Concentrating the mind internally – Swami Vivekananda in Raja Yoga
It is easy to concentrate the mind on external things, the mind naturally goes outwards; but not so in the case of religion, or psychology, or metaphysics, where the subject and the object, are one. The object is internal, the mind itself is the object, and it is necessary to study the mind itself —…
Concentration – Swami Vivekananda in Raja Yoga
There is only one method by which to attain knowledge, that which is called concentration. The chemist in his laboratory concentrates all the energies of his mind into one focus, and throws them upon the materials he is analyzing, and so finds out their secrets. The astronomer concentrates all the energies of his mind and…
Knowledge and Perfect Bliss – Swami Vivekananda in Raja Yoga
knowledge is the highest reward of knowledge. It will take away all our misery. When by analysing his own mind, man comes face to face, as it were, with something which is never destroyed, something which is, by its own nature, eternally pure and perfect, he will no more be miserable, no more unhappy. All…
Raja Yoga Introduction – Swami Vivekananda
This post captures the introduction of Raja Yoga and Swami Vivekananda’s commentary on religion. Knowledge from experience All our knowledge is based upon experience. What we call inferential knowledge, in which we go from the less to the more general, or from the general to the particular, has experience as its basis. In what are…
What is Asamprajana Samadhi? The eight limbs of Yoga
Asmaprajnata Samadhi is the ultimate state of awareness, the state of consciousness where nothing can be discerned except the pure self. (Read more about this in the goal of yoga). This is the ultimate goal of yoga Asmaprajnata Samadhi is the 8th limb and the final limb of yoga presented by Patanjali. The 8 Limbs…
What is the goal of Yoga?
It’s important to understand the goal of Yoga before we get in to the practice of Yoga. For this we take the help of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. According to Patanjali’s definition in the 2nd sutra, yoga is cessation (nirodha) of the activities (vrittis) of chitta. Vrittis refer to any sequence of thoughts, ideas, mental imaging…
