Yoga

a living tradition…

Yoga and her many faces

Where ever the writer, artist, musician, mathematician, scientist, or poet has sought to speak the unspeakable or express the inexpressible… Yoga has traced her influence upon their brows.

Yoga strives for transcendence

Yoga as it is • Yoga is

complexly described in the classic Sanskrit texts called, “the Vedas”

• She has many moods and forms that swing from subtle to in your face…

Yoga as it is…

Yoga’s range includes mystical paths that can take tens of thousands of years to devotional paths that can work in the relatively short span of a modern human life.

Yoga as it is

“The key to understanding yoga’s changing moods and paths is in understanding her capacity to reflect consciousness according to time and circumstance.”

•To do this we must explore yoga’s view of time and circumstance.

Yoga on “time”Yoga unlike the west, views time as a cyclical force that like the drive shaft of an engine relentlessly propels creation towards destruction and renewal..

Yoga on circumstance

•Now that we have seen yoga’s veiw on time let’s consider how yoga shifts according to circumstance…

•To do this we must reconsider the nature of the four yugas (ages)

Yoga on circumstance

•Our virtual reality is not unlike a four act play – in which the director creates a very different mood from act to act. He does this ingeniously by simple increasing vice and decreasing virtue…

Act One

The golden age: only the best actors are given the chance to play the parts of humans. No issues of class or race. Lifetimes are unimaginably long. Yoga is present as mystical meditation (raja) and also as devotional practices (bhakti.)

Act two• The silver age(Tretä-

yuga) : actors of varying caliber are introduced as is a system of social orders to facilitate development of each player.

• Yoga makes her presence known through massive rituals and ceremony.

• Yogis turn to fire sacrifices

Act three

• In the silver age (Dväpara age) people are interested in glory and are very noble. They devote themselves to the study of the Vedas, possess great opulence, support large families and enjoy life with vigor. Of the four classes, the ksatriayas and brahmanas are most numerous.

• Worship in the temple becomes the main practice.

Act four

• The iron age – aka in the Kali age people tend to be greedy, ill-behaved and merciless, and they fight one another without good reason. Unfortunate and obsessed with material desires, the people of Kali-yuga are almost all members of the exploited class.

Act four

Kali continued…• Cities will be dominated

by thieves, the Vedas will be contaminated by speculative interpretations of atheists, political leaders will virtually consume the citizens, and the so-called priests and intellectuals will be devotees of their bellies and genitals.

Prophecy of the Golden Age• The four ages described in these slides are

manifestations of various modes of material nature. The age of truth, Satya-yuga, manifests the predominance of material goodness, and Kali-yuga manifests the predominance of darkness.

• According to Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté Öhäkura, within each age the other three ages occasionally manifest as sub-ages. Thus even within Satya-yuga evil in the mode of ignorance may appear, and within the age of Kali the highest spiritual principles may flourish for some time.

Prophecy of the Golden Age

Herein is the Vedic evidence of a Golden Age inside the dark Iron Age schedule to begin near the time identified in the roman calendar as the beginning of the 21st century.

Prophecy of the Golden Agefrom the Brahma Vaivarta Purana • Ganges said: O protector, Supreme enjoyer, on

your departure for the perfect abode, Goloka, thereafter what will be my situation in the age of kali?

• Krsna replied: On the earth 5,000 years of kali will the careless and selfish deposit their karmic reactions in you by bathing. 

• Thereafter by the sight and touch of those who worship me by my mantra, all those reactions will be burnt.

• There will be chanting of the name of Hari and reading of the [Bhagavata] Purana. Reaching such a place, attentively hear.

Prophecy of the Golden Age• Negative karmic reactions including the killing of

a brahmana can be nullified by hearing the Purana and chanting of the names of Hari in the manner of devotees.

• Just as dry grass is burnt by fire, by the embrace of a Vaisnava [devotee] all karmas are burnt.

• O Ganges, the whole planet will become a pilgrimage sight by the presence of My devotees, even though it had been burdened with selfish behaviour.

• In the body of my devotees remains eternally [the purifier]. Mother earth becomes pure by the dust of the feet of my devotees.

Prophecy of the Golden Age• It will be the same in the case of pilgrimage

sights and the whole world. Those intelligent worshipers of my mantra who partake My remnants [prasadam] will purify everything. 

• They are more dear to Me than My life, who everyday meditate only on Me. The air and fire become pure simply even by their indirect touch.

• For 10,000 years of kali such devotees of mine will fill the whole planet. After the departure of My devotees there will only be one varna [outcaste].

• Devoid of My devotees, the earth will be shackled by kali. Saying this Krishna departed.

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Social Harmony in the Vedas

Societal rolesCorresponding

individual responsibilitie

s• Intelligensia• Administrative• Productive• Artisan & common assistance

• Spiritual knowledge• Society (social interaction)• Development of the mind• Maintenance of the body

Everyone must be given assistance to advance

Social Harmony in the Vedas

“‘Peacefulness, self-control, austerity,

cleanliness, satisfaction, tolerance, simple

straightforwardness, devotion to Me, mercy, and truthfulness are the natural

qualities of the brähmaëas.’

“‘Dynamic power, bodily strength, determination,

heroism, tolerance, generosity, great endeavor, steadiness, devotion to the brähmaëas, and leadership are the natural qualities of

the kñatriyas.’

“‘Faith in Vedic civilization, dedication to charity,

freedom from hypocrisy, service to the brähmaëas

and perpetually desiring to accumulate more money

are the natural qualities of the vaiçyas

“‘Service without duplicity to the brähmaëas, cows,

devas and other worshipable personalities, and complete satisfaction with whatever income is

obtained in such service are the natural qualities of

those providing common assistance.

Social Harmony in the Vedas

According to the Vedas these roles are not human nature, but

fluid changing attributes

If one shows the symptoms of being a brähmaëa, kñatriya, vaiçya or çüdra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.

Srimad Bhagavatm

Review: Yoga by Yuga• Satya yuga: mystical yoga• Treta yuga: sacrifice• Dvarapa yuga: temple worship• Kali yuga: mantra practice

• Shudda Sattva (transcendental) – Personal

» hari, rama, mukunda, radha, krsna….» aum, om tat sat

– Impersonal» om mani padme hum

• Sattva» om ganapati, om namah shivaya

• Rajas» om durga ma

• Tamas

N.B Guna mantras can be reclassified by intent

We can do sadhana from other ages for auspiciousness and

purification

The sadhana of this age is mantra repetition

“He attained liberation by mantra practice…”