Yoga: A Buffet of Happiness

D. Deepak Chadha

In the last post we introduced the nature of our True Self as Sat(existence), Chit(consciousness), and Ananda(bliss and happiness). We noted that when we stop the chattering of our monkey mind, we experience Ananda. This week we shall introduce a buffet of options for increasing our happiness through yoga. I use the word buffet from my first experience with Swedish Smorgasbord.

As a graduate student in Toronto, I was thrilled to hear of the new all you can eat concept. So I shelled out the $9.99, a considerable sum for a graduate student living on assistantship. I was sure that I was going to get my money’s worth. Actually I filled myself with soup, salad and bread and never even got to the main course or dessert. So when I hear many fellow students so focused on the incremental improvements of an asana or striving to get what they like and avoid what they dislike, I am motivated to share the wide offerings of the yoga buffet. My hope is that the reader will identify several other choices including their favorite asana and enjoy even more.

Yoga

Yoga simply means union with Brahman. A more practical description is dissolving our lower self into higher self or merging individual consciousness into universal consciousness. The perishable world in all the variations of name and form is simply a manifestation of the total energy form of the Brahman. Eventually it will dissolve back into the same energy form. Because of our ignorance arising from our sensory inputs, we forget our True Self. We start associating ourselves with the perishable world and in the process start suffering the pain and pleasures of this changing and finite world.

The Rishis (research scientists) tell us that when we think of Brahman and our True Self 24/7, we become the same and achieve Moksha (permanent happiness and bliss). The Advaita concept of Moksha does not require going someplace special like heaven above. One can experience Moksha even in this world and at any time. We have tried to clarify that all of us experience Ananda momentarily during our yoga practice, but don’t recognize its correct nature. Instead we continue to pursue the perishable objects and experiences that can at best give fleeting pleasure.

The Rishis discovered four methods of achieving Moksha; Raja Yoga, Karma (action) Yoga, Bhakti (devotion) Yoga and Jnana (knowledge) Yoga. I shall discuss only Raja Yoga, also called Ashtanga (eightfold path of Patanjali) Yoga. The objective is to explain the path to you, but Gentle Reader, you have to do your own work to enjoy any benefits from this knowledge. Knowing it but not doing it is like the person who knows of the medicine or even gets the medicine for his illness, but does not take it. If you are interested in learning about the other three types of yogas, you may choose to study the Bhagavad Gita under a qualified teacher.

For the sake of overview, I add that most of the Hindu sages have focused on practice of the other three yogas. For example, Bhagavad Gita mentions the Raja Yoga in a couple of shlokas (couplets) in chapter nine out of the 701 shlokas in the whole book. Hatha yoga is not even mentioned. My guru, Sw. Chinmayanada, used to say that doing body contortions is not any yoga. So there is lot more to learn and benefit from.

Any student interested in yoga will have to expend necessary effort to understand the path correctly and then practice the eightfold path. My favorite guidance from sage Adi Sankara is fitting to keep in mind. A good student has the responsibility of gaining the right knowledge from a qualified teacher and then accepting and practicing what agrees with his or her own experience. This is akin to the scientific approach where any results by any scientist have to be replicated by others to gain their acceptability. While this method gives freedom of choice, it also puts all the responsibility on the student. To succeed, the student must have a burning desire to achieve her objective. Without that commitment, no progress will follow.

Ashtanga Yoga

The eight steps of yoga are briefly explained below. Many yoga enthusiasts start at the third step. It is beneficial to incorporate practices from the other steps in your daily living; otherwise you will get only limited benefits.

These five practices relate to our physical body and its sense instruments.

1. Yama means the ultimate controller, which is the Lord of Death. In practical terms we are urged to practice controlling our mind by adopting non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence and non-craving for sensory pleasures. So the mind learns to control its attraction and repulsion for the five sense objects.
2. Niyama means regularity in cleanliness, contentment, self study, austerity and surrender to reduce our ego. In this stage one starts being oblivious to the attraction and repulsion of sense objects and experiences.
3. Asana or Hatha Yoga is what you are all familiar with. As we noted earlier, we gain a taste of our True Self.
4. Prana is the infinite and omnipresent power of the universe. The Rishis devised Pranayam to further reduce the chattering of our mind. Anybody that has practiced Pranayam knows how focused one gets when one has exhausted one’s ability to hold one’s breath.
5. Pratyahara means restraint of the senses in being attracted to objects. At this stage we are constantly aware of the insufficiency of sense objects and therefore are not chasing after them.

The next three steps relate to the subtle body of mind and intellect. The ultimate prize is long periods of meditation leading to Smadhi.

6. Dharana is fixing the mind to one spot or one idea. Japa, repetition of a mantra, is a very helpful practice to build Dharana capability. All of us experience Dharana in sports, music, dance, paintings, sculpture or enjoying nature. In my knowledge, only yoga builds on this experience to greater heights.
7. Dhyana is the ability to concentrate the mind on one thing for a longer period of time.
8. Smadhi is the ability to empty the mind of all the extraneous thought, but remain alert and conscious focused on our True Self. It differs from deep sleep in which both the physical and the subtle (mind and intellect) body are suspended, but the mind is not alert and conscious.

I conclude by reminding you that Ananda is the nature of our True Self. To access it, we need to learn to stop the chattering of our minds. Hatha Yoga gives a taste of what it can be. Adopting other yoga practices in our life can hasten to slow down and achieve the necessary introspection. The guiding objective is to detach from the sense objects and attach to the True Self. May He grant you all of your wishes!

Next week I shall describe some of the ‘why do we’ and how they accelerate our journey to permanent happiness.

Hari Aum

Shree Guru Bhayo Namaha

Hari Aum