God is the eternal Root, the Ground, of our being, our greater Self.

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Yoga

 

" Yoga " is a Sanskrit word that means " to join. " Yoga is both union

and the way to that union.

 

What do we join through yoga? First, we join our awareness to our

own essential being: the spirit whose nature is pure consciousness.

In yoga philosophy this is known as the atman or self. Next, we join

our finite consciousness to the Infinite Consciousness, God, the

Supreme Self (Paramatman). In essence they are eternally one.

 

According to yogic philosophy the spirit originally dwelt in the

consciousness of that oneness. But it descended into the material

world for the purpose of evolving and extending its scope of

consciousness. In that descent the spirit lost its awareness of the

eternal union, and lost the capacity to live in and manifest the

union on a practical level. Through yoga the lost consciousness can

be regained and actualized in the individual's practical life

sphere.

 

Regarding this, a yogi-adept of the twentieth century, Dr. I. K.

Taimni, remarked in his book The Science of Yoga: " According to the

yogic philosophy it is possible to rise completely above the

illusions and miseries of life and to gain infinite knowledge,

bliss, and power through enlightenment here and now while we are

still living in the physical body. And if we do not attain this

enlightenment while we are still alive we will have to come back

again and again into this world until we have accomplished this

appointed task. So it is not a question of choosing the path of yoga

or rejecting it. It is a question of choosing it now or in some

future life. It is a question of gaining enlightenment as soon as

possible and avoiding the suffering in the future or postponing the

effort and going through further suffering which is unnecessary and

avoidable. This is the meaning of Yoga Sutra 2:16: `The misery which

is not yet come can and is to be avoided.' No vague promise of an

uncertain postmortem happiness this, but a definite scientific

assertion of a fact verified by the experience of innumerable yogis,

saints, and sages who have trodden the path of yoga throughout the

ages. "

 

So profound and so necessary is yoga to the evolving consciousness,

there is no more important subject in the world.

 

Yoga philosophy

 

Yoga is a philosophy–a philosophy which stimulates its investigators

to engage in practice through which they will experience and

demonstrate its truth and worth. What begins as theory develops into

practice which culminates in realization. Yoga is philosophy,

discipline, and experience. It is a revelation of consciousness.

Since rational thought precedes rational action, we should begin

with the philosophical side of Yoga.

 

Then and now

 

In India's most beloved scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna the

teacher tells Arjuna the student: " There was never a time when I did

not exist, nor you, nor any of these kings. Nor is there any future

in which we shall cease to be. " 1 We are eternal beings, without

beginning and without end.

 

Originally we were points of conscious light in the Infinite Ocean

of Conscious Light that is God. We were gods within God. And so we

still are, for it is not possible to be outside of Infinity. Yet we

are also here in this ever-changing world–a place that completely

overwhelms the truth of our immortal life within God. For countless

life-cycles we have found ourselves embodied in material cases,

little body-prisons within the greater prison of the cosmos. And

that is where we are right now.

 

There is a law that governs the place and kind of our embodiment.

That law is karma, the principle of exact and inevitable reaction to

our own actions and mental states, resulting in a seemingly endless

domino effect of continual birth and death. Yoga offers us the

possibility of ending this chain of embodiments by awakening-

transformation from time and mortality into eternity and immortality.

 

God the Lord

 

In writings on Yoga, the word for God or Lord is Ishwara–the Ruler,

Master, or Controller possessing the powers of omnipotence,

omnipresence, and omniscience. Ishwara is the Supreme Power,

Parameshwara. It is toward this Ishwara that our life is to be

directed if we would attain perfection in yoga. In Yoga Sutra 1:23,

Patanjali says that samadhi, the state of superconsciousness where

Absoluteness is experienced, is produced by Ishwarapranidhana–the

offering of one's life to God. This is not merely dedicating our

deeds and thoughts to God, but is the merging of our life in the

greater life of God and making them one.

 

God and gods

 

We are gods within God, finite spirits within the Infinite Spirit.

But what is spirit? Yoga tells us that spirit is consciousness. We

are eternal consciousnesses, each of us individual and distinct. Yet

we are more. We do not have an existence independent either of God

or of one another. Each of us takes our being from God as the wave

takes its existence from the ocean, at the same time sharing it with

all the other waves.

 

God is the eternal Root, the Ground, of our being, our greater Self.

We are not God, but in some ineffable manner God is us–the Self of

our self, the Spirit of our spirit. God is all, and we are the parts–

each of us possessing an eternal and irrevocable distinction. That

is why Krishna told Arjuna: " There was never a time when I did not

exist, nor you, nor any of these kings. Nor is there any future in

which we shall cease to be. "

 

" Both the individual self and the Universal Self have entered the

cave of the heart, the abode of the Most High, but the knowers of

Brahman see a difference between them as between sunshine and

shadow. " 2

 

God and creation

 

God, the infinite Spirit, is pure consciousness, but has extended or

emanated Himself3 as the cosmos: physical, astral, and causal. This

seemingly dual nature of God as Light and Power, as Consciousness

and Matter, has puzzled the minds of even the wise.

 

God, the Original Being, projects Himself as the ever-changing dance

of creation, as the evolving light that is the cosmos. God projects

the creation, evolves it, and withdraws it back into Himself in a

perpetual cycle. The creation can be thought of as God's body–that

God becomes incarnate in creation again and again. And as parts or

reflections of God we do exactly the same through reincarnation.

 

And us…

 

All conscious beings have existed eternally within the Being of God,

one with Him, distinct though not separate from Him. Rooted in the

infinity of God, they have within themselves an innate impulse to

transcend their finitude and attain the boundlessness of their

Origin. This is impossible, since they are as immutable as God–the

only infinite Being. The soul can become godlike, but it cannot

become God. Yet the urge for transcendence is part of their nature.

 

The solution to this dilemma is simple. The individual

consciousnesses cannot alter their natural state of finitude, but

they can come to share and participate in the infinite Consciousness

of God. Even though they cannot become infinite themselves, they can

experience the infinity of their divine Source. A psychically

sensitive person can experience the thoughts and feelings of others

without becoming them. In the same way, spirits can evolve to

experience the Consciousness of God while remaining in their

naturally limited state.4 They do not become God the Absolute, but

they enter into that Absolute Life and are one with it.

 

As Shankara explains in his Yoga Sutra commentary: " When the light

of several lamps appears simultaneously, it cannot be made out which

is the light of which. " Consequently liberated spirits experience

the infinite Being of God–infinite Consciousness–as their own being.

Krishna has described it this way: " When you have reached

enlightenment, ignorance will delude you no longer. In the light of

that knowledge you will see the entire creation within your own

atman and in me. " 5 Buddha called this " seeing with the Divine Eye. "

When the spirits are unshakably established in that Consciousness

the goal has been attained.

 

All they need do is develop the capacity for such a state of

awareness. This is done by learning to fully experience the state of

existence of a being completely different from themselves–while

retaining the awareness of their true identity. They can put on

the " costume " of a consciousness utterly different from theirs, and

not just experience that other mode of consciousness, but become

able to function as that other kind of being.

 

Evolutionary creation

 

To enable the spirits to enter into this process, God breathes forth

His own Self as the Power from which is manifested all the realms of

relative existence, from the most subtle worlds of nearly-perfected

beings to the most objective worlds of atomic matter. They can then

enter into relative existence by taking on coverings, or " bodies, "

of varying grades and patterns of vibratory energies. They descend

into this material world and begin working their way up the ladder

of ever-evolving forms. Beginning with forms whose scope of

consciousness is vastly less than theirs, they work their way

upward, entering into higher and higher levels of awareness until

they can surpass their original breadth of consciousness and begin

to partake of a life of awareness much beyond their own.

 

In the intervals between embodiments the spirit spends time in the

astral regions where awakening and growth also take place. Upward

and upward they evolve until their capacity for awareness is

developed to such a perfect state that they can experience and

participate in God's all-embracing Consciousness, thenceforth to

live in His infinity.

 

As Shakespeare wrote, " all the world's a stage " with the individual

spirits wearing their costumes and playing their parts. Just as

actors begin with small parts and progress to bigger roles by

demonstrating their skill in those smaller parts, so also do the

spirits advance to higher and more complex forms of existence and

consciousness, at last returning home to God. The Sufi poet, Rumi,

wrote:

 

A stone I died and rose again a plant.

A plant I died and rose an animal;

I died an animal and was born a man.

Why should I fear? What have I lost by death?

As man, death sweeps me from this world of men

That I may wear an angel's wings in heaven;

Yet e'en as angel may I not abide,

For nought abideth save the face of God.

Thus o'er the angels' world I wing my way

Onwards and upwards, unto boundless lights;

Then let me be as nought, for in my heart

Rings as a harp-song that we must return to Him.

 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of many great Americans whose belief in

reincarnation is overlooked, wrote in his poem, The Chambered

Nautilus:

 

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!

As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,

Till thou at length art free,

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

 

That is the purpose of creation and our place in it.

 

The religion of Yoga

 

It is commonly said that Yoga is not a religion. But since religion

is derived from the Latin word religere, which means " to bind back, "

and yoga means " joining, " practically speaking yoga is the only

religion. The many systems of dogmas and doctrines are by their very

nature not really religions at all, and in most instances are

systems of superstition–either by the nature of their ideas or

practices or by the attitudes of their adherents toward their

beliefs and disciplines.

 

It is yoga alone which reunites the consciousness of the individual

to its infinite Source, restoring the lost unity. Earlier I quoted a

paragraph from I. K. Taimni's book The Science of Yoga about the

purpose of yoga, but omitting his preceding words regarding the

relation of yoga to religion–or rather, their difference. Here they

are now, for I think you will find them relevant:

 

" The Orthodox religious ideal which requires people to be good and

moral so that they may have a happy life here and hereafter is

really a concession to human weakness and the desire to prefer the

so-called happiness in life to enlightenment.

 

" In this respect the philosophy of yoga differs fundamentally from

most of the orthodox religions of the world which offer nothing

better than an uncertain and nebulous happiness in the life after

death. They say in effect `Lead a good life to ensure happiness

after death, put your faith in God and hope for the best.' According

to yogic philosophy death no more solves your spiritual problem than

night solves your economic problem. If you are poor you do not

expect on going to bed that your economic problem will be

automatically solved next day. You will have to get up the next day

and begin where you left off the previous night. If you are poor

economically you do not expect to get rich overnight and if you are

poor spiritually, bound by illusions and limitations of all kinds,

you cannot expect to become enlightened [by simply being reborn] or,

if you do not believe in reincarnation, in the vague and unending

life which is supposed to follow death. "

 

Yoga is the way we answer for ourselves the prayer:

 

Lead me from the unreal to the Real.

Lead me from darkness to the Light.

Lead me from death to Immortality.

 

Yoga

www.atmajyoti.org/me_om_yoga_book_02.asp

 

 

Notes:

 

1) Bhagavad Gita 2:12

 

2) Katha Upanishad 1:3:1

 

3) " This universe, before it was created, existed as Brahman. `I am

Brahman;' thus did Brahman know himself. Knowing himself, he became

the Self of all beings. " (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1:4:10)

 

4) The master yogi, Dr. I. K. Taimni, in The Ultimate Reality and

Realization, says this: " It is only when the realization of being a

pure spirit or atma has been attained that it is possible to achieve

the final goal of union of the atma with the Paramatma, the Supreme

Spirit which exists eternally beyond the manifested universe and

from which the manifested universe is derived. When this final

realization has been attained and union of atma with Paramatma has

been brought about there is not only a complete sharing of

consciousness between the two but also of the infinite Power which

is inherent in the Universal Consciousness.…It is necessary to

distinguish between the powers which are acquired on the realization

that he is a pure spirit or atma and those which are attained when

he is able to destroy the last vestige of egoism and his

consciousness becomes united with that of Paramatma. The former,

though tremendous in some respects, are still limited, while the

latter which are really the Powers of the Supreme Spirit are

infinite and can manifest through the center of consciousness of a

self-realized individual because there is fusion of the individual

consciousness with the Supreme Consciousness and the channel between

the two is open. "

 

5) Bhagavad Gita 4:35