Yoga in light of Ananda Marga Philosophy
1. Unitary Character of Supreme Consciousness. Call God by whatever name but It is ultimately the Supreme Consciousness manifested in different states such as Non-Attributional Consciousness, Ta’raka-Brahma and Attributional Consciousness. God is One but different names exist for different states of That Infinite Consciousness (Citishakti).
2. Ta’raka Brahma is the supreme father of all in the creation--- for expressed or unexpressed. As Supreme Father, He loves all but favours those who love and serve Him in whatever form. It seems He is a jealous lover too and tolerates no ego of the aspirants. Taraka Brahma’s is also only one- a tangential point between sagun’a (Attributional consciousness) and nirgun’a (non-attributional consciousness).
3. Taraka Brahma is a figure of devotion and therefore devotion (Bhakti) plays the most crucial role for an aspirant. Devotion is of many types but Kevala’ or Shuddha or Raga’tmika Bhakti is the ultimate rescue to safely cross the ocean of life.
4. Shakti is subservient to Cognition and therefore samska’ras can not rule for ever. Ultimately, the will of the Supreme Consciousness is the final cause of all causes (Prapattiva’da) and terminus of all His liila (divine play).
5. Worships and prayers or rituals are fruitless if they are devoid of sincere love for the Infinite Consciousness.
6. Meditation or Vidya-Tantra Sa’dhana’ (spiritual effort) is a way to transform fearful love into fearless love for God. Fearlessness comes when we live in harmony with the Absolute Truth that resides with in us as Jiiva'tma. Meditation leads to inner peace, self realization and enables us to get ensconced in an indescribable state of ananda (bliss). Vidya-tantra attempts to awakens benevolent intellect; sentient -tendencies; humility; spiritual-urge; feelings of total surrender to the Supreme; and, attempts always to free one and all from all defects that keep us away from final liberation (shanti-karma).
7. Spiritual practice(s) enable one to control all one’s vrittis, ashta-pa’sha’s, sat’ripus and enables one to cultivate special qualities of an ideal human being.
8. The fear of hell, heaven and ghosts or even a fascination for paranormal phenomenon disappears with the practice of proper spiritual meditation.
9. Mind can either be a friend or an enemy in one’s pursuit of ultimate bliss. If one controls the layers of the mind (kos’as) and infuses them with transcendental goal, it can lead an aspirant to emancipation of a permanent kind. If one does not know the secret of karma-sanya’sa, one can be caught in the noose of ma’ya’(cosmic illusion) and stay trapped in an unending cycle of reincarnations.
10. Ra’ja’dhira’ja Yoga is the subtlest path to uniting unit consciousness with supreme consciousness. It provides a way to blend knowledge, action and devotion; objective and subjective worlds; physical, mental and spiritual aspects and lays down the path for all-round liberation.
11. There can be no progress without a spirit to fight against all forces that stop one’s progress towards the spiritual goal. Aversion to fight is the sign of cowardliness and a sure way to lead to dejection and frustration. Fight, however, does not mean violence (him’sa). Rather, this fight is the weapon of dharma and must be wielded with love and compassion at all times.
12. Microvita is the smallest expression in the creation and can be considered as the direct emanations of the Cosmic Factor. They create this divine play with their peculiarities and special properties. They can create or destroy all bodies of the universe. Learning to utilize both positive and negative microvita positively is the key to a healthy spiritual yogic life-style. Negative microvita lead to disease and positive microvita cure diseases.
13. Negative microvita thrive where there is a presence of dogma. The philosophy and practice of Neohumanism is an antidote to the psychology infected with narrow sentiments. Neohumanism employs Cosmic Sentiment (God-centeredness) in order to replace matter-centered, self-centered and dogma-centered ideologies. The philosophy of neohumanism exposes and shatters geo-sentiments, socio-sentiments and psuedo-philosophies based on hypocrisy and vested interests.
14. Neohumanist living based on yama-niyama is a constructive approach for cultivating positive microvita. Widespread use of neohumanist education can create a conducive environment for solving the problems of human society and building a progressive future for all species.
15. The flow of universal consciousness is eternal and non-causal. No body has the power to stop it. Hence, the progressive utilization of all potentialities is the only path open to human beings. PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) is, therefore, a universal call to establish one human society based on progressive principles. The seed of human progress lies in the implementation of PROUT. This truth will have to be accepted by men- today or tomorrow. There is no way out except PROUT.
16. The leadership of every institution must be entrusted in the hands of the Sadvipras (moral and virtuous persons).Let there be incentives to become moral and lead virtuous & compassionate lives. The purpose of Yoga is to help each person to become a sadvipra, an ideal human being and an asset for the human society. Yogis are not to run into caves or engage in any uncalled for penances. Rather, they are to engage in the world through sa´dhana, service and sacrifice. They are to engage in exemplary behavior.