Religion is
about developing love. The nature of God is love.
To progress on a religious path, you
need:
- sexual
release, each day
- to
follow the ethical principles known as "yama",
and to
- helping
others, particularly those who are kind, to
become happy
Sexual
release is required each day as opposed to less
frequently, as otherwise one's energies become
stagnant.
God
dispenses both justice (as evidenced by the law
of karma) and mercy. The law of karma states that
the balance of happiness and suffering is determined
by the extent to which you follow the 5 aspects
of yama (non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing,
chastity and non-acquisitiveness).
The
purpose of yoga practice is to come close to God,
and this closeness triggers in Him mercy for you:
The practicing of kriya yoga (see below) is the
means to gain God's mercy.
The
science of yoga is set out in the Yoga Sutras
of Lord Patanjali.
There
are two paths of yoga, the mental (for those who
have evolved in a previous life to the extent
that they are able to still the fluctuations of
the consciousness through mental discipline, chapter
I, verse 2 of the Yoga Sutras) and the yoga of
physical action (kriya yoga, described in verse
1 of the second chapter of the Yoga Sutra).
No
one in this last age of the world, Kali Yug, is
able to practice the mental discipline of yoga,
and so the main focus of this article and this
web site is the practical route of kriya yoga.
Kriya yoga consists of tapas (charitable works and daily prayer), svadhyaya
(the action of reading the scriptures) and Ishvarapranidhana
(all actions being done at the request of and
to please God, "OM").
For
your religious development, you are welcome to
approach me at The Loving Heart Centre.
Some
say that you need to have a guru. There are no
human gurus in the world at present, and following
a false guru will slow your progress (see No
Need for a Guru or Spiritual Master).
It is in principle highly beneficial for you to
associate with saints: a human being who performs
Kriya Yoga. However, one needs to be careful:
see for example:
The
following articles are included
on this site:
My book "The 108 Heads of Lord Patanjali" sets out all that one needs to know about yoga. It contains a new translation and commentary of The Yoga Sutras and explains why all the sages, 'gurus', swamis' philosophers, academics over the last 2500 years could not get to grips with any of the 196 sutras in Lord Patanjali's work. Lord Patanjali wrote His work specifically to eliminate their pride. There is only one sutra, II.1 that is of specific use to a yoga practitioner. All the others are aimed at scholars: see "The Yoga Sutras of Lord Patanjali".
My book "Yoga" sets out the harm you do yourself if you practice yoga without the motive of serving God - see "Yoga".
Various books of mine help the yoga practitioner and religious practitioner on his or her path. Many of my books are available for free download, from the web site page and link called 'Books'.
In addition you can visit the page 'Individual Advice' or email me (my email address is below) if you want free individual advice about your spiritual/religious progress or other issues you may face.
|
