However strong you may become through asanas, however strong you may make your mind,
very powerful through pranayamas,
Yet without a strong moral fabric, wthout strong moral muscles,
the very physical strength and mental strength will become your enemy.
Yoga has been practiced in our ancient land for God knows... there is no year
or time defining when this tradition began.
It's an evolving tradition, I would like to say that. From simple asanas that you begin with,
pranayams that we are busy with, regulating our breath, regulating our body with asanas,
adopting certain moral principles, what to do - niyamas and what not to do - yamas.
And then this journey further taking us to pratyahara where you withdraw yourself to a focus level and
then enter into dharana, where that focus remains continuous, like a dhara, like a flow.
And when we attain that, automatically, very simply, a very sahaj (natural) way, we enter into dhyana (mediation),
which can easily culminate into samadhi. Theoretically wonderful, practically dicey, challenging.
Why?
However strong you may become through asanas, however strong you may make your mind very powerful
through pranayamas, yet without a strong moral fabric, without strong moral muscles,
the very physical strength and mental strength will become your enemy.
Without this moral compass that guides us from within we will be lost. In fact, your strength
will become your weakest link.
Why?
In Heartfulness way, we actually start with the supposition, with the dharana, “yes, there is
divine presence within me.” It is a thought. We allow this thought to culminate
into experience, a feeling, through meditation.
And this meditation is guided by the guru's pranahuti (yogic transmission).
He transmits his prana (life force) into us. Wherever you are, you are able to feel it, experience that.
Each day, as we meditate, our spiritual state, our spiritual condition will go on changing.
And every time we enter into a deeper level of consciousness which is easily felt.
I would say that yoga, meditation are not different things. Yoga is, you can say, it is a gamut of practices.
I would rather begin with meditation, sensitize my heart so I can appreciate yama and niyama
and the importance of regularity with my asanas and pranayamas. So begin with
meditation that can sensitize our heart.
Yoga is a fundamental thing. Coincidentally, when you see the meaning of yoga, it means to unite.
And the meaning of religion also means to unite.
Religion is a word derived from re-ligion, 're-ligare', re-connect, re-join.
Rejoining what?
Many levels of rejoining can happen. My consciousness with the ultimate,
atman with paramatman, unites us all. This is yoga, this is religion. Whether it is Christianity,
Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Hinduism, or Islam, purpose of all religions is to reunite, to rejoin.
But we see the tragedy, in the name of religion, we fight. "My God is better than yours."
"If you're not believing in my God, you're not a human being." So as long as these attitudes remain,
then it will keep on separating one human being from another human being, the clarion call of yoga,
of spirituality, it transcends religion which is the oneness of
Godliness in everything that exists. That is the need of the hour.
Just as Patanjali has given us the key in his very definition of yoga, yoga chitta vritti nirodha.
It is a key, it is a formula. How to arrive at yogic state? Yoga is unity. How do you arrive?
He defines as well as gives the way, this is how you come to a state of yoga and
then the whole description starts. It's a key.
Yoga is something that elevates us, makes us lighter, makes us go beyond, it creates oneness.
There are many steps. Main ones are the eight steps. That's why it's called ashtanga yoga by Patanjali.
In our Heartfulness way, we begin with the last three steps: dharna, dhyana and samadhi.
So based on this, there are many things this Heartfulness Institute has to offer.
Besides all these things, we offer anger detox, anxiety detox, lust detox, fear detox and how to manage sleep.
These are modern day diseases.
We are not only looking into the problems associated with physical health,
today a major problem is mental health, arising out of a moral crisis.
And how to tackle this moral crisis at the root level?
We are talking only of physical death at this level, while we are alive. Yoga is all about going beyond life itself.
It is all about existence. It is not just about this life, it is about existence. Not only mine, but everyone else’s.
That's why we have, in our shastras (scriptures), vishwashanti (universal peace) prayer.
The prayer, not for myself alone, but for everything that exists
in this Universe. And that is the purpose of Yoga.