Gopi Krishna Kundalini(1)

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with a study of a few scriptures, as for instance the Bible, Quran,
Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, or any other Buddhist testament,
will probably be enough to develop sufficient insight in an earnest
seeker to enable him to determine the nature of the goal he should
set before him and what he might expect at the end if his sincere
efforts bear any fruit. If the approach to Yoga is made in this way,
after weighing all the pros and cons, the conceptions about this
science, in the minds of most people in both the East and West will
undergo a radical transformation leading to a more healthy and
sober view about this holy enterprise. It will then cease to have
magical properties with which people invest it, and emerge as an
objective reality with its full share of hazards,
YOGA, TRUE AND FALSE 69
difficulties, disappointments and distractions, as any other
enterprise undertaken by man.
The rarity of a successful consummation in Yoga is mainly due
to the fact that most of those who embark on it have often no clear-
cut picture of the desired goal, how they themselves should be
equipped for it, or what they should expect on the way. They
usually accept the versions of the teachers whom they approach for
guidance and who are often themselves unaware of the real goal
and the path. They proceed to sit in the postures and to perform the
other exercises as instructed by such teachers. In this way they
bring down to the level of a mechanical, physical, or mental drill a
system of discipline that is designed, in its true form, to reach
down to the deepest levels of the human mind in order to effect
radical changes in the whole psychological makeup of an
individual. Commenting on the qualifications needed in a seeker
for enlightenment, Upd�sa-Shasri writes: This is always to be
taught to one who is of tranquil mind, who has subjugated his
senses, who is free from faults (of character), obedient, endowed
with virtues, always submissive (to the teacher), and who is
constantly eager for liberation.
Discrimination and dispassion are two of the most essential
attributes needed in a Sadhaka, and every Indian scripture has
accorded the highest priority to them. But he (that master of the
chariot i.e., body), says the Katha-Upanishad (1.3.7), does not
attain that goal, who being associated with a nondiscriminating
intellect and an uncontrolled mind, is ever impure. He attains only
worldly existence (involving birth and death). During the
probationary period, spent by the disciples with their teachers in
India in ancient times, the latter had full occasion to frame their
opinion about the merits of each disciple in the light of the
injunctions contained in the sacred texts. This is clear from several
passages in the Upanishads, as for instance Mundaka-Upanishad
(1.13): To that pupil who has approached him with due courtesy,
whose mind has become perfectly calm and who has control over
his senses, the wise teacher should truly impart that
70 THE SECRET OF YOGA
knowledge of Brahman by which one realizes the Being,
imperishable and real.
The Bhagavad-Gita repeatedly draws attention to the mental
qualifications of the aspirants and time after time emphasizes the
fact that without the basic virtues of detachment, self-mastery,
devotion, faith and intellectual discrimination, success in the search
for liberation is not possible. Self-control has to be acquired first
before the actual practice of Yoga is started, Pledged to the vow
of continence, fearless, keeping himself perfectly calm and with the
mind thoroughly brought under control and fixed on Me says
Krishna to Arjuna (iv. 14), the vigilant Yogi should sit absorbed
in Me. Again in vi. 36, He says: Yoga is difficult of achievement
for one whose mind is not subdued, but it can be easily attained
with practice by him who with his mind under control ceaselessly
strives for it; such is my belief. These citations make it abundantly
clear, without the least trace of ambiguity that a finely adjusted
intellect, able to guide the Sadhaka in choosing his goal and his
way of life and conduct is an indispensable prerequisite for the
experience of Yoga. As at present Yoga is more or less an
individual effort, with a great diversity in methods and
innumerable exponents, each loud in the praise of his own method,
the selection of a teacher needs the same fine exercise of the
intellect as in all other matters. If this selection not made with
proper care there is every possibility of a failure even in the case of
one who, after deep study and thought, has made the choice of the
goal and the path which he would like to take.
This brings us to the very heart of the problem we wish to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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