Yoga the Science of the Soul: the Heart of Yoga

“Patanjali is the greatest scientist of the inner. His approach is that of a scientific mind; he is not a poet. And in that way he is very rare, because those who enter into the inner world are almost always poets, those who enter into the outer world are almost always scientists. “Patanjali is a rare flower. He has a scientific mind, but his journey is inner. That’s why he became the first and the last word: he is the alpha and the omega. For five thousand years nobody could improve upon him. It seems he cannot be improved upon. He will remain the last word – because the very combination is impossible. To have a scientific attitude and to enter into the inner is almost impossible. He talks like a mathematician, a logician. He talks like Aristotle, and he is a Heraclitus.

Osho legt bij een van de sutra’s in ‘Yoga the Science of the Soul’ uit, dat we in diepe illusies leven. We kunnen niet in het heden leven; we zijn altijd met het verleden of de toekomst bezig. Zelfs op klaarlichte dag zijn we nog aan het dromen. De mind heeft leugens nodig, dromen, illusies; de mind kan niet in de werkelijkheid bestaan. De mind heeft dan ook geen toegang tot het pad van yoga. Want yoga wil de werkelijkheid ontvouwen. Yoga is een methode om te komen tot een toestand zonder dromen. Yoga is de wetenschap van het hier en nu.
Daarom kun je pas het pad van Yoga betreden als je totaal genoeg hebt van de mind en van alle spelletjes van de mind. Als je inziet, dat de mind je alleen maar in een staat van verdoving brengt, dat de mind alleen maar projecteert, ja, dan ben je rijp voor het pad van Yoga.

Het boek ‘Yoga the Science of the Soul’ is in herdruk uitgekomen. Het is  verkrijgbaar  via internet als audiobook.

Excerpt of Yoga the Science of the Soul: the Heart of Yoga # 1

“Try to understand his every word. It will be difficult; it will be difficult because his terms will be those of logic, reasoning, but his indication is towards love, towards ecstasy, towards God. His terminology is that of the man who works in a scientific lab, but his lab is of the inner being. So don’t be misguided by his terminology, and retain the feeling that he is a mathematician of the ultimate poetry. He is a paradox, but he never uses paradoxical language – he cannot. He retains a very firm logical background. He analyzes, dissects, but his aim is synthesis. He analyzes only to synthesize.

“So always remember the goal – don’t be misguided by the path – reaching to the ultimate through a scientific approach. That’s why Patanjali has impressed the western mind very much. Patanjali has always been an influence. Wherever his name has reached, he has been an influence because you can understand him easily; but to understand him is not enough. To understand him is as easy as to understand an Einstein. He talks to the intellect, but his aim, his target, is the heart. This you have to remember.

“We will be moving on a dangerous terrain. If you forget that he is a poet also, you will be misguided. Then you become too much attached to his terminology, language, reasoning, and you forget his goal. He wants you to go beyond reasoning, but through reasoning. That is a possibility. You can exhaust reasoning so deeply that you transcend. You go through reasoning; you don’t avoid it. You use reason to go beyond it as a step. Now listen to his words. Each word has to be analyzed.” Osho

Impressie van Yoga the Science of the Soul

Yoga is not a religion-yoga is pure science just like mathematics, physics, or chemistry What survives of yoga today are mostly the physical exercises that have helped people to achieve a more relaxed and balanced state in their lives. But in fact, as Osho explains in this book, the postures did not come first; rather, people began to notice that whenever they were in a state of meditation, the body naturally took on certain postures.

Because body and mind are so intimately connected, it is possible to bring a certain peace to the mind by arranging the body in a posture that corresponds to this peace. But it’s a misunderstanding to think that it’s the cart that pulls the horse. Drawing from yoga’s original teachings, Osho clarifies this mind-body relationship and reveals yoga to be not only a set of physical exercises but what he calls a “science of the soul”
A handbook with an invaluable resource for either beginning or experienced yoga practitioners, and for anyone who seeks better understanding the intricate and powerful relationship that exists between body and mind.

NOW THE DISCIPLINE OF YOGA.
YOGA IS THE CESSATION OF MIND.

THEN THE WITNESS IS ESTABLISHED IN ITSELF.
IN THE OTHER STATES THERE IS IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MODIFICATIONS OF THE MIND.

We live in a deep illusion – the illusion of hope, of future, of tomorrow. As man is, man cannot exist without self-deceptions. Nietzsche says somewhere that man cannot live with the true: he needs dreams, he needs illusions, he needs lies to exist. And Nietzsche is true. As man is he cannot exist with the truth. This has to be understood very deeply because without understanding it, there can be no entry into the inquiry which is called yoga. ‘Yoga the Science of the Soul’

The mind has to be understood deeply – the mind which needs lies, the mind which needs illusions, the mind which cannot exist with the real, the mind which needs dreams. You are not dreaming only in the night. Even while awake, you are dreaming continuously. You may be looking at me, you may be listening to me, but a dream current goes on within you. Continuously, the mind is creating dreams, images, fantasies.

Now scientists say that a man can live without sleep, but he cannot live without dreams. In old days it was understood that sleep is a necessity, but now modern research says sleep is not really a necessity. Sleep is needed only so that you can dream. Dream is the necessity. If you are not allowed to dream and allowed to sleep, you will not feel in the morning fresh, alive. You will feel tired, as if you have not been able to sleep at all. ‘Yoga the Science of the Soul’

In the night there are periods – periods for deep sleep and periods for dreaming. There is a rhythm – just like day and night, there is a rhythm. In the beginning you fall into deep sleep for nearabout forty, forty-five minutes. Then the dream phase comes in, then you dream. Then again dreamless sleep, then again dreaming. The whole night this goes on. If your sleep is disturbed while you are deeply asleep without dreaming, in the morning you will not feel that you have missed anything. But while you are dreaming, if your dream is disturbed then in the morning you will feel completely tired and exhausted.

Now this can be known from the outside. If someone is sleeping you can judge whether he is dreaming or asleep. If he is dreaming, his eyes will be moving continuously – as if he is seeing something with closed eyes. When he is fast asleep, eyes will not move; they will remain steady. So while your eyes are moving, if your sleep is disturbed in the morning you will feel tired. While your eyes are not moving, sleep can be disturbed, in the morning you will not feel anything missing.

Many researchers have proved that human mind feeds on dreams, dream is a necessity, and dream is total autodeception. And this is not only so in the night: while awake also the same pattern follows; even in the day you can notice. Sometimes there will be dream floating in the mind, sometimes there will be no dreams.
When there are dreams you will be doing something, but you will be absent. Inside you are occupied. For example, you are here. If your mind is passing through a dream state, you will listen to me without listening at all, because your mind will be occupied within. If you are not in a dreaming state, only then you can listen to me.

Yoga means that now there is no hope, now there is no future, now there are no desires. One is ready to know what is. …’Yoga the Science of the Soul’