At present Yoga has been propagated a lot in many countries of the world, and a lot of literature has been published on this subject. Many brands of yoga under various names are current : Raja yoga, Hatha yoga, Janan yoga Karma yoga dhyana yoga, Sahaja yoga, Japa yoga, etc., Infact, yoga is
only one, not many, and by that one alienate is possible to attain Brahma or Moksha-a state of freedom from sufferings and total happiness of Ananda. We shall concentrate only on Vaidic yoga which has been revealed only in the Vedas & taught & practiced since the beginning of creation. Yoga is a simple scientific discipline of mind & body for the soul's communion with the divine. It is neither magic nor hypnosis. The same is known now by the name Pantanjala Yoga, i.e., Maharishi Pantanjali's version of Vaidic yoga.
Yoga as a philosophy & practical system of physical, mental, moral & spiritual discipline is a great heritage of the Indian people. It is indeed a great gift of ancient India to the entire mankind. It is a discipline which admits of no distinction & discrimination between one human being& another, instead, points the way to self-improvement & ultimate Salivation for all. For this yoga is the only
way for everybody, whatever may be religion, race or country.
Today we need Yoga because without the practice of meditation, we cannot attain peace of mind. We have made striking progress in science, arts, technology, economic development, learnt
languages, honor, prestige, wealth, power and means of comfort & luxury. But along with& inspire of this progress, we have lost peace of mind. His hopes & dreams are destroyed & everything looks dark, unable to control the mind. In short, the higher the progress, the deeper the affliction.
Peace flows from the mind & spirit. It doesn't flow from money or power. We can get peace of mind only through yoga. Yoga gives us control over the mind. We can wean it away from anything & we can concentrate it on anything we want. Desire, anger, greed ,attachment, pride, envy, jealously
etc., are mental diseases & the wealth can never be a solution. The solution to these mental affliction can be possible only through grasping the spiritual knowledge & wisdom & act according to that knowledge. Our Rishies have given adequate spiritual knowledge & wisdom in their work of philosophy for the good of the entire mankind.
Today's life is full of violence, falsehood, deceit, betrayal, theft, adultery & many other moral weaknesses etc., is due to the misunderstanding the real nature of the five elements of life & morals mentioned in the Darsana philosophy - Which are Soul, Supreme Soul ( God ), Mind, Intelligence,
Sanskara ( latencies lying embedded deep in the mind ).
In the yoga philosophy, this practice is called 'YOGA' ( communion or being in the very presence of God ). The human soul is conscious entity, intelligent & controls the material organs such as the mind & senses. The man who detaches his mind from all the worldly objects / interests & concentrates on the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, formless, pure & blissful God, becomes free from all the afflictions of body & mind, & obtains knowledge, strength, bliss, fearlessness, freedom & all other qualities of mind & character from God. This is the purpose of the practice of yoga.
By the practice of yoga, a person achieves full control over the mind. Due the control over the mind, concentration & memory power increases & the intellect grows fine & subtle. Man gets freedom from all pains only when he obtains the Salvation / Moksha. It is possible only when the latencies
of ignorance are removed / destroyed. These latencies are destroys only by the direct experience of God in Samadhi. Samadhi is the state of mind in which all fluctuation of the mind are at a standstill in perfect peace. The state of mental peace is attained by the observance of the Eight-fold yoga practice ; Yama ( social ethics ), Niyama ( personal ethics ), Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana,Dhyana & Samadhi.
