The Essence of Yoga

Everyone is talking about yoga these days. As we celebrate yoga day with much fanfare a question crops up. How many actually understand the objective of yoga as given in the original Yoga Sutra. While we all practice yoga these days for physical fitness, seldom do we realize that the purpose of yoga goes much beyond that. Examination of the internal psychological states and processes which is called chittavritti, is one of the central ideas in the Indian philosophical literature. And this inquiry is not just a scientific investigation into the general nature of human emotions and behaviour as they are, or as they can be observed. In the Indian thought emphasis is also given to understand and analyze natural inclinations, desires, etc., called the vasnas so that they can be consciously controlled. The purpose of this is to refine and raise the human personality by overcoming these desires and rising to a higher level of consciousness. Yoga is a way to achieve this. It is the process of purifying the self which is called Chitta Suddhi. This purification of self serves a yet higher purpose. That is, to prepare the person to  achieve higher spiritual realization. Yoga can help reach the highest state of harmony, integration and bliss.It is for this reason that the Indian view of psychological values is called psycho-spiritual values. Spirituality has always remained the core of Indian value system. The Indian approach to psychology is comprehensively discussed in Patanjali’s Yog Sutra. It says that the mind or Chitta is made up of three entities namely the Manas, the Buddhi and Ahankar. Manas is the receptor that catches sensations and impressions from the outside world through the sense organs. These sensations are converted into understandable patterns. Buddhi is the discriminative faculty which classifies these impressions and gives meaning and values to these perceptions and then responds to them in accordance with the past experience that  is stored in our mind. Ahankara is the ego that assimilates this knowledge and uses it through personal interpretation. It also relates this knowledge with personal wellbeing. It is this ego that often gives the belief that it is the real self. But this is an illusion. The real self is the soul or the atma. All our sorrows and pleasures and pains are results of ego. The prime objective of yoga philosophy and practice is to  realize the true self by gaining spiritual enlightenment and controlling the chitta vritti, the mental thought waves. Therefore, Patanjali proclaims that yoga is the control of thought waves in mind. Yoga has a much higher purpose than what is commonly believed. It certainly tones the body, but more than that it trains the mind and awakens the soul. It’s important to understand that yoga goes much beyond the asanas  and postures. It is a complete exercise of the mind, the body and the soul. It’s the way to union or yoga with the ultimate reality. Yoga means to connect. This is what the Lord Krishna has explained in the Bhagavad Gita.

The Essence of Ethics

Defining ethics has never been easy. Understanding it has been even more difficult. And  practicing  it is a job few will be able to carry out. Yet, it is a subject that is in great demand. The term, that originated from Philosophy, has today become a part of several disciplines and is an important area of study in Management theory and practice. This is the reason why the word Ethics has acquired several connotations. But when it comes to the essence, Ethics still remains the science of right and wrong. Being essentially a practice, right and wrong often does not have a clear-cut boundary. It usually depends on the actor or the observer. How he interprets an act or a conduct. The same act may be interpreted variously by different people. Many a times, even the same act may be construed differently by the same individual under different conditions. Theoretical ethics, then, is not always a complete guide to ethical conduct. Time and space, society and culture, religion and country have their own ways to make sense of what is ethical and what is not. It is only obvious, because there is a wide range of determinants that goes into qualifying an act or behaviour as ethical or unethical.

Over the ages, the Indian philosophical approach to ethics  from Satyug through Treta and Dwapar to Kalyug, i.e., the present times, has metamorphosed considerably, inviting critical opinion and conflicting views. And rightly so, because human beings have their own touchstone in the form of ego that drives logic which often clouds the concept of ethics. The Western approach is equally fluid and there are many views and approaches towards understanding the concept and practice of ethics. However, amid all this the important point to note is that despite the welter of approaches and stances one can still make out whether an act or conduct is ethical or not, the three critical qualifying attributes being intent, outcome and situation in the same order of priority. intent certainly being the most crucial one .

The universal element of what is ethical and what is not, thus, depends to the maximum extent on intent. Another important dimension of ethics is that it is a practice one can learn by acquiring maturity of mind and sensitivity of heart. The common understanding of an ethical behaviour is that it is something which is beyond the ambit of the ordinary or the mundane and is laced in spirituality, religion and renunciation. But the truth is that ethics can be practiced in day-to-day life and without much hassle, the golden rule being the belief that it pays to be good. Yes, goodness has to be defined objectively.

Ethics is something that needs to be understood, practiced and carried out on a regular basis. It is the Dharma, one’s duty in a given situation, the right action or conduct. It is not about religiosity, but about religiously doing the right things with purity of intent. While actions on their own may appear right or wrong to an external observer, it is what goes in the mind that will determine the ethicality. The outcome of the act is not the soul determinant. In one word it is the conscientiousness that is the final arbiter. This is the reason why actions of even Gods can be interpreted differently. Lord Ram’s killing of Bali, or Lord Krishna’s actions in Mahabharata war can all be open to interpretation. Ethics is not something that can be seen in black and white. There are shades of grey that also matter. To under ethics, one needs to develop the ability to see the big picture with all the different shades.