Yoga For The West
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94 pages.
YOGA FOR THE WEST
by Swami Sivananda
Table of Contents
| Publishers’ Note 1. This Is Yoga 2. God Exists: The Proofs 3. Nature of God 4. The Goal of Life 5. What Does Yoga Teach You? 6. The First Part of Yoga-Practice 7. Guiding Lights 8. Key to Peace 9. Yogic Home Exercises 10. The Science of Pranayama 11. Self-Culture 12. Meditation 13. Yoga Meditations–I 14. Yoga Meditations–II 15. Guide to Meditation 16. Cosmic Consciousness 17. The State of a Realised Yogi 18. Mystic Experience 19. Marks of Spiritual Progress Appendix: Wisdom of Sivananda |
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Publishers’ Note
The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root “Yuj” which means “to join.” Yoga is the science that teaches us the method of uniting the individual soul with the Supreme Soul, of merging the individual will in the Cosmic Will. Yoga is a perfect, practical system of self-culture. It is the discipline of the mind, senses and the physical body. It helps the student to attain perfect concentration of the mind, ethical perfection, moral excellence and spiritual calmness. Real Yoga is the attainment of the highest divine knowledge through conscious communion with God. Yoga transmutes the unregenerate nature of the student and raises him to the highest state of Divine Glory and Splendour. It bestows on him increased energy, vitality, vigour, longevity and a high standard of health. It brings a message of hope to the forlorn, joy to the depressed, strength to the weak, and knowledge to the ignorant. It kills all sorts of pain, misery and tribulation. By the practice of Yoga one can turn out efficient work within a short space of time and attain full success in every walk of life.
The present work, “Yoga for the West”, is meant not only for the Westerners, but also for all true seekers in the path of Yoga. This book is bound to quench the spiritual thirst in thousands of souls all over the world. It will he observed from a glance through theses pages, that this book brings Yoga within the reach of all, dispels wrong notions of Yoga as a Mystery of the Recluse, and awakens every man and woman to the truth that Yoga is the way of life.
–THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
Chapter I
THIS IS YOGA
Yoga is an exact science. It is a perfect, practical system of self-culture. It is the discipline of the mind, senses and the physical body. It helps the student to attain perfect concentration of the mind, ethical perfection, moral excellence and spiritual calmness. It is the master-key to unlock the realms of Peace and Bliss, Mystery and Miracle.
Yoga does not consist in sitting cross-legged for six hours or stopping the beatings of the heart or getting oneself buried underneath the ground for a week or a month; these are mere physical feats. Real Yoga is the attainment of the highest divine knowledge through conscious communion with God. The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root “Yuj” which, means “to join.” Yoga is the science that teaches us the method of uniting the individual soul with the Supreme Soul, of merging the individual will in the Cosmic Will.
Yoga transmutes the unregenerate nature of the student and raises him to the highest state of Divine Glory and Splendour. It bestows on you increased energy, vitality, vigour, longevity and a high standard of health. It will infuse in you a sense of security, a new strength, confidence and self-reliance. Yoga brings a message of hope to the forlorn, joy to the depressed, strength to the weak, and knowledge to the ignorant. It kills all sorts of pain, misery and tribulation.
By practice of Yoga you can turn out efficient work within a short space of time, resist temptations, remove disturbing elements from the mind and attain full success in every walk of life. Through the practice of Yoga you can control the subtle forces within the body and command nature. You can unfold all your latent faculties and develop physical, mental, supernatural and divine powers. The whole mystery of Nature will become an open book to you. You can live in the Eternal Light and Glory of God.
Chapter II
GOD EXISTS: THE PROOFS
You always feel “I exist.” You can never deny your existence: can you? So, denying your existence is quite absurd and illogical. Existence is God. Though you are finite, you are capable of having an idea of the most perfect Being which fills all space. This idea of infinite Being can arise only from an infinite Being. Hence Infinite or God exists. This is the ontological proof of the existence of God or Truth.
You can doubt the existence of your own self and God. But the doubter or denier always exists. The existence of the doubter is God or Brahman. You cannot think of a changing thing without thinking of something which is unchanging. Forms are finite. You cannot think of a finite object without thinking of something beyond, without thinking of the Infinite. This is the teleological method of proving the existence of God.
In this world of phenomena there is cause for everything. The law of cause and effect operates. There must be cause for this world, the effect. But you may say that this cause of the world may be the effect of some other cause. But you cannot stretch this kind of argument without ending it in infinite regress. A causeless ultimate Cause must be admitted in order to avoid logical fallacy. The causeless Cause is God, the creator. This is the cosmological method of proving the existence of God.
There are beauty, intelligent beings, luminosity, law, order, harmony in spite of apparent disorder and disharmony. There must be an Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent Being who governs and controls this vast universe. This is the theological method of proving the existence of God.
There is a display of intelligence in every inch of creation. The Divine Hand is operating everywhere. Can my brother, the psychologist manufacture a mind? Can the scientists explain whence the laws of nature are? It is obvious that ever since the beginning of creation some miraculous and mysterious power has been at work. You can call this “Mysterious Power,” or “Father in Heaven,” “Jehovah,” “Allah,” “Substance,” “Essence,” “Brahman,” “Ahur-Mazda.” Know Him, and all Power and all Knowledge shall be added unto you. Meditate. Realise.