In the absence of awareness yoga does not fructify in life. You can practise hatha yoga for forty years and you can practise meditation for forty years, but that is not yoga.

There is a beautiful statement by Swami Sivananda. Somebody asked him, “Can I go to the caves and practise my meditation in isolation, in silence?” Swami Sivananda said, “It is not necessary, because once you go to the cave, you will be spending your time sleeping and fantasizing, building castles in the air during meditation.”

This is a very appropriate and true response, because what would you do when you are alone with nothing to divert your mind, with nothing to extrovert your mind? You would be falling asleep in meditation, and when you sit to meditate, you would only be building castles in the air because there is nobody to guide you.

What has been your achievement until today? You cannot control your anger, you cannot control your moods, you cannot control your behaviour, you cannot control your expressions. Is that the outcome of meditation? You are negative, you are aggressive, you are violent, you are not at peace with yourself, and you are destructive to yourself.

Therefore, meditation is not yoga, hatha yoga is not yoga, raja yoga is not yoga, karma yoga is not yoga, bhakti yoga is not yoga.

The cultivation of awareness is yoga, the cultivation of wisdom along with awareness is yoga, and the cultivation of the appropriate qualities of life along with sadhana, qualities which can help you grow and develop, is yoga.

The different yogas, whether hatha or raja or kriya or kundalini yoga, are only an aid to the development of this yogic awareness, nothing more than that. They are not the final aim.

 

Ganga Darshan, 23 March 2007

 

From the book “On the Wings of the Swan, Volume VII”, pg. 67, Sw Niranjanananda Saraswati

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Awareness

In the absence of awareness yoga does not fructify in life. You can practise hatha yoga for forty years and you can practise meditation for forty years, but that is not yoga.

There is a beautiful statement by Swami Sivananda. Somebody asked him, “Can I go to the caves and practise my meditation in isolation, in silence?” Swami Sivananda said, “It is not necessary, because once you go to the cave, you will be spending your time sleeping and fantasizing, building castles in the air during meditation.”

This is a very appropriate and true response, because what would you do when you are alone with nothing to divert your mind, with nothing to extrovert your mind? You would be falling asleep in meditation, and when you sit to meditate, you would only be building castles in the air because there is nobody to guide you.

What has been your achievement until today? You cannot control your anger, you cannot control your moods, you cannot control your behaviour, you cannot control your expressions. Is that the outcome of meditation? You are negative, you are aggressive, you are violent, you are not at peace with yourself, and you are destructive to yourself.

Therefore, meditation is not yoga, hatha yoga is not yoga, raja yoga is not yoga, karma yoga is not yoga, bhakti yoga is not yoga.

The cultivation of awareness is yoga, the cultivation of wisdom along with awareness is yoga, and the cultivation of the appropriate qualities of life along with sadhana, qualities which can help you grow and develop, is yoga.

The different yogas, whether hatha or raja or kriya or kundalini yoga, are only an aid to the development of this yogic awareness, nothing more than that. They are not the final aim.

 

Ganga Darshan, 23 March 2007

 

From the book “On the Wings of the Swan, Volume VII”, pg. 67, Sw Niranjanananda Saraswati