chapter 6 – upāsana yoga

 

Swamiji introduces upāsana yoga, also referred to as samādhi yoga, as the second major step in the course of spiritual discipline. The primary purpose of upāsana yoga is to make the human personality fit for the accomplishment of the human goals. It is a comprehensive personality conditioning program designed to make an individual puruṣārtha worthy. Just as a vehicle must be completely road-worthy before undertaking a long journey, the human personality must be conditioned, integrated, and toned to successfully travel the spiritual path.

To facilitate this conditioning program, the scriptures divide the human personality into three manageable layers: kāyikam (the physical aspect), vācikam (the verbal aspect), and mānasa (the psychological or mental aspect).

kāyikam (physical conditioning) The first layer is the physical body, which is the most important instrument for accomplishing anything in life, whether material or spiritual. The scriptures uniformly declare that one should never neglect their physical health. Preserving health is far easier, less expensive, and less time-consuming than trying to recover it once lost. Swamiji emphasizes that maintaining physical fitness through proper diet and exercise is not considered pampering the body, provided that the health is sought for worthy spiritual goals rather than as an end in itself.

vācikam (verbal conditioning or vāk tapas) The second layer focuses on the organ of speech, which not only indicates one’s personality but deeply influences it. According to the Bhagavad Gita, the discipline of speech (vāk tapas) requires the observation of four strict parameters:

1. anudvega karam: Speech must not hurt anyone. This is non-violence at the verbal level. One must carefully avoid all forms of abuse, criticism, denigration, and arguments. If pointing out a flaw is absolutely necessary, it must be done with extreme care, much like a surgeon who anaesthetizes a patient before making a cut, so that the pain is minimized.
2. satyam: Truthfulness is an essential stepping stone to reaching the absolute truth, bhagavan. Every lie takes a person further away from bhagavan. A seeker must sensitize their mind to untruth so intensely that telling a lie produces mental disturbance or “mental rashes.” The pain of lying should become so deep that any worldly benefit gained from it feels completely insignificant. For unavoidable lies, one must neutralize the necessary evil by voluntarily undergoing prāyaścittam (penance).
3. priyam: Speech must be pleasant, soft, gentle, and polite. One should lower their volume and avoid all amaṅgala śabda (inauspicious or cursing words).
4. hitam: Whatever is spoken must be beneficial to the listener. Swamiji warns that one of the worst forms of verbal violence is forcing someone to listen when they are not interested. One should ensure the other person actually wants to hear what is being said.

mānasa (mental conditioning and meditation) The third layer is the mind. While upāsana primarily means mental discipline, the mind is a subtle instrument that cannot be controlled directly without first conditioning the body and speech. Mental conditioning is largely achieved through meditation, which Swamiji classifies into four types:

1. Relaxation meditation: This aims at de-stressing and relaxing the mind and body. In today’s fast-paced, high-stress world, learning to sit quietly and calm one’s restlessness is vital for both physical and mental health.
2. Concentration meditation: This trains the mind to develop a longer attention span and the capacity to focus. Practices like mānasa pūjā (mental worship), mānasa pārāyaṇam (mental chanting), and mānasa japa (mental repetition of bhagavan‘s name) are excellent methods for developing concentration.
3. Expansion meditation: This teaches the individual to expand their mind to visualize the totality of creation (viśva rūpa dhyānam). By meditating on the vast cosmos, one realizes their own relative insignificance, which automatically puts personal problems into their proper, minimized perspective.
4. Transformation or value meditation: This focuses on bringing about an inner transformation by deliberately changing one’s thought patterns. Thoughts are the subtle seeds that eventually become words, actions, habits, character, and destiny. By utilizing willpower (saṅkalpa śakti) to meditate on noble values (daivī sampad) and consciously dropping negative traits (āsurī sampad), the seeker reshapes their entire future.

integration and teamwork (ārjavam) Finally, Swamiji explains that individual health of the body, speech, and mind is not enough; they must function together in perfect integration and coordination. They should not function at cross purposes. For instance, lying creates a division between the mind and speech. Practices like punctuality help align the mind, speech, and physical action. This teamwork of the personality (ārjavam) ensures that the seeker is fully conditioned and ready to advance to the final discipline of self-knowledge.