Lectures on Raja Yoga E-Book

Sri Swami Chidananda

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Preface First Lecture: Raja Yoga Is A Universal Science Second Lecture: Value Of Raja Yoga Third Lecture: Mind And Its Activity Fourth Lecture: Right Application In Yoga Brings Success Fifth Lecture: Asmita, Raga And Dvesha (Egoism, Likes And Dislikes) Sixth Lecture: The Essence Of The Four Yogas Seventh Lecture: The Awakened Mind

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

PREFACE

FIRST LECTURE: RAJA YOGA IS A UNIVERSAL SCIENCE

The Nature Of The World

The Purpose Of Yoga

The Fourfold Path

The Nature Of The Mind

The Psychology Of Yoga

SECOND LECTURE: VALUE OF RAJA YOGA

Yoga, The Essence Of World’s Religions

Yoga Is The Path To Bliss

Study Of The Human Mind

The Task Before Yoga

Mind And Thought Are Inseparable

The Value Of Sleep

Mental Activity Hides Your Real Nature

The Dynamics Of The Mind

Pleasure Mistaken For Happiness

Dispassion And Withdrawal

THIRD LECTURE: MIND AND ITS ACTIVITY

The Parable Of A Camel

The State Of Sleep

Memory

Abhyasa And Vairagya (Practice And Dispassion)

The Different Grades Of Concentration

Faith Brings Progress

The Importance Of Hatha Yoga

Obstacles In The Path Of Yoga

How To Overcome Obstacles

FOURTH LECTURE: RIGHT APPLICATION IN YOGA BRINGS SUCCESS

Kriya Yoga

Tapas (Austerity)

Svadhyaya (Study)

Isvarapranidhana (Dedication To God)

Para And Apara Vidya (Secular And Spiritual Knowledge)

Raga And Dvesha (Attachment And Aversion)

Pancha Kosas (The Five Sheaths)

Yama And Niyama

FIFTH LECTURE: ASMITA, RAGA AND DVESHA (EGOISM, LIKES AND DISLIKES)

The Parable Of The Oxen

Saucha (Purity)

Santosha (Contentment)

Asana (Steady Posture)

Pranayama (The Technique Of Breathing)

SIXTH LECTURE: THE ESSENCE OF THE FOUR YOGAS

Pratyahara (Withdrawal)

The Parable Of The Bee

Easy Meditative Posture

The Taming Of The Pranic Energy

Interrelationship Of Body, Mind And Prana

Benefits Of Yama And Niyama

SEVENTH LECTURE: THE AWAKENED MIND

Establishment In Pratyahara

The Inner Yoga

Samadhi Or Superconscious State

The Supernatural Powers

Lectures on Raja Yoga

By

Sri Swami Chidananda

Lectures on Raja Yoga by Sri Swami Chidananda.

David De Angelis 2017

PREFACE

Peace be unto all beings!

Adorations unto the Almighty Lord! Homage unto the great Sage Patanjali, the ancient expounder of the science of Raja Yoga! Salutations to Worshipful Master Gurudev Sivananda at whose Feet this book is offered in reverence and devotion!

I am happy to give this brief Preface to this little book on the subject of Raja Yoga edited by Sri Swami Vimalananda, who has been a devoted helper to me in innumerable ways over the past more than two decades.

The matter in this book comprises a series of class lectures given in Beirut (Lebanon) at the Yoga Shanti Niketan where I had been invited by the Founder-Director, Mrs. Louisa Raaff, known to her student circles as Mother Shanta and Mother Swami Lalitanandaji, who generously helped towards this trip. I went to Beirut and stayed for six weeks in the spring of 1973 fulfilling a programme of a series of class lectures, Satsangas, meditation sessions and public engagements.

Two other friends who took great interest in my visit and were very helpful to me are

Sri Omar Mansaur and Jean Pierre Sara, both spiritual seekers taking keen interest in Yoga practice and meditation. To these wonderful persons I owe a debt of gratitude and take this opportunity of recording it here.

I must also mention the young student, Panos Tsakalian of the American University at Beirut who arranged lectures at the University.

These lectures have been given in very simple language avoiding technical terms as far as possible. They are easy to understand as they were originally addressed to a group of persons who were strangers to Indian philosophical thoughts and the subject of YogaDarshana.

It was a new subject and the field was unfamiliar to their thought-form. As such, these talks were necessarily made simple for them to grasp. An orderly sequence was attempted at the time of their delivery.

Therefore, this arrangement makes the present volume something in the nature of a primary text-book on Patanjali Yoga. Hence it is felt that it may be of some value to beginners and would help them to get a preliminary knowledge of Ashtanga Yoga.

Whatever is helpful and of any value in this volume belongs to Maharshi Patanjali, to whom I pay homage.

Any discrepancies and shortcomings the reader may find belong to me. The entire project was undertaken in the spirit of Guru-Seva to Worshipful Master Swami Sivanandaji.

My many grateful thanks to each and everyone who has made this volume possible.

Swami Chidananda

FIRST LECTURE: RAJA YOGA IS A UNIVERSAL SCIENCE

Beloved Immortal Souls! Radiant Children of Light! Greetings to you all in the name of Yoga. Yoga, the ancient science of India, is the common heritage of humanity, though evolved in the East, though practised and expounded in India. This science of attaining universal consciousness is the common wealth of mankind. It is a science that goes beyond the barrier of any particular faith or religion, system or theology, and takes on the nature of spiritual process that is capable of being worked out within the interior of human consciousness irrespective of the personality. This consciousness, shines as the universal common denominator, as the common factor in all life. It runs as a subtle invisible cosmic link in all life, just as a thread runs as the common inner support through a necklace of beads of variegated colours, shapes and appearances, holding them all together, unifying them into one object, a necklace. Here is this Sutra or a thread, a unity within diversity.