Yogic philosophy

Yogic philosophy

The secret of happiness is to understand the mysteries of divine will, the laws of creation and of karma. This means that the whole philosophy of life has to be changed. Right from the very beginning we have been taught to love pleasure and to hate pain. In yogic philosophy it is said that all experiences which are born of the senses and sense objects end in pain. The wise men do not accept them as reality because they have a beginning and an end, and are therefore not permanent. When the experience comes to an end, it is finished, whether pleasant or painful.

It is not easy to restructure the whole way of thinking, the total philosophy of life. This is what we are trying to achieve with the sannyasins, but it is not always successful. Many times you will stumble and fall, but this does not matter as long as you are able to pick yourself up again and continue walking.

A simple way of life with minimum requirements, and a simple way of thinking- this is the yogic philosophy. The rest of the time you should try to develop the awareness of your consciousness. Then the light will come.

In the eleventh chapter of the Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna: "Lord, please show me your cosmic form, so that I may see and know you as God." To this request, Krishna replies: "It is not easy to see the divine form with these eyes, with this mind and awareness, because they are limited." But Arjuna is persistent until finally Krishna relents and says: -'Alright, I will show you my cosmic form." But as soon as it appears, Arjuna has a mind exploding experience and he cries out in terror: "Please, Lord, remove this experience. I can't bear to see you in this form; it's too frightening. I want to see you in the human form which I knew before and which I can understand."

This story shows the necessity of preparation in spiritual life. There is no point in awakening the cosmic experience until you are ready to handle it. Therefore, first of all comes the guru. Next is the transformation of the whole structure of consciousness. Then, you arrive at the stage where you begin to realize the great cosmic nature, the law of the divine. After this, life becomes smooth sailing. There is no more pain or pleasure. Inner life is totally changed but outer life remains the same.

Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati