Yoga reminds us of our spiritual practices, such as
prayer, contemplation and meditation, in contrast to our everyday
responsibilities and activities. In meditation we frequently refer to our inner
being, the plane of the cerebrospinal axis and the seven subtle centres
(chakras) in which the spiritual activity of yoga (union) takes place for the
purpose of soul or Self realization.
Interfering with meditation are two opposing forces:
the discriminative intelligence (buddhi) and the sense conscious mind (manas).
Buddhi or intelligence draws the consciousness toward
the soul, Self; manas or the sense mind engages in external sensory activities
of the body, and thus with the world of delusive relativities, or maya.
On the spiritual path we need to go past the ego. We
can do this in part by impartial intuitive self analysis. We need to be able to
stand aside and observe ourselves without any prejudice as we evaluate our
thoughts and actions accurately.
Introspection is the power of intuition by which the
consciousness can watch the thoughts. In other words, it is the impartial
witness.
Intuition does not reason, it feels, not with biased
emotion, but with clear, calm intention.
The awakening practicing yogi is not only confronted
with the external world, which is the experience of everyone, but also with the
internal restless forces arising from the mind and his desire and effort to
still the mind in order to meditate.
The yogi meditates with the purpose to re-establish
himself in the soul’s inner world, the subtle centres of life and consciousness
in the spine and brain.
“Neither shall they say, Lo here or lo there, behold
the kingdom of God is within you”. (Luke 17:21) KJV
In practical terms, it is suggested that people on
the path to higher conscious living practice nightly introspection, for the
purpose of living in harmony with themselves and the divine plan to draw souls
back to Itself and to discern whether the benevolent or malevolent forces have
won the day
The
organization of the human body
The human body and mind reveals in its detailed
perfection, the presence of a divine plan.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that
the spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
The Spirit of God, His reflection in man, is the
soul. The soul according to yoga makes its entry into matter as a spark of life
and consciousness when by the sperm and ovum unite. As the body develops, this
original seat of life remains in the medulla oblongata, which is referred to as
the mouth of God, or the gateway through which the soul makes its entrance into
the body.
According to yoga, the soul is imprinted with
karmically designed patterns of various phases of life to come.
When the soul enters, it is wearing two subtle
bodies, a causal form which in turn is encased in an astral form. The causal
body is the cause of the astral or subtle body and the physical body.
According to Sankhya Yoga, the instruments, by which
we think and emote, are formed of 19 principles of the subtle or astral body.
They are:
Intelligence (Buddhi), ego (ahamkara), feeling
(chitta), mind (manus sense consciousness);
5
5 instruments of action: the ability to procreate,
excrete, talk, walk, and exercise or manual skills;
5 instruments of prana: crystallization,
assimilation, elimination, metabolization and the circulatory functions of the
physical body.
These 19 powers of the astral body are what build,
maintain and enliven the gross physical form.
The centres of life and consciousness from which
these powers function is the astral brain (the thousand petaled lotus) of light
and the astral cerebrospinal axis or Sushumna (also referred to as path of
God), containing six subtle centres or chakras. These centres are located in
relation to the physical body in the medulla and in the five centres in the
spine: The cervical opposite the throat, dorsal opposite the heart, lumbar
opposite the naval, sacral opposite the generative organs and the coccygeal, at
the base of the spine.
From these centres of life and consciousness in the
medulla, the seat between the eyebrows in the frontal part of the brain, one
can experience Universal or Cosmic Consciousness, It is from here where the
soul reigns supremely, but when the soul descends into the body consciousness
and comes under the influence of maya (cosmic delusion) and avidya (individual
delusion) which creates ego consciousness and separation, it takes on all the
limitations of the body.
In the macrocosm of creation a struggle between
Spirit and Nature is also going on. Everywhere on earth we are witnessing the
silent clash between perfection and imperfection. The flawless patterns of
Spirit strive ceaselessly against the distortions of maya (delusion).
Similarly in the microcosm the human body and mind
are the battleground between wisdom and avidya (ignorance).
The following will illustrate the interaction
between Spirit and Nature.
Purusha or Spirit and Prakriti, Nature or Energy
Purusha or Spirit is Pure Consciousness, Existence,
Passive Awareness, and Bliss.
Prakriti, Nature, Energy or Maya which veils Purusha
is the creative force of the universe, the first manifestation out of Purusha.
Individually Purusha is the Self in us, or the Atman
in Sanskrit.
The World is not part of Purusha, as Purusha or
Spirit has no parts. The World is subject to change, Purusha is changeless.
What does this tell us?
It implies that Purusha is unaffected, as a witness,
by all manifestations of this energy of Prakriti or Maya.
Purusha is the sole changeless Reality.
A question we may ask is, how does a subject/object
distinction exist if Prakriti or Nature is one?
Example: a person driving a car sees himself
(subject) distinct from the car (object).
The answer is that the distinction is unreal, as
both the person and the car are part of Maya (illusion).
We are so used thinking that the phenomenal world
and all the objects in it are the only reality. But in Reality according to
Yoga, only that is real which is permanent and changeless, Spirit.
It is important that we grasp this concept which
indicates, that when we are in the ego state, we see ourselves as being separate
from the source or Spirit (Purusha), we also see ourselves and everything else,
separate from us. We need to realize, that everything in the phenomenal world
is part of Maya, or is not what it appears to be.
The yogi who is fully liberated and immersed in God
can say that all actions belong to the domain of delusion and should be
surrendered, keeping the soul in an unbroken ecstasy with God.
In complete liberation with Spirit, all forms and
action can be spoken of as delusive, for Spirit in the unmanifest state is
beyond all vibrations and hence beyond all action.
The ultimate reality of all things is Purusha, is
Spirit and by knowing it, all distinctions and separations vanish.
“I and the Father are one”.
John
10:30
In the above state of consciousness, good and evil
becomes a figment of the ego. The Spirit (Purusha) stands as the witness. On
realizing the Purusha (Spirit) or (Self) there is no creation, nor destruction.
There is only One, the Infinite, God transcendent.
Our purpose is to awaken from illusion to Self and
God realization, by identifying with our true nature, which is spirit rather
than matter, (body, mind and ego).
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be
born of Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:5
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