• Union of the individual self or Atma with the Supreme Being or Universal Self; act of yoking.
• A spiritual discipline or exercise aimed at control of the senses.
• Science of divine communion. No single definition of the word yoga
• Patanjali’s Yoga-sutras define yoga as a series of eight spiritual steps leading to union with God. This is different from the eight steps given in the section titled ‘The eightfold path of yoga’ of Prasanthi Vahini. (Glossary for the Vahinis)

 

Yoga is defined by Patanjali as, Citta Vritti Nirodha, meaning the control of the Vrittis, agitations and anxieties of the Citta, inner consciousness. If the mind is stilled and free from waves produced by the wind of desire, then one becomes a Yogi, and the Lord is the highest Yogi, for He is the ocean that is unaffected by the waves which agitate the surface. (SSS Vol.7, p. 33)

 

‘Na sreyo niyamam vina’ (No well-being is obtained without discipline). Yoga lays down certain disciplines (Niyama) like partaking of moderate balanced and pure food. But modern man flouts the yogic discipline by helping himself with spicy and sumptuous food to cater to his greedy tongue. He ignores the ancient doctrine that food should be taken like medicine for the disease of hunger. We should take the medicine, whether it is tasty or not, to cure our illness. But the modern man flouts this discipline and feeds voraciously on spiced food. For Example: Indians make use of a lot of tamarind to savour their dishes, though tamarind is detrimental to health. The modern man has hence fallen prey to mental debility, blood pressure. Blood pressure is the cause of mental restlessness, tension and anxiety. The chaos and the confusion, the agitation and upheaval that you see in the world today arise from ill health. A German doctor, Ritan, conducted experiments on the behaviour of monkeys, to determine the benefits of observing silence. He found that the monkeys benefited tremendously. Consequently, he found that their intelligence, memory power and mental health increased by observing silence.

 

An experiment was also conducted on a dull student who used to score low marks in the examination. Though he had no faith in the efficacy of Yoga, he started practising it due to the compulsion of teachers. Three months of yogic practise tremendously improved his intelligence and memory power and enabled him to perform excellently in the examinations. It changed the very mental make-up of the student. The boy who had been crude and never uttered courteous words like ‘please’, started behaving like a gentleman, uttering words like ‘please’, ‘excuse me’ etc. Inspired by the tremendous improvement in his son, his septuagenarian father also started practising Yoga. He too registered excellent progress. Yogic practices should be accompanied by yogic disciplines as well. It is a serious mistake to take Yoga as a physical exercise.

 

Yoga is not mere physical exercise. It involves exercise of breath as well. It is known by the term ‘Pratyahara’ and ‘Pranayama’. Pranayama involves the three processes of Puraka (filling in the air), kumbhaka (retaining the breath) and Rechaka (breathing out). The observance of time is very important with regard to Pranayama. The time taken for inhalation, retention, and exhalation should be the same. The entire exercise should be natural without any strain. The air taken in goes though the nerves of Ida, pingala, and sushumna. Pranayama should be performed with meticulous care, lest it should damage the lungs and the brain. Breathing should also be without any strain and panting. Some boys pant heavily after running. But a good runner does not pant even after running. As we have to keep the ingredients for cooking in proper proportion to ensure proper cooking, so also inhalation, retention and exhalation should be in proper proportion.

 

There is a proliferation of pseudo-yogic systems all over the world. Many physical exercises are paraded as Yoga today. The true Yoga is based on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and is marked by Nyaya, Vaisheshika and Samkhya. True Yoga observes the sense of fair proportions, which is an important mark of Nyaya system.

 

The system of Yoga is also marked by the influence ofVaisheshika. The Vaisheshika philosophy believes that the world is made of atoms, but each of a different nature. It also believes that there is a connection between one atom and another. For example, a stone thrown into a lake generates a series of waves, which travel to the shore. Similarly, a thought that arises in the lake of mind, surfaces and spreads to the borders of the mind. Good and bad thoughts which arise in the lake of the mind have their impact not only on the mind but on the body as well. Thoughts determine the good and evil in a man and it is these thoughts, which make the mind.

 

Yogash citta vritti nirodhah.

Tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam.

(Yoga Sutra 1.2 &1.3)

 

Hence, Yoga gives utmost importance to the control of thoughts. ‘Yoga citta vritti nirodha’. (Yoga is the control of thoughts). (SSB 1993, pp. 91-93)

 

A tree has the trunk, and the trunk has branches, far and wide, into boughs, with leaves and flowers. Karma Yoga is the trunk for the tree of life; the branches, leaves and fragrant flowers symbolise the Bhakti Yoga; and the ripe fruit and sweetness therein, that is the Jnana Yoga, the Wisdom. (SSS Vol.8, p. 224)

 

If one can eliminate one’s mean desires, that will become true Yoga. Giving up one’s property, wife and children and going to the forest cannot become Yoga. This word of Sai indicates the right path. (SSB 1978, p. 122)

 

Life is all the sweeter for the restrictions and limits. You will encounter many obstacles in life, but do not be disheartened by them. Pleasure and pain alternate in life; in fact, pleasure is but the interval between two pains! And that makes it welcome and worthwhile. Have the future always in view and put up with pain now, so that you can meet it boldly when it befalls you later in life. Tyaga is the real Yoga; renounce and become a master of yourself. Bhoga brings about roga; indulgence is the cause of disease. (SSS Vol.9, p. 69)

 

Driving away, and giving up all bad thoughts from the mind is Sacrifice. That will lead you to Yoga. Giving up one’s property, separating away from wife, and going away to the forest is not Yoga. (TTFFW, p. 13)

 

yoga-sthah Kuru karmani

Sangam tyaktva dhananjaya

siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

samatvam yoga ucyate

(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2:48)

 

Samatvam yogamucyathe, says the Gita, (Equal-mindedness is yoga). The ancient sages practised such equal-mindedness. And this should be taught to our young people and cultivated by them. It is the index of contentment. One who has achieved contentment can enjoy the bliss of Divine grace. (SSS Vol.20, p. 12)

 

Yoga = Equal-mindedness - five types. Yoga is equal-mindedness. In this world, man cannot experience sacredness without an equal minded approach. It is this equal-mindedness that is the proper sadhana, which can give complete happiness.

 

In equal-mindedness, there are five types.

• Equal-mindedness relating to the world.
• Equal-mindedness of a common type.
• Equal-mindedness towards work.
• Equal-mindedness towards devotion and
• Equal-mindedness related to wisdom.

 

Our ability by which we can control our sensory organs is the basis for equal-mindedness.

 

• In the daily world, just as we have hot and cold, we also have pain and pleasure. If man can accept pain and pleasure with the same attitude, he will be able to lead a happy life. Under certain conditions, cold will give happiness, and under certain other conditions, heat will give pleasure. We see here that both heat and cold can give us happiness. Here we should note that although the time is different and the path is different, the aspect of pleasure is common. In cold winter, warmth gives us happiness. In a hot season, cold gives us comfort. It appears as though hot and cold are opposites of each other. If there were no cold we would not give value to heat. If we did not know what heat was, we would not give so much value to cold. In the same manner, unless there is pain, we do not enjoy pleasure. Here sorrow takes the form of a step to happiness. It is necessary for us to recognise the truth that happiness is contained in sorrow and sorrow is contained in happiness. Only when pain is interspersed with pleasure do we give any value that the pleasure. It is therefore necessary for us to receive pain and pleasure with an equal mind. Such equal-mindedness is referred to as ‘equal-mindedness relating to the world’.

 

• Then comes the ‘equal-mindedness relating to society’. Praise and blame, loss and gain, victory and defeat are not to be regarded as opposites of each other. They follow each other. Both blame and praise establish one’s steadiness. They appear as if they are contradictory to each other but in fact they are not. That which takes you to a respectable position will also bring you down. As you are being praised, blame will also grow alongside. When we go on digging a well, a heap of mud will also grow alongside. The deeper we go into the well, the higher will be the accumulated mound. The well will be described as a deep hole, while the mound will be described as a heap of mud. We think that the hole, which corresponds to deep well, is the blame, while the heap corresponds to praise. But when we put the heap of mud into the well, it gets filled. In this context, the mud from the well and the mud in the head are the same. Once we realise that it is in fact so, we will not be afraid of criticism or blame. We will develop on equal-minded attitude towards praise and blame. Only when man can look at both these with the same attitude, will he be able to progress along the sacred path. We will now take losses and gains. If on the one hand we feel happy at having secured gains, we will also have to take the trouble of protecting these gains. The same amount of sorrow that we had before securing the gains will be thereafter securing the gains as well. When we feel happy that we have made a profit, we will also feel sorry that the income tax people will take away a good deal of the profit. If we can develop the attitude that we neither want the gain nor the loss, we will then be able to lead a peaceful life. In the same manner, certain attitudes connected with society, like pain and pleasure, victory and defeat etc. will always come together. Our first task should be to recognise our duty. It is man’s duty to make on attempt; success or failure of the attempt should be left to God. If we develop this attitude, we will not be troubled by the success or failure.

 

• Next is the aspect of ‘equal-mindedness relating to work. In this world, consequences like success and failures for the work you do are natural. This creation consists of the coming together and separating things. We should not worry about the results of the work that we undertake. We should recognise work as natural for a human being.

 

• The next one is the ‘equal-mindedness relating to devotion’. For one who recognises that God is the basis of success or failure, gains or losses, there will be no difference between these aspects at all. In this, we should recognise the equal attitude of God Himself. Once we recognise the truth that God is omnipresent and is present in everyone, then there will be no difference between one and the other. By developing such ideas, we will be able to develop equal-mindedness through devotion.

 

• There is the ‘equal mindedness relating to wisdom’. We should recognise that God is present everywhere and that the recognition of the Oneness of God the basis of all religion. When what really exists is only One, there is no room for any difference in attitudes. So long as you have the feeling of ownership, or so long as you keep saying, ‘Mine, Mine, Mine’, you will not have a chance to observe things as other than yours. So long as you have this attitude you will never be able to understand what is not yours. One day when you give up the idea of some things being yours, you will really understand this aspect of equanimity. You must reduce your attachment to things. Because through the body, some attachments come up, we talk of relationship. The bad qualities that are present in us are responsible for this. So long as jealousy and ego are uppermost in your mind, God will be at a distance from you. When you are able to get rid of these qualities, God will come close to you. To think that you have not gone closer to God is only a symptom of ignorance. The same item can give you happiness at one time and sorrow at some other times. For such changes, hatred, ego and jealousy are responsible. (SSB 1978, 1978, pp. 137-142)

 

Yoga means, ‘coming together’. Those who can heroically put their faith into daily life can accomplish this ‘togetherness’ in the human community. Togetherness, or union, can be established between one’s outer behaviour and inner nature. The Sadhaka, intent on the path of Prema, can strive for union between himself and the embodiment of Prema, namely, God. The Vedantin can achieve the union of all that is in the One concept of God. The path of Yoga is designated differently in Sanskrit under different contexts; but those who are able to conceive and execute the union are revered as Yogis. (BPV, p. 60)

 

Yoga too, is of two varieties: Raja yoga and Jnana yoga. In Raja yoga, there are eight stages which have to be well cultivated, and realised. Of these, some are external, some internal. This is the Aryan path. In the Jnana yoga, there is no ‘external’ at all. Both these yogas have as their goal, the stilling of the agitations of all levels of consciousness. For those who have calmed all these agitations, everything is Brahman. Primary for this purpose is Jnana yoga more than Raja yoga; at least that is the opinion of the knowers of Brahman; they say ‘that is the thing to be known, to be reached’. (P.Vah, p. 66)

 

There is only one Yoga and that is Bhakti Yoga. All others – Kriya Yoga, Hatha Yoga, the so-called Sai Yoga, Pranayam – all methods and techniques known as yogas belong to the body. Bhakti Yoga is the direct path to God. It is the easiest way. (S.G. - p. 58)

 

‘Karma yoga’ teaches man the awareness of how life is being made banal and barren; the significance and worthwhileness of Karma; or how best to realise the best results out of this inescapable trait, and guides him along to achieve the maximum benefit out of the activity. Where, when and how Karma has to be done, how spiritual usages can reinforce strength of mind in the performance of Karma, and how Karma is to be taken up so that spiritual development can result - these are taught to us by Karma yoga.

 

Without getting attached, without being aware as to the Karma helps or how, the lesson that Karma yoga teaches is – do the Karma, as Karma, for the sake of the Karma.

 

The Karma yogi fills his hands with work. That is his real nature; he feels that he is happy while doing work. That is all. He does not bargain for results; he is not urged by any calculations. He gives, but never receives. He knows no grief, no disappointment; for he has not hoped for any benefit. (BPV, pp. 61-62)

 

Bhakti yoga is congenial for those who are emotionally oriented. It is the path for those capable of filling their hearts with love. The urge is to have God as the Beloved. Bhakti Yoga teaches the path of Love. It teaches not to love with a view to gaining profit. Love all; love all as you love yourself. No harm can come to you then. It will only spread joy and happiness to all. God is present in all beings as love. So the love is directed to and accepted by, not the individual, but by God, who is resident there. The seeker of God who relies on the path of devotion and dedication soon becomes aware of this fact.

 

Some love God as the Mother, some others as the Father, and some love God as ‘dearest and closest friend’. There are others who regard God as the Beloved, the only desired goal. They all endeavour to merge their Love with the Ocean of Love that God is. Wherever love is evident, take it that it is God’s own love. God is the greatest lover of mankind. Therefore, when any one decides to serve man whom He loves, God showers grace in plenty. When the human heart melts at the suffering of others and expands as a result of that sympathy, believe that God is present there. This is the sign of the validity of the path of devotion, Bhakti yoga. (BPV, p. 62/65)

 

Raja yoga means, the process of establishing mastery over the mind. One need not surrender one’s intellect or follow the guidelines of religious leaders. At every step, one has to rely on one’s own intellect and experience, as tested by itself. Raja yoga has to be practised mostly by the mind and it resolution. Concentration is the key that can open the treasure-chest of Jnana. This is an important aspect of Raja yoga. Millions of unwelcome, unwanted, unnecessary and even harmful thoughts enter our minds and confound their activities. These have to be kept out; the mind has to be guarded and controlled and kept under our rigorous supervision. Raja yoga is the one refuge for persons endeavouring to win this victory. (BPV, p. 65/68)

 

Jnana yoga is mostly devoted to the study of principles, basic principles. This universe, or cosmos that we cognise as outside ourselves can be explained by means of various theories of knowledge, but not one of them can be convincing to the uninitiated. The Jnana Yogi weaves many such theories and hypothesis. He is not convinced of the reality of any material object in the universe, or of any activity or even of anyone else who propounds any other explanation.

 

He believes that he should transcend the daily chores of life and not be bound by social or other obligations. In the vast ocean of Isness or Sat, all objects are but drops, in his view. They are all struggling to move from the circumference to the centre from which they manifested through Maya. The Jnana Yogi too yearns to merge in the centre, the core of Reality, away from the tangle of apparent diversity. He exerts himself to become the Truth, not only to become aware of it. Of course as soon as he is aware of it, he becomes It. He cannot tolerate the thought that he and Truth are separate and distinct. The divine is his kith and kin. He knows none other. He does not entertain any other urge, any other attachment, any other desire. God is all in all. He cannot be affected by grief or joy, failure or success. He sees and experiences only one unbroken, unchallenged stream of bliss-consciousness. For the person who is firmly established in this state, the world and its ups and downs appear trivial and illusory. In order to stay in that consciousness, he has to counter the pulls of the senses and face the fascinations of the world without any agitation of mind.

 

The Jnana Yogi is vigilant against the temptations held before him by his success, and turning them aside, he approaches the Divine and seeks strength and solace there. He realises that the power and energy that vitalise the tiniest of the tiny and the vastest of the vast is the same Divine Principle. His actions, thoughts and words reveal this vision, which he has experienced. This is the Paramartha Drishti , the Supra-Vision. It sees all elements - the earth, fire, water, wind and sky - as the Divine itself, and all beings - man, beast, bird and worm - as emanations from God, and therefore, fully Divine. (BPV, pp. 68-69)

 

Yoga is the tail of Buddhi bird. This tail of Yoga is needed to maintain the required balance between the two wings of Satyam and Ritam, just as the tail of an aeroplane serves the purpose of balancing the two wings of the aircraft. Yoga as envisaged here should not be confused with asanas, physical exercises of various kinds. Yoga here means the control of the mind and senses. (ICS , pp. 94-95)

 

The very moment you cry for God it becomes Yoga. When you cry for Me, I will take care of you and give you everything you need.’ (DBG, p. 103)

 

When actions are performed as offerings to God, they become Yoga. This is revealed in the prayer given by the saint who sang, ‘O beloved Lord, You are the Atma’, my very Self. My intellect is Your wife. My body is Your house. All my daily duties are my offerings to You. My life’s breath is Your praise. Whenever I walk I am circumambulating You. Whatever word I utter is a Mantra, in adoration of You. Every karma I perform is done as worship for you’. He was a great Yogi! He offered every action performed by his sense organs to the Lord, and in that way, all his deeds became acts of worship.

 

When you transform your actions into sacred actions, suitable as offerings to God, then actions become Anasakti Yoga . Yogis have recognized the greatness inherent in Anasakti Yoga, and therefore, have strived to purify every act they perform and offer it to the Lord. On the eve of the great war, Krishna commanded Arjuna, ‘Arjuna you must fight this war. But while daring so think continuously of Me, and make every action an offering to Me. That is what pleases Me.’ Obeying the commands of the Lord. Arjuna fought on the battlefield, keeping Krishna steadily in his mind. (DBG, pp. 247-248)

 

Whatever you enjoy through renunciation will become a kind of yoga. Self-conceit in the performance of action and attachment to the fruits of one’s actions has both to be given up. There should be no sense of egoism in doing one’s work. ‘This is my work. I alone am entitled to its fruits’ -this attitude should be given up. If you plant a tree, what guarantee do you have that you will live to enjoy its fruits? Your progeny may enjoy the fruits. Your duty is to do your allotted work. ‘Kartavyam yogam ucyate’ (Doing one’s duty is yoga). (SSS Vol.20, p. 158)

 

Yoga means union or yoking, and the Jivatma (The Individual Soul) has to be yoked with the Paramatma (Supreme Soul); one has to find its fulfilment in the Whole, of which it is a part.As the rivers carry the waters of the sea back into the sea itself happy to lose the limitations of their names, their size etc In that consummation, so the individual merges Into the Universal. That is Yoga. It is Yoga that happens to the salt doll that is dropped into the depths of the sea to calculate the depth of the water. The salt too comes from the sea and becomes one with the sea. (SSS Vol. 10, pp. 118-119)