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What is Raja Yoga?

 

The name, Raja Yoga (originally known as Astanga Yoga) was actually

introduced at the turn of the century by Swami Vivekannanda. Astanga

Yoga contains eight main parts and it has been around for thousands of

years, but was first written down by Patanjali about two thousand years

ago. Vivekananda called Astanga Yoga as "Raja Yoga" to signify its

importance. Before we get into Astanga Yoga, let understand, what Yoga

means?

 

Yoga is a Sanskrit word which means integration or more correctly,

union. The exact meaning of Yoga depends on the context of its use and

the level of maturity of the person who practices Yoga. Any one of the

following and many other interpretations are feasible:

 

Union of body, mind, and spirit

Union of conscious and unconscious mind (or bringing the unconscious

into awareness)

Union of "lower self" and "higher self"

Union of one's male side and female side

Union of the individual soul and the Divine

Union of "everyday nature" with your "True nature"

Integration of Oneness and away from the duality

Dualities such as Day & Night, Joy & Sorrow, Good & Bad, Right & Wrong,

Success & Failure etc. are accepted with complete tolerance (equanimity

of mind).

 

Patanjali codified the Yoga Shastra into ‘Yoga Sutras.’ According Yoga

Sutras, "Yoga is the control of the vrittis of the mind.” The vrittis

are waves or modifications such as thoughts, memories, and emotions.

Just as the waves of a lake scatter the light and preventing us from

seeing our own reflection, the vrittis stand as barriers for the

realization our true self. By controlling the vrittis, we can remove

the barriers and see our True Divine Nature and understand the concealed

dharma. The Sanskrit word Dharma cannot be translated into English and

the literal meaning of Dharma is ‘that which is permanent and not

subject to any change.’ Everything that we see in the Nature has

unique true characteristics. Let us try to understand the meaning of

Dharma through examples:

 

Water is pure

River flows and merges with the ocean

Flowers bloom

Gold glitters

Fire burns

Lions roar

Tigers kill

etc.

 

Then what is the true nature of a human being?

 

The sages of Upanishads say that our true nature is PEACE, BLISS and

HAPPINESS. For a seeker, Yoga is a path to find his (her) true nature.

There are many kinds of Yoga, or paths leading to the union of body,

mind and spirit. Bhagavad Gita describes the paths of Karma, Bhakti and

Jnana Yogas to find one’s true nature. Different systems of Yoga are

suitable for different personality types and each one chooses the one

that suits their level of maturity.

 

Now let us turn our attention back to Raja Yoga or the original Astanga

Yoga. The eight steps of Astanga Yoga are:

 

1.Yama, (Controls or Restraints)

Ahimsa - Nonviolence, living to love and serve

Satya - Truthful, eliminating falsehood from our lives

Asteya - Non-stealing, not taking that which is not ours

Bramacharya - Non-indulgence, not disturbing the harmony and

equilibrium of our lives

Aparigraha - Non-possessiveness of objects which obstruct one’s

progress

 

2. Niyama (Observances or Actions)

Shaucha - Purifying body, mind, and spirit

Samtosha - Contentment, cultivating the inner joys with freedom from

desire

Tapas - Self-discipline, developing a strong will, training the habits

of body and mind

Svadhyaya - Self-study

Ishwara Prardhana - Self-surrender to our higher consciousness, our

true inner

 

3. Asana (Posture)

 

4. Pranayama (Control of the Life Energy)

 

5. Pratyahara (Control of the Senses)

 

6. Dharana (Concentration, learning to focus attention)

 

7. Dhyana (Meditation, sustaining the focused mind)

 

8. Samadhi, or self-realization

 

The first four steps of Astanga Yoga can be grouped separately and the

group is called ‘Hatha Yoga.’ Hatha Yoga has been mislabeled by most

people by referring it to the "twisty exercises" or postures. Actually

the postures only represent the third step - Asana of Hatha Yoga. Hatha

Yoga is incomplete without the four steps consisting of Yama, Niyama,

Asana, and Pranayama. Unfortunately, most yoga classes conducted all

over the world emphasize postures and neglect the more important

aspects.

 

"Ha-tha" is actually a compound word consisting of the two Sanskrit

words: "ha" meaning sun, and "tha" meaning moon. So Hatha yoga is

really the "union of the sun and moon." This refers to bringing together

the light and dark sides of our worldly behavior. In subtle terms, it

also refers to bringing together day and night, birth and death and

other dualities and pluralities of our mind.

 

While watching the sunrise or sunset by the side of an ocean or a lake

or a mountain, we are able to feel calmness of our mind and the

stillness of the atmosphere brings fulfilment and peace. Swami

Vivekananda’s favorite place for meditation was Kanyakumari where the

Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal merge with the Indian Ocean.

Kanyakumari is situated at the bottom tip of India. At Kanyakumari,

Swami Vivekananda Memorial has been built on the top of a hill which is

located at about a mile from the mainland. Swami Vivekananda used to

swim to reach the hill top where he used to witness sunrise and sunset.

The same hill top was used by him for meditation. I and my family were

quite fortunate to witness the sun rise in Kanyakumari last time when we

went to India.

 

The goal of Hatha Yoga is to get the experience of witnessing the union

of day and night (the union of sun and moon). Hatha Yoga is seen as a

preparation for the higher steps of Astanga Yoga. It makes the body

become comfortable and steady so that it is not an obstacle in achieving

the subtler states that meditation makes accessible. Dhyana, or

Meditation is sustaining of the mind on one point. Samadhi, or

Self-Realization, is the last step of Astanga Yoga. It is a

transcendence of the mind, going beyond the normal limits of what we

normally call our self or ego. It is like the feeling when we become

totally lost in something outside of ourselves, perhaps while watching a

beautiful sunset or waterfall, being absorbed in a game or story, or

movie or doing nothing! Raja Yoga is one of the tools that a Yogi uses

to discover the inner light! Raja Yoga is not for everybody but only

for the seeker who possesses the determination to practice all the eight

steps as stated in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.