In previous posts I wrote about Arjuna’s despair (here)
and what Krishna had to say about it (here).
As powerful as all that is, it’s just the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita.
Let’s take a look over the next several blog posts at one of the main themes
that emerges from this song of the Lord: the paths of yoga.
For most of us, the word “yoga” might bring to mind a vision
of people in spandex and pretzeling bodies. To say that this is a limited
vision is a massive understatement. In the traditional understanding, there are
4 paths of yoga. One
of those paths is raja yoga, which is often broken down into 8 limbs; one of
those limbs is asana, or the physical postures at which most of us haphazardly
throw the entire term “yoga”. So, let’s do the math:
asansa (postures) _*_ 4
paths = a
wee little bit
8 limbs of raja * of
yoga
Raja yoga is all about meditation as the highest path to the
divine, and asana is meant to work out the kinks and quirks in the body so that
it can dutifully sit quietly while the mind lets go and does its thing.
Strength, flexibility and bodily ease are all well and good, but these were
never meant to be the ends of any of the traditional forms of yoga, which are
all about the spiritual goal of union with the divine.
Whew, now that we’ve got THAT cleared up, let’s see what the
Gita has to say about raja yoga.
Well, it gives practical
guidance.
Select
a clean spot, neither too high nor too low, and seat yourself firmly on a
cloth…Then, once seated, strive to still your thoughts. Make your mind one-pointed
in meditation, and your heart will be purified. Hold your body, head, and neck
firmly in a straight line, and keep your eyes from wandering….
Chapter 6.11-14
We are used to seeing the image of the meditator sitting
quite upright. This is to allow the free flow of energy
along the area of the spinal column and helps the meditator keep from drifting…drifting….drifting
away….And the practical advice isn't done there:
[T]hose
who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little,
will not succeed in meditation. Bu those who are temperate in eating and
sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through
meditation.
Chapter
6.16-17
Moderation is the key here, not asceticism. As the Buddha
had discovered in his own quest, wearing the body out just makes it harder to
let the body go, mentally; give it what it requires, care for it and treat it
respectfully but without acceding to its cravings, and it will remain quiet as
you work in, and then through, and finally outside of your mind to the place of
full communion with the divine.
And that’s what it’s all about, after all:
When
meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a
windless place.…Having attained that abiding joy beyond the senses, revealed in
the stilled mind, he never swerves from the eternal truth. He desires nothing,
and cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow.
Chapter 6.19, 21-22
Laying down our sorrows – honestly, isn’t that what we all
long to do?
More on raja yoga next time.
Quotations
from The Bhagavad Gita, trans Eknath Easwaran
Image
found at http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/03/truth-creativity-vision-chakras-5-and-6-julian-walker/meditator-2/
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