The answer is emphatically yes, and there is no alternative. If man is to evolve, there is no alternative, because the human mind has to evolve. How far? You have completed your physical evolution. Biological evolution has come to a standstill now, but the evolution of the mind is starting. Do not think that the present state of your mind is the ultimate state of mind! This has been stated in tantra and yoga and this has also been stated by modern scientists and thinkers.
The present state of our mind, the present state of our experience is not ultimate. The evolution of mind will take you through various stages of experience to what is called a super-mind. Yogi Aurobindo, Aldous Huxley, Annie Besant and many other people have already spoken about this super-mind.
This super-mind is the mind which is completely free. It is not free in the sense that you can do what you like, because many times freedom is misunderstood. In the same way, discipline is also misunderstood. ‘Do this and do that’ is what we understand as discipline. ‘I can do whatever I like, don’t stop me, don’t tell me anything,’ is what we understand by freedom. However, in yoga, discipline means just one thing. The force of chitta has to be controlled and the real experience from within has to be released. This is not social freedom; it is not even political freedom. I am talking about the freedom of the mind from the clutches of bondage and in this particular context, the science of yoga will play the supreme role.
It is not just for health that we practise yoga. Hatha yoga, the yoga of postures and pranayama, is very important, but its ultimate aim is to give you the capacity to discipline the disharmony and the harmony in the physical system.
The various forms of yoga are supplementary and complementary to each other. There are four main yoga systems. They are known as karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga and jnana yoga, which means the yoga of action, the yoga of emotion, the yoga of the mind and the yoga of the intellect. Besides these four chief forms of yoga, there are auxiliary systems of yoga. These auxiliary systems of yoga are easy to do. They are known as nada yoga, the yoga of sound; kriya yoga, the yoga of dynamic practices; hatha yoga, the yoga of purification of the body; laya yoga, the yoga of suspension of mental activities; and mantra yoga, the yoga of sound and chanting.
To transform milk into butter, what do you do? You churn the milk and you get the butter. The butter is released from the milk. The butter was present in the milk, and you separated it by using a technique. Exactly in this way, matter and energy are intertwined. Energy is inherent in matter. You can’t see it, but you follow a technique and separate the energy and when the energy is separated then you can do so many wonders.
In the same way, within your mind there is a great power. That power is known as shakti. Some people call it evolutionary energy. Some call it a primordial energy and yogis call it kundalini shakti. Kundalini shakti is the primordial energy within the mind. When I say within the mind I mean to say ‘that behind the mind’. Just as butter is hidden in the milk, energy is hidden, concealed in matter. In the same way, kundalini shakti is lying hidden within the fold of the mind.
The mind is not the brain, certainly not! The mind is beyond the brain. The mind is not a wave; it is in the form of particles. It is finer than an atom, finer than a molecule, finer than an electron, finer than any form of energy mankind has discovered up to now. The mind is the subtlest form of energy and it is the freedom of this energy that we are talking about this evening.
Please do not misunderstand, I am not talking about religious discipline. I am not talking about ethical and moral discipline and I am not talking about ordinary freedom. ‘Practise yoga’, this is called discipline. Practise whichever yoga you like. Start somewhere. Don’t talk about higher yoga. Start with any yoga which you can understand, any yoga which you can practise, and in the course of time you will find that you are able to release an experience.
That experience is sometimes in the form of light. Sometimes it is in the form of a sound. Sometimes it is in the form of a feeling. Sometimes it is in the form of music. Sometimes it is in the form of pictures and pictures and pictures. This is the creative energy and we have to be that. We can see things.
Many years ago, before the laser beam was discovered by scientists, a French novelist wrote a novel called the The Green Light. That was called creative intelligence. There have been many painters and musicians who have been creative. They could see and hear things. Even if you are a carpenter, a mechanic, a housewife or a school teacher, you have to be creative and that creativity should be an expression of a higher quality of mind. Then you will not be under the bondage of your own nature.
Why is there anxiety? Why is there stress? Why are you worried? Why are you so emotional? Why do you get depressed? Why are you unhappy? Have you ever thought about it? ‘Because I have no money,’ that’s what you know. Or, ‘Because he is giving me a lot of trouble,’ or ‘Because somebody whom I love is dead?’ No, this is not the right answer. I will give you all the love, all the money, and you will still be the same because you have not realized your powers.
You have read about them in books. You have heard about them, but you have not experienced them. An experience of the powers of the mind is essential if you want to overcome the limitations of your life today. There is no treatment for anxiety. There is no treatment for insecurity. There is no treatment for hyper-sexuality. There is no way out of criminality. They are eternal! But once you are able to galvanize the whole mind, if you are able to go deep, deep into the mind, beyond perceptions, beyond thought and beyond psychic visions, and beyond the inner voices, then you will find that the peace is there, the happiness is there. The fountain of joy and the source of happiness and the storehouse of bliss is not in the objects outside, but it is within you.
The purpose of all that I said is, ‘Practise yoga, no matter which yoga you like.’ However, there are not many yogas. Nowadays, people talk about Chinese yoga, Tibetan yoga, Japanese yoga. No, yoga is just one! Close your eyes for ten minutes. Remain aware inside. Practise a mantra or concentration and keep on moving inside, and a day will come when you will be able to come into contact with the source of eternal happiness within you. Disciplining the mind is yoga, and freedom of energy is samadhi.
2 June 1984, Pablo Neruda Hall, Nîmes, France