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1. The Path and the Branches of The yogic art is long, tortuous and arduous. The reality of the self lies buried under the debris of the mind, consisting of mal, avaran and vikshep, viz., filth or impurities, ignorance of the true values of life, and constant vacillations or modulations in the chit. The mental stratum has therefore to be cleared of all these and then to be pierced through and penetrated to find the divine nature of the self or atman. To achieve this, one has to conquer desires, to develop steadiness of thought, to cultivate virtues like continence, abstinence, temperance, righteousness, etc., and to develop vairagya, or detachment. To overcome the hindrances and to
realize the self, Patanjali gives an elaborate account of what he terms Ashtang
Yoga, prescribing an eight-fold method consisting of: (1) Yama, (2) Niyama, (3)
Asana, (4) Pranayam, (5) Pratyahara, (6) Dharna, (7)
Dhyan and (8) Samadhi. |