God, Self and Ultimate goal of yoga

Why is the concept of God Important to us?

Possible answers

• To know if there is something known as God• To know what role He can play in our life• To know if there has been any relationship with Him in the past• To know if a relationship with him is possible now or in the future• To know if there is any power that controls us/punishes us for our

transgressions/rewards us for our so called good deeds• To know what he looks like and where he exists• To know if God can change our destiny • To know if man is the master of this world or if there is some power

above him that he needs to respect.

Some ideas of God

• HE is omnipresent, omnipotent• He is just and merciful and protects his devotees• HE is eternal• HE has no form but can take any form he wishes• God created the universe and has no further role

to play• God is…….. (Anything you add after this

diminishes what HE is)• God cannot hear us as he has no mind. He sends

his representatives to guide us.

Vedic Idea of God

• God cannot be defined. If he can be defined then he is not God.

• Rig Veda says God is beyond existence and non existence, light and darkness, he is beyond space and time, he is beyond duality.

• You can know God through meditation.• Infinite God has given rise to this infinite

universe.

God of current times.

• Vedas do not attribute any other quality to God. All other attributes that we associate with God are our own additions.

• In current times our approach seems to make the idea of God compatible with the frame work of human mind rather than trying to expand our framework to realise Him as He is.

Then what is GOD

• The idea of God evolves as our thinking and perception evolves.

• He is something to be experienced rather than something we can understand intellectually.

• Each person must experience Him for himself and establish the truth in his mind. Just like you cannot explain the taste of sweetness, to understand God you need to experience Him.

Is it useful to believe in the idea of God? Does the journey of God realisation help us in anyway?

Some views• The quest for God realisation is also a journey of Self

realisation with the objective of achieving the highest levels of excellence and perfection.

• The journey ensures that our eyes are always on the road ahead and though we may rest to recoup there is no stopping till the final Goal is reached.

• This journey pushes us to go beyond the different forms and seek the essence within.

• Gives us hope. Hope is necessary for development. A hopeless life is static and aimless.

The idea of the Higher Self

• When we generally use the term myself we tend to mean our body, our ideas, our opinions and our thought stuff.

• The yogic idea of the Self (higher Self) is that of spirit, atman, soul, rhu that resides in every created being and without which the being would not exist even for a second more.

Pertinent questions and answers in the light of Vedic Literature

pertaining to the Self.• Can I see/feel/experience this Self? The process of meditation enables you to experience your higher Self.• Is there is relationship between my higher Self and the higher Self of other? Yes they are a part of the same whole. Just like furniture made from the same

tree.• Just like my body does some activity and my mind is active and I am

conscious of it, what is the nature of the Self? The nature of this higher Self is inactivity, a sense of fulness and bliss.• When was this Self born, how long will it continue to exist? The Self was never born, it will never die. Its existence is eternal.• How are God and Self related? They are fundamentally the same thing. The search for God is like a macro

approach the search of the Self is like a micro approach. The answer is the same.

Our Current State….• We have lost consciousness of the eternal Self and are living a body

conscious and mind conscious life.

• Mind and body consciousness gives us an idea of being incomplete and we are constantly seeking to become complete. This is the route of our desires which we try to fulfil by chasing various material pursuits.

• Over a period of time we have lost the idea of the higher Self completely and have become more and more materialistic. But every material success is subject to laws of diminishing returns and despite our best efforts we continue to remain unsatisfied and without peace (Diminishing return means we keep getting less and less satisfaction from the same outcomes.)

Yoga allows us to regain consciousness of the higher Self.

Meaning of Yoga.

• The commonly understood meaning of yoga as a set of Asanas/body posture exercises is wrong.

• Yoga comes from the root work Yug meaning to join or to unite.

• Yoga is process of union with the ultimate or the Self.

Meaning of Yoga – A Vedic View

In our Vedic literature the idea of Yoga has been explained in various ways. Here we enumerate a few of them

(1) Union The most accepted meaning is the union of the individual soul with the

supreme soul. This is similar to the idea of a drop of water merging back into the ocean.

(2) Samadhi Samadhi comes from 2 Sanskrit words. Sam + adhi. Sam means

equilibrium, adhi means mental disturbances. Therefore Samadhi means a state in which all mental disturbances have been negated to achieve perfect stillness and equilibrium.

Patanjali has expressed this idea in Sanskrit as “Chit Vridhi Nirodha” meaning complete restrain to mental tendencies or the mortification of mind. Just like the bottom of the lake can be seen only when the water is clear and still, we can experience our Higher Self when the mind is free of all thoughts.

(3) Yoga is Skill in action:

As per the Bhagwad Gita one definition of yoga is “Karma Sukoushalam”. This means the pursuit of excellence in your area of work so that you can be the best in that. Highest levels of excellence can only come from the right utilisation of our minds

(4) Equilibrium is Yoga:

Another popular meaning of yoga as per the Bhagwat Gita is “Samatvam Yog Uchate”. This means accepting all states of life like success and failure, praise and criticism, joy and sorrow with the same poise. It implies moderation and balance in all activities like eating, playing, sleeping, talking etc. The Vedas say that before creation everything existed in perfect balance and moderation. Creation was effected when this balance was disturbed.

Meaning of Yoga – A Vedic View

Importance of Yoga in modern

Education• Modern Education is primarily focused on the

knowledge of things outside ourselves. It gives little or no information about us, who are actually experiencing this outer world. The path of spirituality and the pursuit of yoga fulfils this lacuna.

• Without this inner knowledge and practice of self development educated human being are like monkeys with a sword.

• Thus education to be useful to society must be complete and must provide knowledge of both the internal Self and the external world.

The Glory of Yoga (1) The Rishis of India were scientists. The practice of yoga gave them

intuitive capabilities with which they made scientific discoveries. Because of the practice of yoga the mind of the Rishis was very focused. Whenever they applied this focus towards any subject or matter, the latter revealed itself.

(2) Yoga goes from source to the matter where as science goes form matter to the source. The practice of yoga and spirituality was prevalent in ancient India. It was this reason why India was at the top of all fields of knowledge like science, arts, war fare, medicines, zoology, mathematics etc

(3) The ancient knowledge derived from Veda and other scriptures were far

superior in their research in all fields of knowledge in comparison to what science is discovering even today. This was achieved without all the modern equipments. The base of this knowledge was intuitive understanding. This capacity is built through the practice of Yoga. The concepts of gravity, trigonometry, geometry, cosmology have been dealt with in the Vedic literature.

(4) The education system in ancient India was one of the best in the world. Students went to teachers who through practice of yoga were open hearted. Their egos did not prevent the flow of knowledge from their heart to the heart of the aspirants. Yoga was an embedded part of ancient education system. The ancient teachers believed that “Education means to draw out the knowledge already existing within man”.

(5) The ancient yogic tradition of India has produced stalwarts like

Mahavir, Buddha, Swami Vivekananda, Kabir, Guru Nanak who are known even today for their spiritual and yogic teachings.

(6) Other religions and spiritual tradition also have prayer/mediation as a

fundamental means to connect with God. Prayer and meditation are key components of yoga.

The Glory of Yoga

Swami Vivekananda expounding the glory of this inner journey said –

“Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God---this is the secret of greatness. If you have faith in the three hundred and thirty

millions of your mythological gods, and in all the Gods which foreigners have now and again

introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for

you. Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need.”

Types of YogaSome popular forms of Yoga as cited in the Vedic literature are listed below

• Karma Yoga This implies achieving union with the ultimate by pursuing excellence in action.

Excellence can be achieved through proper regulation of mind. Perfect action can happen only in a perfect state of mind.

• Bhakti Yoga This implies achieving union with the ultimate by following a path of perfect

devotion for God. One does everything in the remembrance of the creator, dedicating all actions to Him alone.

• Gyan Yoga This implies union with the ultimate by pursuing true knowledge. True knowledge

is within us and if we shed all unwanted things then that true knowledge reveals itself.

• Raj Yoga It is the path of utilisation of the mind to achieve union with the ultimate. This is

called Raj Yoga because the mind occupies a kingly position in the framework of the human system.

Patanjali was great yoga acharya who took it upon him to do a research on Raj yoga and come with a well codified and documented text on the subject. This text is called the Yog Sutras of Patanjali and they advocate 8 steps to achieve the final goal which according to Patanjali was Samadhi. Because of its eight steps or arms this Yoga is called Ashtanga Yoga.

Ashtanga Yoga

(1) Yama: This in simple terms means good conduct through restrain. It

advocates the following 5 areas to practice restrain

Ahimsa: Means not harming any being through thought, word or action.Satya: Means speaking about things as they are but without hurting anyone.Asteya: Not stealing or not grabbing/ not craving for things which do not belong to you.Aparigraha: Non acceptance of gifts from others so as to avoid being indebted to them.Brahmachariya: Not giving into unrestrained sexual activity

Ashtanga Yoga

(2)Niyama:These are positive rules to be applied to daily living and practiced regularlySouchya: This refers to internal and external puritySantosh: This refers to being contented with what one hasTapa: This refers to doing your daily spiritual practiceSwadhyaya: This refers to Self Study and trying evoke inner knowledge.Ishwar Pranidhan: This refers to practice of devotion and surrender to God.

Ashtanga Yoga

(3)Asanas: This in simplest terms implies developing a

body posture that one can be steady and comfortable in during the course of meditation. As per Patanjali the great many asanas practiced today are not deemed necessary for the practice of yoga

Ashtanga Yoga

(4)Pranayam: This refers to regulating your breath and

through it the energy level in the body. (5)Pratayahar: This implies a process of self control,

whereby the aspirant can withdraw his senses and direct them towards his higher Self.

Ashtanga Yoga

(6)Dharna: This implies focusing the mind on one point and

building concentration. (7)Dhyan: This refers to meditation. Mediation means thinking

continuously about the same thing. When meditation is established properly then there remains only a sense of awareness and the goal.

(8) Samadhi: This is final stage as per Patanjali. It is a state of

absorption in the Higher Self.

Ashtanga Yoga

Yoga and Self Development Those who are in pursuit of yoga in the correct way and guidance

are said to be on the path of self development.• It is the process of transformation of man - from a being with

animal tendencies to a being with human quality and finally to a being with divine qualities.

• It helps man identify a goal for himself reaching which he shall feel fulfilled and complete. Yoga helps the aspirant gain that knowledge and wisdom that will help him lead his life in a harmonious way.

• Yoga leads to physical, mental and spiritual development of the individual. It gives the necessary motivation and energy to bring out the best in man even under adverse circumstances. It keeps a man on the path of action and teaches him not to be swayed either way due to results.

• Yoga empowers man to face up to the various challenges of life in an effective so as to maximise his contribution in the world.

• Those who walk on the yogic path have focused minds and strong character.

In Closing

• Thank you