Yoga (The Science of Holistic Living)

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Publishers' Note It is a matter for gratification that all copies of the VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA (Volume 17, No.2, August 1988) on the theme YOGA – THE SCIENCE OF HOLISTIC LIVING have been sold out, as was the case with several earlier issue of the journal. We are grateful to the public for their patronage.

In order to meet the insistent demand for more copies, we have reprinted the issue as separate volume. We hope that readers as well as institutions like libraries, colleges, schools, atc., will be benefited by the publication.

What Yoga Is? Dr. M. Lakshmi Kumari YOGA like the other typically Indian word 'dharma' is a very comprehensive term, the meaning, amplitude and purpose of which are directly proportional to the general level of understanding. Comprehension and need of the individual approaching it.

YOGA for a good many people being with the poses and postures at the body level, thanks to which health and beauty of the body and its vitality can be enhanced and preserved. That forms only the least part of yoga.

YOGA when rightly understood is the process of reuniting our finite microcosmic individual self with the Infinite, Absolute, Pure, Macrocosmic Consciousness, upgrading man into Man, Superman, Godman and ultimately to Godhood. In between the two lies the immense range of possibilities covering all aspects of man's aspirations and efforts to elevate himself into something nobler and more wholesome.

YOGA is that extraordinary, exemplary uniquely Indian technique, helping man to develop a deep awareness of himself – of everyvibration and pulsation within – at the body, mind and intellect levels, by virtue of which he can master the forces internal and external.

YOGA helps man to synchronise his diverse life currents, making them united, uniform, unidirectional and ultimately one with the Universal.

YOGA is the tuning up of the chords of one's being so that it chimes in harmony with the music of the cosmos.

YOGA thus working at the subtler levels of the human personality, helps man to get rid of the distorted and distorted and discordant notes in his being, enabling one to fit oneself harmoniously into the all-pervading, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, cosmic Truth.

When thus understood properly.

YOGA can help man to transform his life into what it should be – an Experiment with Truth.

* * * * YOGA links up man with the laws operating at the cosmic level, draws him away from and release from sorrows and misery. No wonder that Swami Vivekananda refers to RAJA YOGA as the Science of Religion, the rationale of all worship, all prayers, forms. Ceremonies and miracles.

YOGA can help man to develop a remarkable comprehensiveness in his understanding as nothings else can, thus tearing the veil of separateness and fragmentation from our intellectual comprehension. Therefore,

YOGA can lead us to true freedom, liberating the human mind from the thralldom of finite matter, from all sense of isolation as well as from the illusion of tome, space and causation.

YOGA alone can provide that vision of Reality by which man perceives Truth in its entirety – the subtle but sure interconnectedness, interrelatedness and interdependence that are characteristic of Truth and its manifestation in this Universe.

YOGA in modern can rightly be designated as the technique of holistic living – man understanding himself to be, not a part, but the whole of Truth, Existence, Knowledge and Bliss.

YOGA thus is synonymous with true living, living in its entirety.

YOGA alone can provide us the vehicle to journey into the realms unknown, which lie deeply hidden within man and truly,

YOGA holds the key for self-unfoldment and self-improvement.

YOGA can helps us achieve a rare objectivity – subject and object get merged in a Yogi and as a result,

YOGA can eradicate from our mind the feeling of 'otherness' which is a the root cause of ignorance, attachment and untold misery.

* * * * YOGA bestows inner strength, sharpens our intellect, teaches us to control our emotions and brings a rare concentration and efficiency into our actions and work, making one do the right thing in the right way at the right time and that is why,

YOGA is often described as 'skill' in action'.

* * * * YOGA nourishes our deep spiritual roots and then reaches out its nourishment and health to all the layers of one's being.

YOGA practice can increase our lung capacity and respiration, improve our ability to resist stress, reduce body weight and girth, decrease cholesterol and blood sugar level and thus stabilize, restore and vitalize the body's natural systems.

YOGA is therefore the best curative and preventive medicine for all the ills of man resulting from the so-called modern living.

* * * * One question remains to be answered.

Is there anything that Yoga cannot do? YES

Like Truth, when properly understood and adopted

in our lives it can never do any harm to anyone.

* * * * As a musician can recognise the few basic musical notes in all the cacophony of sound around him, as an artist can, with a few strokes of his brush capture the entire range of expressions so also can a Yogi, in a much more extensive and intenser sense, capture and understand all the expressions and notes in the creation in that One vibration in the Lotus of his heart. Time, space, causation and death cease for a Yogi who has touched this Eternal Truth within him. The whole creation stands unified in him and he in Universe. This is the ultimate in Yoga the Yoga of Infinitude which transforms a Yogi into the Yogeswara – an epithet so aptly applied to and justified in the life of SRI KRISHNA.

* * * * From finite to Infinite is the journey of everything in this Universe. Yoga can speed up this journey by giving a spiritual content and dimension to all human efforts. Every institution working in the field of human upliftment – religious or secular – should understand the newly emerging – but for us, as old as our spiritual heritage – vision of Reality and adjust and adopt measures to ensure this new dimension in their growth. Scientific, experimental verification, application in day to day life, etc. must strengthen the hands of Yoga practitioners so that they can take up the challenges posed by the modern age. This is Vivekananda Kendra's approach.

In the pages that follow, modern students and master of Yoga share with their thoughts and experiences so that we shall make of this wonderful life of ours a great pilgrimage, into something sublime as expressed by Swami Vivekananda.

* * * * "Each soul is potentially divine. The goal

is to manifest this Divinity within by

controlling nature, external and internal.

Do this either by work, or worship or

psychic control, or philosophy – by one

or more or all of these and be free. This

in the whole of religion."

* * * * CONTENTS

			Page
What Yoga is?	Dr. M. Lakshmi Kumari	IV
Section1: Basis of Yoga
	Happiness Analysis Conclusions of Upanishads
1.1	Basis of Yoga – Bliss	Dr. H.R. Nagendra	1
1.2	Upanishads – The Foundations of Yoga	Prof. A. Satyanarayana Sastry	9
Section 2 : Concepts And Streams of Yoga
	Yoga as a Tool for Growth Definitions, Theory, Benefits Advanced
2.1	Yoga's Basis in the Human Condition	William J. Jackson	22
2.2	Yoga for the Incoming Millennium	Prof. T.R. Anantharaman	27
2.3	Yoga – Science and Evolution	Dr. V.S.S.M. Rao	35
2.4	Yoga and Holistic Living	Chamarty Paradesi Rao	39
2.5	Jnana Yoga – the Path of Knowledge	-	44
2.6	Culturing the Emotions – The Bhakti Path	N.V. Raghuram Rao	51
2.7	The Philosophy of Yoga Patanjali – An Overall View	R. Ravi Shankar	55
2.8	The Secret of Action – Karma Yoga	Subhadra Devi	61
2.9	Vivekananda Kendra and Karma Yoga	N. Krishnamoorti	69
2.10	Light on Hatha Yoga	B.K.S. Vinegar	73
2.11	Advanced Yogasanas	-	82
2.12	Tarntra and Consciousness	Prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao	88
2.13	Kundalini Yoga	-	93
2.14	The Paasupata Yoga as described in the Lingapurana	Dr. N. Gangadharan	98
Section 3 : Applications of Yoga
	Yoga and Stree Yoga in the Development of Physical, Mental, Intellectual, Emotional and Spiritual Aspects. Yoga for Harnessing the Innate Power. New Challenges to Health – Yoga the Remedy Promotion of Positive Health – Spiritual Growth Changing Values in Modern Societies. Move Towards Holism – The Fourfold Approach of Yoga. Yoga Theory – Results/Courses.
3.1	Stress – The Basic Challenge and Holistic Solution	-	101
3.2	Yoga for the Common Man	-	113
3.3	Integral Yoga	T. Mahan	122
3.4	Yoga and Education	A. Sriram	127
3.5	Yoga and Physical Education	Dr. M.L. Gharote	131
3.6	Yoga for Specialists	-	138
3.7	Natya Yoga – A New Approach to Holistic Therapy	Dr. Jayanti Patel	145
3.8	Yoga Therapy – An Integrated Approach	Dr. H.R. Nagendra & Dr. R. Nagendra	150
3.9	Yoga and Women's Problem's	Dr. Kamakshi Kabir & Rahila Jaipal	156
3.10	Yoga and Psychiatry	Dr. Uma Krishnamurthy	160
3.11	Yoga Therapy and Naturopathy Common Bases	-	165
3.12	Yoga and Diet	-	168
3.13	Yoga and Acupressure	Dr. S.S. Kulkarni	173
3.14	Yoga, Spiritual Growth and Parapsychology	-	177
3.15	Yoga, Mind and the Brain	Dr. B. Ramamurthi	181
3.16	Yoga and Altered States of Consciousness	Prof. T. Desiraju	188
3.17	Yoga to the Rescue of Modern Societies	H.V. seshadri	195
3.18	Yoga – Gandhian Approach	Prof. K.N. Vaswani	201
3.19	Yoga and Ecology	G. Vasudeo	206
Section 4 : Yoga Research
	Need for Research Methods of Research Spectrum of Yoga Research Yoga Therapy Reports, Statistics, etc.
4.1	Yoga and Research	-	209
4.2	Yoga Therapy in Stree-Related Ailments	Dr. R. Nagarathna	212
4.3	The Role of Yoga in Rehabilitation of the Handicapped	Dr. L. Geeta	221
4.4	Stress Disorders and Yoga	Dr. K.N. Udupa	231
4.5	Yoga Therapy Research – A Short Review	Dr. Horia Crisan	236
4.6	Science of Yoga and its Role in Therapy	Dr. Sarada Subrahmanyam	241
4.7	Scientific Research in Yoga at Lonavla	Dr. M.V. Bhole	248
4.8	Yoga Biomedical Trust	Dr. Robin Monro	251
4.9	Bihar School of Yoga – A Bird's Eye-view	Swami Muktananda Saraswati	254
4.10	Transcendental Meditation- A Move on the Decline	-	257
Section 5 : Yoga Organisations
	Yoga Institutions Spiritual Movements Activities
5.1	Ramakrishna Movement and Yoga in the West	Dr. M. Sivaramakrishna	263
5.2	V.K. Yogas : In the Cause of an Ancient Indian Science Yoga	-	269
5.3	Various Yoga Institutions in India	-	275
Section 6 : Bibliography
	What each library on Yoga should possess
6.1	A Bibliography on Yoga	-	278