Raja yoga is the “royal” path to individual union with the divine, considered classical yoga in Hindu philosophy. The eight limbs of raja yoga aim to establish unity with God through personal conduct, devotion, physical yoga positions, breathing regulation, concentration, meditation, and transcendence. Meditation is the key to achieving this state of perfect union with God and the knowledge of the universe.
Raja yoga translates as raja, which means “royal” and yoga, which means “union.” This concept refers to the individual union with the divine. In Hindu philosophy, raja yoga is considered classical yoga and one of the six astika (orthodox) schools of yoga.
The great sage Patanjali introduced the eight limbs of raja yoga in his Yoga Sutras. This royal discipline aims to establish the student in an experience of unity with God. The yoga sutra techniques are a progressive thread that weaves the student through a path to enlightenment.
These techniques involve personal conduct (yama), devotion (niyama), integration between the body and mind through physical yoga positions (asana), integration of the body and mind through the regulation of breathing (pranayama), the interruption of the senses (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), internal focus of meditation (dhyana), and finally, the transcendence of thought, body and emotions or pure consciousness (samadhi).
The biggest obstacle to understanding raja yoga is that the student learns and tries to understand it intellectually, but the achievement is experienced strictly subjectively. According to Hindu philosophy, only when the student has a direct experience of raja yoga, the true understanding and cognition of it can be completely and fully realized.
Hindu philosophy stems from the Vedas and explains the universe and the laws of nature as gods or personifications of particular aspects of nature. A specific deity is the result of all natural influences and rules over that realm of existence. These verbal traditions were passed down from master to disciple in the form of stories and analogies that could easily be remembered and become a part of life.
The difficulty with all forms of yoga is that the mind will wander and be unable to settle in the state of being or pure awareness. This is due to impurities in the body and mind. Every emotional and physical experience we have is capable of slightly modifying, distorting, and influencing pure mind, or the pure state of being. This in turn causes the mind to drift from one thought to another, craving and seeking some unrecognized need and prevents the mind from settling down.
There are many systems taught in modern times that call themselves raja yoga, but it is rarely seen in its pure form. Meditation is the main key to achieve this state of perfect union with God and the knowledge of the universe.
By purifying the body and mind through the techniques of the Yoga Sutra, the mind is able to settle into a state of consciousness or pure being. In this state, the student can experience the self without identifying with any thought or emotion from the outside world.
With meditation, the student reverses the thought process and explores the inner direction of a thought until it reaches the source of the thought. In this reservoir of energy and intelligence, the student understands and experiences the universe in its pure form and is able to comprehend a much purer concept of God.
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