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The Crownof Life

A Study in Yoga

Kirpal Singh

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I have written books without any copyrightno

rights reservedbecause it is a Gift of God, givenby God, as much as sunlight; other gifts of God are

also free.

from a talk by Kirpal Singh, with the author of a

book after a talk to students of religion at Santa Clara

University, San Jose, California on November 16,

1972.

The text of this book is the same as what was

published during the lifetime of Kirpal Singh. Aside

from punctuation and capitalization corrections, no

changes have been made to the text; it is exactly the

same as what was approved by the Master.

First Edition 1961

Second Edition 1965

Third Edition 1970

This Edition published in 2012

RUHANI SATSANG

DIVINE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL

250 H Street, #50

Blaine, WA 98230-4018 USA

www.RuhaniSatsangUSA.org

Tel: 1-888-530-1555

ISBN Hard Cover # 978-0-942735-75-8

ISBN Soft Cover # 978-0-942735-77-2

SAN 854-1906

Printed in the United States of America

by Print Graphics Pros (949) 859-3845

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Sant Kirpal Singh Ji(1894-1974)

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Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj

(1858-1948)

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Dedicated

to the Almighty God

working through all Masters who have come

and Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj

at whose lotus feet

the writer imbibed sweet elixir of

Holy Naam the Word

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Sant Kirpal Singh passed on from this earth in 1974.

Therefore, He is no longer taking on new people

to guide out of this world and back to God. He left

many books that explain, as much as can be conferred

in a worldly language, the meaning of life. The

books and the Ruhani Satsang website

http://www.

RuhaniSatsangUSA.org/ are maintained to help stir

an interest in God and to help people know what to

look for in their search for the way back home.

When asked about a successor, we can only offer this

quotation from the Master:

Today there is a great awakening beginning.Some have got the answer, some have not, but

the search to solve the mystery of life has been

born all over the world. The day that question

arises in the mind is the greatest day of ones

life, for once it is born, it does not succumb

until it is satisfied.

So, make your life an example of the teachings

you follow live up to them.

If you have a strong desire to get it, then God

Himself will make the arrangements for you.

[Excerpts from a talk published in the January 1971

edition ofSat Sandesh]

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Preface

THIs tudy of comparative yoga wa initiallytimulated by the variou querie on the ub-ject which kept pouring in from eeker and di-ciple in the Wet. But in trying to anwer themin a ytematic and comprehenive manner, itha grown into omething much larger than itoriginal intent. A it ha now evolved it may, Ihope, be of ervice not only to thoe whoe que-tion firt led to it writing, but to all eekerin general who wih to undertand what yogai, the varietie of it form and their repective

mode and piritual efficacy.In thi age of publihing, there i no dearth

of book on yoga. However, if one crutinizethem carefully, one find that the majority fallhort in one direction or another. They either treatit a primarily a ytem of asanas and phyicalexercie, or a an abtract and highly moniticytem of thought, poiting the unity of all exit-ence and the ultimate onene of the individualoul and the Overoul. In either cae, the viewof yoga that we gather i an incomplete one,reducing it from a practical mode of piritualtrancendence and union with the Abolute, to aytem of phyical culture or chool (or group ofchool) of philoophy.

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To avoid the poibility of uch error, the

ultimate aim of all yoga, at-one-ment with thesupreme Lord, ha been kept a a focuing pointfor all dicuion in thi tudy. All the impor-tant form, ancient and modern, are taken up inturn, their practice explained and dicued,and the extent to which each can lead u towardthe final goal evaluated. Thi lat i perhap the

mot eaily miundertood and the mot widelyconfued apect of a comparative tudy of yoga.It i a characteritic of mytic experience that theoul a it acend to a plane higher than the oneto which it i accutomed, tend (in the abenceof uperior guidance) to mitake the higher planea the very highet, the Abolute Realm. And o

we find that mot yoga, while taking u up to acertain point on the inner journey, mitake thifor it end, and for a relative validity claim forthemelve an abolute one.

The only way by which we can effectivelyevaluate the comparative piritual value of each

yogic form and o ecape the preent tate ofconfuion, i by adopting a our tandard thevery highet form of yoga, whoe potency iabolute and not merely relative. Thi tandardi provided by the Surat Shabd Yoga alo knowna Sant Mat (or the path of the sant or Materof thi mytic chool), the veritable Crown of

Life. By following it practice under properguidance, it adept have reached realm not

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known to other mytic chool, and have finally

merged with the supreme Lord in Hi Abolute,Namele and Formle state. They have, in theircompoition, repeatedly affirmed the incom-parable uperiority of thi Yoga of the soundCurrent and, while decribing through directinner perception the varying piritual rangeof other yoga, have gone on to expound the

abolute nature of their own.Once a eeker can begin to grap the per-

pective on comparative myticim which santMat can provide, he will, I believe, find thiextremely complex ubject becoming progre-ively clearer to him.

He will ee that the contradiction which di-turb so many when they rst undertake a com-parative tudy of myticim are not eential tomytic experience a uch, but are the reult ofa confuion of a relative truth with an aboluteone, an error which doe not exit for thoe who,by following the highet path, have experienced

rst-hand all the inner states, and know the pointsup to which each yoga can lead.

He will no longer be tempted to evade theiue of pirituality by dimiing it a a mereremnant of old upertition and black magic butwill begin to ee it a a kind of timele inner

cience with it own unchanging law and vary-ing mode of operation, with knowledge which

PREFACE

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i not tatic, but ha developed a men have

moved from lower to higher form of yoga.And above all, he will, I hope, realize that

mergence with the supreme Lord i no mereday-dream or hypothetical potulate of a mo-nitic chool of philoophy, but a living poi-bility whoe realization i the true end of humanexitence and whoe attainment, given the rightguidance, the right method and the right effort,lie within the reach of all, irrepective of age,ex, race or creed.

sawan Ahram, Delhi Kirpal singh

June 6, 1961

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Table of Content

PART ONE

The Yogic Patterns

I. YOGA: AN INTRODUCTION ..............................1

Vriti: What they are ...............................................8

soul and Overoul ................................................10

Prakriti or matter ..................................................15

Relationhip between the three bodie

and ve koshas..................................................20

Diviion of creation according to the koha ...21

II. YOG VIDYA AND YOG sADHNA ....................29

The Path of Yoga in Theory and Practice ................29

1. THE BAsIs OF ANCIENT YOGA ................29

Origin and technique of the yoga ytem ....29

Fundamental concept ...................................32

2. THE PATH AND THE BRANCHEsOF AsHTANG YOGA ..................................34

I-II. YAMAs AND NIYAMAs ..................35

III. AsANAs ..............................................44

Aana a a form of yoga ....................47

Advantage of aana ........................49

Perfection in aana ............................57

Food ......................................................59

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IV. PRANAYAM OR YOGIC

BREATHING .....................................59Plexue and chakra ..........................63

Pranayam: Elementary exercie .......64

sukh Purvak Pranayam ......................65

Pranayam a a form of yoga ..............70

Pranic dicipline ..................................71

Advantage of Prana Yoga .................73

V. PRATYAHARA ORsENsE CONTROL...............................74

VI. DHARNA OR sAMYAM ...................76

Dharna a a form of yoga ...................87

VII. DHYAN OR CONTEMPLATION .....99

Dhyan a a ytem of yoga ...............102

Advantage of Dhyan Yoga .............105

VIII. sAMADHI ..........................................106

samadhi Yoga ..................................... 112

3. AsHTANG YOGA ANDMODERN MAN ..................................117

III. THE FORMs OF YOGA ...............................1241. MANTRA YOGA OR THE YOGA

OF UTTERANCE .................................124

Technique in Mantra Yoga ......................126

2. HATHA YOGA .........................................129

3. LAYA YOGA .............................................141

4. RAJA YOGA ..............................................143

5. JNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA

OF KNOWLEDGE ...............................151

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TABLE OF CONTENTs

6. BHAKTI YOGA OR THE YOGA

OF DEVOTION ....................................1547. KARMA YOGA OR THE YOGA

OF ACTION ..........................................158

8. OTHER YOGAs MENTIONED

IN THE GITA ........................................162

Yoga of Meditation ..................................162

Yoga of spiritual Experience ................. 163

Yoga of Myticim ...................................1639. YOGA IN THE ZOROAsTRIAN

sCRIPTUREs ........................................166

10. YOGA AND THE OUTERsCIENCEs .............................................172

IV. ADVAITIsM ................................................176

self the bai of conciou life .............177The nature of creation ................................179

The self or atman .......................................181

The nature of self .......................................182

Individual knowledge andconcioune ...........................................182

Knowledge and it ource .......................183

The nature of Brahman ..............................186

PART TWO

The Study of Surat Shabd Yoga

V. sURAT sHABD YOGA ......................... 195

The Yoga of the Celestial Sound Current

The sound Current ............................... 205

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The cornertone .................................. 211

A perfect cience ................................... 231The Mater ............................................ 240

VI. THE EssENCE OF RELIGION .................... 268

1. Ancient Religiou Thought:

Indian, Chinee and Iranian ................... 270

Hinduim.................................................. 270

Buddhim ................................................. 280

Taoim ....................................................... 285Zoroatrianim ......................................... 289

2. Chritianity .............................................. 292

3. Ilam ......................................................... 305

4. sikhim ..................................................... 314

VII. sOME MODERN MOVEMENTs ................ 331

Roicrucianim, Theoophy andI Am Activity ............................................ 332

Chritian science and subud ....................... 334

spiritim and piritualim ........................... 336

Hypnoi and memerim ........................... 338

VIII. CONCLUsION ............................................. 340

Index ....................................................................... 353Lit of Book by Kirpal singh ................................ 365

Chartsome Yama and Niyama ....................................... 37

Hatha Yoga Food ..................................................... 60Chakra or Plexue ................................................. 96

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PART ONE

The Yogic Patterns

CHAPTER ONE

Yoga: An Introduction

ALL the great teacher of humanity, at alltime and in all clime the Vedic Rihi,Zoroater, Mahavira, Buddha, Chrit, Moham-

med, Nanak, Kabir, Baba Farid, Hazrat Bahu,shama Tabrez, Maulana Rumi, Tuli sahib,swamiji and many other gave to the worldbut one sadhna or piritual dicipline. A Godi one, the God-way too cannot but be one. Thetrue religion or the way back to God i of Godown making and hence it i the mot ancient awell a the mot natural way, with no artificeor artificiality about it. In it practical working,the ytem need the guidance of an adept or ateacher well vered in the theory and practiceof Para Vidya, the science of the Beyond, a it icalled, for it lie beyond the grap of the mind

and of the ene-facultie. Where the worldphiloophie end, there the true religion tart.The criptural text give u, at bet, ome account

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of the Path, o far a it can be put into imperfect

word, but cannot take u to the Path nor canthey guide u on the Path.

The piritual Path i eentially a practicalPath. It i only the pirit diencumbered anddeperonalized that can undertake the pir-itual journey. The inner man, the oul in man,ha to rie above body concioune before itcan travere into higher concioune or theconcioune of the como and of the beyond.All thi and more become poible through theSurat Shabd Yoga or the union of elf in man(Surat or concioune) with the Shabd or soundPrinciple, through the grace of ome Mater-oul.

In order to have a clear idea of the teachingof the Mater from the hoary pat right to thepreent time, it would be worth our while totudy the nature and extent of the surat shabdYoga and it teaching in relation to the variouyogic ytem a taught by the ancient, and alo

the principle of Advaitim a propounded byshankaracharya.

The term yoga i derived from the sankritroot yuj which mean meeting, union, com-munion, conummation, abtraction, realization,aborption or metaphyical philoophizing of the

highet type, that promie to bring cloe prox-imity between the oul and the Overoul (jiva-

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YOGA: AN INTRODUCTION

atma and Parmatma or Brahman). Patanjali, the

reputed father of the yoga ytem, after thefahion of hi progenitor Gaudapada, defineyoga a elimination of the vritis or modula-tion that alway keep urging in the mind-tuffor chit in the form of ripple. He call it chit vritinirodha or the uppreion of the vriti, i.e., clear-ing the mind of the mental ocillation. According

to Yajnavalkya, yoga mean to effect, or to bringabout, at-one-ment of the individual oul withIhwar or Brahman. The yogin generally defineit a the unfoldment of the pirit from and di-robing it of the numerou enhrouding heathin which it i enveloped in it phyical exitence.Sant Mat or the Path of the Mater, far from de-

nying any of thee objective of yoga, acceptand endore in full all that i aid above and,in ome meaure, agree to the aim and endthereof, but regard them at bet a mere point-er to the goal.

It doe not ret there, however, but goe

beyond and tell u of the Way Out of themighty maze of the univere and the Way Into the Heavenly Home of the Father, the pir-itual journey that the pirit ha to undertakefrom death to life immortal (Fana to Baqa), byriing above body-concioune by mean of aregular ytem of elf-analyi and withdraw-

al of the pirit current from the body and con-centrating them at the eat of the oul (Tisra Til),

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and then gradually paing through the inter-

mediary center beyond Bunk-naal, the invert-ed, tube-like paage, until it reache the finaltage of conummation and attain at-one-mentwith it source.

Here one might ak the quetion a to theneed for union between the oul and the Over-oul, when the two are eentially the ame andare already embedded one in the other. The-oretically peaking, thi i correct, but how manyof u are conciouly aware of thi and workpractically in the light and life of thi know-ledge and awarene? On the other hand, theoul i alway following the lead of the mind,the mind that of the ene, and the enethat of the ene-object, with the reult thatthe oul, by contant aociation with the mindand the ene for age upon age, ha com-pletely lot it own individual (undivided)identity and ha for all practical purpoebecome identified with the mind. It i thi veil

of ignorance which ha come in between theoul and the Over-oul that ha to be removed toenable the oul to come into it own, to real-izeit inherent nature and then to eek it real homeand gain life eternal.

All religion were originally deigned byman olely with thi end in view but unfortun-ately, in the coure of time, man gradually driftaway from reality and become the lave of hi

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own handicraft and religion, a religion deter-

iorate into intitutionalized churche and tem-ple, rigid code of moral and ocial conduct,lacking the living touch and the pulating life-impule of their founder.

I know no dieae of the oul but ignor-ance, ay Ben Jonon. How to remove the veilof ignorance i the problem of problem. Wehave allowed it to grow into an imperviou rocktoo hard to be blated. still, the age haveprovided variou mean to rend the otherwieimpenetrable veil, uch aJnana Yoga, Bhakti Yogaand Karma Yoga and other method.

The light of true knowledge, a viualized by

Jnana Yoga, may be able to dipel the darkneof ignorance, jut a a lighted candle may dipeldarkne from a dark room.

By Bhakti Yoga one may be able to change thecoure of hatred, eparatene and duality intothat of love for all, at-one-ment and onene

with all l iving creature and thereby be etab-lihed in the all-embracing love for all.

Finally, by mean of Karma Yoga one may beable to root out feeling of elfihne, egocen-tricity, elf aggrandizement and elf-love andengage in charitable deed of philanthropy and

imilar activitie, which may be beneficial tomankind in general, and acquire fellow feelingand love for all, ee the reflex of the univere

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within hi own elf and that of hi elf in all

other, and realize ultimately the principle of theFatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

Thee are, in the main, the three path, orrather three apect of an integrated path of head,heart and hand, whereby one may achieve thedeired end, the union of the oul with the Over-soul. They may for convenience be briey termedthe proce of elf-matery, elf-ublimation andelf-acrifice, leading ultimately to Comic Con-cioune, or awarene of the all-pervadingReality a the bai of all that exit.

The objective in each cae i the ame andeach aim at the ame target, though in the initial

elementary tage each of them tart from dual-itic conideration. It i from dualim that onetart, and in non-dualim (advaitim) that oneend; and for thi one may take to the path ofdivine knowledge, of univeral love and devotionor of elfle ervice of humanity.

The target ever remains the same,Though the archers aiming at it be so many.

RAJAB

In Jnana Yoga, for intance, one ha to developthe faculty of dicrimination, o a to be ableto ditinguih between agyan and gyan, i.e.,

ignorance and true knowledge, the illuorycharacter of Maya and the reality of Brahman.

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When he i convinced of the latter he get

glimpe of nothing but Brahman pervadingeverywhere in It limitle eence, immanentin all form and color which take their deignand hue from that eence alone. Thi percep-tion i the dawning of true knowledge and divinewidom.

In Bhakti Yoga, likewie, we begin with thetwin principle of Bhagat and Bhagwant, or thedevotee and the deity, and the devotee grad-ually loe hi little elf and ee hi deity all-pervading, and hi own elf expand o a toembrace the totality a doe hi own Isht-deva.Whoever enter a alt mine, tend to becomealt. A you think, o you become.

Again, in Karma Yoga, one may enter the Kar-ma Kshetra or the eld of actions, under someimpelling force to begin with, but in coureof time he learn the value of elfle Karma.Karma when performed for their own akewithout any attachment to the fruit thereof,

ceae to be binding, and by force of habit onegradually become Neh Karma (actionle inaction), or a till point in the ever-revolvingwheel of life. In thi way, when one, from thecircumference of hi being, reache the centerof hi being, he acquire inaction in actionand i freed from the binding effect of Karma.

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Vritis: What they are

When a current emanating from the pirittrike any object, uch a a phyical thing, amental feeling, an idea, or a enory enation,and return to it ource, it i called a vriti. Thevriti produce a modulation in the mind-tuff.All our knowledge of the world without andwithin come from vriti or the ray of thought.

A ray of light, reflected from or originating froman object, pae through the eye to the brain,where it i converted into thought impreionmaking u aware of the object.

Vriti are of five kind:

(i) Parman: The relationhip between thepure oul and Prakriti or Nature i called Par-man. In every manifetation, the pure oulfind it own eence at the core and nothingi apart and ditinct from It.

(ii) Vipreh : The relationhip between theknowing oul and Prakriti or Nature object

i called Vipreh. It take in and accept themanifeted form a it i, but remain cepticalof the one and active life-principle at the coreof it.

(iii) Vikalp: It i the relationhip that themind-ridden oul ha with the object, produc-

ing doubt and deluion a to the object them-

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elve, their exitence, their intrinic nature and

the life-eence at their core.(iv) Nidra: It i the relationhip that the prana-

covered oul ha with the object. It embrace init fold the twin tate of dream and deep lum-ber, regardle of the exiting urrounding.

(v) Smriti: It i the relationhip of the em-

bodied oul with the object of the world on thephyical plane.

All thee vriti contitute o many hurdlein the way of the oul eeking to undertandit true and eential nature, which in reality inothing but that of God. Kabir therefore ay:soul i of the ame eence a that of God.

similarly, the Mulim divine expre theame idea when they peak of the oul a Amar-i-Rabbi or the fiat of God.

If one could but clear the chit of the vriti(chit vriti nirodha, a it i called), nothing would

be left except the pure eence of Godhead. Hencewe have the oft-repeated famou dicta on yoga,a in the following:

Chit-vriti nirodha (clearing the mind of themental oscillations) is the essence of yoga.

PANTANJALI

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At-one-ment of the soul and the Oversoul

is yoga. YAJNAVALKYA

Extrication of the soul from the materialsof life by disrobing it of the enshroudingsheaths, is yoga.

MACHHANDRA NATH AND GORAKH NATH

The eaiet, the mot ancient, and the motnatural way to gain the fruit of yoga, a taughtby Kabir, Nanak and other before and afterthem, i that of shabd Yoga or sehaj Yoga, agiven by all the Mater aint from time im-memorial. When the pirit i able, by practiceof the piritual sadhna, to cat off, one by one,

the variou covering, it become a pure pirit,complete in itelf, a conciou entity, elf-exitent and elf-luminou, ever the ame andeternally free. According to the aint, yogai communion of the oul with the holy Word(God into expreion), the power of God orthe pirit of God: Sruti, Sraosha, Kalma, Naam*

or the Holy spirit a variouly deignated bythe variou age each in hi own particulartime.

Soul and Oversoul

1. soul i the Reality and the Eence. It i

one a well a a totality. In one there i alway* For detailed explanation of thee term, pleae refer to the bookNaam or Word by the ame author.

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the deluion of many, and the totality doe

ignify the exitence therein of o many part.The idea of a part and of the whole go cheekby jowl, and both the part a well a the wholeare characterized by the imilarity of theeential nature in them.

2. The eence of a thing ha it own attrib-utive nature and the two cannot be eparatedfrom each other. Jut a the eence i both oneand many, o i the cae with it attributivenature.

3. The eence of a thing i it Johar, it verylife breath. It i the only primal principle thatpervade everywhere and i the reality behind

all form and color. Thi active life principle ithe very ource of creation and goe varioulyby the name of Prakriti in the ubtle, Pradhanin the caual, and Maya or matter in the phyicalworld.

4. The attributive nature of a thing i it

integrated part and parcel in which it natureinhere. Jut take the cae of light. Can lightbe conceived of a apart from the un, orradiant vitality apart from a gloriouly healthyperonality? One doe not exit without theother a the two are ineparable and fullyembedded in each other.

5. Any attempt to conider the two natureand it eence a eparate, even if only in

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imagination, i bound to bring in the idea of

duality. It i only in term of thi dualitythat one can conceive of the creation a ditinctfrom the creative principle a being the reultof the outer play of the twin force of pirit,called matter and oul. The cientific invetiga-tion too have now come to the irreitibleconcluion that all life i one continuou exi-

tence at different level and what we call inertmatter i nothing but energy at it lowet tage.

In Nature itelf, both in the ubtle and caualplane, thee two principle are alway at work:God and Prakriti in the ubtle, God and Pradhanin the caual, and oul and matter in the phyi-cal univere. The creation everywhere i but theoutcome of the impact of the one on the other.

6. soul then i the life-principle and the rootcaue at the core of everything, for nothing cancome into manifetation without it. It ha aquickening effect, and impart it life-impuleto the eemingly inert matter by contact with it.

It i by the life and light of the quickening im-pule of the oul that matter aume o manyform and color with their variety of patternand deign which we ee in the Univere.

7. Thi life current or oul i extremely ub-tle, a elf effulgent park of Divine Light, a drop

from the Ocean of Concioune, with nobeginning and no end, and eternally the ame,

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the two force, poitive and negative, which are

inherent in it, further combined and brought intomanifetation air (vayu), and exactly in the ameway the manifet air gave birth to fire (agni),and the manifet fire produced water (jal), andthe manifet water led to the formation of earth(prithvi), while the pirit of each element whichi eentially the ame remained unmanifet

throughout.In the ame way a above, what we call

God ha an eential Godhood, abolute andimagele, the life and pirit of the Univere, andat the ame time the Univere itelf with itvaried creation full of and manifeting o manyform and color, appearing and diappearinglike ripple in the ea of life. The unmanifet andimperonal God i free from all attribute, whileHi individualized ray, a manifeted in count-le form and color by contant contact withMaya, Prakriti and Pradhan (phyical, ubtleand caual) feel themelve, through ignor-

ance of their true nature, a limited and eparatefrom each other and are thereby drawn intothe ambit of the inexorable Karmic Law or theLaw of Caue and Effect, which entail a con-equence for every deed, every word and everythought.

What i unfulfilled in one life i fulfilled inanother, and thu the giant wheel of life and

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death, once et in motion, goe on perpetually

by the force of it own inexhautible momen-tum. Herein lie the difference between the indi-vidualized oul on the one hand, and the Greatsoul of the Univere (called God) on the other,the one being bound and limited, the other beingwithout bound or limit.

Prakriti or matter

The term Prakriti i a compound term andi derived from the sankrit root pra meaningfirt, and kar ignifying to act and thu Prak-riti tand for original matter (latent energy)which, when acted upon by poitive pirit force,bring into being the many form, pattern and

deign in the vat creation of the Great Creator.Thi i called Maya, and all that can be eenor felt by any of the ene fall in the categoryof matter or Prakriti. Matter, a explained above,i latent energy at it lowet level, which iquickened into activity (activated) and madeto aume the many different form that we per-

ceive a patent. Thi proce from paivity intoactivity of energy lead to creation, or manifeta-tion of the hitherto unmanifeted pirit force.

Brahman or pirit force come into being onlythrough a gro covering (kaya).

Jut a the totality of the eemingly individ-ualized oul goe to make Overoul (God), o

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alo the mighty maze of the created being and

thing with different form and color in theirtotality, i called Prakriti.

Prakriti, by itelf, can neither be felt by theene nor ha it any exitence of itelf, butcome into manifetation only when acted uponby the pirit force. Jut a the ray of the unhave no exitence apart from the un and appearonly when the un rie on the horizon, o doePrakriti, in conjunction with the life-impule,aume innumerable hape and form beyondthe human ken, and the One inviible oul eemto get diversied into individualized parts, withdifferent name and varied pecie that baffledecription and olution. still, the yogin havetaken into account the five koshas or the en-hrouding heath that have come to cover upthe pirit current in it downward decent, andhave devied and formulated way and meanto remove them. Thee koha or covering maybriefly be decribed a:

1. Vigyan-mai Kosh: Covering of the mentalapparatu or intellect with it two phae: oneconcerned with knowledge (gyan) on the phy-ical plane, and the other with enlightenment(vigyan) on the piritual plane. Thi i the firtcovering in which the pirit get wrapped a itcome in contact with the ubtle matter calledPrakriti. The light of the oul, a it reflect in

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the intellectual center, bring into motion what

i commonly known a intellect, coniting ofinner piritual perception and outer cognition.The oul, along with thi reflected intellectualability, become both cognitive and perceptive.

2. Man-o-mai Kosh: Thi i the econd cover-ing or heath that the intellectualized or thecognitive oul wrap around itelf by furtherintenive contact with Prakriti, which now beginto reflect the mind-tuff a well; and with thiadded faculty the oul become inclined towardthe mind and gradually get mind-ridden.

3. Pran-mai Kosh: The covering of the pranas(the vital air) contitute the third heath around

the oul. A the thinking (cognitive) and mind-bound oul pree till further upon Prakriti(matter), it begin to vibrate with prana,which are of ten type according to their differ-ent function. Thi make the cognitive andmind-bound oul to be pran-mai, or impelled by aquickening effect.

4. Anna-mai Kosh: When the cognitive, mind-bound and impulive oul work upon thePrakriti, it forge therein yet another type ofcovering, that of anna-mai. Thi i the lat ofthe five heath, and for it maintenance itbegin to feel a continuing need for anna or food-

tuff, and other ene object.


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Thi anna-mai covering i jut an inner lin-

ing of the phyical body (gro matter), which infact i it outer manifetation; and it continueto wrap the oul even when it outer form, i.e.,body, decline, decay and diintegrate.

The exitence of thi coare phyical body de-pend upon the healthy condition of the Anna-maiKoh on the inide of it.

some of the oul, even when they cat offthe outer phyical body, till hanker after foodbecaue of the Anna-mai Koh, hunt after thepleaure of the world and continue to haunthuman habitation in their wandering for ati-faction of their innate craving. It i to atify

thee craving of the phyically diembodiedoul that the Hindu perform pind dan andsaradhs, and make propitiatory offering to themanes or the departed oul o that they mayfind ret and peace.

5. However, it i Anand-mai Kosh (Bli) that

is the rst and the foremost of these Koshas orcovering. Thi i almot an integral part ofthe oul itelf. It i the mot ubtle heath, likethat of a thin covering over a lighted cande-labra. One experience it a little when in deepand dreamle lumber (sushupti), for on wakingup he retain a hazy idea of the anand or bli

that he experienced in that completely undi-turbed tate of ret.

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These then are the ve koshas or hijabs (cur-

tain or covering mantle) a the Mulim callthem, and they cover the oul, fold within fold.The aim or purpoe of all yoga i to graduallydientangle the oul from thee covering one byone, until it i finally diengaged from all of themand i retored to it original and pritine glori-ou tate of elf luminoity (Swayam Jyoti), which

i no le than that of everal un put together.Thi i the tage ofAham Brahm Asmi or I amBrahm, and when attained, one not only feelhimelf to be at onene with God, but actuallyhail God with the word Ayam Athma Brahma O God! I am of the ame eence a Thou art.

Mot of the yoga ytem take thi to be thebe-all and end-all of all piritual endeavor. Thiin fact i the highet and the lat tage of elf-realization, but i yet a halfway houe on thepiritual journey a tage of no mean con-equence, for it i from here that a rare oultart toward the much coveted goal of com-

plete realization of God, ince it i Khud Shanasi(self-knowledge) that gradually lead on to KhudaShanasi (knowledge of God).

self-knowledge and actual elf realizationi the culminating point in the proce of elf-analyi, without which one cannot proceedGodward and enter into the Kingdom of God.In thi proce of inverion and withdrawal


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of the pirit within by riing above body-

concioune and freeing the pirit from thetentacle of the body and mind, the eaiet,quicket, and uret proce i by communionwith the Shabd or the sound Current (the HolyWord), and thi i the only mean for God-realization. It i the mot ancient way the worldha known, coming down a it doe from the

dawn of creation itelf. It i coeval with Manfrom the day he became eparated from hiFather in Heaven. All the great Mater ofmankind gave thi Word to their diciple.Thi i baptim with the Holy spirit, a Chritput it.

Relationship between the three bodiesand the five koshas

The human body conit of three raiment:phyical, atral or ubtle, and the caual or eed-body.

In the phyical body we have all the fivekoha or covering, and thi i why we, in ourwaking tate, get ome knowledge and exper-ience of all the ve things: bliss, cognition (inneror outer), mindfulne (chit and it vritis ormental modulation), pranic vibration and thephyical ytem.

A one rie into the atral or the ubtle

body, one loe concioune of the phyicalexitence, while the oul mentally experience

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the ret of the four tate, viz., bli, cognition,

mindfulne and pranic vibration.A the pirit travel higher on into the caual

body, even the mental apparatu itelf dropoff and only the power ofsmriti (remembrance)remain, and it witnee and give an accountof the bli experienced in that tate.

Division of creation accordingto the koshas

All being from god to man, a well a theother form of life, including plant, are clai-fied into five categorie in relation to the prepon-derance of one or the other of the facultie:

1. Purely cognitive being, like Brahma, Vih-nu and Maheh, etc.

2. Being endowed with mind-tuff: Indra andother deitie, god and goddee, etc.

3. Being endowed with pranic vibration:

Yakshas, Gandharbas and other pirit, etc.4. Phyical being: Men, animal, bird, rep-

tile and inect, etc.

The creature endowed with phyical bodiehave all the five koha or covering in themin varying degree of denity (Anand-mai,

Vigyan-mai, Mano-mai, Pran-mai and Anna-mai); while thoe endowed with pranic vibra-


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tion have but four koha, dropping off Anna-

mai. similarly, creature gifted with the mind-tuff have but three, dropping off Pran-mai awell; and again, cognitive being have but two,namely Anand-mai and Vigyan-mai, a they arefreed from the hackle of the mind, the pranaand the need for anna or foodtuff.

There i thu a very cloe correpondencebetween the ve primary elements (earth, water,re, air and ether), of which the bodies are made,and the koha or covering. In fact, the kohathemelve are, more or le, the effective reultof the five baic element and endow creaturewith the five facultie enumerated above.

5. The liberated oul (jivan mukta) ha but atranparent veil of Anand-mai Koh. spirit init pure and unalloyed form i the creator, forall creation pring from it, and i ometimeknown a Shabd Brahm. It i the elf-effulgentlight, elf-exitent, and the cauele caue ofeverything viible and inviible. The pirit and

God both are alike in their nature and eence,i.e., ubtlety and bli. Thi blifulne i thevery firt offpring of the interaction of ouland Prakriti, and being the primal manifeta-tion of the Godhood in the oul, remain thelonget to the end in it fullne in pite of theother four covering enveloping it and bedim-ming it luter. Blifulne being the eentialand ineparable quality of the oul inhere in

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it very nature. Thi i why the earching oul

ever feel retle, and feel terribly the lo ofit eence in the mighty wirl of the world. Thi iwhy Chrit emphatically declared:

Take heed that the light which is in thee benot darkness.

sT. LUKE

Having thu lot ight of the inner bli, wetry to find happine in the worldly object andtake momentary pleaure a a ynonym for truehappine but very oon get diilluioned. Thilead to the innate quet for real happine. It ithe eternal quet in the human breat, and fromoutward, ephemeral and evanecent pleaure

one i forced to turn inward in earch of truehappine. Thi lead on to the beginning of thevariou yoga ytem, one and all, according tothe need of the individual apirant.

1. Peron with gro tendencie, animalintinct, and intereted only in body building

procee and developing the Anna-mai Atma,uccefully take recoure to Hatha Yoga.

2. Persons aficted with wind or gastric trou-ble, due to obeion with pran vayu in theirytem, can combat thee with the help of PranYoga.

3. Peron with Mano-mai Atma in the acen-dant, and uffering from mal, avaran and vikshep,


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i.e., mental impuritie, ignorance and modula-

tion of the mind, can with the help of RajaYoga conquer and pierce through the Mano-mai Koh.

4. Peron gifted with a trong intellectualbent of mind are ever engaged in finding thewhy and wherefore of thing. such apiranttake to the path ofVigyan or Jnana Yoga.

5. Thoe who are anxiou to ecape from theworld and all that i worldly and eek bli forit own ake have the path of Anand Yoga or theyoga of True Happine, called the sehaj Yoga.

In the sehaj Yoga, the apirant doe not

have to undergo any of the rigorou diciplinecharacteritic of the other yoga. He mut havea incere and ceaele yearning for the end ofall end, the goal of all goal, not content witha mere matery of hi phyical and mentalpower. And when there i uch a longing,ooner or later he would find, a Ramakrihna

found Totapuri, an adept to put him in touch withthe vital life current within, and the current by itown force and attraction will draw him up with-out any exceive truggle or effort on hi part.

It i thi that make it, in a ene, the eaietof all yoga and thu it i often called sehaj Yoga

(the effortle yoga). It can be practiced withequal eae by a child a well a by an old man;

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by a woman a well a a man; by the intellec-

tually gifted and ingeniou a well a the implehearted; by the anyain a well a the houe-holder. It conit in attuning the oul to thepiritual current ever vibrating within, hence iti known a the surat shabd Yoga, or the Yoga ofthe sound Current.

With thee preliminary remark, we are nowin a poition to dicu the ubject of yoga withit variou eential a taught by Patanjali, toundertand the part that each play, the tech-nique involved therein, how each tep workout, and how far the yogic exercie help prac-tically in achieving the deired reult libera-tion of oul from the bondage of mind andmatter o a to realize it own potentialnature a ditinct from body-concioune,and then to rie into Comic Concioune andfurther on into super-Comic Concioune. Iti the freed oul that ha to experience aware-ne at varying level, from realization of the

elf to that of Comic and ultimately to thatof super-Comic or God.


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Sant Kirpal Singh Ji

(1894-1974)

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CHAPTER TWO

Yog Vidya and Yog Sadhna

The Path of Yoga in Theory and Practice

1. The Basis of Ancient Yoga

Origin and technique of the yoga system

FROM the Yajnavalkya Smriti, we learn thatHiranyagarbha (Brahma) wa the origi-nal teacher of yoga. But the yoga ytem, a a

ytem, wa firt expounded by Patanjali, thegreat thinker and philoopher, in hi Yoga Sutras,ometime before the Chritian era. The yogicytem i one of the ix chool of Indian phi-loophy (Khat Shastras) that were ytematizedand developed to et in order Indian thoughtconcerning the como, the individual oul, and

their interrelation. Thee philoophie reultedfrom an attempt at reformation and retorationof the ancient and time-honored concept onpychological and metaphyical matter.

The word yoga in common parlance meanmethod. In it technical ene, it connote

yoking or union of the individual oul withthe Overoul or God. The Englih word yokeignifie to unite or join together and to

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place oneelf under yoke (dicipline). In thi

context, the yoga ytem denote a methodi-cal dicipline, which aim on the one handat viyog (unyoking), or eparation of the indi-vidualized oul from mind and matter, and onthe other hand, yog, or yoking it with Brahman.It, therefore, mean and implie the earch forthe trancendental and the divine in man, or to

find the noumenal in the phenomenal byreducing the phyical and metaphyical tateto their mot eential common factor, the baiand the ubtratum of all that exit, whetherviible or inviible.

A uch, yogic method imply a ytem ofmighty effort, mot trenuou endeavour andhard triving to attain perfection through thecontrol of the phyical body, the ever-activemind, the elf-aertive ego or will, the earch-ing and quetioning intellect, the pranic vibra-tion, the retle facultie and powerful ene.

Allegorically, the preent tate of the indi-

vidualized oul i decribed a riding in thechariot of the body, with dazed intellect a thecharioteer, the infatuated mind a the rein,and the ene a the powerful teed ruh-ing headlong into the field of ene object andene pleaure. All thi goe to how that a tu-dent of yoga dicipline ha to undertake a coureof an extremely trict and ordered activity a

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YOG VIDYA AND YOG sADHNA

may help to deperonalize the oul and free it

from all the limiting adjunct of life, phyical,mental and upra-mental, and then to contact itwith the power of God and achieve union withGod.

The word yoga i, however, not to be confuedwithyog-maya and yogic power which denoterepectively, the upreme Power of God per e(creating, controlling and utaining the entirecreation), and the pychic power (Ridhis andSiddhis) that one may acquire on the path ofyoga. Again, yog vidya or the cience of yoga haa two-fold apect; the phyical a well athe piritual. In the former ene, it ha come tomean a yogic ytem of phyical culture aimingat an all-around development of the varioucomponent part of the human body.

But we are concerned here with the piritualapect of yoga that aim at the well-being ofthe pirit or oul, the real life-principle in man,at preent neglected and ignored. The term yoga

in thi context i, therefore, to be trictly con-ned to one of the systems of philosophic thoughta derived from the Veda, and i concerned withthe ole object of regaining the oul (throughpiritual dicipline), now lot in the activity ofmind and matter, with which it ha come toidentify itelf by long and contant aociationfor aeon upon aeon. Yoga, in brief, tand for

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a technique of reorientation and reintegration

of the pirit in man, the lot continent of hitrue elf.

Fundamental concepts

Yoga preuppoe two factor that accountfor the creation of the world: (1) Ishwar or Godand (2) Avidya or Maya. While the former i all

intelligent, the latter i altogether unintelligent.Man too i a combination of thee two baicprinciple. Jiva or the individual oul, thoughintrinically of the ame eence a that of God,i encaed in mind and matter. The oul, condi-tioned a it i in the time-pace-caue world, habut an imperfect perception and cannot ee the

reality, the atman or the Divine Ground, in whichit ret and from where it get it luminoity.While antahkaran, or the mind, i the reflector,the atman i the illuminator, the light of whichi reflected through the ene that perceive theworld. The world then i the conjunction of theeer and the een. The detachment of thi

conjunction i the ecape, and perfect inight ithe mean of ecape. salvation therefore lie inthe iolation of the eer from the een, the com-plete detachment of the ubjective from all thati objective: phyical, mental, and caual, othat the self which i the eer, may ee itelfin it own luminoity or Light of the Void, a

it i called.

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To free the individual oul from the hack-

le of mind and matter, yoga init on (1) con-centration, (2) active effort or triving, whichinvolve the performance of devotional exer-cie and mental dicipline. The highet formof matter i chit, the unfathomable lake of ub-liminal impreion, and yoga aim at freeingthe inner man or pirit from thee fetter. It i

the finet and rarefied principle in matter thatcontitute chit or the little elf (ego) in man.Though in itelf, it i eentially unconciou, iti ubject to modification by the operation ofthe three-fold gunas. It ha alo the capacity tocontract and expand according to the nature ofthe body in which it i lodged from time to time,

or according to the urrounding circumtance.Thi chit or mind, though apparently bound-

ed in each individual, i in fact a part of the all-pervading univeral mind. The yoga ytem aimat tranforming the limited and conditionedmind into limitle and unconditioned Univer-

al mind, by developing the satva (pure) and byubduing the rajas (active) and tamas (dene) gu-na. In thi tate, yogin acquire omnicience,being one with the Univeral mind (Brahmandior Nij manas). Chit i the reflecting mirror forthe oul, and exit for chaitanmaya, or matterquickened by oul, which i elf-luminou and

in whoe piritual light take place all percep-tion, including the light of knowledge, mental


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and upra-mental. The ubliminal impreion

in the chit caue deire and interet, which inturn produce potencie, and thee lead to per-onality, thu etting the wheel of the worldin perpetual motion. When once the oul ifreed from the chit, manas, budhi, and ahan-kar, it come into it own, and become pa-ionle and deperonalized. Thi i the great

deliverance which yoga promie to yogin. Atthi everance from the four-fold fetter of themind, the embodied oul (jiva) become a freedoul (atman), unindividualized, elf-luminou,and attain realization a uch. self-realiza-tion then i the highet aim of yoga.

2. The Path and the Branches ofAshtang Yoga

The yogic art i long, tortuou and arduou.The reality of the elf lie buried under the debriof the mind, coniting ofmal, avaran and vikshep,viz., filth or impuritie, ignorance of the true

value of life, and contant vacillation or mod-ulation in the chit. The mental tratum hatherefore to be cleared of all thee and then tobe pierced through and penetrated to find thedivine nature of the elf or atman. To achievethi, one ha to conquer deire, to developteadine of thought, to cultivate virtue likecontinence, abtinence, temperance, righteou-ne, etc., and to develop vairagya, or detachment.

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To overcome the hindrance and to realize

the elf, Patanjali give an elaborate accountof what he term AshtangYoga, precribing aneight-fold method coniting of: (1) Yama, (2)Niyama, (3) Asana, (4) Pranayam, (5) Pratyahara,(6) Dharna, (7) Dhyan and (8) Samadhi.

I - II. YAMAs AND NIYAMAs

Yama: The term yama literally mean to expel,to eject, to throw out or to eliminate. It denoteabtention from vice and from entertain-ing any evil thought, or accepting any negativeimpreion which may tend to weaken themind and the will.

Niyama: The term niyama on the contrary,signies acceptance, cultivation, observance anddevelopment of poitive virtue, harboring goodfeeling, and aborbing thee virtue into oneytem.

Thu, thee two word connote the imul-

taneou rejection of evil, and the aiduoucultivation and acceptance of good, repectively.Patanjali enumerate thee abtinence andobervance a ahimsa (non-injury), satya (non-lying), asteya (non-tealing), brahmcharya (non-exuality) and aprigreha (non-covetoune ornon-poeivene).

In repect of abtinence, it i aid:

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(i) One who i rooted in ahimsa, ha no

enemie.(ii) One who i anchored in satya, hi word

cannot but come true and bear fruit.

(iii) One who i etablihed in asteya, i a truefriend of nature, and nature lay bareunto him all her riche.

(iv) One who practice brahmcharya cometo acquire abolute power.

(v) One who practie aprigreha, olve theenigma of life, and to him the pat, thepreent, and the future appear like anopen book.

The five obervance are: Shaucha (purity ofbody and mind), Santosh (contentment), Tapas(auterity), Svadhyaya (criptural tudy includ-ing japa, etc.) and Prasadhna or Ishvara Pran-idhana (thought attuned with, and abolutedependence on, God).

(a) Shaucha bring in cleanline and di-like for sparha (contact with anotherbody).

(b) Santosh make one contented and thumentally rich.

(c) Tapas rid one of all impuritie and con-fer upernatural power (e.g., to atomize

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NIYAMAsAcceptance andobservance of

Faith in God and Godlypower.

self-control and chatity(Brahmcharya or purity in

thought, word anddeed).

Earning a living byhonet and truthfulmean.

Cleanline: inner, bywater irrigation within

and oxygenation, etc.;and outer, by regularkin-bath, hip-bath,un and air-bath,etc.; and hygienic livingcondition in anitaryurrounding.

Non-injury by thought,

word and deed(ahimsa).

Cultivating truth,incerity and charity.

Patience, contentmentand elfle ervice.

Humility and elf-urrender

YAMAsAbstention from

1. Negation of God.

2. self-indulgence.

3. Dihonet andfraudulent livelihood.

4. Unhygienic andimpure condition of

life, both within andwithout.

5. Injuring other by

thought, word anddeed (himsa).

6. Practicing falehood,deceit andcovetoune.

7. Impatience, avariceand elfihne.

8. self-aertion andegocentricity.

some Yama and Niyama

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oneelf, to loe all weight, to become all

peed, to gain intantaneou acce toany place, to have all wihe fulfilled, tobecome all-pervaive, to acquire divinepower, to control all being and elementin nature, etc.). All thee come of them-elve by contemplating and concentrat-ing on the oppoite of what one actually

deire.(d) Svadhyaya peronifie the deity wor-

hipped.

(e) Ishvara Pranidhana bring in atiety anddeirelene.

In the Upanihad, however, each of theelit conit of ten abtinence and ober-vance. Thu aprigreha in the firt category hagiven place to kindne, rectitude, forgivene,endurance, temperance and purity. similarly, inthe econd lit, shaucha ha been replaced byfaith, charity, modety, intelligence, japa and

fat. However, the end in either cae isadachar or righteou living, which prepare theway for inner piritual development. The litof the virtue to be inculcated and the vice tobe dicarded may vary from teacher to teacherbut the purpoe i ever the ame. Thu, Manuexplain the principle of sadachar or dharma in

term of hi own categorie.

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The practice of both yama and niyama

retraint and obervance make up sadacharor right conduct, which contitute the bed-rock of all the religion of the world. Manu giveu the eence of dharma a ahimsa, satya, steyam,shaucham, indriya nigreha (harmlene, truthful-ne, purity, right living and control of ene).

According to sandalya Rihi, the lit com-prie:

(a) Shaucha (external bodily purity alongwith that of place and direction, and in-ternal purity of thought, feeling andemotion).

(b) Daya (mercy and compaion for all liv-

ing creature in all circumtance).

(c) Arjava (balanced and teady mind in allaction and under all condition).

(d) Dhriti (fortitude and endurance in allcircumtance).

(e) Mit-ahara (diciplined life of temperancegenerally, and in food and drink inparticular).

In the Bhagavad Gita too, Lord Krihna laygreat tre on the practice of yama and niya-ma.

The compaionate Buddha alo precribedfor hi follower the noble Eight-fold Path of

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Righteoune, compriing right view (knowl-

edge), right apiration (determination), rightpeech, right conduct (behavior), right live-lihood, right effort (uitable triving), right mind-fulne (thinking and perception), and rightcontemplation (aborption); and above all helaid great tre on right aociation or com-pany of the holy, Truth-winner and arouer

of faith who, through a proce of omoi(infiltration) intill faith and devotion in themind of the apirant.

Bikkhu Buddharakkita, while decribing theMajjhima Patipada, the Middle Path, or the Gold-en Mean between the two extreme of elf-indul-gence and elf-mortification, to modern reader,give u the Buddhitic coure of developmentand dicipline through bhava, viz.:

1. Shila Bhavna: Ethical purity.2. Chita Bhavna: Mental purity.3. Pragna Bhavna: Intuitional inight.

The ame author emphaize the need ofdeveloping shila or moral purification a the baiof everything ele, whether in mundane life orin piritual advancement. Buddha declared thatfive benefit accrue to the truly virtuou: goodfortune through diligence, fair name abroad,repect in all congregation, clear concience till

the end, and rebirth with a happy detiny.

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The baic minimum for the Buddhit lay-

man i the five precept, or Panch Shila, that goto make right conduct or behavior, one of theimportant tep in the eight-fold path a de-cribed above. Thee are: abtinence from killing,tealing, exual miconduct, lying, and fromdrinking intoxicating liquor, and alongide there-of, the obervance of poitive virtue: maitri

(friendline to all), daan (charity), brahmcharya(chatity), adherence to truth, and temperance.In the Panch shila of Buddha, we find an exactparallel to the yama and niyama a precribedby the ancient.

The hila, or the proce of purification, reton the two fundamental: hiri, concience, andottappa, hame. For one reject evil out of elf-repect and cruple on the one hand, and oberverepect for another; while the other fear blameor cenure. The reult i that one develop mod-ety along with rectitude and propriety. Whati true of Buddhim i true alo of Jain thought,

which enjoins the ve great vows of non-violence,non-tealing, non-covetoune, truthfulne andchatity.

Thi two-fold tre on yama and niyamai not jut an idioyncracy of ancient Indianthought. It i to be oberved among all peoplewhenever religiou experience i actively ought.Thu when we examine the development of

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Jewih and Chritian thought, we come acro

the ame phenomenon. Moe laid down the tencommandment which pointed out the weak-nee to be avoided, namely, worhip of godand deitie, engraving image to repreent God,vain repetition of God name, polluting theabbath, dihonoring one parent, commi-ion of heinou crime like killing, adultery and

tealing, and latly, ocial evil like bearingfale witne and coveting a neighbor houe,wife or hi belonging (Exodu 20:4-17).

It wa left to Jeu to complete the picturewhen he emphaized the virtue to be developed,in hi ten beatitude: implicity of pirit, mourn-ing, meekne, hunger and thirt after righteou-ne, mercy, purity of heart, peace-making, uffer-ing perecution for the ake of righteoune, andcalmly bearing all manner of reviling and lander(Matthew 5:1-11). It wa not without jutice that heclaimed, I have come not to detroy the law but tofull the law.

The teaching of Ilam lay tre on shariat(moral injunction), tauba (repentance), faqr (renun-ciation), tazkiya-i-nafs (ubjugation of the ene),tawakal (trut in God), tawhid (unity) and zikr(piritual dicipline); while the sikh Guru (pre-cribing cultivation of eential virtue likechatity, patience, undertanding, knowledge,fear of God, auterity, love and compaion), com-ing much later, reveal a imilar pattern. Guru

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Nanak, in a nuthell, placed true living above

everything ele:Truth is higher than everything,But higher still is true living.

sRI RAG

Why this should be so is not difcult to under-tand. To be able to progre piritually, peace and

harmony of mind i an abolute neceity. solong a one i the lave of thi deire or that, uchharmony i impoible. Therefore, one mut rootout all deire that lead the elf away from thiharmony. But nature abhor a vacuum; and whati true of phyical phenomena i alo true of thepychological. The only way to clear the mind

of it negative and diintegrating impule ito replace them by poitive and integrating one.However, while cultivating adachar, the eekerafter truth mut remember that it i only a mean,not an end, and knowing thi, go beyond it tohi piritual goal. swami Vivekananda, who haanalyzed the proce with great lucidity in The

Secret of Work, put the matter thu:

You must remember that the freedom ofthe soul is the goal of all yogas . . .A golden chain is as much a chain as aniron one. There is a thorn in my finger,and I use another to take the first out;

and when I have taken it out, I throw bothof them aside . . . so the bad tendencies

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are to be counteracted by the good ones, and

the bad impressions on the mind should beremoved by fresh waves of good ones, untilall that is evil disapears, or is subdued. Thusthe attached becomes the unattached.

III. AsANAs

The term asana denote the eat and the poe,

poition or poture, in the performance of yogicdicipline. It i another external aid in yogic prac-tice. The aana hould be teady, firm, pleaantand comfortable, o a to keep the body quie-cent but alert during the yogic dicipline.

In the svetavetara Upanihad II: 8 it i aid:

Keep the upper parts: the chest, the neck,and the head, erect, and subdue withinthe heart, the senses together with themind. The wise with the raft of Brahmancross over all the powerful torrents of theworld.

similarly, in the Bhagavad Gita VI: 11-14 theprocedure i laid down a follow:

On a pure spot, he shall set for himself aseat, neither over-high nor over-low, andhaving over it a cloth, a deers skin, andkusha grass.

On this couch, he shall seat himself withthought intent and workings of mind and

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sense instruments restrained, and shall for

purification of spirit labor on the Rule.Firmly, holding the body, head and neck inunmoving equipoise, gazing on the end ofhis nose and looking not round about him.

Calm of spirit, void of fear, abiding underthe vow of chastity, with mind restrained

and thought set on me, so shall he sit, who isunder the Rule and given over to me.

The term asana literally mean eay and com-fortable. Patanjali enjoined a poture both impleand pleaant (Yoga Darshana II:46). That poturei the bet which may enable a tudent of yoga

to remain motionle for a long time twoto three hour at a tretch with an effortleeae; the object being to eliminate bodily reac-tion and to diolve the mind into contempla-tion. steadine in aana give teadine to thebody, and in it turn, to the mind. Theoreticallypeaking, tradition tell u that there are a many

aana a there are pecie in the world and auch they run into 8,400,000, but out of theeonly 84 are important and four are generallyaccepted a baic and of great value:

(i) Sukh Asana: It mean eay and comfortable,a it i pleaant to practice. It conit in im-

ply itting cro-legged, by tucking the left footunder the thigh of the right leg and with open

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hand reting on the knee, making a circle with

the tip of the thumb and the forefinger.(ii) Sidh Asana: Thi term connote a dici-

plined poe, or poe of perfection or attainment.It conit in itting cro-legged and, in addi-tion to the above, to place the right foot on theleft foreleg with heel reting againt the pubicbone, without exerting any preure on thegenital, and palm reting one above the other.It i very ueful for attaining siddhis or yogicpower and hence the name sidh asana. It puriesvein and arterie by upplying freh blood. Ittrengthen the heart and lung, make breath-ing deep and low, regulate the digetive y-tem, and cure dieae like cold, fever andheart diorder.

(iii) Padam Asana: It i a lotu-poe a thename itelf implie. In thi poition, the feetform the petal of a lotu a they cro oneover the other. It i rather a difficult poe forperon with tiff joint, but it i very een-

tial for the practice of Hatha Yoga. It i aloknown a Anand Asana for it give a foretateof peace and bli and incline one to contempla-tion. It cure the man who practice it of alldieae and ailment, and free the ytemfrom diorder of poioning and toxin. It rida peron of lazine and languor and mentalweakne.

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(iv) Swastika Asana (the lucky or aupiciou

poe) : It ha all the virtue of it name.For purpoe of piritual advancement, sukha

or sidha Aana i admirably uited.

Beide thee, ome of the well-known aanaare: Gaoo asana (the cow poe), Simha asana(the lion poe), Vajra asana (the thunderbolt poe),

Hal asana (the plough poture), Sheersh asana (theheadtand poe), Sarvang asana (the houlder-tand poe), Dhanur asana (the bow poe), Shavaasana (the corpe poe), Markat asana (the monkeypoe), Mayur asana (the peacock poe), Kukataasana (the cock poe), Garud asana (the eagle po-ture), Ushtr asana (the camel poe), Vatyan asana

(the hore poe), Bhujang asana (the cobra poe),Salabh asana (the locut poe), Padahast asana,Trikon asana and Virksh asana (the tree poe), etc.Thi how the catholicity of the human mindto learn thing even from animal and otherobject.

Asana as a form of yoga

some conider aana a contituting a yogaby themelve and have given them the nameofasana yoga. But it i not to be ued imply forthe diplay of phyical feat and kill a omegymnat do, or a a mean of earning a liveli-

hood. It i yoga in the ene that without a di-ciplined aana, one cannot watch, weed out, and

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Advantages of asanas

Beide being an aid in controlling the mind,the teady aana confer many advantage andthee may be claified a follow:

1. Phyical advantage:

(a) The mucular and arterial ytem getinto proper order.

(b) The entire body i charged with health,trength and radiant vitality.

(c) The navel center in the body i fullyupplied with heat, which help indigetion.

(d) Thepranas, or the vital air in the body,begin to function with a regular andrhythmic motion.

(e) Fearlene, fortitude and will powercome of themelve.

(f) One gain control over the body andnever feel tired, depreed and down-cat.

(g) A one feel inner joy and buoyancyof pirit, hi face manifet a healthyradiance.


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2. Mental advantage:

(a) Mind get teady and well-directed,and one acquire the habit of workingwith fixed attention.

(b) Mental frehne.

(c) Quick undertanding and clarity ofviion.

(d) It develop imagination and help infocuing one attention or dhyan.

(e) It bring in the habit of deep and con-centrated thinking on the otherwieabtrue piritual problem.

3. spiritual advantage:

(a) One, through the receion of phyicalconcioune due to bodily tability,gradually rie above the pair of op-poite or tate of duality, i.e., hungerand thirt, heat and cold, attachment

and detachment, etc.(b) One eaily croe over the tate of

tamogun (inertia) and rajogun (ret-lene) and acquire that of satogun(peace and equipoie).

(c) One teadily progree in hi adh-

na, or piritual practice, without anyfatigue.

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some precaution are generally recommended

to ecure the adhak from poible ill effector obtacle. He hould practice the aana inolitude o that they never become for him amean of exhibiting hi virtuoity to the ap-plauding public. It i alo adviable that hehould avoid proximity to fire, the company ofwomen, undeirable friend, or anything imilar

that may carry a rik to hi body or hi mentalequilibrium. He mut alo echew over-indul-gence in food and drink a well a fating, for theone burden the body and ditract one ener-gie, while the other undermine one vitality.Hence it wa that Buddha taught hi diciple themiddle path, for a he aid in hi firt ermon:

Sensuality is enervating; the self-indulgentman is a slave to his passions, and pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar.

And

by suffering, the emaciated devotee produces

confusion and sickly thoughts in his mind.Mortification is not conducive even to world-ly knowledge, how much less to a triumphover the senses.

The rule of the golden mean, which applieto everything, applie alo to exercie. The un-

dertanding adhak will neither diipate hienergie in over-trenuou exercie like weight-


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(g) No outider hould be permitted to

haunt the anctuary.Gheranda Samhita, a well-known treatie on

yoga, give a detailed account of aana andthe practice allied thereto, viz., mudras andbandhas. While the mudra are locked poture,the bandha are fixed poture. The former beingpychophyical in nature are generally termeda geture, and the latter being purely phyi-cal in nature are but mucular contractionand are ued a catche for holding the pranaat particular place.

While there are quite a large number of mud-ra, the bandha are jut a few. The well-known

mudra or geture are (1) the Maha Mudra (thegreat geture), (2) Maha Bandha, (3) Maha Vetha,(4) Urgyan (Udlyam), (5) Khechari (moving inthe void), (6) Vajroli, (7)Jalandhar, (8)Mulvant,(9) Viprit karna (sauwang), (10) Shakti shalana, orPrithvi, Ambhavi, Vaishvanari, Vayavi, and Akashicorresponding respectively to the ve elements:

earth, water, fire, air and ether. In addition tothee there are till other like the Nabho Mudra,the Yoni, the Manduki, the Kaki, the Matangi, theBhujangini, the Asvini, etc. Other not enumer-ated are taken to be modification of thee.

We may make a paing reference to ome of

them:

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(i) Asvini Mudra: A the name indicate, it

conit in expanion outward and contractioninward of the mucle of the rectum alternatelyby deep inhalation and exhalation a the asvinior mare doe after dicharging the faece.It help in cleaning the intetine, colon andwall, and in expelling the poionou gae.

(ii) Vajroli Mudra: It conit in internal clean-line of the genitalia by irrigating the generalpaage in the firt intance by oxygenationor air-bath by mean of a catheter and then byirrigating them with water mixed with a mildantieptic. It i performed by nauli proce, orwith the aid of a prayer or a douche. In ithighet technique, one ha to withhold theejaculation of the ex ecretion and to re-aborbthem into the ytem.

(iii) Khechari Mudra (movement in the void):It conit in retroverting the tongue and pre-ing it deep into the throat. The practicer get hitongue plit in the form of a fork, a the erpent

have. Thee forked tongue are then wahedwith a mixed lotion of milk, clarified butter andahe; and then with the pranic exercie he cloeor plug the two hole of the poterior notril byeach end of the two-forked tongue and remainaborbed in thi condition for day on end and,like a erpent or a tortoie, he may continue inan unconciou tate to uch an extent that he

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(i) Agochari Mudra (the imperceptible geture):

Herein one i to it in hi aana with concentra-tion fixed on the noe tip.

(ii) Bhochari Mudra (the geture of the void):Herein the attention i to be fixed on the void, apace four finger down from the noe-tip up towhich the breath flow.

(iii) Chachari Mudra: It i called the geture ofthe black bee, for in it the mind i to be fixed atthe black pot behind the eye.

While engaged in breath control or prana-yama, one may practice Unmani Mudra or KavalaKumbhak. The latter i a tate of dazed intoxica-

tion and the other i of peaceful repoe.Again, in the performance of ome of the

aana, one ha to practice certain mucularcontraction or tie, with a view to controllingthe vital energy. Thee contraction or tie aretechnically called bandhas. They are particu-larly neceary while engaged in pranayama.The mot important of thee are:

(a) Mula Bandha (contraction of the baalplexu): By it the Apana Vayu, or the excretoryenergy, i locked up and drawn in and upwardto the region of the prana and thu effect, orbring about, a union of the prana with apana,

the repiratory with the excretory energie. It i

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done by preing the rectum with the heel and a

trong inward pull of the breath.(b) Jalandhara Bandha: contraction of the neck

plexu where all the arterie meet. It i per-formed by preing the chin againt the hollowof the collar bone in the chet. It prevent thenectar coming down from saharar from beingconumed in the fire within the navel region.

(c) Uddiyana Bandha: It conit in contract-ing the navel mucle o a to give upport tothe lung and tomach, during inhalation andexhalation. It alo caue the life-breath to flowthrough the ubtle nerve, and hence it alo goeby the name of flying contraction.

Perfection in asanas (Asana Siddhi)

There are three ign of perfection in AsanaSiddhi:

1. During the time of aana, the body houldbe in a tate of perfect repoe and relaxation,

with no movement in any part thereof.

2. Again, one hould rie above body-con-cioune, and have no knowledge even ofenory and motor current, which are to be leftto themelve with no thought about them.

3. Lat, but not the leat, one hould feel andactually enjoy happine and bli within him.

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Foods that retard theyogic sadhna

Moth, mah, muur(lentil), pea, unhukedgram, wheat, oil andfat, our milk and ourcurd, poiled ghee, meat

in all form, fih, fowland egg, etc.

Pineapple, red radihe.

Watermelon and kakari.

Turi (nake gourd),kahiphal (redpumpkin), brinjal(eggplant), lady fingerand chulai (amaranth orpinach-like plant).

spice, condiment,chilie, pepper,auce and other acidproducing timulant

and thing pungent,bitter and our.

Foods conducive to theyogic sadhna

1. Barley, black gram,whole mung (greengram), rice, til (gingellyeed), hakar(jaggery), milk and

milk product, butterand clarified butter all in moderation.

2. Black pepper, almond,ginger, currant, limein moderation.

3. Mangoe, grape,

guava, apple,orange, fig,gooeberrie, dateand peache, etc. in moderation.

4. Melon, cucumber in mall quantitie.

5. Pumpkin, plain turi(ridge gourd), ghia turi(plain gourd), pinach,parwal (coecinia indi-ca) and waran leave in mall quantitie.

Hatha Yoga Food

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Before dealing with pranayam, it i neceary

to know what the pranas (the vital air) are, theirclassication and functions, etc., in the body andhow they act and the thing allied with them.Prana i the um total of all energy that i mani-fet in the Univere, the um total of all the forcein Nature. Heat, light, electricity, magnetim,gravitation, etc., are all manifetation of prana.

All force, all power and even the prana them-elve pring from one and the ame ource the fountainhead of atman. Pran tatwa i muchuperior to manas tatwa or the mind-principle, ofwhich Nanak ay:

He who conquers the mind, conquers the world.

The motor power behind the mind-tuff, aaid already, i that of prana and hence the regu-lation and control of prana, the primal force inthe Univere, i of prime importance and farabove other pycho-phyical dicipline. In theGorakh Samhita it i aid that he who know theecret of prana know the ecret of yoga, for in

the rhythmic regulation of prana lie the prac-tical apect of yoga par excellence.

Pranas are classied into ve important cate-gorie according to the nature of their function:

(a) Prana i concerned with the repiratory

ytem. It i the breath of life and, like a bird in acage, give vitality to the human ytem. It eati aid to be in the region lying between the two

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eyebrow, called chid-akash, up to which place

the field of it operation extend.(b) Apana help the excretory ytem, a it ha

a tendency to flow downward. It operate in theregion below the navel.

(c) Samana aid the digetive organ. It i ocalled a it conduct equally the food to the entire

ytem. It eat i in the navel and it pread onall ide, nourihing the body a a whole.

(d) Udana i connected with deglutition; it inamed from it quality of acending, drawingor guiding breath. It movement i perceptiblebetween the navel and the head. It eat i in the

neck and it ha a tendency to fly upward.(e) Vyana help in maintaining the circula-

tory ytem in the entire body. It affect internaldiviion and diffuion and i o called from itpervading (vyapati) the body like the etherealelement.

Beide thee primary prana, there are fiveother kind of leer importance, namely:

(i) Naga which help belching or eructation.

(ii) Kurma i connected with the eye, andhelp the blinking proce and induce leep.

(iii) Krikala pervade through the facial mucleand pread out in the act of neezing.

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tha, a it i called, i the highet tate in Raja Yoga,

for in thi tate there i wonderful meditation.The practice of Pranayam i neceary for puri-fication of the nadi, a with impuritie in them,the breath cannot pa through the middle nadi.

Gro prana travel in the nerve of the phy-ical body, but the ubtle prana move in theatral tube (nadi). The breath i an externaleffect of the manifetation of the gro prana.

There i a very cloe and intimate connectionbetween the gro and the ubtle prana. If themind and the prana ceae to vibrate, no thought-wave will arie.

The mind functions through prana,It is from prana (life) that everything proceeds.CHHANDOGYA UPANIsHAD

When prana depart from the body, all organceae to function, for in the body there i nogreater force than bionergy (prana).

Pranayam: Elementary exercises

Hatha Yoga Pradipka lay great tre on yogicbreathing for all life exit only from breathto breath, and it aid that he who breathehalf, only live half. We mut therefore developair-hunger. For vital air, ay Hippocrate, i

the real pabulum vitae. Deep breathing i a great,poitive aid to elf-culture and help in retain-

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ing health, youth and longevity. The habit of

conciou deep breathing give a good exercieto the repiratory organ and enure a freecirculation of blood. Repiration conit ofalternate expanion and contraction a the airi drawn in or expelled out from the lung, andthee are termed inhalation (inpiration) andexhalation (expiration) repectively. Each of thee

i followed by a upenory paue within andwithout. Thu pranayam ha four procee,namely: Puraka or inhalation, Antar Kumbhak orretention within, and Rechaka or exhalationfollowed by Vahya Kumbhak or Sunyaka, i.e., expir-atory paue. Thi can be done through both thenotril very, very lowly, and hould be repeated

ten to twenty time in the morning and in theevening for about three month. One may tartwith Puraka and Rechaka and after ome timeadd the other two practice of tandtill paue(Antar and Vahya Kumbhaka) for a few econd.By practice and pereverance, one can acquireefciency in yogic breathing. The suspending of

breath at will after in-breathing or out-breathing,i called Kevalya Kumbhaka.

Sukh Purvak Pranayam(Easy and comfortable form of pranayam)

sitting on Padam or sukh Aana, one houldcloe the right notril with the thumb of the righthand and exhale the air lowly and rhythmicallyin one long and unbroken expiration through the

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left notril. Now the left notril i alo to be

cloed with the little or ring finger of the righthand and the Vahya Kumbhak be maintaineda long a poible without the leat dicomfort.Then the breath i to be inhaled, very, very lowly,through the right notril after removing thethumb which i to be followed by Antar Kum-bhak. Then the order i to be revered. All thee

eight procee contitute one pranayam. Oneought to commence with five to ten pranayamin the morning and in the evening, on an emptytomach, and gradually increae the ame totwenty, together with increaed Kumbhak orretention without cauing any inconvenience.While doing pranayam, one hould think that

Divya Sampardie (Niyama) like mercy, com-paion, love, peace and joy, are being aborbedin the ytem and Asuraya Sampardie (Yama)like anger, lut, greed and elfihne, are beingdicarded and ejected by the ytem. It wouldbe well to do Simran, if one may like, during thepranayam.

In the higher tage of Pranayam, the vitalbreath rie in the Sushmana Nadi and flowtoward Sahasrar. The movement i felt in thefirt intance like that of an ant, and graduallygrow into that of a frog, till with the clearingand purification of the nadi through continued

practice, the prana begin to fly like a bird.

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by thoe who oberve truthfulne, continence,

temperance, moderation in diet, humility andpatience, are not given to any kind of addiction,and above all, are free from heart and lung di-eae and congenital diorder.

The great achievement of pranayam i toawaken and bring into full play the coiled er-pentine energy of Kundalini, lying in a dormanttate at the pinal root-center. A it rie higherand higher in the sukhman, the variou ubtlecenter in the ubtle nadi get illuminated, tillit reache saharar, the fountain of light. Withthe detruction of the veil over the Radiance ofEternity, the mind get quickly aborbed and con-centration follow of itelf.

The mucular and nerve control by the prac-tice of aana i but a preparatory tage, and thereal technique of yoga begin with the harne-ing of the vital prana or the ten engine in thebody.

Pranayam bring Chit Shudhi, Manas Shudhiand Nadi Shudhi and thereby teadie the mindand help in concentration, and in detroyingthe covering or koha on the oul. It removeall deire, improve deignation and help inmaintaining brahmcharya (continence) and attain-ing ekagrata (one-pointedne) and kumbhaka

(tate of peace), with or without purak or rechaka,or the inhaling and exhaling procee.

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Pranayam hould be done after anwering the

call of nature and after thorough cleaning ofthe nare or naal channel with pure and tepidwater, and by gargling the throat.

It hould be practiced all alone in a ittingpoture in a room with open window to let infresh air and with the mouth closed. After fteenminute of the practice, a cup of milk doe good.Bathing i to be avoided immediately after uchexercie.

The object of pranayam i to retrain thevriti of the mind and to make the mind-tuffteady, like the jet of a lamp in a windle place.All abhyas or practice whatoever i directed to

driving the mind to it ource Hirdey Guha and to get it aborbed in atman.

The evil vriti of the mind can be removedby cultivating good vriti, o a to replace lut(kam) by continence (brahmcharya), pride (madha)by humility (nimrta), greed (lobh) by contentment

(santosh), niggardline by magnanimity, delu-ion by dicrimination, dihonety by honety,ckleness by determination, arrogance by polite-ne, jealouy by nobility, attachment by detach-ment, enmity by friendline, and o on.

The Vedantic method conit in cutting the

branche of sankalpa from the tree of the mind(manas), and then detroying the tree itelf bycutting the root in the ego.

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THE CROWN OF LIFE

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both in nature and in the human pecie, both

female and male. The moiture of the moon helpthe production of raj in women, and the life-giving energy of the un that ofviraj or emenin men.

During the daytime, the olar nadi (Pingala)operate for mot of the time, and hence thefood hould be taken while the live energy ofthe un i in active motion o it will get eailydiolved in the ytem and thu become theource of trength. Food taken at night after theetting of the un i likely to increae body bulkand fat and to create digetive diorder, whichmay lead to diturbance in the equilibrium ofthe elemental conti

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Crown of Life 2012