True Religion
In a larger context, this is the basis for the practice of what I call true religion. To practice true religion means to recognize all religions, and particularly those that appear alien to us, as an emanation of and true path to the Supreme Being. A person who claims that truth is to be found only in the religion of his or her tribe is not religious but merely sectarian. A sectarian has an agenda, which is mainly to prove that a particular approach or religion is right or wrong. The emphasis of a sectarian is on controlling the behavior of other people. A truly religious person, in contrast, is not interested in the path through which you reach the Supreme Being but rather in whether you get there and how fast. The emphasis is on the Supreme Being itself and its ecstatic revelation to the individual.
1 Some traditional authorities consider the Western term myth derogatory when used to describe ancient Indian tales. This is because in modern usage, myth is also used to refer to an untrue but commonly believed notion. But this is not the primary definition of myth, which is instead a traditional story about the early history of a people or civilization, often including deities or other supernatural beings. The terms myth and mythology are used here strictly in the primary sense of the term.
2 The Sanskrit term arya means “noble.” It does not refer to ethnicity but denotes people who have a spiritual outlook on life and who accept that in the heart of every person, however foolish he or she may appear, is an eternal, divine self.
3 When Westerners first came to India they applied their knowledge of European culture to India. Since ancient European religions were polytheistic, Western observers projected this knowledge onto the Indian culture and called the Indians’ devas “gods.” This led to the belief that Indians worship many different gods.
4 Skanda Purana, I, 8, 20.
5 Arthur Avalon, Shakti and Shakta (Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1994), p. 288.
6 Ishvara is also listed as one of the 1,000 names of Lord Shiva, but the term is not used here with that meaning.
7 Grammatically the Brahman is masculine, feminine, and neuter simultaneously.
8 Not to be mistaken with the Brahman, the formless absolute.
9 Chandogya Upanishad 8.1.
10 From time to time Indian authorities such as Shankara had to come forward and outlaw some of these meditation images because they had led to some bizarre forms of worship (such as the thuggees). Shankara, his advice obviously not followed by everyone, limited “correct” worship to six divine forms: the Lord Shiva; his two sons Ganesha and Kartikeya (often called Murugan, Ayeppa, Subramaniam, Kumara, or Skanda); the Lord Vishnu (represented by his many avataras such as Lord Rama and Lord Krishna); the Goddess (known by many names, including Uma, Parvati, Durga, and Devi); and finally Surya, the sun.
Sanskrit: The Sacred Language of Yoga
In this chapter I invite you to take a closer look at the Sanskrit language. Sanskrit is both the carrier of the most extensive spiritual tradition of humankind and the language that the Supreme Being created to teach yoga and to guide human beings in their return to infinite consciousness. Learning at least the basics of Sanskrit is a fundamental part of one’s yoga practice and spiritual development; in this chapter I explain why this is so.
You may have heard of the great teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti, one of the few outstanding intellectual giants of the twentieth century. Krishnamurti spent most of his life circling the globe to lecture, never finding the peace and quiet he needed to realize a lifelong goal: to learn Sanskrit. Finally, at age ninety-five, knowing he had little time to live, he sat down to learn the language. Krishnamurti lived his life to the fullest, and while he proposed many provocative concepts, I’m sure that he died with a sense of satisfaction that he had given his all. The fascinating fact remains, however, that he did not just spend his final days gazing into the sunset but instead studied Sanskrit. It speaks volumes to us about the importance of this language.
Unfortunately, some modern Western yoga teachers have publicly stated that Sanskrit is of no relevance for modern yogis. This can be seen as another sad case of Westerners looting foreign cultures for anything that can be exploited for short-term gain — in this case, the practice of postures — and discarding in ignorance everything that seems too deep and difficult to understand. But the truth is that an ability to pronounce Sanskrit mantras properly is absolutely necessary for advanced yoga practice. Correct pronunciation requires at least some knowledge of the Sanskrit language, particularly of the fundamental relationship between sound and spirituality that is at its core.
Sanskrit is a mantric language, and it is nothing but the science of sound itself. Mantras are sound forms that contain encoded reality and have the power to alter and produce reality. Sound, according to the Vedas, is not just an audible sensation; it goes much, much deeper. Sound includes all forms of vibratory patterns, such as brain waves, the orbits of electrons around atomic nuclei, the movements of celestial bodies, and the reverberations caused by the Big Bang. It is therefore the essence of reality.
The Four Phases of Sound
According to Vedic science, there are four phases or states of sound: para, pashyanti, madhyama, and vaikhari. I know that’s a lot of strange words in one sentence, but if you can wrap your mind around these four terms you will have understood the basis of much of advanced yoga. Only the last of the four, the vaikhari phase, is audible to the ear, because only vaikhari is a gross, physically manifested sound (included in this category are sounds that can be perceived only by an ear more sensitive than the human ear, such as that of a cat, dog, or bat). In other words, everything that Western science classifies as sound falls into this lowest category.
The unfolding of the four phases of sound is parallel to the unfoldment of the gunas, or qualities of nature, and is most easily understood in that context. So let’s look at the gunas first. To get a quick handle on the gunas, liken them to the three elementary atomic particles of physics. Just as the electron, neutron, and proton form in varying combinations all atoms, elements, and compounds, the three gunas — sattva, rajas, and tamas — make up, in ever-varying combinations, all objects. With this analogy in mind, the late Sanskrit scholar Surendranath Dasgupta (1887–1952) labeled tamas as the mass particle, rajas as the energy particle, and sattva as the intelligence particle. Just as in Western elementary physics, these particles appear sometimes as particles
