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Yogasanas and Meditation
Some of the things I do and say may give the impression that I am against yogasanas and meditation. I am not. When I myself do meditation (though not as much as many others) how can I be against it? No, I am not AGAINST yogasanas or meditation. But I am FOR more effective means of achieving the same objective ('Yoga' or Union with God, see The Bhagavad Geeta: Overview and Principal Themes), and I am FOR the RIGHT use of meditation, not the WRONG use of it, as is done in many yoga classes today. Taking the first reason (more effective methods), "Better than meditation is work done in renunciation" says Geeta 12:12, and I have found that to be very, very true in my own life. Work done in renunciation is far more effective than meditation in achieving the goal of our lives - Yoga, or Union with God. As far as the second reason (right use) is concenrned, yogasanas and meditation are a part of Patanjali's Ashtanga (or eight-fold) Yoga system, in which Yama and Niyama ("the way you treat others" i.e. your social behavior; and "the way you treat yourself" i.e. inner discipline respectively) comes before Asanas and Pranayamas, Dharana and Dhyana (which are what are taught in the yoga classes of today, with nary a mention of Yama and Niyama). Meditation is of little use if your Yama and Niyama are not right; in fact it may actually be harmful! Meditation is supposed to help you get connected with God, and if your social behavior or inner discipline is not right, then what spirits are you connecting with? But it’s not just the ignoring of what comes before Asanas and Meditation that is ignored in the Yoga classes of today, it’s what comes after them that is ignored too! The final goal of Paranjali’s system is "Samadhi," a state of being in which you are able to live your life on this earth in a state of equanimity or sameness towards whatever happens to you. This state is what leads to "mukti", or the most powerful and wonderful freedom of being, in which, to use the words of Geeta 2:64, the person is "freed from attachment and envy, and moves amongst the objects of the sense organs without the self coming under their control, in regulated freedom of the self". This "mukti" finally leads to "moksha," or liberation from the cycle of birth and death, according to Hindu belief. Now if you become the greatest Yogasana and Meditation practitioner and expert in this world, yet fail to move towards this "mukti," you have wasted your time in gathering benefits which are merely for this world, benefits of maybe good health and a strong physical body, benefits which you will leave behind anyway when you go. The only thing you will carry with you is the peace of mind you would have gained, which you could have much more easily gained by watching a sunset or sitting on a mountain-top. These are three issues we will be exploring in this essay.
1. No proper Yama and Niyama before Yogasanas and Meditation = Waste of Time!
Yogasanas and Meditation are a part of Patanjali’s Ashtanga (or eightfold) Yoga Sutras, which actually consist of
We will mainly talk about what are ignored in the Yoga-classes of today i.e. the first two, Yama and Niyama; and the last i.e. Samadhi. Yama and Niyama are the preparatory steps for steps 3 to 5. Without proper Yama and Niyama, steps 3 to 5 i.e. Asana, Pranayama and Pratyahara will not be effective. What benefit are you going to get from doing yogasanas and pranayamas if you don’t have victory over anger, envy, jealousy, lust, greed, selfishness, unforgiveness etc? You are better off dealing with these directly first, and gaining victory over them before getting into Asanas, Pranayamas and Pratyahara! Next, Asanas, Pranayamas and Pratyahara (the physical disciplines), are themselves preparatory for Dharana and Dhyana (the spiritual disciplines), which themselves are supposed to lead to the ultimate goal i.e Samadhi. Many people today consider the practice of Asanas or Pranayamas as an exercise regimen or a way to stay fit. But Patanjali and other ancient yogis used Asanas to prepare the body for meditation. To sit for a lengthy time in contemplation required a supple and cooperative body! "To perform the boat posture simply to get a flatter tummy is missing the boat." And meditation itself was just a means to an end – the goal of Samadhi, the eighth point of Patanjali’s yoga-system, not an end in itself. (Another word for Samadhi is Samatva. "Samatvam yoga uchyate" – Geeta 2:48 ("Being equanimous is called yoga.") The goal of meditation was not just a little "peace of mind", but Samadhi.
Yama consists of Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, and Aparigraha.
a) Ahimsa: or non-violence. There are plenty of misconceptions about this one, like vegetarianism and "not hurting anyone’s feelings" and the "chalta hai" attitude so common in India today. Let’s take "not hurting anyone’s feelings" first. All kinds of untruths are allowed to flourish because of not confronting someone with the truth under the guise of "not hurting feelings." The greatest good has happened to me is through people who have confronted me with harsh truths about myself, and who cared more for me than for my feelings. "Not hurting religious feelings" is a typical excuse used by the religionists to avoid confronting themselves and others with hard truths! But to a person who is far more interested in Truth than in Religion (see Truth and Religion) calling a spade a spade is very important. In fact according to me, you cannot make any progress on the path of Truth until you call a spade a spade, first to yourself, then to others (see Truth and Religion). You may make tremendous progress on the path of Religion by not facing Truth and not standing up for Truth, but if you want to build your life on the spiritual force that ultimately wins ("Satyameva Jayate" see Truth and Religion again), you have to develop the self-discipline of calling a spade a spade. That does not mean that I recommend deliberately hurting others’ feelings; of course not! We be sensitive and loving and have a sense of timing in the way in which we speak the truth; but we do speak it nevertheless. Non-violence means that when important truths need to be spoken, they be spoken without a desire to hurt others’ feelings, not doing things to deliberately hurt others’ feelings, taking utmost care that others’ feelings are not hurt, but they be definitely spoken. (Like the very thing I am trying to do in this essay.)
This leads to a "chalta hai" attitude so prevalent in India today. The "non-violence" is not to be applied to each and every thing! There are things we are supposed to be violent about! We are supposed to be violent against corruption. We are supposed to be violent against the dirtiness and filthiness that is seen in our public places. We are supposed to be violent against the lethargy, red-tapism, the procrastination, and the avoidance of responsibility in government departments. We are supposed to be violent against the misuse of authority by the powerful. And we are supposed to be violent against the anger, envy, jealousy, lust, greed, selfishness, unforgiveness etc within us!
What about vegetarianism? Most people in "India’s glorious past" (including the rishis, the most-respected of all people) were non-vegetarians and ate meat freely. They never felt that it was sin to eat non-vegetarian food. It is true that vegetarian food is healthier for the human body, but that’s no reason to avoid non-vegetarian food completely. It can certainly be eaten once-in-a-while (my average is somewhere between once a month to once in two months). To me, complete vegetarianism seems to be the extreme of a generally good thing. What about the fact that the killing of animals is involved? To me, there are far more cruel things done to animals by man than killing them. For me, making animals perform all kinds of activities unnatural to them in circuses, even whipping them in the process, is more cruel than killing them. Even simply putting animals in closed cages in a zoo, all for the entertainment of men, is far more cruel than killing them. If I myself would rather be killed than be treated like that, then why should I wish any differently for the animals?
b) Satya: Is far more than simply telling the truth. It is living your life according to the truth. It is getting your belief system and entire lifestyle in consonance with the truth about life? For example, a simple truth about life is that death comes to all; yet many people live their lives as if they are immune to death, and give their entire lives for collecting and building up things that they are going to leave behind anyway, not giving much importance to things that they are going to take with them! Such people are living in denial of reality, they are not living in Truth. Mahatma Gandhi rightly gave so much importance to "Satya" that he made "Satya and Ahimsa" (Truth and Non-violence) as the two pillars of his own life.
c) Asteya: It is not just "non-stealing of other’s money." It is also "non-stealing of the employer’s time" and "non-stealing of taxes" and "non-stealing of the supplier’s due payments, either in terms of time or money" and "non-stealing of a beggar’s dignity as a human being" and "non-stealing of another’s right to privacy" and "non-stealing of another’s freedom." A comprehensive definition is "Anything that you take without another person’s knowledge or permission, what belongs to him, is Steya or stealing." Adultery and Bribery also fall under this definition! Asteya means the avoidance of all such stealing. (Taking something which belongs to another person, with his knowledge but without his permission, is called dacoity!)
d) Brahmacharya: Brahmacharya has come to mean "celibacy," but that is not its real meaning. Most yogis in earlier times were family men! The word "Brahmacharya" is made from the two Sanskrit words "Brahman" and "achaara." Brahman itself comes from "Brihan" which means "great". Brahman means the great ultimate reality, or God, or universal consciousness, whatever you want to call it, the words are not important. "Achara" means "movement or lifestyle or manner of living." So a Brahmachari is a person who lives and moves and carries out his daily live in the consciousness of God or in consciousness of the great ultimate reality. This is what was the first thing that was taught in the education system prevalent then – to move about and live your life in awareness of God or the great ultimate reality. In today’s topsy-turvy world, in today’s (stupid) education system and way-of-life, this is what is placed last, to be done after you have retired from life! That’s like getting to know the rules of a game, its methods and strategies, and pitfalls to be avoided, after you have finished playing it! It can’t get stupider than that! Life is a game to be played, and it’s stupid to play it without knowing its objective or rules. "Brahmacharyashram" was the first stage of the education system then, in which the child was taught at his earliest, what it means to live life in consciousness of God. Since that was also a time of celibacy, the word "Brahmacharya" got closely associated with "celibacy" and unfortunately, that is the meaning understood of it today.
e) Aparigraha:.Non-possessiveness, treating everything not as if you own it, but as temporary gifts that God has given you to use. Similar to "nirmamah" in Geeta 3:30, 12:13, and 18:53. The truth about life is that we bring none of our worldly possessions with us when we come into this world, and we take none of our worldly possessions with us when we go from this world. We take only our character with us. Aparigraha is nothing but living our lives according to this truth. This attitude creates a detachment to the things of this world, and helps in the process of becoming more and more Ishwara-parnidhana (see below).
Niyama is inner discipline, how you treat yourself, and.consists of Shaucha, Santosha, Tapas or Austerity, Swadhyaya, and Ishwara-parnidhana.
a) Shaucha, physical purity and cleanliness of not just your body, but also of your surroundings. Besides the obvious physical health- and environment-related reasons, this is important for others also. "Because of whom no one is agitated" is one of the signs of a good devotee according to Geeta 12:15. Such a person takes care that he creates no stumbling blocks in the path of others. Physical uncleanness naturally creates such a stumbling block and a good devotee would avoid that.
b) Santosha or contentment: You have one car (which is enough), you want two, and then three. You have one house (which is enough), you want two, and then three. "For investment" you say. Does it ever cross your mind that it is "better investment" to donate all that extra money away to a worthwhile charitable cause? The returns on that "investment", you will take with you when you go! All your houses you will leave behind! Says Geeta 16:10-15, "Taking shelter of insatiable lust, possessed by pride and false honor, under the temptation of grasping temporary things, flourish those who are avowed to the unclean. Their anxieties are immeasurable till their end time, having taken shelter of the belief that the experience of sense gratification is the supreme - this is definite. Being bound by the frustration of hundreds of hopes, moving towards sense gratification, they desire the experience of sense gratification and for its purpose, accumulate wealth by a variety of means. ‘All this now has been gained by me, this I shall gain according to my desires, all this there is, all this I, in the future again will gain wealth. That enemy has been killed by me, I shall kill others also. I am god, I am the experiencer, I am perfect, powerful, and happy. With the wealthy and great people I am, who else is there in sight of me?". "Their anxieties are immeasurable" And then they go and attend their yoga-and-meditation classes! For what? To get "peace of mind!" But without giving up their contentment-less lifestyle. And what’s the end-result? Continues Krishna: "Perplexed by many things, covered by a net of delusions, attached to the purpose of sense gratification, they fall down to hell in an unclean state. Self complacent and adamant, lost in and possessed by wealth and prestige, they worship and sacrifice in name only, out of pride and full of wrong ways." (Geeta 16:16-17)
c) Tapas or Self-discipline (needed to live properly) and Austerity (living on the minimal necessary), not Ascetism (denying the body its basic needs). This is so important that Krishna says in Geeta 18:67 that his words are not even to be spoken to one who is atapaskaya. The reason is simple. Like children, people learn more by observing others and imbibing their qualities, than from books and lectures (hence the importance of satsang). If a person does not even understand the basics about life from what he observes from the people around him, or is not able to discipline himself on those things, what is he going to understand about the higher things? It would be a waste of time to talk about the higher things to such a person.
d) Swadhyaya, or study of the sacred texts. How many of those who attend Yoga-and-meditation classes have read the Bhagavad Geeta even once? Or are even aware of its basic teachings (let alone follow them)? Reading a 500-page (ultimately irrelevant) Jeffrey Archer is no problem for them. Reading a 30-page Bhagavad Geeta is a huge problem! How many of those who attend Yoga-and-meditation classes are aware of Patanjali’s eight-fold Yoga-sutras on which the yogasana and meditation techniques are based? There a very nice-phrase in Hindi which describes people who mulishly do activities without understanding. It’s called "gadha-majuri."
e) Ishwara-parnidhana or living in dependence on God. You either live in dependence on something in this world (money, another person etc.) or live in dependence on God. The two are mutually exclusive and inversely proportional. The more you live in dependence on one, the less you live in dependence on the other. Living in dependence on the things in this world strengthens your relationship with them and weakens your relationship with God. In the words of the Geeta, you become more and more detached from God as you become more and more attached to the things of the world. Living in dependence on God strengthens your relationship with him and weakens your relationship with the things in this world. In the words of the Geeta, you become more and more detached from the things of the world as you become more and more attached to God, making you a person who is more and more "mukta" (free) from the things of this world. Since the goal of life is to attain "Yoga" or Union with God and "mukti" i.e. complete freedom from the things of this world, it is obvious that Ishwara-parnidhana is to take an extremely important place in our lives.
These are the broad generalities. Making a quick list of the specific things that come under Yama, "the way you treat others" i.e. your social behavior; and Niyama, "the way you treat yourself" i.e. inner discipline, we look at the Bhagavad Geeta, chapter 16, verses 1 to 5: "Fearlessness, purity, purification, knowledge, organization, charity, control, sacrifices, study, austerity, simplicity, non-violence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, peace, non fault-finding, pity towards living beings, freedom from greed, gentleness, modesty, unwavering heart, brightness, forgiveness, firmness, cleanliness, non-enviousness, not too much desire for honor" and "Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and certainly ignorance are the properties of one who is born of the demoniac, Partha. Those properties of the gods are conducive to liberation, for bondage the demoniac are considered."
Fearlessness: Ultimate fearlessness comes from being righteous and pure inside. What is the worst that can happen to me in any situation? I die, I lose my life. If that happens, I go to God anyway and since I have lived righteously, I have nothing to fear.
Righteousness and Purity: How righteous are you? Righteousness is behavior that draws approval from deep down within people and is beyond legal rules and even ethics, morals, and accepted modes of behavior. Inner purity is purity of the heart and mind, the getting rid of anger, envy, jealousy, lust, greed, selfishness, unforgiveness etc.
Knowledge: Mulish work is stupid. Understanding what you are doing, why you are doing it, and why it is done the way it is done is as important as doing it.
Organization: Disorganization is not a mark of spirituality, organization is! A truly spiritual person is an organized person.
Charity: It’s not just about freely giving money! It’s about freely giving to others, anything God has given you freely!
Patience: Is "the ability to bear pains calmly and without complaint", "having forbearance under provocation or strain", "lacking hastiness and impetuousness", "steadfastness despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity." It is the willingness and ability to calmly give people and situations the necessary time that is required to change for the better.
Selflessness: Being and doing things without consideration for one’s selfish interests.
Kindness: Practical actions done in another person’s interests.
Faithfulness: Unswerving adherence to a person or thing or group or activity or belief. This cannot be blind faithfulness since there are situations where it is more appropriate to give up faith e.g. when the faith is in a belief which is proved factually wrong! Or mulishly continuing a commercial activity when its utility is over. Positive faithfulness consists of being faithful in areas such as marriage.
Commitment: While faithfulness relates more to the spirit of a person, the keeping of commitments is related more to the willpower, where you do what you have committed to do, in spite of personal inconveniences.
Dependability, Reliability and Trustworthiness: all mean the character because of which others can place full confidence in you, with different shades of meaning. To rely implies a judgement based on experience or association in spite of no particular commitment, e.g. a person who is known to be a good singer at parties can be relied upon to sing a few songs, while planning a party, without any particular commitment from him! Dependability is one step further, when his singing can even be incorporated in the party-plan without any particular commitment from him! Trustworthiness is more moral/ ethical in nature, where this dependability is extended to areas where there is a possibility of misuse e.g. where there is money involved, or where the care of other human beings like children is involved.
Gentleness: the manner of your speaking and being, the opposite of harshness.
Self-control: How you handle yourself when provoked, or under temptation. When provoked, do you lose control over yourself, or do you maintain your calm externally even though boiling inside? When under temptation, do you do the right thing even though feeling the pressure inside?
Friendliness: Having an ability to start and maintain an amicable interaction; not disposed to arguing or quarrelling on petty issues.
Fairness and Justice: Any long-term relationship can be built only if both the sides feel that the other person deals fairly. Despite all pressures, I have stubbornly refused to have a credit card simply because some of the terms they put are blatantly unfair, put there with the sole purpose of unfairly extracting money from the credit-card holder on the slightest pretext. Nor are their other practices known to be fair.
Forgiveness: You hold unforgiveness in you heart against another person and you are bound for life! The other person will most probably live his entire life happily, blissfully unaware of the unforgiveness you hold against him. But the unforgiveness you hold binds you and ties you down to the other person, pulling you down into bitterness, self-pity and depression, or anger and fury, both of which are detrimental to your spiritual health. Forgiving another person sets you free. You forgive, not just to set the other person free, but to set yourself free! There is no freedom for you without forgiving! How then can you hope for complete freedom i.e. mukti, while you still hold unforgiveness?
Truthfulness and Honesty: Truthfulness is about what you speak with your mouth; honesty is more about your inner spirit and general dealings, wherein you don’t desire to cheat anyone else. Truthfulness and Honesty again both lead to freedom for you. Telling lies binds you, you have to keep on remembering what lies you have told to whom, and keep on covering them with even more lies. This whole process entangles you into a web of lies. You are better off telling the truth and freeing yourself from the web completely.
Integrity: is about letting your outside match your inside. A pickpocket who does not hide the fact that he is a pickpocket, has more integrity than a religious preacher who preaches sexual purity but is committing adultery in his private life! Again, like dishonesty, lack of integrity binds you. To achieve total freedom of being, you have to cultivate integrity i.e. let your outside match your inside.
Appropriate humility: Some people confuse obsequiousness (servile attentiveness), subservience (cringing manner of a subordinate) or sycophancy, with humility. This is not true humility. Nor is the denial of a genuine accomplishment, true humility. True humility lies in objectively recognizing how small your achievements are as compared to the achievements of others, and how little you know as compared to what is there to know.
Proper handling of authority: Towards both, those above you and those under you. Towards those above you, there has to be a sense of submission (which is not blind obedience, for there may be times when you have to say, "I must obey God rather than men.") Towards those below you, there has to be a sense of not misusing your authority for personal gains.
Sense of Responsibility and Accountability: Sense of accountability is when certain resources are at your disposal for carrying out certain tasks e.g. when a certain amount of money has been placed at your disposal for carrying out a certain task, you are to see that it is used for that task only. Sense of Responsibility goes much further, it covers areas for which you are not directly accountable, but notice certain things that are harmful. For example, if you notice certain discrepancies in the accounts, although you may not be directly accountable to anyone, do you feel a responsibility to report it to the owners?
Love: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." "God is Love." These are not my words, and I have not found a better description of love.
Joy: Not an external happiness which depends on things in world, but an inner joy which continues to envelop you even when things are not going right.
Peace: Not a peace which depends on things in world being good for you, but an inner peace which continues to envelop you even when things are not going right.
Contentment: Not a "chalta-hai" attitude, but having a right peace about the way things are in your life.
Ability to overcome adversity: In a study conducted to determine the one distinguishing characteristic of "successful" people, it was found to be the "ability to overcome adversity" and even a quotient called "Adversity quotient" was designed on it. First it was thought to be IQ (Intelligence Quotient) which determined how "successful" a person would be. But that was proved false. Then it was thought to be "EQ" (Emotional Quotient) or how a person deals with his and other people’s emotions that determine his "success." But that too was proved false: there were plenty of people who had this ability, yet were not "successful." Finally, the one distinguishing characteristic, that separated the "successful" people from the "unsuccessful" ones, was found to be the ability to overcome adversity. The Adversity Quotient quantified this ability and methods were designed to improve it. Now, as in the material realm, so in the spiritual realm. In the spiritual realm too, adversities and obstacles are there aplenty, even more so than the material realm, since things are not clear-cut. In the spiritual realm too, success belongs to those who have developed their ability to overcome adversity.
Courage: It takes courage to live like this in this world! The world tries its level best to squeeze you into its mould, and it takes courage to stand up to it and not conform to it.
Phew! What a list! And if the list itself is not enough, there is a requirement of maintaining a healthy balance between what seem to be self-contradictory qualities (like self-control and integrity above)! What to do what at which time and in what situation itself requires great wisdom! To quote one of my favorite pieces,
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Timing is very important! What is right at a particular time at a particular place with a particular situation with a particular person may be wrong at another time, or at another place, or in another situation, or with another person! Knowing what is right at a particular moment itself calls for great wisdom!
Quite a requirement this, before any real and substantial benefits can be derived from the next five steps (3 to 7) of Patanjali’s Yoga-sutras i.e. Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana and Dhyana. In fact if you see the lives of the great leaders of the world, the Gandhis and the Lincolns, you observe that they all had most of their Yamas and Niyamas right. Many of them would not have even heard about the Yogasanas, Pranayamas, Pratyaharas, Dharanas and Dhyanas. Even the great religious figures, Rama, Krishna, Jesus, Mohammad and Buddha included, did not give much importance to these five, except to a certain extent, the last one i.e. meditation. All the "great" people of the world, did not become great because they did yogasanas and pranayamas; they were considered "great" because they had their Yamas and Niyamas right. A nation becomes truly great when the general populace, and certainly its leaders, get their Yamas and Niyamas right. India too would become a truly great nation when most of its people get their Yamas and Niyamas right. It’s my personal opinion that even if 1% of Indians get their Yamas and Niyamas right, India would become the world leader; the world is so bereft of true greatness. Else that would remain only a pipe-dream of the daydreamers and the idealists and the unreal optimists, the mere talkers and those who waste their time on irrelevant things.
The Bhagavad Geeta considers the five (Yogasana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana and Dhyana) as irrelevant by bypassing them and moving from Yama and Niyama to Samadhi, through the more effective and faster routes of Dnyana-Yoga and Karma-Yoga. So we will not waste our time by dwelling on the details of any of the five, they are better left to the yoga-classes seen all over today. We have far more important things to talk about – Samadhi, the ultimate goal of life according to Hinduism.
2. Not moving towards "Samadhi" after Yogasanas and Meditation = Waste of Time!
The last step of Patanjali’s eight-fold yoga-sutras is "Samadhi." What does Samadhi mean? Samadhi does not mean sitting quietly with closed eyes till your life goes out! It means the EXACT OPPOSITE! It means living your life on this earth with your eyes wide open – seeing everything clearly as it is, carrying out your work, family, and social responsibilities in a state of equanimity, without getting emotionally affected by what happens around you. Na cha sanyasanat eva siddhim samadhi gacchanti. (Geeta 3:4) "Not by renunciation does one reach perfection in samadhi." Siddhi in Samadhi cannot be achieved by running away from the world.
Now, and here is the important thing, if you have done the Asanas, the Pranayamas, the Pratyaharas, the Dharanas and the Dhyanas, but have not moved towards developing Samadhi, YOU HAVE WASTED YOUR TIME! You may get the physical benefits of performing the asanas such as a more physically fit and supple body, but these benefits are only temporary, to be left behind when you go. You may get some spiritual benefits out of meditation such as a little peace of mind which you will take with you, but that you could have as easily (and more cheaply) got by watching a beautiful sunset or by hearing soothing music or by sitting on a mountain-top. It’s the Samadhi we are after, not just a little peace of mind. The big SAMADHI. The beautiful Samadhi which makes our life blissful on this earth, and which we will take with us when we go, which frees us from bondages on this earth (mukti) and which is supposed to lead to ultimate moksha.
The thing is, that if you follow the Patanjali yoga-sutra route, after doing the Asanas, the Pranayamas, the Pratyaharas, the Dharanas and the Dhyanas (steps 3 to 7 of the Yoga-sutras), you still have to make efforts to develop Samadhi in your day-to-day life! That is because these five have to be done in time and space outside of your day-to-day life. It is true that doing the Asanas, the Pranayamas, the Pratyaharas, the Dharanas and the Dhyanas help in making the task of obtaining Samadhi a little easier, and that cannot be denied. But even after doing all of these, Samadhi is not automatic, it has to be worked on! After returning home from the morning yoga-classes, what happens to you when you find the house a mess, the breakfast not ready, and the wife merrily chatting away on the phone? Whither goest your Samadhi? As you drive to the office and get stuck in the traffic-jam, whither goest your Samadhi? As you see the lousy work done by your secretary, whither goest your Samadhi? As you look at your emails, whither goest your Samadhi? How much Samadhi is left at the end of the day? How much Samadhi will be left at the end of your life for you to take with you? Especially after you have had enough free time after your retirement to reflect on your life and realize that you have frittered it away on irrelevant things?
It is this Samadhi which is the important thing, the thing you will take with you, not the temporal benefits of the Asanas, the Pranayamas, the Pratyaharas, the Dharanas and the Dhyanas. Now since steps 3 to 7 have to be done outside of your day-to-day life, you still have to make special efforts within your day-to-day life to develop Samadhi.
And so the Bhagavad Geeta does away with these intermediate five steps (though keeping some place for the seventh i.e. Dhyana), and jumps straight from Yama and Niyama to Samadhi, taking the more effective route of Dnyana and Karma-Yoga (or "work done in renunciation"), a route which can be (and has to be) taken right through your day-to-day activities. In fact in this route, you use your normal day-to-day activities as tools to achieve your end-objective of developing Samadhi. This has multiple benefits. Firstly, you don’t have to take out any special time from your busy schedule for doing the Asanas, the Pranayamas, the Pratyaharas, the Dharanas and the Dhyanas. That itself saves a lot of time! Secondly, you don’t have to make separate efforts for developing samadhi in your day-to-day life. The very activities of your day-to-day life become the tools for achieving the end-objective of attaining samadhi. Thirdly, there is no false division of "spiritual vs. worldly" in your mind. Your whole life becomes an integrated whole, and you no longer feel that your worldly activities are a drag and a waste of time in your spiritual progress. In fact, as you use your worldly activities themselves as tools for achieving your end-objective of samadhi, you actually look forward to engaging with the world in a positive, victorious spirit! No wonder that the Bhagavad Geeta says in 12:12, "Better than meditation is work done in renunciation." Work done in renunciation is the key to developing this equanimity. What it is, has to be understood clearly. And so, that is what we turn to.
3. Effectiveness in achieving the purpose of our lives – ‘Yoga’ or Union with God.
That ‘Yoga’ or ‘Union with God’ is the purpose of our lives is explained in detail in The Bhagavad Geeta: Overview and Principal Themes and we will not dwell on it here. Here we start off with the assumption that it is so, and try to see why Krishna says in the Bhagavad Geeta, chapter 12 verse 12, that "work done in renunciation is better than meditation" in achieving that objective. The full verse 12 says that "Better is knowledge than practice, better than knowledge is meditation, better than meditation is work done in renunciation, for by renunciation is peace thereafter." This can be compared with chapter 5, verse 2 which says, "Both renunciation and yoga of action lead to the supreme good. But the yoga of action is superior to renunciation of work" and it is clear from what is said in the rest of chapters 5 and 12 that what is called "Yoga of action" in 5:2 is the same as "work done in renunciation" in 12:12. If you want to go into more detail, it would be better to go through the notes on those chapters, but it is not strictly necessary. Let’s get clear about the order of effectiveness:
Least effective and powerful: "Practice" = Mulish work done without understanding.
More effective and powerful: "Knowledge" = Information and Intellectual Understanding of the "hows" and "whys" and "whats" and "what nots" combined with the "practice" above.
Even more effective and powerful: "Meditation" = Quietening and stilling yourself in the presence of God.
Better, most effective and most powerful: the "work done in renunciation" of 12:12 which is the same as the "yoga of action" in 5:2 = daily activities and responsibilities carried out in a spirit of "renunciation" i.e. without a desire for the fruit of action or attachment towards it. Hardly even spoken of today!
As an important and interesting aside, it is good to note that verse 12:12 is a key verse in a chapter which is titled "Bhakti Yoga"! The idea prevalent in India today is that "Bhakti" means going around singing songs to God all day long. This is another huge misconception widely prevalent in India today. A simple, straight-forward reading of chapter 12 of the Geeta is enough to dispel such a misconception (but who wants to do such things?) The Bhakti movement of about 500 years ago, in which saints spent a lot of their time singing devotional songs, and to whom people were attracted, was a reaction against the dryness and deadness of the then prevailing ritualistic religion, and has to be seen in that context. To blindly follow the externalities of the saints of that time, without an understanding of what Bhakti really means, is mulish. Look at what a "devotee" really means, according to verses 13 to 19 of the Geeta
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Non-envious of all living entities, friendly, sympathetic, and without a feeling of 'mine', without ego, same in distress and happiness, forgiving, 14contented, a person constantly united, self-controlled, firmly determined, offering unto me the mind and the intellect, who is my devotee, that person is dear to me.15
"Because of whom no one is agitated, nor who is agitated by others, who is free from happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, he is dear to me. 16Neutral, pure, on guard, free from care, removed from distress, who has renounced all endeavors, that devotee of mine is dear to me. 17Who neither rejoices nor grieves, neither laments nor desires, who has renounced auspicious and inauspicious things, who is full of devotion, he is dear to me. 18Equal to an enemy and to a friend, and also in honor and dishonor, in cold and hot, in happiness and in sorrows, free from attachment. 19equal in defamation and praise, silent in both, contented with anything, having no residence, of steady opinion, full of devotion, is dear to me."Where does "singing devotional songs all day long" fit into this? It is not even mentioned in passing! What the section does mention, and mention in plenty, is the spirit and attitude in which a person lives his day-to-day life and carries out his family, work, and social responsibilities. Exactly what is desperately needed today in India and indeed, all over the world. "Work done in renunciation."
So what is "work done in renunciation." Since this is the most effective method of reaching the goal of our lives – Samadhi, the method which is far more effective than meditation according to Geeta 12:12, the question is extremely important. In fact Arjuna asked the very same question to Krishna in chapter 18, verse 1, "I wish to understand the truth about renunciation and of sacrifice." To which Krishna replied in verses 2 to 11:
"The giving up of activities for desire is renunciation as said by the wise knowers. Giving up the fruit of all action is called sacrifice by those with eyes. 'Every single activity must be given up as full of faults' thus is said by some great thinkers. 'Works of sacrifice, charity, austerity are not those which must be given up' - thus say others. Now definitely hear me about renunciation, best of the descendants of King Bharata. Renunciation is declared to be of three kinds, tiger amongst men.
"Acts of sacrifice, charity and austerity are not actions which must be given up. Sacrifice, charity and austerity purify even the greats. These actions should be done without attachment, giving up the fruits and as a duty, Partha. This is my definite and excellent opinion.
"The renunciation of daily activities is not befitting. The giving up under temptation is declared renunciation in ignorance. The giving up because of grief, bodily trouble, or out of fear, that giving up is done in passion. Such renunciation does not result in any gain of the fruit of renunciation.
"Actions done as 'This action has to be done' and 'this is daily activity', Arjuna, giving up attachment and fruit, that renunciation is done in goodness in my opinion. Neither hating unskilled work, nor attracted to skilled work - such a renouncer is absorbed in purity, with intelligence, and shorn of doubts. Not for the embodied is possible to be renounced in action completely. But who is a renouncer of the fruit of action, he is called a renouncer."
It is not the giving up of actions. "Not by non-performance of actions does a man achieve non-binding action, nor by renunciation (of work) does he reach perfection. No one can even for a moment, at any time, exist without doing action. Everyone is helplessly moved to action by the properties of his nature" says Geeta 3:4-5. Activity is our natural state! We are made for activity! Over-activity (workaholism) and under-activity (laziness) are the two off-balance positions of that natural state. Giving up of all work, family and social activities and responsibilities, and going off to the Himalayas is not "renunciation." True renunciation is the giving up of attachment to the fruit of action, not the giving up of action itself. Note the number of times this thought is repeated in various ways in the rest of chapter 18, the chapter which is titled "Moksha-Sanyasa Yoga" in which Krishna is answering Arjuna’s question in 18:1 of what true sanyasa (renunciation) really means:
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"Acts of sacrifice, charity and austerity are not actions which must be given up. Sacrifice, charity and austerity purify even the greats. 6These actions should be done without attachment, giving up the fruits and as a duty.9
"Actions done as 'This action has to be done' and 'this is daily activity', Arjuna, giving up attachment and fruit, that renunciation is done in goodness11
Not for the embodied is possible to be renounced in action completely. But who is a renouncer of the fruit of action, he is called a renouncer.22
But when full of action, in one work only there is attachment without purpose, it is not in truth, with little knowledge, and is said to be in the mode of darkness.23
"Regularly done, done without attachment and hatred, non-fruitive, without desire, that action is said to be in goodness. 24But that work which is done for desire for sense gratification, with ego, which is performed with much effort, that is said to be in passion.26
"Liberated, without attachment, without ego, with firmness, with enthusiasm, without wavering in success or failure, the doer of such is said to be in goodness. 27Attached, desirous of the fruit of action, greedy, doing violence to the soul, unclean, subject to happiness and sorrow, such a doer is said to be in passion.49
"He who is with unattached intellect everywhere, victorious over the self, without aspiration, perfected in non-reaction, attains to the supreme by the renounced order.51
"Fully purified in the mind, united with firmness and regulated in the self, giving up the objects of the senses, laying aside attachment and hatred,Let’s use a couple of examples to make clear what "work done in renunciation" is. So many times do we hear parents grieving, "We did so much for our children; today they just send us money from the U.S., as if that’s what we wanted." They grieve because they are attached to the expected fruits of their action. Here I have to be blunt and sharp and go against worldly understanding and call a spade a spade. It might sound harsh, but it’s the parents I blame more for their plight, not the children! The parents did their parenting in a wrong spirit, in a spirit of expectation of fruit of action, and a certain narrow fruit at that! "Those who desire for the fruits of action are pitiable" says Krishna in Geeta 2:49, and indeed they are! If the parents would have done their parenting in the right spirit, without attachment to the fruit of action, without desire for any particular behavior from their children, they would have saved themselves and others (especially their children) a lot of grief! They would have also freed themselves of the bondage they have got into with their children.
This right spirit is to be cultivated right in the middle of day-to-day activities. Indeed, it can be cultivated only in the middle of day-to-day activities! As parents do their daily work of parenting, if they remind themselves regularly that "These precious souls are not my property. We don’t own them. They are God’s property, they belong to God, it is God who owns them, and he has been gracious enough to entrust them to us for a time being. Once that time is over, they are to live their own lives, totally free of us. We don’t expect anything from them. Even if they don’t give us anything in return for what we are doing for them, it’s perfectly fine. We only have duties and responsibilities towards them, no rights from them." Such an attitude brings freedom (mukti), both to the parents and the children.
Extend that attitude to all your activities in all your fields in your day-to-day life, and you can see how beautiful your life becomes, how free you become! If husbands and wives live with the attitude "I have only duties and responsibilities towards my spouse, no rights," imagine how simple and free and beautiful their lives would become! Their homes would be heavens on earth! If both management and workers have that attitude, imagine how beautiful the work environment would become! Work done in this spirit is "work done in renunciation" which brings immediate freedom or mukti.
The immediate excuse given against working this way is, "I am willing to live this way, but what about the other person? My spirit can be so easily misused by the other person." Of course it can be misused! Of course the other side may derive more worldly benefits from your spirit of thinking only about your duties and responsibilities, not your rights. This is where you come to one of the most quoted verse of the Geeta: verse 2:47 – "You have control over action only, not even a little on its fruit. Do not act for the sake of fruit which may not come; neither let there be attachment to action." The fruit may not come, so what? Ultimately what matters is your relationship with God, not the fruit of your actions, which may or may not come. You have no control on the fruit anyway. So why live in dreamland? We need to be clear about what is in our control and what is not. The two biggest mistakes people make are i) spending too much time over what is not in their control and ii) not doing enough about what is in their control. The husband’s behavior is not in control of the wife, only her own behavior is. The wife’s behavior is not in control of the husband, only his own behavior is. The husband is ultimately responsible only for his own behavior, not his wife’s. The wife is ultimately responsible only for her own behavior, not for his. Unfortunately most couples forget this elementary truth and focus on the other person’s behavior, rather than their own. Then they get caught into the vortex of anger, self-pity, depression, physical and verbal violence. And then they go to their yoga-classes. To get "peace of mind!" Their marital life is a mess because of their wrong Yama and Niyama, and their forgetting the elementary truth that only their own actions are under their control not its fruit. What peace are they going to get in their meditation classes? Whatever little peace of mind they get is going to vanish in a moment when they see each other’s faces! They are better off working on their own Yama and Niyama, their own attitude and spirit directly first!
Peace comes from work done in renunciation. "Better than meditation is work done in renunciation, for by renunciation is peace thereafter," says Geeta 12:12. Peace for whom? Peace comes first of all to the person who does the "work in a spirit of renunciation". Work done in a spirit of giving up the desire for the fruit of action. Take the case of the husband and wife whose marriage has gone so bad that they have even started using foul language towards each other. Going for yogasana and meditation classes in such a state is a waste of time; they are better off dealing with their loose tongues first. If the husband starts with the decision, "I will not use foul language, no matter what the provocation. Only my tongue is under my control, not my wife’s. I am responsible for my actions, not my wife’s. I would like my wife also to stop using foul language and hope that by my doing so first, she will take the cue and do the same. That would be the fruit of my action. But, the fruit of my action is not under my control. The fruit may come or not come. My wife may respond positively or she may not. She may even get worse! That’s not in my hands. I will do what is in my hands, without expecting anything about which I have no control over." And if the wife starts with a similar decision, their relationship will improve in double-fast speed! But the important thing is that, even if the other person does not respond positively, there is peace for the person who has acted in the positive spirit. "For by renunciation is peace thereafter."
This "work done in renunciation" also leads to a freedom for the person who has done it. "I have done my best, I have done all that I could do, I have done all that was in my hands. The rest is up to God. If the fruit of my actions come, fine. If they don’t, that’s fine too. The ball is now in God’s court, anyway." Work done in such a spirit, such an attitude, is freedom-giving to the person who does it. It frees him from attachment to the fruit of action.
Extend these examples to other areas of your life: your work at office, and to your social life. "Work done in renunciation" leads to a freedom in these areas too, for the person who does it. "I have done my best, I have done all that I could do, I have done all that was in my hands. The rest is up to God. If the fruit of my actions come, fine. If they don’t, that’s fine too. The ball is now in God’s court, anyway." Work done in such a spirit, such an attitude, is freedom-giving to the person who does it. Then the entire life becomes like a holiday since you operate in as much freedom as you do when one.
So that’s "work done in renunciation." It’s better than meditation, simply because actions are more powerful than thoughts. So many times I hear people saying, "Think positively, think positive thoughts." That’s good, but there is something much better: "Act positively, do positive actions." Actions are far more powerful than thoughts or words. Both ways: in communicating to others, and the effect they have on ourselves too. We know how true is the saying "Actions speak more powerfully than words." Actions have a similar and more powerful effect on ourselves too: "Actions change us faster and more powerfully and more firmly than thoughts." Remember, it is "work done" in renunciation, not "thoughts thought" in renunciation that is better than meditation in moving you towards Samadhi.
Conclusion
To summarize, there are three reasons why the yogasana-and-meditation classes of today are so ineffective in changing people’s lives for the better:
It’s neither Yama-Niyama alone, nor mukti alone that makes for a perfect life. It’s Yama-Niyama plus mukti. Yama-Niyama alone can make you a heavy, dull, boring, highly disciplined, self-righteous kind of a person from whom everyone wants to run away! Mukti alone, without Yama and Niyama, can make you do anything freely, even things that are harmful to yourself and to others. It is right Yama-Niyama plus freedom of action that makes for a perfect life.
India can become a great nation only if its people get their Yama-Niyama right in a spirit of mukti (freedom). All the "great" people of the world, the Gandhis and the Lincolns, did not become great because they did yogasanas and pranayamas; they became "great" because they had their Yamas and Niyamas right and operated in a spirit of freedom. Power in action comes from freedom, and if you have freedom, you will be a powerful person, but without right Yama-Niyama, you may be using that power wrongly (like a Hitler). It is right Yama-Niyama plus freedom of action that makes for a great leader.
It doesn’t even require good education to make a good leader; some of the "greats," like Abraham Lincoln, did not have good education. It doesn’t need management training. People who have their Yama and Niyama right and carry out their responsibilities in a spirit of mukti (freedom) are better than the best management graduates from the best management schools in the world who don’t. A nation becomes truly great when the general populace, and certainly its leaders, get their Yamas and Niyamas right. India too would become a truly great nation when most of its people get their Yamas and Niyamas right. It’s my personal opinion that even if 1% of Indians get their Yamas and Niyamas right and operate in a spirit of freedom (mukti), India would become the world leader; the world is so bereft of true greatness. Else that would remain only a potential on paper, a pipe-dream of the daydreamers and the idealists and the unreal optimists, the mere talkers and the armchair philosophers and those who waste their and others’ time on irrelevant things.
I can almost hear the Yogasana-and-meditation teachers saying, "What are you out to do? Spoil our business?" To which I merrily reply, "May your business be spoilt!" You are made for greater things! If the losing of your business leads to your moving on to true yoga (union with God) which brings true mukti (=proper Yama-Niyama plus freedom of being), you have great gain for little loss. Don’t worry; God will look after your needs if you truly follow him. It’s his promise in the Bhagavad Geeta chapter 9, verse 22.
Life’s also more fun that way.