What Divinity is, that, essentially, man also is. Man partakes of the same nature, and is enabled to regain his awareness of that divine nature by subjecting himself to the process of Yoga. By availing himself of certain well-tried practical techniques, one is raised in consciousness from the physical level to the vast transcendental spiritual level. This higher level becomes one with the Consciousness of God. It is Divine Consciousness, God Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness. This is the attainment that is bestowed upon the Yogis who have tried again and again, a hundred thousand times, the various practical methods which culminate in this glorious experience. Seers and mystics throughout the centuries have proved the validity of these techniques right to the very last factor. The science does not depend merely upon belief, but upon experience gained from the practical application of its principles. The actual living realization has been attained and the glorious experience declared with the authority of many who have mastered themselves. Such masters there are, even today, in all parts of India.

Outside of India too, there are perfected men and women whose souls have been illumined by this divine experience. But India’s view of the purpose of life points directly towards the attainment of this very experience—God-realization. Therefore, there are fewer God-illumined souls outside of India. They may be few, but there still are some holy souls with high spiritual experiences in America, in Europe, and in the Far East. Not wishing recognition, they often live in obscurity. They are all Yogis, nevertheless. Whether you apply the term “Yoga” to their practices or not, their mode of life, their attainment, is Yogic according to the Sanskrit meaning of the term—a state of union with the Divine or an experience of oneness with the Great Reality. This is the real meaning of Yoga. Yoga stands for the experience of Truth or the Consciousness of Reality or union with the Divine.

There are secondary meanings of the term “Yoga”. All the techniques which eventually bestow upon the practitioner the experience of Divine Consciousness may also be designated by the one word “Yoga”. These various techniques, for the sake of an explicit classification, have been divided into four or five different practical approaches, each of which culminates in the experience of the One Great Truth. Certain definite, scientifically evolved and intelligently formulated techniques enable man to divest himself of all the impurities imposed upon him by the nature of his body, mind and senses, and to concentrate his thoughts entirely upon the Supreme. According to this definition, Yoga means to direct your mind towards God, to come on to a deep level of interior worship of the Divine and, finally, to realize your oneness with the Divine Consciousness. So, there is also a simple meaning to the term Yoga and it implies any effort that the soul may make in its effort to attain God.

It may be something you nave found in text books on Yoga or it may be something which you have started to do without any prompting from any external source; if you find that a certain thing helps you in going towards God, and is in accordance with your individual need and temperament, then that thing is a part of your Yoga, whether or not it has been expounded in a Yoga text or explained to you by a Hindu teacher. In Yoga, there is scope for infinite expansion. It is not a rigid science where changes and adjustments are forbidden. The basic techniques remain essentially unaltered, but the details of the practices may be modified to suit the practitioner, depending upon whether he is a Hindu or a Westerner, a man or a woman. Also, a certain technique which may be suitable to you in one form at a particular period in your spiritual life may be modified and altered to suit you in another stage of your spiritual life.

An example of modification is to be found in one of the simplest forms of Yoga. This is the practice of the utterance of the Divine Name. By constant repetition of the Name of God, you keep the thought of God in your mind always. By this remembrance of Him, you begin to feel His presence, and it helps to keep your mind free from all unworthy thoughts. You establish your mind in peace and calmness and lead your inner life in silence.

Now, the Name of God may be repeated in an audible manner. Your mind becomes concentrated if you hear your own repetition. Later on, as you evolve and begin to get the ability to concentrate the mind spontaneously, you may dispense with the audible type of repetition and carry on your chanting inaudibly, mentally. Thus you apply this single technique of repetition of the Divine Name in a particular way when you first begin, and at a later stage, in order to suit your new level of consciousness and convenience, you modify it and apply it in a different way.

Yoga is the practical method for the unfoldment of the inherent divine perfection that is within you. You are Spirit devoid of name and form. The mind is simply the medium for your expression. Yoga leads you into an awareness of your real nature. By means of Yoga, you qualify yourself for the realization of your eternal oneness with the Supreme.