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# 2022-07-05 - How To Be A Yogi by Swami Abhedānanda | |
# Chapter 4, The Raja Yoga | |
The Raja Yoga maintains that the outer world exists only in relation | |
to the inner nature of each individual. | |
The Raja Yoga tells us that we should not think so much of what will | |
happen after death, but that we should make the best use of the | |
present... The only things that we can carry out of life are our | |
character, our experience, and the knowledge gained therefrom. They | |
are our real possessions; and the Raja Yoga will help us to develop | |
their functions since its chief object is to mold the character and | |
lead the student to the knowledge of the divine nature of the soul. | |
The practice of Raja Yoga is divided into eight steps. The first and | |
second, yama and niyama, include all the ethical laws that govern our | |
moral nature. All of the fundamental principles of ethics expounded | |
by Buddha and all the truths proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount | |
are contained in these first two steps. | |
All the physical exercises necessary for keeping the body in perfect | |
condition are to be found in the third step. It is called asana in | |
Sanskrit. Health is essential to the attainment of the highest | |
knowledge. | |
The pranayama or the breathing exercises constitute the fourth step. | |
... the main object of pranayama in the Raja Yoga is to develop the | |
power of concentration. | |
Making the mind introspective is the fifth step. It is called | |
pratyahara. If we can withdraw the mind from external objects, fix | |
it on some inner object, and bring it under control of the will, we | |
shall accomplish all that is required in this step. | |
Concentration follows next. After going through the five preliminary | |
steps, if one takes up concentration, the results achieved will be | |
extraordinary. Those, however, who have not practices the | |
introductory steps will find this one extremely difficult, for the | |
ground must be prepared before good results can be gained. | |
Meditation is the seventh stage, and through it one passes into | |
samadhi or the state of superconsciousness, which is the eighth and | |
last step. In this state the sixth sense of finer perception is | |
developed, the spiritual eye is opened, and one comes face to face | |
with the divine Being dwelling within. In it the student realizes | |
that his [or her] true Self is one with all the revelation and all | |
the inspiration that can possibly come to the human soul. Those who | |
are longing to know the Truth, who are searching for the ultimate | |
Reality of the universe and are not satisfied with the knowledge | |
gained through the senses or through the aid of instruments, should | |
struggle hard to go into samadhi, because through it alone will they | |
discover their ideal and reach the abode of happiness. | |
When the superconscious realization is acquired, all doubts will | |
cease forever, all questions concerning the nature of the soul will | |
be answered, the search after Truth will stop, the mind will become | |
tranquil, and the soul will be emancipated from the bondage of | |
ignorance and self-delusion. The Yogi will never again fall a victim | |
to the attractions of the world or be distracted by objects of sense. | |
The whole universe will appear to him [or her] as the playground of | |
the divine Being; and he [or she] will constantly feel that his [or | |
her] body and mind are the instruments moving under the direction of | |
the almighty Will, which is manifesting through all forms. Thus, | |
having gained spiritual strength and illumination, he [or she] will | |
become the conqueror of himself [or herself]... | |
Chapter 5, Karma Yoga | |
One of the [many] significations of the word Yoga is dexterity in | |
work. To render this meaning still more specific, the Sanskrit term | |
karma, derived from the root verb kri, to act, is added. Taken in | |
its literal sense, therefore, karma signifies action and refers to | |
all actions whether of mind or of body. Whenever there is activity | |
of any kind, it is karma. | |
Again, every action, as we are aware, is followed by reaction. No | |
action can be separated from its result, as no cause can be | |
absolutely disconnected from its effect. Consequently, the secondary | |
meaning of karma embraces all reactions or results of actions. The | |
chains of cause and sequence known as the law of causation is also | |
called karma; and every action of the body and mind is governed by | |
the law of karma or of action and reaction. | |
When, furthermore, we consider that the effect of each action leaves | |
its impression on the mind substance, which impression becomes the | |
seed of a fresh action of a similar nature, we understand the third | |
meaning of the term. In this sense the word karma includes the | |
accumulated results of past actions, or rather, the seed forms of | |
future activities. Hence the character of an individual, which is | |
the aggregate result of the works... may be called karma. | |
The Karma Yoga is, therefore, that branch... which discusses the | |
three ideas conveyed by the word karma, explains the philosophy of | |
work, describes the method by which the individual soul can extricate | |
itself from the wheel of action and reaction, and having escaped from | |
the irresistible law of causation by which everyone is bound, can | |
attain to perfect freedom, fulfill the highest purpose of life, and | |
thus through right action alone, reach the ultimate goal of religion. | |
It is the path best fitted for those who believe in no creed, who | |
are not devotional, and who do not care to worship or pray to a | |
personal God. | |
A Karma Yogi should realize that there is one Being or one Spirit in | |
the universe. Seeing this same Being or Spirit in all living | |
creatures, he [or she] should recognize the rights of all, and should | |
not injure anyone either mentally or physically. Such a Yogi is | |
truly unselfish; he [or she] is a blessing to the world and to | |
humanity. | |
A true Karma Yogi, furthermore, is he [or she] who recognizes that | |
his [or her] real Self is not a doer of action, but that all mental | |
and physical activity is merely the result of the forces of nature. | |
Therefore, he [or she] never claims that any work, whether good or | |
bad, has been done by his [or her] true Self. He [or she] lets [the] | |
mind, intellect, and sense-organs work incessantly, while in his [or | |
her] soul he [or she] holds steadfastly to the idea that he [or she] | |
is the witness-like knower of all activity, mental or physical. | |
Neither does he [or she] count success or failure in his [or her] | |
daily life. He [or she] does his [or her] best in each effort... and | |
after performing his [or her] duty to the utmost of his [or her] | |
ability, if he [or she] meets with failure he [or she] does not | |
grieve, but, saying within... that he [or she] did all that he [or | |
she] could under the circumstances, he [or she] maintains... calmness | |
and enjoys peace of mind even in the face of defeat. | |
Buddha did not preach the worship of a personal God, but he | |
established the truth that those who do not believe in a personal God | |
and who are not devotional, can reach the highest goal of all | |
religions by the path of Karma Yoga. | |
# Chapter 6, The Bhakti Yoga | |
The Bhakti Yoga teaches that the final end of all religions can be | |
reached through love and worship of the personal God... It is for | |
devotees who, conscious of their own weakness arising from the lack | |
of self-control and the knowledge, seek help from outside, and who, | |
taking refuge in the Supreme, pray to [the divine] for forgiveness | |
and pardon of sins committed through ignorance of the moral and | |
spiritual laws that govern our lives. All dualistic systems of | |
religion like Christianity, Judaism, and [Islam], which advocate the | |
worship of a personal God, knowingly or unknowingly preach Bhakti | |
Yoga and direct their adherents along this path. | |
A student of the Raja Yoga must not only keep constant watch over his | |
[or her] mind, but he [or she] must also faithfully practice the | |
eight steps already described, if he [or she] would achieve his [or | |
her] highest ideal, while in the Bhakti Yoga we learn that all | |
desires and passions, whether good or bad, can be directed towards | |
God. Then, instead of binding the soul to worldliness and earthly | |
attachment, they become a means of attaining... absolute freedom from | |
selfishness and wickedness. | |
# Chapter 7, The Jnana Yoga | |
The last is the Jnana Yoga, the path of wisdom. The word jnana, | |
being derived from the Sanskrit root jna, to know, means knowledge, | |
and the ideal which it holds up before its followers is the | |
realization of that absolute Truth, which is the one common source of | |
all subjective and objective phenomena in the universe. | |
The Jnana Yoga is based entirely upon the monistic principles of the | |
Advaita or non-dualistic system of the Vedanta. Its purpose is to | |
show that subject and object are but the two expressions of one | |
absolute Being or Substance, that God and man, the Creator and | |
created, are only different aspects of one universal Reality. | |
The path of wisdom, therefore, is best fitted for those earnest and | |
sincere seekers after truth who have no leaning towards active life, | |
who are not devotional in their nature, but who are pre-eminently | |
intellectual, and who, having realized the transitory and ephemeral | |
character of phenomenal objects, are no longer contented with | |
sense-pleasures. It is for those who wish to be free from all | |
fetters and attachments, who care nothing for earthly prosperity, | |
success, social honor, fame, or fulfillment of personal ambitions, | |
but whose sole desire is to know who they are in reality, what their | |
true nature is, and what relation exists between their soul, God, and | |
the universe. | |
# Chapter 9, Was Christ A Yogi | |
Jesus was a great Yogi because He realized the transitory and | |
ephemeral nature of the phenomenal world and, discriminating the real | |
from the unreal, renounced all desire for worldly pleasures and | |
bodily comforts. Like a great Yogi He lived a life of seclusion, | |
cutting off all connections with earthly friends and relatives, and | |
having neither home nor possessions of His own. | |
Jesus the Christ was a great Karma Yogi because He never worked for | |
results; He had neither desire for name nor ambition for fame or for | |
earthly prosperity. His works were a free offering to the world. He | |
labored for others, devoted His whole life to help others, and in the | |
end died for others. Being unattached to the fruits of his actions, | |
he worked incessantly for the good of His fellow-men [and women], | |
directing them to the path of righteousness and spiritual realization | |
through unselfish works. He understood the law of actions and | |
reaction, which is the fundamental principle of Karma Yoga, and it | |
was for this reason He declared: Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall | |
he also reap. | |
Jesus of Nazareth proved Himself to be a great Bhakti Yogi, a true | |
lover of God, by his unswerving devotion and His whole-hearted love | |
for the Heavenly Father. The complete self-surrender and absolute | |
self-resignation are the principle virtues of Bhakti Yoga, and as | |
Christ possessed these to perfection up to the last moment of His | |
life, He was a true Bhakti Yogi. | |
Like the great Raja Yogis in India, Jesus knew the secret of | |
separating His soul from His physical shell, and He showed this at | |
the time of his death, while His body was suffering from extreme | |
pain, by saying "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they | |
do." | |
author: Abhedānanda, Swami, 1866-1939 | |
detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Swami_Abhedananda | |
LOC: B132.Y6 A28 | |
source: gopher://tilde.pink/1/~bencollver/ia/details/dli.bengal.10689.18710 | |
tags: ebook,spirit,yoga | |
title: How To Be A Yogi | |
# Tags | |
ebook | |
spirit | |
yoga |