Six Friends

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

All interactions in life are guided by one of the six friends and not by human wisdom. Therefore, negativity rises and develops in the personality. Why do you become more and more tamasic? It is because you fall prey to the influence of the six conditions of mind. The purpose of yoga is to manage the six conditions of the mind, not just the conditions of the body. People use yoga for health and well being which is physical, and for peace and relaxation which is psychological. Fair enough. However, don’t limit yoga to that only. Use it to fulfil your needs, but remember that the aspiration of yoga is to manage the six conditions of the mind, for it is these conditions that lead you into the well of suffering, insecurity, ignorance and negativity.

No matter how good your health is, no matter how much money you have, if you fall prey to these conditions, there is never happiness, contentment or satisfaction. Therefore, application of the vidya, the understanding, to improve the lifestyle and bring a qualitative change in the perceptions is necessary. That is the effort of the second chapter.