Astanga
Yoga :Yoga
advocates control over the body the senses and the mind.It does not want to
kill the body;on the other hand,it recommends its perfection.A sound mind needs
a sound body.Sensual conquered.To
overcome them,yoga gives us the eightfold path of discipline(ashtanga yoga)
1.Yama: It means
abstention and includes the five vows of Jainism.It is abstention from injury
through thought,word or deed (ahimsa),from falsehood (satya),from
stealing(asteya),from passion and lust(brahmacharya) and from avarice
(aparigraha).
2.Niyama : It is
self-culture and includes external and internal purification
(shaucha),contentment (santosha),austerity (tapas),study (svadhyaya) and
devotion to God (Ishvara pranidhana).
3.Asana : It means
steady and comfortable posture.There are various kinds of postures which are a
physical help to meditation.This is the discipline of the body.
4.Pranayama : It
means control of breath and deals with regulation of inhalation,retention and
exhalation of breath.It is beneficial to health and is highly conducive to the
concentration of the mind.But it must be performed under expert guidance
otherwise it may have bad after-effects.
5.Pratyahara : It
is control of the senses and consists in withdrawing the senses from their
objects .Our senses have a natural tendency to go to outward objects.They must
be checked and directed towards the internal goal.It is the process of
introversion.
These five are called external aids to yoga,while the
remaining three which follow are called internal aids.
6.Dharana : It is
fixing the mind on the object of meditation like the tip
of the nose or the
mid-point of the eyebrows or the lotus of the heart or the image of the
deity.The mind must be steadfast like the unflickering flame of a lamp.
7.Dhyana: It means meditation and consists in
the undisturbed flow of thought round the object of meditation.It is the
steadfast contemplation without any break.
8.Samadhi : It
means concentration.This is the final step in yoga.Here the mind is completely
absorbed in the object of meditation.In dhyana,the act of meditation and the
object of meditation remain separate.But here they become one.It is the highest
means to realize the cessation of mental modification which is the end.It is
the ecstatic state in which the connection with the external world is broken
and through which one has to pass before obtaining libertation.
Samadhi is of two kinds conscious or samprajnata and
supra-conscious or asamprajnata.In the former,consciousness of the object of
meditation persists,in the latter it is transcended.The former is Ekagra,the
latter is Niruddha.In the former the mind remains concentrated on the object of
meditation.The meditator and the object of meditation are fused together,yet
the consciousness of the object of meditation persists.This state is said to be
of four kinds:
1.Savitarka : When
the chitta is concentrated on a gross object of meditation like the tip of the
nose or the mid point of the eye-brows or the image of the deity.
2.Savichara : When
the chitta is concentrated on a subtler object of meditation like the
tanmatras.
3.Sanada : When
the chitta is concentrated on a still subtler object of meditation which
produces joy,like the senses.
4.Sasmita : When
the chitta is concentrated on the ego-substance with which the self is
generally identified.Here we have conscious ecstacy where individuality
persists.
Asamprajnata Samadhi is that supra-conscious concentration
where the meditator and the object of meditation are completely fused together
and there is not even consciousness of the object of meditation.Here no new
mental modifications arise.They are checked,though the latent impressions may
continue.If fire is restricted to a particular fuel,it burns that fuel
alone;but when that fuel has been completely burnt,the fire also dies
down.Similarly,in conscious concentration the mind is fixed on the object of
meditation alone and modification arises only in respect of this object of
meditation;but in supra-conscious concentration,even this modification
ceases.It is the highest form of yoga which is divine madness,perfect mystic
ecstacy difficult to describe and more difficult to attain.Even those who
attain it cannot retain it longer.Immediately or after very short time,the body
breaks and they obtain complete liberation.
Yoga generatesertain supra-normal powers.But they should be
avoided and attention should be fixed only on liberation which is the end of
human life.The ideal of kaivalya,the absolute independence and eternal and free
life of the Purusha,free fro
