In the west yoga has become synonymous with the aspect of physical exercises known as Hatha Yoga. However Yoga is a wide ranging set of spiritual teachings which seek to bring an aspirant closer to the Universal Self. The word yoga means “union” and in this case it is the union of a seeker with God or union with the transcedental consciousness. Sri Chinmoy says the essence of yoga is ” Yoga is our union with Truth.” Sri Chinmoy’s path encompasses all aspects of Yoga. The principle strands of Yoga being

1. Hatha Yoga – physical exercises

2. Karma Yoga – Yoga of selfless action

3. Raja Yoga – Yoga of gaining control over mind

4. Bhakti Yoga – Yoga of love and devotion

5. Jnana Yoga – Yoga of wisdom

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga is the science of practising different yoga postures for the improvement of physica health and general well being. It has been well documented that regular practise of Hatha Yoga can also improve posture and also contribute to an improved state of mind.

Hatha Yoga is not an integral part of Sri Chinmoy’s yoga. Meditation and spiritual growth depend primarily on a seekers sincere inner cry. Sri Chinmoy says of Hatha Yoga

“If your aim is just to keep the body relaxed and fit, then Hatha Yoga will certainly help you. But if you want to complete your course in the inner life, you have to enter into the school of concentration, meditation and contemplation.”

But Sri Chinmoy does place great stress on the importance of physical health. A healthy body is of great benefit in the spiritual life. To this end Hatha Yoga can complement meditation very well. Several of Sri Chinmoy’s students offer Hatha Yoga classes such as Lotus Yoga in Ireland and Yoga centres in San Francisco and Seattle.These hatha yoga classes are held independently of meditation classes, but often there is an overlap with people benefiting from both.

Karma Yoga

Karma yoga is the yoga of dedicated action or selfless service. The aim of Karma Yoga is to engage in activities without attachment to the result. An example of this selfless service is the humanitarian aid programme founded by Sri Chinmoy called “Oneness Heart Tears and Smiles.” Staffed by volunteers from the Sri Chinmoy Centres the OHTS has collected aid for distribution in over 100 countries. In the spirit of Karma Yoga the OHTS programme aims to be more than charity but to extend a feeling of oneness with those less privileged in material needs.

Sri Chinmoy says of Karma Yoga

“Karma Yoga is desireless action undertaken for the sake of the Supreme. Karma Yoga is man’s genuine acceptance of his earthly existence. Karma Yoga is man’s dauntless march across the battlefield of life… Karma Yoga claims that life is a divine opportunity for serving God” (3)

Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga sometimes known as ashtanga Yoga is the yoga of gaining control over the mind in order to achieve liberation. In Raja yoga the aspirant practices concentration and meditation in order to still the mind. The great proponent of Raja yoga was Patanjali who described the various practices in a series of aphorisms. Sri Chinmoy’s approach to Raja Yoga and meditation is to take a path of simplicity. Sri Chinmoy recommends focusing on the spiritual heart. It is here in the spiritual heart that a seeker can gain access to the inner wealth of peace, love and happiness. By meditating in the mind it is more difficult to be unemcumbered with thoughts.

“Our path is basically the path of the heart and not the path of the mind. … The heart is all love.

The mind is quite often all confusion. When we say the heart, we mean the spiritual heart, which is flooded with divine love.”

- Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy Centres offer free meditation classes in cities around the world. The courses are aimed at beginners of meditation and are based on the meditation teachings of Sri Chinmoy. The classes are free at the request of Sri Chinmoy that spirituality should be available to all and not have a monetary fee.

Bhatki Yoga

Bhakti yoga is known as the yoga of devotion. Here a seeker seeks to attain union with God through an attitude of love, devotion and surrender. Sri Chinmoy’s yoga places great emphasis on devotion. For example his numerous songs emphasize a strong devotional approach, as does his early poetry.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana Yoga is the yoga of wisdom. In Jnana yoga the aspirant strives to understand the mystery of the transcendental truth.

“A Jnana yogin declares: Neti, neti. “Not this, not this.” What does he mean? He means that there is a higher world than this sense-world, a higher truth than this earthbound truth. “

- Sri Chinmoy

In one sense Sri Chinmoy does not give great importance to the mind, advocating instead the path of the heart. However his prolific literary output serves as a guide for those seeking to overcome mental obstacles. In particular his short aphorisms and poems (which number over 100,000) and designed as spiritual instruction.

More on Yoga of Sri Chinmoy

By: R.Pettinger, Richard is a member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Oxford.

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With dozens of Hollywood celebrities following in their Guru’s lotus footsteps and the sick Western commercial behaviour exploding Yogas popularity to a system that simply enhances people’s health, Yoga remains a system of spiritual unity of mind, body and soul among millions of Indians and many others from Eastern beliefs, as it has been for over five thousand years. As a result, some forms of yoga have gained significant popularity outside India, particularly in the West during the past century.

Yoga is a form of mysticism that developed on the Indian subcontinent in the Hindu cultural context. The origins of Yoga are difficult to track due to the lack of recorded testimony. One of the closest meanings of Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word “Yuj” which it is generally translated as “union” or “integration” of the individual soul with the cosmos, or higher self.

Since the goal of Yoga dwells above any bodily consciousness, it has both a philosophical and a practical dimension to achieve that ideal state. On one hand, the philosophy of yoga manages the relation of both the individual soul and the cosmos. This universal philophy enjoins the practitioner to pursue his or her own path to enlightenment. And on the other hand, its practice can be any exercise or activity that approaches the yoga practitioner to self-realization.

Four Paths of Yoga

Special practical yoga techniques have been developed by experts in yoga. Traditionally, they have been classified into four categories or paths: the path of meditation (Raja Yoga), the path of devotion (Bhakti Yoga), the path of selfless service to the Divine (Karma Yoga), and the path of intellectual analysis or the discrimination of truth and reality (Jnana Yoga).

These Yoga techniques cover a broad range, encompassing physical, mental, and spiritual activities.

o Raja Yoga involves psycho-physical meditational techniques to attain experience of the truth and finally achieve liberation described in Hindu thought to be moksha. The basis of ashtanga yoga is the Yoga sutras (Sanskrit Verses) of Patanjali. We will consider the different aspects of yoga while remaining under the guiding principles of Patanjali’s Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga). Raja Yoga is a comprehensive yoga system which deals with the refinement of human behavior and personality through the practice the Yama (restraint) and Niyama (disciplines); attainment of physical health and vitality through Asana (postures) and Pranayama (pranic breathing techniques); management of mental and emotional conflicts and development of awareness and concentration through Pratyahara (sensory withdrawal) and Dharana (concentration); and developing the creative aspect of consciousness for transcendental awareness through Dhyan (meditation) & Samadhi (absorption in the universal identity).

o Bhakti Yoga is the Hindu term for the spiritual practice of fostering of loving devotion to God, called Bhakti. Traditionally there are 9 forms of bhakti yoga.

Sravana (hearing of God’s Lilas and stories), Kirtana (singing of His glories), Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence), Padasevana (service of His feet), Archana (worship of God), Vandana (prostration to Lord), Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God), Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self). The nine modes of Bhakti are the ways in which a devotee attains the Supreme Ideal of life. A devotee can take up any of these paths and reach the highest state. The path of Bhakti is the easiest of all and is not very much against the nature of human inclinations.

o Karma Yoga focuses on the adherence to duty (dharma) while remaining detached from the reward. Karma means to do, action, including those acts done by the individual from birth to death. “Karma Yoga is the selfless devotion of all inner as well as the outer activities as a Sacrifice to the Lord of all works, offered to the eternal as Master of all the soul’s energies and austerities,” the Bhagavad Gita says. Following the practice of Karma yoga, an individual becomes true spiritual seeker and realizes his true nature as Atman and he lives in this world, works for this world and still stays untouched from the grossness of the mundane pleasures, thus doing immense good to the society while on his path to salvation and spiritual freedom.

The Swami Sivananda Yoga Venanda Center sums up karma yoga into five actions:

Right Attitude

It’s not what you do that counts, it’s the attitude while doing it that determines if a job is a karma yoga job, i.e. a liberating job, or a binding job.

Right Motive

Same as attitude. It is not what you do that counts but your real motive behind it.

Do your duty. Give your best. Give results.

o Jnana Yoga. This is the most difficult path, requiring tremendous strength of will and intellect. Taking the philosophy of Vedanta the Jnana Yogi uses his mind to inquire into its own nature. We perceive the space inside and outside a glass as different, just as we see ourselves as separate from God.

Jnana Yoga leads the devotee to experience his unity with God directly by breaking the glass, dissolving the veils of ignorance. Before practicing Jnana Yoga, the aspirant needs to have integrated the lessons of the other yogic paths – for without selflessness and love of God, strength of body and mind, the search for self-realization can become mere idle speculation.

Jnana yoga teaches that there are four means to salvation:

Viveka – Discrimination: The ability to differentiate between what is real/eternal (Brahman) and what is unreal/temporary (everything else in the universe.)

Vairagya – Dispassion: After practice one should be able to “detach” themself from everything that is “temporary.”

Shad-sampat – The 6 Virtues: Tranquility (control of the mind), Dama (control of the senses), Uparati (renunciation of activities that are not duties), Titiksha (endurance), Shraddha (faith), Samadhana (perfect concentration).

Mumukshutva – Intense longing for liberation from temporal limitations.

Alma De la Cruz, a staff mystic employed by http://www.psychicrealm.com, has a profound personal history where she has unabashedly delved deep into the heart of occult mysteries for an extensive period of her life. Her name literally means ?Soul of the Cross? in Spanish. Currently she is working publishing a manuscript that delves into the mysteries of Hispanic new age beliefs incorporating old insights with new spiritual methodologies. Check out her bi weekly metaphysical column: http://www.newagenotebook.com where she takes a new twist, incorporating Latin shamanistic philosophies with leading edge occult beliefs.

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Yoga is known as the way to unite body, mind and spirit. Yoga has been proven as an effective way to reduce stress and to eliminate anxiety. It is this union with the infinite through meditation and samadhi that represent the ‘yoke’ (yoga) or bringing together of all aspects (body, mind,soul). In this way yoga is a direct personal experience of the interrelatedness of all life and of all living things. Yoga is much more than simple postures and breathing. Even though yoga is not always included as a relief, it has been shown to be extremely helpful for many suffering from medical ailments as well as emotional problems. Yoga is the art of uniting the individual soul within each of us with the Supreme Soul or “group soul”. Thus it is possible to unite kundalini sakti which is lies in the muladhara chakra (bottom chakra) with siva which is in the sahasrara chakra (top chakra).

Yoga Practice

The practice of Yoga bestows a rich and full life on each one who takes it up. The practice of self-restraint, mental strength, genuineness, compassion and selflessness add up to the practice of Yoga. The really amazing thing is that your yoga practice is always evolving and changing, so it rarely becomes boring as you work to achieve new levels of consciousness expansion.

Meditation

A full yoga session should exercise nearly every part of the body and also include relaxation, pranayama and meditation. Pranayama is also known as breath control practice and includes breath exercises which your instructor will show you.

Health

The Essential Benefits of Yoga include health (back pain) and emotional problems (panic, nerves) and related issues. Genuine yoga has the ability to change your life, habits, and body. You may notice increased energy, vitality, longevity and a new (higher) level of health. Those who are strong and healthy can do yoga even after 50 years of age or older. The purification of kriyas of and asanas (body positions) ensure a healthy body and may even free it from ailments. The practice of Yoga Asanas may help to prevent disease and even maintains a high level of health, vigor and vitality. It’s possible that you will also breathe more easily, find new energy, you may notice that your circulation improves; your blood pressure normalizes and you will have an much easier time coping with the stress of daily living.

Weight

If you’re overweight yoga has been shown to possibly help you make the lifestyle changes necessary to drop extra pounds. Many people come to yoga because of back pain, sciatica, or neck, breathing, heart problems, anxiety, diabetes, stress disorders, ulcers, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, or they just want to lose weight. People who suffer from obesity dealing with constipation or dyspepsia will especially find that daily yoga practice is useful. Yoga is also ideal for those that are overweight, elderly, or pregnant. If you practice asanas (poses) regularly, your body will gradually achieve a much greater endurance, your spine will eventually become more flexible. Eventually your body will come to its natural weight and rid itself of toxins that may have built up with years of poor living.

Exercises

Exercises should provide both recreation and physical and mental development. Timing in movement exercises is known as Trul khor or union of moon and sun (channel) prajna energies. If you are wise enough, after a perusal of the different exercises, you can easily pick up the right method of Sadhana that suits you best and attain success. Ordinary physical exercises develop the superficial muscles of the body only. Yogic exercises when practiced regularly in the right way, will surely bestow on you all that you want.

Video

Classes offered by registered Yoga instructors are available locally as well as instructional print materials and video sources at your local library. You can also learn yoga from books and videos. What can you expect at a yoga class or when you watch a yoga video. You can zoom in and out on the video, back up, pause. However, books and videos have their place, too. Books, videos and website can be a great help, but nothing beats a live instructor. If you’re working from books, try The Sivananda Companion to Yoga; videos, both Lilias Folan and the Yoga Journal offer excellent intro videos (try your local library); or try practicing the postures outlined on the Yoga Site’s Posture Page.

Teaching

Teaching a blend of different styles of Yoga, and Integral in particular. Because its emphasis is on the body through asana and pranayama practice, many western students are satisfied with the physical health and vitality it develops and are not interested in the other six limbs of the complete Hatha yoga teaching, or with the even older Raja Yoga tradition it is based on. “There’s a great deal of crossover among the various yoga schools, and there’s even a diversity in teaching approaches within each discipline. Today, yoga classes teaching the art of breathing, meditation and posing are offered nearly everywhere – from trendy health clubs in big cities to community education classes in small towns.

Specialized Yoga Teaching

Very specialized teaching for small groups and private clients, in a most intimate and peaceful setting. Therefore in order to understand the real meaning of the scriptures or the teachings of the prophets, one must acquire inner experience through the practice of spiritual disciplines. Kripalu Yoga, stemming from the teachings of Swami Kripalu and brought to America in the 1960s by his disciple Yogi Amrit Desai, emphasizes how you practice as much as how you live your life. It also helps to improve posture by teaching relaxation of the neck, shoulders and upper back, easing tension that can trigger aches and pains in the back.

Yoga Mats

A typical beginner level yoga class begins with students laying their yoga mats in rows with space between neighbors so there is room to perform certain poses. Yoga equipments such as yoga mats, yoga clothes, etc, can be a great help for the people who want to practice yoga as they help the yoga practitioner get deeper into the yoga poses.

Yoga Clothes

Yoga clothes, while stretchy, don’t have other features particular to the activity, as padded biking shorts do. Yoga equipments such as yoga mats, yoga clothes, etc, can be a great help for the people who want to practice yoga as they help the yoga practitioner get deeper into the yoga poses.

Brett Simpson has practiced yoga for many years. For more useful articles, videos and a free eBook: Easing Your Stress With Yoga, visit his ~Dream Yoga~ website.

~Dream Yoga~
Your Yoga Resource
http://www.dreampublishers.com/healing/yoga

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