Guiding Light: What Is Yoga?

The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word yug – which means, to unite. Yoga, therefore, is the science of Union. Through the practice of yoga, the soul is united with the supreme Soul. Yoga has a recorded history of about 6,000 years in India – from the times of Mohen-jo-daro to the modern age. It has the power to satisfy the psychological and ethical needs of the modern man, whether he belongs to the East or the West, no matter if he is an atheist or an agnostic.

Yoga is not a theory or philosophy. Yoga is the essence of the revelation of sages and saints. Yoga is essentially a union.

But union with what?

Let us first realise that we live in a world of separateness. We are separated from our Divine Source, that which, for want of a better word, we call God. Yoga is that which unites man with God. Yoga is that which transforms man and makes him God-like.

The restlessness of the mind is one of the fundamental problems which the aspirant must overcome. It is not without reason that the mind islikened to a monkey; by its nature, it is unsteady and distracted. Yoga on the other hand, requires ekagrita – one-pointedness of the mind. This can be achieved only through detachment and freedom from worldly desires. Rightly do experts warn us that attachment to material objects isinimical to the pursuit of yoga. There are four steps that we must take to conquer shackles of attachment:

1. Do not allow the mind to dwell on sensual pleasures or the material objects they relate to.

2. Resist desire and the temptations of desire: cultivate discrimination which can lead you to a state of samatwa or equanimity.

3. Overcome anger, hatred and love, which are independent of sense objects, but can still taint the mind.

4. When the senses are under control and the mind is free from likes and dislikes, the aspirant reaches the stage of independence through non-attachment. This is the stage from which spiritual progress can begin.

The Bhagavat gives us a memorable picture of Sukhadev, the Blessed One. Concerning Sukhadev we read that as he walked, he looked like a soldier with a fixed bayonet. His gaze did not wander; his gaze had but one goal and this goal was God. This is the meaning of yoga.

June 21 is the International Day of Yoga.

Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader