Theo. – There is much talk about yoga, these days, but it seems the talking covers many different practices, including ours. Could you please clarify what Yoga really means?
The Elder – Like the Vedas, Yoga dates back to ages ago. At the time, the Rishis of Ancient India (Bharata) would meet and discuss such topics as: What is Brahma (God) like? What first caused the Universe to exist? How do we take birth? How to live? How do we come to exist? What laws govern life? What is that force that governs life and death? Why do we have to suffer? … and many more questions.
They would discuss topics relating to time, to matter, to nature and its various elements (space, air, fire, water and earth). They would also talk about the soul (purusha), about the self, and so they discovered that none of those could have absolutely been the reason why the universe existed. In order to discover the reason why, they practiced Yoga and meditation (dhyana), which led them to unveil Truth (Satpad): the Absolute is Brahman; it is at once ‘Existence, Knowledge and Bliss’ (Sat-Chit-Ananda).
Theo. – So, on top of being a philosophy, Yoga is also an applied science!
The Elder – In Sanskrit, ‘yug’ means to unite. It is the union of an individual being (jivatman) to the Ultimate Principle (Paramatman). The word ‘yoga’ refers both to the goal, that is unifying, and to the method, which gives the way for unifying.
Theo. – That condition compares to the one mystics aspire to, whether they are Christians, Sufis or Kabalists: being one with God.
The Elder – In India, they would be considered as yogis and assimilated either to bhakti-yoga (the path of devotion), to karma-yoga (the path of skill in action) or to jnana-yoga (the path of inner knowledge), the three paths being synthesized in Love.
Theo. – Like the Heartfulness path we practice?
The Elder – That path is also called ‘raja-yoga’. One thing must be clearly specified: the only purpose of Yoga is Realization, speculation being totally irrelevant.
Theo. – Is it the reason why, concerning Yoga, you’d rather mention the ‘Principle’, rather than ‘God’, as we do in the West?
The Elder – With the Heartfulness meditation, which follows the Sahaj Marg’s system of Raja Yoga, the spiritual seeker (yogi) has to draw his or her own conclusions from personal inner experiences, just like ancient rishis used to do.
Theo. – The ancient yogis’ methodology is apparently very strict!
The Elder – It is. It is a synthesis of the yogic disciplines, which had to be mastered before being taught.
Theo. – Are there any different schools?
The Elder – Inevitably! Yoga has existed for thousands of years, and researchers are still making discoveries. New ways are being opened to approach the Ultimate. Humankind keeps changing.
Theo. – What big secret allowed Babuji to make all these discoveries?
The Elder – He had Lalaji as a spiritual Master. Lalaji is the one who rediscovered yogic transmission (pranahuti), which allowed connecting meditators directly to the Source, that famous Centre at the very basis of existence, the Ultimate Principle rishis referred to. But Babuji’s main characteristic was his capacity to read Reality (his anubhava-shakti) in the various dimensions of the being and to open new paths for humankind.
Theo. – Is Babuji’s science what trainers are now being taught?
The Elder – Absolutely! There are over six thousands of them in the whole wide world. Babuji opened that new way to access the Ultimate to the largest possible number of people. That way is known as Babuji’s science. Previously, it was reserved for yogis capable of amazing ascetic practices. They would follow the ashtanga-yoga eight steps (ashtanga meaning eight). Patanjali developed a synthesis of these eight limbs.
Theo. – According to Sahaj Marg, what are the specificities of raja-yoga as compared to traditional yoga?
The Elder – First, you must know that Patanjali lived 300 years B.C. and that he did an enormous work, compiling Yoga Sutras. When he came back down here he modified these data in order to adapt them to the times and to the evolution of humanity.
Let us take concentration, for example: he or she who can read a book or write an article in a railway station hall is sufficiently capable of concentrating to learn how to meditate. So, concentration will adapt to each period and lifestyle, making meditation available whatever the conditions.
Theo. – Babuji has updated Yoga, but what could you say about the other steps Patanjali proposed?
The Elder – Quite at the beginning, there are yama, or moral imperatives, and then, niyama, the virtuous observances that will allow a yogi to remain calm and perseverant, and to reduce external and internal influences (whether they are tamasic or rajasic).
Theo. – What does that mean?
The Elder – A yogi will control his mind (manas) so that only the Self can remain. All other movement in the inner mind (chitta-vrittis), as well as passions and emotions, will have to cease.
In asthanga-yoga, you will also find the practice of renunciation, vairagya.
Theo. – Why renounce?
The Elder – It helps develop the observer in you, and stop being affected by miseries, misfortunes, suffering or anxieties. In his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali called all these feelings ‘affections’. Such a rigorous practice helps purify the mind, to make it more balanced, Sattvic. It provides access to the observer, which will allow you to develop your discrimination skills, viveka.
Theo. – What about postures (asanas)? These yoga-postures are famous in the West, where many people will practice hatha-yoga for health purposes. They evoke harmonious physical exercises.
The Elder – They promote good physical, mental and emotional health, help you hold your body poised and foster a physical stability in these three functions of the being. They mainly concern the gross body (sthool-sharir). They won’t be efficient unless they are associated with intelligent breathing.
Theo. – Does posture matter in the field of spirituality?
The Elder – What matters most is that the body may remain still. Similarly to the tortoise retracting its head and limbs inside, we meditate with our legs and hands crossed (cross-legged sitting, or lotus position). The spinal column is straight, but the head slightly bends forward, as if it were going to enter the heart. At the same time, all the senses and their actions (indriyas) are in an entrenched position.
Theo. – What’s the use?
The Elder – The Lotus position fosters a state of negation (tam). Babuji explains it in his commentary on Maxim n°1: “It is the central point of the real state of Being which in most of the cases remained unattained in spite of all the efforts of the pursuer. That state of negation is at the basis of a Being’s life. It is the Divine mystery, where there is neither light nor darkness. Sitting in that posture (asana), the person lives a mini dissolution (pralaya), and being thus in touch with Reality, that person will see the Divine flow begin to rain upon him or her.”
Theo. – And in much simpler terms?
The Elder – A meditative posture improves our balance. Then, soul, body and mind are in a state of oneness, and the three bodies become God’s temple.
Theo. – You always told me that God was simple!
The Elder – Our posture is simple, stripped of any superfluity and it is as still as the Centre of the Being. A very good sitting posture is enough to have us be absorbed into the heart. All complexities are left outside. That is very simple.
The Elder (smiling):
– Particularly at the end of the process; then, purity prevails within the individual, and it all becomes identical to the original state.
Theo. (laughing):
– I think we’d better go directly through experiencing meditation … I won’t even dare ask you about breath (pranayama), for there, I fear the worst!
The Elder – It’s quite easy for us, because we don’t have to do any breathing exercises (pranayama) in order to revitalize the chakras, since transmission (pranahuti) has been made continuously available to us from the moment we have had our three introductory meditations.
Theo. – And that’s all?
The Elder – That’s all!
Theo. – This is baffling. I was expecting you to speak about nadis, inda, pingala and shushumna…
The Elder -In Sahaj Marg, you need not work on them to grow spiritually. Energies are naturally regulated through the heart.
The postures (asanas) provide health, force and balance to your physical body. Originally, to be effective, each posture had to be maintained for about four hours by the rishis. Note that yogis, when in a period of intensive research, were able to meditate around the clock. For that, their bodies had to be strong and healthy, energy had to flow efficiently throughout their entire systems and through the seven major chakras. They would also combine breathing and energizing exercises. Various energies (pranas) were thus flowing throughout their whole bodies via the nadis, the network of our energy channels.
Theo. – It looks like our meridian system of acupuncture.
The nadis.
The Elder – They share the same origin. They fall into two broad streams: ‘ida’, regarded as the lunar nadi …
– That’s the Yin, Theo commented proudly.
The Elder – The other one is ‘pingala’ – the solar nadi – and so it corresponds to the Yang. Ida and pingala spiral around the ‘sushumma’ nadi. Energies from the moon and the sun cross each other. The vital breath enters the network at the level of the occipital lobe, in a lunar centre called ‘chandra-chakra‘, then it flows down to cross the five lower chakras before going upwards to leave through the lunar centre, the ‘ajna-chakra’.
Theo. – What is the next step?
The Elder – I’ll tell you, but first I’d like to ponder a little further over yogic anatomy: a human being is made of three bodies and five coverings. The astral body, also called subtle body, is composed of four elements: mind (manas), consciousness (chit), intellect (buddhi) and ego (ahamkara). That will be the starting point for our spiritual work.
The following stages consist in controlling the energy travelling through the body (pranayama) and the subsiding of the senses (pratyahara) for the sake of concentration and interiorization.
Theo. – Could you tell me more about that subsiding of the senses (pratyahara) and about concentration?
The Elder – We acquire them through meditating (dhyana). We start with attention, leaving concentration be “merely the instrument of revelation”, as Babuji would say.
Theo. -That is to say?
The Elder – In meditation, we use our attention. It is turned towards the infinity of the heart. You do the same when you watch the vastness of the sky. If you keep your gaze fixed on a bird that is flying in the sky, concentration will reveal the bird’s position to you.
When meditation is over, before opening your eyes, with your inner eye, you let your spiritual condition emerge, focusing on it so as to read it and you let it be revealed to you. Attention is an opening onto the akasha (the infinite space) of your heart.
Theo. – In Sahaj Marg, it’s all much simpler. We meditate directly on the heart and we can feel something right from the beginning.
The Elder – Absolutely, and that is due to the transmission of yogic energy, called ‘pranahuti’. It connects you directly to the Source and to the heart of the spiritual guide.
Theo. – That’s a job! Are there many yogis in the West?
The Elder – There are more and more of them. They practice a modern raja-yoga. That is what Babuji contributed to humanity. He simplified raja-yoga so that human beings may practice it while having a family life, a social life. He advocated finding a good balance between a material and a spiritual life.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s initiation