"Seers of the vast illumined seer logically control their intelligence
and mind. The One knower of all the ways of wisdom, he ordains the invocations of the Gods. Great is
the affirmative being of the Divine solar Will."
Rig Veda, V.81.1.
The Paths Of Yoga : Yoga
In the Vedic teaching it is not enough merely to learn something theoretically or conceptually. The
intellect is not the instrument of real knowledge. Whatever we learn
must be put into practice in our daily life, with body, speech, mind and
full awareness. It is only when it becomes part of our nature, when through it we change our who we
are and thereby return to our higher nature, that it can be said to be
really known or accomplished.
This practical application of the Vedic
teaching is called Yoga. As practice is more important than theory Yoga
is more important than Veda, though neither need be separated from the other.
The term Yoga itself means to "combine, coordinate, harmonize,
integrate, utilize". It indicates the maximum coordination of
energy towards transformation or liberation. All these meanings are
present in the basic root of yoga, 'yuj'. This in turn is based on a
more simple root "yu". "Yu" evolves from the
vowel sound "i" meaning "will, direction, velocity,
command, concentration".
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