Many of us practice Yoga to keep fit. Yoga has almost become synonymous with body postures or Asana as they are called. You will be surprised to know that health was never the primary goal of Yoga! Even the Hatayoga, the forerunner of modern Yoga, does not have health as the primary goal. It looks at health only as a prerequisite to further practice of Yoga and not as an end in itself.
Even when many modern Yoga teachers parrot the very second verse of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, before they start off with their physical postures, little do they realize that Yoga is predominantly a mind-oriented system. Patanjali very clearly spells out Yoga as a method of calming down the mind – Yogah citta vritti nirodhah.
But calming down is only a means and not the end in itself.
What then is the ‘real’ purpose of Yoga?
That is what is being discussed in this latest audiobook of mine titled “What is the ultimate goal of Yoga?”. This is the 9th and the last part of my audiobook series “The ultimate book on Yoga”.
Yoga has a long history. It starts much before Patanjali. Its roots are in the ancient Indian Vedas. Yoga is just one of the words used in the Upanishads to mean meditation or stilling of the mind. What does one achieve by stilling of the mind?
Ancient Indian philosophers viewed a human being as a soul encased in a body. This body acts as a tool to interact with the world. Mind acts as a bridge between the body and the soul. Using the body, the soul can experience all the enjoyments provided by the material world. But unfortunately, not without consequences. The soul starts getting identified itself with the body and that is when the problem starts. And mind is the one which traps the soul into this false association.
Any worldly enjoyment is not without side effects. So, the soul also undergoes suffering as a result of its over association with the body. More it enjoys, more deeply it gets trapped. What is the way out?
Simple. Just realize that you are not the body but the master of the body. Using the body is your choice, and you are not bound by the body. The body cannot fool you and take you away from your inherent blissful state. That is what Patanjali declares as “self-realization” – realizing that you are not the body, but the soul. When that realization dawns, all the misery would vanish in a jiffy.
But that is not as simple. The mind does not allow us to free ourselves from the traps of the body.
That is where the Yoga comes into picture. Yoga is a way of taming down of this mind and telling it that “I am the boss”. The entire 8 step process of Patanjali is a way of calming down of the mind which Patanjali terms as “citta vritti nirodhah”- restraining the activities of the mind.
This book goes into the details of various hurdles that prevent one from getting into such a completely calm mind. It also spells out methods to achieve that as enunciated by Patanjali.
Calming down of the mind is something that has been part of the ancient Upanishads, Bhagavad Geetha as well as the Buddhist practices. So, what Patanjali said was just a continuation of a long tradition that spanned thousands of years.
What will happen when you free yourselves from the clutches of the body, by attaining a completely calm mind? Different schools have different answers to this question. Patanjali talks about a state called Kaivalya. The Buddhists talk about Nirvana. The Upanishads sum all that up by calling it as ultimate realization or “Atma jnyan”. And that IS the ultimate goal of Yoga.
This book goes into the details of all these issues in a step by step fashion, delving into all the nitty-gritties, in a very logical and systematic way without resorting to any mysticism. What all this leads to is “universalization”. The book concludes by saying how this universalization benefits not just the individual who practices Yoga but also the entire world, not just the world of humans but also the entire animate and inanimate world; the entire universe, the very existence.
So, this is a book that takes you to the ultimate peak of human endeavor. No matter what your short-term goals are, you should be aware of this “ultimate goal” of Yoga.
As usual, use the link https://books2read.com/UltimateYoga to find this book in your favorite store. This link would take you to the first part of the series. Some stores may list the current part explicitly as a book in the series titled “The Ultimate book on Yoga”, some may show it as “other related books”. In some stores you may have to explicitly search for it using the title in the search box. I am sure that you will find this book very interesting and useful.
I hope your book answers these questions that arose in my mind even as I heard you- 1. why should we control/ manipulate our mind or thoughts and not just allow it to take its natural course like all creatures ( I am aware that we are more intelligent)2.if we have been given the senses and sense organs to enjoy the world around why are we called materialistic and made to feel guilty about it? 3.How about that human population that live and die without being aware of any of these philosophies?
ReplyDeleteIt is for you to judge if the book answers questions in your mind by reading/listening to it ;-) So, do listen to it. It is meant for that.
Delete1. You mean like, just jump at the food whenever and wherever you see it like an animal does ? or when you see another of opposite sex ?
2. You have a point. The senses are given for enjoying. Ancients recognize that. Their caution is only when you over use them without prudence.
3. And so many animals, worms, insects and the like who also know no philosophy! They too exist. Don't they ?
Jokes apart - Yoga is not meant for someone who wants to live slightly better than an animal bound by instincts and lacking discretion. Only reading the book or listening to it completely would convince you about the fallacy in your arguments. So, do read/listen and THEN come up with questions ;-))