8         Samādhi Yoga: Bhava and Bhāvanā         The awareness that arises in the mind when it comes into contact with an object is called Pratyaya, mental perception. The object may either be within us or outside us. We know external objects through the senses, internal objects through the mind. When the senses come in contact with an external object, we feel a sensation in ourselves; in the language of Yoga, the substance of our self or consciousness undergoes modification. The fact is that when our self-substance comes in contact with a not-self substance the self-substance tries to assimilate the substance that is not-self. This is why the Yogins and the Upanishadic seers have co

 3         Japa Yoga: The Four Limbs         The Tantra says: "Shiva, Shakti, Mana, Marut—these four must be united while doing Japa."         Shiva, the Supreme Being, is seated above the head in the Great Void (mahāshūnya).         Shakti, the Supreme Power, is seated in the centre of consciousness at the base of the spine (mūlādhāra). Shakti flows upwards through the subtle nerve channel in the spine (sushumnā).         Mana, mind, is our chosen Mantra. The Mantra is a Bhāva, an emotion, mood or attitude of heart expressive of our feeling towards the object of our concentration; the Mantra is also a Bīja, a seed-sound expressive of the core and essence of its being

Index   action (pravritti), 93 Air, element, 26; expansiveness, 51 Ajapā, japa, 28, 44, 47,48, 61; yoga, 30 Ājnā Chakra, eyebrow centre, 37, 92 Ākāsha (sky) 31, 71, 93; of the heart, 71 Allah and Shaitān of the Quran, 10, 11 Anāhata, heart centre, 37, 92 Ānanda, pure bliss, 46 Ānanda Vārtā, 14 Anāpānadīpanī, Vedic method of       Prānāyāma, 28 Antah Shākta, one who has Shakti       within, 44 Antarvritti, the inner movement, 36 Āpya  Sharīra, the liquid, fluid or,       literally, the Water body, 52,  54 Ārya Darpana, 2 Āsana, 19, 21, 25, 26, 63, 95, 100;    fixed posture, 52; stea

9   Yoga: From the Outer to the Inner         We have seen that the means of lifting the mind into a state of clarity and gladness are three first, to expand the mind into the peace and light found in certain grand aspects of Nature second, to release the mind by idealising someone you love, turning him or her into a God; and third, to make the mind content by feeling love and friendship towards all men. The first method of practice is Vedic, the second Vaishnava, the third Buddhist. Of them the Vedic method is the least complex. I have already spoken about the value of contemplating the sky (ākāsha-bhāvanā), so there is no need to elaborate on it. When you study the Vedas and enter into

     The Katha Upanishad says that man in the ordinary course looks outward but some seeking a greater life turn their gaze inward (āvrtta-chakshu), and there they find the immortal life of their true Self. Yoga consists in developing this inward and upward look. Taking the celebrated Yogasūtras of Patanjali as his framework, Sri Anirvan explains the eight limbs of Patanjala Yoga in the light of India's spiritual traditions. The Vedas, the Upanishads and the Gita; the systems of Samkhya and Tantra; Buddhism, Vaishnavism and the Bauls — all form part of Sri Anirvan's vision.   In this book, Sri Anirvan takes his readers onto unfamiliar grounds; there is no doubt that they will find in h