Basics About Yoga

For spiritual progress we need to practice continuously and incessantly. But what kind of practice helps us to progress in spiritual realm.

The destination of the soul is the Lord Himself. The Goal of life is to attain Union with the Divine. Also for this state, for achieving the state you need to become like the Lord in terms of purity, love, peacefulness etc. Of course, this can only be achieved by the help of the Lord Himself but the God only helps those who help themselves.

So, we need to take honest initiative, we need to practice and just practice without worrying of the success or failure. A state similar to the state of the Master can be achieved by working on us with full control, control of mind, intellect, sense organs and body. The technique of achieving control over ones internal and external nature is known as Yoga.

Yoga means union which represents its goal as the Merging with the Lord. There are many different forms of Yoga popular today. These forms have originated from one basic technique as per peoples requirement in different ages. Some of them are Rāja-Yoga (Yoga of mind), Karma-Yoga (Yoga of action), Bhakti-Yoga (Yoga of devotion), Haṭha-Yoga, Kriyā-Yoga, Jnāna-Yoga (Yoga of knowledge) and so on. All this forms are having the same aim, the Union. Only these different forms have shifted the center of their attention. Yoga can also be achieved by complete devotion, by complete knowledge and so on. But for best results one can also combine these all forms to obtain the original essence of it back. These forms are completely compatible with one another and hence can be practiced simultaneously.

Basically and described by Mahaṛṣi Pataṅjalī, Yoga consists of eight limbs or stages. Means one has to pass through the following eight states before the final Union.

1. Yama: The first one is Yama, this is the state when a yogī (one who seriously practices yogic disciplines) conceives and studies ideas of Satya (truthfulness), Aśteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (celibacy), Ahiṁsā (non-violence), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) etc.
2. Niyama: Next comes Niyama, the state where the yogi practices Santoś (contentment), Śauch (cleanliness), Tapa (austerity), Swādhyāya (self study or study of scriptures), Iśwara-Prānidhān (devotion and surrender to the God).
3. Āsana: Then the yogi develops the consciousness of right Āsana (posture) for sitting and other activities.
4. Prānāyāma: This is followed by Prānāyāma (the practice of control of breath or life force). This helps the Sādhaka (one who practices) to move to the next state.
5. Pratyāhāra: This state is Pratyāhāra (renunciation), the state where the yogī draws all the tendencies of the sense organs inwards.
6. Dhārana: This is followed by Dhārana (concentration) where the yogī finds him able to concentrate all the rays of mind onto a single object. This is a temporary and very fluctuating state.
7. Dhayāna: Regular practice of concentration leads the practitioner to Dhayāna (meditation), where one becomes able to maintain the high concentration for longer period.
8. Samādhī: Then comes the final state, Samādhī (final union), with continued practice of meditation.

Each state of practice automatically leads to the next and also no state can be ever skipped. When someone tries to practice meditation directly he finds it impossible because no proper background has been set. But with continued practice one attains the achievements of all the lower states and becomes able to meditate.

Mahaṛṣi Pataṅjalī observed these states of development of a yogī carefully and produced his conclusion before the world in the form of his Yoga Sutras.

As already told several times here and there on the blog that the Union with the Divine does need practice but it is also another truth that you achieve this state in a fraction of second whereas Yoga with no faith and improperly practiced can never let you to the state.

So, for the development of faith, the basic knowledge is also required. It is important to decide what suits yours state and work for the attainment of the Goal without getting fascinated by knowledge that you do not require. Recognize you requirements take up a form of yogic practice or all and start now.