Yoga: Serve, Love, Meditate, Realize - The Inner Teachings of Yoga

By Radha Fagan

The word "yoga" often brings to mind a classroom of students attired in exercise clothing attempting to stretch their bodies into different postures. A more traditional yoga class will even include instruction in breathing techniques, concentration, meditation, and positive thinking. In the media today, yoga is often associated with health benefits such as stress reduction, lower blood pressure, and an overall decrease in illness and hospitalization rates. This is the Western idea of yoga. If we look to the Eastern approach, where yoga is a part of the great Hindu and Buddhist traditions, we find that yoga is all of these things but much, much more as well.

The word "yoga" translates as union -- union between the individual and God or the individual and their own Higher Self. Yoga has many forms, in fact, advanced practitioners of yoga will tell that any action can be done as a yoga as long as it is preceded by a conscious spiritual attitude. Studying sacred texts, singing devotional songs, meditating, or pondering the nature of your soul can all be classified as yoga. Yoga postures or asanas, which are the most famous form of yoga in the West, are part of Raja Yoga, the yoga of the mind and body. The ultimate goal of Raja Yoga is discipline of the mind and body so a continuous meditative state of God/Deity consciousness can be achieved.

While yoga developed in the Hindu tradition, it is not a religion itself nor is it specific to Eastern religions only. Yoga is a collection of techniques and methods that can be universally applied to all world religions. Chances are that you have even performed yoga techniques without knowing it. If you have ever sung devotional hymns, you have experienced Bhakti, or the yoga of devotion. If you have ever read a sacred book such as the Bible, the Koran, or Torah, and pondered the inner meaning of the text, you have experienced Jnana or yoga of knowledge. The Catholic practice of chanting a rosary or the Muslim technique of dzikr is identical to the yoga practice of mantra chanting. In fact, most of the great world's religions have practices that are very similar to yoga.

The facet of the yoga tradition that is missing from most religions today is a developed and codified system of mind/body/spirit development. This can be found in Raja yoga teachings and has become very popular among Westerners of all backgrounds. Hatha yoga is a branch of Raja yoga that deals specifically with the body and breath control. Practitioners of Raja yoga see the body as a temple to God. Keeping the body healthy and properly maintained allows them to perform their duties in life, take care of their families without the distractions of poor health, and perform extended meditation. Raja yoga can also be a powerful awakening tool for reaching higher states of consciousness, increased mental and physical energy, and psychic functions.

Learning about the spiritual teachings of yoga is often complicated by a language barrier between Sanskrit speaking instructors and a Sanskrit challenged audience. One of my teachers, Swami Sivananda, very eloquently translated the inner teachings of yoga into four words: serve, love, meditate, and realize.

The main paths of yoga are Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Raja yoga, and Jnana yoga. I'll explain each of these paths now and give common examples of the practice. Karma means action, so the path of Karma yoga involves selfless service such as giving to others without expecting something in return. Karma yogis donate items to the needy, perform charitable actions, and serve others while maintaining a spiritual attitude. Karma yoga is best suited to those with an active temperament. One of the best examples of a Karma yogi is the late Catholic nun, Mother Theresa. The key word for explaining Karma yoga is serve. A Karma yogi sees the divine nature and presence of God in everyone, so he or she serves God by serving others. Serve = Karma yoga.

Bhakti yoga is suited to people of a devotional and emotional temperament. Bhakti is often translated as love. People who like to sing and dance as part of their worship and praise of God are natural Bhakti yogis. Bhakti yogis attempt to cultivate love for God, all of nature, and all other human beings as a reflection of God themselves. Love = Bhakti yoga.

Raja yoga is often called the science of mental and physical control. The ultimate goal is meditation upon God or the Higher Self. Those of mystic temperament are often attracted to this path that ends when union with God/higher self is fully achieved through meditation. Meditate = Raja yoga.

The last major path is Jnana yoga, often called the yoga of knowledge. This path is best suited to people with a rational and philosophical nature. Jnana yogis analyze theological questions and concerns and attempt to "realize" (understand) the truth. The term "realized" can also refer to achieving one's highest level of spiritual evolution regardless of the path taken to get there, but in this context it refers to understanding eternal truths. This is often said to be the most difficult branch of yoga. Realize = Jnana yoga.

The most important teachings of the yoga system are the branches of Karma, Bhakti, Raja, and Jnana yoga. These profound and timeless practices can be rendered into English language as serve, love, meditate, and realize. While these words are ultimately the essence of yoga, they also provide a wholistic system of development that allows an individual to mature and evolve by developing the heart, mind, and body which will lead the individual to perfection and union with the Divine.

As human beings we are a mixture of thought, feeling, and will. While one or more elements may predominate in a person, everyone has thoughts, feelings and will. Many great Yogic teachers emphasize one or more paths as more important or even superior to the others, but the greatest of sages taught that there is no true separation of these paths. While many people may progress more effectively by concentrating on a given path than on others, the final goal of realization brings them into union with all four paths in the end, because they are each equal parts of the one eternal truth. It is possible to study these paths simultaneously or separately, but each tends to strengthen the others when taken together.

The path of combining these four great yoga spiritual practices of serve, love, meditate and realize is often called Yoga of Synthesis or Integral Yoga. Even in this approach, individuals often focus somewhat more on one path that is most important to their progress at that moment, while continuing to study and grow in the other three as well.

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