Vedic culture is a very scientific and precise science; of entire creation and of the being as a microcosm of the macrocosm—the physical manisfestation of creation. It clearly lays down the path and how to traverse it. It provides the tools and techniques for learning the secrets of creation so that the final merger happens with full consciousness in a healthy body at will.
The reason why there are so many seekers and very few who achieve success is that the latter have three things in common: a Guru with the traits of the five yamas of ashtang yog; prioritising the subject and its regular practice with service and charity. These apply to the framework of brahmcharya, grihasta, vaanprasth and sanyaas. Each naturally segues into the next, under the guidance of a guru.
People mistake vaanprastha as a renunciation of the world. A yogi goes through the world like a ship on the ocean; it is on the water and crosses the water, but being not inside it does not sink. Vanaprastha means, to begin the process of limiting interactions with mundane life, and people whose priority is not yog. Here, the guru continues to teach and interact with sadhaks. How long you have known the guru is of no consequence, it is your desire and other prerequisites that are important. Having collected the force within for the onward journey of brahmcharya, the worldly experiences of a grihasta, a being takes a step back from the physical world as he enters vaanprastha. For a rocket to break the pull out of gravity, it has to jettison all excess weight. Leaving does not imply running away, but abandoning all thought of the physical. This is illustrated in the following story. A sadhu left his family and home for the Himalayas. He followed the niyam of offering milk to the shivling daily. Seeing his nishta, villagers would bring him the milk. Some days they would forget; hence the rishi decided to keep a cow. When he went to village to get one, the villagers offered him a woman to take care of the cow. Years passed. The villagers asked the sadhu to marry the woman since no one else would take her. And so, the sadhu got another family. Whatever he had left behind came back to him because of his one thought of milk. Silence the modifications of the mind to access what lies beyond the five senses. Vaanprastha is a preparatory stage, which further leads to sanyas.
After a stage a yogi needs to limit interactions with normal people. In a story in the Mandukya Upanishad, a group of sadhus suddenly realised that their bodies had started ageing. (A Yogi’s body does not age. He/she leaves the body in full consciousness and strength, being aware of where he/she is going.) They realised it happened after they had left their Himalayan abode for the plains, resulting in increased interactions with people. After the intermingling of thoughts and energy patterns occur, the sadhus’ bodies were exhibiting the patterns of any ordinary person; eat, drink and make merry. Vedic masters say, and modern science agrees that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. By experiencing the pleasures of the five senses the body begins to age as an equal and opposite reaction. By abjuring such pleasures, the energy needed for the final journey beyond the senses and taking deserving shishyas along is gained. During vanprastha, limit interactions or the else body will age rapidly.
A guru is someone who does not charge a fee because one trapped in maya cannot give release. A guru exudes the glow and attraction associated with yog, diseases disappear in the exalted presence, and whatever he/she says happens, and is sthir in the five yams. Look for a guru, give the subject priority and you will be called on board on this beautiful journey called yog.
Yogi Ashwini is the spiritual head of Dhyan Ashram.
dhyan@dhyanfoundation.com
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