Whenever we hear the term yoga we are often reminded of complicated asanas, pranayam and so on. The real meaning of yoga is not any of these . Yoga means union. Union with what ?. Union with reality. Depending on how misplaced we are, different systems of yoga have been prescribed.
In order to understand this, let us try to first understand what are the problems ordinary mortals face in their lives. You can see that most of us seeking something. For many it is security, for some it is various desires of status , peace of mind and so on. At least some confess that they are not seeking all these , but what they want is eternal happiness. If you ask spiritual people they would say terms like enlightenment , liberation and so on. One thing strikes us . Most people don't succeed in their life in attaining these goals. What could be the reason for this?
We can try to guess what these problems or hindrances could be . Either we are not well equipped for attaining them, or that what we are seeking is not what we really want . There could also be a problem in our seeking methodology. We may not be using the right technology for attaining all the purashartha . Vedanta tells us that , what we are seeking cannot be found in the outside world or in material possessions or elsewhere. In fact it says there is no need for any search at all, because what you are seeking cannot be found at all. Why?. It says what you are seeking is YOU. Tatvamasi is the famous mahavakya . So our life is a big story of misplaced search.
Now see what vedanta is telling us. It doesn't tell you it is within you . It says it is you yourself. The happiness seeker is happiness itself. So this explains why we cannot find it. Happiness is seeking itself and saying it cannot find itself anywhere. It is guaranteed to fail. Any amount of searching would fail without any doubt.
Now an ardent student of vedanta , would ask "Why cannot I see this fact?.". What is the problem with me that make my vision blurred to not to see this fact?. Vedanta points out that it is the various hindrances inherent in our body mind systems that prevents this supreme vision of ourselves.
The first hindrance is impurity of the mind. The way in which we are living and way in which we have been conditioned in this life has created various impurities in our mind. We have likes , dislikes , greed, competition, vanity and so on. All these impurities are so ingrained in our mind that we hardly notice them as relevant. Yoga says removing them comes from good action or right karma. Actions which are done with proper attitude and dedication can remove this hindrance to see reality. This ashudhi nivarthi is karma yoga. So using the path of karma yoga we can remove the impurities of our mind.Serving others without even a tinge of expectation and full dedication is the proper path of karma yoga. It is important not only to do the action , but also not have any expectation on the result. So right action and attitude are the primary focus in karma yoga.Only such right action and attitude would reduce the hindrances of kama , krodha , mada , etc. So karma yoga can be defined as any action which is an offering and which reduces these impurities of the mind. Karma yoga thus brings us chitta shudhi.
The second hindrance comes from the projective power of the mind. This is called vikshepa. Most of our thinking is based on past and future projections. Also our mind is focused on external objects. This extrovertedness and rajas guna is what makes our life full of effort. We are always running behind things in the external material world. This hindrance can only be removed by calming the mind. For this various meditation and introspection techniques are prescribed and is often called Upasana Yoga. Thus upasana yoga brings us nishalatvam .
The third and most important hindrance is called avarana or ignorance. This can only be removed by right knowledge. This is entailed in the Jyana Yoga . Jyana yoga concerns itself with knowledge of what is our true identity.It uses various techniques like self enquiry , meditation etc to achieve this .
Various vedanta texts like upanishads etc are concerned with Jyana yoga. Jyana yoga is thus concerned with finding the correct subject or pramatha.
So you can use yoga is concerned with removing hindrances for merging ourselves with reality. It is this union which is true purpose of yoga. It is important that these yoga are not something that brings me anything as i don't really need anything. Yoga just removes the obstacles for realizing what our treasure is. In a way it is also concerned with self realization.
The Gita which is an elucidation of these yogic principles also talks about the samsara which binds people. It comes from three important conditions. Attachment , sorrow and delusion. All are a consequence of the same impurities in our mind. When we seek things in life with attachment , it leads to sorrow. When sorrow comes, our intellect becomes clouded and we commit grave mistakes. All decisions taken with delusion are bound to be incorrect. The cycle continues.
In order to understand this, let us try to first understand what are the problems ordinary mortals face in their lives. You can see that most of us seeking something. For many it is security, for some it is various desires of status , peace of mind and so on. At least some confess that they are not seeking all these , but what they want is eternal happiness. If you ask spiritual people they would say terms like enlightenment , liberation and so on. One thing strikes us . Most people don't succeed in their life in attaining these goals. What could be the reason for this?
We can try to guess what these problems or hindrances could be . Either we are not well equipped for attaining them, or that what we are seeking is not what we really want . There could also be a problem in our seeking methodology. We may not be using the right technology for attaining all the purashartha . Vedanta tells us that , what we are seeking cannot be found in the outside world or in material possessions or elsewhere. In fact it says there is no need for any search at all, because what you are seeking cannot be found at all. Why?. It says what you are seeking is YOU. Tatvamasi is the famous mahavakya . So our life is a big story of misplaced search.
Now see what vedanta is telling us. It doesn't tell you it is within you . It says it is you yourself. The happiness seeker is happiness itself. So this explains why we cannot find it. Happiness is seeking itself and saying it cannot find itself anywhere. It is guaranteed to fail. Any amount of searching would fail without any doubt.
Now an ardent student of vedanta , would ask "Why cannot I see this fact?.". What is the problem with me that make my vision blurred to not to see this fact?. Vedanta points out that it is the various hindrances inherent in our body mind systems that prevents this supreme vision of ourselves.
The first hindrance is impurity of the mind. The way in which we are living and way in which we have been conditioned in this life has created various impurities in our mind. We have likes , dislikes , greed, competition, vanity and so on. All these impurities are so ingrained in our mind that we hardly notice them as relevant. Yoga says removing them comes from good action or right karma. Actions which are done with proper attitude and dedication can remove this hindrance to see reality. This ashudhi nivarthi is karma yoga. So using the path of karma yoga we can remove the impurities of our mind.Serving others without even a tinge of expectation and full dedication is the proper path of karma yoga. It is important not only to do the action , but also not have any expectation on the result. So right action and attitude are the primary focus in karma yoga.Only such right action and attitude would reduce the hindrances of kama , krodha , mada , etc. So karma yoga can be defined as any action which is an offering and which reduces these impurities of the mind. Karma yoga thus brings us chitta shudhi.
The second hindrance comes from the projective power of the mind. This is called vikshepa. Most of our thinking is based on past and future projections. Also our mind is focused on external objects. This extrovertedness and rajas guna is what makes our life full of effort. We are always running behind things in the external material world. This hindrance can only be removed by calming the mind. For this various meditation and introspection techniques are prescribed and is often called Upasana Yoga. Thus upasana yoga brings us nishalatvam .
The third and most important hindrance is called avarana or ignorance. This can only be removed by right knowledge. This is entailed in the Jyana Yoga . Jyana yoga concerns itself with knowledge of what is our true identity.It uses various techniques like self enquiry , meditation etc to achieve this .
Various vedanta texts like upanishads etc are concerned with Jyana yoga. Jyana yoga is thus concerned with finding the correct subject or pramatha.
So you can use yoga is concerned with removing hindrances for merging ourselves with reality. It is this union which is true purpose of yoga. It is important that these yoga are not something that brings me anything as i don't really need anything. Yoga just removes the obstacles for realizing what our treasure is. In a way it is also concerned with self realization.
The Gita which is an elucidation of these yogic principles also talks about the samsara which binds people. It comes from three important conditions. Attachment , sorrow and delusion. All are a consequence of the same impurities in our mind. When we seek things in life with attachment , it leads to sorrow. When sorrow comes, our intellect becomes clouded and we commit grave mistakes. All decisions taken with delusion are bound to be incorrect. The cycle continues.
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