RAJA YOGA By Swami Sivananda

 RAJA YOGA 
 The king of all Yogas

By Swami Sivananda

extract of his book ESSENCE OF YOGA 

Raja Yoga is an exact science. It aims at controlling all thought-waves or mental modifications. It concerns with the mind, its purification and control. Hence it is called Raja Yoga,  i.e., king of all Yogas. It is otherwise known as Ashtanga Yoga i.e., Yoga with eight limbs.

The eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga are:  

1. Yama (self-restraint),  
2. Niyama (religious observances), 
3. Asana (posture),  
4. Pranayama (restraint of breath),  
5. Pratyahara (abstraction of senses),   
6. Dharana (concentration), 
7. Dhyana (meditation) 
8. Samadhi (super-conscious state).

Yama

       Yama is practice of 

1. Ahimsa (non-injury),
2.  Satya (truthfulness), 
3. Asteya (non-stealing), 
4. Brahmacharya  (celibacy in thought, word and deed.) 
5. and Aparigraha (non-covetousness)

 This is the foundation of  Yoga.

Niyama

     Niyama is observance of the five canons viz.:

1. Saucha (internal and external purity), 
2. Santosha  (contentment), 
3. Tapas (austerity),
4. Svadhyaya (study of religious books and repetition of Mantras) 
5. and Ishvara-Pranidhana (worship of God and self-surrender).

Cultivate:

1. Maitri (friendship with equals), 
2. Karuna (mercy towards inferiors), 
3. Mudita (complaisancy towards superiors), 
4. Upeksha  (indifference towards wicked people). 

You can eradicate jealousy and hatred and attain peace of mind.

Ascend the ladder of Yoga patiently through its different rungs and attain the highest summit   of the ladder, i.e., Asamprajnata Samadhi, wherein all Samskaras (impressions) which bring about successive births are absolutely fried up.

If you really aspire to unfold the lurking divinity within, if you really want to get rid of the meshes of this Samsara, you must know the technique of thought-control which is embodied in the system of Raja Yoga.

You must know the ways of  

1. right living, 
2. right thinking, 
3. right speaking and
4. right acting.

You must practise the five rules of Yama or right conduct (Sadachara).

You must know how to withdraw the mind from external objects and fix it on one point.

You must know the right method of concentration and meditation.

 Then alone you can be really happy. Then and then alone, you will have power, independence and suzerainty. Then and then alone, you will attain
immortality, freedom and perfection.

A knowledge of the ways and habits of the mind, its operations, the laws of the mind and the methods of mind-control and mental discipline is very necessary if you want to enjoy real happiness and peace of an unruffled and abiding nature.

Practise Raja Yoga, control the thoughts, discipline the mind, meditate regularly and attain independence, immortality, freedom and perfection.

To know in details about Raja Yoga read the book 
The path of blessdness.pdf - Swami Chidananda

SELF-ANALYSIS - Swami Sivananda

SELF-ANALYSIS

By Swami Sivananda

The ever-restless mind becomes quiescent when all desires vanish. Desire raises Sankalpas (thoughts). Man performs actions for acquiring the desired objects. Thus he is caught up in the wheel of Samsara. The wheel stops when the Vasanas perish.

 Daily self-analysis or self-examination is an indispensable requisite. Then alone can you remove your defects and can grow rapidly in spirituality. A gardener watches the young plants very carefully. He removes the weeds daily. He puts a strong fence around them. He waters them at the proper time. Then alone they grow beautifully and yield fruits quickly.

Even so, you should find out your defects through daily introspection and self-analysis and then eradicate them through suitable methods. 

If one method fails, you must adopt a combined method. If prayer fails, you should take recourse to Satsanga or association with the wise, Pranayama, meditation, dietetic regulation, enquiry, etc.

You should destroy not only big waves of pride, hypocrisy, lust, anger, etc., that manifest on the surface of the conscious mind, but also their subtle impressions which lurk in the corners of the subconscious mind. Then only are you perfectly safe. These subtle impressions are very dangerous. They lurk like thieves and attack you when you are napping, when you are not vigilant, when your dispassion wanes, when you slacken a bit your daily spiritual practice, and when you are provoked.

If these defects do not manifest even under extreme provocation on several occasions, even when you are not practicing daily introspection and self-analysis, you can be rest assured that the subtle impressions also are obliterated. Now you are safe.

The practice of introspection and self-analysis demands patience, perseverance, leech-like tenacity, application, iron will, iron determination, subtle intellect, courage, etc.

But you will gain a fruit of incalculable value. The precious fruit is immortality, Supreme Peace and Infinite Bliss. You will have to pay a heavy price for this. Therefore you should not murmur when you do daily practice. You should apply your full mind, heart, intellect and soul to spiritual practice. Then only rapid success is possible.


Keep daily spiritual diary and practice self-analysis (self-examination) at night. Note down how many good actions you have done, what mistakes you have committed during the course of the day. In the morning resolve: “I will not yield to anger today. I will practice celibacy today. I will speak truth today.”

''Curb the mind ruthlessly. Annihilate desire.
When desire diesmind is your slave.
Become desireless and be victorious.''

extract of his book ESSENCE OF YOGA (free download)