Haribhadras Yoga Works and Psychosynthesis

SR No.: 001262
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S A Desai
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1983
Total Pages: 106
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Yoga
File Size: 7 MB

Page 85

Haribhadra and Psychosynthesis
As the ascension to the summit of Yoga begins the Sadbaka has to pass through twelve stages. In other words, it can be said that he has to do sādhana in twelve spheres of his life. Who can be the Sadhaka ? Can we have categories of sādhakas as has been done by Haribhadra and oth. ers ? Qualities and qualifications for the Sadhakas are required even in the present times as was in olden times. Any knowledge requires fitness for gaining it. But there cannot be any hard and fast rules for that and the royal road requires only some initial fitness which would introduce the sādhaka on the road. The qualifications are like this:
(1) Interest in one's self-development and consciousness (2) Slowly but steadily increasing detachment in worldly pleasures (3) steady increase in introspection (4) acceptance of the self (5) sincerity and honesty of purpose (6) feeling of joy io the search of the self, (T joy in the service of others (8) fondness of work, purposive work (9) faith in oneself and the supreme consciousness (10) discrimination in finding out the self and the notself (11) pleasure in seeking the truth and grasping it with eagerness (12) Right conduct inside and outside. These are hard qualifications no doubt, perhaps harder than Haribhadra prescribes but they are absolutely needed. They can be cultivated by conscious efforts and the fitness for progress increases in proportion the efforts in this diroction are fruitful.
As soon as the fitness for the yoga-path is determined in this way for the modern times, we can take it as the first milestone of this path. These qualities are inovitably necessary and any one who can qualify for the same deserves entrance on this path. There cannot be any other qua. lification needed for the same. Who can be the judge for this ? Sadhaka must be his own judge. The olden convention of having a Guru cannot be eradicated from the present times because such spiritual Gurus though rare are still available. Those who are seen moving in the society are not reliable in the yoga path even though most of them may not be dishonest. The ultimate Guru and the everpresent Guru is the Supreme Consciousness because He always is available by his immanent and transcendental presence though one can have outside Guru as needed. The inner Soul can contact him if he surrenders himself to this Supreme Consciousness, totally by body, mind and soul. That is why he has to search himself, judge himself and try to assess himself by introspection. Such a method of self-assessment, self-study, self-improvement and self-guidance is advocated by Gandhi by actual practice throughout his life. He tried to take the best for self-integration from Rajchandraji, Tolstoy and even Ruskin when he saw something best and good in each of them but he never made any one of them his Guru in the ancient traditional way. Outside Guru can be more than