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I am inclined to yogic exercises and spiritualism but in a fix which one should I choose among the popular yoga techniques such as Raja Yoga Meditation of Brahma Kumaris, Sri Sri Ravishankar (founder of the Art of Living), Baba Ramdev’s hatha yoga or the Kriya Yoga of Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda etc. I request you to please guide me to lead me to Moksha, Dandvat Pranam
Kumaram (Name changed), India |
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Good to know you are inclined towards yogic exercises and spiritual progress.
All yogas lead to the same God or Bliss
Fortunately for us, all the yogas and yoga techniques lead to the same God (The Divine Awareness or Nirvana or Mukti or Moksha or salvation or The Bliss, Sat-Chit-Ananda, Chaitanya, Supreme Awareness, Supreme Consciousness or Super-Soul – They are all the same.) Therefore, whether it is Raja Yoga Meditation of Brahma Kumaris or Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living or Baba Ramdev’s hatha yoga or Kriya Yoga of Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda etc. they all lead to the same Bliss.
The beauty of the whole yoga process and techniques is that every individual can (and should) choose the yoga technique (or most of the times it is the combination of more than one yoga techniques) that suits their specific Character, Trigunas and the Role they are playing in the current life. The character of every person and the current life events are formed on the foundation of the past karma (prarabdha and sanchita karma) and the trigunas, which are extremely hard to change (but they certainly can be changed slowly).
Brief description of each yoga
Here is the brief description of each yoga:
Karma yoga: This is yoga of action without attachment
Bhakti yoga: Yoga of love for the Divine
Gyan yoga: Yoga of knowledge and awareness
Siddha yoga or Kundalini yoga: Yoga of divine consciousness
Hatha yoga: Purification of the body and mind through Asanas and Pranayama
Laya yoga: Yoga of meditating on interior energy centers
Mantra yoga: Yoga of Divine or Sacred words, phrases, or syllables
Raja Yoga: Royal yoga or royal union, cultivation of the mind through meditation, such as pranayama and dhyana (meditation), to reach a meditative state of samadhi
As mentioned above, the purpose of all the yogas is to lead us from the darkness (mudhawastha) to the light (Bliss).
“Asato ma sadgamaya, Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, Mrtyorma amrtam gamaya” - (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad) – Meaning - God, Lead me from the asat to the sat, Lead me from darkness to light, Lead me from death to immortality
This is also called as Realization of Self (the Divine or the or The Supreme Consciousness) that ultimately leads us to Eternal Bliss or Chaitanya. This can be achieved with the help of yoga (or more than one yogas) by removing all the doubts from our mind and wiping out of karma impressions that ultimately leads us to the Chaitanya. Please also keep in mind, this is an extremely long process, of several lives for most of the sadhakas. One should not expect the realization of the Self within one life.
Which one to chose from - Raja Yoga Meditation of Brahma Kumaris or Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living or Baba Ramdev’s hatha yoga or Kriya Yoga of Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda
You asked “Which one should I choose among the popular yoga techniques such as Raja Yoga Meditation of Brahma Kumaris, Sri Sri Ravishankar (founder of the Art of Living), Baba Ramdev hatha yoga, Kriya Yoga of Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda etc”
I would say all of them are more or leas the same and you can choose the one that appeals to your mind, thoughts, emotions and character. All of them lead to the same bliss whether it is Raja Yoga Meditation of Brahma Kumaris or Sri Sri Ravishankar (founder of the Art of Living) or Baba Ramdev’s hatha yoga, Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda’s Kriya Yoga.
Siddha yoga is the Supreme yoga of all the yogas
At the same time, I would certainly underline that Siddha yoga (or Kriya yoga) is absolutely supreme of all the yogas. Because, Siddha yoga is very simple yoga, needs less efforts on the part of siddha yogi, and also siddha yoga reduces the length (in time) of the overall spiritual travel substantially. At the same time siddha yoga needs help of Shaktipat guru to awaken the kundalini. Read story and reasoning from Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda that explains why Siddha yoga is the “Jewel in the Crown” of Yogas.
I hope you find the perfect combination of yoga in your attainment of the Self-Realization also called as “Self” or “Brahman”
Thank you.
Mahendra Joshi
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