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At present Yoga has been propagated a lot in many countries
of the world, and a lot of literature has been published
on this subject. Many brands of yoga under various names
are current : Raja yoga, Hatha yoga, Janan yoga Karma yoga
dhyana yoga, Sahaja yoga, Japa yoga, etc., Infact, yoga is
only one, not many, and by that one alienate is possible
to attain Brahma or Moksha-a state of freedom from sufferings
and total happiness of Ananda. We shall concentrate only
on Vaidic yoga which has been revealed only in the Vedas
& taught & practiced since the beginning of creation.
Yoga is a simple scientific discipline of mind & body
for the soul's communion with the divine. It is neither magic
nor hypnosis. The same is known now by the name Pantanjala
Yoga, i.e., Maharishi Pantanjali's version of Vaidic yoga.
Yoga as a philosophy & practical system of physical,
mental, moral & spiritual discipline is a great heritage
of the Indian people. It is indeed a great gift of ancient
India to the entire mankind. It is a discipline which admits
of no distinction & discrimination between one human
being& another, instead, points the way to self-improvement
& ultimate Salivation for all. For this yoga is the only
way for everybody, whatever may be religion, race or country.
Today we need Yoga because without the practice of meditation,
we cannot attain peace of mind. We have made striking progress
in science, arts, technology, economic development, learnt
languages, honor, prestige, wealth, power and means of comfort
& luxury. But along with& inspire of this progress,
we have lost peace of mind. His hopes & dreams are destroyed
& everything looks dark, unable to control the mind.
In short, the higher the progress, the deeper the affliction.
Peace flows from the mind & spirit. It doesn't flow from
money or power. We can get peace of mind only through yoga.
Yoga gives us control over the mind. We can wean it away
from anything & we can concentrate it on anything we
want. Desire, anger, greed ,attachment, pride, envy, jealously
etc., are mental diseases & the wealth can never be a
solution. The solution to these mental affliction can be
possible only through grasping the spiritual knowledge &
wisdom & act according to that knowledge. Our Rishies
have given adequate spiritual knowledge & wisdom in their
work of philosophy for the good of the entire mankind.
Today's life is full of violence, falsehood, deceit, betrayal,
theft, adultery & many other moral weaknesses etc., is
due to the misunderstanding the real nature of the five elements
of life & morals mentioned in the Darsana philosophy
- Which are Soul, Supreme Soul ( God ), Mind, Intelligence,
Sanskara ( latencies lying embedded deep in the mind ).
In the yoga philosophy, this practice is called 'YOGA' (
communion or being in the very presence of God ). The human
soul is conscious entity, intelligent & controls the
material organs such as the mind & senses. The man who
detaches his mind from all the worldly objects / interests
& concentrates on the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent,
eternal, formless, pure & blissful God, becomes free
from all the afflictions of body & mind, & obtains
knowledge, strength, bliss, fearlessness, freedom & all
other qualities of mind & character from God. This is
the purpose of the practice of yoga.
By the practice of yoga, a person achieves full control over
the mind. Due the control over the mind, concentration &
memory power increases & the intellect grows fine &
subtle. Man gets freedom from all pains only when he obtains
the Salvation / Moksha. It is possible only when the latencies
of ignorance are removed / destroyed. These latencies are
destroys only by the direct experience of God in Samadhi.
Samadhi is the state of mind in which all fluctuation of
the mind are at a standstill in perfect peace. The state
of mental peace is attained by the observance of the Eight-fold
yoga practice ; Yama ( social ethics ), Niyama ( personal
ethics ), Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana &
Samadhi.
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