10
Jul
Posted by shakti, under Deep Analysis
Four Dimensions Of Yoga Ignite The Divine Spark
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There is within each individual a spark of the divine, call it the atman, the soul, the Bodhichitta or by whatever name. It is this spark that energises human consciousness… Every individual has a unique value, because he represents a special correlation of forces revolving around a spiritual core of which he may or may not be conscious. Yoga helps us join this inner spiritual core with the all-pervading divine. Four main paths of yoga are identifiable: the yoga of wisdom or jnana yoga, of love or bhakti, of work or karma and of psycho-spiritual disciplines or raja yoga. Jnana yoga involves intellectual discrimination between the real and the unreal, to access reality that lies behind the manifested universe. It is somewhat like the concept of Plato who said that all we see are shadows of reality thrown on the wall of the cave, while remaining unaware both of the actual figures and the light that shines on them from behind. This yoga is a movement into a new dimension of awareness in which we see the unity behind the diversity of the world around us. This vision of oneness — which the Upanishads call ‘Ekatvam’ — transforms the ordinary human being into a seer, one who sees the integral unity behind the multifarious and bewildering multiplicity of our daily existence. Sri Ramana Maharishi was a jnana yogi. If jnana yoga is the way of the refined intellect, bhakti yoga is the way of the heart lit by love and adoration of a personalised aspect of the divine… The opening of the heart centre is one of the most powerful methodologies for achieving direct contact with the divine… Karma yoga’s aspects have been expounded in the ‘Gita’. Act we must, whether it is the subconscious activities within our bodies, or the conscious acts that we perform in our daily lives. Without such action human civilisation itself would never have developed. But the major question is as to how these actions can be reconciled with the spiritual quest. Karma yoga addresses this concept. Every action that we undertake, big or small, must be dedicated to one’s chosen divinity. Every act becomes worship. Rather than being obsessed with the results we must act from what we consider to be highest level of our consciousness, inwardly dedicate that act to the divine and leave the results to unfold as they may. Actions flowing from hatred and fanaticism, cruelty and exploitation, can never be considered karma yoga because by definition they are incapable of being offered to the divine. Again good deeds by themselves, while preferable, do not constitute karma yoga unless there is a clear and unequivocal dedication to one’s chosen deity. Swami Vivekananda and Mother Teresa were karma yogis. Raja yoga is the royal path which involves psycho-spiritual practices including physical and breathing exercises that are known as yoga around the world. But only if they are directed ultimately beyond these to the quickening of spiritual consciousness. The basic theory revolves around the existence of a self-conscious spiritual power that is located at the base of the spine. With discipline and practice, this power can start to move up the spine, energising, as it rises, seven chakras or plexuses, which bring about incremental transmutation of consciousness, until finally the blazing light of this power — the Kundalini, the serpent power — pours into the cortex thus completing the process of spiritual transmutation. These four yogas are not necessarily mutually exclusive. |
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