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.

Although the example of the traditional Bhakti is often used as a point of reference in Yoga, it is in fact the universal path we humans all traverse in seeking spiritual realities beyond the material world. We all dream of a greater and more beautiful life -a world that is at peace and we are loved.

World values fall short of reflecting our aspirations for noble human lifestyles. Yet in the freedom of each individual and because of our free will, we can if we wish, succeed in fulfilling our human potential for expressing goodness, peace and love.

Beyond the limitations that religions and dogma impose we all share the  the heart of all wisdom teachings and agree that love is the vital key and common inspiration – for our personal life, for that of the community and for our spiritual evolution as a civilization.

But we must feel love and as our emotions and feelings grow and extend outside the limitations of our personal ego, we gradually move into closer association with the Creator of all Love… to realize and experience Universal Love.

Is it that simple?

And thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world

A star at night, a bubble in a stream

A flash of lightning in a summer cloud

A flickering lamp, a phantom – and a dream.

Katha Upanishad

………….

O powerful Goodness!   Bountiful Father!   Merciful Guide!

Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest.

Strengthen my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates.

Accept my kind offices to Thy other children as the only return in my power

for Thy continual favours to me.

Ben Franklin

………….

God would seem to be that vast Being in which all human souls exist as atoms.

Sally Janssen

………….

A man would have no pleasures in discovering all the beauties of the universe, even in heaven itself, unless he had a partner to whom he might communicate his joys.

Cicero

………….

The greatest happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves – say rather, loved in spite of ourselves.

Victor Hugo

We can assume that we are totally well when –

Upon awakening, we look forward to the day’s activity optimistically

We feel emotionally capable of feeling relaxed and contented or enthusiastic and happy

We do not feel anxious, fearful, discontented, or depressed

Our practical thinking is clear, rational and constructive

Our thoughts are not muddled, emotionally charged or destructive

We are prepared to apply concentration and focus upon our work and responsibilities and then upon our chosen pleasures and enjoyments

We do not resent our work and become addicted to ‘week ends’ – work is our privilege to be enjoyed and responsibilities test and strengthen us

We are committed to living as freely and naturally as possible within our environment

We do not feel imprisoned in situations that we feel we cannot improve or alter

Respect is readily shown – to our own self, to others, to any accepted authority, to all living creatures and to God as the giver of all life

We have little need to be defensive or disregard for others enough to cause harm

We regard the positive achievements of mankind with great admiration but greater still, the achievements and creations of Nature itself

We observe human mistakes and errors but acknowledge human capability to use free will responsibly in making corrections

We feel our bodies are healthy and vital, our emotions loving and caring, generous and kind, and our mental consciousness functioning freely on both a practical level and idealistic level – to serve to guide to us in our independent lives

We refrain from looking to life motivation from outside values and people before seeking our own counsel and intuition

We are aware but not overcome by the physical, emotional and at times mental conflicts and pain that each of us experiences at some time.

A commitment to building health offers remedies on each level of our psyche as we embrace all the spheres of ourselves and satisfy our physical and emotional needs as well as those of the mind, the soul and our spiritual self.

Reminders:  Nature encourages us to rest and have times of Stillness – and this requires discipline

When the body is still we become more aware of our emotions – so we learn to relax

When our emotions are quiet we become more acutely aware of our thoughts – we learn to breathe easy

When our thoughts are still we have opportunity to become aware of our souls – we practise meditation

When our soul is at peace or in conflict we look towards our spiritual self – we seek to expand our awareness and consciousness of our life Source and inspiration and make that link stronger – in a union that is Yoga.

Those who are attracted to the teachings and practices of Yoga are required to study and to learn all that is possible of its philosophy and health disciplines in order to benefit fully.

In addition to the physical and psychological disciplines that promise personal benefits to health and well being, it is anticipated that exponents will advance to experience spiritual realization and higher levels of consciousness.

These spiritual states when experienced, raise the student from aspirant to one who knows through direct personal knowledge, thereby preparing a person to channel these energies and so prove confident and capable of relaying and radiating to others the spiritual realities and truths as a teacher.

There is nothing more potent, or more necessary than absolute sincerity, simplicity and accuracy in any teaching. These factors also apply to the subtle spiritual teachings that serve to inspire us to greater health and nobility of character, in a life of action.

It should be remembered that the Universal teachings of Yoga are designed for our application in efforts of refinement in becoming a personification of our spiritual ideal knowing that this, together with our life of action, represents our personal contribution to the welfare of humanity as a whole.

We are taught and most of us profess to believe in the natural law of Divine Justice and the wisdom in acting with “do unto others…” in mind as a guiding or modifying influence. It is a benign law to assist us in making right choices in life.

We may readily also believe that each of us has the wonderful privilege of free will that allows us to make our own decisions and to choose our path through life.  But we may forget that we determine our future fortune or otherwise by our choices made today.

The Karmic Law is one that has been recognized throughout the centuries and taught in all schools of philosophy and religion. It is considered to be the fundamental teaching every spiritual teacher is to impart.

Although varying slightly in phrasing or words it is interesting that this simple teaching is found to be common in all belief systems.

It is the spirit of our own interpretation as well as its application that will influence us in our lives.

There are no favourites in life and we all live under this natural law known to the scientist as that of cause and effect and must recognize that it is we who by our actions today, determine our long term life tomorrows.

Karmic Law is reliable as Universal accountant and computer extraordinaire, with limitless memory.

Our task is to learn to trust in it and live by it as does the Karma Yogi.

There have lived many great human beings who have arrived at life wisdom through experience. Some of them are still known to us and their teachings are preserved in the many cultures and religions as well as the legends that are retained.  Many have written their messages to convey to us the essence of the truths they have extracted and through this medium, many of us have benefited by studying their books.

They are the earth graduates, who have become more than human or greater human beings.  They are the wise ones who have found the answers to our common questions about ourselves, about life, the universe and about the Supreme Consciousness we call God.

Although there are many scholars with an ability to understand several languages and therefore are freer to explore, most of us are generally limited to the writings of our native culture. Here we will always find enough to inspire us and to motivate us toward our ultimate responsibility –to put the spiritual principles into practice in daily life and into our personal self culture towards human excellence.

From the better known teachers and the written works with which we become familiar, we learn to select specific words and encouragement.  Sometimes the little sayings or songs of childhood remain in our consciousness as a ready reference at all times when we seek to elevate our mood or remind us of a principle that works.  It is generally the simplest teachings that appeal to our hearts and minds even though we may choose to study the complexities.

The inherent spiritual wisdom of the east is well acknowledged and in contrast with the intensive development of western culture towards material ends, it is the spiritual wisdom of the orient that has inspired us to understand a new dimension and purpose to human existence.  The term ‘Yoga’ was initially perceived by westerners as a most revered system of discipline towards spiritual realization and it is hoped that in spite of the over-popularizing of Hatha Yoga, it will always be respected for its spiritual aim.

We make our own reference list regarding wisdom but the few given here present a few of those who have offered universal spiritual encouragement to us all.

Albert Einstein

Apollonius of Tyana

Aristotle

Aurobindo

Bacon, Francis

Bhairavi Brahmani

Buddha

Cicero

Dante

Gandhi

Gibran

Goethe

Hermes Trismegistus

Jesus

Kabir

Kipling, Rudyard

Lao Tse

Lin An

Locke, John

Manly Palmer Hall

Manu

Marcus Aurelius

Meister Eckhart

More, Thomas

Patanjali

Plato

Pythagoras

Ramakrishna

Ramana Maharshi

Shankaracharya

Socrates

Solomon

Suzuki

Tao Puri

Thoreau

Tsiang Samdup

Tzu Ssu

Vyasa

Yogananda

The principles inherent in Yoga are gradually being incorporated in general training programmes and business management and will in time enrich all education by total awareness and training of each individual who chooses to accept personal responsibility.

The qualified yoga teacher offers children a vital system of education complementary to the existent system in schools. It teaches a practical way of building total health of mind and body.

Teaching children is like gardening –we sow seed ideas and concepts in their consciousness.

This can be done by presentation not only of the physical and psychological health rules but by reminders of the universality of cultural and spiritual principles.

One of the most important of these principles is that known in Yoga as Ahimsa or non-violence.  This is applied in all spheres of life. In training the body, gentle persuasion is used to train the body to achieve and by this approach even the most extreme disciplines can be mastered.  It is conveyed to students that in physical exercise there is no element of competitiveness but rather each is learning to master themselves.

In regard to psychological culture gentle encouragement also applies. They are helped towards self analysis, self appraisal, self improvement and self discipline. The same gradual culture of a child who is aware of physical potential, emotional and mental awareness begins to feel free to express themselves without aggression and gaining in self confidence.

The yoga teacher, with full co-operation with parents, seeks to nurture each child by the simplest of training through relaxation, exercise, gentle breathing, postural control, and by imparting the non- violent ideas and philosophy that is the foundation of spiritual life and respect and appreciation of nature.

To lead the instinctive life of the animal would be to live in the true innocence of what is referred to in the story before the Fall of Man.

It would seem that with the gift of free will and spiritual intelligence come the trials, difficulties, queries, disturbances and the responsibilities of human life. We are banished from the purely instinctive life experienced by other creatures, to become an adventurer along a seemingly endless pathway of human experience as we develop our intelligence and seek to understand life. We are inspired to cultivate the refinement that comes to advancing human nature as we aspire to know our Creator and in turn become creative.

We all come to value the power of thought and appreciate our freedom to grow through exercising our capacity to choose. As we think, so we behave and so we become.  Accordingly we seek to make our character as we wish it and achieve with our lifetime the things to which we aspire.  Should we follow this simple philosophy, our guidelines in the art of living become simple, strong and balanced and capable of supporting us in times of difficulty.

However, we generally stumble into certain complexity by asserting our personal will over our wisdom. Along with other factors, we are inclined to exaggerate the importance of our own ego. In addition we fail to accommodate with our good intentions, the vagaries of circumstances, people and events beyond our personal control.

To match aspiration with our actions and so avoid hypocrisy is difficult and not always obvious to us. For example, a person claiming to be an animal lover would not easily in the same breath, sit down to a meal and eat the carcass of one. This is not consistent nor could it be argued as logical.

Either the ‘animal lover’ is deluding himself and must re-phrase his statements or must, alternatively, cease the action which brands him hypocrite.  But old habits die hard. It may be more convenient to follow old habits and tastes than to match actions with ideas by a practical demonstration regarding the welfare of animals.

No one of us who genuinely has affection for animals and is aware of the responsibility of humans to care for them can condone what we do in social animal abuses when using them for chemical experimentation and cruel medical ‘tests’. We may not like all the methods used in animal husbandry, methods of their transportation, or will approve of their fear prior to their mass slaughter for the purpose of ultimate presentation of their flesh on the plates of consumers. At this point thought about what we are eating becomes paralysed and subordinate to sensory appetite.

Yet we can shudder at the thought of eating our pet dog or even roasting our own pet chicken. Once such inappropriate divides between thought and action are bridged we have a chance to live with true integrity, without conflict between our minds and our actions.

This is one of the exercises of Raja Yoga.

The law of Karma represents the function of Supreme Justice. It is the natural law that has been explained to humanity from time immemorial – that what we do in using our free will, will inevitably have repercussions. Good or constructive action results in good – just as evil action brings disaster.

It is easy enough to grasp as a philosophy. But for its acceptance we must rely to a large extent on our faith, on the teachings of wise ones greater than ourselves in understanding of spiritual matters, rather than upon the immediate evidence that the law is demonstrated to our satisfaction at close range in our human affairs.

The fact that the Law functions throughout all time rather than within the confines of our own limited human scale makes it beyond our capacity to understand purely on our terms of reference.

We must contemplate the issue and stretch our intelligence to consider a Greater Justice than human values of fairness and our inadequate efforts to devise effective laws that leave us satisfied that we have created a true semblance of justice that functions on the material level of our existence.

Personal fortunate circumstances or responses teach us what is right in moral law and give us confidence in the direction of our own self culture as bad ones reveal our weaknesses that are designed to be a springboard for our future strengths. We are regularly reminded of the need to assess the direction that we are taking in our path through life.

Karma teaches us through our pain and problems how to overcome material circumstances and personal weakness. We know under its Law, that what comes in our life experience is just – we have sometime in the past long stretch of this life and the previous incarnations, earned our good fortune just as we have earned our bad.  The law of Karma rules us all, without favouritism. We would be best guided by taking refuge in this Law.

When considering the oriental teachings, we would wish to comprehend the importance of the term ‘Dharma.’

Scholars will understand that there are differences of interpretation attributed to Hindu and Buddhist systems but generally it is the first that is associated with classical yoga teachings. The word is simple ‘Dharma’ but it takes many more words to explain the complexity that is within it. Firstly we consider righteousness, moral integrity, self discipline and dutiful responsibility to others. Its implication is that we follow a life of goodness, constructive work, compassion and brotherhood.

It is also representative of a prescribed pattern that is like a blueprint within us, an outline for us to complete by our own efforts in this life and a future that is determined by remaining true to ourselves and our soul’s inner dictates.

So we can use the word to describe our commitment to the things in our life considered most worthy, to refer to our dutiful responsibilities, in honouring our spiritual motivation and life purpose and to fulfill our own highest capacity and potential and to become that person through following the universal benign law that over-rides human life.

So we are reminded by the ancient spiritual teaching to “Take refuge in the Law!”