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Yoga Practice Will Become the Guru

the yoga practice of Om Yoga MeditationIn response to someone who wrote about spontaneous knowledge of yoga and various experiences resulting from yoga sadhana or spontaneously “out of the blue.”

As you have seen for yourself, yoga practice itself becomes the yogi’s teacher, as both Vyasa and Shankara wrote in their commentaries on the Yoga Sutras.

The yogi must pay attention to his experiences, and at the same time must question them. The basic thing to ask is: “Did this experience strengthen my spiritual life?” If Yes, then it was real and of value. If not, and it was just a curiosity, then even though it may have been an indication of general development, it was of no great value.

The need for understanding

An authentic and meaningful experience imparts understanding of itself. When the yogi does not understand what has happened to him, he need not reject the experience, but should just file it away in his memory in case it becomes clear in the future. But until then it can safely be forgotten.

It is extremely chancey to tell one’s experiences to others, since they are profoundly individual and it is not likely that others will understand them or have anything significant to say. They may even misunderstand and misdirect the yogi.

As to how/why you spontaneously came to know about Om Yoga, God is the prime factor and past life practice and knowledge are involved, too.

The individual’s path

It is pure ignorance to insist that things can only happen in one pre-approved way. Everything in the universe is individual, thank heaven (who made it that way). My beloved friend, the yoga-siddha Sri Dattabal, who worked miracles in his infancy, asked many yogis about his experiences and none of them could tell him anything. Finally he met Anandamayi Ma and she understood everything and explained everything. But he could have managed very well if he had not met someone who understood and explained. Yet it is nice to know.

You and God seem to have been doing pretty well together so far.

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