Highest Instruction on Yoga

[Guest guest]

Hello Everybody

 

Once a month I receive a spiritual sharing by email .

I would like to forward it to you too , as I suppose there could be people in

this group

that would like reading it.

 

Namaste,

Vicki.

 

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" Highest Instruction on Yoga

 

Today, yoga has become practically a household word. However, the understanding

of what yoga

is has become limited, for many, to a form of physical exercise. In truth, the

word yoga comes

from the Sanskrit word 'yuj' - to link, unite, join, yoke. It also suggests that

there may be a certain

'doing' and so has also sometimes been translated as 'discipline' or 'spiritual

endeavor'.

 

Through the centuries, many have given their definition of what yoga is, and

indeed, what is the

highest form or instruction on yoga. One of those individuals is Shri

Shankaracarya, who lived

over a millennium ago, and was the great teacher of Advaita Vedanta (non-dual

teachings).

 

In his commentary on the classic Bhagavad Gita, he describes chapter 6, verses

24 and 25 as

being the "highest instruction on yoga". So what is that instruction?

 

"Totally abandoning all desires, born of will, and fully restraining the senses

by the mind,

gradually, step by step, by means of firm reason, one should stop. Then, having

established the mind in the Self, one should not think of anything at all."

Gita 6-24,25

 

Let's examine these verses more closely. The first part says to totally abandon

all desires, born

of will. In Sanskrit, the word used is sankalpa, which is will, intention,

imagination, expectation.

Desire is born of this sankalpa or will. The first step after "I am" is "I

will". Once it is assumed

that there is an individual, a person (I am), that person desires to establish

itself by asserting its

will. There is identification with the senses, which are pulling the individual

in a multitude of

directions to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch everything. That reinforces

the sense of subject

(I), and object (what I experience). So the first step is to restrain the

senses and abandon all of

these desires.

 

Next it says, "gradually, step by step, by means of firm reason". In Sanskrit

shanaih shanaih is

literally, little by little, step by step. Then buddhya dhritigrihitaya, by

means of firm reason. Buddhi

is reason, intellect, wisdom. There is mentioned in the Gita several times

buddhi yoga. It is to

utilize reason and inquiry to reestablish oneself in the Absolute.

 

There is a hierarchy within consciousness. The Gita states that higher than the

objects of the

senses are the sense organs. Above the senses is the manas (mind). Above the

mind is the

buddhi (intellect, reason, wisdom), and above the intellect is 'That'. So when

one abandons the

senses by the mind, and then curbs the mind by the intellect, they use the

intellect to understand

the truth by inquiring: Who am I? What is this Self? Where does this I end and

the world begin?

Through the intellect, one can understand that there is no "I", and that the

Self is pure, infinite

Being. Then, uparamet, "one should stop". The meaning of uparamet is to stop,

to cease, and

even to cause quiet or become calm or enter into tranquility. As one inquiries

into 'who' and

'what' they are, they find that they are 'That', the Self, which is already

free, peaceful, and still.

Having established the mind in the Self (atmasanstam manah krtva), one should

not think of

anything at all (na kincid api cintayet). Cinta means to think, to consider, to

worry, and kincid

means 'anything'. Once one has given up desire and will, inquired through

buddhi what the Self

is, bit by bit, stopped, or entered into the tranquility of the Self, having

established the mind in the

Self, then one should not think of anything else.

 

In other words, rest there in That. Be established in That, and then don't

worry. I often see that

someone recognizes who they are. They follow this process and enter into the

tranquility and

peace of Self. And then some question arises such as - "Why didn't I see this

before?" or "Why

do I lose this?" and so on. The very questions 'why' and 'how' at this point,

just pull us away.

Now the process should be revived, with particular emphasis on the stopping.

 

So let's summarize:

1. Restrain the senses and give up all desire,

2. By means of reason and inquiry, stop, i.e. enter into tranquility,

3. Stay there! (i.e. don't think of anything else)

4. If other things arise, go back to #1

 

Gradually, bit by bit, as one continues this process, they will stop, will enter

into tranquility, and

will remain established in That, and being established in That is yoga. "

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Hello Vicki,

 

If you feel the postings are appropriate please share them with us.

 

Of the two verses from Bhagavad Gita quoted in your post, Ramana has

selected 6.25 and placed it 27th in his selection of 42 quintessential

verses from Bhagavad Gita. Interestingly he pairs it with 6.26 (not

mentioned in the post) which he places in 28th place.

 

6.26 --- "In whatever direction the restless, unsteady mind wanders,

Having checked it from that, it should be brought under the sway

of the Self alone."

 

This verse emphasises the need for constant vigilance and is an important

corollary to the previous verse. The fact that tranquility is realised

little by little, or step by step (as mentioned in the previous verse), must

not be used as an excuse to relax or take it easy until some future date.

The fickleness of the mind is gradually overcome by this constant vigil.

 

Regards

Miles

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Hello Everybody

 

Once a month I receive a spiritual sharing by email .

I would like to forward it to you too , as I suppose there could be people

in this group

that would like reading it.

 

Namaste,

Vicki.