YOGA

Yoga in its true meaning is connecting the individual to the Universal. Karma yoga, bhakthi yoga, gnana yoga, ashtanga yoga, kriya yoga, sahaja yoga, sudarsana yoga, transcendental yoga, kundalini yoga, nada yoga, yoganidra, yogic gazing etc are the off-shoots of this YOGA.
Let us try to understand something more about this YOGA without deviating from its true meaning – ‘connecting the individual to the Universal’. Individual is apparently a jeeva ;In reality he is Atmachaitanya, Iswara and Brahman, the Absolute . Individual with body consciousness is jeeva , jeeva is a reflection of atmachaitanya and atma chaitanya is an integral part of Iswara chaitanya and Iswara is the reflection of that Brahman. In the state of individuality as a jeeva there is tension and restlessness. Man’s aspiration is to come out of this state and regain his real swaroopa. Here comes YOGA.
That which exists is Brahman – AWARENESS –This is the swaroopa of man and swabhava is superimposed on him. In reality there is only swaroopam and there is no second to it. True knowledge of that Reality – swaroopa is attainable through Cosmic Consciousness. This Cosmic consciousness (personified as Iswara)with sat – Existence – and chit - absolute knowledge – similar to two wings of a bird (remember it by the name Garuda – seat of Cosmic consciosness with Existence and Absolute knowledge as wings) soars high in that Reality. Cosmic Consciousness is only a reflection of Brahman the Reality.
Karma yoga, bhakthi yoga, gnana yoga etc., need to be understood from the above stand point. Mere karma binds the individual again and again with vasanas of likes and dislikes. If karma is attuned with atmachaitanya and is performed without likes and dislikes and free from sense of individuality (jeevahood), it becomes karma yoga. Similar is the case with other yogas too – to be practised without likes and dislikes and without sense of individuality. In Geetha, Sri Krishna advises “merge your mind and intellect in Me” This is exactly the spirit of Yoga.
In the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali there are eight steps, the first four are outward steps and the next four are inward. Abstinence(from immoral deeds)) Observance of good conduct, correct posture and correct breathing are the first four steps and withdrawal of senses, concentration, meditation and samadhy (integration)are the next four relating to the subtle field. Concentration and meditation are mental processes whereas samadhy is bereft of subject and object. Thus the Astanga yoga shows us the vertical path from yama to samadhy through meditation. Philosophical contemplation (tatwa vichara)using the intellect is a must to arrive at an ideal on which concentration and meditation are to take place. Concentration is a mental process to keep the particular ideal steady and meditation (dhyana; nididhyasana) is a process attempting to immerse it in Consciousness. Samadhy is a stage (strictly not a stage) where consciousness and the ideal merge in the Reality i.e.AWARENESS. Contemplation (tatwa vichara) at the intellectual level ,Concentration at the mental level and Meditation at the consciousness level can be remembered by the analogy of : ‘churning the curd (contemplation) collecting the butter with all attention (concentration), tasting the butter (meditation) and no more churning, no more butter and no more tasting (samadhy)’!!
The ideal on which one has to concentrate and meditate, as mentioned above, has three expressions viz., word (mantra); meaning of that word; and the idea attached to it. For e.g., the mantra ‘Sivoham’ or ‘Soham’ is arrived at after tatwa vichara through contemplation. The meaning of that mantra is concentrated upon through mental process and the idea conveyed by that mantra is kept alive in meditation. In the samady stage the idea kept alive in consciousness (not in mind or intellect) is immersed in Awareness leaving no trace of separate identity.
There is a concept of Chakras - mooladharam to sahasraram through which the kundalini shakthy(Consciousness?) is raised .These chakras are at different levels from where the consciousness functions. The chakras can be easily remembered as physical (mooladharam), sexual (swathishtana), psychological (manipura) sense of equanimity (anahatha) spiritual (visuddha) and spiritual transcended (Agna or sahasraram).
The philosophical truth from individual to Universal , from man to God, from separateness to Oneness etc., has to be understood and the object of meditation to be established convincingly so that Ashtanga Yoga or kundalini yoga can be practised effectively raising the individual consciousness to cosmic consciousness. Meditation is not the act of sitting with closed eyes for specific hours. On the contrary it should be throughout the waking stage.Study of Vedantic truths and contemplation of the same are auxiliaries to meditation. Sravana (hearing; listening) of puranic stories interspersed with spiritual truth, is also a help to meditation. Concentration is a prelude to meditation. Meditation is not cleansing the mind or bringing a thoughtless mind. One should fill the mind with God-thoughts throughout. If this is possible by sheer bhakthy in its true sense, it is well and good. But the fact remains that bhakthy doesn’t get perfection without tatwa vichara. . Nama sankeerthana, nama japa , worship etc., are means to develop bhakthy. Bhakthy in its true sense becomes bhakthy-yoga.Different stages in the development of bhakthy are Sameepyam, sarupyam, sayujyam etc.
It will be beneficial if we know something about the three stages of doing, witnessing and being . As we all know, majority of us are in the doing stage with ego in front and likes and dislikes in every action.At this stage one is advised to practise karma yoga. In Karma yoga there is a sense of doing – jeeva considered to be karmahethu and Iswara considered to be karmaphalahethu. When one has reached the meditation stage as per Ashtanga yoga or one has risen to the anahata chakra as per kundalini yoga, we can assume that he has reached the witness stage. At that stage one outlives the likes and dislikes and also the ego sense, and he witnesses all doings in and around him,from the level of consciousness, as if an observer. In the witness stage every doing and the result thereon are Iswara sankalpam or Iswara prasadam and jeeva sense is completely lost. In witnessing, one feels disidentified with the mind and identifies with cosmic consciousness. In the third stage i.e. BEING (which is not actually a stage) there is neither a doer nor a karma yogi, there is neither a witness nor an object witnessed upon. It is pure AWARENESS. Thus one progresses from doer stage to karma yogic stage and from there to witness stage and from there to Being.
Contemplation of philosophical truth, observance of yama and niyama (moral disciplines) are essential pre-requisite to attain perfection in meditation. While contemplation and concentration are in the level of mind and intellect,meditation lifts one to the level of consciousness and samadhy is an integration of these three viz., contemplation, concentration and meditation. Mere practice of yoga or meditation – call it by any name – wont cure man’s problems. Ultimate remedy lies in studying the root cause of the problem and finding out a permanent solution. This is possible only through Gnana – Understanding - which is one of the wings of the Consciousness, the other being Existence. Sat-Chit-Anandam (Total Existence ,Total Understanding, and Bliss) is in reality both the swaroopam and swabhavam of AWARENESS.