During the last hundred years, the world has changed very rapidly.

The social
system and other systems are not the same as they once were. This has brought about
a situation of dispersion of human energies at all levels. The mind of man has lost
the point of balance and harmony in every sphere of experience. We are so engrossed
in material survival that we have not been aware of what is happening to us.

In the last century or two, diseases have sprung up with new dimensions,
expressions and manifestations. Various sciences are trying to tackle the problem
of human sickness. But honestly speaking, they have failed to deliver the necessary
health to man, because the problem does not originate in the body. It originates
with man's ideals, with his way of thinking and feeling. When there is dissipation
of energy, dispersion of ideals, how can you expect harmony in your mind and body?

In the last few decades, research into yoga has been done and the scientists,
doctors and social workers have come to the conclusion that yoga is a way by which
man's dispersion can be halted. Yoga is such a complete science that it treats not
only the physical body, but the human mind, emotions and total personality at the
same time. Therefore, it has become necessary to tell everybody throughout the
world that you no longer have to be disappointed in medications and treatment. What
you are trying to create in your body, what you are trying to change in your mind,
all can be done by you, within yourself, through the practice of yoga.

Hatha yoga: unblocking of the energies

Nature and God have created this body with all possibilities and hopes. Therefore,
we have various forms and practices of yoga which have to be taught and learned. Of
these, the most important is hatha yoga. Hatha yoga is a method by which you
utilize this body in order to create harmony in the sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous systems. The practices of hatha yoga consist of a few physical postures and
the breathing practices. Asanas are not physical exercises; they are postures
maintained for a definite period of time.

There are two forms of energy flowing within this body: one is known as the vital
energy and the other as the mental energy. When there is a block in the passage of
either of these energies, then you have disease. Disease is not merely a physical
condition. This physical body has to be properly understood, not only as an
aggregate of flesh, blood and bone, but as a complex of energy movements. For
example, an electronic instrument has a superstructure, but inside, it also has an
intricate electronic complex. In the same way, in this physical body, there are
definitely two types of energy that control the entire movement, existence and
homogeneity. On account of wrong thinking, wrong eating or wrong living, sometimes
obstruction takes place in the structure and passage of energy.

In the scientific studies it has also been found that the spinal column is not
merely a set of bones and discs. In the spinal cord there are six sensitive
junctions. Scientific studies have shown that when asanas and pranayama were
practised, electrodes attached to the different junctions registered subtle energy
charges. These junctions control the distribution of vital and mental energy to
every part of the body. But if there is some sort of blockage or defect in the
junctions, then the distribution of energy does not take place properly and various
diseases and disorders result.

It has been found that generally these junctions do not register a proper flow of
energy. When one is suffering from nervous depression, epilepsy or great excitement
and anger, he registers a very low emission of energy. This means that when the
energy is not properly supplied to different organs of the body, nervous tensions
result.

How to release tension

What is the international problem today? Is it hunger, poverty, drugs or fear of
war? No, the universal problem of our century is tension, hypertension, total
tension. If you know how to free yourself of tension, you know how to resolve your
problems in life. If you know how to balance tensions, you know how to control your
emotions, anger and passions. If you know how to overcome tension, you can control
heart disease, high blood pressure, leukaemia and angina pectoris.

If you examine anybody, you will find tensions. I myself have exposed hundreds of
people to scientific observation immediately after entering deep sleep, but all of
them were under tension in spite of perfect sleep. This occurs because we don't
understand what is meant by tensions. Tensions are of three types: muscular, mental
and emotional. If you sleep well, you get rid of muscular tensions. But even if you
sleep for months you cannot eliminate emotional tensions.

Is there any science in the world that can help you release your tensions? Is there
any drug or medicine that can relieve tensions? The various forms of tension are
caused by low emission of energy. It has been found that when you practise yoga and
pranayama, the junctions in the spinal cord register a high emission of energy.
Therefore, the practice of hatha yoga is so important for clearing the blocked
passages of energy in different parts of the body and releasing accumulated
tension.

Pranayama and the brain

In hatha yoga there is another important branch known as pranayama. Usually, in the
west, pranayama is translated as breathing exercise or breath control. In fact,
pranayama is not only a breathing exercise or breath control; it is a system for
training the different centres in the brain.

There are two types of breathing. We call them voluntary breathing and involuntary
breathing. When you breathe automatically throughout the 24 hours, it is called
involuntary breathing, and is registered by the inferior brain, the occipital
region. Now, the moment you start voluntary breathing, a different computer in the
frontal brain registers it. Voluntary breathing thus allows control of the
different hemispheres of the brain.

I will give you one example of voluntary breathing. You breathe in through the left
nostril, hold it for a period of time, then breathe out through the right nostril;
breathe in through the right nostril, hold it for a period of time, then breathe
out through the left nostril. Now, in our scientific studies, we have seen that
when you breathe in through the left nostril, the activity starts in the right
hemisphere of the brain, and when you breathe in through the right nostril, the
activity begins to take place in the left hemisphere of the brain. And when you
hold the breath, both hemispheres of the brain become operative at the same time.

It has also been observed that the breath which goes through the left nostril has a
slightly lower temperature than the breath which goes through the right. This is
because the left nostril is related to ida nadi, the flow of mental energy, while
the right nostril is related to pingala nadi, the flow of vital energy.

Nowadays, in scientific experiments they are using ECG and EEG to record heart and
brain waves, and GSR to measure electrical activity of the skin. They have found
that the practice of pranayama results in a very synchronous flow of alpha, delta
and theta waves which harmonizes the activity of the brain. The tensions recorded
during periods of beta activity change when there are alpha, theta or delta waves.
When the alpha waves manifest in the brain, it has been found that the tensions in
the body are lowered and the heart becomes free from pressure.

Therefore, when we talk about tension or hypertension we definitely should know how
to manage, control or train the brain to produce alpha waves. It is on this basis
that a lot of work has been done in the field of biofeedback. However, in order to
control the brain, you require a method to train the mind. You cannot control it by
separation, fright or fear. The brain, which is the seat for the mind, can be
controlled by managing the different centres through a systematic method of
pranayama.

Raja yoga: mastery of the mind

Now I am going to talk about raja yoga, and the subject I am going to deal with is
meditation. When your mind is one-pointed, that is known as dhyana yoga or
meditation. This is one of the greatest achievements of man. One who can meditate
can control every situation in life. If man does not know how to meditate, he knows
nothing about life.

You may be able to handle the affairs of the society, the country, the nation, the
military and the whole world, but can you handle your own mind? If you cannot
handle your own mind, then you cannot handle anything. Meditation makes you master
of your own self. But how to do it? Everybody talks about meditation, but nobody
knows how to do it. Raja yoga deals in detail with the necessary requisites of
meditation: the technique, how to sit, and what to concentrate on.

When you close your eyes and forget yourself, that is not meditation. You have to
close your eyes and become aware of an inner point; then you keep going in. If your
mind begins wandering, you have to be aware of it. Mind is nothing but
consciousness, awareness. Your brain has millions and billions of archetypes in it,
and these will have to be known, manifested and seen before you can expect any
meditation. Therefore, in meditation you don't have to suppress the thoughts,
emotions or impressions. You just concentrate and let anything happen to the mind,
it does not matter, because the archetypes within the brain will have to be
manifested, experienced and gone through completely. In raja yoga one of the
important techniques is known as yoga nidra. It is a practice and a science in
which you attain the state of total relaxation. In order to heal one's own mind and
body, you have to know how to relax the whole composition, and in yoga nidra you
lie down quietly and completely relax. Through this particular method you renew
yourself, not only mentally, but also physically.

Yoga for a better life

So I have introduced the two systems of hatha yoga and raja yoga. If these are
learned for our daily use, we can have better health and better experiences in
life.

At the present time man is passing through a very difficult period in his life and
experience. On the one hand, he has developed his awareness, and on the other hand
he does not know how to handle it. In one way, he has become supersensitive and in
another way he does not know how to manage it. Now he has become so much aware of
his inner being that he needs certain directive principles in his life. Therefore,
out of 24 hours, if you can devote just half an hour to one hour every day, you can
gain very much from yoga in your life.