{"timeout":"7000","width":"990"}
  • Wisdom for practice
  • Wisdom is applied knowledge
  • Wisdom spreads itself

Wisdom for practice

Wisdom is for practice, not for continuous speaking. If we keep on speaking about the Masters, the Rays, and the Hierarchies, we are only missing our duties for the present.

Wisdom is applied knowledge

Knowledge, when applied becomes wisdom. We gain a lot of knowledge, but it has to be applied in daily life, then it transforms itself into wisdom. Through wisdom we will experience the existence.

Wisdom spreads itself

We need not be anxious to spread the wisdom without working it with ourselves. It is a wrong understanding if one thinks that he can spread wisdom. Wisdom knows how to spread itself. It only needs channels.

Yoga - The Path of Synthesis

Unity and Synthesis

Lotus If we bring together the individual petals of a flower and tie them with a string in the form of a flower, the parts form a unity. If, however, we observe a flower without plucking it, the petals of the flower are already in oneness. Something constructed is a unity, while something created by the Nature has come into being on account of Synthesis. Synthesis is the background of every existence. The awareness of the Synthesis of all planes of consciousness, which can be experienced by man, is called Yoga in Sanskrit. So Yoga does not mean union or unity, but Synthesis. The practice of Yoga is for reaching the awareness of Synthesis. He who is attracted by this practice gets his impetus from the energy of Synthesis, no matter with which name it is called. Since “Yoga” means Synthesis, there can be only the one Yoga; if it were more, the many would have to be false yogas. But just like the flower has its plurality of petals, there are branches and subdivisions in the Yoga Path, the classical kinds of Yoga. As long as you understand them as branches, you are not lost in the anatomy of one part, but keep the consciousness of the whole.

Fiery Existence

According to the science of spirituality the entire creation is an expression of energy, of a fire of Existence expressing itself in different flames. The flames seem to be many, but are One in their essence. It is a fiery Synthesis, whose awareness is called in the East as Agni Yoga or Yoga of Fire. Three basic forms of fire are described in the scriptures; in more recent wisdom teachings they are called Electrical or Cosmic Fire, Solar or Soul Fire, and Fire by Friction. Our mind is one of the flames blown down from a subtler to the grosser and grosser existence, until in the dense planes we experience resistance and develop consciousness through our sensations. Through the contact of the mind with the body we begin to feel the existence of our bodies. In the imbalances and problems of our personality lives we experience the burning of the Fire by Friction.

Fire purifies, it burns all you give to it to ashes. On the evolutionary path, back from multiplicity to the original Fire of Existence, our thought, speech, and action are purged in a purification process through fiery aspiration. The age-old Path of Yoga teaches to neutralise the reactions of the mind and the senses towards objectivity to reach balance and poise. The practice of Yoga is a daily purification process, it keeps the mind clean and pure, so that it can reflect Truth. Thus, the individual consciousness can withdraw into the background of a greater consciousness. Yoga, however, is nothing out of touch, but is lived in daily life. Yoga is not a part time job, but a way of life. To read about Yoga doesn’t help at all, there should be an interest in practising. It is a conscious decision to take to the path and to not stop until the awareness of Synthesis is reached.

The Eight Steps of Yoga

According to the Yoga aphorisms of Patanjali the practice of the process comprises eight steps, which are to be followed systematically. Many specialise in some steps, for example body exercises or certain meditations and are satisfied with it. Though essential, this by itself cannot be called yoga.

The first step is called Yama, which means regulation - regulating the activity of the mind and body: Regulate the timings of work, food, rest, sleep, and then your thoughts.

The second step is Niyama, which means rectification - eliminating all what is not required: Eliminate that which is not good for the balance of mind and body. Leave aside foods that are not nutritive though tasteful, and follow a selective way of diet. Even people who are not yoga-students can follow the basic principles of yogic diet and rhythmical life.

The third step is called Asana. It should not be confused with the physical asanas, like many yoga-books do; all physical exercises belong to the first two steps. According to Patanjali ‘asana’ means finding stability in ourselves. The stability is the ‘I AM’ in us. The ‘I AM’ in us does not belong to us, but we belong to the ‘I AM’ and form a part of the light. When we begin to regularly think of the ‘I AM’ in us, we create an inner centre of action. We act from within and not as a reaction to the environment.

The fourth step is called Pranayama. Prana is the pulsation of the vital body. Pranayama is not a con-trolling of the breath, but the process of regulating the various pulsations in the body. Keep conducting the respiration slow, soft and prolonged, while, at the same time, thinking about your breath in a leisurely fashion. Then, the mind learns to live with the breath and restores the rhythm. Step by step, the mind learns to live with the pulsation that controls the respiration. - These are the four preliminary steps.

The fifth step is called Pratyahara or absorption of the mind and the senses. The word Pratyahara means bringing back or retracing. The sound of the sacred word OM is uttered vocally in a slow, soft, and a pro-longed manner. The musical spell leads easily and without concentration to the absorption of the mind and the senses into the higher consciousness via the sound principle.

The sixth step is called Dharana and means contemplation or containing the mind by the background consciousness. You should focus the tranquilised mind upon the higher nature of man and the light shining from within. Then focus the same upon ‘another thing’ until it ceases and you merge with the Presence.

The seventh step is Dhyana, meditation in its true sense. The mind, which in Dharana was still directed to an object, is dropped off, and the object of contemplation is the only thing that exists for us. Through contemplation and meditation on the light we can establish contact with our higher selves, it is the Master of our Being. In the daily prayers we will be capable of listening to his will and to conduct our lives in accordance with this will. When we know how we can place our selves under the higher Self, we become capable to take the step to Samadhi.

The eighth step, Samadhi, means attainment of one-ness, to rule with equanimity over every plane of consciousness. In this state the border between the objective and subjective world disappears, the observer gets absorbed into existence and doesn’t exist for anything else but THAT. In the experience of Samadhi there is no time, until you return to the mind. It cannot be described, not even with many words. It is a natural state, be the man in the objective or the subjective world. Just a look or a word of a being with this awareness can transform a man and lift up the imprisoned soul.

Everyone can make himself perfect through the Yoga practice even while living in the world and performing his duties. The success does not lie mainly in a scientific practice of Yoga-rules, but in serving humanity and practising love. It is the absorption of the lower mind into the higher consciousness that is required. Instead of trying to concentrate the mind, a yogic student should think of the Master. Then the Master elevates him to the state of meditation, preservation and oneness with the whole creation.

Sources used: E. Krishnamacharya: The Yoga of Patanjali / Agni Yoga - Yoga of Synthesis. K. P. Kumar: The Teachings of Kapila / seminar notes. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India