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the more is the selfishness, the more also is the discordant
note struck in one s life. Yoga is a systematized process of
establishing permanent friendship with Nature in all its
levels - friendship in the physical, vital, mental, intellectual
and spiritual levels. It is all love and friendship, and no
enmity anywhere. This is yoga. The yoga system is an exact
science which takes into consideration every aspect of life, in
a slow process of unfoldment. The lowest manifestation is
the physical or the bodily personality.
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The asana should be firm and easy. It should be steady
and not cause discomfort of any kind. It should not make the
student conscious of the body through tightness, tension, etc.
It should be a normal posture in which he can sit for a long
time. The yoga prescribes certain minimum requirements in
asana, though a long rope is given when it is merely said that
it is the firm and comfortable. Within the limits of the rule,
one may have freedom in asana. What are the limits? The
extremities of the body should be locked, and the head, neck
and spine should be in a straight line. These extremities are
the fingers and the toes. If they are left exposed, the electric
current generated in meditation may leak into space. Also,
one should not sit on the bare ground, because the earth is a
conductor of electricity and the energy may thereby leak
again. A non-conductor of electricity is prescribed as good
material to spread on the ground. In olden days a dry grass
mat was used, called the kusa asana over which a deer-skin,
and a cloth, both non-conductors of electricity, were spread.
The Gita prescribes that the seat should not be too high or
too low. The student may fall down if the seat is very high,
and if it is too low, there is the likelihood of insects and
reptiles creeping into the seat. The spine, too, should be kept
straight. It should be at right angles to the base. One should
not be leaning against any support or be bending forward.
The reason is that if the spine is straight the nerves get
relaxed and no part of the body exerts influence on another
part. The flow of the prana through the nerves is
smoothened. If the body is twisted, the prana has to make
effort to flow through the limbs. There is a free movement of
energy in the body when the whole system is in a state of
relaxation.
Apart from the spine being straight, and the extremities
being locked, the legs are to be bent in three or four ways.
There are padma-asana, siddha-asana, svastika-asana and
sukha-asana. One can choose any of these postures for
meditation. The purpose of a fixed asana is to enable the
mind to slowly forget that there is a body at all. The body will
attract attention, somehow. But the mind cannot, in
meditation, afford to remain conscious of the body. The
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student gradually loses sensation of the limbs. He forgets
that he is seated, that he has a body or the limbs. The first
sign of successful practice in asana is a sense of levitation.
The body is felt to be so light that it may appear to be ready
for a rise. This sensation comes when there is a thorough
fixity of posture. This is the test. One will begin to feel a
creeping sensation as if ants are crawling over the body. That
should show the student s readiness for a rise above body-
consciousness. Together with these sensations, he will also
realize a kind of satisfaction, a happiness, a delight that
comes due to lightness of the body in asana. If one sits thus
for two to three hours, one may not have any feeling even if
someone touches the body. The prana is so harmonious that
it does not create sensation in the body. It is disharmony that
creates sensations of things. When the highest harmony is
reached, there will be no external sensation. With extremities
locked; with fingers kept one over the other, or locked; with
spine straight; head, neck and spine in one line, and at right
angles to the base of the body; the asana is perfect.
The asana should be effortless. There should be no effort
not only in the body but also in the mind. Absolute ease of
relaxation is the sign of perfected asana. The student should
be in a most natural condition in which he is not conscious
even of his breathing. If there is pain, jerk, or a pinching
sensation, it should mean that the asana is not properly fixed.
There is a prescription given by Patanjali to quicken fixity of
posture. And that is  attention on the infinite . Steadiness is [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]