, Purity, Strength, Peace and Knowledge. You will surely get them. You will be established in Brahmacharya. A Yogic student should abstain from greed. He should not receive luxurious presents from anybody. Gifts affect the mind of the receiver. These five virtues must be practiced in thought, word and deed, for they are not merely restraints but change the character of the practitioner, implying
inward purity and strength.

Besides these, the would-be Yogi should also practice certain other active virtues such as cleanliness of body and mind, contentment, austerity, study of religious and philosophical books and self-surrender to God. Contentment does not mean satisfaction, but willingness to accept things as they are and to make the best of them. Austerities like occasional fasting and observance of silence increase the power of endurance. Self-surrender is the regarding of every work as that of the Supreme Lord and renouncing all claims to its fruits. Study of religious books fills the mind with piety and purity. Such a rigorous ethical discipline brings a sense of freedom and moral elevation. When you are sufficiently advanced in the above practices, you can face every temptation by calling in the aid of pure and restraining thoughts. Two things are necessary for attaining success in mind-control, viz., practice (Abhyasa) and dispassion (Vairagya).

You must try your extremest level best to be free from any desire for any pleasure, seen or unseen, and this dispassion can be attained through constant perception of evil in them. Dispassion is renunciation of attainment. It is aversion to sensual enjoyments herein and hereafter. The dispassion or detachment is of two kinds, the lower and the higher. Vijnana Bhikshu distinguishes the superior and the inferior types of Vairagya in the following way: “The former is a distaste for the good things of life, here or hereafter, due to the experience that they cannot be acquired or preserved without trouble while their loss causes pain and that the quest is never free from egoistic feelings. The latter, however, is based on a clear perception of the difference between intelligence and the objects that appear in its light.”

There are various stages in dispassion. The determination to refrain from enjoying all sorts of sensual objects is the first stage. In the second stage certain objects lose their charm for the spiritual aspirant and he attempts to destroy the attraction for others also. In the third stage the senses are controlled, but a vague longing for the sensual enjoyment remains in the mind. In the fourth the aspirant loses completely all interest whatsoever in the external objects. The final stage is a state of highest desirelessness. It is this kind of dispassion that bestows Absolute Independence on the Yogi. In this stage the Yogi renounces all kinds of psychic powers even such as Omniscience, etc.

It is by practice and dispassion that the passage of thought towards external objects can be checked. Mere indifference will not serve the purpose. Practice is also necessary. Remembering God always is also practice. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna with reference to this practice of controlling the mind: “Abandoning without reserve all desires born of the imagination by the mind, curbing in the aggregate of the senses on every side, little by little let him gain tranquillity by means of Reason controlled by steadiness; having made the mind abide in the Self, let him not think of anything. As often as the wavering and unsteady mind goeth forth, so often reining it in, let him bring it under control of the Self.” (Bhagavad-Gita: VI-21, 25, 26).

Sound and other objects make the mind wander away. Mind is drawn towards external objects by the force of desire. By convincing oneself of the illusoriness of sense-objects through an investigation into their nature and by cultivating indifference to worldly objects, the mind can be restrained and brought back to the Self to abide finally. In virtue of this practice of Yoga, the Yogi’s mind attains peace in the Self. Practice consists in constantly repeating the same idea or thought

regarding any object. By constant reflection and exercise of will-power, suggestions should be given to the sub-conscious mind not to look for enjoyment in the changing world without, but in the changeless within. You should exercise great vigilance to get hold of opportunities, when the mind dwells on sense-objects, and suggests to it new meanings and interpretations and make it change its attitude towards them with a view to its ultimate withdrawal therefrom. This is called practice. The chief characteristic of the mind in the waking state is to have some object before it to dwell upon. It can never remain blank. It can concentrate on one object at a time. It constantly changes its objects and so it is restless. It is impetuous, strong and difficult to bend. It is as hard to curb it as the wind. That is the reason why Patanjali Maharshi says that the practice must be steady and continuous and it must stretch over a considerable period and be undertaken with a perfect faith in its regenerating and uplifting powers. You must not show any slackening symptoms at any stage of practice.

Restraint does not come in a day, but by long and continued practice with zeal and enthusiasm. The progress in Yoga can only be gradual. Many people give up the practice of concentration after some time, when they do not see any tangible prospect of getting psychic powers. They become impatient. They do little and expect much. This is bad. Doing any kind of practice by fits and starts will not bring the desired fruit. Direct experience is the goal of life. Though the effort or practice is painful in the beginning, yet it brings Supreme Joy in the end. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: “Supreme joy is for this Yogi, whose mind is peaceful, whose passionate nature is controlled, who is sinless, and of the nature of the eternal.” (Bhagavad-Gita: Ch. VI-27).
Control your senses. Calm your mind. Still the bubbling thoughts. Fix the mind in the lotus of the heart. Concentrate. Meditate. Realise Him intuitively this very second and enjoy the Bliss of the Self.

Have firm and unshakable faith in the existence of God, the supreme, undying, intelligent Principle or Essence or Substance who exists in the three periods of time—past, present and future. He has neither beginning, middle nor end. He is Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute and Bliss Absolute).

O ignorant man! Why do you vainly search for happiness in the perishable external objects
of the world conditioned in time, space and causation? You have no peace of mind. Your desires are
never fully gratified. You may amass boundless wealth, beget beautiful babies, earn titles, honours,
name, fame, power, publicity and all you want, and yet your mind is restless. You have no real,
abiding happiness. You feel you still want something. You have no feeling of fullness. Never,
therefore, forget from this moment onwards that this feeling of fullness or eternal satisfaction can
be obtained only in God by realising Him through constant practice of self-control, purity,
concentration, meditation and practice of Yoga.

There is restlessness everywhere. Selfishness, greed, jealousy and lust are playing
unimaginable havoc in every heart. Fights, skirmishes and petty quarrels are polluting the
atmosphere of the world and creating discord, disharmony and unrest. The bugle is blown and the
armies march to the battlefield to destroy their enemies. One nation wages war against another
nation for acquiring more dominions and power. Side by side with these bloody wars, peace

movement is also working for bringing harmony and peace, for eradicating dire ignorance, the root
cause of all human sufferings and for disseminating Divine Knowledge.
The greatest need of the world today is the message of love. Kindle the light of love in your
own heart first. Love all. Include all creatures in the warm embrace of your love. Nations can be
united by pure love only. World-wars can be put an end to by pure love only. The League of Nations
cannot do much. Love is amysterious divine glue that unites the hearts of all. It is amagical healing
balm of very high potency. Charge every action with pure love. Kill cunningness, greed,
crookedness and selfishness. It is extremely cruel to take away the lives of others by using
poisonous gas. This is a capital crime. The scientist who manufactures the gas in the laboratory
cannot escape without being punished for this crime by the great Lord. Forget not the Day of
Judgement. What will you say unto the Lord, O ye mortals, who run after power, dominions and
wealth? Have a clean conscience and pure love. You will verily enter into the Kingdom of God.
How mysterious is the universe! How mysterious are the silent workings of the unseen
Power, who prompts passionate people to wage wars on the one side and pious people to
disseminate Divine Knowledge on the other and bring peace and happiness to the suffering
humanity at large!

Desire is the real enemy of peace. Restlessness is fed by desire just as fire is fed by oil. In the
Yoga-Vasishtha you will find Sage Vasishtha saying to his royal disciple Rama: “O best of
intellects! the obliteration of latent desire, Gnosis and the dissolution of the mind, if attempted
simultaneously for a sufficient length of time, bestow the desired fruit.” Lord Krishna also says to
his royal disciple Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra: “It is desire, it is wrath, begotten by the
quality of mobility; all-consuming, all-polluting, know thou this as our foe here on earth. As a flame
is enveloped by smoke, as amirror by dust, as an embryo by the amnion, so is wisdom enveloped by
it. Enveloped is wisdom by this constant enemy the wise in the form of desire which is insatiable as
a flame. Mastering first the senses, slay thou, O mighty armed, the enemy in the form of desire,
destructive of wisdom and knowledge.”

Swami Vidyaranya Sarasvati, the reputed author of “Panchadasi” and “Jivanmukti-Viveka”
says: “So long as these three (obliteration of latent desire, Gnosis and the dissolution of the mind)
are not well attempted repeatedly, the state of Jivanmukti (liberation in this life) cannot be realised,
even after the lapse of hundreds of years.” When the mind is dissolved and there is no sensation of
any external cause which can fully rouse mental impressions, latent desire fades away. When latent
desire fades away, and there remains no cause for that functioning of the mind which we call lust,
anger, etc., the mind is also dissolved. When the mind is annihilated, Gnosis will arise.

The Hindu Scriptures maintain: “Mind alone is, to man, the cause of bondage or liberation;
lost in enjoyment, it leads to bondage; freed from the objective, it leads to liberation. As mind freed
from the objective leads to liberation, one desirous of liberation or success in the path of Yoga must
always try to wipe off the objective from the plane of his mind. When the mind severed from all
connections with sensual objects and confined to the light of the heart, finds itself in Ecstasy, it is
said to have reached its culminating point. The mind should be prevented from functioning, till its
dissolution is attained in the heart; this is Gnosis; this is concentration; the rest is all mere
logomachy.”

Desire may be described as the hankering for things, which gains such mastery over the
mind as to preclude even enquiring into their antecedents and consequences. Man at once becomes
that which he identifies himself with, by force of strong and deep attachment and loses memory of
everything else in the act. The man, thus subdued by desire, fixing his eye on everything and
anything, is deluded into believing it as the real thing. Due to loss of control man perceives
everything with beclouded eyes in this deluded fashion, like one under the influence of a strong
intoxicant.

As you think, so you become. Think you are a High Court judge, High Court judge you will
become. Think you are the monarch of the whole world, monarch of the whole world you will
become. Think you are a great teacher, teacher you will become. Think you are poor and weak, poor
and weak you will become. Think you are a multi-millionaire, multi-millionaire you will become.
Think you are a Yogi, Yogi you will become. Think you are a saint of spotless character, saint of
spotless character you will become. Think you are God or Atman or Brahman, God or Atman or
Brahman you will become. The whole universe is governed by this wonderful Law of Nature.
Always think rightly and act rightly. Never try to seize the possessions of others. Never
envy your neighbours. Entertain noble and sublime thoughts. Have supreme self-confidence and
courage. Whatever you do, do it with a will to succeed. You will, by all means, succeed in all your
endeavours. Success is yours. You will know of no failures. This is the Sovereign secret. Meditate
upon this Secret daily in the morning for some time and enjoy the Bliss of the Self.

In the Vishnupurana you will find: “If the deluded fool loves the body, a mere collection of
flesh, blood, pus, faeces, urine, muscles, fat and bones, he will verily love hell itself! To him who is
not disgusted with the nasty smell from his own body, what other argument need be adduced for
detachment?”

It is a well-known fact that enjoyment cannot bring you satisfaction of desire. On the
contrary, it aggravates desire and makes man more restless. The root-cause of all human sufferings
and miseries is the craving for worldly enjoyments. The more you hanker after these sensual
enjoyments, the more unhappy do you become. The desires also grow when they are not fulfilled.
You can never be happy as long as the craving for enjoyments exists.

Desire is born of ignorance (Avidya). Attachment, longing and preference are the
constituents of desire. Do not endeavour to fulfil desires. Try to reduce your desires, as best as you
can. Withdraw the fuel of gratification. Then the fire of desire will get extinguished by itself. Just as
a gheeless lamp dies out, when the ghee is withdrawn, even so the fire of desire will die when the
fuel of gratification is withdrawn. If attachment is eradicated, then longing and preference for
objects will die by themselves.

Man commits various kinds of sins and injures others when he exerts to get the desired
objects. He has to reap the fruits of his actions; hence he is brought again and again in his round of
births and deaths. If you increase one object in the list of your possessions or wants, the desire also
increases ten times. The more worldly objects you possess, the more distant you are from God.
Your mind will always be thinking and planning as to how to get and guard the objects, how to earn
tons of money and keep them safe. If the acquired objects are lost, your mind is completely upset.

Cares, worries, anxieties and all sorts of mental torments increase with the objects. No doubt, it is
painful to earn money. It is more painful to keep the money that is earned. It is still more painful, if
the money gets reduced. And it is extremely painful, if the whole money is lost. Money is the abode
of all sorts of pain. That is the reason why in India a Sadhu or a Sannyasin does not possess
anything. In his grand vision, he does not possess his body also. He constantly asserts. “The body is
not mine; I am not body.” A real Sannyasin is one who feels: “I am bodiless.” These Sannyasins
lead a life of perfect dispassion and ruthless renunciation. Renunciation brings in its train supreme
Peace.

It is very difficult to become absolutely desireless. A liberated sage or a full-blown Yogi
alone is entirely free from the taint of desires, for he has completely annihilated his mind and is
enjoying the supreme Bliss of the Self within. How can desires arise in him who is plunged in the
ocean of Divine Bliss?

A neophyte in the spiritual path should entertain noble desires. He should do virtuous
actions. He should develop intense longing for liberation. In order to achieve this end, he should
study the Holy Scriptures regularly and systematically. He should betake himself to the company of
the wise. He should practice right conduct, right thinking, right speaking and right acting. He
should practice regular meditation. By and by all old vicious desires and sensual cravings and evil
propensities will vanish. Hey Saumya! Lead a life of perfect contentment. Contentment is the bliss
of life. The cold ambrosial waters of contentment will quickly extinguish the fire of desires.
Contentment is the chief sentinel who keeps watch over the domain of Peace or the Kingdom of
God.

The old subdued desires recur, persist and resist. They assert: “O ungrateful man! You gave
me shelter in your mind all along. You enjoyed various objects of the world through me only. If
there is no desire for food and drink, how can you enjoy food and drink? If there is no desire for
sexual union, how can you enjoy a woman? Why are you so cruel towards me now? I have every
right to dwell in this abode of your mind. Do whatever you like.” But you should not be discouraged
even a bit by these threats. All desires will be thinned out gradually by meditation and Yoga. They
will eventually perish in toto beyond resurrection.

A strong mind has influence over a weak mind. Mind has influence over the physical body.
Mind acts upon matter. Mind brings bondage. Mind gives you liberation. Mind is the devil. Mind is
your best friend. Mind is your Guru (Spiritual Preceptor). You will have to tame your mind. You
will have to discipline your mind. You will have to control your mind. This is all you have to do.
Study your feelings and emotions. Analyse them. Dissect them. Do not identify yourself
with these feelings and emotions. Separate yourself from these feelings and emotions. Stand as a
silent witness. Identification with these feelings and emotions is the cause of bondage and misery.
Anger is a modification of desire in the mind. There is no modification in the Self the real
“I” or Atman. A worldly man identities himself with anger and so he becomes miserable. This is
ignorance only. The body and the mind are your instruments for growth and evolution. Identify
yourself with the big, infinite “I” by utilising these two instruments and become a master of your
mind and body. You are the driver of this engine—body and mind. Assert your birthright and

become free, my child. Understand the trick of this mischievous mind. It has played with you long
enough. Attain complete mastery over it. You can do this easily by the practice of Yoga.
Watch and chop and clip the thoughts as soon as they arise from the mind. Kill them dead on
the spot. If you find it difficult to do this, become indifferent Do not mind them. Allow them to take
their own shape. They will soon die by themselves. Or, sometimes you can chop the thoughts and
when you get tired of doing so, you can adopt the method of remaining indifferent. The latter
method is more easy. If you tie a monkey to a post, it becomes more turbulent; if you allow it to
move about at its own will and pleasure, it is not so very turbulent. Even so, when you try to fix the
mind at a point, it becomes more turbulent. Therefore various kinds of evil thoughts enter into the
minds of neophytes at the time of concentration. But they need not be unnecessarily alarmed. If you
find it difficult to focus the mind at one point, allow it to jump a while like a monkey. Do not wrestle
with the mind. It will soon get exhausted and will then be waiting to obey your behests. Now you
can tackle it easily.

Free yourself from the tyranny of the mind. It has tormented you mercilessly for so long a
time. You have allowed it to indulge in sensual pleasures and have its own ways. Now is the time to
curb it just as you would curb a wild horse. Be patient and persevering. Practise daily
thoughtlessness or inhibition of thoughts. The task may be difficult in the beginning. It will be
indeed disgusting and tiring, but the reward is great. You will reap Immortality, Supreme Joy,
Eternal Peace and Infinite Bliss. Therefore practice diligently in right earnest. It is worth doing. Be
on the alert. If you are sincere in your wish and strong in your resolve, nothing is impossible under
the sun to accomplish. Nothing can stand in your way. If you fail in your attempt, do not be
discouraged. Remember the thrilling story of the dreadful fight between Hercules and the
prodigious giant. In the course of his journey in quest of adventures, Hercules encountered a
monster, who was so wonderfully contrived by nature that every time he touched the earth, he
became ten times as strong as before. By remembering this incident you will get inner strength and
courage. You are bound to succeed.

Realise that you are neither body nor mind, that you were never born nor will you ever die,
that you are invincible, that nothing in this world can hurt you, that you are the Sun around whom
the whole universe revolves. The whole knowledge is treasured up within the chambers of your
heart. Procure the key and unlock the doors of Knowledge. Yoga is the Key. You will attain
unruffled peace, marvellous self-control and tremendous will-power.

Behold! There on the banks of the holy Ganga at Rishikesh, Himalayas, a Sage, a
Paramahamsa Sannyasin of eighty summers, with lustrous eyes, serene face, magnetic personality,
bright complexion sits with a loin-cloth only. There is a small grass-hut beside him underneath a
tree. Inside the hut you will find a small wooden bowl (Kamandalu) for keeping water and an
ordinary stick. This is all his personal effect. He is always sitting there in a contemplative mood. He
never talks, nor laughs, but occasionally nods his roundshapely head and smiles gently. He never
stirs from the place. He is unaffected by the heat of the summer sun or the biting cold of the winter.
He never uses blankets, no, not even in winter. What a wonderful power of endurance! He lives on
some milk and fruits only. His heart is filled with purity, mercy, compassion, sympathy and love!

People from various parts of the country flock to him in hundreds and thousands in season
and out of season with flowers and fruits in their hands, prostrate at his Holy Feet, worship him with
their offerings and leave the place with his ready blessings. He never talks, but all doubts are cleared
in his mere presence. People forget the world, their families, their children. They bathe in his
magnetic aura. Such is the benign influence of a liberated sage who is verily a beacon-light to the
world at large.

Now here is a man living in the busiest part of a metropolis. He earns a fat salary. He spends
half of his earnings in gambling and in drinking. The other half goes to cinema and prostitutes. He
eats fish, meat and smokes heavily. He runs into debts every month and finds it hard to make both
ends meet. He dislikes sages and saints. He has no faith in God or in scriptures. He is very
cruel-hearted. He attends ballrooms and theatres, goes to bed at 2 a.m. and gets up at 9 a.m. He
wears a care-worn face even though he appears in costly silken finery. He is always gloomy and
depressed. His heart is filled with lust, anger, greed, vanity, hypocrisy and egoism. Compare for a
moment the life of this man with that of the magnanimous Sage of the Himalayas! They are poles
asunder. The one is a God-man, the other is a bruteman. But if the brute-man seeks the company of
the God-man, he will surely give up his old dirty habits. Just as iron is transmuted into gold by the
touch of the philosopher’s stone, so also the brute-man will be radically changed into a veritable
saint by and by through constant contact with a developed Yogi.

Good friend! Slay this serpent of ignorance mercilessly. Get Knowledge of Self: This will
give your Freedom or Liberation. Ignorance is your deadliest enemy. He has plundered the Jewel of
Wisdom for long ages. Rise above temptations of this little world. This world is a show for five
minutes directed by the juggler, Maya or mind. Beware. Do not get yourself entrapped. Money,
woman, power, name, fame—these are the live tempting baits of Maya. Those who have not fallen
victims to these illusory baits will surely reach the other shore of immortality and fearlessness—the
shore beyond darkness where there is perennial joy and eternal sunshine. Reach this shore through
indefatigable struggle, rigid discipline and rigorous practice of Yoga.

From the condition of your mind, from your feelings and conduct, you can very well
understand the nature of your actions in your previous lives and can nullify or counteract the effects
of evil actions by doing good actions, Tapas, discipline and meditation. Try to lead a life of
non-attachment. Discipline your mind carefully. No one is free from pains, diseases, troubles,
difficulties. You will have to rest in your divine nature. Then alone you will draw strength to face
the difficulties of life. Then only you will have a balanced mind. Then only you will not be affected
by external morbid influences and discordant vibrations. Regular meditation in the morning will
give you new strength and inner life of joy and bliss. Practise meditation. Feel this joy and bliss
despite your stormy conditions and adverse circumstances. Gradually you will grow spiritually.
You will attain Self-realisation.

Abandon this eat-drink-and-be-merry policy. Look always upwards and onwards. Have an
ideal before you. Live up to it at any cost. You can become as great as anyone else. Give up this
inferiority-complex. Give up the superiority-complex also. The idea of inferiority and superiority is
born of ignorance. Inferiority-complex will cause worry. Superiority complex will generate pride
and vanity. Put up the switch of the eternal Light in the innermost chambers of your heart. Keep the
Divine Flame burning steadily. Feed it regularly. Throw your whole heart and soul in spiritual

practices. Waste not even a single minute. Be persistent and methodical in your Sadhana. Marshal
up all your forces properly and powerfully even as the Lieutenant-General in the army marshals up
the armies on the battlefield. All miseries will melt away soon. You will shine as a glorious
Jivanmukta with the highest realisation. All sense of separateness, distinction, duality, difference
will vanish out of sight. You will feel oneness and unity everywhere. You will feel that there is
nothing but Brahman or God. What a magnanimous vision you are blessed with! What an exalted
state, what a sublime, soul-stirring and stupendous experience will be yours! You will get
dumbfounded. This state is indescribable. You must experience it by direct intuitive perception.
Introspect daily in the morning and examine the various nooks and corners of your heart.

The mind is very diplomatic and cunning. The ego will keep several desires for secret gratification.
Many desires will be lurking in your mind. It is very hard to detect their presence. Aspirants who are
puffed up with their scholarly erudition and some powers (Siddhis) cannot trace the existence of
these under-currents of desires in their minds. They pose themselves as great Yogins, deliver
lectures in various parts of the world, build Ashrams and make lady-disciples. Nevertheless, it
should be admitted, their speeches do not produce any deep impression in the minds of the hearers.
These speeches are like empty bullets. The secret desires attack the student of Yoga mercilessly,
whenever a suitable opportunity presents itself and destroys all his noble qualities and sublime
ideals. They pounce upon the student of Yoga with a vengeance and redoubled vigour and bring a
hopeless downfall that has no parallel. Those who have a pure, subtle intellect, who remember God
always, who thirst for communion with Him, who practice daily introspection, self-analysis and
meditation will be able to detect the presence of lurking desires, not others. He who has abandoned
all desires, who is free from all yearnings, attains everlasting Peace. He enjoys the supremest
Happiness. The fewer the desires, the greater the happiness. That desireless Yogi who roams about
in the world with a loin-cloth and a blanket only is the happiest man in all the three worlds.
Selfishness is a negative attribute of the lower mind. It is a modification of desire that arises
in a mind filled with passion. It is the first-born child of ignorance or indiscrimination. It is the
greatest obstacle to the practice of Yoga. It is the bane of life. It contracts the heart ad infinitum and
intensifies the idea of separateness from others. Selfishness goes hand in hand with egoism,
hypocrisy, vanity, miserliness, cunningness, dishonesty and pride.

How to eradicate this selfishness? The answer is simple enough. Selfless service in some
form or another, cultivation of the opposite virtuous qualities, viz., nobility, magnanimity,
disinterestedness, integrity, generosity, charitable nature, mercy and universal love—all these will
pave a long way in the eradication of this dire malady, the deadly foe of peace and Yoga. Positive
overpowers the negative. This is an infallible dictum in Yoga.

To sum up the fundamental requisites for the practice of Yoga: You should have absolute
fearlessness, regard for every creature that breathes, respect for truth, continence, absence of greed,
a life of contentment, austerity, absence of anger and hypocrisy. Moral excellence is not the final
goal of life but is only the means to that end. When the Yogi is established in these virtues, he gets
some powers such as effectiveness of speech, arrival of unsought wealth, vigour of body and mind,
clear and lucid undertaking of life’s events, clarity of thought, steadiness of attention, control of the
senses, immense joy and intuition.

Beloved Immortal Self! Observe vow of silence. Keep the mind fully occupied. Sit on your
favourite Asana and do regular meditation. Sing the Name of the Lord. Twirl the beads. Study the
Scriptures. Practise celibacy or be very, very moderate in sexual acts. Take almonds and
sugar-candy every morning.7 Do not consult doctors. Do not think of your disease. Divert the mind
from the body. Be cheerful always. Smile, whistle, laugh, dance in joy and ecstasy. Think of God
and meditate upon Him with true devotion and feeling and merge in Him. This is the goal of life.
You have attained it after a long and continued struggle for some years with zeal and enthusiasm.
You have now become a Jivanmukta (living liberated soul). Hail, hail to thee, a thousand hails, my
child.

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