The Limbs of Yoga

<h2>THE STAGES OF YOGA </h2>The right means are just as important as the final goal. Patanjali lists these means, calling them the eight limbs or stages of yoga on the path of spiritual search. They are: 1. Yama (universal moral commandments); 2. Niyama (self-purification through discipline); 3. Asana (posture); 4. Pranayama (rhythmic control of the breath); 5. Pratyahara (withdrawal and release of the mind from the domination of the senses and of external objects); 6. Dharana (concentration); 7. Dhyana (meditation); 8. Samadhi (the state of super-consciousness reached through deep meditation, in which the individual practitioner (sadhaka) becomes one with the object of meditation - Paramatma, the Universal Spirit). Yama and niyama hold the yogi's passions and emotions in check and help him live at peace with those around him. Asanas keep the body healthy and strong, in harmony with nature. In the end the yogi becomes free of body consciousness. He masters the body and makes it a fit dwelling for the soul. The first three stages are the outward quest (bahiranga sadhana). The next two, pranayama and pratyahara, teach the practitioner to regulate the breath and thereby to control the mind. This helps to free the senses from their bondage to the objects of desire. These two stages of yoga are regarded as the inward quest (antaranga sadhana). Dharana, dhyana and samadhi take the yogi into the depths of his own soul. The yogi does not look for God in the heavens, for he knows that He is within, that He is Antaratma, the Inner Self. The last three stages help him to stay in harmony with himself and with his Maker. These stages are called the quest of the soul (antaratma sadhana). Deep meditation brings the knower, the knowledge and the known into one. The seer, the seeing and the seen no longer exist apart from one another. So a great musician becomes one with his instrument and with the music flowing from it. Then the yogi rests in his own true nature and realises his Self (Atman), the part of the Supreme Soul within him. Man goes to his Maker by different roads (marga). The active man comes to realisation through Karma Marga, recognising his divine nature in work and duty. The man of feeling reaches it through Bhakti Marga, in devotion and love for a personal God. The intellectual man follows Jnana Marga, and realisation comes to him through knowledge. The contemplative, reflective man follows Yoga Marga and realises his divine nature through control of the mind. Happy is the man whose clear sight and wisdom let him tell the real from the unreal, the eternal from the passing, and the good from the merely pleasant. Twice blessed is he who knows true love and can love all God's creatures. Thrice blessed is he who works selflessly for the good of others with love in his heart. And he who unites knowledge, love and selfless service in his mortal body is holy, and pilgrims come to him as they come to the meeting of the rivers Ganga, Sarasvati and Jamuna. Those who have seen him find peace of mind and are made clean. The mind is the king of the senses. He who has conquered his mind, senses, passions, thoughts and reason is a king among men. He is worthy of Raja Yoga, the royal union with the Universal Spirit. He has found the Inner Light. He who has subdued his mind is a Raja Yogi. The word raja means king. The term Raja Yoga implies complete mastery of the Self. Although Patanjali sets out the methods of controlling the mind, nowhere in his aphorisms does he state that this science is Raja Yoga; he calls it Ashtanga Yoga, the eight stages (limbs) of yoga. But since complete self-mastery is what is meant, it may also be called the science of Raja Yoga. Svatmarama, the author of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (hatha means force, determined effort), calls the same path Hatha Yoga, because it demands strict discipline. It is commonly held that Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga are wholly unalike, distinct and even opposed to each other - that Patanjali's Yoga Sutras concern the discipline of the spirit, while Svatmarama's Hatha Yoga Pradipika deals only with the discipline of the body. But this is not so: Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga complement each other and form a single path to liberation. Just as a climber needs not only ladders, ropes and spiked boots but also physical training and discipline in order to climb the icy peaks of the Himalayas, so the student of yoga needs the knowledge and discipline of Svatmarama's Hatha Yoga in order to reach the heights of the Raja Yoga of which Patanjali speaks. The path of yoga is the source of the other three paths. It brings calm and serenity and prepares the mind for that complete, unbounded surrender to God in which all four paths merge into one.