yoga - #1

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The Teachings of Sri Ramana MaharshiPreamble by David GodmanPreamble Practitioners of Yoga aim for union with the Self (‘Yoga’ is Sanskrit for union) by undertaking distinctive mental and physical exercises. Most of these exercises can be traced back to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which were written more than 2000 years ago. Patanjali’s system known as Raja Yoga, contains eight distinctive levels and practices.

 

 

Yama. Conduct of life in relation to others- avoiding untruth, theft, injury to others, sensuality and greed.

 

Niyama. Conduct towards oneself- cleanliness, tranquillity, austerity, study and devotion.

 

Asana. Stretching, bending, balancing and sitting exercises. These exercises are nowadays collectively known as Hatha Yoga.

 

Pranayama. Breathing exercises that aim to control the mind.

 

Pratyahara. Withdrawing the attention from the body and the senses.

 

Dharana. Concentration of the mind.

 

Dhyana. Meditation.

 

Samadhi. Uninterrupted contemplation of Reality.

Most of these practices can be found in other spiritual systems. The only exceptions are Hatha Yoga and Pranayama and it is these, which give Raja Yoga its distinctive character. When visitors asked Sri Ramana about these practices he would usually criticise Hatha Yoga because of its obsession with the body. It is a fundamental premise of his teachings that spiritual problems can only be solved by controlling the mind, and because of this, he never encouraged the practice of spiritual disciplines that devoted themselves primarily to the well being of the body. He had a higher opinion of Pranayama (breath control), saying that it was a useful aid for those who could not otherwise control their mind, but on the whole he tended to regard it as a beginner’s practice. _

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The yogi tries to drive his mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives a bull with a stick, but on this path (the Direct Path) the seeker coaxes the bull by holding out a handful of grass._In addition to Raja Yoga there is another popular system called Kundalini Yoga. The practitioners of this system concentrate on psychic centres (Chakras) in the body in order to generate a spiritual power they call Kundalini. The aim of this practice is to force the Kundalini up a psychic channel (the Sushumna) which runs from the base of the spine to the brain. The Kundalini Yogi believes that when this power reaches the Sahasrara (the highest Chakra located in the brain), Self-realisation will result.

Sri Ramana Maharshi never advised his devotees to practise Kundalini Yoga since he regarded it as being both potentially dangerous and unnecessary. He accepted the existence of the Kundalini power and the Chakras but he said that even if the Kundalini reached the Sahasrara it would not result in realisation. For final realisation, he said, the Kundalini must go beyond the Sahasrara, down another Nadi (psychic nerve) he called Amritnadi (also called the Parnadi or Jivanadi) and into the Heart-centre on the right hand side of the chest. Since he maintained that self-enquiry would automatically send the Kundalini to the Heart-centre, he taught that separate yoga exercises were unnecessary.

The Self is reached by the search for the origin of the ego and by diving into the Heart. This is the direct method of Self-realisation. One who adopts it need not worry about Nadis, the brain centre (Sahasrara), the Sushumna, the Paranadi, the Kundalini, Pranayama or the six Chakras (centres).

 

 

 

Question: Yoga means union. I wonder union of what with what?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Exactly. Yoga implies prior division and it means later union of one thing with another. But who is to be united and with whom? You are the seeker, seeking union with something. If you assume this then that something must be apart from you. But your Self is intimate to you and you are always aware of it. Seek it and be it. Then it will expand as the infinite and there will be no question of Yoga. Whose is the separation (viyoga)?

Questioner: I don’t know. Is there really separation?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Find out to whom is the viyoga. That is yoga. Yoga is common to all paths. Yoga is really nothing but ceasing to think that you are different from the Self or Reality. All the Yogas -Karma, Jnana, Bhakti, and Raja- are just different paths to suit different natures with different modes of evolution. They are all aimed at getting people out of the long-cherished notion that they are different from the Self. There is no question of union or yoga in the sense of going and joining something that is somewhere away from us or different from us, because you never were or could be separate from the Self.