Yoga is a democratic science. It offers a variety of options to its aspirants and the freedom to choose the path that best suits their nature and competency. People with a high emotional quotient may choose Bhakti. The intellectual may choose Jnana. The workaholic may choose Karma, and the contemplative may choose Raja Yoga. Yet others may be satisfied with Hatha Yoga. Every selection is a valid one. The famous words of Swami Vivekananda must be quoted in this context: “Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, worship, psychic control, or philosophy —by one or more or all of these— and be free. This is the whole of religion.” (Complete Works, Vol I, page 257)
It is evident that a belief in God or any religious system is not a precondition to the practice of yoga. The intellectual may question the very existence of God. The contemplative may start with the conviction that he is the prime mover of the universe. It follows that the believer, the atheist, and the agnostic are all welcome to explore the potentiality of the science of yoga.
Yoga is loosely defined as ‘union.’ Union with what? Union or integration of the individual with the universe. You may call this Self-realisation or God-realisation. It does not matter.
Yoga develops within the aspirant the capacity to stop the cyclic tendencies of the mind (chitta-vritti-nirodha: Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Sutra 1) and reach the desired goal of the Self or God-realisation. All paths lead to the same ultimate goal.
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