East may be east and west may be west; we have to accept the social and cultural differences, but when it comes to the question of problems in life, they are identical. These identical problems are born of the same situation whether it is the occident or the orient. I am thoroughly convinced that except for yoga there is no other way of resolving some of the problems that are universal today.
Western society has been trying to develop the external man for over three centuries, and has lost touch with all those traditions that really develop the inner man. The west has to be re-initiated into that tradition and this initiation has to start from the inner man. The external man has been developed in the western society but there has been a lack of inner awareness. The atom has been split, nature has been discovered, but modern society feels that it is still incomplete. It is in this particular mood of mind that the modern man has started searching for his own base.
The inner man was developed in India for centuries and centuries. This invisible existence, this inner person, this purusha or awareness, is the fundamental principle of human life. Each of us has a physical frame but it is not our personality.
Materialism is the physical frame of society but that ignores the whole personality too. Yoga brings us a way to develop inner awareness and which is our need.
Nobody has imposed yoga on the west, yoga has been brought to the west by westerners. As a result, whatever was destroyed in the western tradition for the past several centuries is now being reversed through yoga. People in the west are now finding justification for their religion through yoga; many find a correct and convincing interpretation of their religious symbols in this way. It is not Freud nor is it science which has given them this convincing interpretation of the inner being, nor of the church; it is yoga.
Traditions such as religion are not the problem; the problem is insomnia, hypertension, an unsteady mind, an imbalance between mind, emotions and the general situation in life. It is not only the west. The whole world is facing a crisis of awareness, and the problem is not psychological, the problem is spiritual. Therefore, it is not pills that will cure even one case of insomnia, drugs will never replace yoga nidra. It is not the medicines, drugs or vitamins which can give you prana and vitality, but it is pranayama which has saved thousands of people, not only in the west but all over the world.
We have to teach yoga in modern society, keeping the different problems of society in mind. Yoga is being experimented with on the level of therapy, and it is being seen on the level of awakening awareness, too. Therefore, all the forms of yoga have to be studied systematically: karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga, mantra yoga, laya yoga, hatha yoga. The various themes of yoga will have to be taught according to the needs of man today. Man wants something but he does not know what it is; I think that yoga is the answer.
If it were possible for you to meditate and control your mind at one point, and experience the bliss arising, how happy you would be. I see most of you closing your eyes and peeping within. You are able to go in a bit but then you find the light off and there is no indication light like the one you find on a television. The inner path has to be illuminated, the consciousness has to be guided along that path, and though it is infinite, that is the path to heaven.
We have to be very clear in our attitude towards teaching and learning yoga. We should remember that though we are bringing yoga to others, we are not imposing it. That has never been our tradition. We are against expansionism; our only purpose is to develop awareness, to develop knowledge. If a disciple comes and if we find him sincere and receptive, we do not care who he is. It does not matter if he comes from any part of the east or west. A sincere aspirant, a sincere disciple, is always given the knowledge.
All the systems of yoga have to be respected. We should not lose sight of the purpose of yoga. While we are talking of transcendental yoga, the higher yoga, we cannot say that hatha yoga is out of the picture. When we talk about the higher spirit or of the self, we should not say that sadhana is out of the picture. It is according to the state of evolution of the aspirant, it is according to the limitations of the mind of the aspirant that suitable forms of yoga have to be given.
If your body is sick, you do not need kriya yoga, even though you may want it; you need hatha yoga. When your mind is like a restless monkey, you need the help of pranayama and mantra. When you are over emotional and you are not able to check your emotions, bhakti yoga comes to you. In the same manner, when you want to discipline your life and your habits, your body and the systems in the body, the answer is raja yoga – ashtanga yoga. When you want to analyse the nature of the soul or the nature of super consciousness, it is jnana yoga that is best able to help you.
Still there are people who want to uncover the mysteries, who want to go beyond the limitations of time, who want an answer to those things which their intellect does not know. For instance, you have seen transmigration? Is transmigration real? If you say, ‘No,‘ then ‘Do you have proof?’ If you say, ’Yes,‘ then ‘Have you seen it?’ Such philosophical problems are part of our life and there are people who want to know the answer. They must get into kundalini yoga; they must get into the higher side of yoga. They must break the mind, explode the external consciousness and get into the inner domain of awareness, to come to a land where they can see these things for themselves.
The east and west are facing identical problems; the problem of the mind. Indians do not have Indian anger; the French do not have French anger. The mental problems, agonies, repentance and guilt are all identical. Therefore, the way for both east and west should be the same. Yoga is the answer, it is the way, and most people in the street can practise it. If only you know how to give it, if you know how to explain it and if you know how to interpret it.
There are thousands of people in western countries who are suffering from rheumatism, thousands of people in western countries who smoke and do not want to smoke, who are alcoholics and do not want to be alcoholics, who are suffering from nervous breakdowns, who are tired, exhausted and broken. Yoga can help them.
There are thousands and thousands of people in your own country who are suffering from migraine and doctors have exhausted their own ideas. But the simple practice of neti can help them. If just neti can help thousands of people out of migraine, yoga is obviously relevant to western society; we have to be open to it.
We want yoga to flourish in your country and even if you don’t want it, yoga has decided to live in your country. We may go away but we will leave yoga with you. This is the heritage of mankind.
September 1977, Inaugural Lecture at the First Convention, Zinal, Switzerland