The primary purpose of yoga is to teach the individual how to relax and achieve tranquility. Everyone wants peace and quiet, but how can we avoid noise? Just try to go within yourself for a moment and you will find that even if you plug your ears, the noise still leaks in.

Breath awareness

The yogic way to achieve inner peace is to watch the breathing process in the body, to become aware of each incoming and outgoing breath. You don’t have to make an effort to breathe; the process goes on automatically all the time. This breath awareness relaxes the nerves and spontaneously internalizes the mind. It relaxes not only the abdominal, back and leg muscles, but also the most important areas of the brain which control the whole physical body, the emotions and the intellect. When you experience this relaxation, the strain of the day’s work falls away, and you feel as refreshed as if you’d just had several hours of sleep. But even the relaxation of sleep cannot be compared with this state, because yogic relaxation brings emotional tranquility as well.

Many times you feel exhausted at the end of a busy day, and when you want to play with your children or talk with your wife or husband, you just can’t. This makes you feel frustrated and irritated, causing even more physical and emotional tension. In order to avoid this, you can practise simple breathing awareness before coming home from work, or before the family comes home for dinner. Just sit down quietly with your eyes open or closed and withdraw your awareness from the external world. Become aware of the breath flowing in and out. With every inhalation feel the navel region expanding; with every exhalation feel the navel area contracting. Try to synchronize the incoming and outgoing breath with the rising and falling of the navel.

This breathing practice will minimize your physical fatigue and maximize your emotional stability. Your irritation will automatically decrease and you won’t become angry with your loved ones. You will be able to speak with your children, wife or husband in a pleasant manner and you will be happier with yourself as a person. Keep practising this every day and, in the course of time, you will feel a tremendous increase of energy, both physically and emotionally. Anybody can perform this simple yogic technique without seeking further guidance or advice.

Neti kriya

Another technique which you can do every day or once a week is neti kriya. This practice also relaxes the brain and brings tranquility. For this, you need a special neti lota, or pot, filled with warm saline water. Place the nozzle of the lota in the right nostril, then tilt the head to the left side and breathe through the open mouth. The water flows out the left nostril without any effort or disturbance, as if it were coming through a straight pipe. Afterwards, you clean the nose by exhaling forcefully with bhastrika pranayama to remove any excess water.

Neti kriya stimulates and massages the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which are known in yogic terminology as ida and pingala nadis. Ida and pingala control the cooling and heating aspects in the body, acting like an internal thermostat. This thermostat regulates the temperature and energy levels in the nervous system. When the energy is not being channelized properly, either there is too much energy or too little, and then illness develops. Constipation, diabetes, hypertension, cancer and so many other diseases may occur. Neti kriya helps to maintain good health by balancing these two aspects of ida and pingala in our physical body.

These two nadis are also directly connected to the brain and affect the way we think, experience and feel. They influence the emotions which cause worry and excitement and are at the root of most of our problems. So when you directly relax the two nervous systems, in the course of time you are able to transform yourself mentally as well as physically.

The ancient rishis and munis knew this secret, and today, scientists are discovering the same thing: neti kriya is the best way of removing all of the problems caused by phobia. Do you know what a phobia is? It is a wrong and false imagination about your health, family, work, etc. A phobia is something which you imagine exists. Phobias are created and expressed differently in different situations, for example, as lack of confidence, doubt or false thinking about others. This is the whole cause of everyone’s suffering – not just Hindus, Russians, Muslims or Christians, but all of humanity. It is the cause of our physical, emotional and intellectual sickness.

Simple yogic practices such as these can be used to restore normal health and harmony. However, we must remember that yoga is far more than this. It is a vast science which can raise the consciousness and lead you to spiritual enlightenment.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, June, 1981)

Many scientists have sought to explain the underlying mechanism by which fasting therapy corrects abnormal and unbalanced psycho-physiological systems, and restores health so efficiently. Its stabilizing effects on the . nervous system have been measured electrically through brain wave recordings and its effects on the endocrine glands have been traced bio-chemically. Both sets of findings tend to confirm that fasting allows the autonomic systems of the body to function at a relaxed baseline level, free from the erratic and disruptive influences of the nervous system and hormones.

Effects on the brain and nervous system

Suzuki et al. in 1976 studied changes in the brain waves from 262 fasting patients and noted a slowing and synchronization of alpha waves, together with an increased incidence of theta waves. *1 These observations are descriptive of a more relaxed and introspective state of awareness, which is less neurotically preoccupied with the superficial and transitory patterns of thought that characterize the normal waking state. Similar brain wave alterations were recorded in Zen meditators by Kasamatsu and Hirai (1966) *2 and by Banquet (1973) in subjects practising japa yoga. *3 This suggests that fasting and meditation exert similar psycho-physiological influences on the brain and nervous system, perhaps healing psychosomatic complaints and maintaining optimal health and wellbeing by a single common mechanism.

The significant slowing of brain waves suggests that fasting induces a transient slowing down of the central nervous system. It seems plausible that more complex changes in the autonomic nerves and endocrine glands may then occur. An over active autonomic nervous system, which constantly relays abnormal mental and psychic stresses into the physiological systems, produces many psychosomatic symptoms and disease states, Through fasting and meditation these stresses are removed, allowing the mechanisms responsible for blood pressure, respiratory and cardiac rate, gastrointestinal secretion and motility, etc. to revert spontaneously to a more natural level of functioning.

In Suzuki’s study, this brain wave phenomenon disappeared upon termination of fasting therapy, and peak EEG frequency and wave configuration returned to a pattern strikingly similar to pre-fasting discharge patterns. However, in a more recent Japanese study of 380 fasting patients *4, where the EEG analysis was more sophisticated, peak frequency decreased significantly at the end of the fasting period, suggesting that a stable new physiological state is created in the post-fasting period. In addition, the overload of fast beta waves observed in the pre-fasting period decreased in the fasting period, and did not reappear again in the same fashion after the recovery phase. As these faster waves have been associated with anxiety, tension, neuroticism and irritation, their disappearance on EEG may be an objective indication that fasting either partially or totally eases these symptoms permanently.

Recently, the metabolic changes induced by fasting have also been investigated. The normal metabolic fuel of the brain is glucose, released into the bloodstream from the digestion of dietary carbohydrates and sugars. The research of G.F. Cahill of Joslin Research Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, USA (1966-1969), revealed that this situation changes dramatically during fasting. As the fast proceeds, the body’s stores of carbohydrates in the liver are rapidly exhausted, and the brain’s requirements for glucose, its sole fuel, must then be met by non-carbohydrate sources. The new source is the ketone body, derived from the hydrolysis of fat stored in the body’s adipose tissues.

It appears that the brain’s switch from starch to ketone nutrition works as a strong stressor upon the brain cells, and temporarily places all biological mechanisms in a stress state. This may activate the natural healing power inherent in the human body, thereby bringing about homeostasis, and a return to healthy function.

Effects on the endocrine glands

Disordered function of the network of endocrine glands, with their secretion of abnormal and ill-timed quantities of hormones into the bloodstream, is a potent cause of physiological disruption. In addition, abnormal blood concentrations of gonadal, pituitary, adrenal and thyroid hormones are now recognized to be a major determinant of unhealthy emotional and psychological states, profoundly affecting mental health and wellbeing.

Endocrinologists are able to assess the function of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis of glands by measuring the levels of hormone by products found in the urine and blood. In the 1979 Tohoku study, this analysis indicated that the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis declines during fasting. This state is very similar to that which occurs immediately after the endocrine glands have been activated by a stress situation. At that time, after the initial burst of secretion, there is a stable or refractory resistance period, during which the capacity of the glands to respond to any new incoming stimuli is severely depressed.

This may provide a welcome period of rest and rehabilitation for the long overburdened physiological and metabolic processes, allowing them to regain the level of basic function from which they have deviated for so long under constant autonomic and endocrine stimulus. During this hiatus, the restoration of function can occur without disruption or interruption. Thus, the initiation of this artificial stress response may be the key by which fasting unlocks the body’s own dormant healing energies.

References

*1. J.Suzuki, Y. Yamauchi, M. Horikawa and S. Yamagata, ‘Fasting therapy for psychosomatic diseases with special reference to its indication and therapeutic mechanism’, Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 118 : 245-259, 1976.
*2. A. Kasamatsu and T. Hirai, ‘An electroencephalographic study on Zen meditation (Zazen)’, Folia Psychiat. Nenrol. Jap-, 20:315-336, 1966.
*3. J. P. Banquet, ‘Spectral analysis of the EEG in meditation’, Electroenceph. Clin. Neuro-physiol, 35: 143-15, 1973.
*4. H. Yamamoto, J. Suzuki and Y. Yamauchi, ‘Psychophysiological study of fasting therapy’, Proc. 12th Eur. Conf. Psychosom. Res., Psychother. Psychosom., 32:229-240, 1979.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, May, 1981)

Many people believe that asthma is incurable. This is a false belief. The science of yoga and the personal experience of this author prove that asthma can be cured through the combination of modern medicine and yoga. Medical therapy is the most efficient and the fastest means of stopping the painful and exhausting breathlessness of an acute attack. In this regard, drugs can be used. Yoga, on the other hand, supplies the techniques to strengthen body and mind, and to relax tensions in the mental and pranic bodies that are at the root of asthma. Over a short period of time, yoga completely removes the deep-seated cause of asthma. Then drugs are no longer necessary and yoga can continue to promote health and prevent recurrence. At the same time it leads on to higher fields of awareness and joyful, creative and full living.

Causes of asthma

The breathlessness and wheezing that are the most agonising part of acute asthma are caused by constriction of the breathing passages (bronchi) which are further blocked by an overproduction of mucus. The bronchial constriction is the result of nervous system imbalance due to an ongoing state of stress and strain in body and mind.

Asthma is the final stage in a long series of events. It is not an entity in itself, but a sign that something is not balanced and harmonious beneath the surface. The basic cause of this disharmony is mental tension. To remove the effect we must remove the cause.

Mental tension affects our subtle energy body, for the fine meshwork of pranic channels which makes up this body is influenced by the mind. If the mind is tense, prana (bio-energy) cannot flow efficiently. This reflects into the brain and nervous system, causing the imbalance that we see as asthma.

A long period of tension compounded with asthma causes four major problems:

1. Physical and emotional weakness.

2. Depression, resulting from the interruption of one’s usual occupation and activity.

3. Postural defects, which increase breating difficulties.

4. Fear of future attacks which triggers unnecessary use of drugs.

There are two main steps to curing asthma. The first is to deal with the acute attack when it occurs. The second is to increase strength and vitality to prevent further attacks.

Cure

During an acute attack there are several steps you should take before reaching for drugs. Firstly, perform kunjal kriya. Then twenty minutes later drink a cup of hot coffee. This heats and relaxes the chest and the caffeine helps to dilate the air passages. If you cannot perform kunjal kriya try to do pranayama (breathing exercises). At last resort use drugs. If you can wait until this point before doing so you will have increased your willpower as well as learning better how to prevent an attack, or how to stop it once it has started.

Most importantly, become an observer or witness of the attack. What feelings, thoughts and memories do you experience? What states of mind? Turn each attack to your advantage so that it becomes a learning procedure, a method to increase your strength and awareness.

The second stage of cure is to practice yoga each day. In this way asanas will help correct posture, improve functioning of the lungs, increase the health of the spine, and improve nervous co-ordination. Pranayama will help to increase the strength of the lungs as well as smoothing the flow of prana. Meditation will help to remove the mental tension that is the basic cause of asthma. Dr.P. Korey (USA), has shown that meditation reduces the resistance to the flow of air into the body by twenty percent. That is, meditation makes it easier for the air to get into the lungs. This is unique to meditation and does not occur during sleep or other periods of rest.

Diet and asthma

Diet is a major factor in the cure of asthma. The recommendations made are to eliminate heavy mucus-forming foods which clog the system. The asthmatic is weak and his energies are unbalanced, so the correct foods should be taken to help restore harmony and regain strength.

The best diet is fresh, vegetarian food, accenting whole grains, vegetables and fruit. Home-made bread or chapattis, other forms of wheat, rice, barley and other whole grains are good, especially in combination with legumes (dhal).

The following foods should be eliminated: white bread, cakes, white sugar, canned food and all artificially flavoured and coloured foods, milk products (except yoghurt or dahi), fried food.

Avoid taking too much food and try to eat only two meals a day, at regular intervals. Limit the amount of tea and coffee you take so that the caffeine in the coffee will be effective during an acute attack.

Incorporate diet regulation with the full treatment program given in Asthma, Blood Pressure, Diabetes (available from Bihar School of Yoga). You will lift your whole life to a higher level, free from asthma and full of vitality.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, December, 1977)

“You are old Father William
The young man said,
And your hair has become very white,
And yet you incessantly stand on your head
Do you think at your age it is right?…”

Alice in Wonderland

How do we picture old age? Bent over at a 90 degree angle, wearing a hearing aid, odd shoes, no teeth and a mind turned back 20 years to the good old days? Or is old age visualised as Father William saw it, a golden era, a time to sit back and reap the infinite benefits of a life of hard work and to reflect on lessons learned and experience gained?

The fountain of youth, the magic elixir that retards ageing, has been the quest of all cultures from the beginning of time. The secret of youth lies in our youth. Tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of our lives and like the squirrel in autumn collecting nuts for his winter food supply we need to prepare for old age. Whether 18 or 80, yoga is the ideal preparation, providing health maintenance for the young and a comfortable footstool for the elderly. Physical well-being, expanded mental outlook and spiritual aspiration play a positive part in the process of rejuvenation. Arthritis and rheumatism can be prevented or reversed through the simple practices of pawanmuktasana combined with a natural wholesome diet. Major asanas exercise the internal organs and glands, conserving and increasing our energy levels and creating harmony between body and mind. Physical good health brings mental stability, clarity of thought and a joy in being alive. Breathing exercises provide extra supplies of oxygen to the brain, stimulating an active memory and good concentration.

Fear is one of the greatest preoccupations of old age; fear of physical immobility and senility, fear of death, fear of loneliness and isolation, and fear of losing relatives, friends and possessions. Karma yoga, constant selfless activity, is every man and woman’s aid in the prevention of senility and overcoming of fear. Modern society has lost the pleasure of hard work for its own sake, and modern household appliances and jet age conveniences all too often do no more then alienate us from the pure joy of physical activity and community effort.

The present day concept of retiring early to a life of ease actually leads to premature ageing. ‘Better the body wear out, than rust out through inactivity’ is a saying from a sage of India who expounded the virtues of karma yoga. After retiring, people in their 60′s often leave their homes and move into comfortable flats or units but find little to occupy their days. When there is no longer any reason to get up early, no house and garden to maintain, old people quickly succumb to premature death through sheer boredom. We are all capable of living for a 100 years. Maintenance of a family, house and career only forms approximately 50 years of our lifespan, what happens to the other 50? What we think we become. Will we remain dull and uninspired for the second half of our lifetime, or will we seek to enter a new, active and creative sphere of increasing wisdom, service, clarity and self-fulfilment? The choice is ours and yoga will show us the way. A relaxed, expansive mind accepts the body growing older, while remaining lucid, alert and inspired. Tension develops when the mind fights against inevitable change, while relaxation comes with the acceptance of change.

Yoga nidra and meditation develop a steady mind and allow the positive attributes of old age: tolerance, detachment, acceptance and wisdom, to gradually unfold. The phobias, fluctuations, inhibitions and restlessness of our youth dissolve over the years and the true nature of oneself is slowly revealed. The key to this transition comes with selfless service.

In our present age people are looking more deeply for a meaningful lifestyle. Often that entails searching for a guru or teacher who invariably is a man or woman of a reasonable age, having the experience and wisdom to guide others. With old age more time can be devoted to relaxation and meditation as the external life with its sensual stimulation no longer beckons so insistently.

The internal life spontaneously opens up to the sounding of the soul. In the meditation practice of nada yoga the mind is turned inwards, so that the witnessing principle begins to uncover the dormant internal sounds. Often an elderly person living alone spontaneously develops an awareness of these sounds, like ringing in the ears, sounds of birds or music, but because of ignorance, is frightened by them. With the same introversion process, visions can also occur. These however are only processes of internalisation and unfolding of deeper mental impressions. Following a single purpose in life leads in time to one-pointedness of mind and after some years of meditation, full familiarity with the purpose develops. When the children have left home, the body is gradually slowing down, and the attraction of the so-called pleasures of life is diminishing, what is left? At that point, that familiarity with a single purpose, that one-pointedness, that centring upon the spiritual goal of life, becomes immensely comfortable, like warm gloves on a cold day. When the mind is free of distractions, the higher intuitive faculties are revealed and begin to guide the individual.

How can anyone hope to evolve most effectively while they possess a stiff rigid body, poor eyesight and a failing memory? When one is motivated and inspired, the energy and capacity to live up to one’s purpose in life always comes. Grey hair then becomes a silver crown, worn as a symbol of wisdom.

Life is a challenge, a constant uphill walk. The path is sometimes smooth and easy, but at other times it is rough and steep. The end of our life, old age, is the summit where the ground beneath flattens out and we can walk about easily amongst the clouds and fresh air viewing all that is below, all that has passed and all that held an attraction for us even for a brief moment in time. Preparation for old age therefore is the fountain of youth.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, November, 1979)

Spiritual clarification is what people throughout the world want today. When everything has been said, the last words remain, ‘What to do?’ We have to plunge ourselves into the art and act of meditation. In yoga, meditation is known as dhyana yoga; this is the technical word used in the yoga scriptures. The English word meditation does not convey the whole import, so we’ll first explain the meaning of dhyana yoga.

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, meditation is defined as ‘when the mind has been able to transcend the knowledge of smell, sound, touch, form and taste, and at the same time, when the consciousness is functioning around one point’. This is the technical, classical definition of dhyana. It is not the act of concentration, when we are trying to concentrate or consolidate the dissipated energies of our mind. That is not dhyana, but the way to dhyana. What we have been doing in yoga classes is not dhyana.

There are three distinct stages in this practice. The first leads to sense withdrawal, the second to concentration, and the last to meditation, dhyana. It is not the mind that we have to tackle first, it is the sensations, the knowledge of the five senses. If you close your eyes, you are only blocking the sensation of form. What about the ears? You can still listen to so many sounds. To give a clear example, if you imagine a little point, and try to concentrate on it, what happens? The senses continue to feed the mind throughout. The messages keep coming to the brain which, therefore, remains in an excited condition. In the practice of dhyana yoga the first thing you have to do is cut the supply routes which carry sensations to the brain constantly, during wakefulness, sleep, and dreams. That is the first stage in dhyana yoga.

In the second stage you have to concentrate on one point. The point can be anything- a cross, your guru, a black dog, a flower, a light, a star. What is important is that the object of meditation which you have selected is an absolutely spontaneous choice of your mind, so that you don’t have to force it. For instance, I find it easy to concentrate on the form of my guru, because I lived with him for twelve years. It is difficult for me to concentrate on a form which I have not seen. It is not the divinity of the object which is important when you are trying to concentrate. It is your fraternity with the object that is important- how close you feel, how spontaneous you are, how comprehensive and intimate your relationship is with that object. If you do not feel these things then you will find concentration very hard. Again and again your mind will become dissipated. I will give you a parable.

Once upon a time a young girl was going to meet her boyfriend. She was deeply engrossed in remembering him. In the lane through which she was passing, a Muslim had spread his mat and was repeating his prayers. Muslims pray five times a day, anywhere and everywhere, even in the middle of the road. They are very strict about their prayer time. So he had spread his mat and was saying his prayers, ‘Allah, Allah, Allah’. The girl was so much engrossed in thoughts of her lover that she walked right over his mat, and kept going. The man who was praying looked at her and said, ‘Arrogant, shameless, uncivilised!’ Then, unable to control himself, he got up from his mat and called after her. The girl continued walking and did not respond. He became furious and followed her, calling ‘Hey’, and again she did not respond. Then he ran ahead of her, blocked her way, and shouted, ‘Why did you walk over my mat?’ The girl was taken aback and asked, ‘What mat’? What do you mean?’ The man said, ‘I was praying, and you walked over my mat, you unholy wretch!’ The lady paused for a moment, and then gave a very revealing reply, ‘I was so engrossed in thoughts of my lover that I did not see you or your mat. How could you have seen me walk over your mat if you were praying to God?’

The object which you select for concentration should be like the beloved of the girl, not the beloved of the man. That’s where most of us have been making a great mistake. All of the saints, from the vedic rishis to Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, right down to the present day, have all been hitting on the same note- bhakti yoga. Your object of concentration should be related to you through your heart, not through your intellect. The mantra, which is an object for spiritual concentration, and the deity which is also the basis for consolidation of dissipated energy, should be a matter of heart more than head. What is heart? It is a spontaneity of feeling, selection and choice. When you want to get out of the mental plane you have to use a greater force. A little bit of practice with a dry mantra here and a dry deity there will not do. One of the great saints of India was Mira Bai. She was a princess and a queen, then she became a swami, a sannyasin. She left her kingdom and devoted her whole life to the spiritual quest until she reached the final destination. Every Indian knows her songs. Mira Bai says that when there is infinite love there is no further practice – my beloved is in me, and therefore I don’t have to go out anywhere.

This spontaneity of devotion, this bhakti yoga, is the culminating point which everyone should remember. When one wants to evolve in spiritual life, dry raja yoga will not do. Full, exciting kundalini yoga will not do. I have absolute respect for all of these, because I teach them. I am not criticising them, I am only pointing to their limitations. You have to awaken the devotional aspect in yourself- and don’t say that you don’t have it. If you did not have this stuff in you, how could you hate and how could you love? How could you cry and how could you laugh? Emotion, passion, attachment, the knowledge and feeling of pleasure and pain are based on, or are the offspring of this stuff called bhava – attitude, bhakti, devotion. This is a very important thing that we now have to ponder in our lives. We have been living the life of a Christian, devoted to Christ, God and the church. We have been living the life of a Hindu, devoted to Hindu dharma, the temple, Rama and Krishna etc. In the course of time all of these religious formalities have followed a tradition of decadence. There is nothing wrong in them, but everything has degenerated and decayed, and our gurus, in Hinduism as well as in Christianity, have failed to explain how bhakti or devotion is intimately connected with the emotions and passions of our lives. Just as a passionate man loves a woman, so we must approach our deity with the same force, the same urge, the same attitude and the same spontaneity. Do you have to make any effort when you love somebody? No. It’s not difficult. Maybe sometimes you have to control yourself!

There is a technique by which bhakti will become spontaneous. There is a method, by which this dormant devotion will become a reality in your life. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was once encountered by a disciple when they were travelling in a small boat. ‘Paramhamsaji’, he said, ‘please tell me how to feel the spontaneity of love for God’. Ramakrishna became angry. ‘What nonsense you are speaking’, he said, and threw him into the river telling the boatman to row on. The disciple couldn’t swim and he was gasping, struggling, pining for life. The boatman rescued him. After some time Ramakrishna said, ‘How did you find the experience?’ The disciple said, ‘There was only one thing in my mind – how to survive’. It is this one pointedness that is required when we sit for meditation. There should be nothing in our minds but our guru, nothing but our faithful deity. But it’s not there. Why? Because we have been practicing dhyana yoga without developing our love to the full extent. This bhakti aspect of our lives has been misled. We have been squandering it. Where has our bhakti gone? To the pictures and television, from one man to another, from one girl to another, from one type of dress to another. We have been squandering this great priceless gem of eternal reality which every being possesses. Everybody has bhakti, and this has to be developed. Therefore, the one who ignites the dormant bhakti in your personality, the guru, comes first in the spiritual life. Once bhakti is developed, dhyana yoga becomes spontaneous. You close your eyes and things start happening.

For awakening bhakti, guru is first, kirtan second and satsang third. Satsang is association, congregation, conference, meeting with people to discuss things pertaining to spiritual life- not politics, sociology, finances, romance, weather, clothes, or food, but spiritual life. Sat means ‘positive, reality, spiritual’. Sang means ‘coming together’. Satsang is very important.

Finally, someone must tell us the stories of those great saints who had the vision of supreme reality. Longfellow, the great poet, said that we have to read the lives of the great saints to make our own lives sublime. Usually, if we read anything about them at all, a Hindu only reads about the Hindu saints, and a Christian about the Christian saints. But perhaps they were neither Christian nor Hindu. Throughout history these saints have led a unique type of life. They have experimented with a new system of life, a new conduct, a new way of thinking. They were the revolutionaries of their time. I have read practically all of them; the Hindu, Christian, Sufi, Muslim, Hebrew and Greek saints. If you go through their lives, they will inspire you. Their inspiration will awaken the bhakti. This is how we have to plod on with our spiritual consciousness.

It is also very important that a systematic practice be followed at home. Those of you who are practicing should continue. Those who are new, must remember that what we have done so far with our lives has not paid any dividend. We have been groping in darkness, and it is time we opened ourselves to a new type of life, which does not hinder the external life, but which opens the beatitude of the inner life.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say to his disciples, ‘Look here. Food is necessary for the body, and so is sleep, because that is the dharma, that is the urge of the physical body. But you have neglected the needs of the spiritual body!’ By dedicating yourself to the spiritual purpose, and by pursuing this path with the utmost sincerity and diligence, you will be the richest person on earth. Of what avail are material riches if they cannot give you peace of mind, tranquillity, mental balance and understanding of your own self? Even if you are an ordinary person with just a few dollars in your pocket, if you have equilibrium, understanding of yourself, and confidence in what you exist for, then you are not only the richest person, you are the president of all nations. You have seen in history that an ordinary person like Christ could become king of kings. What was Ramakrishna? An ordinary priest. What was Saint Francis? All the saints and sages have realised that the real riches, the real prosperity, and the real wealth, lies within one’s own self. Therefore, side by side with the outer life you have been leading so far, you must diligently pursue and follow the inner path of dhyana yoga.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, April, 1979)

Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Given at Satyananda Ashram, Paris, on 17th Sept.

Mankind has landed in a new dimension of time and things are completely different from what they were a century ago. Men, women and children and the way of living are completely new. About one or two hundred years ago, the emperors and the cardinals used to tell us to follow the religion of the country and everybody did so. Today the situation is completely different. The state is not concerned with man’s religion. Now individuals have to discover a way for themselves. How can a king or an emperor tell you which way you should go? It is only you who can decide.

Spiritual life is a life of evolution, improvement and progression in every aspect of existence. In the process of evolution the first phase is to take care of our material existence. Human life is like an iceberg, a little is above water and the rest is under water. A lot of our personality is rooted in the body, mind and senses, and therefore we have to live in this world.

There is a reason why we were born. We have a definite destiny and that is why we are here as human beings. Man is the link between animal and divine. Therefore we are an important part of the great evolution. This evolution is not only on the physical and mental plane, it is also on the spiritual plane. In the last few centuries we were completely blinded to this fact. Man was busy with empire building, he was very busy establishing industries and looking after his body. But now we are at the zenith and we have to come back to the point where we started. Therefore, not only in our own self, but everywhere in the world, individual awakening is occurring. Two decades back when young boys of 16, 18, 20, used to talk to me about spiritual consciousness, I thought that people had gone crazy. But now I am not surprised when most people I meet want to find the purpose and the objective of life.

Language of every man

All over the world yoga has received great attention and everyone is able to understand it so quickly and so well. Even the religious fanatics have no problem with yoga. Because the philosophy of yoga is so simple, sceptics and atheists and those who are rooted in sensual life have no difficulty in understanding it.

Yoga doesn’t start with a promise of heaven, it starts with the theory of the body. Everybody understands the body, therefore, yoga talks about the nervous system, energy, emotions, intellect, brain, glands, hormones, endocrines. Anybody who has been to school can understand this and they can’t deny it at all.

If I talk about heaven, half of you might accept it and half of you might say ‘Hmph!’ But the message of yoga is rooted in practical life which everybody understands, so people have no difficulty in accepting it. Yoga talks about the mind, dreams, deep sleep, sensual manifestations, psychological depths, conflicts, depression, visions. Everybody has experienced these things and so they can understand yoga very well. Finally, yoga talks about the inner consciousness, clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, parapsychology.

Yoga has been readily understood by everybody, because its language is the language of man. Religions have gone into obscurity because we don’t understand what they say. When I was a young boy I used to ask my priest, ‘How big is God’s house and who is the minister and secretary of his kingdom?’ I used to ask such funny questions that my priest was completely bewildered. He only said, ‘Look here, you are a child, you will understand when you grow up.’ If you ask a yoga teacher any question about yoga, he will definitely give you a reply which you can understand. He will not say ‘First get a medical degree, and then I will explain it’.

Ashram culture

Peace of mind is a universal concern. Whether you are an intellectual or a labourer, affluent or of simple means, of a good family or a disreputable one, you know that your mind is not stable. This is the factor on which the foundation of the ashram is built. An ashram is not a place where you learn how to be lazy, not a place for passivity, not the abode of tamoguna- sleeping energy. An ashram is a place where you channelize your dynamism for the generation of inner power. Therefore the ashram has a relevance to our culture of today. The number of ashrams has to gradually increase so that many more people can come to join them and participate in their creative and beneficial activities. The ashram culture is needed to balance the mad race of mankind. It is because there are so few ashrams in our culture, that man has been misled.

Ashrams should not be too big, otherwise they require a complicated system of organisation, and where there is a large organisation, the contact can never be direct. In ashrams the contact between the teacher and the student should be direct. Therefore the ashram should not grow to the point where the relationship between guru and disciple becomes indirect. Do not aspire for a palace. Do not be proud and say, ‘Have you seen my ashram; it is such a big one?’ I am proud of an ashram where people can come to see me, not whenever they like, but from time to time. This is the type of ashram we have been creating almost everywhere in the world. In the course of time, the ashram will have to become the hearth of society’s cultural and spiritual activities.

Universal science

In many countries people ask ‘Do you preach yoga?’ I say ‘Yes’ and the person says, ‘But yoga is oriental and we are occidental. How can oriental yoga fit in with occidental culture?’ I have two answers. Firstly, how did Christianity fit into the west? Is Christianity occidental or oriental? Secondly, a science is neither eastern nor western. When technology came to India we said, ‘It is from the west, but that’s all right. We can have a motor car from anywhere.’ A science is universal – technological science is universal, and spiritual science is also universal. Biology, chemistry and botany are not occidental sciences, they are just sciences. Yoga is not an eastern philosophy, it is the philosophy. This is how we have to accept yoga wherever we are.

Technological culture was the work of the external man and it created comfort and luxuries for the external senses. But with the development of technology the needs of the inner man were ignored. In India the way of life was designed for the development of the inner man while the needs of the outer man were ignored. So in both the east and the west the lifestyle was unbalanced; development was not integral. Now the west must learn how to develop the inner man and the east has to learn how to develop the outer man. This will bring the world closer and remove the big gap between the two cultures.

Free of obligation

Unfortunately, there was a large gap in the history of mankind, and that was the period when spirituality was forced and yoga was lost. When spirituality is forced on people it becomes a religion or a socio-political creed which is no longer based on spirituality.

During the last three or four decades the world has been blessed with a few great thinkers, including scientists, who have made a just appeal to mankind to evolve its spiritual life. Society cannot compel its members to become spiritual; each individual must discover his own needs and develop his spiritual life voluntarily. It cannot be done out of obligation.

If you need yoga, practise it, otherwise do not. Yoga is not a law of state, and if you don’t choose to follow it nobody is going to punish you. If you think you don’t need asanas, then please don’t do them. If you think that tranquillity is not your need, then please don’t practise yoga nidra. So in our age the whole process has to be voluntary and our spiritual path has to be an outcome of our discovery.

When I became a swami the state did not compel me. Today, if I want to leave sannyasa nobody can stop me; I don’t need anyone’s permission. This is one of the most wonderful things in India, everyone is free to choose his own path, and this is the spirit growing in the western countries now. In the last three or four decades there has been a very great change, and so it is that yoga is with us now.

Satsang on Yoga Today

Do you think that the world, is preparing for an age of spiritual awakening?

People are becoming more and more aware of the need for spiritual life, but they lack guidance, inspiration and the means of transmission. The awakening is here, now, but from time to time it is oppressed. In the last twenty or thirty years, and particularly in the last decade, the awakening has been marvellous and voluntary. This is a direct contrast to the previous generations when there was no choice; man was obliged to follow a path, whether he understood it or not.

Now, boys and girls and men and women of all ages, are earnestly trying to discover a way for themselves, and this voluntary discovery of spiritual life, and acceptance of spiritual practices, is a very happy event of our time. If this awakening continues and the voluntary efforts to raise one’s spiritual consciousness are genuine and honest, then we can definitely reach the sublime heights of consciousness. Therefore I always tell my disciples, ‘Do not seek wild publicity. If you do you are compelling or convincing people, then they are only accepting the way because they are impressed.’ True spiritual life is not an outcome of this kind of impression. Rather, it comes to you in a beautiful and concise way.

Even if spiritual life was not openly presented and there were no books and publicity materials, a general awakening in the masses would still be taking place. If you withdrew all the books and publicity, and did not propagate spiritual life through newspapers or television, nevertheless, the mass consciousness which is trying to evolve spiritually, would discover its own way. Therefore, in our times, although we have been operating very silently and without much fuss, we still find people are in search of us. People are searching for good books on yoga and for good yoga teachers. They are looking for good systems, and this is a very positive sign of awakening.

One point should be very clear. While a spiritual institution or philosophy, or a religious institution or philosophy needs publicity, constant recognition, or whatever you might call it, the awakening of spiritual consciousness in everybody, en masse, does not need any publicity at all. If you are hungry you find your own food. If you want spiritual life you must search and track it down. So let us try to create a situation where people remain seekers. Let them go to the gurus and teachers. Let them try different philosophies. Let them read books. I teach because you are searching. What are you searching for? You are searching for a way which will lead you towards the greater possibility which you have somehow realised in your mind. This type of voluntary awakening has been occurring increasingly over the last two or three decades.

How is the knowledge of yoga being disseminated around the, world?

Last week I was in Zinal, Switzerland, where yoga teachers from 47 countries participated in the international yoga conference. I am going to Dublin the day after tomorrow for another convention, and people from all over Europe will be attending.

I was also in Denmark recently, and I found that the education department sends circulars to every Danish citizen, inviting them to participate in yoga lessons for which the government pays. The awakening is definitely under way there. In my class in our Scandinavian ashram there were 120 people. This small crowd is not discouraging and, similarly, big crowds aren’t necessarily encouraging either. It is the quality which is important, not the quantity. It only matters that you are here and I am here.

Many people may think that there must be 50,000 people to listen to the message of yoga. This is not the case. Yoga is not a political matter; it is a science of man’s inner personality. It is a subject which is sincere, earnest and great. Yoga is a mighty culture in the making, and very soon it is going to direct the experiences, the behaviour, the thought, and the process of the perception of mankind.

Will there be enough teachers for the increasing number of people who want to practise yoga?

There is a law of supply and demand. Where there is demand there will be supply. Through the practice of asanas and pranayama you can prepare your body, mind and nervous system so that from among you many enlightened people will come forth, with a thorough knowledge of the science, and they will make very capable teachers.

What kind of things do you teach? What kind of yoga do you give to the people?

There is only one definition of yoga, no second definition. Yoga means to be able to control the varying patterns of consciousness and this, of course, I teach everyone. But if I find that their body is not co-operating, then I try to mend it also.

The practices of yoga are divided into four main branches- karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga and gyana yoga. For people of dynamic temperament it is karma yoga; for those who are predominantly emotional- bhakti yoga; for those who are predominantly rational- gyana yoga; and for those who are predominantly psychic – raja yoga. Raja yoga has many sub branches- hatha yoga, laya yoga, kundalini yoga and mantra yoga. Besides this there is another system known as tantra yoga, which is the sum total of all these. Its main practice is known as kriya yoga. I mainly teach kriya yoga, but for me yoga is an all-inclusive science. Though I teach kriya yoga, I know that all the other forms, of yoga are necessary for people to prepare their bodies, minds and habits.

What is meant by living yoga and teaching yoga?

To live yoga is to be in harmony with yourself. You know what your mind is like. At the same time you know what kind of conflicting patterns you are imbibing in life. How unsteady the mind is! How can you teach tranquillity to others while you yourself are disturbed? We have seen many doctors of psychology who treat mental diseases but they themselves are mental patients. When I say that one has to live yoga, I mean that one has to live a harmonious life in body, mind and spirit. The word yoga represents harmony, unity and co-ordination. This sense of harmony and unity has to be expressed and practised in relation to your own self first, then with the people you live with.

If you live a life of disharmony within yourself, and with the people you live among, then you know what type of troubles you are going to create. Living yoga means organising the patterns of one’s own life. Many times we have seen people teaching yoga who go to bed late at night and wake up late in the morning; the same thing applies to their diet and all other aspects of their personal life. If you have no system, discipline or order in your life, you may be a good yoga teacher but you won’t be in harmony with yourself. We come across many teachers of yoga throughout the world and some of them surely live a balanced life, but others live a life of paradoxes.

There are many yoga teachers who have a lot of psychological problems, physical problems, family and social problems. They are unsteady in their determination and inaccurate in their decisions.

Therefore, when I say that you should not merely teach yoga, but also live yoga, I mean that you should create a harmonious pattern in your life.

Does yoga place any absolute prohibitions or demands on an individual?

The aim of yoga is to experience a homogeneous flow of awareness. Prohibitions and acceptance belong to the realm of religious traditions. For a person who is discovering the truth there are no milestones and no barricades. I don’t agree with those groups of people who create systems and then compel others to follow.

What is ashram yoga?

An ashram is not a monastery. It is a place where different types of people come and live for a certain period of time. They are all single-minded, but do not necessarily belong to one plane of evolution. In an ashram, the environment is the influencing factor. Very little teaching goes on in the form of classes and lectures as there is a continual process of transmission taking place through the atmosphere.

When you live in an ashram you are required to make a few adjustments in your way of living. In ashram life, everybody is a participant, and not a guest. Ashram is not just an institution run by a board of directors. Anybody who wants to participate in the ashram belongs to the ashram, and the ashram belongs to him. Participation in ashram life is without a selfish motive. Therefore, whatever you do in the ashram in the form of participation is nishkam karma yoga or selfless service. By living and participating in ashram life you exhaust your old karmas without creating any new ones.

The structure of ashram life is designed for the spiritual elevation of the inner personality of a participant. One does not become a monk by participating in ashram life. In fact an ashram is not a place for monks. The word ‘monk’ is derived from the word ‘mono’- one. Ashram life is communal, and it is not the community of a monk. In ashram life, we have sannyasins and swamis, who are neither monks nor priests. They are people who have dedicated themselves for a definite purpose.

The life of a sannyasin is like a trust or an endowment. If you have a certain amount of money and donate it to a hospital, school or some other institution, then the money can only be utilised for that purpose. This is called a trust, or an endowment. In the same way, a sannyasin has donated his faculties for the fulfilment of a purpose. His wealth is his mind, body and vision. These are what he dedicates for a definite purpose. Afterwards he does not utilise this wealth for the fulfilment of his personal life. An ashram is a community of such people, and when others come from outside who are not sannyasins, they become participants in this current.

Can yoga solve the problems of poverty in the world?

If everybody wished for poverty the world would become heaven. Everybody is trying to be wealthy, but all the great saints have said that one has to live a life of self-imposed poverty. Actually the word poverty should be replaced by the word simplicity. Simplicity in life is living exactly in accordance with your necessities and means. When you amplify your necessities that creates a complication on the spiritual as well as the social plane. There is no doubt about it. It is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. When a man becomes wealthy his mind becomes inactive. Wealth is the opium of man. Therefore, we should try our level best to live according to necessity. Nowadays many nations are trying very hard to overcome poverty. They are trying to raise the standard of living for the people of their country. But I think the whole process should be reversed- back to poverty, simplicity and natural life.

When friends ask about yoga and spiritual life, how much should one tell them?

The first thing to tell them is to start practising yoga. Announce of practice is better than tons of theory.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, April, 1980)

Andre Van Lysbeth, Belgium

If it is true that ‘yoga starts where medicine stops’ then why this article? It is precisely because yoga is not only a therapeutic but a discipline, that it deserves interest from the medical profession. Nobody would contest the fact that modern medicine has achieved amazing progress in many fields. Every day new discoveries and medical techniques appear. Surgery undertakes and succeeds in some amazingly daring operations, and antibiotics give more and more control over infectious diseases. Nobody can deny, however, that in the field of degenerative diseases, starting with cardiovascular complaints, medicine is the least equipped. This is because these diseases result from years of all sorts of mistakes in lifestyle and the permanent stress that is produced by civilized life. As long as people happily trespass the most elementary rules of life, medicine will not be able to fully play its part in this particular field. It is true that sports and hygiene are used to palliate the drawbacks of sedentary living. Yoga, however is far more comprehensive, providing solutions which are original and tested over millenniums.

To better understand the principles behind the techniques proposed by yoga, let us examine acupuncture, another oriental discipline which at first glance doesn’t show any analogy with yoga. Acupuncture, which is openly a therapeutic, postulates the existence of a polarized energy animating and circulating through the human body, following certain lines or meridians, not reducible to the anatomic structure known in modern medicine. In acupuncture disease is said to result from a disturbance of the energy body. When the energy circulates wrongly, accumulates in excess or is insufficient, disease occurs. The implantation of gold or silver needles in the well known points stimulates or redistributes the energy and health is recovered.

Yoga bases its action on a similar principle. The energy, called chi in acupuncture is called prana in yoga. Prana is a term covering all energy able to act in any being, every kind of energy known or still to be discovered. Yogis have a dynamic concept of the human state in its totality. They conceive it as an energy transformer. Even the mind is considered to be a modality of the energy force manifested in a human being; there is continuity between all levels of existence in man.

In acupuncture the implantation of needles acts on the patient, who doesn’t take any active role. In yoga, however, the patient himself modifies and controls all his physical and mental energies with the help of asanas, pranayama and meditation techniques. Every living being is constantly going through energy transformations, but this process is ordinarily not within one’s conscious control. Yoga starts when there is deliberate control of this process. This explains the physical achievements of yogis proven by the experiments of such eminent researchers as doctor Therese Brosse.

The yogis were great observers. A physician of the last century would have smiled if he was told that the air we breathe contains subtle energies directly assimilable by our organism, energies which differ from the mixture of gases that constitute air. Nowadays we are aware of the existence and the importance of negative ions. In France there is a medical association that studies ionization of the air and its physiological and therapeutic effects.

Asanas

The main objective of asanas is to stimulate and harmonize the circulation of energies and increase their absorption. Of course, at the same time they also bend the spine forwards and backwards, or twist it to ensure total flexibility and stimulation of the nerve centres of the spinal cord and the sympathetic system. Asanas are performed in a relaxed way, with breath control and concentration on specific points; the final pose can be held for one or more minutes.

Next we will examine the effects of asanas. Bearing in mind that the same principles are behind practically all the yogic postures, we will use one basic posture called sarvangasana, the shoulder stand, for an example. It is an inverted pose, having important repercussions on the circulation, and one that is often practiced in gymnastics. Holding it for one minute or more results in a series of physiological effects that we wouldn’t get if we only held it for a few seconds. The accompanying diagram shows the final position in which the adept relaxes and breathes as slowly and deeply as possible.

Effects on blood circulation

This inverted pose has a deep influence on the blood circulation, venous as well as arterial, requiring from the adept only a minimum effort, that of holding the posture once he has assumed it. It is gravity that does the actual work.

The vertical position is exclusive to human beings and from the perspective of evolution, it is a recent adaptation. In quadruped mammals, the torso stays parallel to the ground and consequently gravity acts uniformly. In man, however, the circuit being vertical makes the influence of gravity more powerful. It particularly affects the venous circulation below the level of the heart, especially the lower parts. In fact, for blood to flow up again towards the heart and then back towards the lungs, it must fight against gravity. This process is aided by the contractions of the muscles that compress the veins, whilst walking, for example, but now the civilized person walks less and less. In old times when man still lived in nature, the fight for survival compelled him to exercise enough to ensure this return of venous circulation. Among sedentary civilized people, insufficient muscular contractions due to lack of exercise result in a venous stasis or slowing down of circulation in the legs and abdominal organs. Venous circulation is aided in its return to the heart by the sucking action of the diaphragm and the lungs. Here also, sedentary man is the loser since his breathing is superficial and the role of vacuum pump played by the lungs is reduced to its simplest expression.

In quadruped animals the organs remain in place because they are suspended from the spine like clothes hanging on a line to dry. In civilized man the abdominal wall is often not strong enough to keep the organs in place, which doesn’t help the blood circulation. One minute in sarvangasana, however, allows large amounts of stagnant blood to be recycled by the effects of gravity. Along with this we can add the effects of the vacuum pump of the lungs, since the practitioner breathes deeply in the final pose.

In parts of the body situated above the heart level, it is the arterial blood that must fight against gravity. . . and against the necktie and shirt collar that are often too tight. The civilized person is cerebral. In sarvangasana an important flow of blood goes towards the head, giving the brain a good rinse. It is not surprising that after a day of intense mental work, one or two minutes in this posture will completely refresh you.

Endocrine glands

Research into the physiological effects of postures and yogic exercises has been carried out since 1924 in an Indian laboratory, subsidized by the government, where a team of doctors with modern equipment at their disposal devote their time exclusively to this. Their research published in a magazine Yoga Mimansa has shown that yoga postures act strongly on the endocrine glands. In sarvangasana, the compression of the chin against the sternum acts on the thyroid. This action may be insufficient to provide a major therapeutic reaction in the case of pathological disturbances of this gland, but it is sufficient to stimulate and maintain the thyroid in a state of optimal functioning.

Now let us return to the importance of holding the final pose. It is quite obvious that the above mentioned effects would occur only in a very superficial and short term way if the posture is held for only a few seconds. Holding the pose for a minute or more evidently intensifies these effects, but it is still true that considerable benefits can be achieved which would have been hard to obtain from any ordinary form of exercise, in the same amount of time and especially with so little muscular effort. This last point is particularly important because the blood is circulated without any strain on the heart. Yoga doesn’t involve any violent muscular effort. This point is especially important for sedentary people whose muscles are usually weak and untrained.

Awareness and relaxation

Another aspect must be approached now, an essential aspect, when all our activities are oriented towards the outside world all day long. Yoga is, by definition, a method of developing inner awareness. While performing the posture the aspirant directs all his attention to what is happening in the inside world. He makes an effort to listen to his body, to become aware of it, to feel it living. He goes inside the particular places where the posture acts with more intensity. For the yogis, this active participation of the conscious mind is one of the essential elements of yoga. It is this that harmonizes the circulation of the subtle energies which we spoke about previously.

Muscular relaxation also plays an important role. The exercises have to be performed and the attitudes maintained with a minimum of muscular effort, using only the muscles that are necessary to hold the posture. This not only creates a feeling of relaxation, in fact real relaxation, but confers to the adept a better control of his muscular system even in his everyday actions.

The advantages

This muscular relaxation; deeper, slower breathing; activation of the blood circulation, adding to the action on the spine (which we have hardly mentioned but is important in other postures); becoming more aware of the body creating a better psychomotor coordination, are indeed optimally evident during the yoga session. Through regular practice the aspirant gains maximum benefits and efficiency extending little by little to every moment of the day, even when he forgets his yoga. The yoga adept thus has less anxiety, let’s say no anxiety at all anymore.

This undoubtedly explains the extraordinary development of yoga in all industrialized countries. We are convinced that we are facing something deeper, and that for an increasing number of modern men, yoga, even westernized and diluted, brings a non-rigid discipline into our life. Yoga also has the advantage of not requiring stadiums or costly equipment to practice. It can be practiced at home on a simple blanket folded in two!

Nevertheless, for most of us, yoga is not an absolute therapeutic. Should an infection occur, medicine still has the first word. When the danger is over, yoga can be usefully employed for the recovery of health. This allows us to conclude that even if yoga ‘starts where medicine stops’, it constitutes a positive gain to its practitioners.

One of our friends is a surgeon who has big responsibilities and an exhausting life. No matter what time he gets home in the evening, he goes straight into his room for 30 to 40 minutes and does a series of postures, breathing, and relaxation practices. He has been doing this for many years. We can be sure that if yoga didn’t give him ‘something’ he would have stopped long ago. It is definitely not an attraction for the exotic that makes him sacrifice his precious leisure time to the practice of yoga.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, January 1979)

The commands of nature are silent. None an disobey them without being punished. Nature doesn’t warn the transgressor; the punishment is as silent as the command. However, to those who obey her commands faithfully, she grants their prayer for a joyful, complete life.

May we see through a hundred autumns. May we live through a hundred autumns. May we know through a hundred autumns. May we rise through a hundred autumns. May we prosper through a hundred autumns. May we remain established through a hundred autumns. May we grow through a hundred autumns. Even more than a hundred autumns.

Atharvaveda XIX. 67

Yoga is a comprehensive technique for living a long, healthy, happy, purposeful life at the optimum physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual level for the fulfilment of the ultimate goal of life through complete self-actualization.

Since the knowledge of yoga is verifiable and systematic, it is a science. And since living is subjective, it is an art. Yoga may therefore be briefly defined as the science and art of optimum living.

The aim of yoga has always been lofty. It has never been one of therapy. It may, however, be used for therapeutic purposes in just the same way as the knowledge of a university professor in atomic physics is used by his son for solving his difficulties in eighth grade arithmetic.. But the aim and purpose of the professor’s knowledge is much higher.

It often happens that conventional therapeutic measures fail to save an erring man from the verdict of nature’s silent punishment, but knowledge of yoga and its application either reduce the intensity of the punishment or even completely free him. That is the value of yoga in therapy.

In western countries, the improved health measures of modern times have been able to wipe out completely microbial and parasitic infectious diseases like smallpox, cholera, plague, typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, dysentery, anthrax, diphtheria, filariasis and so on, and dietary deficiency diseases like scurvy, rickets, beriberi, pellagra and pernicious anaemia. Moderately developed and developing countries are following suit; expectancy of life in all countries is increasing.

With removal of infectious and parasitic diseases together with deficiency diseases, the number of chronic stress diseases, psychosomatic disorders, degenerative diseases, cancer and old-age problems have started to appear more prominently on the disease map of every country. In addition, atmospheric pollution, industrial hazards, accidents, drug addiction, alcoholism and abnormal behaviour are assuming frightful forms in the health problems of a country.

Yoga can play an important role in reducing stress, treating stress diseases and psychosomatic disorders, in preventing drug and alcohol addiction and in eliminating abnormal behaviour.

As a result of increasing tension of the highly competitive, individualistic, neo-industrial civilisation, a large number of diseases like asthma, peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis, neuro-dermatitis, migraine, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, coronary insufficiency, diabetes and obesity have come to be recognised as diseases having a bearing on conflicts of the mind. Since the cause of these diseases is subtle, treatment with medicines and surgical operations alone, even at the hands of the best specialists, is often not obtainable. Help of a psychotherapist generally improves the condition without bringing about a cure, since the subtle cause is not completely removed. For cure to occur, the conflicts have to be resolved and harmony established within by the patient himself. Unless this is done, all measures remain temporary.

Yoga, through its different disciplines of asanas (postures), pranayamas (breathing exercises), bandhas (locks), mudras (gestures), kriyas (cleansing techniques), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (one-pointed concentration) and dhyana (meditation), assisted by japa and kirtan (repetition and singing of God’s name) is capable of providing perfect harmony and equanimity in the layers of mind. Practice of these yogic disciplines prepares the mind for detached self-analysis. In moments of meditation one can observe himself as a bundle of instincts, and his mind as a battlefield for different forces. By this practice, one can resolve all his inner conflicts. With the disappearance of the agitations of the mind, and the conflicts therein, all diseases caused by them disappear too. Regular and sincere practice of yoga, during the very early course of which therapeutic assets arise as a by-product, ultimately leads to the evolution of the mind, the ascent of the spirit and the dawn of true self-knowledge.

Courtesy: Yoga Magazine, May 1977

Sutra 1: 15-16

When an individual becomes free of cravings for the sense objects which he has experienced as well as those of which he has heard, that state of consciousness is vairagya. That is highest in which there is freedom from the desire for gunas on account of the knowledge of purusha.

Story Commentary

Next evening came, and Purusha went to the angel again to hear the story about vairagya or detachment, which the angel had promised to tell him the evening before. – At the beginning of time, began the angel, when God hadn’t yet started to create the plants and the animals, but had just formed the earth, the ocean, the air, the sun, the moon and the stars, the next thing to be created were the clouds. So God took some material from the ocean and some from the air, and out of that he created the clouds and hung them above the earth. Now one of the clouds was not sure about what the purpose of his existence was. He saw the sun and felt its warmth on his body, and he saw the rain and felt it flowing down his legs. And he liked this so much, although the rain sometimes was painful to him, that he absorbed all the sunbeams and all the raindrops and kept them inside himself, as he thought that this was what he was made for.

But now a shadow fell over the earth, and the soil became very dry, as the cloud absorbed the sunbeams and the raindrops and didn’t let them pass through him. God saw this, so he called the cloud and told him that he shouldn’t keep the sunshine and the rain inside himself, as that wasn’t good, neither for himself nor for the earth.

On hearing this, the cloud was very confused and didn’t know what God meant him to do. He thought, ‘Maybe the best thing is if I don’t do anything. Then God will be pleased- probably he doesn’t want me to mix with either the sun or the rain.’ So he went far away and hid himself from both the sunshine and the rain.

But this was not what God had meant. Again he called the cloud and said:

-You will not be detached from action just by withdrawing yourself. You have to do your duty- you have to act with detachment. Let the sunshine and the rain pass through you, without being affected by them- you must let them pass. Your sister, the lotus flower, knows this very well. Look at her; she lets the rain fall on her, but she doesn’t keep one single drop. She is so detached that the rain has no influence on her at all. The water is just falling down from her body at the same moment as it reaches her. Try to be as detached from your actions as she is. Remember that you are not really the doer; I am.

So the cloud went back and tried to do this; to be merely an instrument for God, letting the sunshine and the rain pass through him as God wished. But still he kept thinking about how nice it had been to have the sunshine inside him, and he also thought about how nice it would be to keep the wind inside, as he had heard from other clouds about that marvellous feeling. As he still wished to experience these things, he unconsciously made himself hard, so neither the sunshine nor the rain could pass properly through him. Just some of it could come through; the rest had to stay above the clouds and never reached the earth.

This was not good either, so God called the cloud again and said:

-This what you are practicing now is not vairagya; you are still thinking about the experiences of raga and dwesha, likes and dislikes. In this case it’s preferable that you really experience the sunshine, the rain and everything you want for a while, as it’s better to exhaust your desires than to suppress them.

So the cloud went back again, this time very happy as God had given him permission to absorb the sunshine and the rain as much as he liked. So he gave himself completely to sensual pleasure for some time, only to discover that this didn’t give him real joy. The rain became as painful to his body as the sunshine was pleasant, and even the sunshine no longer made him really happy. So this couldn’t be the purpose of his life- for wasn’t he in joy created, and wasn’t he for joy existing? So he went back to God, who said: -Now you are ready for vairagya; you have realised that sorrow and pleasure in this world are nothing compared to the eternal divine joy. It was necessary for you to experience that for yourself; it isn’t enough to hear things from others and believe in them- experience is required.

Then God gave the cloud his blessing, and as he laid his hand on him, in a lightning flash the cloud realised his true nature. He saw that he was a part of God, who had created him from the ocean and the air, which had been made from God’s own body. And, as soon as he realised this, a joy much, much greater than the pleasure acquired from the sunshine and the rain filled him.

The cloud went back to his place, able to practice complete vairagya, because he was filled with the joy of God.

The sunshine and the rain flowed through him in abundance, and he was such a perfect instrument for God that he didn’t even notice that they passed through his body. He was just thinking of God all the time.

The angel ended, but Purusha was still confused.

- I do not fully understand the nature of the sunshine and the rain, he said, and my desire for experiencing them. Can you please explain this to me?

-Actually, said the angel, there is a true story about this. It concerns the grass, who at the beginning of creation didn’t know what his food would be. He looked around him, but the only things he saw which seemed to be edible were three fruits, the fruits of the three gunas.

So the grass tasted the first fruit which had lain in the sun for too long and was over-ripe, It was called the fruit of tamas, and its taste was rich but dull. People who eat much of this fruit become tamasic in temperament: lazy, heavy, dark and passive.

The second one was called the fruit of rajas or the fruit of the pepper plant. He tasted it, and found that it was very strong. His mouth and stomach were filled with its burning taste, and he couldn’t decide whether he liked it or if it was too strong. The fruits of rajas are usually very intense, causing much desire, anger, greed and passion. People who eat much of this fruit become rajasic in temperament.

The third fruit was a fresh and beautiful orange. Its juice was sweet and nice, and the grass ate it greedily. This fruit was called the fruit of sattva; it creates peace, light and a positive nature in the people who eat much of it. They become sattvic in temperament. Now the grass was confused. He liked all three fruits, but still he wasn’t sure which one he was meant to eat. He wondered what would happen if one day he couldn’t find the particular fruit he wanted to eat. He worried very much about this, and eventually he went to God to ask. God listened to his problem, and then he said:

-None of these fruits is made for you. I don’t want you to be tamasic, rajasic or sattvic. However the fruit of sattva is definitely the best one of the three and certainly won’t do you any harm. But you are made to 1 transcend all three of them; the divine rain from heaven is your food. It is pure, and the supply is infinite. It is tasteless, and therefore you can’t become attached to it. This is the perfect food for you – as soon as you taste it, you will lose all desire for the gunas. The rain from heaven will give you the experience of divine joy, which was my intention when I made you. The fruits of the gunas can never give you this.

So the grass went back and tasted the rain water. And since that day, the grass desires nothing but this divine drink.

Here the angel ended, and Purusha went home, determined to start practicing vairagya at once.

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Vairagya means detachment from raga and dwesha, attraction and repulsion.

Courtesy: Yoga Magazine, May 1977

Six weeks ago, my younger brother came home from Hyderabad where he is working in a Government of India undertaking. Almost the first thing he said upon seeing me was how rundown and haggard I looked. I told him about my running battle with asthma for the last ten years. I had tried all sorts of nostrums – allopathic, homeopathic, ayurvedic, etc. I could sleep only after taking some pills to forestall breathing trouble. Asthma is not a killer disease said a medical journal, but for me, it was a wasting disease. I told my brother, who is an ardent admirer of Swami Satyananda Saraswati, that I was reconciled to a life of continuous misery with asthma. He told me that Swami Satyananda was doing a great job of uplifting the jaded spirits and the moribund health of those who flocked to him through a network of ashrams scattered all over India, and referred my predicament to him. A few days later we received a reply from the Bihar School of Yoga informing me to proceed to the ashram at Rajnandgaon in Madhya Pradesh.

To be frank, I was not bursting with optimism when I left Trivandrum for the ashram by the end of November. I am fifty-three and my ten year struggle with asthma had left me sceptical of all systems of medicine. Trivandrum in the south has a warm and equable climate for most of the year, but my asthma was never deterred by it. Rajnandgaon, I knew, was several meters above sea level and besides, it was winter in northern India. Therefore, I feared my asthma was bound to grow worse.

I reached Rajnandgaon and reported at the ashram on the first of December. The winter morning had a nip in the air, but I soon became intensely conscious of the sylvan surroundings. The rolling plains all round the ashram, the serene and silent atmosphere had a soothing effect on my jangled nerves. Coming from a bustling and noisy urban area, I was instantly captivated by the idyllic landscape. I took a deep breath and felt wonderful, physically and mentally, for the first time in many weeks.

My daily routine as a residential student at the ashram consisted of yogic exercises, pranayama and relaxation techniques sandwiched between morning and evening prayers. The food was a simple north Indian type and I could easily adapt myself to it. I did not feel under-nourished. The cold weather was surprisingly tolerable and the yogic exercises did not even leave me short winded. The bhajans in the morning and evening, in which all the swamis and inmates participated, were melodious and spiritually elevating. Suddenly one night I realised the pleasant truth that asthma had not troubled me since my arrival at the ashram.

More than a month has elapsed since my return to the daily stress and strains of urban life in Trivandrum. Till this moment I have had no recurrence of asthmatic trouble. The tranquil air of Rajnandgaon seems to have blessed me with a new life, free from a supposedly incurable disease.

I cannot adequately thank Swami Satyananda and his associates for all they have done in rejuvenating my health and arousing my morale. Their mission of ministering to the sick and sagging spirits through their ashrams is a great solace to humanity.

Courtesy: Yoga Magazine, April 1977