Connexion with the desired divinity

from study of what really concerns us comes 'connexion with the desired divinity'. There we have indeed to pause and think, to understand the yoga point of view. It is universally accepted in India that we are very dependent beings. That the essential Self is eternal, pure, happy, and free is accepted, and to realize or know that truth by direct experience is the aim of yoga, as has been shown in our previous chapter; but in all matters pertaining to body and mind we are definitely very dependent beings. We need help or food in every part of our being the 'bread from heaven' as well as the bread of earth. This dependence is the outcome of our collective living, in which each one benefits by association with many, and each one is expected to contribute to this mutual benefit, according to his power.

This concept is extended into the field of knowledge. The study of the great thoughts of others helps us in our under standing. The name for this ninth virtue indicates this. It is swa (own) adhyaya (study), or study of one sown nature and proper living. In addition, in some way God (Ishwara) is the teacher of us all, and all those men of the past who have achieved their independence or divinity are part of that. The laws are not purely external to us. We are learning the inner laws of our being as well as the laws of nature. The gurus of the past have left their knowledge 'in the atmosphere' not the ultimate knowledge, of course, which can never be brought down or represented. There is much that exists above us in Nature, as well as below, and that companionship can be brought within our scope. We can eat of that bread of life, which is there for us when we reach up to it, and may appear in our lives as intuition, and, with some who anthropomorphize their experiences, as from angels or divine beings, who belong to the region of Law and can represent and teach it. Sincere study, the aphorism teaches, will lead to and enhance our contact with this desired divinity.

10. Finally, the reward of attentiveness to God is the power of contemplation or success in contemplation (samadhi). The world might be fantastic and unbelievable, but it is not. It also might be fantastic and unreliable with regard to goodness, but it is not. Constantly the devotional yogi sees more and more, in many of the experiences of life, that it is not, and even how it is not. There is therefore gratitude that the Laws are sane and good and that we are at all times enveloped in that sanity and goodness. To be aware of this sanity and goodness and to be grateful for it is a sort of contemplation or poise of the heart and mind, which passes from gratitude to worship. Worship is thus our highest function, the 'flowering and completion of human culture', as Emerson called it. It is contemplation of the absolute presence of the Divine, and naturally its function is the perfection of itself.

Although the eight steps of yoga proceed next to posture, then to breathing, then on to control of the senses, and only in the sixth, seventh, and eighth stages deal with concentration, meditation, and contemplation, which are the inner or mental steps, we will now proceed in our next chapter to study the Intellectual steps, and afterwards take up posture, etc, to see how they support the main purpose.