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Yogi Shanti Desai's PublicationsYoga Holistic Practice Manual
Yoga Holistic Practice Manual
$14.00 Covers alll aspects of yoga, from philosphies and practices to diet, nutrition and guidance. Called "The Bible of Yoga" by many, Yoga Holistic Practice Manual becomes a lifetime source of guidance and inspiration. Read with an open mind and heart, you will derive new meaning and depth from it each time you read the book. From the book...Excerpts THE MEANING AND GOAL OF YOGA Yoga means integration of body, mind, and spirit. Peace and harmony come in proportion to this integration. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root "Yuj" which means yoking or union. Yoga is a way of uniting the body, mind, and spirit to God (Cosmic-consciousness), or uniting the finite individual self (Jivatma) with the cosmic infinite Self (Paramatma). The practice of Yoga begins with a systematic awareness and mastery of our physical, mental, and spiritual nature. Gradually we discover our higher self as we develop our potential and bring our total being into harmony and rhythm with the universe. The definition and goal of Yoga are explained from various points of view as follows: 1. Our relationship with God is like the relationship of a drop of water to the ocean. Quantitatively they are different, but qualitatively they are the same. When the drop of water falls into the ocean, it merges and becomes the ocean. In the same way we must merge with God and become God. We are created in the image of God. We are reflections of God. How, then, can we be sinners? Yoga offers the positive and most optimistic approach that we are potentially divine and perfect. Christ taught, "Be ye therefore perfect even as thy father which is in heaven is perfect." This perfection is not to be gained from outside. Meditation helps us discover this perfection, which is the very nature of our consciousness. This perfection will always be within us, but it is hidden by our ignorance. Ignorance is produced by the restlessness of the mind. The goal of Yoga is Know thy Self." To know thy Self is to know our true essence (Atman) which is a witness to our physical, mental, and emotional changes. It also witnesses our waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, and unconscious states of mind without being affected by them. 2. Yoga is a process of dehypnotism. We have hypnotized ourselves as being the physical body, limited by time, space, and causation. This process, repeated by our previous incarnations and strengthened by our daily experiences in life, paralyzes us, and we accept these limitations and suffer the consequences. We are kings but we act as if we are beggars. Yoga reverses this process, and we awaken from this hypnotic spell feeling our existence to be pure consciousness while the body, mind, and intellect function as instruments working for us at our command. A prince, kidnapped by some beggars when he was a baby, grew up thinking he was a beggar. When he was grown, a wise man recognized him from a birthmark and he was established as the king. When he realized his true identity, he acted like a king and not like a beggar. A baby lion grew up with a flock of sheep and acted like a sheep. He was timid, frightened of little things, and followed the other sheep without question. One day a lion saw him in the flock, pulled him aside and led him to a lake where he saw his reflection in the water. Realizing his true nature was that of a lion, he started to act like one and his life was transformed. In the same way, when a spiritual master reveals our true nature to us, our life is transformed and we are freed from the myth of limited identity with our physical body and the material world. When this hypnotic spell is removed, we experience the highest possible freedom. God is our spiritual Father. He provides all the comforts of our life. We pray earnestly to Him while in our mother's womb for release from suffering. As soon as we are born, however, we forget Him due to the overwhelming power of maya (cosmic illusion). We denounce our Father and roam the world in search of happiness, going through various pleasant and unpleasant experiences in life. When we are suffering and rejected by the world, we remember our Father. The practice of Yoga is the journey of a prodigal son towards the home of his Father. The goal of Yoga is to be reunited with the Father and find peace and rest. Everyone in the world (young or old, moral or immoral) is searching for this union to find ultimate freedom. We may use various means to find this freedom. It may be sensual pleasure, food, sex, wealth, power, or criminal acts. Misdirected searches merely provide a faint shadow of bliss consciousness and produce only temporary excitement and pleasure. We may try to run away from the basic puzzle of life and fear of death by covering up our actions. More covering up is done by pretending to be happy on the surface. Ultimately we become lost and confused. Yoga is a way of facing reality directly instead of running away from it. It takes a brave person to face this reality. Yoga is the path of the brave. Yoga gives direction and channels our energy so that we may find longer lasting happiness which in turn liberates us instead of binding us. 3. Yogi Patanjali defines Yoga as quieting the modifications (disturbances) of the CHITTA. Chitta is mindstuff, made of manah (mind), buddhi (intellect), and ahamkara (ego). Mind is like the surface of a lake. When this surface is disturbed by waves and impurities, the bottom cannot be seen. When chitta is freed from five kinds of disturbances (explained in detail under Raja Yoga), pure consciousness reveals itself like the bottom of the lake. The universe that we see is a projection of our own mind. Mind is like our sunglasses. The color of the glasses distorts the true color of the objects we see. Pleasant and unpleasant experiences are produced by our state of mind. Pleasure and pain are hidden in each other. The experience of one polarizes the other. This is duality. Mind is the cause of this duality. When the mind is purified, the whole universe is perceived in its true essence, which is harmonious all the time. Duality disappears and unity in the multiplicity of the universe is experienced by the purified mind. Behind all the ornaments of gold, the essence is gold. In the same way, the essence of all existence is God (pure consciousness) although names and forms differ. Raja Yoga techniques involve knowing the self in a systematic manner. We start with the body, nerves, and mind, and then transcend the mind. Our body is like a light bulb. The nerves are the wires, prana is the electricity. Mind is the light switch, intellect the circuit breaker. Atman is the real source of all (the Dynamo). We begin with the body and gradually reach the Atman, the real essence of our existence, and experience the highest freedom. 4. An Upanishad explains the goal of Yoga by an appropriate analogy. Our body is a chariot, the five senses are the horses, our vital energies the wheels, virtue and vice are the spokes, mind is the reins, intellect the charioteer, and Atman is the master. Life is the road on which we travel and Self-realization is our goal. We meet six enemies along the road: sensual thirst, anger, greed, pride, delusion, and hatred. The master has to awaken and bring the horses and chariot under control. With the sword of discrimination he must conquer all enemies to reach the destiny of Self-realization. The master must utilize all the instruments to reach the goal. The practice of Yoga starts with our own self. When we find the center within, harmony flows out in a natural way. This harmony is independent of external situations. When we rely on external sources for happiness, our energy becomes scattered. Life becomes like a boat that is pushed around by the waves, currents, and weather conditions. Practicing Yoga is like installing an engine in our boat so that we become master of ourselves and of our destiny. Table of Contents
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