How to be a Yogi E-Book

Swami Abhedananda

• Herausgeber: Swami Abhedananda
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

A short treatise on the various forms of yoga, including Hatha, Raja, Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana. The book also has chapters on the science of breathing, and the possibility that Christ was a Yogi.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE
INTRODUCTORY
WHAT IS YOGA?
HATHA YOGA
RÂJA YOGA
KARMA YOGA
BHAKTI YOGA
JNÂNA YOGA
SCIENCE OF BREATHING
WAS CHRIST A YOGI?

Leseprobe

How to be a Yogi

SWAMI ABHEDANANDA

First digital edition 2016 by Anna Ruggieri

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTORY

WHAT IS YOGA?

HATHA YOGA

RÂJA YOGA

KARMA YOGA

BHAKTI YOGA

JNÂNA YOGA

SCIENCE OF BREATHING

WAS CHRIST A YOGI?

PREFACE

THE Vedânta Philosophy includes the different branches of the Science of Yoga. Four of these have already been treated at length by the Swâmi Vivekananda in his works on "Râja Yoga," "Karma Yoga," "Bhakti Yoga," and "Jnâna Yoga"; but there existed no short and consecutive survey of the science as a whole. It is to meet this need that the present volume has been written. In an introductory chapter are set forth the true province of religion and the full significance of the word "spirituality" as it is understood in India. Next follows a comprehensive definition of the term "Yoga," with short chapters on each of the five paths to which it is applied, and their respective practices. An exhaustive exposition of the Science of Breathing and its bearing on the highest spiritual development shows the fundamental physiological principles on which the whole training of Yoga is based; while a concluding chapter, under the title "Was Christ a Yogi?" makes plain the direct relation existing between the lofty teachings of Vedânta and the religious faiths of the West. An effort has been made, so far as possible, to keep the text free from technical and Sanskrit terms; and the work should therefore prove of equal value to the student of Oriental thought and to the general reader as yet unfamiliar with this, one of the greatest philosophical systems of the world.

THE EDITOR.

INTRODUCTORY

TRUE religion is extremely practical; it is, indeed, based entirely upon practice, and not upon theory or speculation of any kind, for religion begins only where theory ends. Its object is to mould the character, unfold the divine nature of the soul, and make it possible to live on the spiritual plane, its ideal being the realization of Absolute Truth and the manifestation of Divinity in the actions of the daily life.

Spirituality does not depend upon the reading of Scriptures, or upon learned interpretations of Sacred Books, or upon fine theological discussions, but upon the realization of unchangeable Truth. In India a man is called truly spiritual or religious not because he has written some book, not because he possesses the gift of oratory and can preach eloquent sermons, but because he expresses divine powers through his words and deeds. A thoroughly illiterate man can attain to the highest state of spiritual perfection without going to any school or university, and without reading any Scripture, if he can conquer his animal nature by realizing his true Self and its relation to the universal Spirit; or, in other words, if he can attain to the knowledge of that Truth which dwells within him, and which is the same as the Infinite Source of existence, intelligence, and bliss. He who has mastered all the Scriptures, philosophies, and sciences, may be regarded by society as an intellectual giant; yet he cannot be equal to that unlettered man who, having realized the eternal Truth, has become one with it, who sees God everywhere, and who lives on this earth as an embodiment of Divinity.