The next phrase in fact belongs to the Sutra II.1 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. This is one of the big sutras that feature the three pillars on which Patanjali’s yoga is settled.

The sutra II.1 says:

Tapah svadhyaya Isvarapranidhanani kriyayogah.

“Burning zeal in practice, self-study and study of scriptures, and surrender to I̅śvara (the Lord) are the acts of yoga” (B.K.S. Iyengar’s Translation)

Why do I say that they “complete”? Because I believe that with these three works, discipline, study and devotion, one walks a big part of the path that leads to clearing up the fundamental truths.

Discipline

Discipline contains the ethical principles (yama and niyama) that one must adopt for oneself and in his relationship with other members of society and that are, undoubtedly, the base on which the entire system is set. If they are not observed and followed, the yoga student will not make any progress. The ethical behaviors and dharma are the base that prepares and shapes the student’s nature and allows us to follow the lifestyle that will lead us to the teachings assimilation.

Besides yama and niyama, we are facing as well two constituents that are most peculiar in ashtanga yoga: a̅sana and pra̅na̅ya̅ma. These two members represent by themselves a practical methodology that, due to its features and requirements, is fundamental for the student to live a disciplined life in his body, in his senses and to provide a good foundation for the mind to discriminate. This is what it makes it different from any other discipline. The daily a    a̅̅sana and pra̅na̅ya̅ma practice, undergone under the guidance of a competent teacher, is so powerful and has so much reach and penetration power over the body-mind-senses system that it guarantees that the student will hold a self-restrained, well-balanced, righteous and fair composure.  And this is, I believe, what is most difficult: the daily, slow, gradual preparation for eradicating for ever all psychological and emotional afflictions.

Study

We now face the Scriptures study as another yoga work. They are a mirror in which we can discover and examine ourselves and establish the adequate means to understand the dharma and to hold a well-balanced life on the one hand. On the other hand they are an adequate instrument (pra̅mana) to eliminate the ignorance of one self’s essential reality and to reveal the Self.

We also need the help of a competent teacher for undergoing this assimilation process. In traditional teaching, the teacher sets out his teachings on the fundamental truths and the students listen, analyze, contemplate and investigate.

Let us not forget that yoga is an ORAL tradition and that it is not possible to just read a book nor to progress without the presence of a qualified teacher.

Devotion to I̅śvara

I̅śvara devotion, the appreciation of I̅śvara is a result of discipline, study, contemplation. Without discipline there will not be a prepared and mature mind that is able to be at the dharma’s disposal for study, discrimination and reflection. Without discipline one’s lifestyle cannot produce the conditions that lead to examine, to study or to contemplate. Discipline is one of the foundations. A clear value structure and understanding the priorities of our goals is also needed.

Study cannot be undertaken if we lack a prepared mind and an upright and ethical personality. And if we do not study the truths, if we do not contemplate and assimilate them we cannot appreciate what is the Lord, or we will only partially.

Devotion can be developed by means of personal I̅sv́ara forms, or through rituals, or symbols or yet pujas. At least this must be done. But at a higher level, appreciation and devotion entail a degree of comprehension and knowledge that cannot be achieved with a simple type of devotion based on forms.

This explains why this sutra inspires me so much: because it summarizes yoga’s philosophy and because with a stroke you can sum up your daily sa̅dhana:

Discipline, Study, Devotion (DSD)
Have a nice sa̅dhana !!

How to start? In which school? Can I practice at home? Can I start with just a book? Which asanas are recommended for such and such health problems?

There is only one answer to all these questions: they all need a teacher.

Why? Yoga’s tradition is ORAL and is transmitted in-person, from teacher to student, from teacher to disciple. So it has been for centuries and so it will ever be. There is no other way for it. We cannot short-circuit or replace the on-site learning of a teacher with other means such as books, DVDs, web sites, etc. Tradition is oral and on-site. The student puts himself under the teacher’s guiding, which fulfils all the requirements to make it an adequate learning instrument.

So what I usually answer is “Find a teacher near your home to whom you can regularly call on until you acquire the sufficient skill”.

The address to find teachers that are “certified” and “authorised” by BKS Iyengar is:
http://bksiyengar.com/modules/Teacher/teacher.asp

The Spanish Association web site is: http://aeyi.org
The Mexican Association: http://www.yogaiyengar.org.mx/amyi.php

And what can those not having access to a teacher in their own town do?
If there are no teachers in your town you can go to in-depth studies or retreats of several days or weeks that take place yearly in various towns all around the world and that are imparted by the teachers listed above. This is your best choice and will let you start study and practice in a safe and optimal way. If you are particularly concerned, then you will need to find your teacher.

Reference books
As a last resort you can always turn to books in which the practice principle, guides and sequences of general practice programs are shown. Nevertheless, no book can in any way replace a teacher. A good book, though, is always better than a bad teacher.

- Light on Yoga. Author: BKS Iyengar.

- Yoga for women. Author: Geeta Iyengar.

Both books show programs of practice that the student can follow. Especially in “Yoga for women” achievable programs are held. Nonetheless, as I already said, one needs a teacher to be guided until one’s practice comes to fruition.

And how can I study Yoga’s Phylosophy and Scriptures?
Tough maybe not too many, some people do show interest in these matters, which equally are an integral part of yoga.

As we all need a teacher to begin “practicing”, we also need one who can guide us in the teachings of the Scriptures. As said before, tradition is oral and the presence of the teacher is compulsory.

A book is not enough. It is almost nothing compared to sitting in front of a teacher and listening to him, to analize, contemplate, question and ask.

The study via books only will always be poor and unsufficient to reach real knowledge. A teacher is always needed to unwrap and show the vision so that the student is able to grasp it. This is how it all works.

A good example are the Greek phylosophers and the way they assimilated the knowledge and the vision given to their students. As for yoga and vedanta, a direct and lasting relationship between the teacher and the student is necessary to assimilate the teachings.

This is why I usually answer that one has to go to a teacher’s and I also forward the Arsha Vidya address: this is an organization that superbly represents the Vedic culture from a vedantic point of view and that, to me, is the most serious, dedicated and recognised of all: http://arshavidya.org/avg_teachers.html.

If there is no near teacher to you you can go to a several day retreat with a teacher authorised by Swami Dayananda or with Swami Dayananda himself. I say “from a Vedantic point of view” because I did not find any Iyengar yoga teachers who publicly teach the basic Scriptures and who master both the teaching methodology and Sankrit, and who are yoga adepts. Or you can study BKS Iyengar’s texts, though they can be somewhat rough without the help of somebody who perfectly knows and understands both his own therminology and his interpretation.

Groups of Study
I believe that forming a group of study is a good choice when a teacher is not easily accessible. If you know of persons who are interested (2-3 or more), gather study material, start meeting them regularly and read and discuss on it. If any doubts arise just send them to a teacher who can direct you.

This study material of the Baghavad Gita’ course (in English language) can be purchased at:
http://books.arshavidya.org/cgi-bin/process/shop/display/middle?type=display&subtype=category&arg=category&value=Bhagavad%20Gita%20Home%20Study%20Books
And if you do not form a group, you can study it on your own. But how?
Start with some prayers that will help you in your study and read 5 to 10 pages daily. Write a short summary or do whatever you are used to for studying.

An audio format for this course is also available and can be combined with the reading. Audio or video formats might be better as we connect more directly with the teacher, and so the impact is deeper than from a book.

By sitting and listening through headphones the audio format before a photograph of Swami Dayananda’s you will be closer to an ideal situation of being in front of a teacher, since you expose yourself to his teaching and vision through his words and his intelligence and to his way of operating the words to produce the necessary vrttis so that the knowledge and the removal of the wrong notions take place.

I hope I have helped you in finding a way to begin this path convincingly and as a long-term objective.

parīkṣya lokān karmacitān bhāmaṇo

nirvedamāy ānnāstyakṛataḥ kṛteba

tadvijān ārthaṁ sa  gurumevābhigaccet

samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahmaniṣṭham

“”By analyzing the world experiences obtained through effort, a mature person earns dispassion, clearly distinguishes that what is not created (therefore limitless) cannot be produced by any action. To know That (what is non created or limitless), that person must call on a teacher, who is knowledgeable in the Scriptures and resolute/firm in self-knowledge“”

The teacher is necessary
As it it stated in this verse, tradition shows that a teacher is needed to gain this  knowledge that is myself. This is compulsory, essential. This is how it works and there is no short-cut to avoid this.  One must approach the qualified teacher who has the vision and knows how to handle the words and the teaching methodology so the student is able to understand and assimilate without any doubts. This cannot be accomplished by reading a book. There is teaching tradition and there is a valid prama̅ṇa (a means of knowledge) which needs to be operated by the teacher so it can create the jñana vṛttis in the student that destroys the ignorance.

Moreover, it is a special knowledge: the teaching is about one self, the subject.  It is not about the knowledge of objects others than the subject or of matters others than us. It requires inner leisure and time to discover and recognize the facts about oneself.

Account to the teacher, inquisition
The method consists in exposing oneself to the teaching, and to listen(ṡravaṇam) to his words, analyze the meanings (mananam) and the possible defects, contemplate them (nididhya̅sanam) and resolve all doubts until it is crystal clear. Loads of listening, analysis and investigation are needed, questions and answers to eradicate doubts, and contemplation to assimilate the knowledge that is our own nature. It is not knowledge of any specific objet, but ourselves. The knowledge resolves in one self, the meaning is not separate from oneself, the meaning is you.

And all of it within a favorable lifestyle that conducive  to  learning, to the assimilation of knowledge,  and which requires inner leisure, all found in the Vedic Culture, and defined by a life of yoga and dharma.

It is substantial therefore to find a teacher with a clear and settled vision and who knows this methodology. This is, again, essential. Some teachers may have the vision but lack the methodology to unfold the vision. Without the presence of a teacher it is highly recommended to have an appropriate material for studying such as audio and video. This is only temporal and a way to study on your own but we need a teacher anyway.

One of the universally recognized masters who can properly explain the Scriptures and who has a settled vision is, without any doubt, Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
In the web site Arsha Vidya you will see an exceptional course of the Bhagavad Gita in Spanish, for sure the best comments and material from Bhagavad Gita’s that I have ever known.

This is a very common patter. He wanted to convey he wanted only “experiences”. He wanted to consume more experiences. In spite of all what he had experienced over many decades, he clearly said that he wanted more experiences, new experiences, experiences where he could go consume  the  ”eternal”, “blissful”, “ecstatic” self.

This sounds to me like an advertisement from BMW or Coca-Cola. But it is a very good example on a very important topic about how self-knowledge is gained.

A mystic experience is not required to know the self.
There is a general assumption that we can know the  self only through some kind of mystic experience that requires lots of effort, mind control,  even  ”supra-consciousness”. The goal for many is to reachg this so called supra-consciousness which is a state that goes beyond the mind as if the mind or the  self were really separate and very far from the mind or as it were there another  consciousness seating apart from consciousness, apart from oneself.  For them, the mind is a real problem, so they want to switch it off so they can “experience” the self. When there is no proper understanding and a  lot of demagogy, we need to question the fallacies in this kind of reasoning.

Chopping off your head does not solve the problem.
Suppose a person has a headache and goes to the doctor and the doctor says “Cut off your head, your problem will be solved” Do you think this is reasonable? Obviously not.

This is how they want to solve the problem, by chopping off the head with only mind control. And because there are so many wrong notions about the mind, they believe in mind control,  which is a very lucrative business and  a good way to control people. Everybody will be agree to control the mind, as if the poor mind was the responsible. This is really sad and leads to numerous problems. The mind is an instrument to know and it must be used. What needs to be eradicate are the wrong notions that are in the mind, but not the mind itself!!! And for this we need to know, to employ a means of knowledge using the mind, not cutting off the mind.

If we analyze how perception and experience works, we can easily see the limitations of perception and what the senses can gain through experiences only. Experience can give us data and examples  to infer and get perceptual knowledge and we can gather lots of knowledge about objects in the world which are many and varied, but if one is serious about self-knowledge which is not an object in the world, but one self, then we should consider to employ other means of knowledge  and discard the wrong notions about how self-knowledge takes place.

Bhagavad Gītā’s teachings.
Unlike other speculative teachings, or mere logic, scripture teachings such as Bhagavad Gita, that are revealed, śrutiḥ, are not the product of a single human being’s brain and do not depend upon the philosopher’s vision or point of view. Nor they speak about anything exterior to us but about one self.

They are a methodology teaching and, especially, a teaching with a sampra̅daya, with an oral tradition that is still prevalent after centuries, by getting initiated with the Lord, or for those having faith or not, by starting with the first teacher and then our teachers’ teachers. There is a tradition and a valid means of knowledge that is accepted for all the teachers. It is not the opinion or the experience of any specific individual.

Bhagavad Gītā is revealed knowledge
Bhagavad Gītā is considered by tradition and by lineages of teachers such as śruti (revealed truth such as the upaniṣ̣ads) as a means of knowledge (pra̅maṇa) and is at the same level as the Upaniṣads. It does not matter if you consider it revealed as long as you have faith and a mind that accepts that there is something to discover about yourself. The pra̅maṇa has to be used and operated and you won’t know it you don’t use the pra̅maṇa.

Prama̅ṇa, a means of knowledge.
To be a means of knowledge means to be able to eliminate ignorance (incorrect notions on one self’s) and to remove the ignorance we must gain knowledge. The problem is to discover and recognize the self which is always present as sat-cit-ananda (existence, consciousness and limitless)  and is self-evident and to know it, we don’t need any specific experience nor mind-control, experience is possible because of the self, any experience is the self, the self  as consciousness is always present abut not recognized due to ignorance. And ignorance is the opposite of knowledge. So we need to discover, appreciate what is the self. Nothing else.

This knowledge takes places in the intellect because there is no other place for knowledge to take place. The knowledge does not take place in the foot, in a cakra or in the heart. The mind must be ready and the person must be mature to listen, to understand and to assimilate. Lot  of preparation is needed and for that we live a life of yoga and dharma

But self-knowledge needs to take place and there is no shortcut for this. The student must listen, analyze contemplate and resolve all his doubts with the teacher. And the teacher uses and the teaching tradition which is in the form of words to create the jñana vrttis that can destroy the wrong notions about one self. The teacher, the guru, is established in the vision of the truth and knows the methodology.

The knowledge does not take place in sama̅dhi or in any kind of extra-ordinary experience that you can think about it, and this is clearly said in the śṛuti. Sama̅dhi is conductive for many purposes such as antaḥ-karana-suddhi , but we still  need the teaching for self-knowledge.
So many notions are there about mystic experiences and sama̅dhi. And this notions and wrong ideas create more harm than good. It destroys the capacity to think and use the given faculties to discriminate and to know.

There is a lot of confusion about this. There are entire philosophies and systems that have not understood the teachings from the revealed tradition and they are based on wrong facts and suppositions. If there is a contradiction, the śruti is the source for clarification and the best diagnosis and treatment comes from śruti which is a pra̅maṇa. The other śa̅stras are secondary. Even Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras is not at the level of śruti in terms of self-knowledge and this is recognized clearly by Sankaracarya in the Brahma Sutras.

That is why we need to know what the śruti says and to know it we need to study it in detail. If somebody talks about the scriptures, he must be able to have studied them and to know what they say in detail, otherwise is better to be silent because there is going to be interpretation and confusion coming from his own distorted ideas, prejudices and partial knowledge of the teaching. And this is what happens all the time.  Anyone today picks up verses here and there and tries to justify his own point of view without respect to the teaching as a whole and without any formal and serious studies.

That is why we need to have access to teachers that are in the tradition and that are able to share the vision and the methodology.  Someone like you and me who are ignorant cannot help, because self knowledge has not taken place. That is why we need the pra̅mana  operated by a teacher and this is my intention in this article so you can access and discover what is to discovered.

Few western yoga schools pay a great attention to the study in detail of the Yoga Scriptures and the Vedic Culture. They also seem to ignore the importance that the tradition gives to these Scriptures as a means of knowledge to reveal the self. A means of knowledge , taken for granted to eliminate the fundamental problem we all face: the ignorance of the self.

The whole tradition is an oral tradition where the student sits and listen, inquire, contemplate and analyse the words of the teacher to dissipate the ignorance of the self. But now, in modern times, and with the inclusion of marketing in all aspects of our life, the most easy way is to sell “yoga” as an array of experiences that leads to some form of sensory, physical or organic pleasure that release us from body-mind pressures oand take us to new dimensions of “spirirtual” bliss and “eternal” freedom. Such “nice” words are now being used  now and it seems that they carry any meaning. Not at all.

Few are those who pay enough attention to the study of the texts and to the teaching methodology that our teachers have passed on us. And what is most surprising is that due to a lack of information and investigation it is firmly believed that the listening, analysis and contemplation of the words in the Scriptures are just a “theoretical” knowledge that has nothing to do with the real knowledge that experience or certain states of mind can produce by themselves.

There is nothing as far from truth as that.  This is a topic we should analyse and discuss  since there is a lot of confusion here about what is the traditional teaching methodology.

There seems to exist confusion in what is considered knowledge and the different means for knowledge.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the differences between knowledge and experience.

Experience & Action Indigestion
In fact, there is indigestion and tergiversation on what experience can produce and a constant insistence in asserting that only through experiences more and more “intense” and  ”ecstatic” and their consumption we can reach to a “state” where we can “reveal” the self, being the self already self-evident and self-existent and unable to be an object of  our   “consumption”.  This notions always leads to think that we need to prolongate and search for these “blissful”, “eternal” , “spiritual” “ecstatic”  (blank words that they don’t reveal anything) mind  states that are somehow confused as the “real” goals of our study and practices.

Prashant Iyengar, BKS Iyengar’s son, constantly warns that we yoga adepts are hooked to the consumption of experiences that will not necessarily lead to knowledge.

Prashant Iyengar points out in many of his classes that we are insatiable consumers of these experiences, as action junkies. He warns us that this has little to do with the real meanings of the essential yoga practice and study. He insists once and again on the obsessive tendency of the so-called yoga adepts to go into action, into the culture of action, and their belief of what action can produce by itself, and their physiocratic work, and their determination of doing more and more and more of it, especially in the asana y pranayama practice.

We need to analyze this subject with much more detail to understand the limitations of each paradigm of work that is proposed by Prashant in his classes and books. This will clearly open our eyes to new dimensions that are unknown to many of us.

I hope I can write soon about Prashant Iyengar from notes and classes that I have taken and try to explain his basic methodology, which is for the yoga adept,   a source of inspiration and revelation, a true exponent of the essential astanga yoga.

There is a big difference when you follow a rigorous and well structured sadhana and you undertake not to fail, to be zealous in your study, practice and observation of the yoga principles.

By ‘not to fail’ I mean to commit yourself to practice daily and for a long time, be it warm or cold, may your mind feel like doing it/adequate or not, may you have any doubts on it being convenient or not.

When one tries practicing this way –that is, by very often forcing oneself to practice-, spreads the mat and begins to practice and to study, one starts discerning the fruits and possibilities that the yoga texts and our teachers talk about.

I understand that we cannot consider ourselves yoga adepts if we are not internally committed to undertake regular practice and study. This is not possible. An intermittent practice will not give the expected fruits. If, for instance, you practice during 3 hours one day but you do not at all the day after because you consider you did enough yesterday. Or when you practice three days and then rest during another three days. Or even if you practice daily without following an organized ana adecuate program. This will not work.

It will not be possible to discern the path and to give time to the bacteria and to breeding ground to start reducing the afflictions and wrong basic notions that we have of ourselves.

However, day by day, drop by drop, step by step, one learns basically through one’s will-power, I underline, one’s will-power –because it is through repeated effort and when circumstances are adverse that we clearly notice how the achievement of the control over the disruptions and afflictions works- one succeeds and slowly beats the inner enemy, the indomitable and capricious, ignorant and never-ending wish (that) violently steals the intelligence discrimination capacity.

Thus, day by day, one can glimpse being less whim-dependent and understands what do duty and dharma mean with regard to the practice itself. And how, gradually, at a snail’s pace, one achieves own mastery.

And every day that we practice this way, we perceive the achievement’s fragrance of yoga’s fruit. But beware: do not let yourself move by florid words that can easily influence any of us.

And, on the exact moment that we perceive we are invincible,  we again see the miseries and the afflictions reemerge as whirlwinds.

But there is a big advantage for those who bet on the internal commitment of a study and practice of this type: they hold a stairway that will let them minimize the emerging afflictions, stabilize consciousness and create a very tangible isolation over these disrupting miseries.

This is a great blessing and a big merit, too. Day by day, cent by cent, we realize that we can move forward and even reform ourselves. This is accessible by those being imbued with faith and willingness.

Generally speaking, there is a lot of confusion of the real meaning of it. Even among its teachers and those dedicated to “yoga” some ideas drifted apart from the real meanings of the word yoga still exist.
We will now take a look at the most used classical definitions to try to understand its meanings and implications.

We must read and study the classical texts. This is not just an option or a complement: it is a must. Love of Knowledge and Truth hold hands, along with the Yogic culture, the Dharma and a disciplined life.
This article is based in part of the first chapter of the book “Light over Yoga” of our master BKS Iyengar. In this text BKS Iyengar uses thirteen verses of the Bhagavad G̅ita̅, one of the Yoga Su̅tras and one of the Kathopaniṣad. With such references, we can grasp the importance of the Bhagavad G̅ita̅ in yoga’s conceptions.

Definitions that entail attitudes

In the Bhagavad G̅ita̅ itself, second chapter, we can find two classical definitions of the word yoga.

Verse 2.38:
“Taking pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat to be the same, prepare for battle. Thus, you will not commit fault.“

In this verse, Kṛ̣ṣ̣ṇ̣rsna plants the seed of another classical yoga definition we will find in verse 2.48.

And in this verse 2.38 he is already pointing out the direction toward that definition.  Kṛ̣ṣ̣ṇ̣rsna is letting Arjuna know that what must prevail is the sense of the what is right (dharma) and not convenience or personal preferences.

This attitude towards actions (doing what is right) turns into yoga and it is precisely this attitude what creates certain composure, certain equilibrium, certain non-dependence to personal conveniences in the mind of the yogi, in karma-yogi’s mind. This transformation into equanimity is yoga and is one of the targets of any adept.
It is named karma-yogi because a certain interpretation of any action and its results is used as a preparation and discipline instrument that purifies and minimizes the conveniences of the searcher’s mind.

Verse 2.47:
“ Your choice is in action only, never in the results thereof. Do not think you are the author of the results of action. Let your attachment not be to inaction”

The election is whether you do, you do not do or you do in a different way, but there is no absolute election on the results.

This is a fact. It is not a piece of advice. To believe that we are the absolute agents and responsible of all the results of our actions is a totally wrong and disproportionate perception.

Verse 2.48:
“Remaining steadfast in yoga, Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)! Perform actions abandoning attachment and remaining the same to success and failure. This evenness of mind is called yoga.”

Mind equanimity (yoga) towards the result of actions  is the definition we were looking for.

Equanimity comes over by understanding that our sense of welfare and happiness does not come of having obtained or not what we wanted. We will sometimes achieve want we want, others we will not and others we will obtain more than we expected. As it is impossible to achieve it all (it is not realistic), what is best is to adopt an attitude of equanimity with the results and of greater attention to our duties (bigger attention than to our rights). By combining equanimity and attention we can achieve a greater satisfaction of doing what is right, what is appropriate, instead of weighing up the possible success we have achieved by studying the results we have obtained.

As it is later stated, the wise  is the one who is satisfied  with himself without any particular reason (verse 2.63).

To adopt this healthy attitude of detachment for success and failure and to be ruled by what is right and by duty is a step toward maturity and a sign of independence from afflictions.

And to end up these definitions in terms of attitude, here is the last one, in verse 2.50:

Verse 2..50:
“One who is endowed with sameness of mind, gives up both punya (merit) and pa̅pa (demerit) here, in this world. Therefore, commit yourself to karma-yoga. Karma-yoga is discretion in action.”

The word Kauśalam in this verse means discretion in the election. But it is not an election on what to do that is free of rules. Everyone’s election must be in harmony with certain rules.
Kauśalam is the ability of interpreting properly with reference to the rules of human interaction. This ability and the skill to interpret and choose is Kauśalam. Dharma (what is right) is the rule for human interaction.

Why are these two definitions considered as yoga? In short, because in both you are no more in the hands of the preferences, conveniences and likings emerged from the ra̅ga-dvesas (attachments and aversions): you are now doing the good, appropriate action that matches what must be done at each moment according to the role you are playing.

Definitions that cover mastery and mind absorption:

a) Definitions in the Bhagavad Gi̅ta̅.

The verses that refer to the mastery and absorption  of the mind mostly appear in the sixth chapter, entitled  dhya̅na yoga.

Verse 10:
“ May the meditator, whose body and mind are relaxed, who is free from longing and possessions, remaining alone in a quiet place, constantly unite his (or her) mind (with the object of meditation)”

Verse 12:
“…Sitting there on the seat, making one’s mind one pointed (absorved in the object of meditation), may the one who has mastered the mind and senses practice meditation for the purification of the mind.”

Verse 14:
“… being the one whose mind is tranquil, who is free from fear, established in one’s commitment to the life of  a brahmaca̅rin, may (that) meditator sit thinking of Me, having Me as the ultimate goal, while withdrawing the mind from everything else. “

As we can see, Kṛ̣ṣ̣ṇ̣a starts addressing himself to the person who is already matured, to the prepared karma-yogi, who has undergone a transforming process toward maturity.  He specifically addresses to the person who has mastery over himself, free of ambitions and possession anxiety, the one with a serene and fearless mind, the one engaged with a life of yoga. He does not address the novice; he addresses the karma-yogi who has begun a transforming process by adopting the karma-yoga definitions we said before.

We must bear in mind that we are in chapter six and spoken mainly on karma-yoga, that is, of the means by which an individual prepares and transforms his mind, intelligence and senses to be able to receive and realize this contemplation with or without a form (saguna-Brahma,  nirguna-Brahma). For doing this you need a mature mind, well prepared and ready to receive and assimilate the knowledge. A worried person or a person with very strong internal pressure will not be able to carry out this contemplation o meditation that Kṛ̣ṣ̣ṇ̣a speaks about in this chapter.

On the other hand, the fundamental mechanism referred to here with several different words is union, direction, absorption of the mind in the contemplation of a meditation object which, in this case, is one self’s essential reality, with or without support (with or without form, personal or impersonal).

Verse 15:
“Always connecting the mind in this manner, the meditator, the one whose mind is mastered, gains the peace, which is centered on Me (which is in the form of an absorption in Me), which is the ultimate liberation. “
Verse 18:
“When the mind has gained a certain composure (and) remains in the self alone, where one is free from longing for all the objects (of desire), then (the person) is said (to be) one who is accomplished.”

Kṛ̣ṣ̣ṇ̣a keeps on stressing the mastery of the mind, when it is able of dwelling and settling in the vision and assimilated understanding of the Self.

Verse 19:
“A lamp, protected from the wind. does not tremble. This illustration is cited for the composed mind of the meditator who practice contemplation of the self. “

Verse 20:
“When the mind, mastered by the practice of meditation, abides (in a̅tman) and when, seeing oneself by oneself alone, one rejoices in oneself …

Verso 21:
“… (and when) one recognizes this absolute happiness known by the intellect, beyond the limits of the senses, where once settled one does not move away from one self’s truth”.

The effect of this absorption and understanding comes from the impossibility of moving back or away from truth.

Verse 22  and 23:
“… and,  having gained which, one does not think there is any other better gain than that, established in which, one is not affected even by a great sorrow (sorrowful event) …
… may one know that dissociation from association with sorrow, to be what is called as yoga. That yoga should be pursued with clarity of purpose with a mind that is not discouraged”

b) Definitions in the Yoga Su̅tras and in the Katha Upaniṣsad

Pa̅tañjali defines yoga and the repercussions that its application will have. In the yoga  su̅tra
I.1: yoga is still defined as the restriction and cessation of the functions or fluctuations of consciousness. If this restriction of the fluctuations occurs, whoever “sees” it dwells in his own and splendid magnificence (I.2). If it does not occur, whoever “sees” it identifies himself with the fluctuant consciousness (I.3).

BKS Iyengar states: “Yoga is the method by which the restless mind is calmed and the energy directed into constructive channels. As a mighty river which when properly harnessed  by dams and canals, creates a vast reservoir of water, prevents famine and provides abundant power for industry; so also the mind, when controlled provides a reservoir of peace and generates abundant energy for the human uplift. “

As  B.K.S. Iyengar says in his comments on the Yoga Su̅tras: “The tendency of consciousness is to get involved with the seen object. To drag who sees towards him and to cause that this one get identified with the object. This process turns into a seed of the intelligence diversification and makes possible that who sees forget its own and radiating conscious perception.

When it is restrained and regulated, a reflective state of being is experienced. In this state, knowledge dawns so clearly that the true grandeur of the seer is seen and felt.

All the technique of yoga, its practice and its control, have as object to dissociate the conscience from his identification with the world, to restrict the senses that entangle it and to clean and to purify the lens of the citta, until they transmit total and solely the light of the soul”

The last point in this category is the definition in the Kathopaniṣad:

“When the senses are stilled, the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not- then, say the wise, is reached the highest state. This steady control if the senses and mind has been defined as Yoga. He who attains it is free from delusion.”

Etymological Definition

The very root of the word yoga, Yuj., refers to bind, join, attach and yoke, to direct and concentrate one’s attention on, to use and apply.  It is also means union or communion.

If there exists a notion of being an individual, this individual will always feel restricted, small, powerless, helpless and overwhelmed by the power and immensity of the world. The acknowledgement and appreciation, the vision of this non-separateness, of the non-separation with the world and with God: this is yoga.

Yoga within the six Darśanas

To finish this small exposition, Yoga is one of the six “philosophical” orthodox systems or darśanas in the Vedic culture. Samkya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisisekya, Mimamsa and Veda̅nta. Yoga’s darśana was compiled and systematized by Pa̅tañjali in his masterpiece, the Yoga Su̅tras.

Oh, my God!!, as the English say. And what do we do now?

I do not know where they take such ideas from. What do they read? Who tells them such nonsense? And what is most curious is to see what he considered as yoga “practice”…

Bhagavad Gītā’s teaching is not a philosophy
Unlike other speculative teachings, scripture teachings such as Bhagavad Gita, that are revealed, ṣrutiḥ, are not the product of a single human being’s brain and do not depend upon the philosopher’s vision or point of view. Nor they speak about anything exterior to us but about one self.

They are a methodology teaching and, especially, a teaching with a sampra̅daya, with an oral tradition that is still prevalent after centuries, by getting initiated with the Lord, or for those having faith or not, by starting with the first teacher and then our teachers’ teachers.

Bhagavad Gītā is revealed knowledge
Bhagavad Gītā is considered by tradition and by lineages of teachers such as ṣrutiḥ (revealed truth) as a knowledge instrument and is at the same level as the Upaniṣads. It does not matter if you consider it revealed as long as you have faith and a mind that accepts that there is still more to be learned.

To be an instrument  of knowledge means to be able to eliminate ignorance (incorrect notions on one self’s), the heart of all problems. This is a instrument of knowledge, a pramana.

Teachings are not intellectual gymnastics
And, of course,  they do not speculate nor are an entertainment or hobby.

There is a strong and deep-rooted belief among some yoga adepts that the study of the scriptures, contemplation, analysis, meditation, reflection and investigation of the truths transmitted by the scriptures are some intellectual THING that does not go VERY far, that is plain THEORY, something created in the mind of “people who cannot find anything better to do”.

To think in this way is at the same as saying that there is physical yoga, a mental yoga, an spiritual yoga. Same level of ignorance for those who assert that studing is  a theory. Please understand that the education needs to be complete and for that once needs to be inquisitive and study with competent teachers.

As per yoga’s definitions, speaking about the Iyengar Yoga is complex as it is a very broad matter which covers all human being aspects and from different angles and perspectives such as philosophy, art, science, psychology and religion.

The term “Iyengar”

The term Iyengar is an affectionate term given by some of the B.K.S. Iyengar’s students to make it different from other Yoga schools. B.K.S. Iyengar himself does not use such term but regards it with some surprise or even fun.

Iyengar Yoga is Patañajali’s Yoga

What B.K.S. Iyengar understands, teaches and practices is simply Patañjali’s classical teaching. He was an Indian Master probably born around the 3^rd century BC and the main exponent of the darśana yoga, one of the six orthodox Hindu systems and doctrines that basically deals on the skill and command over the human mind.

It’s that easy. Iyengar yoga is the yoga that matches de Pa̅tañjali view in his treatise of the Yoga Su̅tras, essential work for whoever wishes to go into this matter in depth.

The whole inspiration source that shapes, imbues, and conforms the principles of B.K.S. Iyengar’s practice and teaching is undoubtedly Pa̅tañjali’s yoga. Pa̅tañjali is his prime master and guide, and is, under his influence, what has done the Iyengar yoga possible, as we now know it.

We can now state that Iyengar Yoga proves and shows the way the eight petals or Pa̅tañjali Yoga members are integrated:  yama (ethical premises related to the society), niyama (individual observations), a̅sana (postures), pra̅na̅ya̅ma (breath control), pratya̅ha̅ra (internalization of the senses), dha̅rana (concentration), dhya̅na (meditation) and sama̅dhi (absorption).

B.K.S. Iyengar has worked for about eight decades to improve this art with extensive effort and exclusive dedication to yoga. Through his practices, analysis, synthesis, creativity, skill, investigation and experimentation he has dynamized and reinterpreted Pa̅tañjal’s yoga under the fire of its intensity and has done it popular and approachable to all without losing the purity of its teaching.

¿Which are the distinctive features of the Iyengar Yoga?

Some basic features that Iyengar Yoga student can discover in a class are the following:

- Emphasis in a̅sana, pra̅na̅ya̅ma and pratya̅ha̅ra.

- A̅sana and pra̅na̅ya̅ma are intrinsically yogic, whereas in other schools they are considered as mere exercises or just do not have the rank as per themselves to transform our consciousness

- A̅sana, pra̅na̅ya̅ma and pratya̅ha̅ra works, next to the observation of the yama and niyama ethical principles, leads to dha̅rana (concentration), dhya̅na (meditation) and sama̅dhi (absorption).

¿Why are a̅sana, pra̅na̅ya̅ma and pratya̅ha̅ra intrinsically yogic in Iyengar yoga?

Prashant Iyengar, in his book “Yoga and the New Millennium” points out that there are four primary features in the a̅sanas and pra̅na̅ya̅mas as archetypes to transform consciousness:

- A meticulous technique

- Sequencing

- Times of permanence

- Integration of these three aspects

The meticulousness of the technique exists to allow and explore the access from the peripheral body to the inner mind, from the skeleton-muscle body up to the most subtle aspects of consciousness. Without a meticulous technique there could not be any penetration. Meticulousness requires technique. And not being meticulous you cannot touch the subtleties and without subtleties you cannot penetrate and awake the purpose of the a̅sanas or pra̅na̅ya̅mas. Without a meticulous technique no psychological and mental aspects of the a̅sanas can arise and no benefits in the transformation of consciousness will occur.

Sequencing is of great importance. It helps reaching more depth and inner penetration. It helps exploring and evolves a psycho-mental state. The sequence helps in gaining benefits that are gathered in each a̅sana. This is the reason why, by the end of the practice, our mental state is the result of the whole sequence and not the result of a single a̅sana. And it is not a matter of knowing how to place an a̅sana after the other, but rather how to do one a̅sana depending on where this a̅sana comes in the sequence.

The time of permanence enables to carry out and achieve a process. This gestation time in the position boosts the effect of the a̅sanas to build-up, develop y emerge. We cannot pretend that a change in our state of mind occurs in two, five or ten seconds. Nor let ourselves go by the stopwatch or the quantity: we must consider the metabolic time of the a̅sana, the effective time you have been observing and carrying out the a̅sana technique with meticulousness, attention and perception and with the understanding of the underlying premises of the method and the  philosophy

These three aspects are integrated and will not work if they are isolated. It is this integration what makes the a̅sana and pra̅na̅ya̅ma to be so intrinsically yogic, as all we are speaking about here is related to citta vrtti niroda,  the restrain t of the mind, the culturing of the mind, the sublimation of the mind.

For Prashant Iyengar the main feature of our system is its capacity to objectify our mind, senses, body, emotions and intelligence, and that this self-research process results in the culture and sublimation of the person as a whole.

A physical yoga cannot exist. There are three reasons for this.

First of all, yoga’s aim, or rather, Patanjali yoga‘s aim, is not to improve our physical well-being but to reach the purification of the individual consciousness as the key column for transforming our view and knowledge of ourselves, of the world and of God.

Secondly, using the physical body does not mean that the pursued target is physical. The physical body is used to reform the boy-mind-senses complex.

The third reason for this is that there is no written support in any yoga fundamental text of the existence of a physical yoga.

What is a physical yoga?

Prashant Iyengar answers clearly to this question. For Prashant Iyengar, we should not confuse the means with the ends
“If we are asked whether the yoga is physical, we must answer with another question: What is physical? The answer is very simple. What is done FOR the body is physical. What is done WITH the body is not necessarily physical. Even if we do something mentally for our body, it is physical. We could do it intellectually, emotionally or mentally. It would still be physical.

What is a mental activity? Something overtaken by the mind is not necessarily mental. We have just agreed that what we do with for the body through the mind is not mental but physical. What is done for the mind is mental. Even if we do something with our body for our mind, it is a mental exercise, a mental endeavour.

The neo-vedantists say “our practice is spiritual”. Then this question emerges: What is spiritual? Spiritual is something done for the soul.  They will argue that you are doing something physical because you are doing it with your body whereas what they do is spiritual. This entails that the spirit does its own practice. This is not possible. The soul is not a doer. The soul has no senses. The soul has no hands, legs nor brain.

The soul does not do anything; therefore it is eternal. We are all born and we will all die.

If our practice is physical because it is done by our body and theirs is spiritual because it is done with the soul, it contradicts this philosophy, it contradicts the reality.

The soul does not do anything, so what are they practicing? Obviously, ‘spiritual’ means that it is done for the soul. This logic is also invalid. Why do you require to do something for something. I do something for you because you require it. You do something for me because I require it.

The soul does not require anything because it is self-sufficient. The soul does not require food, nor water, activity or rest. It does not require anything. If nothing is required by the soul, then what are you doing for it?   Spiritual practice does not mean something overtaken by the soul because the soul does not require anything. There is not such a thing as spiritual practice. Therefore, you must answer to these questions by asking them which is their concept of physical practice according to the logic of the philosophy. “

To use the body to reach the mind does not entail a physical yoga.

Particularly, B.K.S. Iyengar has had to put up during many years and with much patience and compassion with all kind of criticisms against his method, classified by some unwary people as a physical yoga. Maybe they criticized him because they did not understand the basics and principles that strengthen the method, by lack of interest or lack of view to understand what is done, or by sheer inertia of an easy classification and allowing themselves to be swept away by the most superficial opinions.

The body can be used as instrument or vehicle to access the mind and the consciousness. There is no problem in stating this. I will say it again: You can use your body to access and reform your mind

The mind can accessed and reformed from trikonasana by using the physical body as the means to access it. Not long ago I wrote an article on Iyengar yoga in which I emphasized on this topic.

The mind can also be used to access and heal the body. Yoga could be called ‘physical yoga’ when the target is the body, but yoga’s etymology assumes this ‘integration’ and therefore it would be senseless that yoga only works on one particular aspect and forgets others. If yoga involves integration and union, how could we brand it as physical yoga or intellectual yoga?

We said that the aim of yoga is not the physical body but to transform the consciousness. Then, how could a ‘physical yoga’ exist? Some of us might seek physical well-being and health, okay, this is reasonable, but there are other aspects that are included in the overall comprehension of yoga. Either there is integration of the whole or there is nothing that can be called yoga.

We must repeat it so it stays clear: by the sole fact of using the physical body as a tool to transform and reform the mind we cannot call it physical yoga. The aim is to reform the mind and the means to reach this can vary. One can use the body, the senses, the breathing and all the yoga’s technologies that are available to reform the mind.

What do the scriptures state?
Light emerges when we start investigating these aspects. It is a matter of approaching the classical texts and trying to understand them. For this, one must chose commentaries and authors traditionally respected who really know what they are treating, and whose vision is backed up by verifiable and extensive dedication to this issue. And yet better if they are Sanskrit erudite.

This is, definitely, better than reading any recent book or any yoga web site or blog.  We must turn to the Yoga Su̅tras and to the Bhagavad Gita to begin with.

I cannot conceive where this division of yoga in various components can come from. No matter how much I study traditional texts I cannot manage to find this division and classification. In fact it does not appear. Such a classification does not exist in what I have investigated.

We have mentioned that in the Yoga Su̅tras emphasis is done in a comprehensive, complete system which treats the human being as a whole. Starting with ethic and moral observations, the yoga applicant leads a disciplined and moderate life that prepares his mind to develop and become pure.  We know the eight yoga members and we have seen that they make a comprehensive system, progressive and safe.

We have seen in the Bhagavad Gita, in another article, the given yoga definitions: no physical yoga is mentioned there either.

A complete system that aspires to the same freedom as the Patanjali ashtanga yoga is also mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Geramtha Samhita and Siva samhita also.

These divisions can only be found in the new commentators or in inaccurate translations. The confusion is probably there. Each commentator might have interpreted yoga according to his personal preferences or tendencies.

For example, there is an aspect in the very Bhagavad Gita that urges to confusion and which comes from the titles of the chapters. Each chapter contains the word yoga.  For example, the first chapter is “Arjuna Visada Yogah”, the Arjuna’s sorrow. The second is “Sankhya Yoga”, knowledge. The third is “Karma Yoga”, karma (action).
The fourth is “Jñana-Karmasannyasa Yogah”, the renunciation of the actions through knowledge.

The word yoga means, in this case and in all chapters, “theme”. This does not mean that the 18 chapters speak about 18 types of yoga. There cannot be one type of yoga called “Arjuna’s sorrow” or renunciation yoga.

There are not several “yogas”. It is common to hear about the yoga division into physical yoga, yoga of action, intellectual yoga and devotional yoga. This is also false. Such a division does not appear in the classical texts. It only exists in the books of new authors and in the mind of the couch yogis.

One can speak about margas –paths- but not yogas. Nor the yoga notions are the same in different contexts such as the Su̅tras Yoga or the Bhagavad Gita.
Not to create confusion, we should be able to differentiate and understand the context in which the different notions arise.  But for this we require to study the texts of qualified masters.

And it is even better if we know Sanskrit. It is our duty to learn it. As yoga adepts, we must have a complete education that covers the whole spectrum of the classical yoga teachings.  Otherwise, we can end up falling in the belief that there are physical, mental and intellectual yoga and, what is worse, seem we are stating something right.