Pushkarmuni Abhinandan Granth

Author(s): Devendramuni, A D Batra, Shreechand Surana
Publisher: Rajasthankesari Adhyatmayogi Upadhyay Shree Pushkar Muni Abhinandan Granth Prakashan Samiti

Page 937

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श्री पुष्करमुनि अभिनन्दन ग्रन्थ : नवम खण्ड
body can indeed be an obstacle, but when ignored, it becomes a greater obstacle. Only through understanding, study and proper care can man permanently transcend any obstacle including the body.
When man accepts the presence of Divine energy in each centre of his body, even in the traditionally condemned sex centre, he truly realizes that God is everywhere. Thus he begins to see God's presence manifesting through every aspect of his being. He realizes that God is energy, God is neutral in nature like electricity, which can be used to help man or to hurt him. It is man's choice to use this energy of God within him for higher growth or to misuse it for his own selfish gain and sensual pleasure. Yogis realize this fact and, through Hatha and Kundalini Yoga techniques, they purify the body and mind, thereby internalizing so-called sensual energy for use as a vehicle to achieve expanded states of consciousness. Thus the very sensual energy which is regarded as man's greatest obstacle on the path of prayer becomes the means of higher growth when God is accepted as existing within man through the understanding available in Kundalini Yoga.
When man sees God within himself, he easily recognizes His presence within everyone and everything that surrounds him. He finds it easy to be at one with God. When man sees God as outside and above himself, he experiences a separation, a psychological dichotomy of good and bad, high and low, a dichotomy between heaven and the hell of the flesh, between all earthly beings and their remote Creator. He fails to understand the implications of his belief that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. If God is everywhere, He is also in the body.
Because he believes God to be other than himself, man unconsciously condemns himselt and the world in order to love a God who is other than himself and the world. He feels he is nobody, that he is weak because of his human flesh. Because he has separated himself from God by separating his body from God, he suffers a tremendous amount of guilt and shame. He feels only God's grace can save him. And God's grace can save him-but if man does not have total faith and trust, he will not be able to receive this grace. At the same time he will fail to do anything on his own will, to transform himself. If such a man does not receive God's grace or eastablish some sort of communication with the divine, he has nothing. He has neither a way to contact grace nor the concrete methods of working through the body.
The path of prayer is difficult for the average person to follow because it is based on faith. Man lives in an age of reason, an age of scientific explanation. The average person who wants logic and experiential proof of the truth of teachings finds it hard to accept a religion through faith alone. For this reason, the path of prayer and faith is difficult for modern man to accept. Yoga, on the other hand, is easily followed and well accepted because it uses logic and reasoning as tools to acquire faith. It provides unique benefits to many people because it does not require either faith or will alone, but provides approaches which are suited to people of varied temperaments. The faith-oriented person, the person for whom trust, selflessness, surrender and a prayerful attitude come easily, can practise the path of prayer-Bhakti Yoga. The will and reason-oriented can practise Harha, Karma, Kriya and Roja Yogas with equally effective results.
Eventually all paths of yoga-both the path of prayer and the path of will--are designed to awaken the dormant energy known as Kundalini Śakti. As the active Sakti begins to automatically hasten the practitioner's growth, he naturally enters the path of surrender in which devotion and faith play a predominant role. When the follower of the path of will reaches this stage, however, he experiences faith naturally as a result of his concrete experience of growth in the earlier stage of practice. Faith is not demanded at the outset of the search. Instead, it develops gradually and naturally as a result of sustained, wilful practice.
Whether God comes from above or exists within makes no difference to those who have experienced the heights of higher consciousness, but it does make a difference to beginners.