Benefits of Yoga:- Yoga holds out to us the way of self-perfection, so that one may learn how to live in the Eternal. Through the practice of yoga you are changed. You pass from darkness into light, from duality into oneness, from separation to unity, from bondage to liberation. Even a little practice of yoga reduces misery, lessens the sense of despair & frustration & promotes confidence, strength, peace & happiness. Yoga purifies, transforms & divinises. To be balanced in success & failure, gain & loss, pleasure & pain, to be a perfect master of oneself in all conditions & circumstances, to go through the routine of life patiently & joyfully amidst the din & clamour of the world — these are some of the characteristics of a disciplined soul or a yogi who has equanimity of mind. Yoga helps in the co-ordination & control of the subtle forces within the body. You can have calmness of mind at all time by the practice of yoga. You can have restful sleep, increased energy, vigour, vitality, longevity & a high standard of health. You can turn out efficient work within a short space of time & have success in every walk of life. Yoga will infuse in you new strength, confidence & self-reliance & give you mastery over the mind, tongue, passions, emotions, impulses, temper, ete. The body & mind will be at your beck & call. Who is a Yogi? Yoga students are classified into three degrees, the first (yogarudha), the second (yunjana) & the third (arurkshu). Yogarudha is one who has climbed the highest summit of the hill of yoga, who has finished all the preliminary practices, i.e. yama, niyama, asana, pranayama & pratyahara, in his previous births. He at once takes to meditation in this birth. He is established in the highest asamprajnata Samadhi. He belongs to the first class. Sadasiva Brahman of Nerur (South India) & Jnana Dev of Alandi near Poona belonged to this class of yogins. Yunjana is one who has become deeply engaged in the practice of yoga. He belongs to the second class. Arurukshu is one who is attempting to climb the steps of yoga. He belongs to the third class. To the three types of aspirants raja yoga prescribes three kinds of sadhana. To the first-class aspirant raja yoga prescribes practice & dispassion. He practices meditation on the Self; he practices chitta-vritti-nirodhah, and soon enters into Samadhi. To the middling aspirant raja yoga prescribes austerity (tapas), study (svadhyaya) & surrender to God (Ishvarapranidhana). Tapas is of various kinds: standing in the ice-cold water throughout the night in winter; standing on the burning sands throughout the day in summer — these & many other practices form austerity. Svadhyaya is study of spiritual literature & also japa of your mantra. Ishvarapraindhana is self-surrender to the Lord & doing all actions as an affering to God. These three form the sadhanas of the middle type of aspirant who enters into deep meditation very soon & attains liberation. SADHANA:- The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ forms the kernel of the teachings of Lord Jesus. Live in the spirit of the teaching. The whole spiritual sadhana & the gist of the Vedas is there. Put it into practice in daily life. Every individual should cultivate that manner of life which will best lead him towards the attainment of his aspiration, viz., Self-realisation. Start in right earnest now, do not delay even a second. If you have youth, energy, dispassion & a pure heart you will doubtless succeed in your attempt. It is not true that only one attained moksha or liberation & & none else can. History bears evidence of many a Sankara having come into this world. If the past ciuld produce Sankaras, who not the future also? What one has achieved can be achieved by others also. This is the immutable law of nature. HINTS ON MEDITATION:- When you are a neophyte in meditation, start repeating some sublime hymns for ten minutes as soon as you sit for meditation. This will elevate the mind. The mind can be easily withdrawn from worldly objects. Then stop this kind of thinking also & fix the mind on one idea only, by repeated & strenuous efforts. Then meditation will ensue. You must have a mental image of God or Brahman (concrete or abstract) before you begin to meditate. When you start a fire you heap up some straw, pieces of paper & thin pieces of wood. The fire gets extinguished. You blow it again several time through the mouth or the blow-pipe. After some time it becomes a small conflagration. You can hardly extinguish it now even with great effort. Even so, in the beginning of meditation beginning fall down from meditation into their old grooves. They will have to lift their mind up again & fix it on the object of meditation. When meditation becomes very deep & steady they eventually get established in God. Then meditation becomes natural & habitual. Use the blow-pipe of intense dispassion & intense practice to kindle the fire of medtiation.