4         Dhāranā Yoga: The Three Regions and Four Centres         I have spoken of the practice that is to be done with the aid of the breath. As the practice of Japa and mental contemplation deepen, our awareness of breathing recedes from the foreground to the background. We clearly feel, then, that the movement of breathing is a gross physical activity. The real thing is the subtle vital or nervous current which, behind the breath current, ascends and descends through the spinal channel (sushumnā). At this point we should forsake our concentration on the breathing and direct our attention to that nervous current. The nature of our emotional attitude (bhava) remains the same as before,

6   Dhāranā Yoga: Fixation Within the Body and Outside It         From our discussion of the practice of Dhāranā with the aid of Mantra, it should now be clear that the true purpose of Dhāranā is to fix and hold in one's being the Conscious Power (chetana-shakti) and Delight {ānanda) of the Vast. To do this it is helpful to open the spinal channel (sushumnā) through the power of conceptualisation (bhāvanā). As this Yoga of the spinal channel becomes firmly established, Dhāranā becomes easier.         This technique belongs, of course, to the Hathayogins. Patanjali has not explicity referred to it, and there is a reason. Patanjali has analysed the question from a purely sci

INNER YOGA   Contents   Pre-Content   Introduction 1. The Eight-Limbed Yoga: The Outer Practices 2. The Eight-Limbed Yoga: The Inner Practices 3. Japa Yoga: The Four Limbs 4. Dharana Yoga: The Three Regions and Four Centres 5. Mantra Yoga: The Mystery of Ajapa 6. Dharana Yoga: Fixation within the Body and Outside It 7. Dhyana Yoga: The Three Limbs 8.

7   Dhyāna Yoga : The Three Limbs         After Dhāranā, fixing the mind, the next step is Dhyāna, meditation, in which there is a prolonged absorption in the object of one's contemplation. Actually, the practice of Dhyāna has already begun with that of Dhāranā, and so it is said that as Dhāranā deepens it turns into Dhyāna. Indeed, all the limbs of Yoga are interconnected; it is only for convenience of understanding that we arrange and analyse them in a particular pattern; it helps us to observe the characteristics of the various limbs and thus to regulate our practice.         Regarding the character of Dhyāna, Patanjali says, "There where the perceptions of the mind become co

2   The Eight-Limbed Yoga: The Inner Practices         The introduction is over; we come now to the inner Yoga. First we want to arrange its limbs in a schematic way for our comprehension, though in fact all the different limbs are intimately related to one another; at times their action may even reverse our imagined order. The real aim of Yoga is for the Observer, the Seer (drashtā) in us to discover its true nature (svarūpa). If we keep this in mind, the relationships between the different limbs will become clear.          The first limb of the inner Yoga is Dhāranā, the fixing of the mind for some time on a sin

   5         Mantra Yoga: The Mystery of Ajapā         The practice of Yoga proceeds with the help of three streams of currents of energy — the air or breath current, the nervous current and the mental current; of these, the air and nervous currents together may be called the vital current. Just as the inflow and outflow of the breath goes on continuously, impelled by the laws of Nature, so the nervous and mind currents go on continuously with the same ebb and flow movement. Ordinarily we are unaware of these currents because our mind is habitually turned outward. But if we become aware of the breath current in us — aware, that is, of the outer aspect of the vital current — and if through

10   Yoga with a Support         We are discussing Dhyāna, meditation. I have said that unless the meditative mood has been awakened, meditation cannot be smooth and effortless. If we wish to absorb our mind in a certain object at a particular time of day, we must cultivate, throughout the day, a readiness and eagerness for it. During the day I shall work and walk and talk, but all the while my mind will cherish a remembrance of its chosen object of meditation (ishta) this is the proper attitude. Ramakrishna used to give the example of a tooth-ache which remains in the mind, constant and unforgotten, amid all activities.         It is not so difficult, really, to keep alive this

     Introduction         Sri Anirvan1 was born on 8th July 1896 in the town of Mymensingh in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). It was a typical small Bengali town of that era, natural and lovely, with thatched-roofed houses and yards hedged by flowering creepers. Palm trees stood everywhere, on the outskirts lay paddy fields, and nearby flowed the mighty Brahamaputra. In this setting the child imbibed the beauty of nature. His knowledge of plants in later life, was almost that of a botanist.         Sri Anirvan's original name was Narendra Chandra Dhar. His parents, Raj Chandra Dhar and Sushila Devi, were cultured middle-class Hindus of Kayastha caste. They were pious and affection

11   Yoga without a Support: The Yoga of Sleep         I have said that at the beginning of the Yoga of meditation (dhyāna) one must learn to distinguish between mental movement (vritti) and emotional mood (bhāva). The mind's move ments are scattered and disorganised the emotional mood is even and one. Amid the dispersive movements, one kind of emotion or other is always present — it may be a feeling of pleasure or discomfort or fatigue. In the natural consciousness these feelings provide the background for the mind's activity in the supra-natural consciousness, the consciousness beyond the ordinary nature, pure feeling (shuddha bhāva) is manifested its essence is a spiritual cla

INNER YOGA         1         The Eight-Limbed Yoga: The Outer Practices         The eight limbs of Yoga1 may be divided into two parts. Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prānāyāma and Pratyāhāra are the five outer disciplines or practices (sādhanas); Dhāranā, Dhyāna and Samādhi2 are the three inner ones. Through the outer practices the mind is gradually turned inward. Calmness, clarity and inwardness of mind — these three qualities are closely interrelated.         In the depths of my being, the subtle substance of mind appears in the form of tiny points or rays of electric light. It is this light, spreading outward, that creates my world  —  my outer as well as