Ashtanga Yoga

The eight limbs of Yoga

Patanjali calls his advice 'ashtanga yoga', or the eight limbs of yoga. These are steps towards the goal, not sequential but fully interrelated, each reinforcing the other. Patanjali has significantly described them as limbs because, in any body, the limbs that constitute it grow in an organic, proportionate and concurrent manner till full development is reached. The disciplines are yama (moral commandments), niyama (observances of conduct), asana (posture), pranayama (breathing exercises), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (the settled mind or total -absorption).

YAMA - The five commandments

The yamas are five universal laws.

Ahimsa or non-violence extends way beyond its usual physical connotation. True non-violence, which is really freedom from fear and anger, is an inner state of quietitude, producing pure, unprejudiced action.

Satya is truth in thought, word and deed.

Asteya means `not stealing' which, in a wider sense, is not claiming anything that does not belong to us. To put it differently, we, as fully evolved spiritual selves, should not hanker after mundane objects.

Brahmacharya is again misunderstood as just physical celibacy. It is much more than that: it is the transcendence of all desires, thus leading to an enormous store of energy that has not been dissipated.

Aparigraha is living in a state of non-attachment, without coveting anything. As Shankaracharya points out, it is a difficult achievement: "The body has become old, the sight feeble, the bones weak, the flesh weak, the spirit dull, but man still does not give up desires."

NIYAMA - The right conduct

The niyamas are rules for living, also five in number.

Saucha is cleanliness or purity: both physical, to maintain the body and mind at their optimum best, and spiritual, to achieve a simple and unsullied awareness.

Santosa is contentment. The content man knows what he wants and how to achieve it and, therefore, is undisturbed by internal and external factors.

Tapas means blaze or fire. It is the burning commitment or desire to reach the pristine state. It is often described as the purification of desires by self-discipline and austerity.

Swadhyaya is the study of oneself, not in any narrow narcissistic manner, but as being conducive to reaching one's inner spiritual being.

Ishwarapranidhana is total, unconditional devotion and surrender to a higher infinite power. Sri Aurobindo says: "The manifestation of the higher forces takes place only if there is total humility and surrender."

Postures and Breathing Exercises

Asana
Asana or posture is what everyone generally takes yoga to mean. However, asanas are not just a set of exercises or positioning of the body. They are the complete relaxation of the cells of the brain and activation of the cells of the bodily organs. It takes years of sustained effort to master asanas and the concentration and balance needed make the mind razor sharp. When once the asanas have been perfected, being becomes effortless and the yogi loses himself in the pose.

Pranayama
Prana means all forms of energy - cosmic energy, mental energy, sexual energy and physical energy. It is loosely translated as breath. Ayama is control; so, pranayama is control or discipline of breathing. If the breath is controlled and calm, the senses are stilled and the mind is settled. Pranayama raises the practitioner to that state of silence rarely experienced in normal, everyday life.

PRATYAHARA - Yoga for the mind

Pratyahara, the withdrawal of the senses, is the link between yama, niyama, asana and pranayama and the last three steps - dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Following the rules of living, and practising asanas and pranayama, the yogi finds himself able to turn his senses inward and achieve complete quietitude. He is now ready for the ultimate in yoga.

Dharana
Dharana is `one-pointedness', the state of total absorption. The longer the mind remains in this state of focus, the more powerful it becomes.

Dhyana
Dhyana is the stage of meditation, the culmination of uninterrupted concentration. The meditative mind lives in the eternal present, in a state of choiceless awareness and sureness, in which there are no ambiguities.

Samadhi
Samadhi is the peak of yogic achievement, a true sense of communion and peace. This settling of the mind is the heart of yoga, where the senses have been transcended by complete refinement of the body and mind.

Yoga is not just a set of esoteric exercises to keep physically fit. It is a complete system of life, with our bodily afflictions and mental fluctuations under control by the practice of concrete rules of conduct.

These are universal rules, applicable to every human being, irrespective of creed and colour. For whether you are American or Chinese or African or Indian, whether you are a Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu or Jew, you have the same physical and mental organs as everyone else.