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