Baktha of asanas

Being a baktha in the asana does not make us a baktha of God. It is God's prerogative to call one a devotee and not the other way around.

Body is only an instrument

We need to be very clear- the body is an instrument to reach God, but God cannot be reached by perfecting the body through asanas. As Hatha yogis we neglect the inner transformation and we often proudly declare how perfect we are in asana practise and how we can retain our consciousness in one asana but thats of little avail in the spiritual world where we need quality transformation of our very being.

Divine unsullied love is the supreme yoga

In this world, there is no power greater than Prema, pure selfless love. All the yogas (paths) mentioned in the Bhagawat Gita such as Jnana (knowledge), Karma (action), etc., are contained in Bhakthi Yoga (path of pure love towards God). There is nothing beyond this. Each and every yoga contains an element of selfishness. But that of Prema, is free from selfishness and all other impurities. It is only because of the absence of such selfless love that chaos, conflicts and confusion are prevalent in the world today. One who is interested in the welfare of humanity should practise this principle of true love. Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Divine Discourse, May 6, 1995.

The path needed is not hatha yoga

With a little reasoning you can know for yourself the path you need to take, thereafter, it can be trodden step by step until the goal is reached. Whatever be the path, retain this knowledge that attachment causes pain and detachment results in joy. But you cannot easily detach yourself from activity; the mind clings to something or other. Make it cling to God, let it do all things for God and leave the success or failure, the loss and the profit, the elation or the dejection, to God. Then you have the secret of peace and contentment. To get this attitude of surrender and dedication, you must have Faith in God. God, whose play this world is. This world is not an empty dream; it has a purpose and use. It is the means by which one can discover God. See Him in the beauty, the grandeur, the order and the majesty of Nature. Sathya Sai Speaks, Mar 28 1965.

Devotion

The person devoted to God knows no failure. The name of the Lord, if taken sincerely overcomes all obstacles.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

We need to be more devoted to God than hatha yoga. 

Dr Krishna Raman 

The mind

Today, your mind flies about anywhere and squats on all sundry objects in the Universe. Like the fly that sits on fair and foul, your mind too flees from one thought to another. The fly will be destroyed if it sits on fire. So too, your mind will be destroyed when it dwells on God. Know that your mind is but a pattern of desires, woven with the warp and woof of the same material. When Rama (God) enters your mind, kama (desire) flees away. This state is called the death of the mind (Mano-naashana) or the merging of your mind (Mano-laya). Each one of you must make your own heart an abode of peace (Prashanthi Nilayam). Analyse your words, deeds and thoughts. Get rid, slowly but surely, of the evil ones that harm you and others. Cultivate fortitude, firm peace and speak only the truth. Let this transformation begin, this very moment in you. 

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Sense control is the need of the hour

Asana control and breath control are needed, but sense control is the key- for this we don't need asana or pranayama practice. We need to look within. All of do have, and use this capacity in varying degrees in daily life. We need to consciously harness this force.

Steadiness of mind

There is no scar on the sky, though clouds, stars, the sun and the moon all appear to streak across it. So too let a thousand ideas streak across the mind, ensure that your mind remains unaffected and serene. Get firm in mind; then, your reason also will not deviate. Without that equanimity or shanthi, you can get no soukhyam (happiness). Saint Kabir had no food for three days – but he thanked God for giving him the coveted chance of observing a ritual fast. The great devotee of Rama, Saint Ramadas was confined in prison – and he thanked God that he got a place where he could meditate on Him without disturbances. Such is the attitude of the saintly, those who are the beloved of the Lord. Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Divine Discourse, May 23, 1965.

Karma

The Law of Karma is not an irreversible iron law. Dedication to the divine and purification of thoughts, words and deeds invite divine benediction. The effects of karma can be modified and its rigour, mitigated through grace. When vices hold sway over your heart, it becomes foul and sooty. The flames of desire, anger and miserliness (kaama, krodha and lobha) leave char within your heart. Do not despair or lose heart if vices trouble you. There is no place where God is not present. There is no being to whom He denies blessings. Grace manifests itself by quenching the flames within your heart and confers bliss which desire, anger and miserliness can never confer. God is immanent and eternal. Follow the path and obey the ideals laid down by the Lord with relentless discipline. Your mind will be purified and divine grace will be ref lected therein. Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Divine Discourse, Apr 10, 1965.

The one that is free and aware of Divinity

When Arjuna prayed that Krishna must tell him the true characteristics of a Sthithaprajna, the Lord explained that a Stithaprajna is free from all desire and is stable in the knowledge and awareness of the Divine (Atma) alone. This state can be attained by two processes: first negative and then positive. The former is to give up all the promptings of desire in the mind and the latter is to implant therein ever-present joy. In the negative process, remove all the seedlings of wrong and evil from the mind; and in the positive process, grow and reap the crop of attachment to God. The pleasures the senses draw from the objective world are weeds; the crop is attachment to God. The mind is a bundle of wishes, and unless these wishes are removed by destroying their roots, there is no hope of vanquishing the mind. When the mind vanishes, the Stithaprajna is made.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Spiritual practice

The cycle of birth and death cannot be got rid of by scholarship. Hence start with this first lesson. Cleanse your mind and journey to that realm where you see God in everyone, everywhere, at all times, through uninterrupted remembrance of your chosen Lord. This is the most effective spiritual practice.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba -
Divine Discourse, Mar 16, 1966

We must not be carried away by our skill in yoga practise. However much we can do the asanas with understanding, it does not matter. This affects only the body. Our very outlook must change. Dr Krishna Raman

Virus

Each one gets the result that their spiritual practice (sadhana) deserves, that their acts in this and previous births grant them. In the epic Ramayana, the demon king Ravana had scholarship, strength, wealth, power, authority and even the grace of God - but the virus of lust and pride which lodged in his mind brought about his destruction, despite all attainments. He could not dwell in peace and joy for a moment after the infection started to work. Life is a constant campaign against many foes, it is a battle with obstacles, temptations, hardships and hesitations. These enemies are present within every being and so the battle is incessant and perpetual. Each one differs from another, in this struggle against the inner attackers. Like the virus that thrives on the bloodstream, the vices of lust, greed, hate, malice, pride and envy sap the energy a nd faith of human beings and reduce them to untimely fall. Hence, always remember this - Virtue is strength, vice is weakness.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Prayer

How should we pray? Lord Krishna proclaimed it in the Bhagavad Gita. anan yas cintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate tesam nit yabhi yuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy aham Synonyms ananyah—having no other object; cintayantah—concentrating; mam—on Me; ye—those who; janah—persons; paryupasate—properly worship; tesam—of them; nitya—always; abhiyuktanam—fixed in devotion; yoga—requirements; ksemam—protection; vahami—carry; aham—I.
 Translation Whoever prays to me with no other thought whoever thinks of me incessantly, I will take care of their welfare.

 This is what we should be focusing on , as students of hatha yoga, not only on asanas.
 Krishna Raman

Grace of God

The grace of God is like insurance. It will help you in your time of need without any limit. 
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 We must try to earn His grace more than anything else.
 Dr Krishna Raman

The name of the Lord

The heart contains the precious treasure of bliss (Ananda) but people do not know the key to open the lock! The key to open the door to bliss is Namasmarana - repetition of the Name of the Lord with a pure heart. Purify the heart with the instruments of Truth, Right Conduct, Peace and Love (Sathya, Dharma, Shanth, Prema). Always endeavour to do good to others, to think well and speak well of them. This practice will wear away your egoism, and attachment to things that cater to your pleasures. Do not behave like birds and beasts, ever engaged in earning a living or rearing a family. Struggle for higher and nobler goals using the talents with which you are endowed!
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
The heart can be purified only by such approaches and not by the practise of asana.
Dr Krishna Raman

Focus on the creator, not the creation

Everyone is anxious to avoid old age and death; it is human nature to be anxious. But of what avail is mere anxiety? Your conduct and behaviour should be in accordance with your objective. If you have sincere yearning and place your full trust and faithfully surrender to the Lord, He will melt the fog of grief by the rays of His Grace. If you place your trust on the objects of this world, the consequent grief will never end, nor can they be ended by anyone other than the Lord. Serve the Master of maya (illusion), the Designer of all this dreamland, rather than the dream itself.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba


Keeping our body fit by hatha yoga we should focus on the divine. If we focus only on the body by spending more time  in perfecting the asanas, we will lose sight of the divine. 
Krishna Raman

Training

The spiritual path is the path of detachment, of sense control and rigorous mind training.
 Sri Sathya Sai Baba
 Let us note that it it not one of body training only.
 Dr Krishna Raman

Sadhana

What is the meaning of Sadhana? In the word Sadhana, Dhana means wealth- not worldly wealth but divine wealth, the greatest treasure on earth. A Sadhaka ( a person who is devout and earnest in his sadhana) is the wealthiest person on earth. Truly, genuine sadhana is the divine truth, pure and unsullied. It is God itself, for truth is God! How do you do sadhana? By making your outlook pure. Sadhana is purity.It is "taking out" from within you what is bad and evil, your negative traits. It is also recognizing and bettering what is good and Godly in you, your positive traits!

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Merely practising hatha yoga even with sincerity will not lead us to divinity.

Dr Krishna Raman

Peace

Those who do not have perfect peace will not get established in Samadhi even if they sit in Padmasana with their hands in special positions. Only self knowledge which is a fire for the straws of desires, is superb samadhi. Remaining still is not samadhi.

From Jnana Vasishtam

Self knowledge cannot be obtained from asana practice. Asanas can give a little knowledge about the body but this is highly limited. Even doctors dont understand the working of body with sophisticated lab tools.

Self knowledge can be secured only by deep introspection and rejecting what is false and the truth alone remains.

Dr Krishna Raman

Teaching yoga to calm down

Yoga classes should not pump the adrenaline up- this is not the aim of hatha yoga. Today's classes have teachers yelling instructions at the students. There are other methods of teaching that calm the practitioner. If we want the adrenaline drive, hatha yoga is not the way.
Dr Krishna Raman

Purification

Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness. Paddy grains have to be de-husked in order to become edible as rice. Cotton has to be converted as yarn to become wearable cloth. Gold nuggets have to be heated in the crucible to remove the impurities. Man too, must purify his impulses, emotions and desires and cultivate good thoughts, words and deeds so that he can progress spiritually.
Sathya Sai Baba

We need to realize this truth and we should not stop at purifying the body as hatha yogis. Asnas cannot purify impulses, desires or emotions.

Dr Krishna Raman

Divinity

You can get the feeling of yearning for the Divine only if you get a taste of the Prema (Love) of the Divine. That is why I have come among you - to give you a taste of that Love so that the yearning for God will be planted in your hearts. Mastery over mountains of information has been attained by man now, but wisdom has lagged behind. Hence, man's capacity to probe and progress into the realm of the universal and the Absolute has to be developed. He must realize the truth that man's distance from Divinity is the same as his distance from himself.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Bliss and thoughts

The bliss brought about by divine thoughts, peaceful thoughts, pure feeling, ever keeping the mind on the divine can never be equalled by the "good feeling" post asana or pranayama practice. That is because asana practice does not transform the mind, it only makes us calm. Calmness does not mean transformation of our inner workings of the mind. Even a criminal is calm in order to achieve the intended work.

Transformation of our behaviour can be brought about only and only by focusing on the divine.

Withdraw the mind

Withdraw your mind from worldly thoughts and fix it on the Name of the Lord, Hari, who charms all hearts. Listen to the wisdom of the Divine, the Bhagavatha Thathwa with all your heart. There is no activity holier than that. There can be no greater spiritual exercise, or discipline or vow. The human body is a worthy boat. The story of Lord Hari is the rudder in this world of constant change. Lord Hari is the boatman who will safely ferry you across Samsara, the sea of birth and death.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

These are the points we must ponder on as students of Hatha Yoga. Lets do the asana properly with the proper technique in

mind, but not lose focus of the Lord. Thinking of the asana day in and day out is meaningless.

Withdraw the mind

Withdraw your mind from worldly thoughts and fix it on the Name of the Lord, Hari, who charms all hearts. Listen to the wisdom of the Divine, the Bhagavatha Thathwa with all your heart. There is no activity holier than that. There can be no greater spiritual exercise, or discipline or vow. The human body is a worthy boat. The story of Lord Hari is the rudder in this world of constant change. Lord Hari is the boatman who will safely ferry you across Samsara, the sea of birth and death.

Sri Sathya Sai -Baba

These are the points we must ponder on as students of Hatha Yoga. Lets do the asana properly with the proper technique in

mind, but not lose focus of the Lord. Thinking of the asana day in and day out is meaningless.

Grace of the Lord

If you win the grace of the Lord, even the decrees of destiny can be overcome.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

How can we win the grace of the Lord? This should be our goal in life. Nothing is impossible with His grace. It can end rebirth. To secure His grace , we need to be good human beings-our achivements do not matter. It does not matter if we dont master asanas, this is immaterial.

Dr Krishna Raman

Conquering Maya

The inner prompting to conquer illusion (maya), by surrendering to the Lord, comes as a result of merits accumulated from many births. Those with demerits as their earnings will pursue the fleeting pleasure of the senses. Like birds and beasts, they revel in food and frolic as the purpose of life, and do not entertain any thoughts of God. They dislike the company of the virtuous and the good, and stray away from good acts and become outlaws in the realm of God. On the other hand, those who have earned merit strive to grow in virtue, cultivate uplifting thoughts, and contemplate and yearn for the Divine. Such seekers may be drawn to the Lord through suffering or want or the thirst for knowledge or keenness to acquire wisdom. But the fact that they turn towards the Lord for relief shows that they have grown into the higher path through many births.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

If we focus only on asanas we are bound to be lost, we should use that as a stepping stool at least; but even without that we can go further.
Dr Krishna Raman

Effect of thoughts vs asanas

See no evil - See what is good
Hear no evil - Hear what is good
Talk no evil - Talk what is good
Think no evil - Think what is good
Do no evil - Do what is good
This is the way to God.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Elevating thoughts, noble ideals that motivate the inner, the stillness in mind that comes with tapas is far more powerful on its effects on the body than asanas. That is why the ancients advised us to always think of what is good, inspiring, pure, elevating.

This is what we need today

Individual reconstruction is the most important need today. Multiply virtues, not buildings. Practise what you preach, that is the real pilgrimage. Cleanse your minds of envy and malice; this is the real bath in holy waters. Of what avail is the Name of the Lord on the tongue, if the heart within is impure? Injustice and discontent are spreading everywhere, due to this one single fault in humans – saying one thing and doing the opposite. You must set yourself right and correct your food, recreation and method of spending your leisure and your thoughts and habits. Remove the vices of lust and hatred, and put out the raging flames of anger and greed. Then, the innate tranquillity and happiness (shantham and soukhyam) within you, will manifest unhindered. You are the embodiment of peace; happiness is your very nature.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 24, 1965.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Grace is needed

God's grace is the greatest wealth. To consider the amassing of money, gold or other material objects as the ultimate goal is not right. The goal of life instead, should be the acquisition of the divine wealth of God's grace. Try to win His grace by reforming your habits, reducing your desires and refining your nature. One step makes the next one easier; that is the unique quality of the spiritual path. With each step, your strength and confidence increases and you feel the Lord's grace all the more.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Behaviour

Today, people’s behaviour is not good because their thoughts are polluted. And because their thoughts and actions have become perverted, the country is passing through troubles and turmoil. People have filled their mind with thoughts of mundane, ephemeral, and transient things. These thoughts are negative in nature; only those based on Truth are positive. If the feelings and intentions behind your actions are good, the results will also be good. Sacred thoughts, good words, and noble deeds are the true human values. Thoughts are your permanent assets. As is the thought, so is the mind. If thoughts are good, humanity will blossom into Divinity.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 18, 1999.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

This is where changes must come in us, the body is not the way for transformation.
Dr Krishna Raman

The mind and asana

Using our mind to properly execute an asana has nothing to do with using our mind to live life. These are 2 separate issues.
Living life is how we cultivate our attitudes to life and its vicissitudes. Doing an asana is the art of controlling the body with finnese.
The latter has nothing to to with our evolution as it deals only with the body.

Mind control

Mind control is more heroic and beneficial than any other system of control.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Divinity

Divinity is one, and is the real basis for the Universe. Like the string for a garland and the foundation for a multi-storey building, Divinity penetrates and holds together everything and everyone; it is the foundation for the structure of the Universe. Only the flowers and buildings are visible to your eyes, not the string and the foundation. Unless you invest time and effort to reason it out, they escape your attention. That does not mean they are non-existent! Never be misled by the aadheya (the contained, the thing held) into denying the Aadhaar (the basis, the container). For the Seen, there is an Unseen Basis. To grasp the Unseen, the best means is inquiry, and the right proof is experience. For those who have experienced, no description is needed.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Patanjali and inner self

Patanjali's sutras must not be interpreted to the physical postures. This is incorrect. An analogy can be used but his sutras are for our inner evolution- not bodily perfection. The body can never be made perfect with asanas however long we try or whoever tries- so lets focus on our inner selves.

Body and indweller

The body is only an instrument- lets keep it healthy but not worship it. Too much body culture is not appropriate, culturing our heart and mind is needed.

Rely on the divine

Let us not rely on our asans to save us, rather rely on the divine alone.

Karma

Karma as such has no capacity to bind; it is the conceit, 'I am the doer' that brings about the attachment and the bondage. Again, it is the desire for the fruit of action that produces the bondage. For example: the zero gets value only when in association with a digit. Karma is zero; the feeling of 'doership' when associated with Karma breeds bondage. So give up the sense of ‘I’ and the Karma that you do will never harm you. Karma done without any desire for the fruits thereof will not produce impulses; that is to say, there will be no impulse for birth even. The spiritual aspirants of the past, performed Karma with this high ideal in view. They never felt that they were the ‘doers’ or ‘enjoyers of the fruits’ of any act. The Lord did, the Lord gave the fruit and the L ord enjoyed the fruit - that was their conviction! You too should cultivate that faith.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Grace of the Lord

If you win the grace of the Lord, even the decree of destiny can be overcome. When a bottle of medicine is purchased, on the label is a date, printed by the drug manufacturer that indicates its expiration. The drug loses its efficacy beyond that date. Although the drug remains in the bottle, it will no longer be effective. Similarly, the grace of God can work like an expiration date and make the effects of destiny ineffective. God's grace cannot be had by one who is wavering from moment to moment and whose heart is not pure. Even if you do not practise worship or meditation, it is enough if you have cleansed your heart. The Divine will then enter it. -SAI BABA

Yoga and content

A yoga class which gives instructions on asana /pranayama practise is like a tree sans roots. A class on yoga is complete only if satsang is held-not teachings on how we learnt to turn the liver in the asana or how quiet we were in the asana. Satsang promotes holy thoughts and one must depart from the class with such thoughts, foster them to be with us as long as possible.