THE AIM YOGA:- The whole of our life is a successive series of efforts—whether it is the effort that I put forth, or that which someone else puts forth. All these efforts have a common background, although the efforts of human beings are variegated & there also an apparent diversity of the aims behind the efforts. The farmer’s effort is towards producing harvest in the field; the industrialist’s effort is towards production of goods & such other items in his field; the effort of the schoolmaster or the professor is in another direction, & so on & so forth. We have an apparent diversity of aims, motivated by a diversity of efforts. But this is a great illusion that is before us, & we live in a world of illusions which we mistake for realities. The illusion arises on account of our inability to see beyond a certain limit of the production of the harvest in the field is not the only aim, or rather the ultimate aim, of his efforts. It has another aim altogether connected with certain other, & so on & so forth, in an endless chain which cannot easily come within the comprehension of an untutored mind. The stomach does not eat for its satisfaction. We know very well why the stomach eats. The stomach may “I eat”, but it does not eat; the eater is somebody else, though it is thrust into the stomach. The legs do not walk for their own sake. What do the legs gain by walking? They are walking for some other purpose—somebody else’s purpose, not their own. Nor do the eyes gain anything by seeing; the eyes see for somebody else. Likewise, there is an inherent & underlying basic aim which is transcendent to the immediate purpose visible in front of any particular individual who puts forth effort, just as the legs do not walk for their own sake, the eyes do not see for their own sake, the stomach dose not eat for its own sake, & so no, & they seem to be functioning for some other purpose. They can miss this purpose, & then there is what we call dismemberment or disintegration of the personality. When the aim is missed, the effort loses its motive power & it becomes a fruitless effort, because an effort that has missed its aim cannot be regarded as a meaningful effort. Also, it may be possible that we may be conscious of an immediate aim before the effort, but the aims that are further behind or ahead may not be visible to our eyes. I will ask a question. We eat food every day so that we may be alive. But why do we want to be alive? Is there a purpose behind it? This question we cannot answer. Here is a question which is beyond logic. Why should we work so hard, and eat, and maintain ourselves, & exist? After all, we are doing all this for existing. Why do we want to exist? Suppose we do not exist; what is the harm? These kinds of questions will be pressing themselves forward when we go deep into the aims of the different activities of our life. Finally, when we press the aim to its logical limits, we will find that the human brain is not meant to understand it. THE PRACTICE OF BEING ALONE:- The Supreme Being, in mystical language, has often been referred to as the Alone, the Independent, or the Absolute. The aloneness of Reality is of a strange character, quite incompatible & incomparable with the aloneness that we as individuals feel when we away from human society. The aloneness of a human individual is due to isolation from human society or society in general. But the aloneness of the Supreme Being due not to isolation, but to all-inclusiveness. Because of an incomprehensible inclusiveness of the nature of the Supreme Being, it is symbolically & metaphorically designated as the ‘Alone’. It is the Alone because everything is in It—nothing is outside It. Inasmuch as nothing is outside It, It is not a social being. There is no society for God because God is the one, Single, Incomparable Existence. INITIAL STEOS IN YOGA PRACTICE:- It is generally believed by people—often wrongly—that the sitting or asana is a simple affair & that it is, perhaps, a non-essential in the practice in the practice of yoga. It is not true. Sitting in a single posture is not a simple affair, because it is not practicable for all people. If we actually do it, we will see the difficulty. The asana is not a non-essential. It is very, very important & essential in the practice of yoga, because the body—the muscles, the nerves, the pranas—are all essential parts of what we are. How can we say that the body is a non-essential in our personal make-up? It is an essential; & our individuality, our personality—whatever we are, here & now—is inseparable from this physical set- up. Hence, a systematization of the workings of the physical body because not a non-essential, but a very important feature of personal discipline. We have been referring to this subject of discipline, & in this context we had occasion to observe that discipline is not a force exerted on us by somebody else. It is not a compulsive activity we are undertaking under the pressure of some external power.