PRITHVIRAJ THALI 

The word ‘Yoga’ seems to have derived from its root ‘Yuj’, which means to join or to unite. It forms one of the six principal schools of Indian thought and is distinct from ‘Hatha Yoga’. While the latter primarily focuses on physical wellbeing through intricate body postures or ‘Mudras’ coupled with the techniques of right breathing, the former essentially embodies the subtler principles of calming the tumult of the mind and attuning one’s consciousness with the divine within.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once famously said: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” He was wise enough to discern the temporal nature of the outer world as against the enduring timelessness within. The ancients have long pointed to an inner world – the true world – which holds the key to harmony, bliss and balance. Each of us, thus, has a spiritual being super-imposed upon or encased within this mortal flesh-andbones cage. In our pursuit for material happiness, we have long forgotten that it is, in fact, the ultimate soul-bliss that we unknowingly pursue. Life is then merely a maze, a journey from a seeming plurality back to the ‘Sole Unity’. Such is the nature of Maya – the great illusionist – that it imbues us with a false sense of duality. Out of this ignorance springs the individualistic consciousness, the ‘Ahamkara’ that leads us to repeated sorrow and strife. Any being that operates with the ‘I’ consciousness in this world must per force taste its twin extremes of joy and sorrow, both fleeting and everchanging. One-mindedness therefore is the highest state of being and is the true nature of the ‘Atma’ or Soul. As the individualistic consciousness – borne out of ignorance – partakes of the sensual world, it desires, it yearns, thereby putting into motion a long chain where every such desire, however trifling, must be satisfied before the Soul finds ultimate release. The great saint Kabir has likened the condition of the unenlightened being to a Musk Deer which roams the jungle of senses driven mad by the wondrous scent that, unknown to itself, emanates from its own navel. “Who am I and why am I here?” have been the persistent questions that have led the ancients to search beyond the form and frailties of matter for the answer. While the Occidental thought has centred on minute scrutiny of the tangible, the Oriental – and more precisely Indian – thought has successfully realised the true nature of a human being.
Science of the Sublime thought reaches its ultimate heights in the ‘Bhagwad Gita’, which proclaims the sole existence of an infallible Oneness and nothing beyond it. The Buddha, Rama, and Krishna had ‘touched shore’. More importantly, they strived to make us realise that every human can attain that enlightened state of being; that there is a scientific way to connect to this eternal spring of joy within. And over time, this science of communion, known as Yoga, came to be a way of life. The word ‘Yoga’ seems to have derived from its root ‘Yuj’, which means to join or to unite. It forms one of the six principal schools of Indian thought and is distinct from ‘Hatha Yoga’. While the latter primarily focuses on physical well-being through intricate body postures or ‘Mudras’ coupled with the techniques of right breathing, the former essentially embodies the subtler principles of calming the tumult of the mind and attuning one’s consciousness with the divine within. As the meditating Yogi continually savours the ‘manna’ of bliss as a consequence of such God-communion, it opens the doors to subtler realms of the spirit that are comprehended only by human intuition. The Yogi enters deeper states of meditation and finally beholds the only Divinity existing in all of Creation. ‘As Within, So Without.’ This realisation of oneness ripens into an all-embracing compassion not just for humankind, but for every ‘Jeeva’, or Being. The exalted being, a ‘Siddha’, or the ‘Accomplished One’, though born shackled to the limitations of the human body, now emerges a master over the whole of creation, freed at last from the bondage of the Law of Karma. They return to this earthly plane, if at all, of their own accord to restore righteousness and expel the darkness of ignorance. This descent of Divinity in human form to uplift humankind is an ‘Avataar’ – one who exists beyond the compelling forces of cause and effect. Yoga, though having its roots in timeless antiquity, still finds efficacy in the present times; all the more so in contemporary age, as crippling dependence on materialism has almost extinguished the soul longing for Truth. Interestingly, this ancient science finds increasingly more patrons in the West than the East, more particularly India, where it was born and pristinely preserved. The observance of Yoga Day all around the world on the 21st of June every year could just be the muchneeded beginning for the revival of this ancient secret. The collective human consciousness seems to be untiringly calling out to us and urging us; nay, prodding us on the path towards enlightenment. I humbly pray that it guides our path and awakens us to the realisation of our divine potential.