{"id":964,"date":"2013-07-13T01:31:37","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=964"},"modified":"2013-12-01T16:50:30","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T00:50:30","slug":"48-rajayoga-vol-20-the-synthesis-of-yoga-volume-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/20-the-synthesis-of-yoga-volume-20\/48-rajayoga-vol-20-the-synthesis-of-yoga-volume-20","title":{"rendered":"-48_Rajayoga\u00a0.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\nChapter XXVIII<\/span><\/font><\/b> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nRajayoga<\/span><\/font><\/b> <\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n


\nA<\/font><\/span><\/b>S
\nTHE<\/span><\/font> body and the Prana are the key of
\nall the closed doors of the Yoga for the Hathayogin, so is the mind the key in Rajayoga.
\nBut since in both the dependence of the mind on the body and the Prana is
\nadmitted, in the Hathayoga totally, in the established system of Rajayoga
\npartially, therefore in both systems the practice of Asana and Pranayama is
\nincluded; but in the one they occupy the whole field, in the other each is
\nlimited only to one simple process and in their unison they are intended to
\nserve only a limited and intermediate office. We can easily see how largely
\nman, even though in his being an embodied soul, is in his earthly nature the
\nphysical and vital being and how, at first sight at least, his mental
\nactivities seem to depend almost entirely on his body and his nervous system.
\nModern Science and psychology have even held, for a time, this dependence to be
\nin fact an identity; they have tried to establish that there is no such
\nseparate entity as mind or soul and that all mental operations are in reality
\nphysical functionings. Even otherwise, apart from this untenable hypothesis,
\nthe dependence is so exaggerated that it has been supposed to be an altogether
\nbinding condition, and any such thing as the control of the vital and bodily
\nfunctionings by the mind or its power to detach itself from them has long been
\ntreated as an error, a morbid state of the mind or a hallucination. Therefore
\nthe dependence has remained absolute, and Science neither finds nor seeks for
\nthe real key of the dependence and therefore can discover for us no secret of
\nrelease and mastery. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\npsycho-physical science of Yoga does not make this mistake. It seeks for the
\nkey, finds it and is able to effect the release; for it takes account of the
\npsychical or mental body behind of which the physical is a sort of reproduction
\nin gross form, and is able to discover thereby secrets of the physical body which
\ndo not appear to a purely physical enquiry. This mental or psychical
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 514<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

body, which the soul
\nkeeps even after death, has also a subtle pranic force in it corresponding to
\nits own subtle nature and substance, \u2013 for wherever there is life of any kind, there
\nmust be the pranic energy and a substance in which it can work, \u2013 and this
\nforce is directed through a system of numerous channels, called nādī<\/i>, \u2013 the subtle nervous organisation
\nof the psychic body, \u2013 which are gathered up into six (or really seven) centres
\ncalled technically lotuses or circles, cakra<\/i>,
\nand which rise in an ascending scale to the summit where there is the
\nthousand-petalled lotus from which all the mental and vital energy flows. Each
\nof these lotuses is the centre and the storing-house of its own particular
\nsystem of psychological powers, energies and operations, \u2013 each system corresponding
\nto a plane of our psychological existence, \u2013 and these flow out and return in
\nthe stream of the pranic energies as they course through the Nadis.<\/span><\/p>\n

This
\narrangement of the psychic body is reproduced in the physical with the spinal
\ncolumn as a rod and the ganglionic centres as the Chakras which rise up from
\nthe bottom of the column, where the lowest is attached, to the brain and find
\ntheir summit in the brahmarandhra<\/i> at
\nthe top of the skull. These Chakras or lotuses, however, are in physical man
\nclosed or only partly open, with the consequence that only such powers and only
\nso much of them are active in him as are sufficient for his ordinary physical
\nlife, and so much mind and soul only is at play as will accord with its need.
\nThis is the real reason, looked at from the mechanical point of view, why the
\nembodied soul seems so dependent on the bodily and nervous life, \u2013<\/span> <\/span>though
\nthe dependence is neither so complete nor so real as it seems. The whole energy
\nof the soul is not at play in the physical body and life, the secret powers of
\nmind are not awake in it, the bodily and nervous energies predominate. But all
\nthe while the supreme energy is there, asleep; it is said to be coiled up and
\nslumbering like a snake, \u2013 therefore it is called the kuņdalinī śakti<\/i>, \u2013 in the lowest of the Chakras, in
\nthe mūlādhāra<\/i>. When by
\nPranayama the division between the upper and lower Prana currents in the body
\nis dissolved, this Kundalini is struck and awakened, it uncoils itself and
\nbegins to rise upward like a fiery serpent breaking open each lotus as it
\nascends until the Shakti meets
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 515<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

the Purusha in the brahmarandhra<\/i> in a deep Samadhi of
\nunion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Put less
\nsymbolically, in more philosophical though perhaps less profound language, this
\nmeans that the real energy of our being is lying asleep and inconscient in the
\ndepths of our vital system, and is awakened by the practice of Pranayama. In its
\nexpansion it opens up all the centres of our psychological being in which
\nreside the powers and the consciousness of what would now be called perhaps our
\nsubliminal self; therefore as each centre of power and consciousness is opened
\nup, we get access to successive psychological planes and are able to put
\nourselves in communication with the worlds or cosmic states of being which
\ncorrespond to them; all the psychic powers abnormal to physical man, but
\nnatural to the soul develop in us. Finally, at the summit of the ascension,
\nthis arising and expanding energy meets with the superconscient self which sits
\nconcealed behind and above our physical and mental existence; this meeting
\nleads to a profound Samadhi of union in which our waking consciousness loses
\nitself in the superconscient. Thus by the thorough and unremitting practice of
\nPranayama the Hathayogin attains in his own way the psychic and spiritual
\nresults which are pursued through more directly psychical and spiritual methods
\nin other Yogas. The one mental aid which he conjoins with it, is the use of the
\nmantra, sacred syllable, name or mystic formula which is of so much importance
\nin the Indian systems of Yoga and common to them all. This secret of the power
\nof the mantra, the six Chakras and the Kundalini Shakti is one of the central
\ntruths of all that complex psycho-physical science and practice of which the
\nTantric philosophy claims to give us a rationale and the most complete compendium
\nof methods. All religions and disciplines in <\/span>India<\/span> which use
\nlargely the psycho-physical method, depend more or less upon it for their
\npractices.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rajayoga also
\nuses the Pranayama and for the same principal psychic purposes as the
\nHathayoga, but being in its whole principle a psychical system, it employs it
\nonly as one stage in the series of its practices and to a very limited extent,
\nfor three or four large utilities. It does not start with Asana and Pranayama,
\nbut insists first on a moral purification of the mentality. This preliminary is
\nof supreme importance; without it the course
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 516<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

of the rest of the
\nRajayoga is likely to be troubled, marred and full of unexpected mental, moral
\nand physical perils. \u00b9 This moral purification is divided in the established
\nsystem under two heads, five Yamas and five Niyamas. The first are rules of
\nmoral self-control in conduct such as truth-speaking, abstinence from injury or
\nkilling, from theft etc.; but in reality these must be regarded as merely
\ncertain main indications of the general need of moral self-control and purity. Yama<\/i> is, more largely, any
\nself-discipline by which the rajasic egoism and its passions and desires in the
\nhuman being are conquered and quieted into perfect cessation. The object is to
\ncreate a moral calm, a void of the passions, and so prepare for the death of
\negoism in the rajasic human being. The Niyamas are equally a discipline of the
\nmind by regular practices of which the highest is meditation on the divine
\nBeing, and their object is to create a sattwic calm, purity and preparation for
\nconcentration upon which the secure pursuance of the rest of the Yoga can be
\nfounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is here,
\nwhen this foundation has been secured, that the practice of Asana and Pranayama
\ncome in and can then bear their perfect fruits. By itself the control of the
\nmind and moral being only puts our normal consciousness into the right preliminary
\ncondition; it cannot bring about that evolution or manifestation of the higher
\npsychic being which is necessary for the greater aims of Yoga. In order to
\nbring about this manifestation the present nodus of the vital and physical body
\nwith the mental being has to be loosened and the way made clear for the ascent
\nthrough the greater psychic being to the union with the superconscient Purusha.
\nThis can be done by Pranayama. Asana is used by the Rajayoga only in its
\neasiest and most natural position, that naturally taken by the body when seated
\nand gathered together, but with the back and head strictly erect and in a
\nstraight line, so that there may be no deflection of the spinal cord. The
\nobject of the latter rule is obviously connected with the theory of the six Chakras
\nand the circulation of the vital <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9 <\/span>In
\nmodern <\/span>India<\/span>
\npeople attracted to Yoga, but picking up its processes from books or from
\npersons only slightly acquainted with the matter, often plunge straight into
\nPranayama of Rajayoga, frequently with disastrous results. Only the very strong
\nin spirit can afford to make mistakes in this path.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 517<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

energy between the mūlādhāra <\/i>and the brahmarandhra.<\/i> The Rajayogic Pranayama
\npurifies and clears the nervous system; it enables us to circulate the vital
\nenergy equally through the body and direct it also where we will according to need,
\nand thus maintain a perfect health and soundness of the body and the vital
\nbeing; it gives us control of all the five habitual operations of the vital
\nenergy in the system and at the same time breaks down the habitual divisions by
\nwhich only the ordinary mechanical processes of the vitality are possible to
\nthe normal life. It opens entirely the six centres of the psycho-physical
\nsystem and brings into the waking consciousness the power of the awakened
\nShakti and the light of the unveiled Purusha on each of the ascending planes.
\nCoupled with the use of the mantra it brings the divine energy into the body
\nand prepares for and facilitates that concentration in Samadhi which is the
\ncrown of the Rajayogic method.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rajayogic
\nconcentration is divided into four stages; it commences with the drawing both of
\nthe mind and senses from outward things, proceeds to the holding of the one
\nobject of concentration to the exclusion of all other ideas and mental activities,
\nthen to the prolonged absorption of the mind in this object, finally, to the
\ncomplete ingoing of the consciousness by which it is lost to all outward mental
\nactivity in the oneness of Samadhi. The real object of this mental discipline
\nis to draw away the mind from the outward and the mental world into union with
\nthe divine Being. Therefore in the first three stages use has to be made of
\nsome mental means or support by which the mind, accustomed to run about from
\nobject to object, shall fix on one alone, and that one must be something which
\nrepresents the idea of the Divine. It is usually a name or a form or a mantra
\nby which the thought can be fixed in the sole knowledge or adoration of the Lord.
\nBy this concentration on the idea the mind enters from the idea into its
\nreality, into which it sinks silent, absorbed, unified. This is the traditional
\nmethod. There are, however, others which are equally of a Rajayogic character,
\nsince they use the mental and psychical being as key. Some of them are directed
\nrather to the quiescence of the mind than to its immediate absorption, as the
\ndiscipline by which the mind is simply watched and
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 518<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

allowed to exhaust its
\nhabit of vagrant thought in a purposeless running from which it feels all
\nsanction, purpose and interest withdrawn, and that, more strenuous and rapidly
\neffective, by which all outward-going thought is excluded and the mind forced
\nto sink into itself where in its absolute quietude it can only reflect the pure
\nBeing or pass away into its superconscient existence. The method differs, the
\nobject and the result are the same. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here, it
\nmight be supposed, the whole action and aim of Rajayoga must end. For its
\naction is the stilling of the waves of consciousness, its manifold activities, cittavŗtti<\/i>, first, through a
\nhabitual replacing of the turbid rajasic activities by the quiet and luminous
\nsattwic, then, by the stilling of all activities; and its object is to enter
\ninto silent communion of soul and unity with the Divine. As a matter of fact we
\nfind that the system of Rajayoga includes other objects, \u2013 such as the practice
\nand use of occult powers, \u2013 some of which seem to be unconnected with and even
\ninconsistent with its main purpose. These powers or siddhis are indeed
\nfrequently condemned as dangers and distractions which draw away the Yogin from
\nhis sole legitimate aim of divine union. On the way, therefore, it would
\nnaturally seem as if they ought to be avoided; and once the goal is reached, it
\nwould seem that they are then frivolous and superfluous. But Rajayoga is a
\npsychic science and it includes the attainment of all the higher states of
\nconsciousness and their powers by which the mental being rises towards the
\nsuperconscient as well as its ultimate and supreme possibility of union with
\nthe Highest. Moreover, the Yogin, while in the body, is not always mentally
\ninactive and sunk in Samadhi, and an account of the powers and states which are
\npossible to him on the higher planes of his being is necessary to the
\ncompleteness of the science.<\/span><\/p>\n

These powers
\nand experiences belong, first, to the vital and mental planes above this
\nphysical in which we live, and are natural to the soul in the subtle body; as
\nthe dependence on the physical body decreases, these abnormal activities become
\npossible and even manifest themselves without being sought for. They can be acquired
\nand fixed by processes which the science gives, and their use then becomes
\nsubject to the will; or they can be allowed to develop of themselves and used
\nonly when they come, or when
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 519<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

the Divine within moves
\nus to use them; or else, even though thus naturally developing and acting, they
\nmay be rejected in a single-minded devotion to the one supreme goal of the
\nYoga. Secondly, there are fuller, greater powers belonging to the supramental
\nplanes which are the very powers of the Divine in his spiritual and
\nsupramentally ideative being. These cannot be acquired at all securely or
\nintegrally by personal effort, but can only come from above, or else can become
\nnatural to the man if and when he ascends beyond mind and lives in the
\nspiritual being, power, consciousness and ideation. They then become, not
\nabnormal and laboriously acquired siddhis, but simply the very nature and
\nmethod of his action, if he still continues to be active in the
\nworld-existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the whole,
\nfor an integral Yoga the special methods of Rajayoga and Hathayoga may be
\nuseful at times in certain stages of the progress, but are not indispensable.
\nIt is true that their principal aims must be included in the integrality of the
\nYoga; but they can be brought about by other means. For the methods of the
\nintegral Yoga must be mainly spiritual, and dependence on physical methods or
\nfixed psychic or psycho-physical processes on a large scale would be the
\nsubstitution of a lower for a higher action. We shall have occasion to touch
\nupon this question later when we come to the final principle of synthesis in
\nmethod to which our examination of the different Yogas is intended to lead. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 520<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter XXVIII  Rajayoga     AS THE body and the Prana are the key of all the closed doors of the Yoga for the Hathayogin, so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-20-the-synthesis-of-yoga-volume-20","wpcat-20-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9728,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions\/9728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}