Monday, January 18, 2010

27. Order of today's Yoga

Order of today’s Yoga:

Yoga means simply attainment. But attainment of what is important? The Yoga shastra of Patanjali uses this word strictly in the attainment of Eswara (Lord). To render service (practical devotion) to the Lord, mental and physical health is needed. The early five stages (Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama and Pratyahara) concentrate on this attainment of physical and mental health.

Afterwards the other three stages (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) deal with the main subject of attainment of the Lord. The preachers are stopping with the early five steps only and limiting their efforts by turning their spiritual workshops in to gymnasiums, hospitals and recreation centers. By this you are preaching the art of peaceful and happy living on this earth. If you stop here, the main goal of Patanjali Yoga is totally lost.

A Boy who is admitted to the school is given fees and good food. He is expected to go to the school and study. But, he goes to the cinema theatre and uses the fees to purchase the ticket for cinema. This is the fate of Yoga today. The Yoga centre teaches all the steps to attain physical health by the first four steps and mental health by the fifth step. The person becomes fully healthy and attains mental peace by the control of thoughts (chittavrutti Nirodhah… Yoga Sutra).


The thought is controlled so that it is diverted from the world to use it in the direction of devotion (Vyavasayatmika… Gita). A horse is controlled by the owner so that it will not have freedom to go as it likes in the wrong directions. Therefore, controlling thoughts to divert the mind to the right path is Pratyahara. It is withdrawal of mind (Kurmonganiva….Gita) but not destruction of mind (Manolaya Yoga).

The preachers are talking about the dissolution of thoughts which is equal to killing the horse. By doing so the horse cannot be used in any direction. The purpose is lost. One medicine to cure the tooth pain was advertised like this: by using this medicine you will never get pain for any tooth because this medicine will remove all the teeth from your mouth! Similarly, if you kill the mind, the problems and all worries have ended once for all. By killing the horse, the problem in controlling it is solved forever!

Such a state in which the thoughts are dissolved and the mind is destroyed results in the state of a stone in human form. You will become the statue of the human being carved in a stone!

Activities at Yoga centres:

In Pravrutti today the dignified statement is that one is working in U.S.A. But, if you go and really see him there, he will be working as a labor! Similarly, in Nivrutti the dignified statement is that one is practicing Yoga. But if you go and really see him in the Yoga centre, he will be doing certain exercises to attain mental and physical health. He has no connection with spiritual field. Yoga is purely spiritual field. Mental and physical health is needed not only for spiritual field but also needed for materialism. It is a general basic requirement of the life of even an atheist.

Hanuman is the top most star in Yoga in all the steps. His physical and mental health is in climax. He did not open a workshop to guide the professional carrier of people on the earth. After attaining the best physical and mental health and after completing the studies of both Pravrutti and Nivrutti from Sun, He realized that meeting the then human incarnation was the real Yoga. He was waiting on the hill of Kishkindha to meet Lord Rama. All His mental and physical health was used completely in the service of Lord Rama. He did not use it in His professional carrier. We will be astonished to see that He dedicated all His vigor in the personal service of Rama to search and get back His wife. He did not use it in His personal service.

Just this is the difference between the present people in Yoga centre who use the results of the preliminary Yoga (Mental and Physical health) for their personal work and Hanuman who used the same results for the personal work of Rama. In this preliminary Yoga, you have to replace yourself and your family by God. Up to the work needed to maintain yourself and your family, which is needed to serve the mission of God there is no sin in using the strength of mental and physical health obtained by preliminary Yoga.

But to use it for unlimited ambition with selfishness is a sin. For such sinners, the only way to enter the spiritual field is to shell down the excess earned by sin in the mission of God on this earth (Karma Phala Tyaga). When a rich man approached Jesus, He suggested such total sacrifice of the sinful money as a pre-requisite to enter the spiritual field.

People want the Yoga up to first five stages only which is just helpful to their materialism. This much is desired even by an atheist. There is no difference between a devotee and an atheist up to this point. If we show the higher three steps related to God, the devotees become certainly interested.

At the lotus feet of Shri Dattaswami
-Durgaprasad

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