Yogism How Yoga Is Attained ?

[gurbanivichar]

Yoga (A Hindu theistic philosophy; union of self and the Supreme Being is sought through a state of complete awareness and tranquillity attained by certain physical exercises)

Guru Says :: Yoga is not attained by putting on a patched coat, Yoga is not attained with a walking stick in hand. Yoga is not smearing the body with ashes and wandering about aimlessly. Yoga is not wearing the ear-rings, and not the shaven heads. Yoga is not the blowing of the horns (Yogies/Saints blow loud horns as if to awake the Almighty from sleep.). Remaining unblemished in the midst of the filth of the world - this is the way to attain Yoga. ||1||


By mere words, Yoga is not attained. One who looks upon all with a single eye, and knows them to be one and the same - he alone is known as a Yogi. ||1||Pause|| Yoga is not wandering to the tombs of the dead; Yoga is not sitting in trances. Yoga is not wandering through foreign lands; Yoga is not bathing at sacred shrines of pilgrimage. Remaining unblemished in the midst of the filth of the world - this is the way to attain Yoga. ||2||




Meeting with the True Guru, doubt is dispelled, and the wandering mind is restrained. Nectar rains down, celestial music resounds, and deep within, wisdom is obtained. Remaining unblemished in the midst of the filth of the world - this is the way to attain Yoga. ||3||



O Nanak, remain dead while yet alive (means:: live life and face the world with strength but even then do not get attached to worldly things) - practice such a Yoga. When the horn (mentioned in first stanza) is blown in our heart and mind without being manually blown, then you shall attain the state of fearless dignity. Remaining unblemished in the midst of the filth of the world - this is the way to attain Yoga. ||4||1||8||

Page 730 SGGS Ji

 

[Neutral Singh]

Remaining unblemished in the midst of the filth of the world - this is the way to attain Yoga.

But how to avoid isolation? It's always a two way street.

 

[sukhi]

sikhphilosophy, is the point to remain isolated or rather to maintain a connection with God while living in this world?

 

[person]

I play kirtan quite a bit, and what happens is that I usually find one shabad and get stuck on playing only that shabad for at least a month or two.. I remember at one time I was stuck on this shabad, and I sang and sang and sang until I finally realized what it really meant. Yoga to me (from my own contemplation) is not the physical yoga that some of us exercise.. Rather, yoga is a stage of enlightenment - that is when the true yoga is attained. Yoga/enlightenment isn't dressing up and pretending you're religious, yoga/enlightenment isn't going through many hard rituals as a way of attaining peace --- Yoga/enlightenment is when you live in this world of filth and hatred and anger, and you are part of this earth and society, but you also have the ability to look beyond it. Yoga isn't isolation, yoga isn't sitting alone on a mountain top wearing only a cloth around your body. Yoga is being here on this earth, but having that intuition and experience that something is beyond our comprehension and our goal is to somehow experience that infinite.

See, a lot of people think that in order to be religious you need to wear certain clothes and dress a certain way and talk a certain way, but from the way that I've lived my life - if someone was to judge me just based on appearance they would never imagine that I care this much about sikhi (By the way, I'm not saying that I've attained anything or that I'm great in any way, but I do have great love for sikhi). I think what this shabad is basically trying to say is that in order to get anywhere in life, we need to clean out our inner self before showing the world our outter appearances and we need to accept everyone as equal and not judge them based on their physical appearance - because that too is temporary and shall fade and diminish.

I hope this makes sense, and I'm not trying to be preachy in any way... This is just what I've understood from this shabad - I would never wish to impose my views and beliefs on any one else.

 

[Amarpal]

Dear Members,

gurbanivichar jee has started a very interesting topic. I want to contribute to the on going discussion. My understanding I share with you all.

The word yoga means adding, summation. In mathematics we all know that the two values added and become one greater value if both of them are positive numbers – this is the way to grow in real Yoga (not in pretence). In the context of our lives Yoga means merging all its facets into one.

Starting at individual level, it means our thoughts, our speech, our action should become harmonised with each other, and they all should reflect the same. As one progress, beyond herself/himself, dualities in lives of the individuals start disappearing - all wrong doings come from consideration of dualities in existence. As dualities get dissolved one moves a step further on the path of Yoga - lust, greed, anger, hatred, envy, enmity, etc all the negative attribute of being disappears; spiritual purity comes to the individual. Once this happens the individual is able to see the ‘One’ i.e. God in all. This individual, the accomplished Yogi remains in an alert yet relaxed state; the natural innocence returns to her/him and as evolved individual, such person will never do any thing wrong - the individual has attained Yoga. This individual is totally dead to worldly attachment and yet lives the life in full - she/he is a Yogi. This is the state in which one remains naturally unblemished in the midst of the filth of world.

In this state there is no isolation, instead there is total continuity with the world and the life in it, only the filth, which is around in this world does not affect the Yogi. The individual is not physically isolated from the world, but immune from its filth. One does not have to avoid isolation because it never occurs. The Yogi lives her/his life fully in this world. Our Gurus lived this way.

The yogi is in constant communion with ‘The Almighty’. Her/his condition is similar to a pregnant woman who does all the work expected from her in the family and in professional life, but is always aware of her condition. Yogi is always aware of the presence of God everywhere, no matter what she/he is doing. I agree with our member ‘sukhi’ that Yoga means remaining connected with God while living in this world.

Our member ‘person’ is speaking from personal experience that repeatedly singing the shabad makes one realise the real meaning. ‘Person Jee’ you have understood why Guru Sahib insisted on Simran. I agree with ‘person’ that adoption of religious life i.e. ‘Sikhi’ should not be just for appearance, it should percolated deep into our heart and soul and should reflect at all of our interfaces with the world – thought, action and speech – that will be real Yoga.

With Love and Respect for all.

Amarpal