05/01/2020
What is Yoga and What is Not Yoga?
A few years back, when I heard the term Yoga at the first time, I have been told or I was misinterpreted that Yoga is a kind of exercise that has specific postures and q***r body stretches with the help of keen meditation. It took few months for me to realize the actual basic meaning of Yoga, which is a state of union with the divine or the experience of oneness with the great reality, and it has the amazing potential to empower one’s self-development and gain mastery over the mind or over himself and his surroundings.
This is not only my experience of learning Yoga but also many people who are eagerly trying to learn yoga in this modern era might have the same experience to share. Unfortunately, these days most of the people misinterpreted yoga as the manipulation of the body into various q***r positions, standing on the head, for instance, or twisting about the spine, or assuming any of the numerous odd poses which are demonstrated in the books. These techniques are correctly employed in one distinct type of Yoga practice, but they do not form an integral part of the most essential type. Physical posture serves at best as an auxiliary, or a minor form of Yoga.
Yoga is neither any bizarre ceremonial nor a peculiar rite. It is not thought reading, nor is it the dispensing of charms to ward off evil spirits or 'possessions'. It is not hedonism. It is not prophesying. It is not palmistry. It is not astrology. If people call themselves Yogis and then explain their Yoga by exhibiting any of these unusual feats, then they are misusing the term Yoga. Yoga is not auto-hypnotism or self-hypnosis. It is not doing incantations or by the monotonous performance of gestures. Yoga is not an experience like those obtained by taking lysergic acid or mescaline or pe**te or divine mushrooms. These experiences are not Yoga, nor are they products of Yoga.
To perform proper research and to gain more knowledge on the subject, we have to explore many records written by our ancestors based on their experiences and experiments which are enriched enough to have a deep dive into the never-ending knowledge of Yoga. Those records narrate how Yoga can empower our day to day life in a much better and easier way. Let’s have a quick look into those ancient records, which lights on the knowledge of Yoga.
We have various kinds of literature and approaches to know the actual definition of Yoga. The direct definition of the term Yoga in Sanskrit is the state of union [युज्यते अनेन इति योगः (Yujyate Anena iti yogah)], which means the joining of jivatma into the paramatma (the individual soul into the universal soul).
Patanjali describes the purpose of the yoga practice, saying योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः (yogash-chitta-vritti-nirodhah), which means Yoga is stilling the fluctuations of the mind. Freeing ourselves of the misconceptions that alter our consciousness is a highly complex task that involves our entire being; for misconceptions are literally embedded in our physical, energetic, emotional and mental bodies. Nonetheless, each of us has the capacity to attain this clear state of perception, that is the state Patañjali refers to as yoga, and to which he shows us a viable path.
One of the greatest spiritual classics ever recorded, the Yoga Vasistha defined yoaga as मन:प्रशमन उपाय:योग इत्यभिधीयते (Manah prashamanopayah yoga ityabhidhiyate), which means yoga is a skillful trick to calm down the mind. It is a skillful subtle process and not a brutal, mechanical gross effort to stop the thoughts in the mind.
In Bhagavat Gita, Shree Krishna has given very beautiful and exact definition of Yoga as योग:कर्मसु कौशलम् (Yogah karmasu kaushalam), which means Yoga is one where work is done with dexterity. The dexterity is I maintaining relaxation and awareness in action. It emphasizes that relaxed action as the process produces efficient results.
According to Kathopanisad, yoga defined as तां योगमिति मन्यन्ते स्थिरामिन्द्रीयधारणाम् (Tam yogamiti manyante sthiramindriya dharanam), which means yoga is the state in which all our sense organs are beheld steadily, that is a state of mastery over senses and mind. It’s an art of preparing any of your sense organs to concentrate on a particular object or subject you will enjoy the moment with ultimate intensity. For example, if you are listening with the extreme concentration to your teacher in the classroom, your hearing sense organs, that is your ears will be active at the extreme level and all other sense organs will filter out all other disturbances from the surroundings. This is called the state of mastery over senses and mind. This is the technique our ancient sages followed to gain knowledge and be in the state of tapas for many months, years or even for decades.
Yoga is a complete control of human personality. It is not just an exercise or method of meditation and relaxation. The purpose behind Yoga is to gain complete control over our whole personality- the body, the mind, the feelings and other aspects of our internal world.
While analyzing what is Yoga and what is not, one can introspect if the technique practiced is always maintained or does it slide down. Whether we can we maintain a balanced state of mind at all times and build an awareness to remain in a state of higher understanding where everything in life can be seen through an objectivity developed between the body, mind and the surroundings, leads to the process of complete control of one’s personality, so that one may discover one’s own true self. Culture of one’s consciousness, to transcend our normal vegetative existence and the experience of the absolute in consciousness was the ultimate goal.
🙏🏼 लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनोभवंतु ॥ 🙏🏼
