O dear children of Love! Draw inspiration from their teachings and tread the path of Love.
Remember Him. Feel His indwelling presence everywhere. See Him in all faces, in all objects, in all
movements, in all feelings, in all sentiments, in all actions. Meditate upon His form with
single-minded devotion. Become a peerless devotee of the Lord in this very life, nay in this very
second.
The student treading the path of Raja-Yoga3 has to ascend the Spiritual Ladder step by step,
stage by stage. There are eight limbs in Raja-Yoga, viz., Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama,
Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. By practicing Yama and Niyama at the outset the
student gets ethical training and purification of mind. By developing friendship, mercy and
complacency, he destroys hatred, jealousy and harshness of heart and thereby gets peace of mind.
By practicing Asana he steadies his posture and gets complete control and mastery over his body.
Then he practices Pranayama to remove the tossing of mind and destroy Rajas (passion) and Tamas
(inertia). His body becomes light and elastic. By practicing Pratyahara (withdrawal of the Indriyas
or senses from sensual objects) he gets strength and peace of mind. Now he is fit for concentration
which comes of itself. He practices meditation and enters into Samadhi. By the combined practice
of concentration, meditation and Samadhi (Yogic Samyama), he gets various Siddhis (powers). By
concentration on the senses, egoism, mind, etc., he gets various other powers and experiences. He
now sees without eyes, tastes without tongue, hears without ears, smells without a nose and feels
without a skin. He can work miracles. He simply wills and everything comes into being.
Those who follow the path of Jnana-Yoga or Vedanta4 should first acquire the four means of
salvation, viz., Viveka, Vairagya, Shat-Sampatti and Mumukshutva. Viveka is discrimination
between the Real and the unreal. Vairagya is indifference or dispassion for sensual objects herein
and hereafter. Shat-Sampatti is the sixfold virtue, viz., Sama, (calmness of mind), Dama (restraint
of the senses), Uparati (satiety), Titiksha (power of endurance), Sraddha (faith) and Samadhana
(one-pointedness of mind). Mumukshutva is intense longing for liberation. Then they should
approach a Brahma-Nishtha Guru (one who is established in Brahman or God), who has fully
realised the Supreme Self and hear the Scriptures directly from his mouth. Then they should reflect
and meditate on what they heard and attain Self-realisation. Now the Jnani exclaims in exuberant
joy: “The Atman alone is, One without a second. Atman or the Self is the one Reality. I amBrahman
(Aham Brahma Asmi). I am Siva (Sivoham).Sivoham). I am He (Sivoham).” He, the liberated soul, sees the
Self in all beings and all beings in the Self.
From – SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
