There are four statements mentioned in the yoga literatures, Nasti maya samah pasho – “There is no noose greater than delusion.” Nasti ahamkarat paro ripuh – “There is no greater enemy than one’s own ego.” Nasti jnanat paro bandhuh – “There is no greater friend than one’s wisdom.” Nasti yogat param balam – “There is no greater strength than yoga.” The above statements indicate the whole process of yoga.

The first process of yoga is overcoming the delusion, maya. Everyone is affected by delusion. Every thought, behaviour and action of yours is guided by how you perceive the reality to be in relation to you, not in relation to others. When you see the reality in relation to you and block out all other people, when you become the centre of attention, that is maya.

All mental behaviours are coloured by the forces of maya. It is this delusion that binds you to one state of mind, whether it is negative, destructive, positive, optimistic, good, bad. Delusion is the cause of suffering, and yoga begins with trying to understand what suffering is.

The second aspect one has to deal with is the ego. The statement is that there is no greater enemy than one’s own ego. That is true. All the aggressive behaviours of life are due to the ego, creating responses and reactions which you are not able to manage, and when that happens, frustration and anxiety set in.

This leads to further deterioration of the mental behaviour, mood and attitude. Yoga looks at the component of maya, delusion, which affects the entire behaviour of life, and aggression, which is the trademark of how you live in the material world. These two represent the material nature.

When you come to the yogic nature, the first thing yoga says is to cultivate wisdom. Wisdom is not knowledge; it is the knowledge that you apply and live in life, not the knowledge which you cram in your mind and memorize. This is a result of understanding.

Jnana therefore is understanding, not knowledge, although it is loosely translated as knowledge. Jnana means to express what you know, and that is applied knowledge. Applied knowledge is wisdom and understanding. Understanding is the biggest quality in life. Not love, not compassion, not sympathy, not any other positive quality, for they all fail in the absence of understanding.

How can you express love, compassion and sympathy if there is no understanding and appreciation? The understanding has to come first. It is the mother. There is no greater support in life than that of the mother.

If you have the mother with you, the children will follow, which are love, compassion, kindness and sympathy. Thus, there is no greater friend in life than your own wisdom and understanding.

The biggest strength is yoga. Wisdom and yoga are on one side whereas maya and aggression are on the other side, and they have to be balanced.

That is the yogic journey.

Ganga Darshan Vishwa Yogapeeth, 2 October 2016

From the book “Progressive Yoga Vidya Training, Satsangs 2016” pg 4-5, Sw. Niranjanananda Saraswati