TWAM TAT ASI - THOU ART THAT

The science of yoga. some random thoughts

It is a fashion to imitate the west. 

West was once sceptical of yoga and mocked it. People in India also, the pseudo intellectual class, started mocking yoga. Then in the second half of 20th century yoga became acceptable to the west and at this point in time it became acceptable to this class in India' also.

Yoga is not just , as is believed by common man, a few physical postures of body. This physical exercise , known as AASAN , is only a part of yoga and it is known as Hath yoga. Other parts of yoga are Gyan yog , Bhakti yog and Karm yog. 

The greatest exponent of yoga in modern era , has been Swami Vivekananda who  made invaluable contribution to this ancient science of body and mind. He presented to the world the intellectual side of Hinduism (or Sanatan dharm  as it was originally called).

The ultimate purpose of yoga is Moksha, which means the soul getting rid of the trap of countless cycles of births and deaths.

If we go back in time we find that around two thousand years back there was a great metaphysical philosopher by the name of Patanjali who is credited for having authored a great book of yoga called "Yoga Sutra". At a subsequent date a commentary on these Yoga Sutras was also written and most  scholars are of the opinion that this commentary was written by Patanjali himself though there is some controversy in this matter. 

For hundreds  of years Patanjali's Yog Sutra remained in obscurity until it was resurrected by Swami Vivekananda in his book Rajyoga  which contained the yoga Sutra of Patanjali and a beautiful  detailed commentry on these yoga sutras.

Yoga as understood and popularised in the west is generally the physical part of yoga which is essentially called Hath yoga. Even the meditation part of it, as practiced in the west,  is essentially some kind of executive meditation which does not follow the strict principles of Patanjali. 

The real purpose of yoga is, as the word YOGA denotes, the union of Shakti the mysterious energy hidden in the mooladhar chakra of the body (the bottom energy point) , to Shiva in the Shahasra chakra (the top most energy point) at the top of the crown. It is believed that when this happens, the soul is resurrected from the bond of the cycles of births and deaths and joins the great primordial energy called Brahma.

It is maintained that the prime energy in every living being, known as soul, is a part of the fountainhead of all energy, the DIVINE. 

 One of  the four MAHAVAKYAS (the four great sayings of Upnishad) is TAT TWAM ASI - you are that.

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