What is Yoga?

by Gregorian Bivolaru

Yoga is an extremely complex spiritual tradition, having a history older than five thousand years.
It possesses a very rich and extensive literature.

Yoga is what we traditionally call "the knowledge of liberation". We all seek, consciously or not, to rise above the limited notion of what we are. More exactly, we seek to rise above what we usually think we are. Generally, we identify ourselves with our body, our mind, with our possessions or relationships, bringing all this together in what we normally call "my life". These mental habits do not contain anything but shadows of the truth inside ourselves, and they bury us more deeply in ignorance .

Yoga offers a path for deep introspection with the goal as Truth. We all desire to know ourselves, at least to some extent, but is this not an illusion? If we knew at least 50% of ourselves, do you think we would suffer due to work and family problems? On the contrary, we would find out that we are immortal; we are superconscious and omnipotent beings; and we would find the source of eternal happiness.

Genuine Yoga implies confrontation with the fascinating mysteries regarding the nature of our microcosmic self. It deals with the eternal questions: Why was I born? Where do I come from? What do I live for? What is going to happen to me after I die? Who am I actually?
Yoga confers inner freedom and the understanding of the fact that everything is possible, though not all is allowed. Being liable to some unchangable laws, as human beings we all feel limited and impotent when faced with the difficulties of life. Yoga induces the power and energy to handle these challenges in life. Moreover, Yoga enables us to overcome the human condition and to reveal our divine nature, the Divine Self within (Jivatman).

Yoga is a science of immortality.It contains the methods for becoming fully aware of the mysterious aspects of being human. It allows for the employment of all the hidden potentialities within ourselves, for elimination of limitations due to ego, for deepening of self-knowledge; and reaching immortality.

Yoga aims to gain direct, immediate knowledge of ultimate truth regarding man, existence, and the Universe.

Yoga leads to bliss (samadhi). Although this word exists and is common in every language, the word ''samadhi'' denotes a state accessible to only a small number of people. Experiencing this bliss means to be in full resonance with the beneficial energies of the Universe. By reaching the state of samadhi or full bliss, the yogi gets confirmation of ''completion''. This is where the ineffable fusion occurs between man''s ultimate essence and the Supreme Macrocosmic Universal essence, God.

natha.net
taken from yogaesoteric.net
http://www.yogaesoteric.net/content.aspx?item=1728?=EN

Meditation is often misunderstood to be a method for self inquiry, deeper understanding or inner peace. Is that so?
Letting yourselves absorb into this extraordinary phenomenon might lead you to a much more complex and profound understanding.
If we consult the few wise people who either inhabited or still inhabit this planet who have been gifted with a genuine and ultimate experience of meditation, they all agree on one thing:
 
Meditation is not a human-invented technique for relaxing the mind and the body.
It is a natural state, a universal phenomenon, an enlivened human potential, where you obtain a direct perception of Reality. What ever you are doing in and with your life, meditation is something which can successfully help you to reach what you aim at in a harmonious and sublime way.

For this reason we have decided to share with our readers some fascinating facts about meditation that have been almost completely ignored until now.

Even though you might as well find some of these texts in a public library, they are secret first of all because each one of them has been carefully considered and chosen by people who themselves have had profound experiences in meditation, and therefore have been able to recognize - by applying the principle of resonance – genuine perceptions of the state of meditation.

We invite you to dive into this fascinating faculty of Divine Creation, and to meditate on it until it sinks deep into your subconscious realm of intuitive understanding.

You will also be able to read about what famous ancient masters, as well as modern masters and advanced students, have experienced in deep states of meditation.

Because that is the purpose of any study after all: to put it into effect within our own lives, or as Swami Shivananda described the process of any spiritual realisation with great precision: Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise.

Yours kindly
Sahajananda
Editor on www.natha.net.

Astrology (from Greek: (astér, astrós), "star", and (lógos, lógou), "word" or "speech"(lit. to talk about the stars) is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs in which knowledge of the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting, and organizing information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer, or, less often, an astrologist. Numerous traditions and applications employing astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings in the 2nd millennium BCE. It has played a role in the shaping of culture, early astronomy, and other disciplines throughout history.

Historically, astrology and astronomy were often indistinguishable, with the desire for predictive and divinatory knowledge one of the primary motivating factors for astronomical observation. Astronomy began to diverge from astrology after a long period of gradual separation in the 18th century, and has since distinguished itself as the scientific study of astronomical objects and phenomena, placing no significance on these phenomena's supposed astrological correlation.

Elements of karmic astrology