Edgar Cayce and the Yoga Sutras. Istvan Fazekas

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ and leads the sincere seeker straight into the presence of the Divine by pragmatic means. This is also the offering of this book.

      Eighteen hundred years ago a collection of pithy teachings, or sutras, was codified by a sage named Patañjali. The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali are regarded as one of the most important collections of concise wisdom on spiritual yoga and have been employed by sages for centuries as a step-by-step manual for consciousness transformation. This collection of sutras is not a substitute for studying with a God-realized sage but instead is used as an accompaniment. Interestingly enough, the same can be said of the A Search for God books, although the latter have a much shorter track record.

      Anyone who over time has committed to studying the Search for God teachings in a study group format, putting into practice the lessons’ recommendations and sifting through the sometimes difficult-to-decipher passages, can vouch for the true transformational power of the material. It is challenging at times, but it is supposed to be. It is Christ Consciousness yoga and likely the most important contribution the Cayce legacy has to offer the world.

      Yoga, stemming from the Sanskrit meaning “union” or “yoke,” is very closely related to the word religion. In Latin, re + ligare would translate to something akin to, “To tightly bind again.” We get the word ligament from the same root. Bones are held tightly together with ligaments—it is a firm bond. Yoga, too, implies a uniting, a coming together in a lasting way. Raja (“royal”) yoga is the term commonly given to sage Patañjali’s teachings of the eight (ashtangha) branches of spiritual yoga. Raja Yoga and Ashtangha Yoga are interchangeable terms.

      There are two kinds of yoga: hatha yoga and raja yoga. The hatha yogi practices physical exercises. Their goal is to acquire physical longevity and psychic abilities. But the aim of the raja yogi is the attainment of devotion, ecstatic love, knowledge and renunciation. Of these two, raja yoga is better.

       Ramakrishna

      Unfortunately, many people know of yoga only as a series of physical stretches, but this is a gross misperception of the traditions from which yoga has emerged over millennia. Physical yoga, or hatha yoga, is but a small (although not insignificant) part of the holistic system of consciousness transformation that is yoga. The eight aspects, or “limbs,” of Raja Yoga are these:

      • Yamas: five moral practices, restraints, which make you a beneficial and productive member of society, and which refine the ego.

      • Niyamas: five behavioral practices, adherences, that start you on the road (and keep you prospering on the road) to transforming your consciousness and merging into the Higher Self.

      • Asana: physical postures designed to tune up the endocrine, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems. The essential purpose of asana is to allow the aspirant to sit for extended periods in meditation and not get distracted by an uncomfortable body; greater strength and physical longevity are added benefits.

      • Pranayama: harnessing vital energy through breathing exercises and awareness, primarily to magnetize the spinal column and increase the vitality reserve for more profound states of consciousness.

      • Pratyahara: withdrawal or introspection of consciousness—prompting the aspirant to turn inward to uncover the ever-abiding holiness within.

      • Samyama—the collective actions of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi: the last stages of attuning to God consciousness; the deeper, more advanced practice of turning inward, uniting mind with Spirit; the key components of the systematic progression toward enlightenment.

      It is through these eight stages, each building on the practice of the one preceding it, that Patañjali and the readings’ source delineate a course, a time-tested prescription, for transforming ego consciousness into Christ Consciousness and maximizing the valuable opportunity of an incarnation. This system brings you into an awareness of God where no fabricated dogma, institutional chastening, or metaphysical threats are involved or needed. This is an interesting coincidence of the readings and the yogic masters’ teachings (one of numerous)—heaven and hell are what you make them to be—they are states of consciousness.

      Not all people, by any means, [who profess a belief in God, actually] believe in God. They simply talk. The worldly-minded people have heard something from someone that God exists and that everything happens by His will; but it is not their inner belief. Do you know what a worldly man’s idea of God is like? It is like the children swearing by God when they quarrel. They have heard the word while listening to their elderly aunts quarrel.

       Ramakrishna

      Transforming consciousness is the central focus in mysticism, the “inner” or “hidden” religious teachings found throughout every tradition. In spiritual yoga, even such ideas as past-life knowledge and telekinesis, although entertaining, are to be subservient to moral actions and daily, ever-deepening attunements to the Source.

      Both the great teachers of Asian traditions, the lot of whom I will group together for the sake of efficiency as “sages” or “masters,” and the Cayce readings’ source have no patience for those of us who seek shortcuts. The readings’ source states unambiguously that “there are no [short cuts] in Christianity” and “no short cuts to knowledge, to wisdom, to understanding,” or to “spirituality.” Everyone must pay the required price by working through the ego’s foibles and rebellion—thought by thought, action by action. Fortunately, there is a well-traveled path in the yoga of the Christ. All we have to do is to commit to live it and work diligently for more inner Light.

      Enlightenment is the natural result of taming the ever-sly ego and willfully surrendering to Spirit. It is not an easy task. Many of the skeptics, those who either completely discount all spiritual efforts as futile or those who think yoga is a threat to their belief system, are condemning the water as unpalatable before it reaches their own taste buds. They are misled by either fear or ignorance, both of which are perpetual roadblocks to spiritual awakening. But it is a choice, and everyone’s reality is shaped by his or her choices.

      Ultimately, spiritual yoga is a roadmap that charts the course for new choices, more expansive thoughts, and beneficial actions. It is a means to transform the seemingly intractable ways of the ego. The sages understood the ego’s workings and knew that with knowledge comes responsibility. True knowledge, that which everyone seeks on the deepest level, is God knowledge—that which pulls the ego out of its narrow and troublesome confines, that which makes decisions not on sociopolitical or financial presumptions but on intuitive wisdom, that which is willing to sacrifice for the good of the whole.

      The twenty-first century is ushering in a greater dialogue between spiritual knowledge and scientific curiosity. The experiences and wisdom of the ancient sages is interlocking with and helping to birth new discoveries in cellular biology, quantum physics, neuroplasticity, and mind-over-body protocols.

      It is here, at this juncture, where spiritual yoga becomes a vital medicine. It is only by experiencing deeper states of consciousness that religion starts to make sense and has authentic meaning. It is only by delving into the nature of the mind, participating in the process of awakening, that scientists can know metaphysical reality as a fact of their own being. Then they can understand that there are certain things that can be measured and quantified . . . and other things, sacred things, which cannot.

      This is how spiritual yoga can generate world peace—providing an opportunity for each individual to experience the sacred foundation upon which our very existence rests. Upon this understanding there can be no quarreling, no textual debate, and no sociopolitical factionalism. To put it in the vein of the sages: Once the inner light dawns, all СКАЧАТЬ