How the Ancient Science of Union Leads to Self-Realization
Introduction: Beyond Postures and Fitness
Today, the word Yoga conjures images of mats,
poses, and wellness studios. But in the timeless landscape of Sanatana Dharma,
Yoga is far more profound, it is a path of awakening, the science of
transforming the ordinary mind into divine consciousness.
Long before it became a global fitness
movement, Yoga was a spiritual discipline, a way to experience oneness with all
existence. Its purpose was not flexibility of the body but liberation of the
soul (moksha).
The sages saw human suffering as rooted in
ignorance forgetting our true nature as infinite consciousness. Yoga was their
method to remember to realign body, breath, mind, and spirit into a single
luminous flow.
Yoga in the Vedic and Upanishadic Context
The seeds of Yoga lie in the Vedas and
Upanishads, where early seers sought to bridge the visible and invisible realms
through disciplined awareness.
The Katha Upanishad describes the process
beautifully:
“When the five senses and the mind are still,
and the intellect is at rest, that is the highest state.”
This is Yoga in its original sense stilling the
turbulence of perception so that truth may be seen directly.
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad goes further,
giving the earliest known description of meditative posture and breath control.
It recommends:
“Let the body be upright, the chest and neck
aligned. The mind and senses must rest in the heart. Then the wise see the self
within.”
Thus, even before Patanjali systematized it,
Yoga existed as the experiential heart of Vedic spirituality, a practice to
move from ritual to realization.
Patanjali’s System: The Science of Stillness
In the Yoga Sutras (2nd century BCE), Sage
Patanjali gave structure to this vast discipline. His definition is deceptively
simple:
“Yogas chittavrittinirodhah”
“Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of
the mind.”
When thought ceases, awareness shines in its
natural brilliance. That is Kaivalya, the state of pure being.
Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga (Eightfold Path) is a
step by step guide for this transformation:
· Yama - moral restraints (nonviolence, truth,
moderation)
· Niyama - personal observances (purity,
contentment, surrender)
· Asana - steady posture
· Pranayama - control of breath and life force
· Pratyahara - withdrawal of senses
· Dharana - concentration
· Dhyana - meditation
· Samadhi - absorption or union
Each limb refines a layer of the human being from
physical to psychological to spiritual until the seeker merges with the Self.
Yoga as Union: The Meaning of Oneness
The word Yoga itself means “union” of the
individual with the universal, the finite with the infinite.
This union is not symbolic, it is experiential
realization. In the moment of true meditation, the boundaries of self-dissolve.
The mind that once said “I am separate” becomes silent, and only consciousness
remains.
This is why the Bhagavad Gita calls Yoga “skill
in action.” It’s not escapism but awareness within action, where the doer
disappears and only the divine acts through you.
Krishna tells Arjuna:
“He who sees inaction in action, and action in
inaction, is wise among men.”
Such vision arises only from deep Yoga where
perception itself transforms.
The Three Paths: Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana
Sanatana Dharma offers multiple forms of Yoga
to suit different temperaments:
Karma Yoga - The Yoga of Action
Acting without attachment to results. It
purifies the ego through service. Every deed becomes sacred when done as an
offering.
Krishna says:
“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever
you offer or give do that as an offering to Me.”
Through selfless work, the seeker dissolves “I”
and “mine,” moving closer to oneness.
Bhakti Yoga - The Yoga of Devotion
The path of the heart. Love becomes meditation;
surrender becomes liberation.
When devotion ripens, there is no separation
between devotee and Divine the lover and the beloved are one.
The saints of Kashmir and India Lal Ded,
Meerabai, Tukaram embodied this truth. Their tears of longing became rivers of
awakening.
Jnana Yoga - The Yoga of Knowledge
The path of inquiry. It asks the eternal
question: Who am I?
Through discrimination (viveka), the seeker
discards all that is transient until only the Self remains. This is the path of
sages like Yajnavalkya and Shankaracharya, who realized that “Brahman alone is
real, the world is a reflection.”
Raja Yoga and the Discipline of Mind
Raja Yoga is often called the “Royal Path”
because it deals directly with the mind, the monarch of human experience.
It recognizes that the world we perceive is
shaped by thought patterns (vrittis). By mastering the mind, one masters reality
itself.
Meditation (dhyana) in Raja Yoga is not an
escape but a return to the center. The practitioner watches the play of
thoughts until the watcher and the watched merge.
In this merging, the false identity falls away,
revealing the eternal witness pure consciousness (Purusha).
Kundalini Yoga: The Serpent Power Within
While Patanjali’s Yoga focuses on stillness,
Tantra and Kashmiri Shaivism emphasize energy.
They see spiritual growth as awakening the
dormant energy at the base of the spine Kundalini Shakti, which rises through
the chakras to unite with Shiva, pure consciousness, in the crown.
This ascent symbolizes the evolution of
awareness from instinct to intellect to intuition to infinity.
Every chakra opened is a veil lifted; every
breath becomes a mantra.
When Shakti meets Shiva, the seeker experiences
Samavesha, total immersion in divine consciousness. This is not metaphor but
mystical realization.
Yoga as Integration, Not Escape
Contrary to popular belief, Yoga never asked
one to abandon the world.
It asked us to see the world rightly as an
expression of the same consciousness we seek.
In the Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna not to
renounce the battlefield but to fight without ego. In the Shaiva view, every
act eating, walking, speaking can be Yoga if done with awareness.
This transforms daily life into meditation.
Cooking becomes offering. Speech becomes
mantra. Work becomes worship.
Yoga thus bridges spirituality and practicality
it doesn’t divide them.
Transformation of Consciousness: The Real
Purpose
Yoga’s goal is not mystical experience but
permanent transformation.
A true yogi doesn’t escape emotions; he sees
through them.
He doesn’t reject the body; he honors it as the
temple of the Divine.
Through sustained practice (abhyasa) and detachment
(vairagya), the mind becomes transparent. In that transparency, one perceives
reality as it is boundless, luminous, silent.
This is Self-realization, the moment when the
seeker discovers that what he sought was never apart from him.
The Kashmiri Shaiva Perspective: Yoga as
Spontaneous Awareness
Kashmiri Shaivism adds a unique dimension. It
sees Yoga not as effort but recognition (Pratyabhijna), the spontaneous
realization that one is already divine.
Abhinavagupta wrote:
“There is no bondage, except not knowing
oneself.”
Here, spiritual growth is not climbing a ladder
but awakening to what has always been. Meditation, mantra, and devotion are
tools to clear the fog of ignorance, not to create enlightenment.
When the mind falls silent even for a moment,
awareness reveals itself as infinite, blissful, and self-luminous. That instant
is Yoga.
The Ethical Foundation: Yamas and Niyamas
Without ethics, Yoga degenerates into
technique.
The Yamas (nonviolence, truth, non-stealing,
moderation, non-possessiveness) and Niyamas (purity, contentment, discipline,
self-study, surrender) are the moral soil of spiritual growth.
They cleanse the heart of selfishness and
prepare the mind for meditation.
A dishonest or violent person cannot experience
stillness, for guilt and agitation cloud consciousness.
Thus, Yoga begins not with posture, but with
character.
Breath: The Bridge Between Body and Spirit
Breath (Prana) is the invisible link between
the physical and subtle worlds.
Through Pranayama, the yogi learns to regulate
energy, quieting the mind and awakening latent awareness.
When the breath flows rhythmically, thoughts
settle; when thoughts settle, awareness expands.
This is why ancient texts called breath “the
horse that carries consciousness.”
Each inhalation is life entering; each
exhalation, surrender.
Between them lies the sacred pause where the
soul touches infinity.
Yoga and Modern Spirituality: Bridging Science
and Soul
Modern psychology now affirms what the sages
knew:
Meditation enhances emotional balance,
increases neuroplasticity, and fosters compassion.
But while science measures effects, Yoga
explores causes—it reveals the nature of consciousness itself.
The ultimate aim is not relaxation, but
realization.
When practiced deeply, Yoga dissolves the
illusion of separation. The individual ceases to exist as “me” and lives as
part of the cosmic whole.
This state Samadhi is the flowering of human
evolution.
Yoga as a Way of Life
Yoga was never meant to be confined to morning
routines or retreats.
It was meant to pervade every moment in how we
speak, think, work, and relate.
To walk mindfully, to speak truthfully, to act
compassionately these are higher forms of asana and pranayama.
When awareness saturates ordinary life, every
action becomes divine expression.
That is living Yoga when the sacred and the
mundane are one continuous movement of consciousness.
Conclusion: From Practice to Presence
The journey of Yoga is the journey from effort
to ease, from doing to being.
It begins with discipline but culminates in
natural awareness, the effortless state where one simply is.
In that stillness, one realizes that the Divine
was never elsewhere.
The self we sought through postures and prayer
was watching all along.
Yoga is thus both the path and the destination
- A bridge from the mind to the Self, from separation to union, from becoming
to being.
“When the mind is silent, the heart becomes a
mirror. In that mirror shines the face of the Eternal.”
