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it has to be followed at all three levels.
Our ancient texts have formulated four stages or ashramas in life to establish ahimsa: (i) brahmacharya, (ii) grihastha, (iii) vanaprastha, and (iv) sannyasa. Out of these, the last one is the best; that is sannyasa ashram. The greatest pledge that a sannyasin makes is the raising of his hands and saying, Abhayam sarvabhutebhyo dadamya etat vritam mam. He pledges to make all beings fearless from his side by following the path of ahimsa at all three levels of mind, speech and body. This pledge, the greatest pledge, is called sannyasa. It is also known as tyaga, renunciation.
Today we are celebrating the Tyag Jubilee of the most respected master, Paramahamsa Satyananda Maharaj. To me, tyaga and sannyasa are synonymous. Actually speaking, there is no type of renunciation greater than sannyasa. When a person has taken a pledge to give the assurance of fearlessness to the entirety of existence, there can be no greater renunciation
than this.
These days, we see many people who have just parroted a few shastras, a few principles, and call themselves great speakers and scholars without realizing the truth. They can speak on any topic you give them by using some common generalizations. When you feel their heart, however, it is all empty. The root cause of this hypocrisy is that people have forgotten what renunciation is, what to renounce, how to renounce, and what the experiences after renunciation are.
Due to this lack of experience, all the precious jewels of spiritualism have been confined superficially to the tongue only. If a person today takes the pledge of ahimsa and starts practising it, then sannyasa has begun in its real sense, but it would take at least 30 or 40 years to be established in this practice. Lord Sri Krishna says you must keep this aim in your mind, and go on moving ahead. Aneka janma sansiddhim tato yati paramgatim. This jouney may take not only one lifetime but thousands of lifetimes to reach the final destination. So, even if you master ahimsa at the level of speech only, in this lifetime, then it is no less an achievement. By this alone, you can create a global revolution.
So, only one step of yoga on a superficial level has such great potential that it can bind the whole globe into one unit. If yoga really begins to reach our deeper levels of consciousness,
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