RAJA YOGA – CONTROL OF THE MIND

Raja yoga deals exclusively with the mind. It is the science of applied psychology. Its main task is to obtain perfect control of the mind, to remove all mental obstructions, leaving a sound mind.

Raja yoga aims at strengthening the will power, as the power of concentration, without which no other physical power is possible. They are greater than any physical force. The main objective is to develop tremendous will power and intense power of concentration to help the seeker of truth attain meditation, to the ultimate realisation of God consciousness, the goal of all religions.

Sense power externalises and weakens our mind. They distract, dissipate and debilitate. By using the power of concentration and will power to control our senses and making the mind introspective we may gradually concentrate our mental energy towards our higher self, to reveal the Universal Self of which we are part.

Raja yoga is applied Vedanta. Religion is not in doctrine, in dogmas nor in intellectual argumentation or discussion. It is in realisation. Slowly but surely, more and more adepts will have to turn to practical means. Every science has its methods. Raja yoga proposes a practical and scientific method for reaching the Truth.

In Raja Yoga great importance is laid upon the practice of ethics. Desires must be controlled. Passions restrained. In fact, lust, anger, greed, arrogance and hatred have to be completely subdued to achieve purity and perfection.

Those who follow the Raja yoga path have to be careful in keeping the mind pure. That is why the Yamas and Niyamas form part of the practice of Raja Yoga. The passions have to be quietened through the practice of Yamas and Niyamas. These are the very first two among the eight steps preconised by Sage Patanjali to attain union with the Almighty. Without these, yoga practice will not succeed. Once they are established, there start coming the fruits of the practice.

Worldliness and attachment create bondage. Renunciation and non attachment bring freedom. Selfishness is another bane. It is the root cause of all passions. Unselfishness purifies the mind. There is calmness and peace. Non violence should be practiced in thought, word and deed and should extend to the whole world, not to humans alone.

There should not be extremes in anything. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said that he cannot be a Yogi: “He who fasts, he who keeps awake, he who sleeps much, he who works too much, he who does no work, none of these can be a Yogi”.

Asanas are exercises that help hold the spinal column straight while sitting erect for the long hours of meditation. Such asanas (postures) should be practiced that do so. They allow proper yogic breathing to take place.

Next is pranayama, control of the prana, the infinite manifesting power of the universe. This is controlled through control of the forces that generate breathing through motion of the lungs. So Pranayama is not breath control, but controlling that muscular power which moves the lungs. Breath is the one means we have to gain control over all the physical, motive powers of the body. When the Prana has become controlled, then we shall immediately find that all the other actions of this Prana in the body will gradually come under control.

Pratyahara is preparation of the ground for concentration by gradually reducing the inflow of thoughts. It consists of restraining the senses from their objects. Dharana is concentration, fixing the mind on a single object. Concentration is the basis of all progress in the world and so too in yoga.

Only then do we reach the stage of Dhyana, meditation proper. The highest stage of meditation is Samadhi.