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Dr. B. K. S. Iyengar – The Yogacharya

Dr. B. K. S. Iyengar

In his introduction to the classic book, Light on Yoga, the world’s best known exponent and expert of this ancient art of health and well–being, B.K.S. Iyengar, offers the following thoughtful and cogent comment on the definition of the word Yoga :
The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj meaning to bind, join, attach and yoke, to direct and concentrate one’s attention on, to use and apply. It also means union or communion. It is the true union of our will with the will of God.

In another well known book, The Gita, according to Gandhi, by Mahadevbhai Desai, (the Mahatma’s lifetime secretary and adopted son), the author wrote in his introduction to the Gita (according to Gandhi), ‘It thus means the yoking of all the powers of body, mind and soul to God, it means the disciplining of the intellect, the mind, the emotions, the will, which that Yoga presupposes, it means a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all its aspects evenly.’

Yoga is one of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy. It was collated, coordinated and systematized by Patanjali in his classical work, the Yoga Sutras, which consists of 185 terse aphorisms. In Indian thought, everything is permeated by the Supreme Universal Spirit (Paramatma or God) of which the individual human spirit (jivatma) is a part. The system of yoga is so called because it teaches the means by which the jivatma can be united to, or be in communion with the Paramatma, and so secure liberation (moksha). One who follows the path of Yoga is a yogi (man) or yogin (woman).

Yoga

In the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad–Gita, which is the most important authority on Yoga philosophy, Lord Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna the meaning of Yoga as a deliverance from contact with pain and sorrow. He says: ‘When his mind, intellect and self (ahamkara) are under control, freed from restless desire, so that they rest in the spirit within, a man becomes a yukta–one in communion with God. A lamp does not flicker in a place where no wind blows, so it is with a yogi, who controls his mind, intellect and self, being absorbed in the spirit within him. When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the spirit within himself finds fulfillment. Then he knows the eternal joy which is beyond the pale of the senses which his reason cannot grasp. He abides in this reality and moves not there from. He has found the treasure above all others. There is nothing higher than this. He who has achieved it, shall not be moved by the greatest sorrow. This is the real meaning of Yoga – a deliverance from contact with pain and sorrow.’

As a well cut diamond has many facets, each reflecting a different color of light, so does the word yoga, each facet reflecting a different shade of meaning and revealing different aspects of the entire range of human endeavor to win inner peace and happiness.

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