(1) Raja Yoga is a spiritual science and art that explains more esoteric topics such as ćakras, the role of the Guru, Vedic astrology, nadis or energy channels in the subtle body of man, aura and halo, awakening and development of charismatic supernatural abilities, development of willpower and methods leading to spiritual awakening and enlightenment of man. Ćakras are, to a large extent, structures similar to lotus flowers, with a luminous circle in the middle that seems to spin and pulsate with a bright glow. Ćakra petals are auras from the conduits that bring various types of pranic energy directly from a higher spiritual plane, called nadi in yoga – rivers or streams. The stars and planets, to which Hermetic astrology devotes attention, are external symbols of the constantly changing system of human internal energy in harmony with the cosmos. The practice of yoga is generally the introduction into cosmic order and harmony, into a state of harmony of what is inside with what is outside and what is below with what is above. It is similar to the ideal of Guru or Śri Guru, whose external presence must become consciousness and energy working intensively inside the person who truly and honestly desires to practice authentic yoga.
(2) The spiritual influence of the Guru – the master spiritual guide – is internal, not external, as the phenomenon is wrongly reported in the West. Every highly advanced spiritual teacher influences his students from within, although he seems to be a flesh-and-blood being outside human beings. The energy of the Guru influences the higher ćakras and the higher spiritual functions of the ćakras from within man. Just as a strong magnet can magnetise a weak magnet, so the Guru magnetically, on principles similar to the phenomenon of the magnet, raises and strengthens, raising the energy and vibrations of those students who are open to the Guru, who are receptive. Yoga means “Oneness”, and one of the first aspects of spiritual unity is the unity of the student with the Guru, unity in thought, speech, feelings, intentions and actions. It is always the case that the student unites with the Guru, never the other way around, and those who would like the Guru to unite with their ideas and actions are blind people who do not understand that only a larger and stronger magnet can strengthen a smaller and weaker magnet. Raja Yoga, the Royal Art of the Ancient Masters of Wisdom, always rests on three pillars: Ćakras, Guru and Jyotisha (Vedic astrology and numerology).
(3) Through Royal Yoga, we slowly and gradually learn as practitioners, sadhakas or abhyasis, to look beyond our bodies and personalities to the divine consciousness that created everything: Brahman, the Supreme Spirit, the Supreme God, the Absolute. Through diligent and sincere practice, Raja Yoga helps a person to achieve unity within at deeper and deeper levels, introducing harmony, accord to the body, to the mind and the Soul, the Divine Self (Atman), and then expanding the sense of Soul or Self so that it encompasses the whole of life and all creatures that appear nearby. A person’s life on Earth in a human body has only one essential goal: to strive for Union with God, the Absolute, and Brahman. Inner harmony and integration and deep perception of the universal kinship of all creatures is not the end of the spiritual journey of man and yogis. Unity with Brahman is the goal of every Soul living on planet Earth. According to the teachings and spiritual advice of Royal Yoga, the environment is often stronger than the willpower of an individual sadhaka student practising Yoga, so anyone who begins practising must be very careful about the energy environment, the environment that influences them from the outside, so as not to be distracted from the practice or the goal of the spiritual journey. An environment of good people positively affects the practice and good contact with the Guru. Anything that weakens a person in the practice of Yoga, anything that weakens the bond with the Guru and the community of students, belongs to the domain of bad influence and is clearly bad company.
(4) Raja Yoga is generally the oldest line of Yoga teachings, originating from ancient Vedic times, a system tested over thousands of years and very useful for the spiritual development of man; although originally intended for the royal families of ancient India, Bharata. The old, original name of Raja Yoga is Uro Yoga, or the Yoga of Light, the Yoga of the Inner Light that appears in the Third Eye, in the Ajña lotus, at the point of the head at the height between the eyebrows during fervent prayers and sincere contemplation of God, the Absolute, Brahman. The Ur Light resembles the brilliance of the brightest stars or planets in the sky and is often associated with earlier practices of focusing attention by gazing at the brightest objects shining in the sky. Classical Vedic treatises known as Upanishads often use the term Yoga to describe what is hidden under the name of Royal Yoga or the Yoga of the Sage Kings. Raja Yoga is a proven system of meditation and spiritual practices leading to the realisation of a person’s spiritual destiny in this earthly world. The practice of Raja Yoga awakens in its practitioners the awareness of the deepest reality: Oneness with the Infinite, Ananta, Brahman or the Absolute. The key word in yoga is Practice or Sadhana, the cultivation of the state of Sadhu – Holiness because Sadhana means everything that leads to the state of Sanctification, to the state of Goodness. In a word, the goal is Brahman.
(5) The initial stages of practising Raja Yoga contain a detailed introduction to its subsidiary stages, sometimes considered as subsidiary types of yoga: Karma-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga and Jñana-Yoga, in exactly this classical order. The proper path of Raja Yoga practice begins with the fourth stage of the journey, where the synthesis of these three initial yogic practices takes place, including awareness of their interdependence and mutual connections that help accelerate progress on the spiritual path of development. All practices, such as a proper yogic diet and fasts, practising the proper physical and moral posture, affirmations and intercessory prayers, breathing exercises, spiritual healing techniques, yogic running and climbing, and sitting in energetic places in nature – all these are the foundations for preparing or conditioning the body and mind for true meditation, which is yogic Dhyana. In its essence, Raja Yoga places the greatest emphasis on working with the inner sphere and spirituality of the human being, which finds its deepest expression in the practices of proper meditation, or Dhyana. Meditations taught to initiates in traditional Raja Yoga give direct access to the inner world of the Divine Soul (Jivatman) and Spirit (Atman, Purusha), and finally give the Soul access to true God (Brahman, Absolute), including the full union of Atman with Brahman.
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(9) Yoga, Royal Yoga is the crown of spirituality and mysticism of the ancient Vedic era and dates back to when all humanity was at a higher level of enlightenment and could more easily understand the subtle, sublime truths flowing from the depths of the Spirit. Truth is eternal, and man cannot create it but can reach for it by deepening his understanding and expanding his consciousness. Absolute Truth lies within the range of perception of those among people who can perceive deeply and broadly enough because only when man experiences the Absolute, the Brahman, can the ultimate truth be seen. From these heights of the Absolute came to humanity the traditions of the great revealed religions, but people deprived of the perception and experience of the Absolute flattened the lofty spiritual and mystical teachings, adapting them to their current level of understanding. It is not the fault of the lofty esoteric teachings that they become distorted if they fall into the hands of human children who try to use them as toys for their low egotisms and animal selves. People who are materialistic and atheistic, because they see the world through the filters of their low ideas and primitive emotions, distort everything lofty, including the spiritual religions of God, spirituality, mysticism and esotericism. The personal prejudices of the low egotisms and animal selves of man-animals cannot comprehend the true ideals behind the great spiritual and religious traditions brought by avatars or messengers of God from Heaven, although in the East, especially in India, for thousands of years, these messengers have been called Heavenly Masters and avatars, or “Those Who Have Descended from Heaven”. The Taoist tradition also speaks of spiritual masters who have come from Heaven as messengers of God.
(10) The highest, most enlightened teachers and spiritual guides who descended from the heights of heaven to humanity always try to bring man back to the fundamental, eternal truths and to the eternal philosophy of reconciliation and unification with the Absolute, the fusion or merger of human consciousness with the consciousness of Brahman, God the Absolute. Gautama Buddha, according to Buddhist mysticism, descended from the sixth heavens called tushita and to them, after his mahasamadhi, he consciously returned as a liberated Yogi. Great teachers and spiritual guides of humanity always maintain old traditions and remind us of eternal teachings, eternal wisdom, and eternal truth. Avatars and avadhutas, messengers from heaven, awakened and enlightened masters and guides come to remind human souls of the spiritual heritage people have lost or forfeited during their incarnations in the material world. Traditional Yoga always goes back to the oldest known masters of wisdom, to Śiva, Parvati and the first yogic disciples who were the first Rishis, known as Saptarishis – the first seven Rishis. Yoga is the science of the health of the Soul, mind and body, the science of the sublime perennial philosophy serving human beings as a spiritual path back to the Source from which the entire Creation emerged, Brahmanda, the Universe, to the Source, which is Brahman, the Absolute, the Supreme God, the All-Spirit. There is no Yoga without Brahman; there is no knowledge of Brahman without the practice of Yoga in its full, authentic form, along with all pranic, psychotherapeutic practices, purification of the mind and senses and control over the psycho-spiritual inner powers.
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(15) Karma Yoga, as the first level of practising the eternal Royal Yoga of Light, means proper actions, good work, good activity, especially finding a job, a good occupation that provides decent income and satisfaction from what we do. Karma Yoga is often understood as a path of unification with work and active action, including that which is needed to provide oneself with appropriate living conditions in this world. The principle is that one must work to live; without work, there is neither food nor shelter; without work, there are no fruits. Therefore, you must either devote yourself to the job that you already have and do it with full commitment and passion, like your job, or look for a job that will be fully satisfying, both inspiring and profitable. In addition, the work performed, with few exceptions, such as the dharma of a policeman or a soldier, should not be an occupation related to harming other people or creatures living in nature, which is related to the cultivation of basic spiritual and moral precepts, such as Ahinsa, or the principle of not harming and not killing living creatures. The concept of “Karman” is directly related to the quality of the effects produced, which can be dark (bad, dark, black), dark-light (mixed, grey) as well as light (good), and the dark effects, i.e. dark Krishna-karman, should be avoided the most. Karma Yoga in the practice of Raja Yoga means a lesson in harmonising the entire life-existence aspect of human existence in incarnation on planet Earth so that a human being is fully independent, can decently earn his living without parasitism or harming other sentient beings (especially people, mammals and birds), without causing destructive damage to living Nature. Work must be in accordance with the ethics of Yoga expressed in elementary moral precepts: do not kill or harm creatures, do not lie (do not cheat), do not steal (do not extort), live honestly and morally, without licentiousness, in a godly way. Yogis, therefore, work for themselves; they live from their honest work for profit, which Yoga often expresses in the words that the Royal Yogi stands on his own feet and has his feet firmly on Earth and his head in the heavens. Royal Yoga is a life of work of one’s own hands, work that one likes or even loves, work that gives inspiration and good income from which the practitioner can be sincerely satisfied. Whoever does not meet this basic condition of practice, who does not practice Karma Yoga – cannot be admitted to further practices on the Path of Royal Yoga of Light and is unsuitable for Raja Yoga.
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(18) According to the yogic Upanishads, the AUM mantra should be cultivated in every Asana, in which the centre of gravity clearly falls to the bottom of the hips, especially in lotus positions. AUM is the mula-mantra of the lotus base of the trunk, i.e. muladhara, and must be practised intensively for a long time in all clearly sitting asanas. With the AUM mantra cultivated in Asanas, concentrated at the bottom of the torso in the lowest of the torso ćakras, one should meticulously cleanse oneself of all tendencies to anger, rage and sadness until the practitioner is completely pure and free from these states of bad emotions leading to the whole misery of human life. There is no possibility of liberation, of achieving the state of Mukti (Freedom) without freeing oneself from waves of anger, rage, nervousness, sadness, depression or worry. The basics of the practice also mention the cultivation of the Five Fires in the middle of individual ćakras, and all Fires in the context of practices with Kundalini, and also as a type of internal Vedic fire rituals with Agni. According to the yogic Upanishads, the body is the Temple of Brahman, as well as the temple of many Vedic deities mentioned in the context of Yoga, such as Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Iśvara Śiva or the Goddess Kundalini Śakti. The Upanishads also devote much attention to the nodes or energy reservoirs, the lower Brahma Granthi, the middle Vishnu Granthi and the upper Rudra Granthi, which must not be confused with the ćakras. The Yogic Upanishads also prescribe a very pious reverence for the living Guru, for the Yoga Master, clearly defining that the Spiritual Guide is the living Master Teacher of Yoga, who should be revered in the same way as Brahman, or God, the Absolute, and the heavenly deities such as Śiva or Vishnu are revered. The practice of many Vedic mantras, such as the Gayatri Mantra, is also often mentioned in the context of the basic practices of Yoga.
(19) Classical Raja Yoga at its Kriya Yoga level of practice recommends the cultivation of Khećari Vidya – a practice leading to the arrest of ageing and limitation of mortality, a specific cultivation of long life, longevity, with immortality as a specific extreme. Khećari Vidya is based on the practice of yogic Khećari Mudra in the setting of certain supportive breathing practices and pranayama. Khećari literally means transference into the etheric sphere, transference into the pranic light body. Khećari Vidya is the state of consciousness of the immortal yogi known as Śiva Yogeśvara or Mahavatar Babaji. Khećari practices require the cultivation of seven syllabic seed mantras together with Khećari Mudra and accompanying practices, each for three years, which gives 21 years of Khećari practice with successive bija mantras in one cycle. The yogic stage of practice that begins with Kriya Yoga usually lasts a good 20 years, which is strongly emphasised by the yogic Upanishads, including the Kundalini Yoga Upanishad related to Raja Yoga. Of course, as befits a deep stage of yogic practice, it is indicated that at least twelve years of this practice are spent in deep spiritual isolation amidst ascetic and mystical practices in harmony with Nature and the Cosmos and ardent reverence for the Śri Guru. The seven bija mantras associated with Khećari Mudra give the so-called seven stages or seven levels of Kriya Yoga, sometimes called Khećari Yoga after the type of mudra and knowledge. The first of the series of seven khećari bijas is the Hrim (Hring) mantra. The ultimate goal of practice at the Khećari Vidyam stage is not only the ability to control old age and death or longevity but also to achieve visionary insight into the structure and construction of the entire Universe. When the Iśvara consciousness in the heart and soul is awakened by the practice of Yoga, the yogi within the heart is transformed into the image of the deity, into the form of the Perfect Deity, into the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because on Earth in this human body, he becomes the embodiment of God Himself, the oneness of Atman and Brahman.
Many Blessings on the Path of Awakening and Realization!
Om Namaśśivaya! Hum!
(C) Swami Paramahansa Aćaryaćarya Lalitamohan Babaji – Master L.M.G.K.
Edition I – Toruń 1984
SEVENTH MANDALA OF HRIDAYA SUTRAM (HR 97-112)
(This publication contains only fragments of the original esoteric-hermetic Hridaya lesson. The entire material of this lesson is available in a paperback or book edition, available at workshops and trainings of tantric Yoga for adepts and supporters of the Himavanti Confraternity Order and Kaśmiri Śaiva – Kashmiri Śaivism.)
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