Yoga

"Hatha Yoga cannot be regarded as an independent form. The growth of the spirit changes it into Raja Yoga. It is impossible to name anybody who attained through Hatha Yoga alone. Besides, in a world of darkness and prejudice, accomplishments through Hatha Yoga can even bring harm, by its strengthening of the astral body. The fakirs may adapt themselves to this world of darkness and unwittingly weaken the ascent of thought. Even a person sitting quietly and contemplating can attain further, because thought is the Raja of all that exists. Beauty is born through the lightning of thought. Truly, a flaming Bhakti can kindle new worlds with a thought. And the step of a Jnani will be but the smile of a Raja-Bhakti. Therefore Hatha and Jnana are not original and are insufficient. What sage of wisdom would not be the lord of love? 28."

"One must give attention to the middle brain, for in its development lies the attainment of yoga in life. This development, as experienced in one's life, proves to what extent the Yoga of everyday life is superior to any artificial ascent achieved in isolation from reality. 155"

"Urusvati knows how multicolored Agni Yoga is. An attentive eye can distinguish many tints in its flame. Surrounding conditions do of course affect the colors of the flame. And at different times different kinds of yoga are needed. One can perceive the magnificence of Raja Yoga, the radiance of Bhakti Yoga, and the tension of Jnana Yoga, but one can also see the ever present need for the luminous Karma Yoga. Labor is a constant during these days of mankind’s confusion. Thus, amidst the varied flowers of Agni Yoga we can find the stem of Karma Yoga, upon whose foundation humanity will find salvation. 558."

"Urusvati knows that all yogas demand profound discipline. This should be stressed, because some people think that there are yogas that do not require strictly disciplined conduct. They believe that some yogas are more difficult than others, and dream about following the easiest. But all require the same degree of inner discipline. For the yogi, there must be a great degree of tension of the psychic energy, because it builds an immunity that is so needed during the opening of the centers. The yogi has been compared to a person with flayed skin. This is a crude analogy, but not without truth. If the yogi did not develop immunity, he would not be able to endure the contact with the spatial currents. Urusvati knows that certain currents cause painful scraping and prickly sensations. One can imagine what might happen without the building of immunity! Some will be sure to smile when We say that the main factor in the acquiring of immunity is a good thought. But one cannot become a yogi without acknowledging the power of good thoughts. Such thoughts are the best gatekeepers at the entrance to the Subtle World. So many people imagine themselves to be yogis, yet they are filled with malice! People assume that they will experience a sudden enlightenment that will by its own power carry them over all obstacles... 559."

"Urusvati knows that the Yoga of today—the link with the Highest—must be accomplished amidst the routine of everyday life. Not hiding from life, but transforming it is required. The fiery essence of the heart is its magnet. Precisely, the heart can open the entrance into Higher Worlds. No special asceticism is needed. Love, labor, and beauty are within the reach of all, under any conditions. Life must be affirmed upon these foundations. Children must be taught that they are the creators of their own happiness. Proper upbringing must precede formal education. Subtle energies are like a wondrous, many-stringed harp. The Thinker said, “Fiery Banner, illumine the Higher Path!” 812."

"I mean the whole thing about meditation and yoga is about connecting to the higher part of yourself, and then seeing that every living thing is connected in some way."

"The principle of Yoga is the turning of one or of all powers of our human existence into a means of reaching divine Being."

"All the various Yogas have had their place in the unfoldment of the human being. In the first purely physical race, which is called the Lemurian, the Yoga at that time imposed upon infant humanity was Hatha Yoga, the Yoga of the physical body, that Yoga which brings into conscious use and manipulation the various organs, muscles and parts of the physical frame... In Atlantean days, the progress of the sons of men was procured through the imposition of two Yogas. First, the Yoga which is called by the name of Laya Yoga, the Yoga of the centres which produced a stabilizing of the etheric body and of the centres in man and the development of the astral and psychic nature. Later on, Bhakti Yoga, growing out of the development of the emotional or astral body, was incorporated with Laya Yoga and the foundation of that mysticism and devotion... Now... the subjugation of the mental body and the control of the mind is brought about through the practice of Raja Yoga, and the fifth initiation, that of adept, is the goal for evolving humanity."

"Thus all the Yogas have had their place and served a useful purpose and it will become apparent that any return to Hatha Yoga practices or those practices which deal specifically with the development of the centres, brought about through various types of meditation practices and breathing exercises, is, from a certain aspect, a retrogression. It will be found that through the practice of Raja Yoga, and through assuming that point of directional control which is to be found by the man who centers his consciousness in the soul, the other forms of Yoga are unnecessary, for the greater Yoga automatically includes all the lesser in its results, though not in its practices."

"Yoga is the unifying art of transforming dharma into action, be it through inspired thought, properly nurtuting our children, a painting, a kindness or an act of peace that forever moves humanity forward."

"Yoga is a science, and not a vague dreamy drifting or imagining. It is an applied science, a systematized collection of laws applied to bring about a definite end. It takes up the laws of psychology, applicable to the unfolding of the whole consciousness of man on every plane, in every world, and applies those rationally in a particular case. This rational application of the laws of unfolding consciousness acts exactly on the same principles that you see applied around you every day in other departments of science."

"The Self in you is the same as the Self Universal. Whatever powers are manifested throughout the world, those powers exist in germ, in latency, in you.... If you realize the unity of the Self amid the diversities of the Not-Self, then Yoga Will not seem an impossible thing to you."

"For all the practical purposes of Yoga, the man, the working, conscious man, is so much of him as he cannot separate from the matter enclosing him, or with which he is connected. Only that is body which the man is able to put aside and say: "This is not I, but mine.""

"That which we know as Yoga is the method by which evolution is quickened in the individual, and all the powers of the Self, up to the threshold of divinity, may by it be brought into manifestation in the man of the present. That is why Yoga training was necessary for the ancient scientist; he must develop in himself the three aspects of God, if he were to understand them as manifested in the universe around him. Now, at our own stage of evolution, it is specially the life of Brahmâ—or the Brahmâ aspect of God—with which the human mind is coming into touch, because the mind in man is the reflection of the universal mind in Kosmos. That life is the life that is the force in the atom, that vivifies every atom, nay, that brings the atom into existence, as we shall see, and remains during the whole of the growth of the universe as the fundamental life that keeps those atoms as active particles building up innumerable forms."

"Self-healing is the privilege of every person. Self-healing is not a miracle and has nothing to do with doing something, being able to do something. Self-healing is a process that develops from the relationship of the body with the infinite power of the soul. It is an engagement, a unity – that is the science of the Kundalini Yoga."

"The attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga."

"Yoga (Sk.). (1) One of the six Darshanas or schools of India; a school of philosophy founded by Patanjali, though the real Yoga doctrine, the one that is said to have helped to prepare the world for the preaching of Buddha, is attributed with good reasons to the more ancient sage Yâjnawalkya, the writer of the Shatapatha Brâhmana, of Yajur Veda, the Brihad Âranyaka, and other famous works. (2) The practice of meditation as a means of leading to spiritual liberation. Psycho-spiritual powers are obtained thereby, and induced ecstatic states lead to the clear and correct perception of the eternal truths, in both the visible and invisible universe."

"Through practice [of yoga], I’ve come to see that the deepest source of my misery is not wanting things to be the way they are. Not wanting myself to be the way I am. Not wanting the world to be the way it is. Not wanting others to be the way they are. Whenever I’m suffering, I find this “war with reality” to be at the heart of the problem."

"Yoga is defined as a method – the process of nirodha (mental control) – by which union (the goal of yoga) is achieved. Yoga is therefore both the process of nirodha and the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process). The word yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state..., or as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation."

"The ego rules the mind because it links the “I” with the mind and body. If the “I,” which is another name for the self, were not identified with the mind and body, the ego would have no power. Self-study [svadhyaya], therefore, is the set of practices that investigates the nature of the self to discover its origin. When the origin is found to be separate from the body, the ego loses the battle and peace is attain."

"Samyama, which is the application of concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and superconscious trance (samadhi) in lightning succession, is practiced with the intent to gain specific knowledge of the object of concentration. The object is seen from all sides, in all its aspects, with full depth and breadth. As such, this complete absorption of the mind using the process of samyama brings complete and specific knowledge of the object. This power of knowing is vibhuti."

"Symbolically, Ganesha represents the basic unity of the macrocosm and microcosm, the immense being (the elephant) and the individual being (man). This highly implausible identity is however a fundamental reality and the key to all mystic or ritual experience as well as to Yogic possibilities. Without being aware of Ganesha, and without worshipping him, no accomplishment is possible."

"Indian forms of yoga have spread throughout the world due to ...their objectives of promoting health and harmony. Japan is but one of many countries that have received these age-old teachings. While Indian yogic discipline]s (Hatha yoga in particular) have become well known, not everyone realizes that certain distinctive Japanese versions of Indian spiritual paths have evolved. Perhaps the first of these unique methodologies is the art of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, which was developed by Nakamura Tempu Sensei (1876–1968). In fact, Nakamura Sensei is often considered to be the father of yoga in Japan."

"The word "yoga" literally means "uniting", because when you're doing it you are uniting your mind and your body. You can tell this almost immediately because your mind will be thinking, "Ouch, that hurts," and your body will say, "I know." And your mind will think, "You have to get out of this position." And your body will say, "I agree with you, but I can't right now. I think I'm stuck."

"Yoga exists in the world because everything is linked."

"The worldly man lives in society, marries, establishes a family; Yoga prescribes absolute solitude and chastity. The worldly man is “possessed” by his own life; the yogin refuses to “let himself live”; to continual movement, he opposes his static posture, the immobility of āsana; to agitated, unrhythmical, changing respiration, he opposes prānāyāma, and even dreams of holding his breath indefinitely; to the chaotic flux of psychomental life, he replies by “fixing thought on a single point,” the first step to that final withdrawal from the phenomenal world which he will obtain through pratyāhāra. All of the yogic techniques invite to one and the same gesture—to do exactly the opposite of what human nature forces one to do. From solitude and chastity to samyama, there is no solution of continuity. The orientation always remains the same—to react against the “normal,” “secular,” and finally “human” inclination."

"Yoga, is a ’science’ of achieving the transformation of finite man into the infinite One, has to be recognized as something intrinsically Indian or, as ’a specific dimension of the Indian mind.’"

"Yoga does not remove us from the reality of responsibilities of everyday life but rather places our feet firmly and resolutely in the practical ground of experience. We don’t transcend our lives; we return to the life we left behind in the hopes of something better."

"A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves."

"Yoga involves a lot more than just striking poses. Traditional yoga has eight parts (angas or limbs). There are four practices and four experiences for which one should strive."

"A person is said to have achieved yoga, the union with Self, when the perfectly disciplined mind gets freedom from all desires, and becomes absorbed in the Self alone."

"The real Meaning of Yoga is a deliverance from contact with pain and sorrow."

"Warrior pose battles inner weakness and wins focus. You see that there is no war within you. You are on your own side, and you are your own strength."

"Chair pose is a defiance of spirit, showing how high you can reach even when you are forced down"

"I am losing balance is a pose, I stretch higher and God reaches down to steady me. It works every time, and not just in yoga."

"Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight or flight mode."

"There are many different schools of yoga and also several different aspects, including postures, breathing exercises and meditation....yoga can practiced by people of all shapes and sizes."

"...it is one of the few forms of exercise that has been studied separately in relation to depression. Yoga means ‘union’. It is often interpreted as the union of mind, body and soul, and can provide perfect harmony and balance."

"While millions around the world practice yoga for health and peace of mind, Russian anti-cultists see only a sinister plot."

"Yoga, ancient and perfect science, deals with evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one’s being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union –the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul."

"The feeling in the spiritual heart must be, “ I am not separate from asana, asana is not separate from me, I am asana and asana is me."

"Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured."

"You must purge yourself before finding faults in others. When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake. This is the way to take [[judgmen]t]] and to turn it into improvement. Do not look at others’ bodies with envy or with superiority. All people are born with different constitutions. Never compare with others. Each one’s capacities are a function of his or her internal strength. Know your capacities and continually improve upon them."

"When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world."

"Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul creates the symphony of life."

"Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits. Similarly, from a healthy person, smiles and happiness shine forth like the rays of the sun. The practice of yogasana for the sake of health, to keep fit, or to maintain flexibility is the external practice of yoga."

"When this body has been so magnificently and artistically created by God, it is only fitting that we should maintain it in good health and harmony by the most excellent and artistic science of Yoga."

"God, with the help of yoga, through gradual enfoldment and transformations is seen within the human body as Bliss and then again through yogas that Bliss being concentrated takes the form of a person and teaches the seer yogas."

"Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal.... But don’t approach yoga with a business mind looking for worldly gain."

"Yoga — that supreme bridge to cosmic attainment — has existed through all ages. Each Teaching comprises its own Yoga, applicable to that step of evolution. The Yogas do not contradict each other. As the branches of one tree they spread their shade and refresh the traveler exhausted from heat. His strength regained, the traveler continues on his way. He took naught that was not his, nor did he divert his striving. He embraced the manifested benevolence of space. He liberated the preordained forces. He mastered his single belonging. Do not reject the forces of Yoga, but like light carry them into the twilight of labor unrealized. For the future, we arise out of sleep. For the future, we renew our garments. For the future, we sustain ourselves. For the future, we strive in our thought. For the future, we gather strength. First we shall apply the counsels of life. Then we shall pronounce the name of the Yoga of the time approaching. We shall hear the advancing footsteps of the element of fire, but we shall already be prepared to master the undulations of the flame. Therefore, we hail the yoga of the past — the Raja Yoga. And we affirm that of the future — the Agni Yoga. Preface"