NITHYA YOGA VIJNANA DINDIMA

The five paths of Yoga

There are many different paths or systems of yoga. Examples are Mantra Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Swara Yoga, Bhakti yoga, Japa Yoga and Hatha Yoga. Each path takes the practitioner to the same source like the different roads that lead into a city or like how the different rivers flow into the sea, the destination is common but the experiences along the way can be quite different. All the paths of yoga aim at the elimination of the ego, leading to meditation. It is good idea to practice a combination of all the five paths. They are all closely connected, not rigidly separated, and the synergy experienced in such a multidimensional practice can accelerate the entry into higher states of consciousness.

The five Classifications of Yoga are:-

Karma Yoga path of action or activity
Bhakti Yoga path of devotion
Jnana Yoga path of enquiry
Raja Yoga path of introspection
Hatha Yoga path of balancing the physical, mental and pranic layers in the body

Karma Yoga

Karma yoga is the yoga of action. It is the path or system of yoga for developing awareness through activity. It is about performing actions done with intense awareness, non-detachment from the action itself and non-attachment to the fruits of actions. It is not what you do, but the attitude and state of awareness when doing it.

Work becomes meditation when the doer, the action and the thing done becomes one - this is the real Karma Yoga. This intensity of action reduces the ego's power and increases effective action and efficient performance. When you are no longer the doer, but merely the instrument, every action becomes spiritual and the work becomes super-efficient. It is important to develop the ability to do the work, and at the same time, be a witness to the actions.

Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti yoga is the path of devotion. Bhakti is intense love for God. It appeals to the majority of people as God does not distinguish between color, social status and family. Kannappa, who is one of the nayanmars or Shaivite saints in Hinduism, was a hunter who did not know the traditional or proper ways to worship Shiva. Every day he would hunt and gather flowers and bring water for his beloved Shiva. He had no container for the water so he would bring it in his mouth and he would gather flowers and carry them in his matted hair. He would spit the water on the linga thereby bathing him and decorate him with the flowers that he had brought in his hair. Then he would entreat Lord Shiva to eat the meat that he had killed and brought. One day, after doing all this he saw blood and tears coming from Lord Shiva's eye. He rushed to find healing herbs and medicines to stop the bleeding but nothing worked. In his burning devotion to Shiva, he took one of his arrows and gouged out his own eye and placed it in Shiva's bleeding eye socket. The bleeding stopped but not for long. The other eye on the Linga started to bleed. Kannappa knew what to do. He placed his foot on the second bleeding eye so that he would be able to find the eye socket after he took out his other eye and became blind. He never hesitated for even a moment. He never once thought about himself or how difficult it would be to survive as a blind man. His heart was set on restoring the eyes of his beloved Lord Shiva He was preparing to gouge out his remaining eye when Shiva appeared. Moved by the devotion and sacrifice of Kannappa, Lord Shiva restored both his eyes and blessed him with enlightenment.

There is no right way to express ardent love and devotion to God. When this emotion reaches its zenith of intoxication, tremendous bliss and joy is experienced. This one-pointedness of mind and body, devoid of the attachment to the ego or self-identity, leads ultimately to the experience of merging with the beloved.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana means knowledge. This is the path of wisdom and enquiry. There are seven stages on the path of Jnana yoga. It starts when you have an intense desire and determination to get to the core of the truths of life and of existence. The knowledge learned is put into practice through the process of self-enquiry and meditation. As the mind slowly gets transformed through this process, worldly desires drop, allowing the yogi to spontaneously delve deeper and deeper into the practice. The mind becomes purer with time leading to the experience of bliss and contentment.

Eventually, a yogi reaches the state of complete detachment, the state of jivanmukti (liberation). The Jnana yogi becomes firmly established in the state of self-realization. This further deepens into the state of the absolute and ultimately expands to the state of superconsciousness where the consciousness is completely established in Brahman or cosmic consciousness, the state of Advaitha

Religion is no longer just written scriptures or intellectual knowledge; it has become the yogi's experience and reality.

Raja Yoga

This is the path of introspection, where the main practice is meditation. Raja Yoga is also known as the "Royal Road". This is the path described by Patanjali as Ashtanga Yoga or the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The practice of Raja Yoga consists of living the principles of yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Ultimate success in Raja Yoga is the attainment of the state of samadhi. These principles in Ashtanga yoga are described in a later chapter.

Hatha Yoga

Hatha is made up of two Sanskrit words. Ha means the sun, tha means moon. Our body has two opposing energies - the dynamic active energy of the sun, which is symbolic of the vital energy prana, and the calm, cool and creative energy of the moon, which is symbolic of the mind (citta). Yoga means uniting. Hatha Yoga is the uniting of the prana, mind and Self (consciousness).

Hatha Yoga is also known as the science of purification of body and mind. It purifies the body and mind in preparation for the highest experience of Raja Yoga - samadhi. Hatha Yoga balances the opposing energies in the body, which are the mind and the prana (vital energy), through the powerful yogic practices of shatkarmas (six yogic cleansing techniques), asana (postures), pranayama (breath therapy), bandhas (locks), mudras (gestures) and dhyana (meditation).

Breath and mind are intimately connected. Ancient yogis found that mastery of the breath leads to mastery of the mind. Hatha Yoga uses prana or breath to bypass the mind so the yogi can enter into meditation. This is achieved through the practice of pranayama which teaches the breath that does not awaken thoughts

Asanas of various types, and the other various means of illumination should all be practiced in the Hatha Yoga system until success in Raja Yoga is attained. (Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1:67). Whether young or old, very old, sick or feeble, one can attain perfection in all the yogas by practicing. Perfection results from practical application. (Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1:6-65).

Regular Hatha Yoga practice balances the body's hormones, secretions, breath, brain waves and prana, life energy. The mind becomes ready for deep meditation. When body and mind are purified, pranic energy will flow unimpeded. This balance awakens the sushumna (central channel) and kundalini shakti (potential energy dormant in all human beings) will be awakened to move up the sushumna. When kundalini shakti awakens and ascends the sushumna to reach the sahasrara (crown center), yoga happens. When prana flows in the sushumna, the state of manonmani (consciousness without the mind) is experienced. (Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2:42).

Hatha Yoga has been proven to be successful as therapy in reversing cases of chronic ailments like high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, rheumatism, hysteria and back pain as the practice balances the body's hormones, secretions, breath, brain waves and prana. The techniques utilized have been time tested and proven to be immensely effective to pave the way for deep meditation and the experience of samadhi.

There are several reliable classical Hatha Yoga treatises, which have provided the fundamental knowledge of the philosophy and the practice of Hatha Yoga. The main treatises are the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Yogi Svatmarama, Goraksha Samhita and Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati by Yogi Gorakhnath, Gheranda Samhita by sage Gheranda, Hatharatnavali by Srinivasabhatta Mahayogindra and several others. There are also some references to Hatha Yoga in the Upanishads and the Puranas as well as the Srimad Bhagavatam.