Yoga: Stages in Yoga

By  

Yoga: Stages in Yoga

"Spiritual fervour precedes spiritual quietitude!"

A seeker asked, "What action shall I perform to attain God?" "If you wish to attain God" came the response, "there are two things you must know. The first is all efforts to attain God are of no avail."

"And the second?" the seeker asked.

"The second is that you must act as if you do not know the first!"

The lesson is clear: we cannot expect to act out of love unless we have schooled ourselves correctly and diligently in the practices that form it!

Thus, when the soul awakes...all sorrow vanishes!"

Remember, "Yoga and Spirituality should be our steering wheel ... not our spare tyre!"

Normally, your mind tosses before the sense objects like a ship in the ocean. But the rudder of the ship helps to steer it in a controlled way, in a specific direction. Like wise in the initial stages, the mind of the sadhaka (aspirant) tosses on the sea of sensory inputs.

But as you practice yogic techniques and advance into the various stages, soon you will come to understand, dissociate and curb the running mind. As you gradually learn to dissociate yourself from the transient joys and sorrows of the world received through the sensory inputs of the physical organs, you can slowly gather your mind, make it concentrate on itself and realize its own essence and finally and make it ascend to the supreme silence.

In this way, you practically experience the Reality that leads to the dawn of Bliss.

The Beginning Stage

When you first begin to practice yoga, the mind, like a child runs in different directions. For a while you may be able to stabilise your mind but the thoughts invariably get scattered.

It is at this stage that you have to exercise conscious control and practice the art of 'pratyahaar'. There are some practitioners who can control and bring the mind quickly to focus without much effort due to an inner state of calmness.

Once the mind is stabilised, it helps to fix one's attention and brings much peace. Even if the attention span is short, it at least helps control the mind and arrest its restlessness and constant thought-flux.

The Intermediate Stage

An uncontrolled and wavering mind is capable of wrecking the entire spectrum of spiritual efforts undertaken by the sadhaka.

So, when you have reached a stage where you can sufficiently concentrate for considerable time without wavering of attention, then it is time for ascending on this yogic pathway by intensifying one's sadhana through the rigorous practice of meditation (links) .The past tendencies normally try to reinforce and predominate when you try to meditate, but the extent to which you desist from these, will increase your spiritual potential and strengthen your will and open doors for further progress on the path of realizing the true nature of your own Self.

This stage can be easily understood by imagining the case of salt water in a tumbler. The salt is partially dissolved in water and there are a few undissolved particles left. The solution is not yet clear no uniform in its composition.

The Advanced Stage

"True happiness can be achieved only through a state of nothingness."

The supreme aim of all yogic exercises is to elevate the soul to higher levels of consciousness by strengthening the mental faculties.

Once the mind is strengthened and concentrated, it is easy to make it delve on itself and dissociate from ephemeral and perishable objects of the world and the senses.

At this stage, external objects and sensory inputs do not make any impressions or leave any residues in the lake of the mind. The waters of this lake become calm and placid.

The mind, thus, is totally focused on itself, one-pointed and impervious to external sensations.

This stage can be easily understood by imagining the case of salt water in a tumbler. The salt is fully dissolved in water and there are no undissolved particles left. But the solution is not uniform in its composition. Still, there is no proper mixing as one homogenous solution, as the water has not been stirred.

The Achievement Stage

"The goal of all yogic practices is mergence."

Your individuality ceases when you realise that you have become everything and you are everything.

Assertion of Spirit (Atma) is Truth, while that of nature (Prakriti) is falsehood.

This is the ultimate stage of yogic realisation. The spiritual practitioner ( sadhak ) has finally realised his Self (Atma or Universal Soul), by earnestly following the simple, but gradual process of yoga.

The Sadhak has become a siddha !

Pitfalls To Avoid

"Don't assume that simply because the water is calm that there are no crocodiles in it."

It is only when we put our trust in a situation for our personal sense of well being and achievement that we jeopardise both our happiness and our future.

When you start on the yogic path, initially you may experience a sense of lethargy...sometimes the mind may rebel ... it may seek out the easier ways, instead of adhering to time, controls and disciplines.

Beware! Or, rather "Be Aware "!!

The nature of the mind is such...and remember that you are doing yoga to go beyond your mind...not slipping back into the same web of illusions again and again!

Another important point to be remembered is that haste makes waste in this path. When you seek the Eternal, you need not be in a hurry. No need to rush. Just relax, be calm, collected. Stay cool. Collect your thoughts. Stabilise your mind. Gradually proceed further as elucidated in earlier sections.

.

.

See also: Yoga, Yoga, Yoga and Health, Yoga Systems, Yoga Positions)