Yoga Practices Spelled Out In The Gita

Recently, I had e-mailed “Yogasadhanas In The Gita Part 4” by Swami Niranjanananda of the Bihar School of Yoga to a relatively small circle of yoga friends. This was sent to me by Anahita in Mumbai and circulated by the Satyananda Mumbai Google Group.

Well, e-mails came back to me asking for the other three parts as people really got into part 4! This also fits well in our current theme of reading and being exposed to a range of speakers and thinkers.

Swami Niranjanananda is the spiritual head of the well-known Bihar School of Yoga (www.yogavision.net has an updated website now) based in Munger, India. It has several centers around the world. The ashram is known for its outstanding, practical books on yoga and meditation. Several books have been reviewed on www.mahasriyoga.com/bookreviews. Swami Niranjan is a highly respected and beloved authority on spirituality and yoga. You can find him on You Tube! If you have attended a Yoga Nidra class, the chances are high that it is a Satyananda Yoga Nidra that has undergone some minor modifications.

Here are the links:

Yogasadhanas In The Gita Part 1

Here is a short excerpt, but do read the whole article for full context and meaning:

“There are three things which disturb the mental behaviour: attachment, fear, and anger. Attachment represents connection, association, relationship. Fear represents insecurity, whether financial, personal, family, or social. ‘Society is not safe, my family is not safe, I don’t have financial resources to buy my food tomorrow or maybe after a month, I don’t have enough to pay the bills this month.’ Such thoughts indicate fear and insecurity. Anger is the third disturbance of mind–aggression and high anxiety. Anything that stimulates and brings in the state of high anxiety in your nature and character is included in the word anger. The instruction that Sri Krishna gives in order to manage the mind is to reduce desire and restrain anger, fear and attraction. Practise these four things and the mind will become stable.”

The next three parts describe how this can be achieved with yogic practices.

Yogasadhanas In The Gita Part 2

Yogasadhanas In the Gita Part 3

Yogasadhanas In The Gita Part 4

I will add short excerpts to each of these parts in the next three posts.