Basics of Yoga

1) Then you create your future.
2) You can understand why situations happen in your life.

We all should make decisions in life, and it depends on what moral principles we live by, it will have different consequences for us and for other people.

Person who are responsible for his actions, will live much more conscious and moral life. He will not do any bad things to other beings. And a person who thinks that everything is coincidences probably can do something to harm others.

What is karma

Karma in Sanskrit means ‘action’.

Buddhist sutra about the Law of Karma: “Everything that you do will return back to you. Everything that happens with you – fair reward.”

So whatever you do for others in life, you get the same back.… skaityti daugiau

Ishwara Pranidhana means devotion for all living beings, devotion for the Absolute, for God. Patanjali Yoga Sutras says, “By devotion to Ishwara, attainable samadhi.”

Ishwara – Creator, God, Parabrahman, Highest Soul, Absolute, Highest Consciousness. Pranidhan means finding a shelter, devotion.

Full devotion for all living beings and full devotion for God. Always think about God, about your Divine Nature.

Most people in society are oriented only to satisfy their material needs. For them it’s hard to understand why I should serve somebody. So Ishwara Pranidhana is the best cure from our ego selfishness because when we need to serve others, we get rid of our ego. When we serve others, we return our karmic debts for others.… skaityti daugiau

Svadhyaya means reading spiritual texts, scriptures, and biographies of spiritual masters and gurus, read their books, listen to their lectures, attend satsangs, and gain knowledge that uplifts you and allows you to experience your real nature.

We need to study laws of the universe:

What is karma?
What is reincarnation?
How to live life?
How to develop inner virtues?
How to realize our true nature (Who Am I)?

It is important to know who we are, about our inner world, and about outer world. Otherwise we don’t know how to live life.

We can find answers in Vedic scriptures. Teachers recommend reading scriptures many times because from 1 time it’s not always possible to understand it.… skaityti daugiau

Patanjali Yoga Sutras says, “Practice of austerity (asceticism) removes impurities; body and sense organs become perfect.”

By practicing austerity, discipline, and yoga, we extract energy that we call tapas.

In older times, tapas was standing on one leg in water for many days or keeping a hand above the head for many days. In the Mahabharata, Arjuna did great penance for Lord Shiva to please him and gain a very powerful weapon. So he went to the Himalayas and started doing his tapas.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati explains that, etymologically, the word tapas means process of purification, through which a person becomes mature.

Tapas – it’s like universal energy that helps you to realize all kinds of ideas: for spiritual development, for realizing projects, ideas, even for pleasures.… skaityti daugiau

Santosha means that you’re satisfied and happy with what you have or don’t have. You accept whatever happens in your life: good and bad. You are already happy right now, and you don’t need something to become happy.

Santosha is about you as a person, your life, job, material side, money you have, or yoga practice. You already have everything to grow.

Mind always want something more, newer, better, or a different color. Our neighbor bought a new car, and we think that we also need to buy a new car.

Usually we think that the more items we have, the more money, better work, and the happier we are.

People often have everything, but still they don’t have peace of mind.… skaityti daugiau

Body level: cleanliness of body, wash your body, clothes, house, flat, personal items, work desk, inner organs.

In yogic texts there are many examples of shatkarmas. Shatkarma – it is six cleansing techniques that help to purify the body from inside and maintain good health, body, and energy. There are techniques like Trataka, Nauli, Kapalabhati, Neti, Basti, Dhauti, Kunjala, Shankaprakshalana, fasting, and others. Healthy and simple food is very important for the Shaucha principle.

Speech level: telling the truth, calm and pleasant intonation, words with meaning, remove word parasites, bad words, and do not curse or tell dirty words.

Mind level: remove negative thoughts like anger, lust, greed, jealousy, negative emotions.… skaityti daugiau

There are at least 2 ways to understand the Brahmacharya principle:

1) Control of senses.
2) Walking with the Brahman. You see Creator everywhere.

Brahmacharya has a wide understanding, from sexual abstinence to refraining from taste. People get used to wasting energy: watching movies, going to the cinema, listening to music, browsing the internet, scrolling on mobile, and eating food. People became addicted to getting emotions. When you throw away energy, satisfaction comes, and then you become calm for a short time. When you don’t have energy, it’s not possible to grow spiritually. That’s the reason why we need to learn to control our minds. We always want to raise our energy as high as possible.… skaityti daugiau

We live in an era of consumers. Everybody wants more and more better items. People think that the more they buy, the happier they will be. It’s a strange way of understanding life and this world.

Every item uses our energy. To get an item, we need to work, save money, buy the item, and maintain this item. In all those 4 stages, you spend your time and resources. The more items we have, the more energy we spend to maintain them near us.

For example, if you have 5 houses, you need to take care of all of them: clean rooms windows, maintain the surrounding area, and so on.

When you have many items, they start using your time and energy.… skaityti daugiau

When you do not steal and do not take things or services that do not belong to you, it creates harmony with other people. Sage Patanjali in Patanjali Yoga Sutras explains, “By keeping the vow of non-stealing, a yogi gets all wealth.” Or “When non-stealing is established, yogi can get whatever he wants.”

Asteya means abandoning the intention, desire, or possession of stealing anything: material, items, services, achievements, relationships, or whatever does not belong to you through force or cheating, actions, words, or thoughts.

From an energy point of view, stealing always has consequences. Stealing causes guilt. When people try to get something free without paying or giving back, it has negative consequences.… skaityti daugiau

Yoga Pradipika: “If you have a habit to cheat and fool others, after some time you will believe in your own lies.”

Satya  is the practice of saying and doing truth in our daily life. It is the practice of not lying. In Sanskrit, “sat” means “absolute truth.”

A truthful man is absolutely free from worries and anxieties. He has a calm mind. He is respected by society. There will be power in your speech.

Following Satya in our lives gives us confidence and inner power. People who tell the truth have very strong energy. People who always lie are very weak.

Your thoughts should agree with your words, and the words should agree with your actions.… skaityti daugiau