The word, Yoga, has now become omnipresent and is literally on everybody’s lips. It’s really unbelievable that this euphoric word has touched the hearts of people across 192 countries. It started with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the United Nations in 2014, where he expressed his wish to dedicate a day to yoga. To everyone’s surprise, the UN agreed to sanction the event and nine months later, the entire world is prepared for a Yoga spectacle and a couple of Guinness world records too.
Yoga as a method and practice, has evolved over centuries since the time it was developed in ancient India. Today, for a seeker, there are so many forms and branches of yoga to choose from and hence at times one gets confused as to which is the best one for them. However, real yoga not only gives temporary health and happiness but also behavioural ailments, mental tensions and worries cease to exist. In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that it is an ideal method of curing physical and psychological disorders for several generations. Today, it is being stated by the political pandits that yoga is the best soft power that India possesses, to bring the world together and end the increasing trend of violence. It can be aptly said that a perfect world order cannot be attained through war of weapons, but merely through the power of yoga.
Of all the yoga techniques taught by various yogis over centuries, Raja Yoga has been termed the King of all yoga. Before getting into practice of this unique method, it is essential for an aspirant to have a clear image of God. Bhagavad Gita says, ‘An ideal yogi is the one who has purity and chastity in thought, word and deed, who has knowledge and wisdom, whose mind is subdued and who remains constantly in soul-consciousness and yogic meditation, who has conquered temptation of senses, who has cast aside ego, lust, anger and attachment, who neither grieves for loss nor is jubilant for gain or success, in whose eyes all are equal, who is selfless and peaceful, whose diet is pure and in whose life there is austerity, who is upright, whose mind is in the highest region, who knows Almighty in His true essence, who performs all deeds while in yoga with the Supreme. So, to become an ideal yogi, one needs to first understand the nuances of its definition and then start one’s journey of life liberation while leading a worldly life.
We need to understand that yoga, in actual sense, means union. It is union of the self (soul) with the Almighty for which there is a prerequisite that an aspirant needs to follow. One must understand the fact that we are a soul and not a body. All our physical and mental sufferings are a result of our failure to remain in soul consciousness which has today made our lives miserable.
However through Raja Yoga, we can totally change this situation because every soul in its original nature, is pure and peaceful and hence with proper guidance and practice, it is possible to live a life without stress, worries and tension. Dedicating few minutes daily to Raja Yoga is a meaningful expression of caring for yourself that can help you move through the mire of feeling unworthy. It turns one’s mind and the flow of one’s love in the direction of Almighty, giving one the hot-line, to communicate with Him. Thus, it is a technique of self-exploration, leading to the experience of heightened and expanded awareness, reaching the Almighty and bringing Him into the focus of the soul’s awareness. In a word, the principal object of Raja Yoga is to bring the self in conscious touch with Almighty, thus making it increasingly aware of its divine origin, divine destiny and divine and peaceful real nature.
