The Perfection Of Yoga

In our body, the three kinds of perception and expression live in three different centers or locations. Thinking resides in the third eye area, feeling in the heart center and physical action in the navel center. You could say that we all see the world filtered through one or more of those centers. If you examine yourself carefully, you will easily observe which of these centers is most active and which is less developed or shut down. People generally have a primary center that they use the most, a secondary that they use less frequently, and one that they seldom use or tend to avoid. The center in which we are most comfortable acts as a selective filter through which all our experiences pass. What results is our 'point of view', which is necessarily limited to how many of the three pathways of experience are available to us.

Yoga is a method of systematically bringing all three of these mindsets back into direct contact with the Source of all existence. But in order to understand the purpose of Yoga, we need a precise definition of self. The Sanskrit term for self is 'atma', which means: "an eternal, conscious, joyful and individual spark of Divine Being." According to Yoga, which is part of the Vedas, (the library of spiritual knowledge revealed in India) we are all eternal beings who have come to a place called the material world. This world is made out of a substance called "prakriti" or "matter" which is also called the "unconscious energy". According to Yoga Philosophy, we came here to collect experience about this material aspect of Divinity but then, in the process, got lost in the cycle of repeated birth and death, forgetting our true nature. The purpose of Yoga is to restore our original transcendental or spiritual nature.

So picture if you will, the countless eternal Divine sparks, entering into matter and then, over time, experiencing all the different bodies possible in the material universes. According to the Yoga texts, there are 8 million forms of life that we experience through reincarnation before becoming human. Once we become human, we continue to gather and collect experience in various situations using free will. To a yogi, our body is viewed as a vehicle made of matter, like a car or chariot, in which we are driving. At the beginning of each new life, we use our previous karma points (things we have done) to buy a new body. This brings us back to the three temperaments: the active, the mental and the emotional.

Naturally, everyone will start Yoga practice in terms of their acquired temperament. Those with an active nature will do something with their body to achieve the goal. That approach in all its forms is called Karma Yoga, the Yoga of action. Those with a mental nature will be inclined to think, discern and contemplate through an intellectual process of asking: "what is my true self?" This path of Yoga is called Jnana Yoga (pronounced gya-na). It is also sometimes called buddhi Yoga. "Buddhi" means: "discerning between matter and atma (soul)." It is from the word buddhi that we get Buddhism, which is a form of Jnana Yoga. Lastly, those with an emotional nature, situated in the heart center, will practice Yoga by establishing a personal, intimate and loving relationship with the Supreme Persons, both male and female. They will love male and female God within their hearts. This path of Yoga is called Bhakti Yoga or the path of devotion.

It is entirely possible that a person will spend a lifetime or several lifetimes approaching Yoga from just one of these three perspectives. Or, if they are not a yogi, they will live their life from one of these perspectives: as a nerd, a jock or a sentimentalist. Or to put it in a positive light: an intellectual, a physical hero or as an artist or romantic. Naturally though, the question arises: Why not develop oneself fully in all three of these centers of being, both personally and as a Yoga practitioner?

One of the great classic texts on Yoga is "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali". It was written around 800 B.C.E. and is one of the basic textbooks of Yoga practice. The other great manual of yogic understanding is the Bhagavad-gita, spoken by Lord Krishna 5000 years ago. These two books contain all the fundamental knowledge of the philosophy and practice of Yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a summary of the "Ashta-anga" or "eight-limbed" system of Yoga.

In the second pada (chapter), verse one, Patanjali gives a definition of Yoga: "tapaha svadhaya ishvara pranidhanani kriya yogaha." There is seldom a direct synonym in English for a Sanskrit word but the basic translation of this sutra is: "Focused action, self-examination and establishing a relationship with the Supreme Person are the three activities of Yoga." These are the same three activities of doing, thinking and feeling, taken to their highest forms as Yoga practices. The goal or purpose of Yoga, according to Patanjali, is to develop fully in all three of these centers of being, integrating the skills of power, discernment and love of the Supreme Being into a single integrated practice.

The word 'tapas' is often translated as 'austerity.' Austerity is something we do with our body to redirect the flow of its energies. When a football team practices, that is tapas or tapasya. From that tapas they change their relationship to that physical plane and develop power. In Sanskrit, that power is described as a kind of fire called 'tejas.' The physical practices of Yoga are a tapas or austerity that aligns our bodies with Nature's Laws and redirects the fire of our digestion to the fire of the soul (atma). The result is a healthy, strong, balanced body and a renewed hunger to live as the eternal self. The motto of tapas is: "You must do something to create change". Since we have a body, it should be involved in the Yoga as Karma Yoga.

The second term is 'svadhaya' or "inquiry into the true nature of the self (atma) or soul." Since we are all eternal, conscious, joyful individuals who have forgotten our true nature, the aim of svadhaya is to discern between our true self and our material body and mind (our vehicle). To do this, we empty our self (mind) of all things that are 'not self' (matter). In Sanskrit that process is called 'neti neti' or 'not this, not that.' This process causes us to empty our mind of all conceptions pertaining to what we are not and to eventually become situated in what we really are (the atma). At that point we say "aham (I am) Brahmasmi (eternal Divine Being)." This is called Jnana Yoga.

Finally, Ishvara Pranidana means reestablishing our lost relationship with 'Isha' or 'the Supreme Lord'. That Supreme Lord is also described by Patanjali as "Parama Purusha" or the "Supreme Person". In fact, Yoga teaches that the Supreme Being, or God, is actually simultaneously both male and female - Mother and Father God. They are variously known in the Vedas as Shiva/Parvati, Brahma/Saraswati, Vishnu/Lakshmi, Rama/Sita and Krishna/Radha. The goal of Ishvara Pranidana is to reconnect the atma with those Divine Persons within our heart. This leads to the perfection of love in an eternal loving relationship that continues even after the death of the body and is considered in Yoga to be the eternal activity of our true self (atma). At that point of awareness we have perfected Bhakti Yoga and we say: "jivera swarupa haya nitera krishna das." The eternal nature of our true self is to be in loving service to the Parama Purusha, the Divine Persons and all living entities.

Because Yoga is never taught by force or dogma, it is not mandatory to develop in any of these spiritual directions at a speed faster than one's personal desire. So, in the Yoga culture we show love and respect to everyone by allowing them to evolve at their own rate, especially those engaged in Yoga and other forms of spiritual perfection. Whether one is practicing Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga or some variation of them, they are eternal souls following the Yogic path back to Union (Yuj) with their true nature. But if you want to develop in all three areas simultaneously, the heart, the mind and the body, then according to Patanjali, your Yoga will become the most perfect. To do that, the Vedas recommend you find a teacher for each center you wish to develop and remember the words of Patanjali: "The complete practice of Yoga is to embody eternal love with discernment of the true self in all our actions."

Jeffrey Armstrong has been a practicing yogi for 35 years and teaches the Philosophy and Llifestyle of Yoga, including bhakti, tantra and mantra meditation practices. He is an award winning author, accomplished mystical poet and master AyurVedic astrologer. Don't miss the upcoming Level One Bhagavad-Gita Seminar presented by Jeffrey Armstrong in Vancouver, B.C. Please see www.jeffreyarmstrong.com for details or call (604) 521-6567.