[QUOTE=ray_killeen;65093]The Bhagavad Gita mentions; Bhakti Yoga (Devotion), Karma Yoga (Selfless Action) and Jnana Yoga (Self Transcending Knowledge) but not Mahayoga (around1000 years old) which is even much younger than Patanjali Yoga Sutras (outlining the eight limbs/rungs of Classical Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga or Rāja Yoga) and certainly incomparable to the timeless age of the Bhagavad Gita. I’m not sure where you find and what you mean by “simplest, highest yoga, hidden away”? Elaboration from where you find this, experiences you’ve had and why you believe it more effective would be of interest: otherwise what you describe is yoga of the Bhagavad Gita and or Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras which utilizes skilful techniques/methodologies to aid in a challenging goal? Of course there is more than one way to yoga but why are you adamant about this relatively new way?[/QUOTE]
Dear Friend:
I am sorry if I have sounded adamant. I am not at all adamant about anything for the simple reason that in Yoga, being adamant becomes detrimental to one’s own progress.
In all its eighteen chapters, The Bhagavad Gita has described various kinds of Yoga that are helpful to put the aspirant firmly on the path of Internal Yoga, having the Goal of God / Self Realization / emancipation / salvation.
The subject of Internal Yoga comes up particularly in Chapter 6 which deals with Dhyana Yoga i.e. meditation. In this Chapter, the Yoga aspirant (Arjuna) is advised to attempt again and again to fix the mind in [B]only and only[/B], the Self.
Well, Mahayoga says that the ascent of “I-ness” from body “I-ness” to Self, begins with fixing the mind in [I]Prana~Shakti[/I], which by proxy, is one’s automatic breath.
Chapter 9 described as [B]The Supreme Yoga Way[/B], to be kept Secret, except for the true devotee, is the way of [B]Absolute Surrende[/B]r. It is to be noted that allegorically, Arjuna is the highly trained, yet uncertain-minded aspirant and Lord Krishna, who apparently invites Arjuna to surrender to “Me”, is in fact one’s [I]Prana[/I], “awakened” inwardly.
Thus Mahayoga says this surrender is not to anyone outside you, rather it is to your own [I]Prana~Shakti[/I]. There are several developments that take place by such surrender. The first important development being that “I-ness” gets lifted from body “I-ness” into Prana “I-ness”. This results in The most important thing viz. that [B][I]Prana[/I] automatically enters [I]sushumna[/I][/B]. I don’t have to say what happens as a result of this.
Once one gets an experience of this supportless and hence divine force known as [I]Prana~Shakti[/I] functioning within, only then, the surrender can take place.
So in Mahayoga aspirants, with [I]Prana~Shakti[/I] in charge of all the doing, the role of the mind is that of a witness only. Of course this is for the duration of the sitting, which again is determined by [I]Prana[/I]!
All this sounds strange and impossible, not just to a western mind, but to anyone in general. Hence it is to be tried out. After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Regarding how old Mahayoga is, well, in the ancient times, [I]rishis[/I] initiated just a few persons into Mahayoga. Three classic examples are those of Rishi Vasishtha initiating Lord Rama; Adi Shankaracharya being initiated by his Guru Goudapadacharya; and Swami Vivekananda being initiated by Guru Paramhamsa Ramakrishna.
In fact, if you you are practising say Hatha Yoga and various asanas, just see the mind boggling variety of asanas, pranayamas, bandhas and so on! Do you think these were a result of some empirical study? No. These were performed automatically (i.e. by grace of awakened Prana) by the initiated aspirants and were recorded for posterity, to be done by future aspirants to get the same inner results.
However, it is difficult to pinpoint, with the help of the mind or any ordinary third person, as to which asanas, pranayama etc are really required for a particular person’s inner purification. Hence, when [I]Prana~Shakti[/I] decides and does all this, the aspirant is in safe and divine hands.
I agree, one’s Prana can be “awakened inwardly” by the dint of one’s own effort in Yoga. But what is the point, when one needs to dissolve the ego anyway. In Mahayoga, all one has to do is pray to Prana~Shakti through a Guru. The Grace of Prana then descends most easily. Thereafter, this awakened Prana becomes one’s inner Guru.
regards
anand
