Why is yoga related so much to health in your teachings? Here in the West yoga is associated with religion.
Yoga has never been a religion. Right from the beginning, it has been considered a science. In the last few years, the scientists have conducted some research which have positively proved that yoga is not a religion but an intrinsic part of health.
Religion is based on faith. Science is not based on faith; science is based on objective experimentation. The authentic texts on yoga written many thousands of years ago are in a style which is not religious. But, of course, from time to time, people who have practised yoga have tried to synthesize it with their own religious faith.
Yoga is a science which talks about the union and harmony between the two forces in the human body. There are two visible and objective forces in the human body called the vital or life force and the mental force. The vital force, called prana, is responsible for life and motion, and the mental force, chitta, is responsible for keen knowledge and awareness.
Usually it is seen that there is an imbalance between these two forces in the body. As a result of this imbalance, psychic and somatic diseases are born. If there is an excess of the pranic force, there are physical diseases and vice versa. Therefore, in the practice of yoga, the concept of union relates to the harmony between these two forces. In modern scientific terms, it is the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. If the sympathetic nervous system is predominant and the parasympathetic nervous system is subservient, or vice versa, then psychic or somatic diseases are created in the body.
This is the first definition of union given in yoga. There are other definitions of union as well. They say the union between the individual soul and the cosmic soul is also union. It is always better to hold the first definition for yoga which is more scientific and more objective and tangible.
The practice of yoga changes the very structure of man’s interior personality which cannot be done by other activities. Moreover, through the practices of yoga you can increase the inner vitality, the pranic force, which can maintain the quality of your life for years together.
What is pranic energy?
Pranic energy is the life force. It nourishes the whole body. It has more than 100,000 pathways through which the body maintains life for more than 80 years. This pranic force is also a magnetic force which protects the body from negative magnetic forces of the outside atmosphere, because there are many magnetic influences which come to the human being from the external spheres on this earth. As a result of that, many times the inner health and the inner processes are affected, including the brain. Therefore, we should have some form of resistance within us. This pranic force provides you with the required amount of resistance. It is a protective mechanism all around you.
Many people say that to practise yoga you have to make many sacrifices, change your life and abstain from many things.
I don’t think so. This particular opinion which is voiced by people with regards to yoga has a religious basis. Yoga is primarily a practice and not a religion. In fact, the exercises that people are talking about should also be defined. To renounce your beloved is not a part of yoga. To become a vegetarian is not compulsory in yoga. To abstain from women has nothing to do with yoga. Then what are the ‘sacrifices’ we are supposed to do?
These sacrifices are a part of puritanism, not a part of yoga. Puritanism is a relative concept; it is not an absolute concept. Who is going to prove what is pure and what is impure? Therefore, in my opinion, the only sacrifice which yoga demands of anybody is a little time in the morning and if possible in the night.
Of course, there are some regulations. They are not universal, rather the regulations are according to the sickness which a person is suffering from, and those regulations are not peculiar to yoga. Even in medical science you have those regulations. If you have diabetes, you should not eat potatoes, sugar and rice. If you have high blood pressure, you should not take fat or salt. If you call that sacrifice, then do you reject medical science? In my opinion, these regulations are peculiar to man’s sickness and that much sacrifice everyone should be prepared to make.
If one is suffering from cardiovascular problems, he should definitely not go to women. It is not a sacrifice, it is a regulation. If he is suffering from haemorrhage, paralysis or rheumatism you will tell him not to take meat, but to have a vegetarian diet. If a person is suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, he will definitely be told not to take alcohol. If a sick man is not prepared to make this sacrifice, then it is better he does not talk about yoga at all.
A doctor from the United States, who is a disciple of a great yogi, has said that there is no need of mantra. What is your opinion on that?
I think his statement should have been vetted by a scientific investigation. In this scientific age I cannot abruptly state that this is necessary and this is not necessary, but it should be scientifically examined.
Scientists have worked on mantra. Transcendental Meditation groups have done so, and besides that, there have been many other experiments. The potential of sound has also been investigated. It is very unscientific to say that a sound is only sound and not energy. Mantra is sound. Sound is an energy. You can even break a rock with sound if you want.
Sound has frequency and velocity. Some sounds you can hear, some you cannot. You can hear the sound of my voice because your ears can register this, but there are many other sounds which you cannot hear. Now this sound is called mantra. If that gentleman you are talking about thinks that mantra is God’s name or a divine name, well, he can say whatever he likes. But if he rejects or is unable to accept and appreciate the energy, the power and the effects of the sound, I think it is very unscientific. Those who are evolved do not need mantra, but there are millions of people in the world who are suffering from infirmity of willpower. They do not know how to handle the mind. They do not know how to control the mind and they do not know how to concentrate the mind. By rejecting the importance of mantra, it is leaving these millions of people in the wild sea without support. With due apology to that gentleman, I do not agree with what he has said.
What is the purpose of this seminar that is being held at Santo Domingo for which you have come from India?
I have come from India happily to be present at this seminar because I want the people of your country to practise yoga. When I came here six months ago, I could sense and I could understand the nature of the people of your country. Therefore, I have come to conduct this seminar with the idea of teaching the integral system of yoga.
I do not want to overemphasize one system of yoga, because man is a complex personality. He is head, he is heart and he is hands; and a combination of these three is man. So we will have to teach him yoga postures and breathing exercises. We will have to teach him mantra and meditation. We will have to teach him kirtan and bhakti yoga and we will have to teach him raja yoga and karma yoga. The system of integral yoga emphasizes simultaneous development of the dynamic, psychic, emotional and rational being in man. This will be the theme of the seminar.
Whenever you want to prepare something, you have to mix many ingredients together. In the same way for a human being, it is necessary for a parallel development to take place in all the areas of personality.
The seminar which is being held in Santo Domingo is open to everybody who wants to derive maximum benefits from yoga in relation to his family and life. The object of this seminar is to provide an independent means of health, happiness and inner wisdom.
21 November 1982, Santo Domingo