I am going to do a CORRESPONDENCE TEST between the the teachings of one of the yogis and swamis cited with scriptures of Hinduism:
Swami Rama.
Original quote selected by IA:
"Swami Rama: “Yoga is a systematic science; its teachings are an integral part of most religions, but yoga itself is not a religion. Most religions teach one what to do, but yoga teaches one how to be. Yoga practices, however, described in symbolic language, may be found in the sacred scriptures of most religions.”
Teachings of Swami Rama:
Swami Rama believed in, and taught the universality of the realization of spiritual truths, in the inner chamber of one’s own being. He never asked to be followed or worshipped, or for any change in culture, or for or any conversion of religion. Rather, he encouraged self-awareness through practices of yoga meditation and contemplation, with an attitude of self-reliance. The job of the external teacher, he taught me, is to find the teacher within.
Swami Rama continued to spread the teachings his own teacher had given him, that the first goal is to seek freedom from fears, and second, to seek the direct experience of the absolute reality at the core of your being, the center of consciousness that goes by many names.
He taught that one should “know yourself at all levels,” explaining that "After visiting hundreds of countries I have discovered that all over the world there is one great problem, and that problem is that the human being has not yet understood himself or herself, and tries, instead, to understand God and others
http://www.swamij.com/swami-rama.htm
Direct quotation from Hindu scriptures:
Katha Upanishad, 3.3:
“That” the self of consciousness
Of whom many are not even aware,
And when they are told
Fail to understand
Wonderful is a sage when found
Who is capable of bringing him or her
to self-knowledge.
Wonderful is he or she who realises the Self
of consciousness, when taught by an able
master.
Yogasutras 1.2-1.3:
Yoga is the restraint or cessation of the thought activity in the mind, in order
to reveal the true self.
Bhagvad Gita 2.16-18:
The unreal never comes to be,
The real does never cease to be.
The certainty of both of these
Is known to those who see the truth. (16)
That by Which all is pervaded–
Know That is indestructible.
There is none with the power to
Destroy the Imperishable. (17)
These bodies inhabited by
The eternal embodied Self
Are declared to come to an end.
Therefore now fight, O Bharata.2 (18)
Yoga Vasistha:
“Creation is what one sees and is aware of, and this is within oneself.”
In fact it is safe to say there is not a single Hindu scripture which does not talk about Self and that the ultimate goal of life as to realise this. This doctrine is a recognizably Hindu doctrine and lies at the very heart of Yoga. It is obviously not an orthodox Christian doctrine and practice because Christianity does not teach the doctrine of Self and Self realization. It teaches the doctrine of worship of Jesus as the son of god and living ones live as per his percepts so we can be one with him in heaven after we pass over from here and pass the final trial of jugement day.
It is obviously not an orthodox Islamic doctrine and practice because Islam does not teach the the doctrine of Self and Self-realization. It teaches the doctrine of complete submission to the one and true god whose name is Allah. To pray to Allah 5 times a day, to make pilgramage to Mecca and Medina in order to win a place in heaven after we pass over from here and pass the final trial of judgement day.
It is obviously not an orthodox Buddhist doctrine and practice because Buddhism does not teach the doctrine of Self and Self-realization. It is teaches the doctrine of nothingness and no-self. To completely reduce oneself to nothingness so that one becomes a part of the constant changing flow of nature
What orthodox religion teaches the doctrine of Self and Self-realization in this world? Hinduism. Swami Rama is a Hindu guru teaching a Hindu doctrine and a Hindu practice.
