Life is an experience of being alive. What does one need to do to be alive? Nothing. Or simply to bring our attention to the present moment where life is happening. And that is the practice of yoga.
Yoga is one gift to the world India should be proud of. In the US and Europe, yoga studios dot every city big and small. In the US, 34 million people practice yoga, and the number is now creeping up to 52 million gym goers. But yoga is not what you see in those pretty pictures of young women in various poses wearing leotards.
I should know what true yoga is as I have come to be known as a yoga teacher, even though I do not teach asanas and pranayama. Let me try to answer the question.
The first time I noticed people practicing yoga was in Rishikesh, India. I had gone there many moons ago to study Vedanta at Swami Dayananda Ashram. I saw a group of people, mostly foreigners, doing asanas in a small hall. They moved, twisted, and flexed their bodies to get the right pose. Watching them from behind I wondered what the purpose was of doing this. I saw myself as a sincere spiritual seeker. I believed I would get self-knowledge by studying the scriptures. How would moving my body into different positions help me attain self-realization?
And that’s where yoga stayed in my mind for a long time. As physical practice. More like an exercise. I wasn’t alone in that perception of yoga. Most people see yoga as a form of exercise. Some people do jogging, some go to the gym, some like to swim and some do yoga. It was something you do for some time during the day, just like other exercises.
My understanding of yoga transformed when I did my teacher training course at The Yoga Institute in Mumbai. I would give credit to both the Institute and my experience that prepared me to see the true essence of yoga.
As I absorbed the philosophy of Ashtanga Yoga, through the eightfold path of yoga elucidated in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, I realized yoga is a science of mind management. It provided a systematic approach to train the mind and consciously cultivate healthy samskaras, neural pathways.
For the first time, I understood how the mind functioned, and what practices could help me to regulate its impulsive behavior and channel its energy towards purposeful goals. It was a life project to recreate the mind through self-discipline. And I did. I rewired my brain through new routines, habits, and practices. I moved my energy from tamas lethargy and rajas feverishness to sattva harmony.
Then something traumatic happened. It plunged me into a depression. My mind crumbled. It no longer listened to me. I could not follow my routines and practices. I, who had prided myself on the exercise of my willpower, could no longer use it. Even though it was one of the scariest phases of my life, it was a blessing in disguise. It transformed my understanding of yoga from the science of mind management to a practice of transcendence.
Let me explain.
The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means to unite. Most people interpret this as the union of individual consciousness with Supreme Consciousness. But no one seems to understand when it happens, how it happens, or whether it happens. Like a spiritual fable, we believe it has happened to some humans — the Buddha, Christ, Ramana, Ramakrishna, and a few others — and it may happen to us if we diligently do our yoga practice.
So, what is this union yoga talking about?
Yoga is merging our attention with Life.
What is Life?
Life is the experience I am having in the present moment. If I am seeing a sunset, then that seeing is life. If I am hearing the twittering of birds, then that hearing is life. If I am eating a cucumber, then that taste is life. If I am smelling the burning toast, then that smell is life. If I am feeling the warmth of the water on my skin, then that touch is life.
Life is an experience of being alive. Being conscious. Being present. Being aware. Being mindful.
Different words referring to the same thing. What does one need to do to be alive? Nothing. Or simply to bring our attention to the present moment where life is happening. And that is the practice of yoga.
Practice is the goal. The goal is practice.
The first step is the last.
Means is the end.
If you understood any of the above statements, you have understood yoga.
As soon as we come into the Now, we disassociate from the past, and the future and become Timeless. We dissolve our separate identity as a person and become Presence. We become one with the Universe. We become one with Life. The wave becomes Water. Yuj, union happens.
This is the true understanding and practice of yoga.
For the sake of simplicity, the understanding of yoga can be classified into three categories.
Commercial Yoga
This is the common understanding of yoga. It is primarily physical. It is the yoga taught in most yoga studios. It is the yoga of trying to look good. Improve flexibility, tone the body, and enhance agility. It includes regulating your breath and meditation, but they are just seen as tools to manage stress. Nothing more. This is the yoga practiced by corporations on International Yoga Day.
Classical Yoga
This is the Yoga taught in recognized schools of yoga. Yoga is seen as a holistic science of living a well-balanced life. It stresses the importance of a correct diet, life purpose, daily routines, and positive thinking. It includes an understanding of the philosophy of Yoga. It involves ethical behavior, faith, self-regulation, introspection, and selfless action. The goal is to develop a concentrated mind that can contemplate higher reality. This is the yoga practiced by most spiritual seekers for evolution and enlightenment.
Yoga of Consciousness
I have coined this term since there is no recognized nomenclature for this form of yoga. This is the practice of mindfulness every waking moment of our life. This is the yoga I practice. This is the yoga I teach.
There are very few spiritual teachers that teach this form of yoga. It requires the discipline of not getting seduced by spiritual techniques with a future goal in mind. Amongst the spiritual teachers I know, Eckhart Tolle and Jiddu Krishnamurti best exemplify the Yoga of Consciousness.
The essence of this teaching is to realize our true self as Consciousness by being Conscious.
I hope this will bring greater clarity to your understanding of yoga and what I do. I help people realize their True Self as the Witness of every occurrence. And a consequential realization of the natural unfoldment of the Universe & Life.
Yoga is the realization there is no doer. Life happens.
Photo of Edge at Hudson Yards courtesy of Related-Oxford
