The Four Stages of Yoga

First Stage: Initiation

To begin the practice of Easy Raja Yoga, one need not sit in any special posture. Infact, difficult postures should be avoided in favor of one’s usual, easy and natural way of sitting. One may sit on the floor, use a cushion, or sit comfortably in a chair. Since, the aim is to go beyond physical awareness; any pain which pulls you back to the body is counter productive. On the other hand, if one meditates in too comfortable a position l(like lying in bed), one is prone (especially at first) to fall asleep take balanced approach and judge your own capacities.

While meditating, there is no need to close the eyes. Actually, it is better not to. Some people believe that with open eyes one may become distracted by things occurring in the field of vision. But intact, the scenes created by the imagination when the eyes are closed are far more distracting. Attention diminishes rapidly with eyes closed, and soon the mind has wandered far from one’s object and purpose. Furthermore, one is much more likely to enter the state to sleep rather than that of yoga. So it is recommended that one should learn to meditate with eyes open. Even if it seems more difficult at first, soon it will become natural and the result will be that a powerful stage can be maintained even during daily activities, when open eyes are necessary.

Second Stage: Meditation

This is the most active and important stage. Here we produce a connected series of pure and positive thoughts, which become the fuel for the soul’s inner journey. Through this active churning of spiritual knowledge and its implications, the self becomes aware of its own true nature and tunes its intuition to the qualities and attributes of the Supreme. The basis of meditation is the seed-though that I am a soul, a point of conscient light, residing in the centre of this, there is no problem of taming a wandering mind. An finally, because the communication soon becomes a two-way channel, the loveliest of human experience and emotion quickly unfolds, transforming even the most worn-out and hopeless souls into peaceful and happy, strong and stable persons, able to actualize the farthest reaches of their potential.

Third Stage: Concentration

In the stage of meditation, worldly thoughts cease with its own reality, and the presence and power of God becomes evident. Now gradually the speed of this pure thinking is reduced until it has become very, very slow. Then the practitioner silently stabilizes his heightened awareness on the self and the Supreme.

Fourth Stage: Realization

As our thoughts become fully channeled in this positive direction, we start to experience an extraordinary sense of peace and well being. The mind plunges ever deeper into this experience, it becomes saturated with the living qualities of the Supreme. The soul realized itself as a point of divine illumination filled with love and might. All negativity is washed away in this final stage. There is only the silence of the blissful presence of the Supreme.

Easy Raja Yoga leads to very rapid attainment of this stage for several reasons. In the first place, the knowledge is accurate, allowing the soul to understand itself in a very precise manner and thus easily to detach from the body. Secondly in this yoga is a highly creative use of the mind. Every time one sits down to meditate it will be a different experience. There is no stereotyped repetition of a word or phrase. One’s mind is free to develop an individual and deep relationship with the most interesting being in the universe.