JAPA YOGA

Articles In This Section:

· YOGA IN VARIOUS FORMS

· WHAT IS YOGIS?

· YOGA TEACHES WHAT?

· JAPA YOGA

· WHAT IS KARMA?

· RAJA YOGA

From this it becomes self-evident that Hatha Yoga demands high personal standards. Overeating, unnecessary talk, impure associations, greed and delight alike must be eliminated. All this, obviously, is a good deal more austerity than we Occidentals are generally ready to accept. Fortunately there is no need for extremes. As we have pointed out all along, this, like any other aspect of Yoga, for our immediate and practical use translates simply into an attitude of reasonable moderation. Of course, in time the advanced student may find himself developing a certain attitude of indifference towards many of the demands of our competitive society—those demands which can so easily enslave the individual through emphasis on false values and later bring on discontent and a sense of failure if somewhat unrealistic, highly materialistic goals aren't achieved. If this does happen to you, you may well congratulate yourself. For, indifference to material success would be one of the many keys to that mental and emotional freedom without which well-being on any level may be considered inaccessible.

We have discussed Hatha Yoga at considerably greater length and in more detail than other schools because this is the discipline we shall draw on in our practices. But the student will undoubtedly want to know a little about other Yoga’s, all of which place vastly more stress on non-physical disciplines. Thus Japa Yoga is a philosophy concerned exclusively with spiritual discipline; in one of its forms its practice consists of repeating a Mantra, or affirmation, over and over while dwelling deeply on its every significance. To accomplish this no mind-wandering at all is permissible, and since most persons' minds do wander to some extent the Japa Yoga, desirous of guarding against distraction, will often be found sitting motionless for hours on end, tailor fashion, while chanting the single whole syllable "Om." This chanting is done in conjunction with deep breathing, which admittedly does arrest mind-wandering so that the practitioner becomes drawn into himself in spiritual contemplation. But only the dedicated philosopher could be expected to pursue this practice. There is hardly a place for it in our Western world.

In Laya Yoga the student remains perfectly still, in a profound state of trance. Then, by means of the Kundalini power which at certain moments is released and joins with the Divine or ultimate power of the universe, he briefly achieves a state of perfect bliss. He must then quickly return to earth—to his normal state, if you will—otherwise he runs the danger of severing all connection with it. As we have already mentioned, this form of Yoga is not safe for anyone to practice who has not gained complete control over his emotions as well as over his mental processes.

Karma Yoga, another school that aims at final union with the Divine Source of All, advocates not the renouncement of all earthly work, but on the contrary its pursuit. It looks upon the body as "the good servant" of one's spiritual strivings. Essentially practical, Karma Yoga teaches helping others as a means of helping one's self. Karma being the principle of usality, this philosophy is essentially based on the law of Cause and Effect, on the recognition that for every action there is a corresponding reaction. In many ways it is not unlike early Christianity. As we sow, says Karma, so shall we reap.