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Kerala Yoga & Meditation
Yoga,
the science of man, based on ancient Indian wisdom and culture, is an art of
living a healthy, balanced, peaceful and contented life. Yoga, being a total
integrated system, studies man in his wholeness - body, mind and spirit and
is integrated to certain principles, ideas, values, attitudes and a way of life
for personal and social benefits.
Conceived by the great sages in their quest for self-realisation, it has come
to be recognised during its; long travails from the hermitages to the cities,
as the science of man, a philosophy old life, a code of conduct, an attitude
and an approach, as well as an art of living which is capable not only of ensuring
physical well-being, mental peace harmony, moral elevation and spiritual uplift
of man but also of transforming man from his gross animal existence to the sublime
heights of divinity.
It must, however be kept in mind that it is a long and arduous journey calling
for perseverance, persistence, dedication and total surrender.
There is no instant yoga. It is not a question of merely closing one's eyes
or of sitting in a posture. It involves cultivation of an attitude and approach
to life. It must not only be a philosophy to be imbibed but a practical philosophy
which must be lived. It is therefore, not enough to think of yoga but to do
it and to live it in our lives. It is also necessary to understand that yoga
is not a substitute for action. Human effort is indispensable. The transformation
is
not at the cost of action but to enable us to perform our duties more efficiently,
more effectively and honestly.
Yoga had recognised and accepted the importance of the mind and the subconscious
over the total human personality much earlier than modern psychology did in
its present form.Yoga is a stepwise, stage wise eight fold path to final liberation
from pain and suffering. These steps progressively take us to the highest state
of creativity, of discriminative knowledge and towards attaining the desired
perfection.
Eight stages in ashtangayoga :
Disciplined behaviour (yama)
Self purification (niyama)
Bodily postures such as the lotus position (asana)
Control of breathing (pranayama)
Control of the senses (pratyahara)
Fixing of the mind on a chosen object (dharana)
Meditation (dhyana)
Samadhi - a state of being where you experience absolute tranquility and well
being.
The
Eight Steps are:
YAMA : Conditional yoga behaviour, personal and social
NIYAMA : Attitude sublimate to yoga norms
ASANA : Discipline of the physical body
PRANAYAMA : Control over bio energy through respiratory action
PRATYAHARA : Withdrawal of the senses inwards through abstraction
DHARNA : Concentration
DHYANA : Meditation
SAMADHI : Tranconsciousness
Of these, the first five, which border on the Psychosomatic Approach, are referred
to as External (Bahiranga) yoga, popularly known as Hatha Yoga, while the latter
three, which directly affect the psyche are known as internal (Antaranga) yoga,
popularly known as Raja Yoga. It is almost impossible to try internal yoga(Raja
Yoga) for the average man before accomplishing the external one (Hatha Yoga).
The respective sequence of the eight steps as the standard methodology of yoga.
Yoga is based on a deep understanding of man and his position in this world
and was the first system evolved in the world to recognise the connection and
the interaction between body and mind. It studies in depth the very structure
of the human personality, through analysis the psychological complexities and
the cause of human pain, sorrow and suffering. It has laid down psychosomatic
means through its various psycho-physiological processes for dealing with the
body mind complex and tries to harmonize and integrate the human personality
at all levels and stages of life.
Yoga is basically a way of LIFE which has been evolved as a system to go beyond
the personality - complex and achieve absolute freedom-liberation of the spirit
from the matter.
