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THE PATH OF YOGA Paramahamsa Niranjanananda
In the last four days the environment of this town and the land of Munger has been vibrant with yoga. This land has already been sanctified by the pious goddess, Ganga, who constantly washes away our sins and purifies our minds. It is the pride of Munger to have the northward flowing mother Ganga as its deity. In the form of her blessings, the "Ganga of yoga," has been flowing here for the last four days and will continue to flow in the future, to contribute continuously to the welfare of the masses. This is the aim of yoga because everybody wants peace, spiritual peace, internal peace. Man always searches for peace, but that search is externally oriented towards the attractions, to objects of sensory pleasure.
As our most respected Swami Vidyanandaji Giri Maharaj, Acharya of Brahma Vidya Peeth, put it yesterday, "If you want real peace and internal bliss in your life, then first of all conquer the mind." This sentence of his can in fact become a guide for us all. Also our respected master Paramahamsa Satyananda used to say, "There is no peace in the caves of the Himalayas and no chaos in the main Munger market." If you cannot control your mind, you will find no peace in those caves and forests of the Himalayas, and if you can keep your mind still, then you will maintain and feel peace even in the middle of the chaotic main market. The message of yoga is the same.
In the last few days so many saints, thinkers, intellectuals and scientists have come here to deliver only one message, which is that the objects of sensory pleasure will continue to exert their attraction in the world, that can never be eradicated. As long as we fail to develop control over the mental faculties, we shall continue to experience duality and as long as we experience duality we will have to face pleasure and pain, peace and chaos.
Engrossment in worldliness ultimately leads a man to physical sickness and makes him diseased. It also makes his
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