Yoga is the most popular and yet the most misunderstood term in the present times. To some it may mean Aasanas and to others Pranayama! Literal meaning of Yoga is to get connected and The Holy Geeta’s all the 18 chapters have a name ending with Yoga e.g. the first chapter is called Vishad Yoga and others as Gyana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Brahma Vidhya Yoga and so on. Two soul mates meeting in person is called Milana Yoga and when they are not together but reflecting seriously on the past memories is called Viraha Yoga in the classical literature.
The spiritual meaning of Yoga is a method of reaching a state of bliss by getting connected to the Brahmn and liberating the soul from the cycle of birth & death. It of course provides numerous side benefits (by-products) including good health and various spiritual powers. It was taught as Kriya Yoga first by the Lord Shiva and Kriya Yoga continues to be taught by the masters even in present times. Maharishi Patanjali did a detailed commentary on this and divided the Yoga in 8 stages popularly known as Patanjali’s Asthanga Yoga. He defined Yoga as Chitvriti nirodh – a process of negating the Vritis i.e. feelings & desires which are in the individuals because of past associations and experiences. Bliss can only be experienced if we empty the self of good and bad feelings and desires. The first two stages focused on Yama and Niyama followed by Aasana, Pranayama, Pratihar, Dhyana, Dharana and Samadhi. The first 5 are termed as external Yoga and the remaining 3 as internal Yoga.
Without adopting the Yama and Niyama even Aasana was not contemplated. Aasana perfection meant sitting in a continuous & stable form for 3 hours. This obviously was not possible without perfecting the Yama and Niyama. The original Kriya Yoga also talked about 24 requirements before getting initiated into Kriya Yoga. As we today live on GMF and a much polluted environment, the 24 requirements have been reduced to 8 -12 in Kriya Yoga and the Aasana perfection to 1 hour.
However, what is being preached today is Hatha Aasanas of various kinds and Pranayama without getting the body prepared. And the results are horrible – producing Bhogis full of Kama, Krodha and Lobha – and not Yogis. In the month of June, Economic Times carried a special feature on Yoga around the international Yoga day and mentioned that quite a few celebrated Yoga Teachers in the USA, mostly of Indian origin have been accused of rape and sexual assault by the followers and devotees. What is more surprising is that some of them are of Swami Order (Sanyasis). The names included celebrated Yoga teachers like Bikram Choudhdury, John Friend, and Amit Desai and so on.
The current form of Yoga therefore is only doing Chitvriti vridhi instead of Chitvriti nirodh and hence producing Bhogis and not Yogis. Anyone interested in the real Yoga therefore must learn about Yama and Niyama. They are essential even for living a healthy life and having a stable & peaceful mental state. If all the Yoga initiatives focused on Yama and Niyama, the society will transform in the coming few years.