Swadharma » raja yoga

Lent

Anish — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:03:30 +0000

Since last Wednesday, many people around the world, both Christians as well as some non-Christians, decided to give up a bad habit for the period of forty days and forty nights known as Lent. The symbolism behind Lent is that Jesus traveled the desert for forty days and forty nights and did not succumb to temptations of the Devil. Traditionally, Lent is performed through fasting and by other methods of atonement. In the modern-day Lent, people generally give up vices such as drinking alcohol or eating certain foods (i.e. meats, fish, eggs etc.). I like this idea of self-discipline because it is so similar to the Raj Yogic and even to the Bhakti Yogic aspects of Hinduism.

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The Harmony of the Yogas

Anish — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:41:06 +0000

I was perusing through Swadharma’s vast collection of posts from its wide range of authors when I found a post called the ‘Intersection of the Four Yogas’. Sonali states how each of the four yogas is a separate path to the same goal, which is, of course, oneness with God. However, I’d like to kind partially disagree with that statement. Although I agree that each yoga provides for a different method of worshiping God, I feel that the four yogas work together to spiritually uplift the yogi, or the person practicing the yogas. Putting it plainly, how can one perform selfless service (Karma Yoga) without having discipline (Raja Yoga), devotion (Bhakti Yoga) and knowledge (Jnana Yoga)?

This makes life a tad bit easier for those of us that are enamoured by more than one of the four yogas. I, for one, am very much interested by Karma Yoga and the selfless service that I am able to perform while practicing that yoga. At the same time, I truly enjoy the aspect of Bhakti Yoga where I am singing and getting lost in the bhajans and other songs in the name of God.

At the end of her post, Sonali wrote:

…this way, people can choose a path based on what fits them most! … Vedanta seems to give every individual the chance to excel in a chosen path — forcing us to follow the path of another will simply hinder our progress. This, is the idea of swadharma — to each, his own.

I completely agree with that. I’d like to simply add on that although one may choose one of the yogas as their main path, he or she will still inevitably practice the other yogas. The importance one gives to each yoga may vary as time progresses, but the four yogas will remain constant.

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Silence

Saketh — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:32:12 +0000

We spend time with the people around us talking — what we think, we say. Email is a slower medium, giving us a moment to review our thoughts before we submit them to someone else’s judgment. It is hard to focus on silence when communication is so easy. For example, I am communicating to you right now.

Various spiritual traditions ask for silent prayer — even our culture contains a “moment of silence” in reverence. Swami Vivekananda writes in his lessons on Raja Yoga:

“I meditate on the glory of that being who created this universe; may he illuminate my mind.” Sit and meditate on this ten or fifteen minutes.

Tell your experiences to no one but your Guru.

Talk as little as possible.

There are two things that make me feel the need to talk to others — feeling good, and feeling bad. When feeling good, I want to share my excitement; when feeling bad, I want someone to support me. Many self-help articles say that sharing our feelings with others is natural and healthy. This is good in most situations. But there are some things, such as excitement and self-pity and negative remarks about others, which are better kept silent. Speaking about them seems to perpetuate their existence. Phasing out excesses is the main emotional benefit of silence.

Silence is not the absolute shutting of your lips, but the commitment to saying only worthy things — talking as little as possible. By practicing silence, it is easier to change ourselves into whatever we want to be.

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Intersection of the four yogas

Sonali — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:26:52 +0000

In Karma Yoga, Swami Vivekananda says the following:

“So karma, bhakti, and jnana all meet here; and this is what was meant by all the great preachers of ancient times when they taught that God is not the world. The world is one thing and God is another; and this distinction is true. What they mean by the world is selfishness. Unselfishness is God.”

While learning about the four yogas as a high school student at home, I was always taught that the four ultimately lead to the same goal. It was only recently, though, that I made the following connection.

The four yogas are four different paths towards the same goal: realization that the internal atman is no different than the external Brahman. In this quote, Swami Vivekananda points out that this realization is simply that “unselfishness is God.” In one sense, unselfishness can be thought of as giving up the egoistic, self-centered, “lower” self in exchange for awareness of the eternal Self (note the capital S). All of this is known — but I only recently understood how it is that the four yogas arrive at the same realization:

Karma Yoga (the path of action): I am theirs (via selfless service)… Thus, I am He.
Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotion): I am His (via sincere devotion)… Thus, I am He.
Raja Yoga (the path of self-control and discipline): I can be He… Thus, I am He.
Jnana Yoga (the path of knowledge): I am nothing else… Thus, I am He.

In this way, people can choose a path based on what fits them most! Most people I know find it easiest to think of themselves as God’s children – and thus, it is easiest for most to follow Bhakti Yoga. From my experience in college so far, many of us are full of energy; we want to give our best to the world — and thus, maybe for us, it is best to do service as Karma Yogis while we are young and energetic. In this way, Vedanta seems to give every individual the chance to excel in a chosen path — forcing us to follow the path of another will simply hinder our progress. This, is the idea of swadharma — to each, his own.

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