Unique Raj Yoga

This one is a local post,  This post will be useful for residents in chennai, it will also be useful for people living around tamilnadu. This post is a tribute to my beloved Guruji who has been the backbone of my spiritual growth.

Before speaking about him, i would like to shed some light on Raj Yoga. There are many types of yoga, like Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Kriya Yoga, karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Yoga is the means for the soul to merge with cosmic consciousness, and this is the ultimate  purpose of every human being. When karma is not burnt then the endless cycle of birth and death continues. All these yoga’s are the way to attain oneness with the supreme being.

Hatha Yoga comprises of asana’s or body postures together with a breathing pattern. It is more of a physical way of yoga approach. Raja Yoga was introduced by Nandishwarar to this world, whose disciples are Patanjali and Thirumoolar. Patanjali then gave the famous Patanjali Yogasutras which is the Bible of Raj Yoga. Raja Yoga follows 8 fold path Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Prathyagara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. We are not going to see in detail of these 8 rules of Raja Yoga which can be found in book Yogasutra.

Hatha Yoga and Kriya yoga are part of Raja Yoga. Kriya Yoga is a branch of Raj Yoga.  In Raj Yoga, the major three activities are asana, pranayama and meditation. This is the order of activity done by the raj yoga students with the help of guru.

There are many hatha yoga instructors in this world, one has to be good in doing asanas to become a Hatha Yoga instructor, such people cannot be called as Yogi’s or Siddhars. In yoga context, a guru is the one who has attained samadhi (Enlightenment)  through his rigorous yogic practices. When a person attains samadhi, he realizes that and he and God are one. Samadhi is the goal of all Yoga practices. Only through  a proper Guru, a disciple can move closer to this final Goal. Its a beautiful as well as dangerous practice which cannot be or should not be practiced without a Guru.

Western Countries know nothing about yoga or kundalini, Bunch of guys learn some asanas and start a yoga school, such schools can result fatal problems for people practicing yoga there. Even in India, Yoga is been used for commercial purpose, some so called satguru’s form a big organization and cause nothing but a shame to the divine science of Yoga.

The State of Yoga in India

There is a satguru in India whose organization is very popular, lakhs of people learn yoga from his organization. The pathetic state here is that the person who teaches yoga to the people there are not Guru’s or have not attained samadhi (Enlightened Masters). Rather, they are some agents, who have just learned some asana’s and pranayama and are given authority to teach to the people. Since the organization is very big with lakhs of followers, one cant expect the satguru to come in person and teach them yoga, which is also not possible. Hence, he assigns agents for various centers in various cities, states of the country.

I am not doubting the credibility of the Guru here, but the credibility of the people who teach yoga to the poor people who joined their brand yoga class just because of some sheer fascination and awe for the Guru. The guru is only bothered to expand his network, not really bothered about the final end result of people who aspire  to learn yoga.

I doubt how many people would have seen the satguru after enrolling to classes, a  real guru is the one who maintains a close and personal relationship with the student, He constantly watches him, and only a guru can say which asanas or pranayama to be given for that student. One cannot give the same pranayama for all the student, which will result in dangerous ill effects. The physical and spiritual layers of person differs and it is unique for person to person, it is based on karma accumulated by the person.

The Right Way

First, the guru will assess the student, with the very look, the guru can know the growth of Aura of the student, and then he assess the students physical body through his auric vision. Only after analyzing the physical and spiritual body, the exercises are given. If there are any problems in the health of a person, or in near future, then the guru gives the particular asana and pranayama techniques to cure that problem so that the students spiritual journey is free from any blocks. In this way, each and every students spiritual exercises are entirely different. Not only the exercises, but in pranayama, the inhale, hold,exhale, breathless counts also varies from person to person. These breath controlling seconds can only be given by a guru who gets it through his power of meditation.

I have been able to say all this information cos i have got a guru who attained his samadhi at the age of 19, and who is very simple and prefers to lead a low profile life by having just a handful of students.  He is practicing Vasi Yoga Meditation for the last 20 years. This post is a tribute to a true enlightened master who has awakened me.