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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: F.A.Q. 25
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How to become a Yogi QUESTION: How can I become a Yogi? ANSWER: In order to become a Yogi it is necessary
to properly understand what Yoga is. Yoga is known worldwide as a system of physical postures which
helps us maintain our physical and emotional balance and well-being. What is less well-known is that Yoga is an Ancient
Spirituality whose time-honoured wisdom can help us understand the meaning and
purpose of life so that we may find true happiness and fulfilment. Above all, Yoga teaches us how to correctly relate to
ourselves and to our fellow humans in order to create harmony and unity both
within and around us. In the confused and conflict-ridden World of today,
this is of particular importance and urgency. Who is Shiva? To correctly understand Yoga, we must begin by understanding
the meaning of the Supreme Principle of Yoga. Yoga believes in a Supreme Being the essence of whom is
Pure Goodness and who is therefore known as Shiva. Most people believe in a God who is good. According to Western
Scriptures, however, God is not purely good. He can be angry, jealous,
envious, vengeful, and so on. Yoga regards such concepts as man's unwarranted attempts to
humanise God. The World is currently in a state of Spiritual and moral
decline precisely because of this dysfunctional way in which man relates to
God and fellow men. Instead of elevating himself to higher modes of thinking, man
irrationally attempts to bring God down to his own level of understanding (or
misunderstanding). This necessarily leads to a steady fall in the Spiritual
consciousness of man with grave consequences for the whole Planet as recent
events (natural disasters, terrorism, wars) clearly show. Therefore, the Enlightened Yoga Masters, from Buddha down to
modern teachers, urge us to wake up to reality before it is too late. We must
understand that God does not entertain such base emotions as jealousy, envy
and anger, let alone act on them. Far from having anything to do with
negative and destructive feelings, God is Pure Goodness (Shivam). This is the Message the Yoga Masters are bringing to the
World: The sacred word "Shiva" which is the title held by the
Supreme Deity, means "Good". Shiva is everything that is Good:
Goodness, Beauty, Truth, Light, Wisdom, Happiness, Wholeness, Unity, Harmony,
Friendship, Love, Compassion, Justice, etc. All that is Shiva. By contrast, jealousy, envy, vengeance, are not Divine but
human emotions. They take us away from both God and fellow humans. When we experience a degree of any of the above Divine
Emotions within us, we experience an aspect of Shiva. The practice of Yoga,
however, enables us to experience not just a fragment of Shiva but Shiva
Himself in His pure and unadulterated Majesty and Glory. We then enjoy a
never-ending range of all the Divine attributes described above and are able
to share them with our fellow humans, thereby bringing God's Goodness into
the World. Shiva and the World To understand how the Supreme Being is related to the World,
we need no rigorous study of Scripture or lengthy philosophical or religious
debates. A little knowledge of the Sanskrit language will enable us to
analyse the sacred word "Shiva" into its constituent syllables or
verbal roots, "Shi" and "Va". Shi (shee) means to lie or rest, which refers to the fact that
all things lie or rest within Shiva, the ultimate Ground and Support of all
things. Va (vah) means to move and refers to the fact that all things move
and live their life within Shiva. Shiva, therefore, is the Supreme All-Encompassing and
All-Embracing Reality in Whom all things exist and by Whose Power all things
move. Because Shiva contains everything within Himself, He knows
everything, just as a man knows all the thoughts and feelings he holds in his
heart. And because He is the Power that animates all things, Shiva is
All-Powerful. Hence He is Omniscient and Omnipotent. Moreover, Shiva is not just the Supreme Sovereign Who Creates
and Rules over the World. He is also a Friend and Guide to the entire World.
He is the Embodiment of Truth, Goodness and Compassion (Maitreya, the True
Messiah). He is the World Teacher (Jagat Guru) Who descends upon Earth
in times of need in order to save the World from itself. However, what is important to understand is that God doesn't
save the World by sacrificing Himself or by suffering with and on behalf of
man as some religions would like us to believe. Having somebody to share your
suffering is a nice thought but is no solution to suffering! God, therefore, saves the World by telling man why he is
suffering and how he can mend his ways to avoid suffering in future. He saves
the World by reminding Mankind of the Original Teaching revealed by God at
the beginning of time, which has become distorted and forgotten over the
centuries. All man needs to do is follow His Eternal Teaching (Sanatana
Dharma). Yoga and other Faiths Just as the God of Yoga is an All-Embracing Reality, Yoga
which is the living expression of that Reality, is an All-Inclusive Faith. In Yoga, nobody is required to abandon their own faith.
All that is needed is to understand what Yoga is and how it relates to other
faiths. This is all. All religions claim to possess the highest truth, and Yoga
agrees that they all contain some truth. However, the fact remains that
religions also contain errors. The following few examples will be sufficient
to illustrate this important point. Islam It is written in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, that those
who commit adultery must be punished by flogging: "The adulterer and
adulteress shall each be given a hundred lashes" (24:2). It is also
written that "God is forgiving and merciful and he who repents and does
good works shall have his sins turned into good deeds" (25:69-70).
Islamic law, however, prescribes the stoning to death of those found guilty
of the above offence, in particular female offenders. This clearly
constitutes an extreme interpretation of Scripture which contravenes the
general principles of justice and compassion. As another example, in criticising Christian beliefs, the
Quran says that God cannot have a son because He doesn't have a consort.
Christians, however, do not claim that God produced a son by means of a
consort but by impregnating Mary, Jesus's mother, with His Divine Spirit.
Mary was not the consort of God but of Joseph, Jesus's physical father. This
criticism, therefore, is logically and factually flawed. It follows from this that the main errors of Islam are: (1)
the extreme interpretation of the Quran and (2) the wrong interpretation of
other faiths. The first error leads to injustice and conflict within the
Muslim community and the second to injustice and conflict between Muslims and
other faiths. As a result, in Islamic countries like Christianity It is written in the Christian Scripture (Bible) that God is
Light and that His Light shines within man whose body is the Instead, there is an excessive – even obsessive -
preoccupation with Jesus who allegedly came into the World to suffer for
man's sins and thereby save the World. If Christians admitted that Jesus was
the leader of a local religious group, nobody could reasonably object. But if
they insist that he saved the World, and therefore his followers are entitled
to rule the World, this is contradicted by both reason and facts: the World has
largely remained unchanged and continues to be as afflicted by sin and
suffering as ever. Moreover, if Jesus has already saved Mankind and all humans
are already absolved of their sins, then what is the point in leading a pure
life? Evidently, Christian teachings are too self-contradictory, confused and
confusing to be taken seriously. Judaism It is written in the Scripture of the Jews (Torah):
"Blessed is the man whose delight is in the Law of the Lord and who
meditates on His Law day and night". The Law of God is the Ten
Commandments which are similar to the Ten Commandments of Yoga (the Five
Yamas and Niyamas or Five Prohibitions and Five Obligations). One of the main Commandments which were given by God Yahweh to
prophet Moses is "You shall not kill" (equivalent to Ahimsa or
Non-violence in Yoga). However, soon after receiving the Law, Moses ordered
his followers to kill thousands of men, women and children as a punishment
for dancing round a gold calf. Since the actions of the prophet of Judaism stand
in blatant contradiction of Divine Law, this constitutes a grave error. As another example, God Yahweh, the God of Israel, tells his
disciples to desist from worshipping other Gods because he is a jealous God.
Now it is a well-known fact that the Gods (or Angels as some call them) are
nothing but manifestations of God's Powers. Indeed, they cannot be anything
else. This being so, it seems preposterous to suppose that God could be
jealous of His Own Powers. Moreover, we know on the testimony of Enlightened Yogis and
the Holy Scriptures of India, that God is Pure Consciousness and Bliss. Such
base sentiments as jealousy cannot therefore be reasonably attributed to God.
It follows from this that the God Yahweh is not the Supreme
God but only a minor deity or local spirit worshipped by the Israelites.
Indeed, historical and archaeological data show that, in Ancient Judaism, God
Yahweh was one of the many sons of the Supreme Deity. His exclusive cult was
introduced in relatively recent times by certain nomadic tribes who settled
in the This is entirely supported by the internal evidence of the
Bible itself where the Supreme God and Yahweh are referred to as distinct
from each other. Thus in the original version, Deuteronomy 32:8-9 reads:
“When God the Most High (the Supreme God) apportioned to the nations their
lot and divided humankind, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according
to the number of His sons (the Gods or Angels). Yahweh’s own portion was his
people (the people of To get the right perspective, let us briefly contrast Yahweh
with Shiva. Lord Shiva, the God of Yoga Who is also worshipped by many
Hindus, clearly is the Supreme God because as His holy name implies, He is
the Supreme Principle of Goodness. Goodness (Shivam) contains everything that
is Good. Goodness is the Ground of all things and the Highest Truth. Thus the Shiva Puraana declares: “There is no higher
Truth than Shiva, Who is the Cause of all causes (the Origin of all things),
the Creator of all the Gods, and Who is the Lord beyond all attributes (that
is, He is above everything that man can perceive or conceive of in his
mind).” This is why the holy Scriptures of India describe God as
Light, Consciousness, Bliss, Goodness, Truth, etc., whereas the God of
Western Scriptures is mostly described as angry, jealous, envious, vengeful
and cruel. As Ancient (pre-Mosaic) Judaism was a tolerant and inclusive
religion which had many things in common with Hinduism and the Pagan
traditions of Persia, Greece, Egypt and Rome, such as the belief in a Supreme
God Who is the Lord and Creator of minor deities (Gods or Angels), it clearly
belonged to the Original, Universal World Faith (Adi Dharma) which is the
expression of the Supreme Eternal Law of Heaven revealed by the Supreme Being
at the beginning of the World. By contrast, modern Judaism or Yahweism cannot
claim to be a World Religion but only a local cult. To believe anything else
is a serious error. The same applies to other modern Western religions, such as
Islam. For example, it is written in the Quran that God has sent to the Arabs
"an apostle of their own who speaks to them in the Arab tongue, because
before they were ignorant". Furthermore it is written that, "Every nation has its
mentor" and "For every community God has ordained a ritual which
they observe; let there be no dispute over this" (13:6 and 22:65). This
means that different religions were given to different nations and Islam was
meant as a religion for the Arab people - or Muslim Arabs - only, and not for
the entire Human Race. Therefore, on the evidence of the Quran itself, the
belief that Islam is a World Religion is an error and contrary to Divine Law. And yet this is precisely what many followers of Islam
maintain. For example, it is written, "Wage war on the unbelievers that
dwell around you" and "Fight the unbelievers to the end until the
whole World belongs to God" ( The World already belongs to God since He created it. No human
action can make it belong to God any more than it already does. It follows
that the only possible meaning of the phrase is "until the World is
ruled by believers as opposed to non-believers". All we need to establish now is who is a believer. A believer
is one who believes in God. The word "believer" therefore refers to
a person's belief in God and not to his pertaining to a particular faith such
as Islam. The believer can be a Jew, Christian, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Sikh or
anybody who believes in God. Thus the Quran may arguably be cited in support
of fighting atheists, communists and other non-believing persons but not
those who believe in God. This is evidenced by the following Quranic verse:
"Believers and Jews and Christians and Sabians (an ancient Middle
Eastern faith) and anyone who believes in God and does good, has nothing to
fear nor to regret" (5:69). In conjunction with other verses (quoted
above) to the effect that there should be no dispute over the practices of
different faiths, it becomes evident that the Quran does not regard Islam as
the only true religion or as a religion that ought to dominate (or even
exterminate) others. To believe otherwise, as is advocated by certain
extremist elements, is evidently an error. Had God wanted the World to be ruled by Islam, He would have
accomplished this long ago. But He hasn't. This suggests that He is quite
happy with people's following various faiths as long as they act in accord
with Divine Law (Dharma). Moreover, there is no evidence that Islamic countries like If it is objected that Islamic countries are not yet truly
Islamic but will one day become model nations if they adhere to Islam more
strictly and fanatically, then our reply or counter-objection is, if Islamic
rule has been unable to create a perfect society in Saudi Arabia, the
homeland of Islam, even after 1,400 years, how can we expect this to happen
in the future? How many millennia does Islam require to turn a small
population like that of Saudi Arabia (about 10 million people) into perfect
Muslims, and how many millions of years will it take to accomplish this in
all countries of the World? The fact is that, if a democratically-elected, ruling
political party failed to deliver what it promised even after a few years in
office, it would justly be considered to have failed. The same must logically
apply to any religion which has patently failed to deliver even after coming
to power millenia ago, surely! Such errors therefore come into being as a result of human
ignorance. Scripture may be given by God, but as it is written down (often
over long periods of time) by man, there is no proof or guarantee that it
represents an exact transmission of God's Word. We cannot even know whether a
particular Scripture is definitely the work of God because there is no
conclusive evidence: we have not seen God writing or dictating Scripture. What is evident is that some Scriptures are at least partly
the work of man. Even if every Scripture were an exact record of God's Word,
it would still be open to human interpretation. It follows that no guarantee
as to the accuracy of Scripture or its interpretation is possible through
ordinary means of investigation. This leads to misunderstandings and errors. The root of evil One error leads to another. Errors that are not recognised and
adequately redressed generate further errors and lead to ignorance,
misunderstanding, conflict and suffering which is the exact opposite of what
Scripture intended! The following case will suffice to prove our point. Western
religions such as Christianity and Islam, began their existence as obscure
Middle-Eastern cults founded by controversial figures. They were then imposed
on the Western World partly through missionary work but mainly by military
force. One would have expected Westerners to have learned a lesson from
history. Unfortunately, this clearly isn't the case. The Western World continues to impose on the rest of Humanity
its own redundant beliefs and practices which have largely failed the test of
time: some two thousand years of Western culture have culminated in the
Turkish Massacre of the Armenian population, two devastating World Wars, the
Holocaust, Hiroshima, Vietnam, Tibet and many other unspeakable atrocities.
The main victims of this cultural and religious imperialism today are This systematic perpetuation of defective (or pathological)
beliefs explains the current rise in materialism, selfishness, confusion,
violence, mental disorder, disease and natural disasters in the World. All
this is not due to negligence or ill-will on the part of God but is entirely
the product of human error for which man himself is responsible. The World is the Creation of God, the Supreme Spirit.
It is therefore a Spiritual place where life must be lived in accordance with
Spiritual Laws. When these Laws are ignored, the result is chaos, confusion,
ignorance and suffering. Material measures to improve the World are doomed to fail
because the causes of wars, poverty, disease and suffering are not material
but Spiritual. To believe that the problems of the World can be solved
without a Spiritual solution, is a serious error. The World is in the present
state because it lives in error. Because most religious, philosophical and
political systems contain fundamental errors, they are incapable of solving
the World's problems. The Supreme Faith Yoga is unique among World Faiths in that it possesses an
inner mechanism whereby all errors are immediately identified and amended.
This mechanism is called Meditation or Enquiry into Truth. It is an activity
or state of consciousness whereby man detaches himself from his body and mind
and establishes direct contact with God. The Ancient Scriptures of India define Meditation as that
whereby Yogis see or perceive reality. It results in higher, Yogic Perception
(Yogi Pratyaksha) which is undisturbed by any beliefs or mental processes. This direct contact with Truth is what other religions call
"seeing God face to face", "seeing the Light", etc. For
this reason, Enlightened Yogis are called Rishis (God Seers). The testimony
of Enlightened Yogis is Mankind's unmatched means of knowing the Truth. Yoga, therefore, is in a unique position to guide the
followers of other faiths so that they realise the truth of their own
Scriptures. Yoga enables the followers of Islam to realise the Oneness of
God and how to live a life in true Unity with Him and other faiths; it
enables the followers of Christianity to realise the Light of God within
themselves; it enables the followers of Judaism to realise the true Law of
God and its correct application; it enables Hindus and Sikhs to attain Unity
with God; and it enables Buddhists to discover the Ultimate Truth. In consequence, Yoga is a God-given unifying Bridge
("yoga" literally means unity) that brings all religions together
and brings out the best in every religion that each and every faith may
contribute to the establishment of the true Kingdom of God on Earth, that is,
a World illumined and guided by a Higher Truth in the light of which all
creatures may live in peace, unity and happiness for all time. The Path to Unity with Truth The following are the main Teachings of Yoga (the Path of
Unity with the Supreme) which all Spiritual aspirants - irrespective of
religious denomination - must be aware of in order to understand the true
meaning of life: 1. There is One Supreme Being (Shiva or God) Whose
Essence is Pure Goodness. 2. Though being Eternally One, the Supreme Being
manifests Himself in many ways. 3. All things are created by the Supreme Being out of
Himself and to Him they ultimately return. 4. All things have an Inner Soul who is essentially
identical with the Supreme. ("Man's Soul is the light of God", say
the Scriptures of the West.) 5. The Universe is governed by the Creator through His
Supreme Eternal Law (Sanatana Dharma). 6. Salvation, Freedom from Suffering and True Happiness
are attained by adhering to Divine Law (Dharma). 7. Supreme Salvation is attained when a Soul becomes
God-like (Shiva-sama), that is, Good and Wise like God, and as a result
experiences Unity with the Supreme. Becoming God-like - or "Isotheos", in the
Greek language - was also the original teaching of Western Scriptures, which
unfortunately has become lost in the official Church dogma. 8. The means of attaining Supreme Salvation are
Spiritual Practice and the Grace of God. 9. The journey to Unity with the Supreme requires many
lifetimes to complete. (The Bible similarly teaches that "no man can see
the 10. The Practice of Yoga can shorten this Spiritual Journey
to just one lifetime. 11. All living beings are responsible for their own
actions and are capable of experiencing pleasure or pain as a result of such
actions. 12. God shows Mankind the Path to Happiness and Freedom
from Pain through Direct Revelation, Sacred Scriptures and the Teachings of
Living Gurus. A person who embraces, understands and correctly
follows these twelve principles, qualifies as a follower of Yoga irrespective
of his religious beliefs. The purpose of Yoga is to create happiness for all through
Spiritual means. In particular, it enables us to achieve the four main goals
of life, which are: (1) Artha - Material Prosperity, (2) In the light of this, we may easily understand why the founder
of modern psychology, Carl G. Jung, famously declared that "Yoga offers
undreamt-of possibilities"! Yoga - the way to a better Future As predicted in the ancient Scriptures of India, Mankind
currently lives in Kali Yuga, the Age of Spiritual Ignorance, Materialism and
Selfishness. It is a very dangerous time in which misguided human agency is
upsetting the natural balance and order of the Planet with serious
consequences for the entire human race. This being so, the worldwide practice of Yoga to redress the
current imbalance is not a choice but a necessity which must be
urgently acknowledged and acted upon by all thinking people. The Western World must give up the idea that it knows
everything, or that it knows better, and humbly listen to the timeless Wisdom
of the East. If it does so, it will understand that Yoga is a precious gift
which man cannot afford to ignore or reject. Therefore, it is the duty of all Spiritual people to
spread the teachings of Yoga. By opening up to the Truth of Yoga we encourage
others to do the same so that the World may be guided towards a better future
for all. Become a follower of Yoga The essence of the Teachings of Yoga may be condensed into the
following words: "Lord Shiva (the Supreme Principle of Goodness) is
the Highest Truth and Yoga is the Path that leads to Him". The uttering of these words constitutes a declaration of faith
(shraddha) or formal acceptance of the Teachings of Yoga and the person who
utters them becomes a follower of Yoga. Wherever he goes, he will be
recognised as a Spiritual Soul and welcome into the Universal Yoga Community
(or Brotherhood of Unity). To further one's Spiritual Knowledge, it is advisable to study
the Holy Scriptures of Yoga such as Shiva Rahasya, Shiva Purana, the
Upanishads and the Vedas. Those who wish to learn more about the Higher
Mysteries of Yoga, may receive initiation by a qualified Yoga Teacher or
Master who has studied and is able to explain the above Scriptures. Note: For an explanation of the above 12
principles, see also Who is a Yogi? and Teachings and Practice. For more information please e-mail us on: To join The Yoga Order |