Freedom from stress through yoga of action: BKS Iyengar

Freedom from stress through yoga of action

We have reprinted below two articles from a 1997 volume of Yoga Rahasya (Vol. 4:2). In the first, Guruji talks about the stresses of modern day life. It is remarkable that although written more than twenty three years ago, even before the widespread use of social media, Guruji describes with great insight, the stresses and strains of living in our present day society, which are so relevant to our lives now. His words seem even more pertinent today and his encouragement for the practice of yoga more important than ever. In the second article, Guruji provides a detailed description of how to perform Śavāsana, the yogic art of relaxation.

We live in a tension torn world. Life is getting stressful and painful. Science and technology have given us a lot of physical comforts but have also triggered a fast life. We continue to move mindlessly from one endeavour to another believing that movement and speed is what life is all about. There is no time to pause, to think, to ponder, to contemplate or introspect on the proceedings of life. The result is our alienation from our near and dear ones and from society. We have no time to even recharge our energy batteries.

Insecurity and fear haunt and daunt people. The blanket of unhappiness spread over humanity crosses the barriers of religion, history, geography, language race and ethnic considerations.

Why is there such fear, insecurity and distrust of each other? I tried to ponder and analyse the cause for this universal sorrow and misery. Humanity has lost control over life instead of leading a life on the basis of human values.

As shall you sow, so shall you reap. Violence, illhealth, disease, hunger, malnutrition, starvation, strife, discord and fighting exists in the affluent, advanced nations as well as the poorer, third world countries. Are we not aware of the havoc we are playing with our environment and depleting the mother earth.

Suffering (klesha) is an inevitable component of life and has to be borne. Pain or suffering is of three kinds, Ādhyātmika [pertaining to the body and mind], self-inflicted and invited. It is up to us to reduce or eliminate it by maintaining a balance in the working of the body, mind and soul. Ādhidaivika roga [disease] is caused by genetic factors over which we have no control. We can neither restrain or cure it. Ādhibhautika roga arises due to the disturbances in the ratio of the elements in the body. Pain, sorrow, harassment, agony, misery, distress, discomfort, torments, grief, worry, vexation, disease, torture and annoyance are afflictions. The source of all afflictions is avidyā [ignorance], asmitā [egoism], rāga [attachment], dveṣa [aversion] and abhiniveśa [self-benediction or too much caring for life and self]. We ourselves have invited suffering. We have saturated the mother earth with all sorts of toxins. We have polluted the natural resources, the water we drink; our factories and industries belch out smoke releasing tonnes of poisonous and toxic gases in the air. Are these the needs of mankind or are they the greeds of man to have more and more of material comforts. Though our lives have become easier, have they brought us any mental peace? Many people now have time for leisure and get bored. They do not know how to use their leisure time to attend to and strengthen the body, mind and nurture the soul.

Many of the world capitals have become insecure and unsafe where you cannot enjoy normal outdoor life. Even living in the confines of the house is insecure. The situation is the same in the poor as well as the rich countries. In Japan, the world’s industrial and economic giant, the rate of suicide has crossed the danger mark. The youth and the middle aged people often wonder why and what one lives for. The old and the aged are dying uncared for in homes for the aged. They survive as vegetables without zest or feeling for life raising their hands in despair to the heavens to lift them from this world, a “living mortuary”.

The Kathopanishad epitomises the present world scenario stating: “Fools dwell in darkness; wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain knowledge; go round and round, staggering to and from ….”

We tend to take trifles too seriously but only at the level of thinking and brooding and we fail to take adequate action. Human body is a playground of jīvātma [the essence of life] as the world is the playground of the Lord. The body, the mind and the soul all come into play with the five jñāna-indriyas [sense organs] and five karma indriyas [organs of action] with the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) and their qualities (sound, touch, shape, taste and smell). The mind is the coach and the intelligence the arbiter. The playground should be proper and the player must be fit to play the game. For the human being, the game of life is to live it fully with vitality.

Sage Patanjali charted out the game plan for us. He described the qualities needed by the player to play the game with vigour, energy, optimism and wit. A balance needs to be struck between the body, mind, emotions and the soul. They should work in consort with each one doing their bit within the set limits and not exceeding the jurisdiction of the borderline of the body, mind and spirit. This is the key to the game. The vital difference with the games and sports that we normally participate in is that, though we compete and play, it is not for the victory of triumph. We go on playing till our last breath or as long as the almighty wishes.

Lord Patanjali, with his immense prowess over yoga and language, codified the entire yoga darśana [vision] in 196 sūtras [aphorisms]. The majority of the world is virtually going berserk in the pursuit of bhoga [enjoyment] at the expense of the spirit. Some who have completed a circle in pursuit of material and mundane pleasures are now turning back to Yoga for health, mental calmness and emotional poise.

Yoga can be practised by all, irrespective of caste, creed, age or sex. It is the best acquisition. Whether it is practiced in pursuit of duty (dharma) or to earn a livelihood (artha) or for the enjoyment of life and worldly pleasures (kāma) or for liberation and emancipation (mokṣa). It is a MUST. The Upanishads proclaim that a weakling cannot enmjoyu the pleasures of life (bhoga) or liberation (mokṣa). “Dharma artha kāma mokṣanam arogyam mūlamuttanam”.

Man is a triune of body, mind and soul. According to the Bhagwad Gita, the body is called the kṣetra, or the field, and the the dweller in the body is called kṣetrajna Our sages have divided body into three tiers. Kāraṇaśarīra [core of the body], sūkṣma-śarīra [mental body] and sthūla-śarīra [gross body]. In these three tiers are encased the five layers, or sheaths. They are annamaya kośa [anatomical body], prāṇamaya kośa [physiological body], manormaya kośa [mental body], vijñānmaya kośa [intellectual body] and ānandamaya kośa [spiritual body].

The three tiers as well as the five kośas innerpenetrate from the skin to the self, as well as outer-penetrate from from the self to the skin as one single unit. The five organs of action, the five sense of perception, the tāmasic [inert] body, rājasic [vibrant] body and sāttvic [luminous] body, illuminative quality of the soul and modulations and fluctuations of the mind carry on the play of the jīvātman [individual self]. The goal and the end is with the puruṣa [individual soul] and prakṛti [nature] merging together i.e. the union of the seeker with the seer.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras provide the seed for the total evolution of the human body. The aim is to culture the body, mind, emotions and intelligence in order to reach the super conscious state. Yoga is essentially a ‘spiritual science’ and gain of physical or mental health are only the side benefits.

The four pillars (or pādas) are samādhi pāda, sādhanā pāda, vibhūti pāda and kaivalya pāda These are meant to attain respectively the goals of dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa. Samādhi pāda discusses the ways and means fort purifying the mind and cultivating the citta [consciousness]. Sādhanā pāda offers methods and means to enrich the citta by removing our lack of understanding. Vibhūti pāda signifies the gift of yoga with a caution on how excessive use of the the powers (siddhis) can backfire and any temptation to use these powers could bring about the downfall of the yogi. Kaivalya leads the sādhaka [seeker] to the state of liberation.

The eight limbs of yoga are yama, niyama, āsana, prāņāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraņa, dhyāna, and samādhi Yama is moral and mental restraint, niyama physical and mental observance, āsana is posture, prāņāyāma is regualiton of prana – the dynamic principle of life, pratyāhāra is control of the sense, dhāraņa is concentration, dhyāna is meditation and samādhi is merging of the individual soul with the universal soul.

The essence of yoga is anuśāsanam wherein the ethical, physical, mental and intellectual disciplines emphasise on the right means of character building. Yama and niyama are rules of moral values and codes of behaviour relating to oneself and the society, as an individual as well as a social discipline. The growth of civilisation is marked by culturing the mind while yoga is culturing the body, mind and consciousness.

The yama and niyamas are universal commandments which are not limited by geographic, regional or ethnic considerations. Non-violence, or ahiṁsā, of Patanjali connects us to the root of love. Satya or truthfulness deals with the culture of the mental body. Brahmacarya is for moderation. Accumulation or hoarding far beyond one needs and means is irreligious in yoga.

These yogic commandments are the rules for morality for society and the individual, which if not obeyed bring chaos, violence, untruth, stealing, dissipation and covetousness.

Yoga is meant for us in this world – here and now. These re not just matters of superconsciousness or spirituality. Mind, intelligence and consciousness cover the different aspects of a human being. When mind dominates the entire brain, the intelligence and consciousness are compressed, at times the intelligence swamps the brain when the mind and consciousness are compressed. You must have realised that when one is totally involved and absorbed in something, a ray of illuminating light of the consciousness appears shining from the soul or superconscious.

Citta vṛtti, or the fluctuations in consciousness, sprout from the self. Vṛttis are direct thought waves (pramāņa) which disturb one’s state of mind. In viparyaya [misperception], the sense perception deceives us and in vikalpa (misconception), the senses work correctly but the mind cannot conceive correctly.

In India, where the Vedic religion thrived and flowered, the philosophy of abnegation of self and self-denial lead the masses into looking inwards while poverty called for action. Vivekananda advised the youth to play football instead of reading the Bhagwad Gita. He wanted to ensure that the masses did not turn into a life of a recluse. He stirred the people into action by his call “Arise. Awake” as spirituality cannot flourish in midst of needs to attain material well-being and satiate mundane needs. The body cannot be fed by spiritual; practice alone. The West had too much of material prosperity and propensity to acquire more while the spirit was languishing, so his message at the first Parliament of Religion at Chicago in 1883 was totally different.

It might be intriguing why Swami Vivekananda then asked the Indian youth to play football rather than reading the Bhagwad Gita, a descent from high platform of immortality of the soul to the low reach of striking reality. He wanted to create a militant action and the fighting spirit rather than give the sermons on philosophy.

He desired to fire the imagination of the inert masses into action. The message of saints and philosphers of “Jaganamitya” (the world is an illusion, or māyā) or the negative message of Neti Neti – not this, not that – spread despair and gloom in the masses. At the turn of 2000, over a hundred

years after the Chicago address, the world, and particularly India needs the message of “arise and awake” to rouse the masses to action. To play the game and engage in the battle.

Human life should be imbibed in spiritual discipline like the message of Lord Krishna in Bhagwad Gita to Arjuna: “Fight on”(tato yuddhāya yujyasva; sukha-duḥkhe same kṛitvā lābhālābhau jayājayau) “Engage yourself in the battle”.

"Hato vā prāpsyasi swargaṁ jitvā vā bhokṣhyase mahīm". Lord Krishna said “if you are slain you will go to svarga [heaven]. If victorious in this battle you will enjoy the sovereignty of the earth, the pleasures of the world”.

Man must shed his unworthy weakness. The brave do not get faint hearted. The world is in turmoil, but take heart, resolve to fight, “tato yuddhāya yujyasva”. Engage yourself in the battle which is going on between the kṣetra, the field, and kṣetra jña, the fielder. The solace is in Yoga of Patanjali because yama and niyama is meant for guņa vṛtti nirodha [control of the organs of action and senses of perception], āsana is for snāyu vṛtti nirodha [control of the body, the muscles, the sinews], prāņāyāma for prāņa vṛtti nirodha [control of vital energy], pratyāhāra for controlling the sense of perception, dhāraņa for culturing the mind, dhyāna for ahaṁkāra vṛtti nirodha [control of the ego].

When saṁskāra [imprints, subliminal impressions] is subdued, the light eternal to the soul surfaces. This is the essence of life, or samādhi, and this is what Patanjali wants: man to progress from worldly pleasures towards emancipation and liberation.