Sadhana

All life is yoga. - Sri Aurobindo

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. —Out of My Later Years, Einstein

The four paths of Yoga, as I understand it, build on the other. The traditional systems seem to have no real ordering. Any path can be taken as standalone while combining with the other yogas. As is described the yogas sadhanas are each rivers that flow to the same ocean. However, I find that the Four Yogas are easier to conceptualize as a path from worldly to pure consciousness.

Each path yogic path we attempt to grow to be more sattvic.

• Karma: Selfless Work
• Bhakti: Devotion
  • Japa: Mantra
• Raja: Meditation
  • Hatha: Health
  • Kundalini: Energy
• Jnana: Self-Knowledge

Each of these yogas are built on the gunas. The gunas are: sattva, rajas, and tamas. We all start at a Selfish Karma Yoga state of being. Even starting Yoga is a selfish act. This is a tamasic state of being. As we progress we try to move towards a sattvic state of being. This means following the tenants of each yoga and correcting our actions.

Synthesis into Raja Yoga

I find that the Four Yogas can be synthesized into the Eight Limbs of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Karma, Bhakti and Jnana Yoga can be incorporated into the Niyama limb. While I did mention the structure of the Four Yogas earlier as how to conceptualize going from tamasic selfishness to sattvic pure consciousness the difficulty lies in that each system has its own practices (sadhana).

Having each yoga as a separate path that is followed is like jumping around from one practice to another without any real structure and depth. It is for this reason that I find the Eight Limbs of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras to be a framework from which to practice the Four Yogas together.

• yama. Moral Restraints
  • ahimsa. Nonviolence
  • satya. Truthfulness
  • asteya. Refrain from Stealing
  • bramacharya. Celibacy
  • aparigraha. Refraining from Coveting
• niyama. Observances
  • saucha. Cleanliness
  • santosha (Karma Yoga). Contentment
  • tapas. Austerity
  • svadhyaya (Jnana Yoga & Vijñāna). Study of the Sacred Texts and Mantras
    • sravana Hearing
    • manana Reflection
    • nididhyasana Meditation and Contemplation
  • ishvarapranidhana (Bhakti Yoga). Surrendering the fruits of all action to the Divine
    • śravaṇa: Hearing. Stories, scriptures, and teachings.
    • kīrtana: Chanting/singing. Japa, mantras, prayers
    • smaraṇa: Remembering. Meditation
    • pāda-sevana: Serving the Feet. Serving the community.
    • archana: Worship. Worship at home or in the temple. Making the home itself a temple.
    • vandana: Prostration/Offering Obeisance. Prayers
    • dāsya: Servitude. Selfless work
    • sākhyatva: Friendship. Prayer in the form of conversation
    • ātma-nivedana: Self-surrender
• asana (Hatha Yoga). Posture
• pranayama (Kundalini). Breath Control
• pratyahara (Japa Yoga). Withdrawal of the Senses
• samyama. Union of Concentration, Meditation and Absorption
  • dharana. Concentration
  • dhyana. Meditation
  • samadhi. Absorption

Since Raja Yoga is my primary focus, samyama and samadhi is the goal of the practice. In many cases the approach to the Yoga Sutras is a linear path from the Yama to Samadhi. But the engineer and businessman in me thinks that this is a bit too linear. Instead I start with samyama and figure out the obstacles in my path of citta-vritti-nirodha (stilling the mind). I then work backwards to figure out what is holding me back from stilling the mind. The other limbs are addressed as needed to fill in the gaps to still the mind. This way I can continuously improve my practice and figure out what is holding me back.

Bibliography:

• Swami Sivananda's 20 Important Spiritual Instructions

yama

What have I done, O Lord, that Thou shouldst bestow any heavenly comfort upon me? I remember not that I have done any good, but have been ever prone to sin and slow to amendment.

-Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter LIX

The yamas are the moral restraints that need to be followed as a foundation for the practice of yoga.

satya

Truthfulness comes in two parts:

• With others.
• With yourself.

While not lying to others is staightforward, being truthful with yourself is hard. We tend to lie to ourselves. Thankfully, with the wonderful invention of spreadsheets we can track our actions and see if we are being truthful. As a way to keep myself honest I do the following:

• Routine based on 30 minute chunks. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep I have a routine that is based on 30 minute chunks. Each chunk has a specific task associated with a specific limb / yoga.
• Spreadsheet tracking my daily reviews of my progress. Each of the things then has a Deming Control Chart that I track to see how I am doing. The nature of the Patanjali's Limbs is that there are external and internal practices. In business these can be regarded as input and output metrics. The things you can control for are the input metrics and this is what I track.

niyama

saucha

Cleanliness of the mind involves:

• Cleanliness of the Body
• Cleanliness of the Home
• Cleanliness of the Garden. I added this one as the changing of the seasons and the growth and decay of plants is a way to reflect the changing of the mind.

santosha (Karma Yoga)

When selfless service is performed without going after the fruits of the action then you are in a state of santosha (contentment). This is why I have grouped the practice of Karma Yoga into this niyama. Santosha is both internal how content you are inside as well as how content you make others.

I believe that the practice is benefited by applying the principles outside of spirituality. W Edwards Deming, the father of modern quality management is one example of how the principles of business can be applied to spirituality.

A slow continuous improvement both internally and externally with the goal being that you are not attached to the fruits of the action while performing the action.

The question to always ask is: Is what I am doing selfish?

This question is pretty significant as most everything we do is selfish. Even those things we don’t want to do are selfish: I have a task I like and a task I don’t like. I like to code, I don’t like to clean the toilet. The way forward is to just have a routine and do the task whether you like it or not.

So, Karma Yoga is a form of meditation. You continuously bring the mind back to the task at hand.

However, I think the cheat code that Krishna gave in the Gita is to do your dharma. While we don't have prescribed dharma like Arjuna, we do have a path that we may eventually follow. This path is the dharma that we should be doing, even the boring parts.

Notes:

• Aspire for Sattvic ideal.
• Live simply and give as much as possible.
• Name and fame are poison. Do not aspire for those just make selfless service the default.
• Thoughts are actions. An impure thought is an impure action.
• No half assing. Put your entire energy into the task at hand. If you are doing two things say like gardening and listening to scripture you are not doing either well. Make time individually for both. Put your whole heart and mind to the task at hand.
• “The old Samskaras of vanity, cunningness, crookedness, arrogance, petty-mindedness, fighting nature, pride, self-esteem or thinking too much of one’s self, speaking ill of others, belittling others, may be still lurking in your mind.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• “Those who engage themselves frequently in hot debates, vain discussions, wrangling, lingual warfare and intellectual gymnastics cause serious damage to the astral body.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• “An aspirant should follow the instructions of his Guru and the teachings of the scriptures to the very letter. No leniency should be allowed to the mind. There can be no half measures in the spiritual path. You cannot say: “I will see to them later on. I can devote more time when I retire. I have followed the instructions as far as possible or more or less.” This ‘more or less’ and ‘as far as possible’ business is disastrous to an aspirant. There is neither ‘exception to the general rule’ nor ‘allowing margin’ nor any ‘discount’ in the practice of spiritual instructions. Exact, implicit, strict obedience to the instructions is expected of you.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• “Even slight annoyance and irritability affects the mind and the astral body. Aspirants should not allow these evil Vrittis to manifest in the mind-lake.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• “Worry, depression, unholy thoughts, anger and hatred produce a kind of crust or dark layer on the surface of the mind or astral body. This crust or rust or dirt prevents the beneficial influences to get entry inside and allows the evil force or lower influences to operate. Worry does great harm to the astral body and the mind. Energy is wasted by the worry-habit. Nothing is gained by worrying. It causes inflammation of the astral body and drains the vitality of man. It should be eradicated by vigilant introspection and by keeping the mind fully occupied.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• “Be ever ready to serve. Serve with pure love, kindness and courtesy. Never grumble or murmur during service. Never show a wry or gloomy face when you serve. The man whom you serve will refuse to accept such service. You will lose an opportunity. Watch for opportunities to serve. Never miss a single chance. Create opportunities. Create field for good service. Create work. Live a life of utter devotion to service. Fill your heart with fervour and enthusiasm for service. Live only to be a blessing to others. If you want to achieve this you will have to refine your mind.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• “You must not do any work perfunctorily or in a careless, half-hearted manner, without taking any interest. You cannot evolve if you take this attitude of mind. The whole heart, mind, intellect and soul must be in the work. Then only can you call it Yoga or Isvararpana.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• “Do not do anything in a surry scurry, in haste or flurry. Do every bit of work with a cool, unruffled mind. Be perfectly accurate in doing any kind of work. Collect all your scattered thoughts and apply your full mind to the work on hand. Many spoil their work by doing it in haste without reflection or consideration.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
• "A student of Karma Yoga should have an elementary knowledge of Raja Yoga, psychology, Ayurveda, physiology, family medicine, hygiene, Sankhya and Vedanta.", -Karma Yoga, Sivananda

tapas

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम्

Whatever you do,
whatever you eat,
whatever you offer in sacrifice,
whatever you give away,
and whatever austerity you perform,
do that as an offering to Me. -Bhagavad Gita 9.27

There are two paths: the pleasant and the good. Most of us take the path of the pleasant. But the pleasant is a means of bondage. It ties you to the world. For example, coffee is pleasant but it causes anxiety and withdrawal when you stop so it isn’t good. Further, it does not help with the citta-vritti-nirodha.

Various forms of tapas are:

• No coffee
• No alcohol
• No news
• No social media
• Fasting

Bibliography:

• Spiritual Diary by Sivananda

svadhyaya (Jnana Yoga)

देहबुद्ध्या तु दासोऽस्मि जीवबुद्ध्या त्वदंशकः। आत्मबुद्ध्या त्वमेवाहमिति मे निश्चिता मतिः॥

“Lord, while I identify myself with my body, I am Your servant.
When I consider myself as Jiva, I am a part of You.
But when I look upon myself as the Atma, I am You.”

Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge and I find that it fits in with the svadhyaya limb of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. The study is said to be done in three parts:

• sravana, Hearing
• manana, Reflection
• nididhyasana, Meditation and Contemplation

sravana

It is easy to jump from teaching to teaching not getting deep into either the practice or the philosophy. There are so many books by such prominent gurus as Swami Sivananda, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Chinmayananda and Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Not to mention the many shastras and the commentaries of Sankara, Ramanuja, and others. You add in the many books on Yoga and the Vedantic texts and you have a mountain of literature.

The problem is that Yoga and Vedanta are not meant to be just studied, they are meant to be internalized and practiced. As part of the Sadhana that I am going through with a basis in Raja Yoga, I find that the best way to approach this is to slow down. Start with the dhyana (meditation) piece and learn to still the mind. This seems to be a prerequisite to understanding the texts.

I read four types of literature for my svadhyaya practice with the morning being more Yoga oriented and the evening being more Vedanta oriented:

• Practice of Yoga. I read a single book on the Practice of Yoga focused on an aspect that I am struggling with. Yoga is citta-vritti-nirodha (stilling the mind) and so the book should be one focused on improving a specific Limb of Yoga to still the mind. I put the book into practice as quickly as possible. For example, each of Swami Sivananda's books have a ton of practical advice on how to put the teachings into practice. So I take the advice and figure out how to implement it as part of my routine. However, I find that psychology, history, and other books can be useful ways to addressing the yamas and niyamas as well. In this regard a secular book should have the goal of how it improves the Raja Yoga practice.
• Patanjali Yoga Sutras. I study this text daily as a means to deepen my Raja Yoga practice. Since Raja Yoga is the path that I have decided to follow, I think it is the most important text for me to read and contemplate.
  1. Read a single verse
  2. Try to memorize the verse in Sanskrit
  3. Read the commentary on the verse
  4. Write my own understanding of the verse and the commentary
• Vedanta. Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Brahma Sutra, Yoga Vashista, and other texts are not fast reads. They are full of deep philosophical insights that are maent to be read slowly and contemplated. Reading the text quickly is futile as you won't internalize the philosophy. My approach is to:
  1. Read a single verse or a few verses at a time
  2. Read one or many commentaries such as Advaita Vedanta, Vishishtadvaita, Dvaita, or others.
  3. Write my own understanding of the commentary
  4. Read and understand the Sanksrit
  5. Contemplate the meaning of the verse.
• Bhakti. Vedanta is a deep philosophy and it is a bit hard to jump straight into it. But I think a way to personalize the philosophy is to see how it was practiced. The way to do this is to read about great Gurus such as Ramakrishna or Vivekananda. These people lived the philosophy and so their teachings are a way to understand the philosophy in practice. So I read the Bhakti texts to get a more of a story-based understanding of the philosophy.

manana

How to Learn a Subject

Based on this knowledge when you want to learn something and learn it deep you should do the following:

1. Pick the subject
2. Get a cursory understanding of the subject
3. Books
4. Podcasts
5. YouTube
6. Message Famous People and Talk to Them
7. Pick the next layers. Ask a series of questions that you want to answer from the previous layer. This could be the 2-4 topics that interest you about that subject but mostly I’d say use Pareto’s Principle and pick the 20% that will give 80% of the benefit right away.
8. Learn each layer by books, media, papers, etc. but have specific deadlines for each since knowledge builds on existing knowledge it may be readily forgotten if the existing knowledge isn’t reaccessed.
9. Break each thing into individual chunks. If you are learning a new movement example for Krav Maga move to individual pieces: the feet, hips, hands, the movement of the hips, the movement of the legs, where you are on the floor and where you should be. I learn systems for how they fit together.
10. Note the Following:
11. Fears (i.e Like the Fear of Formulas)
12. Need to do this because certain aspect of learning is expanding your comfort level and to do that you need to understand that you may get overwhelmed and have to note the fear of the unknown so that you can work through it.
13. Mental Models of Similar / Adjacent Subjects
14. Practice with b in mind.
15. Apply the new knowledge immediately to a small project. Make it immediately usable and test this with your own hypothesis.
16. This helps you solidify your understanding
17. Take what you learned and what you applied and systematize it. Since you applied the learning you have made it your own and that much more influential to yourself.
18. Write it down as a checklist
19. Create programs that execute what you learn
20. Goto 3 – Remember what layer you are in when reading or learning something. If you read a book similar to what someone has already written then you are not going to learn anything.– Most business books all have similar topics and cover an aspect but think layers. Example of how something could be broken down:

ishvarapranidhana (Bhakti Yoga)

It is funny as someone who was raised in the West, I have always thought of Bhakti with a negative association. Advaita appeals to my Western, Englightenment-infused philosophical bent. But likely due to my childhood samskaras I orient towards Bhakti in a more natural way.

Bhakti is a way to redirect all emotions towards the Divine.

The nine forms of devotion (Navadha Bhakti) are and the practices associated with them:

• śravaṇa: Hearing
  • Stories, scriptures, and teachings.
• kīrtana: Chanting/singing
  • Japa, mantras, prayers
• smaraṇa: Remembering
  • Meditation
• pāda-sevana: Serving the Feet
  • Serving the community.
• archana: Worship
  • Worship at home or in the temple.
  • Making the home itself a temple.
• vandana: Prostration/Offering Obeisance
  • Prayers
• dāsya: Servitude
  • Selfless work
• sākhyatva: Friendship
  • Prayer in the form of conversation
• ātma-nivedana: Self-surrender

What is interesting in the context of Bhakti is that I also find the Desert Fathers of Christianity and the Sufis of Islam to be very similar in their approach to devotion and there is much to learn from them.

asana (Hatha Yoga)

Asana is such a small part of the Yoga Sutras but it is such a big part of the Western conception of Yoga. However, Asana just means seat. If Yoga is the stilling of the mind, then Asanas that let you sit for a long time in meditation are important. Being able to sit comfortably includes:

• Exercise. Being energized and healthy.
• Diet. Having the food you eat not affect your energy during meditation. Being gassy also doesn't help.
  • I am currently not a vegetarian. But I am starting to realize there is a reason that meat eating becomes a larger part of a diet of a a growing economy. Meat eating itself is a form of greed. A way of saying that the animal’s life is not as high as your own. As I grow older I am starting to see the value of a vegetarian diet and starting to cut down on meat.

samyama

If the mind is not still during practice (citta-vritti-nirodah), if your back or leg hurts, if your mind is all over the place then the preliminary practices have not been addressed. But as stated, it is better to start with meditation and then figure out how to address the issues that come up.