Yoga Health Portal

• Classical yoga

The word “yoga” comes from the root “yuj” and literally means to “yoke or to harness.” Although it has a wide range of applications in the Sanskrit language it has ultimately come to express the union of man’s individual consciousness with Universal Consciousness in order to transcend the human condition.Yoga is the knowledge about all aspects of life. Yoga is one of the oldest sciences, which is about 10000 yrs old. The old language of yoga is Sanskrit. Classical Yoga is a term often used to describe the accumulated knowledge of yoga and practices dating from the Ancient Vedic scriptures (1500 - 2000 B.C).

In yoga, knowledge there is no concept of age. Age does not mean anything. Person is young, while his spine is flexible (not only elderly person could not have it).

Yoga shows us how to strengthen and harmonize the body, the mind and the soul, so that we can achieve our goal of a healthy body, a balanced mind and inner peace. Yoga helps remove inner obstacles and gives us the fortitude to stay cool, calm and collected when confronted with the everyday challenges of modern life.

Ashtanga yoga is a method inside the method, which helps to find answers to all questions from human’s life and to solve problems. Ashtanga yoga is classical yoga.

Classical yoga contents 24 methods:

Bhakti Yoga, the path of devotion,

Jnana Yoga, the path of knowledge;

Karma Yoga, the path of selfless service;

Raja Yoga, the path of mind mastery;

Hatha Yoga, the path of physical purification;

Mantra Yoga, the path of sound vibration;

Kundalini Yoga, the path of awakening the psycho-spiritual force;

Laya Yoga, the yoga of absorption or dissolution and others.

All of these paths lead to One (to understand who you are – to God).

 

• Hatha Yoga

The word Hatha is a compound of the words Ha and Tha meaning sun and moon.

However, when the two components of the word are placed together, "hatha" means "forceful", implying that powerful work must be done to purify the body. Hatha Yoga is also known as hatha vidya or the "science of hatha" yoga.

Traditional Hatha Yoga is a holistic yogic path, including moral disciplines, physical postures (asana), purification procedures (shatkriya), poses (mudra), yogic breathing (pranayama), and meditation. The Hatha yoga predominantly practiced in the West consists of mostly asanas understood as physical exercises. It is also recognized as a stress-reducing practice.

Hatha Yoga is one of the two branches of Yoga that focuses on the physical culture, the other one being Raja Yoga. Both of these are commonly referred to as Sadanga Yoga, i.e., Yoga of six parts ('sad' meaning six and 'anga' meaning limbs). The six limbs are described below in detail. Svatmarama emphasizes many times in his Hathapradipika text that there is no Raja Yoga without Hatha Yoga and no Hatha Yoga without Raja Yoga. The main difference is that Raja Yoga uses asanas mainly to get the body ready for prolonged meditation, and hence focuses more on the meditative asana poses: Lotus Posture (padmasana), Accomplished Posture (siddhasana), Easy Posture (sukhasana) and Pelvic Posture (vajrasana). Hatha Yoga utilizes not only meditative postures but also cultural postures. Similarly, Raja Yoga's use of Pranayama is also devoid of extensive locks (bandha).

Hatha represents opposing energies: hot and cold (fire and water, following similar concept as yin-yang), male and female, positive and negative. Hatha yoga attempts to balance mind and body via physical postures or "asanas", purification practices, controlled breathing, and the calming of the mind through relaxation and meditation. Asanas teach poise, balance and strength and are practiced to improve the body's physical health and clear the mind in preparation for meditation in the pursuit of enlightenment. However if an individual has too much phlegm or fat then purification procedures are a necessity before undertaking pranayama.

Ashtanga is the yoga of Patanjali, the compiler of the Yoga Sutras. It is composed of eight limbs: Yama and Niyama, which are ethical obligations; Asana; Pranayama, which is breath control; Pratyahara, which is sense withdrawal; Dharana, which is concentration; Dhyana, which is meditation; and Samadhi, which is a high state of concentration, mastery of the mind.The eight limbs are more precisely viewed as eight levels of progress, each level providing benefits in and of itself and also laying the foundation for the higher levels. Frequently Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali is being confused with Raja Yoga; Patanjali nowhere in his sutras uses the term Raja Yoga.

Note: Hatha Yoga consists of six limbs focused on attaining Samadhi. In this scheme, the six limbs of Hatha Yoga are defined as Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. The basic text of Hatha Yoga is Hathapradipika by Svatmarama, a grand disciple of Sahajananda (from the lineage of Sopana, the younger brother of Jnaneshwar Maharaj of Alandi near Pune). An important part of hatha practices is awakening of Kundalini. The signs of success in hatha yoga are slenderness of the body, cheerful face, hearing mystical sound, bright eyes, sense of well-being, control over the bindu, increase in gastric fire and purification of the nadis.

What is that precious thing which makes life worth living? It is health. "Sariramadhyam khalu dharma-sadhanam- Body is indeed the foremost essential thing for the attainment of the goal of human existence."

Good health is the greatest asset for you. Without good health, you can hardly expect success in any lifestyle. Even for spiritual pursuits, good health is the prerequisite. Without good health, you cannot penetrate into the hidden depths of the vast ocean of life within and attain the final beatitude of life. Without good health, you cannot wage war with the turbulent senses and boisterous mind.

Regular practice of Yogic exercises even for fifteen minutes a day will keep you quite fit, and makes you hale and hearty. You will have abundant energy, muscular strength and nerve power, a charming personality and longevity.

Pranayama

Prana is the universal principle of energy or force. It is the vital force. It is prana that shines in your eyes. It is through the power of prana that the ear hears, the eyes see, the skin feels, the tongue tastes, the nose smells, the brain and the intellect do their functions.

It is prana that pumps the blood from the heart into the arteries or blood vessels. It is prana that does digestion, excretion and secretion.

The prana is supplied by food, water, air, solar energy etc. The nervous system takes up the supply of prana. The prana is absorbed by breathing. The excess of prana is stored in the brain and nerve centers. When the seminal energy is sublimed, or transformed, it supplies abundance of prana to the system. It is stored up in the brain in the form of 'ojas'(“inner fire”). Ojas is nothing but prana.

The yogi stores abundance of prana by regular practice of pranayama, just as the storage battery stores electricity.

Pranayama is the control of the prana and the vital forces of the body. It is regulation of the breath. This is a most important step. The aim of pranayama is the control of prana.

If one controls the breath or prana, the mind is also controlled. He who has controlled his mind has also controlled his breath. If one is suspended, the other is also suspended. If the mind and the prana are both controlled one gets liberation from the round of births and deaths and attains immortality.

Hatha Yoga texts prescribe six exercises for the purification of the body. These exercises are not only external and internal purification but also for strengthening the body. These exercises should be practiced daily. The six purificatory exercises are dhauti, basti, neti, nauli, tratak and kapalabhati.

 

• Swara Yoga

How future events are mediated in life? Can we regulate them, or change?

Through the knowledge of swara yoga one can become free from all kinds of negative influences of one's destiny and can achieve heightened awareness. Swara Yoga is the highest of all forms of yoga what exists. Knowledge of Swara yoga helps to anticipate and influence events. The mechanism of all events is in respiration, which is the main symptom of life. The swara yoga practices related to breath were used understand the governing forces of life, to understand the nature of the universe and effects of the elements on body and mind by observing the different patterns of breath.

“To the atheist it is a wonder, to the theist, the base.” (Verse 11, Shiv Swara Udaya)

 

• Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti Yoga is described by Swami Vivekananda as "the path of systematized devotion for the attainment of union with the Absolute". In the twelfth chapter of the Gita Krishna describes bhakti yoga as a path to the highest spiritual attainments.

 

Bhakti Sadhana

Eating, drinking, sleeping, fear and copulation, etc. are common in brutes and human beings; but that which makes one a real man or a God-man is upasana. Upasana transmutes a man into blessed divinity.

Life without worship is dreary and cheerless. It is a mere burden only on this earth. Just as zero is nothing without one in the beginning, so also this life is practically nothing without bhajan, although you possess in abundance all the objects of this world. This world is a long dream, anitya (transient) and full of pains and miseries. The only sara-vastu(essence) is God.

Now, dear friends, stand up. Gird up the loins. Be sincere and true. Sing His name always: Hari Om, Sita Ram or Radheshyam. Remember His name. Feel His presence everywhere, in every face. Realize Him. That is your highest duty.

Upasana means worship. It literally means 'sitting near' God. Upasana is approaching the chosen ideal or object of worship by meditating on it in accordance with the teachings of the sastras (scriptures) and the Guru and dwelling steadily in the current of that one thought, like a thread of oil poured from one vessel to another (taila-dhara-vat).

Hearing of the lilas (sports) of the Lord, kirtan or singing His names, constant remembrance of the Lord (smarana), service of His feet, offering flowers, prostration, prayer, chanting of mantra, self-surrender, service of bhagavatas (devotees), service of humanity and country with Narayana-bhava (with the feeling that they are manifest divinities) etc. constitute saguna upasana (worship of God with attributes).

Upasana changes the mental substance, destroys rajas (passion) and tamas (inertia) and fills the mind with sattva or purity and happiness. Upasana destroys vasanas (mental conditioning), trishnas (cravings), egoism, lust, hatred, anger, etc. Upasana turns the mind inward and induces antarmukha vritti (introversion), eventually brings the devotee face to face with the Lord, frees the devotee from the wheel of births and deaths and confers on him immortality and freedom.The mind becomes that on which it meditates, in accordance with the analogy of the wasp and the caterpillar (bhramara-keeta-nyaya). Just as you think, so you become. This is the immutable psychological law. There is a mysterious or inscrutable power in upasana which makes prayer and the meditated identical.

The Nine Paths of Bhakti

Devotion to God is developed in nine different ways. It is supreme attachment to God through a Bhava predominant in the devotee. Intense love is the common factor in all the nine modes. Exclusive love for God is expressed through various methods. All Bhaktas of this type are above the formalities of the world. They are untouched by the laws of human Dharma and are out and out concerned with God.

Good conduct, which is in accordance with perfect moral law, is an auxiliary to pure Bhakti and it follows the true Bhakta wherever he goes. One cannot develop true devotion to God if he is crooked in his heart, if he has got objects of love in this world, if he is tempted by charming worldly things, if he wishes to take care of his wife, children and relatives, if he wishes to feed his body well, if he wishes to earn a great name in the world, if he wants to establish a permanent fame on earth, if he does not like to part with the alluring contents of the world. Perfect detachment from all objects is a preliminary to real devotion. Vairagya is the product of real love for God. One who has love for the world cannot have love for God. Where there is Kama, there cannot be Rama and where there is Rama there cannot be Kama. Love for the world and love for God are diametrically opposite things. One has to be renounced for the attainment of the other. This renunciation can be acquired through the nine forms of Bhakti.

In the Srimad-Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana it is told that the nine forms of Bhakti are:

1. Sravana (hearing of Gods lilas and stories),
2. Kirtana (singing of His glories),
3. Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence),
4. Padasevana (service of His feet),
5. Archana (worship of God),
6. Vandana (prostration to Lord),
7. Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God),
8. Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and
9. Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self).

A devotee can practice any method of Bhakti that suits him best. Through that, he will attain Divine illumination.

Sravana is hearing of Lord's lilas. Sravana includes hearing of God's virtues, glories, sports and stories connected with His divine Name and Form. The devotee gets absorbed in the hearing of Divine stories and his mind merges in the thought of divinity; it cannot think of undivine things. The mind loses, as it were, its charm for the world. The devotee remembers God only even in dream.

The devotee should sit before a learned teacher who is a great saint and hear Divine stories. He should hear them with a sincere heart devoid of the sense of criticism or faultfinding. The devotee should try his best to live in the ideals preached in the scriptures.

One cannot attain Sravana-Bhakti without the company of saints or wise men. Mere reading for oneself is not of much use. Doubts will crop up. They cannot be solved by oneself easily. An experienced man is necessary to instruct the devotee in the right path.

King Parikshit attained Liberation through Sravana. He heard the glories of God from Suka Maharishi. His heart was purified. He attained the Abode of Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha. He became liberated and enjoyed the Supreme Bliss.

Kirtana is singing of Lord's glories. The devotee is thrilled with Divine Emotion. He loses himself in the love of God. He gets horripilation in the body due to extreme love for God. He weeps in the middle when thinking of the glory of God. His voice becomes choked, and he flies into a state of Divine Bhava. The devotee is ever engaged in Japa of the Lord's Name and in describing His glories to one and all. Wherever he goes, he begins to sing and praise God. He requests all to join his Kirtana. He sings and dances in ecstasy. He makes others also dance.

Smarana is remembrance of the Lord at all times. This is unbroken memory of the Name and Form of the Lord. The mind does not think of any object of the world, but is ever engrossed in thinking of the glorious Lord alone. The mind meditates on what is heard about the glories of God and His virtues, Names, etc., and forgets even the body and contents itself in the remembrance of God, just as Dhruva or Prahlada did. Even Japa is only remembrance of God and comes under this category of Bhakti. Remembrance also includes hearing of stories pertaining to God at all times, talking of God, teaching to others what pertains to God, meditation on the attributes of God, etc. Remembrance has no particular time. God is to be remembered at all times without break, so long as one has his consciousness intact.

Padasevana is serving the Lord's Feet. Actually only Lakshmi or Parvati can do this. No mortal being has the fortune to practice this method of Bhakti, for the Lord is not visible to the physical eyes. But it is possible to serve the image of God in idols and better still, taking the whole humanity as God. This is Padasevana. Padasevana is service of the sick. Padasevana is service of the whole humanity at large. The whole universe is only Virat-Swarupa. Service of the world is service of the Lord.

Archana is worship of the Lord. Worship can be done through an image, a picture, or even a mental form. The image should be one appealing to the mind of the worshipper. Worship can be done either with external materials or merely through an internal Bhava or strong feeling. The latter one is an advanced form of worship that only men of purified intellect can do. The purpose of worship is to please the Lord, to purify the heart through surrender of the ego and love of God.

Vandana is prayer and prostration. Humble prostration touching the earth with the eight limbs of the body (Sashtanga-Namaskara), with faith and reverence, before a form of God, or prostration to all beings knowing them to be the forms of the One God, and getting absorbed in the Divine Love of the Lord is termed prostration to God or Vandana. The ego or Ahamkara is effaced out completely through devout prayer and prostration to God. Divine grace descends upon the devotee and man becomes God.

Dasya Bhakti is the love of God through servant-sentiment. To serve God and carry out His wishes, realizing His virtues, nature, mystery and glory, considering oneself as a slave of God, the Supreme Master, is Dasya Bhakti. Serving and worshipping the Murtis in temples, sweeping the temple premises, meditating on God and mentally serving Him like a slave, serving the saints and the sages, serving the devotees of God, serving poor and sick people who are forms of God, is also included in Dasya-Bhakti.

To follow the words of the scriptures, to act according to the injunctions of the Vedas, considering them direct words of God, is Dasya Bhakti. Association with and service of love-intoxicated devotees and service of those who have knowledge of God is Dasya Bhakti. The purpose behind Dasya Bhakti is to be ever with God in order to offer service to Him and win His Divine Grace and attain thereby immortality.

Sakhya-Bhava is the cultivation of the friend-sentiment with God. The inmates of the family of Nandagopa cultivated this Bhakti. Arjuna cultivated this kind of Bhakti towards Lord Krishna. To be always with the Lord, to treat Him as one's own dear relative or a friend belonging to one's own family, to be in His company at all times, to love Him as one's own self, is Sakhya-Bhava of Bhakti-Marga. How do friends, real friends, love in this world? What an amount of love they possess between one another? Such a love is developed towards God instead of towards man; physical love turned into spiritual love. There is a transformation of the mundane into the Eternal.

Atma-Nivedana is self-surrender. The devotee offers everything to God, including his body, mind and soul. He keeps nothing for himself. He loses even his own self. He has no personal and independent existence. He has given up his self for God. He has become part of God. God takes care of him and God treats him as Himself. Grief and sorrow, pleasure and pain, the devotee treats as gifts sent by God and does not attach himself to them. He considers himself as a puppet of God and an instrument in the hands of God.

This self-surrender is Absolute Love for God exclusively. There is nothing but God-consciousness in the devotee. Even against his own wishes, the devotee shall become one with God and lose his individuality. This is the law of being. The highest truth is Absoluteness and the soul rises above through different states of consciousness until it attains Absolute Perfection when it becomes identical with God. This is the culmination of all aspiration and love.

The nine modes of Bhakti are the ways in which a devotee attains the Supreme Ideal of life. A devotee can take up any of these paths and reach the highest state. The path of Bhakti is the easiest of all and is not very much against the nature of human inclinations. It slowly and gradually takes the individual to the Supreme without frustrating his human instincts. It is not direct assertion of God, but a progressive realization of Him.

Results of Bhakti yoga

Bhakti softens the heart and removes jealousy, hatred, lust, anger, egoism, pride and arrogance. It infuses joy, divine ecstasy, bliss, peace and knowledge. All cares, worries and anxieties, fears, mental torments and tribulations entirely vanish. The devotee is freed from the Samsaric wheel of births and deaths. He attains the immortal abode of everlasting peace, bliss and knowledge.

The fruit of Bhakti is Jnana. Jnana intensifies Bhakti. Even Jnanis like Sankara, Madhusudana and Suka Dev took to Bhakti after Realisation to enjoy the sweetness of loving relationship with God.
Knowledge or wisdom will dawn by itself when you practice Bhakti Yoga. Bhakti is the pleasant, smooth, direct road to God. Bhakti is sweet in the beginning, sweet in the middle and sweet in the end. It gives the highest, undecaying bliss.

Kindle love divine in thy heart, for this is the immediate way to the Kingdom of God.
Pray to the Lord. Sing His glory. Recite His Name. Become a channel of His grace.
Seek His will. Do His will. Surrender to His will. You will become one with the cosmic will.
Surrender unto the Lord. He will become your charioteer on the field of life. He will drive your chariot well. You will reach the destination, the Abode of Immortal Bliss.

 

• Jnana Yoga

Jnana in Sanskrit means "knowledge". Jnana consists of properly understanding kshetra (the field of activity--that is, the body) and kshetra-jna (the knower of the body--that is, the soul). To know Brahman, as one's own self is Jnana. To say, "I am Brahman, the pure, all-pervading Consciousness, the non-enjoyer, non-doer and silent witness," is Jnana. To behold the one Self everywhere is Jnana.

Ajnana is ignorance. To identify oneself with the illusory vehicles of body, mind, Prana and the senses is Ajnana. To say, “I am the doer, the enjoyer, I am a Brahmin, a Brahmachari, this is mine, he is my son," is Ajnana. Jnana alone can destroy Ajnana, even as light alone can remove darkness.
Brahman, the Supreme Self, is neither the doer of actions nor the enjoyer of the fruits of actions. The creation, preservation and destruction of the world are not due to Him. They are due to the action of Maya, the Lord's energy manifesting itself as the world-process.

Just as space appears to be of three kinds - absolute space, space limited by a jar, and space reflected in the water of a jar, - so also there are three kinds of intelligence. They are absolute intelligence, intelligence reflected in Maya, and intelligence reflected in the Jiva (the individual soul). The notion of the doer is the function of intelligence as reflected in the intellect. This, together with the notion of Jiva, is superimposed by the ignorant on the pure and limitless Brahman, the silent witness.

The illustration of space absolute, space limited by a jar and space reflected in water of a jar is given to convey the idea that in reality Brahman alone is. Because of Maya, however, It appears as three. The notion that the reflection of intelligence is real, is erroneous, and is due to ignorance. Brahman is without limitation; limitation is a superimposition on Brahman.

The identity of the Supreme Self and the Jiva or reflected self is established through the statement of the Upanishad 'Tat Tvam Asi' - 'That Thou Art'. When the knowledge of the identity of the two arises, then world problems and ignorance, with all their offshoots, are destroyed and all doubts disappear.

Self-realization or direct intuitive perception of the Supreme Self is necessary for attaining freedom and perfection. However, not meant, this Jnana Yoga or the path of Wisdom is for the masses, whose hearts are not pure enough and whose intellects are not sharp enough to understand and practice this razor-edge path. Thus, Karma Yoga and Upasana (Bhakti) practice first, which will render the heart pure and make it fit for the reception of Knowledge.

Brahman and Maya

Brahman is Sat, the Absolute, Reality. That which exists in the past, present and future; which has no beginning, middle and end; which is unchanging and not conditioned by time, space and causation; which exists during the waking, dream and deep sleep states; which is of the nature of one homogeneous essence, is Sat. This is found in Brahman, the Absolute. The scriptures emphatically declare, "Only Sat was prior to the evolution of this universe."

This phenomenal universe is unreal. Isvara created this universe out of His own body (Maya), just as a spider creates a web from its own saliva. It is merely an appearance, like a snake in a rope or like silver in mother-of-pearl. It has not independent existence. It is difficult to conceive how the Infinite comes out of Itself and becomes the finite. The magician can bring forth a rabbit out of a hat. We see it happening but we cannot explain it; so we call it Maya or illusion.

Maya is a strange phenomenon, which cannot be accounted for by any law of Nature. It is incapable of being described. Its relation to Brahman is like that of heat to fire. The heat of fire is neither one with it nor different from it. Does Maya really exist or not? The Advaitin gives this reply: "This inscrutable Maya cannot be said either to exist or not to exist".

If we know the nature of Brahman, then all names, forms and limitations fall away. The world is Maya because it is not the essential truth of the infinite Reality - Brahman. Somehow, the world exists and its relation to Brahman is indescribable. The illusion vanishes through the attainment of knowledge of Brahman. Sages, Rishis and scriptures declare that Maya vanishes entirely as soon as knowledge of the Supreme Self dawns.

Brahman alone really exists. The Jiva, the world and this little "I" are false. Rise above names and forms and kill the false egoism. Go beyond Maya and annihilate ignorance. Constantly meditate on the Supreme Brahman, your divine nature. The world is unreal when compared to Brahman. It is a solid reality to a worldly and passionate man only. To a realized sage it exists like a burnt cloth. To a Videhamukta (disembodied sage) it does not exist at all. To a man of discrimination it loses its charm and attraction.

Do not leave the world to enter a forest because you now read that the world is unreal. You will be utterly ruined if you do this without proper qualifications. Be first established in the conviction that the world is unreal and Brahman alone is real. This will help you to develop dispassion and a strong yearning for liberation. Stay in the world but be not worldly; strive for liberation by the practice of Sadhana Chatushtaya.

The Seven Stages of Jnana

There are seven stages of Jnana or the seven Jnana Bhumikas. First, Jnana should be developed through a deep study of Atma Jnana Sastras and association with the wise and the performance of virtuous actions without any expectation of fruits. This is Subheccha or good desire, which forms the first Bhumika or stage of Jnana. This will irrigate the mind with the waters of discrimination and protect it. There will be non-attraction or indifference to sensual objects in this stage. The first stage is the substratum of the other stages.

From it the next two stages, viz., Vicharana and Tanumanasi will be reached. Constant Atma Vichara (Atmic enquiry) forms the second stage. The third stage is Tanumanasi. This is attained through the cultivation of special indifference to objects. The mind becomes thin like a thread. That is why, the name Tanumanasi. Tanu means thread - threadlike state of mind. The third stage is also known by the name Asanga Bhavana.

In the third stage, the aspirant is free from all attractions. If any one dies in the third stage, he will remain in heaven for a long time and will reincarnate on earth again as a Jnani. The above three stages can be included under the Jagrat state. The fourth stage is Sattvapatti. This stage will destroy all Vasanas to the root. This can be included under the Svapana state. The world appears like a dream. Those who have reached the fourth stage will look upon all things of the universe with an equal eye. The fifth stage is Asamsakti. There is perfect non-attachment to the objects of the world. There is no Upadhi (waking or sleeping) in this stage.

There is the experience of Ananda Svaroopa (the Eternal Bliss of Brahman) replete with spotless Jnana in this Jivanmukti stage. This will come under Sushupti. The sixth stage is Padartha Bhavana. There is knowledge of Truth. The seventh stage is Turiya, or the state of super consciousness. This is Moksha. This is also known by the name Turiyatita. There are no Sankalpas. All the Gunas disappear. This is above the reach of mind and speech. Disembodied salvation (Videhamukti) is attained in the seventh stage.

Remaining in the certitude of Atma, without desires, and with an equal vision over all, having completely eradicated all complications of differentiations of 'I' or 'He', existence or non-existence, is Turiya.