Yoga: Union with God

I find it funny how Westerns tend to bend things from their true purpose to use it how they prefer. For example, yoga is known in the West as stretching excercises used in order to attain a healthy body. That's not exactly it. Yoga as we know it is a certain type of yoga called Hatha Yoga, and it focuses on using asanas (postures) in order to attain union with God. Yoga means union, just to make sure that's clear.

There are many other types of yoga that are used differently. Bhakti Yoga is devotion, usually worship. Karma Yoga is work that is done for God, without being attached to its results. Jnana Yoga is spiritual discrimination, which distinguishes between the real (Atman) and unreal (maya or illusion). Each of these are methods of attaining union with God, and anyone can choose to follow any of these methods.

However, there are a couple techniques that are more efficient in attaining this union quickly. Two of them are Raja (Royal) Yoga, which was brought forth by Patanjali, and the other is Kriya Yoga, which seems to originate from Mahavatar Babaji. These are disciplined forms of yoga that get down to business with its true purpose. They are used strictly to attain complete union with God with no distractions, and they incorporate the other forms of yoga so well that it is undoubtedly one-pointedness towards God.

This is not supposed to be some side hobby that you do once in a while to stay healthy. If you see it truly, it is a way of living. It can be incorporated into every area of your life, just as long as the goal is always God. Even Tantra Yoga uses sex in order to grow spiritually. Paramhansa Yogananda tries to explain that yoga can be very valuable for the Western world. We are the most advanced nation materially, and if we are able to incorporate spirituality into everything we do, we would be completely set. All we have to do is bring all of our attention to God, since He is the Creator of everything. Desiring anything less than His fullness leads to dissatisfaction. This union with God is exactly what we need.

Below is an image showing the spread of Kriya Yoga from Mahavatar Babaji. There are many books on yoga written by these people, and they have also made organizations based on this type of yoga.