All Life is Yoga

Yoga stands for a way of living that often satisfies a person through exposing the individual to the guiding forces of the supreme master and enabling the person to feel omnipresence of related divine. It also links an individual with all such forces which can play a defining role on the way of experiencing such kind of divine omnipresence.

There exist different literary and   ritual sources having enough potential to correlate the human practices and related philosophical beliefs. We cannot simply deny the existence of any supreme power only on the ground of its non-visibility. In some cases such supreme power may remain off the limit of our senses. If we try to sum up all such teachings duly proposed by thinkers and philosophers of olden times, then the collected instructions having integration of all the divine thought processes will become enriched one. It will address all sorts of propositions and concerns related to various aspects of our daily life. We also know another fact related to holy books that most interpreted literature among all available scriptures and publications is The Bhagvadgita. Different saints considered it differently and also tried to work out its relevance in our daily life as per their levels of understanding. Relevance of the teachings of Gita has an everlasting impression in the minds of thinkers and philosophers.

Most commonly discussed part of all such propositions is the considerations related to the essence of Jnan Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge and intellect) and Karma Yoga (the Yoga of Performance, Actions and Perfections). We cannot translate the Sanskrit term “Karma” directly as “Actions” in English. The term Karma has a wide range of considerations. It correlates skill acquisition, mental preparedness for getting indulge in activities, establishment of correlations in between different aspects of life and keeps individual remaining attached to the implications of actions and perfections.

It is also true that we cannot segregate any living being from its external world. We can even assign a definite task to that individual on the basis of the skills and competence possessed by the person. Our expectation from that individual will be centralised on the basis of such considerations. We consider that individual successful only after ascertaining the meaningful and fruitful participation of the same in the proposed action. A knowledge base empowers an individual to define its role in society, or to work in the extended environment. It can even ascertain its own horizon of activities. That individual can even surpass trying days with the help of the organised framework of knowledge.

We acquire skills in life through series of interactions and training, gain competence through guided practices, confine ourselves to certain segments of duties and concerns as per wishes, mechanise our welfare and warfare for fulfilling individual as well as collective concerns and claim our status on the basis of our role in the community. Through all such efforts, carrying types of skill acquisition and knowledge confluence, we feel the presence of a masterly power having affinity of guiding the self. It even intends to make an individual a special one by providing scope of ascent in terms of spirituality. Spirituality of specific type and its expansion by all means is the subject where mind, body, skills and competence culminate properly to ascertain the refinement of an individual.

While talking about absolute knowledge with its super confluous characters we may feel some sort of difficulties due to limitations of our senses. We want to see some relevant things, but our senses may not equip us properly in doing so. Similar will be the situation is regarding all other senses. Such kinds of sensuous limitations compelled us to imagine about the presence and propagation of some super natural things having extra ordinary characters. We cannot segregate matter and energy in our surrounding by any means or by any mechanism as the involvement of nuclear energy enables the binding of different sub-atomic particles housed inside the centrally placed nucleus of an atom. Energy involvement is there even at the stage of certain sub atomic state of bindings. In the same way we cannot segregate the God or divine power from its creations. We can feel its presence but may not be able to describe it by furnishing evidences. We can talk upon it the way a blind person talks to other visually impaired ones, or like a physically challenged one with another person having similar limitations.

Our present effort is a continuation of all such previously organised efforts of making the divine confluous through our senses, making an individual feel its presence within the sub conscious mind. An earthen candle cannot describe its glory. It is the subject of other individuals having an opportunity of getting enlightened amidst darkness by placing oneself juxtaposed to the earthen candle with an affinity of getting illuminated. The Sun cannot describe itself by any means; it is solar radiation and the act of Nuclear Reaction taking place at the surface of the sun which describes the power game of the ignited giant. We also cannot put us in a move to reach the surface of any star to examine the mechanism duly involved in its affinity towards act of availing radiations, we can feel it and gain it with its graceful vitality to enrich ourselves.

There are many other instances available in our nature that describes vividly the presence of such divine power with its empowered vigil of creations and destructions. We can simply feel them, and in certain instances correlate them with our acts of creations and destructions. We can even make some of our efforts a prolonged one through designing participatory efforts of specific type for enlightening the phenomenon of the divine omnipresence. It is the realm where all individuals in this planet can feel the essence of exercising the global communion and can impart themselves in making the nature more confluous, more vibrant, more and more habitable and more prosperous. Spirituality brings lives closure, makes people awakened, provides a scope of feeling the presence of divine power within the scope of living beings and intensifies our senses and makes us more contented for gaining the power of our effort of assimilating knowledge.

In this publication we limit our discussion on and around the relevance of Knowledge Confluence, Enhancement of Wisdom and Karma Yoga in present day context. Yoga of Action, Perfectness and Performance has a close link with the knowledge base of a performer. Because of that reason we can point out some aspects of the confluence of knowledge to enlighten the core principle of Yoga in an integrated fashion. It will become an exemplar effort for people to ensure its practical utility. Things already mentioned in Upanishadas were pitched in again in Madbhagvadgita to make people aware of the practical utility of acts and conducts of a Yoga based life. A Yoga based life can have a sense of completeness for ensuring complete unfoldment of petals of skills and competences. It will even make people aware of the on-going situation. Because of that reason also Yoga comes in the fore front of discussion time to time with a clear apprehension of individual as well as collective progress.

Our tendency to add a prefix with the term Yoga by using different terms like Karma (action, perfection, skills and competence), Jnan (knowledge), etc. is a common one. All such ideals related to Yoga ultimately points out towards the accumulation of some positive waves for experiencing presence of a link with the Divine and, at some higher states of practice, to  feel the presence of such Divine in every creation. When any confluence of such positive waves comes on surface through experiences and practices we rarely become capable of bifurcate them from one another. It is also a state of feeling the presence of all such waves with a band of stress on some other aspects of Yoga. Confluence of action, perfection or skill, for an example, without adequate support of knowledge may not be a desired result of Yoga. Here becomes the concept of Integral Yoga alive and Bhgvadgita is the ideal place where we can experience the integration of various streams of knowledge for bringing out the waves of knowledge, prosperity and wisdom.

Basics

Any individual having an aspiration of gaining ascent in life through developing an understanding on the principles of Integral Yoga can go through it repeatedly. One time reading may be an eye opener. Language of this work is kept simple to enable a person having some basic knowledge of the language can explore the entire representation in original.

Students learning in high schools can also use it as their reference manual for developing their own understanding on the Philosophy of Yoga and Meditation. It can successfully enable them to develop their own ideas on the practical aspects of Yoga and Meditation. Whenever we interact on yoga, a commonly discussed name usually comes in our mind, Saint Patanjali, the creator of eight fold Yoga Philosophy (Ashtanga Yoga). It has a long lasting impression on the lives of people moving across it by part or by full. It is the path through which one can purify one’s mind, body and intellect.  People having affinity towards Patanjali and his principles of yoga can also go through this book to ascertain oneself in the real world situation. This yoga philosophy is also helpful for individuals having an affinity towards attainment of true knowledge which is required for reallocating the skills, competence and intellect in one’s mind to facilitate proper manifestation of the individual within stipulated time frame of the cycle of life.

If our mind sanctions enough support regarding our capabilities of exploring real facts related to Yoga then all other debates related to the philosophy of Yoga will become acceptable at a single instance.

Any argument related to existence or non-existence of any supreme power can be addressed suitably through absolute knowledge that we gain in our phases of learning. We have incorporated various aspects related to yoga based life for addressing major aspects of various life forms. We also move through limits of our senses for not having capabilities of exploring things beyond the scope of our senses. Simply because of our in-capabilities, for an example, we cannot claim the non-existence of bands of energies like infra-red radiation, ultraviolet radiation, magnetic forces, infra sonics and ultrasonics. We acknowledge the contribution of our fellow students and teachers in developing this material efficiently in a short period of time. Contribution of the data entry operators and type setting professionals are also duly acknowledged. They made the entire thing possible in a short period of time.

                Indian society is deeply influenced by the Vedic Culture and tradition. Different foreign invasions from Middle East and Europe have failed in diffusing the deep attachment of people with the teachings and observations of Veda, Epics and other Philosophical teachings. It has even made people capable of retaining their fundamental value system intact amidst the turmoil of foreign culture duly impregnated by westerners. Learning even continued beyond the scope of interactive curriculum transaction with aspirations of enhancing critical skills and confidence of the active members of the society. In simple words, we can say that the advanced Value system enabled people to understand and maintain their fundamental value system on the basis of the popular cultural and traditional base of olden times. For widening this type of practice with an aspiration of collective progress, people started sharing minute particulars of their feelings on any specified thing or propositions to keep the progressive trend active and to ascertain its ascending mode.

The gradual refinement in value system has come in the form of rituals and observations. In modern day context the human value system has a character of an exhibit of a convergence of differently developed value systems. The kind of convergence of both eastern and the western value system has enabled the development of Missionary Culture in the Indian context. Such missionary culture has enabled people to readjust their acts and conducts on the basis of some masterly instructions that they duly received through scheduled discourses of their masterly guide. None of such value system is entirely aligned towards the west and not even towards the Vedic culture. Combination and recombination of value system always reflect some sort of Yoga Philosophy with an affinity towards naming it differently for making oneself satisfied. Lord Buddha, for a simple example, has cultivated eight fold simple path of worship having a proposition identical to that of the Yoga Philosophy and acts and conducts duly proposed by Saint Patanjali. The path proposed by Lord Buddha became popular in some of the society due to advent of easiness in the worship.

The missionary culture in Bengal duly introduced by Shri Ramakrishna has the identical affinity of bringing the Yoga based acts and conducts to people with easiness. It has also designed a service oriented mechanism of worship based on the principle of “Serving Man, Serving the Divine.” It has also gained success and brought its prominence through cultivating ideals of Saint Patanjali. Ramakrishna wanted people to keep faith on the presence of the Divine. As we cannot feel the presence of all kinds of waves of energy because of our limitations of senses, similarly we cannot feel the omnipresence of the supreme power within us because of our in-capabilities of imbibing the waves of the supreme power. Only because of this reason we cannot deny the presence of such divine power within ourselves and within the others.

We can see things as they occupy a definite shape. We cannot see energy and power due to their in capabilities of occupying space. To feel the presence of such powers in our surrounding, we often take the support of our senses and feelings. In some cases our observations are evidence based, in some other cases it may have some imaginary propositions. Here comes the act of limitations that restrict us to feel Ultraviolet and Infrared radiations which remained off the band of the visible spectrum and duly restricted our sense of vision seven visible waves of light.

                Once during pre-independent India people of Kolkata wanted to judge the knowledge base of Saint Ramakrishna. A group of learned persons and veterans from the city visited the temple where Ramakrishna used to deliver his services by preying goddess Kali in his own language and also by claiming incidents of his conversation with Goddess Kali. The matter became very critical when Raasmani, the main patron of Ramakrishna, came to know about this incident. Inmates of the temple and the royal family wanted to work out any alternatives, but firmness of Ramakrishna made them more confident about the knowledge enrichment that the saint had.

                People came in and took their respective seats within the small residential block of the fellow saint. His happiness and contentment exhibited his firmness and fearlessness. People prepared to throw questions towards him. With a gentle smile Ramakrishna described a narration in short, “Once an idol made of salt moved on to measure the depth and expansion of ocean. We all can easily imagine what happened to that idol. Returning back from his status became impossible. I have nothing more to say; now it’s your turn. Ask me.”

The kind of voice and firmness to face all sorts of questions made people worries about their own limit of knowledge. Ramakrishna had narrated an incident which was from Vedantic teachings. It made people confirmed about the knowledge enrichment of the saintly person having a common look with some uncommon adherence to the immediate divine. The judgment went on differently and some among them had accepted Ramakrishna as their true guide in their respective path of spiritual ascent.

Spirituality, in its true sense, should not put any individual off the track of society and culture. It should cultivate the essence of true knowledge for the purpose of the collective enrichment of the referred commune through making their overall spiritual ascent towards integral progress more and more confluous.

Instead of having all such knowledge of Veda, Epics and other spiritual worshipping mechanism, Ramakrishna preferred offering food to Goddess Kali in the way people offer to any other living beings. The kind of contentment itself exhibited his effort of linking people of some common living to their holy mother and immediate divine.

Most critical aspect that Saint Ramakrishna had to handle appeared in front of him in the form of Narendranath Dutta, later on popularly received the name Swami Vivekananda. Naren wanted to judge the actual claim of Ramakrishna regarding his conversation with the divine power. Repeatedly he started approaching his master and repeatedly started blaming him for his claim of enjoying divine communion as a false one. Ultimately the day came when the young Naren had something to beg during his divine communion. It was arranged by his master to nullify the doubts and confusion which was hampering the intellect of the young student of Philosophy. The conflict in the mind of Narendranath was going on due to his contradictory knowledge of Western and Eastern Philosophical ideas, due to his affinity of examining divine power with an intention of jotting down scientific evidences, due to his lack of true knowledge regarding non-avoidable coupling of matter and energy and due to his lack of faith in exploring the divine omnipresence in some incidents of immediate surroundings.

Depth and expansion of the knowledge is so enormous that we can simply feel it and try to acquire it by part on the basis of our capabilities, willingness and interests. A group of learned persons and veterans from the city visited the temple where Ramakrishna used to deliver his services by preying goddess Kali in his own language and also by claiming incidents of his conversation with Goddess Kali. The matter became very critical when Rani Raasmani, the main patron of Ramakrishna, came to know about this incident. Inmates of the temple and the royal family wanted to work out any alternatives, but firmness of Ramakrishna made them more confident about the knowledge enrichment that the saint had.

                People came in and took their respective seats within the small residential block of the fellow saint. His happiness and contentment exhibited his firmness and fearlessness. People prepared to throw questions towards him. With a gentle smile Ramakrishna described a narration in short, “Once an idol made of salt moved on to measure the depth and expansion of ocean. We all can easily imagine what happened to that idol! Returning back to his original status became impossible. I have nothing more to say; now it’s your turn. Ask me whatever you want to ask.”

The kind of voice and firmness to face all sorts of questions made people worries about their own limit of knowledge. Ramakrishna had narrated an incident which was from Vedantic teachings. It made people confirmed about the knowledge enrichment of the saintly person having a common look with some uncommon adherence to the immediate divine. The judgment went on differently and some among them had accepted Ramakrishna as their true guide in their respective path of spiritual ascent.

Spirituality, in its true sense, should not put any individual off the track of society and culture. It should cultivate the essence of true knowledge for the purpose of the collective enrichment of the referred commune through making their overall spiritual ascent towards integral progress more and more confluous.

Instead of having all such knowledge of Veda, Epics and other spiritual worshipping mechanism, Ramakrishna preferred offering food to Goddess Kali in the way people offer to any other living beings. The kind of contentment itself exhibited his effort of linking people of some common living to their holy mother and immediate divine.

Most critical aspect that Saint Ramakrishna had to handle appeared in front of him in the form of Narendranath Dutta, later on popularly received the name Swami Vivekananda. Naren wanted to judge the actual claim of Ramakrishna regarding his conversation with the divine power. Repeatedly he started approaching his master and repeatedly started blaming him for his claim of enjoying divine communion as a false one. Ultimately the day came when the young Naren had something to beg during his divine communion. It was arranged by his master to nullify the doubts and confusion which was hampering the intellect of the young student of Philosophy. The conflict in the mind of Narendranath was going on due to his contradictory knowledge of Western and Eastern Philosophical ideas, due to his affinity of examining divine power with an intention of jotting down scientific evidences, due to his lack of true knowledge regarding non-avoidable coupling of matter and energy and due to his lack of faith in exploring the divine omnipresence in some incidents of immediate surroundings.