by Yogiraj Siddhanath

K. Hari Warrier, May 9 2003

Hindistan Times.com

Yogiraj Siddhanath traces his lineage to the Ikshavaku dynasty, to which Lord Rama is believed to have belonged. It is said that Yogiraj was born a seer, so to say, and would meditate long hours even at the age of four.

Today, he is a ‘householder yogi’, and lives with his wife Shivangini in a forest ashram near Simhgarh fort, Pune. He has established an organization, Hamsa Yoga Sangh, and imparts his knowledge of Sanatana Dharma to all and sundry.

What is perhaps unique about Yogiraj is the “Unified Field of Consciousness”, in which he goes into samadhi, and then shares that experience with his audience as a sort of introduction into spirituality. He spoke to Hindustan Times:

On life, and teaching, as a yogi

I am a householder yogi. I lead the life of a householder as well as that of a yogi. The two can be combined just as I have demonstrated in my life.

I give two main techniques, one is the technique of kriya yoga of the great Mahavatar Shiva Goraksha Babaji. The second is the Siddhanath Healing Enlightenment (SHE) which He has helped me develop. The techniques are very simple yet effective. And they are given to suit the person in daily life. Later on, there are higher levels…

I am happy to serve. When you serve a guy, his ego melts, then you can enter him more easily. Otherwise the subconscious mind forms a barrier… As a service to service phenomenon, it (teaching) flows better.

On the spiritual path

Spiritual progress is a very individual question, and each person advances according to his own effort. Three things are required for success in yogic practice.

Discipline: This is tapah. A person disciplines himself in such a manner that material things loosen their grip and control over the mind… sleeping on a soft bed, sumptuous food, indulging in the pleasures of life… they are distractions.

When a man disciplines himself, when he learns to sleep simply on a hard bed, when he gets up at a given time to meditate, the material things lose their grip, and the mind becomes more sharpened towards its goal. That is the idea of tapah, to loosen the grip of material things on the mind, so that the mind can expand into consciousness, so that dharana, or concentration, can become dhyana, where it goes into a state of consciousness.

The first stages are yama and niyama. Asanas too are important, they discipline the body.

Self-study: The second prerequisite after tapah is swadhyaya, or self study, the study of your true self, which is your soul, using your apparent self, which is the body. So you are using your body as a laboratory and discipline it to get to your true self, which is your soul. The means whereby the body is used to get to a higher state of consciousness is called prana.

Swadhyaya consists of pranayama. Pranayama is the link point which gets you to subtler states of consciousness. It soothes the nerves, and expands the mind. It creates a magnetism in your spine.

Pranayama is developed to a high degree by contact with the cosmic prana. The prana in the human body is as though contained in a bottle. The human body is itself made up of prana. It is like water in an ice bottle floating in an ocean. When the bottle melts, the individual prana in the body comes in contact with the universal prana.

But the yogis do not concentrate on the perishable body, whose fate is pre-decided: consignment to the flames. So why waste so much time on temporary investment? ‘Let me invest on something more, which is the true self. We will use pranayama to climb the ladder of prana to reach God.’

After pranayama, the seeker goes into pratyahara, and then he goes into dharana, dhyana and samadhi, which is loosely translated as trance. When these unite, it is called samyam, and he realizes his own God within, his Divine Indweller.

Surrender: The third factor, which is necessary to realize Godhood, is Ishwar paranidhan, or total surrender to God. Whatever comes, comes from God, I am satisfied with what I have.

This is not fatalism. The seeker is not negative, he is making the effort. He is doing tapah. Disciplined yoga, meditation, swadhyaya. And while doing this, he is also happy. The approach is, “while I am making an effort I may be a pauper or a millionaire. It doesn’t make a difference to me. My real purpose is to seek God. So whatever condition You put me in, I will still keep making the effort.”

You carry on regardless of obstacles, because you know it is all Godsend, it is a result of your karma. But that doesn’t mean you should not make the purashartha or the effort to seek the Divine Indweller.

On India and Indians

India has always been a passive and docile country. It gives away its techniques and takes its learning from others. The Indian psyche is very timid, it is the psyche of a saint. Basically the Indian is a contemplative person.

But the Indian soul is the most courageous person in the world. In spite of great difficulties in the path, he goes along with strong determination, and achieves the goal. He has the determination to walk on fire.

There I take my hat off to the people of Bharatha, a name so beautiful… it means the land whose people are wedded to the light of soul. Ratha (united) to the spiritual abha (light) of the aatma. Aatmaprakashit (self enlightened). Even today, India is the spiritual dynamo of the world.

His message

My vision for new life awakening, is earth peace through self peace. Meditate and find peace, and then tell millions of people to find peace within themselves. A simple formula…