The Essence of Yoga

The word yoga means to unite, to join together or to integrate. In regard to the practice known as Yoga, there are several spheres of reference – integration of the physical with the emotional nature –to co-ordinate emotional and mental aims – to integrate mind and body – and to join the individual soul to the Universal Life Source, or God.

The system known as Yoga is an integral part of the classical systems of Indian Philosophy, all of which stem from the ancient and profound Vedic teachings that are considered to have their origin in antiquity. The Vedas refer to all aspects of human life and the natural sciences, including those involved in the spiritual evolution and advancement of mankind.

It is believed that all our great western philosophers over the centuries have dipped into and adopted these Indian wisdom teachings with the result that many similar ideas permeate their doctrines.  Both the philosophic and the practical guidelines of old are a valued source of information that continues to inspire earnest scholars as well as all those who question life today.

What follows will help you, whether you are a beginner seeking to improve your physical and mental health, or you are an exponent seeking for new insights to encourage your continuing practice of Yoga.

Understanding nature is to expand our understanding of the Creator. Its infinite variety in form, colour, quality and expression leaves us in perpetual wonderment.

Philosophers recognize the invisible Supreme Spirit or Universal Consciousness and Its outer expression in the visible material world of Nature are One.

Natural life on our Earth offers us a visible comprehension of the limitless wonders of the Cosmos. It reminds us that in the face of this immensity we have benefit of the natural world around us and bear a responsibility as custodians to help maintain it.  This is not hard to accept if we love Nature or aspects of it and seek to improve our efforts to widen our embrace of the entire natural world.

We need to keep mindful of our limited capacity to contribute to Nature itself and yet retain our sense of personal power and confidence that we can live within the human realm and contribute to the wealth and wonder of human culture and achievement.

There are many amongst us who recognize and appreciate the Natural world around us and are aware of the natural laws that function and imbue all life as we know it on our planet.

To the extent that we refer to these laws and seek to live by them we gradually grow in comprehension of the truths and realities of great Nature itself.

Nature is our eternal guide and teacher and we are in our role as its students. When in doubt we can apply the litmus test by asking ourselves as to what is natural. Whereas other creatures react to instinct alone, humans possess intuition or the voice of free will and choice complicates matters for us. We must learn to blend instinct and intuition in our choices.

To choose to rebel against Nature and challenge the known natural Laws leads to chaos.

To choose to apply natural Law to our lives leads to harmony and order.

Our relationship with Nature, as our relationship with all things, with people and with God, is based upon the consciousness that Love as the vital ingredient.

As we feel our direct relationship with Nature develop so our sense of spiritual security grows and we can expect human stresses to melt away to know peace in our hearts and minds.

Greek Philosophy on Exercise

Only exercise when you’re going somewhere!

 Zen philosophy offers a similar idea –

It is not necessary to walk unless you are going somewhere……..

Solon when asked to go to the Games to see an athlete who could swim like a fish, jump like a deer, run like a hare – he declines, saying it is not comely he thinks, that man should imitate animals, but if there was a man who could think like the Gods – he would travel to see him!

 There are differing opinions upon the importance, the type and the potential health benefits of deliberate physical exercise.

Those who are already engaged in physical labour and tasks demanding physical exertion are of course less concerned about conscious exercise as a self discipline. But for the majority in the western world of our time, exercising has become an extremely popular pastime.  We are bombarded with many contraptions, with exercise bikes and other machines for use in the home. To attend a gymnasium is essential in the trendy social and commercial worlds if you are concerned with your physical image and muscle tone.

In the midst of this, yoga classes quietly continue to offer a peaceful, gracious and stress free method of building muscle, stretching tendons and revitalizing one’s being through the application of breath control together with dynamic body movements and the use of controlled static postures or Asanas.

The two systems are very different.  Each has its value but the first is demanding and requires repeated effort and discipline that is twinned with a philosophy of ambition that aims to accomplish a goal.

The yogic approach is more passive, requiring a non-aggressive attitude of persuasion. This is in line with its unique philosophy and system designed to help an individual achieve self mastery of the body through a harmonious co-operation of mind and muscles.

Yogic exercise is based upon a limited number of traditional exercises – the prime one being the Sun Exercise or Salute to the Sun. This comprises a flowing of 12 successive movements to 12 static positions together with specific use of the breath.

All dynamic exercise is instructed to be balanced and rhythmic. Breath control is co-ordinated with each movement.

All exercises are performed with equal attention to the balanced polarization of right/left; up and down; standing/lying; upright/inverted so that the entire body is involved.

A brief relaxation is taken between exercises to become aware of how the body is feeling and responding after the exercise.

The most important factor that identifies the difference between the commonly known exercise programmes and the yogic approach is that the mind and consciousness is turned inward, not outward to outer display. The mind and consciousness is totally engaged with the practices which are not in any way competitive.

Last is the factor of the speed or rate of body movement. Yogic exercise is seen as more elementary if the movement is quicker and more advanced the more slowly the exercise is executed. In this it is similar to the philosophy of its cousin system, Tai Chi.

Skill in yogic techniques allows slow physical controls that are more difficult that dynamic movement. The system is designed to help also slow down the rapidity of the mind and assist consciousness to arrive at stillness.

We test the validity of this system by our own experience.
 

There’s a world deep inside us

As a gentle kindly dream

Where Love is ever present

And beauty is always seen

It’s the spirit of Christmas

When remembered all the year

That brings joy, peace and laughter

Of life’s music to our ear

So Christmas is inside us

An expanding, growing dream

Of love forever present

And beauty everywhere seen

Echo of Christ within us

Outwardly seeking new birth

As human beings perfect

Creating a heaven on earth.

…………………………..

It is a time to think of heroes – not sporting heroes but spiritual giants and leaders who by their lives exemplify the ultimate reason for our earthly life experience.

We all tend to have heroes and heroines we admire and select according to our birth sex.

Heroes of all kinds offer us an example of having achieved the goal.

Sporting heroes serve as a focus for general adulation as well as inspiring a few to become equally great. Not many can hold the vision and so, by comparison there are very few who become followers enough as to put effort into similar achievement.

Christmas time is the time for Christians to celebrate the birth of the Christ and to focus upon Him as their Guru. To many millions of people He is the epitome of human excellence, wisdom and spirituality.  But it is not sufficient to feel awed and inspired with devotion, we must if we are sincere, take seriously the role model we have before us and gradually seek to grow to become like Him.

The teacher or Guru represents by example the vision and goal to which we aspire.

We should not feel shy to acknowledge that the essence of the Guru’s teaching is to encourage us to become skilled in emulating those qualities that will result in our becoming to some degree a likeness.

So the Christian way is to gradually become Christlike.

The way of the Buddhist is to become Buddha-like as with other spiritual teachers.

Any spiritual devotee seeks to become greater in capacity to radiate life energies of the spirit and so grow in health, wisdom and understanding. Refreshment comes maintaining the concept of his spiritual teacher or Guru.

It is therefore appropriate that we refresh our concept and personal vision of the nature of Christ at this time.

…………….

Refreshing our interpretation of the word ‘intuition’ offers a simple reminder that it means learning from within rather than without.

Intuition is the faculty within us that encourages us toward what we consider to be right action, feelings and thoughts.  Intuition teaches us and helps us to be true to ourselves and to live according to our aspirations and highest aims.  It tends to develop as a dominant faculty particularly with females and has a vast potential to aid all of us in the art of living. But in order to be aware and receptive to this inner guiding voice, we must be sensitive to it and learning to trust it takes a little practice.

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All those inclined to believe in God as Love come to experience expansions of their heart’s growth and personal capacity to love, rather than allowing a contraction of feeling.

But as we know, love is a very real primal emotional force and feeling that  has to be cultivated and directed into the various avenues of personal life as we see is appropriate, as well as existing as a general state or attitude.

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Rabindranath Tagore, the revered Indian Poet, was a Bhakti who writes of the Beloved as God in his ‘GITANJALI’  ………

” Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.

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One of the most important realizations in understanding a little more about the mysteries of life – lies in the value and importance of sound.

The sacred texts of all cultures include this factor, even to the point of suggesting that all natural creation is the result of Divine Sound as is given us in the Bible, the Vedic wisdom, and in fact is inherent in all of our present religions.

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The 20th Century at an end we are now in an Age of the Kali Yuga as named in the Hindu wisdom of ages “Vishnu Purana”.

Those of us who see the negative trends upon the Earth and its people – the lifestyles, habits and values observe how decadent the world is becoming. Certain prophesies of the bad period before a Golden Age seem to be manifesting – the following is taken from The Secret Doctrine.

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This simple guidance of the Buddha is invaluable:

Cease to do evil

Learn to do good

And follow the 8-fold Path to perfection.

The 8 -fold Path is outlined in Raja Yoga or Asthanga Yoga and is the classical basis for training in self control-  in a nutshell!

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