Hi all

Namaskar

THE WISDOM OF YOGA 

Yoga is an ancient system of techniques for all-round health and well being of the individual. These techniques have been tested and refined over thousands of years, and are available to anyone willing to learn them. The scientific and easy-to-learn exercises provide a practical, natural and holistic way to achieve health and vitality. 

FINDING A BALANCE 

Yoga and meditation offers a simple and practical solution to many problems and help us to find a balance in our life. It enables us to deal effectively with the many challenges we constantly face, and to achieve the inner strength, success and happiness we all desire. 

ASANAS (YOGA POSTURES)

People tend to think of yoga as complicated stretching exercises. Yet the most helpful of these exercises - several from a vast array - are not very difficult to practice.  It only takes a little time to develop the flexibility of the joints. More importantly, asanas also work on a deeper level: by subtle pressure on the glands of our body, they balance our hormones. Hormones play a key role in our overall health and well-being. Almost all physical and mental diseases can be linked to an imbalance in the glands of our body.  

Practice of asanas is fundamentally linked to the effect on glands on hormones.  Without this understanding, the postures are mere exercises.  But with the proper understanding they become a subtle spiritual practice.

MEDITATION

There is more to yoga than asanas (postures). Meditation is a systematic and scientific way to gently focus the mind. The body's response to meditation is just the opposite of its reaction to stress. Meditation calms the central nervous system as well as our breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. The regular practice of meditation broadens the scope of your mind, helping you to develop a keener sense of intuition and a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you. People who meditate typically experience a state of deep inner peace and harmony, which in turn leads to more intense and lasting feelings of happiness and fulfilment. 

Many handy hints are available and when followed, produce great benefits.  These include: 
1. NO INTERRUPTIONS
2. TWICE A DAY
3. SAME TIME OF DAY
4. SAME PLACE
5. ERECT SPINE
6. EMPTY STOMACH

BENEFITS 
 
 deep relaxation 
 relief from tension and fatigue 
 energy enhancement
 greater body flexibility 
 better concentration 
 improved memory 
 stronger will power 
 heightened self-confidence 
 sense of inner calmness 
 increased intuitiveness 

PHILOSOPHY

What about philosophy?  It is primarily an aid to personal understanding of the spirit of yoga.  This is also called jinana yoga (pronounced gyah-nah in Sanskrit) and teaches the ideal of non-dualism - that the Macrocosmic Manifestation is singular.  This is a wholistic and synthetic view.  We see the perceptions of countless distinct phenomena experienced through the limitations of our sensory organs in a new light.  What we experience through the external sense organs is a relative truth.  What we experience through 'internal sensing' or meditation is that which is lasting within - the essence of our existence.

In yoga the universe is a 'living' Consciousness and bears a relationship (direct and indirect) with every entity.  Meditation is not for experiencing some dry void or nothingness or for the mere counting of breaths, but for transcending the present mundane or ordinary level of consciousness and realising the oneness of the Universal Expression including, and especially, in our ordinary daily lives.  

Through the practice of meditation this is where the real experience comes.  That practice may take some time to be established in daily life, but nonetheless a useful and vital necessity.  

In that lifestyle, proper action is important also (as is proper thought).  This is called karma yoga in Sanskrit.  It means to regulate how you act in the world.

So starting with meditation, one then explores and expands the mind.  For this reason the yogic code or ethics - Yama and Niyama is given.  The principles of Yama are ahim'sa', satya, asteya, aparigraha and Brahmacarya.  The principles of Niyama are shaoca, santos'a, tapah, sva'dhya'ya and Iishvara pran'idha'na.

BEHOLD, OH KING! BEHOLD

Once a king asked a yogi to impart Knowledge to him in one word.  The yogi said, "All sight; you will get knowledge in one word." 

After a while a magician come to the king.  The king saw the magician moving two of his fingers rapidly and heard him exclaim, " Behold, O king, Behold.  The king looked at him amazed when, after a few minutes, he saw the two fingers becoming one .  The magician moved that one finger rapidly and said, "Behold, O King! Behold. "

The implication of the story is that the Supreme Consciousness and the Cosmic Operative Energy at first appear to be two. But after attaining knowledge of Brahma (God) one does not see the two.  Then there is no differentiation; it is One - without a second.  This is called advaita or non-duality.

Thanks

Dharma