Yoga is not just a sum of few difficult postures of the body and exercise of the breath. It is a philosophy by which one wins over his body and mind. When one wins over the body and mind, one wins over the world, because body is a miniature world. When one wins over the body, mind and world, one liberates oneself. One realises the Self, realises what is divinity and attains the most peaceful and blissful state.
According to Patanjali who is the final authority of Yoga, the aim of Yoga is to realise the Self(svarup). In philosophical language Self is called Soul(atman). According to the Vedic philosophy or ancient Indian philosophy, the greatest thing in the whole universe is the Self or Soul. For this the Soul(atman) is called Brahman, the Supreme. Vedic philosophy does not believe in an imaginary God residing in heaven. It believes in Soul(atman). The souls of all beings are one and the same. This one and the same soul is none but God. So God is not an imaginary super being. He is what beings are.
These souls are described as conscious, knowledgeable, immortal, unchanging, indestructible, smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest. On the contrary, the world is unconscious, having no knowledge, mortal, changeable and destructible. In fact this world does not exist. The world is an imagination of conscious souls only. The conscious souls is the locus on which the world is projected. As in the dream we think the dream objects are real, so the world appears to be real because of ignorance. Once this ignorance disappears at the dawn of true knowledge, the world appears to be false. One realises that the Self is the only truth in the whole universe. This is also the divine truth.
This divine truth which is the cream of Vedic philosophy has been forgotten by all. The basis of all religions is to believe in an imaginary God. Religious texts are written in praise of such imaginary Gods by religious leaders. People obey the texts either out of fear of Gods or of religious leaders. Religious leaders take the help of rulers in order to impose their instructions on people. Rulers also take the help of religious leaders in order to keep their subjects and territory united. For thousands of years when people follow the same religious instructions, they accept them as true. However the truth is different. Whatever one feels through the five senses and whatever one thinks through the gross mind is false. Because these are related to the gross world only. People remain in perpetual ignorance and falsity, while religious leaders maintain luxurious lifestyles.
The complete Yoga teaches how to enter into total concentration(samadhi), where one realises the Self. This is such a sleeping state where one is fully awake and feels the Self; this is such a waking state where five senses and gross mind are at complete rest. This state cannot be described in words. Only it can be said that one realises oneself and goes immortal. One liberates oneself right in this birth. One rises above all pain and sorrow and attains the most blissful state. If one has to achieve something in order to get peace and bliss, it is the Self that gives it. Without realising the Self, sometimes a millionaire may feel himself as poor; a powerful man may feel powerless.
Late Munisvar Shiv kumar Shastri tried to preach this yogic philosophy to all. However his philosophy and yoga has not reached to many. His yoga is most complete, simple and may be practiced by people of all ages.
Author Mr Premansu Chand, 40, is an Indian and working as Govt. Officer. He practices and teaches Patanjali Yoga in its purest form. He has published a book “the purest interpretation of spiritualism and yoga’ through http://lulu.com
[http://www.premansuchanda.com]
