NECESSITY, BASE AND SUPREME FACTOR OF YOG

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

NECESSITY, BASE AND SUPREME FACTOR OF YOGA
Yoga bases its origin upon the necessity felt by man to rid himself of all sorrow and
suffering and to free himself forever from bondage brought about by finite existence and to attain
final victory over all fear, even over death itself. To this great problem, Yoga comes as the practical
solution. Yoga plainly states that man is essentially of the nature of Bliss, Perfection, Peace and
Freedom. The loss of his awareness of that oneness with the infinite, all-perfect source of his being

is the very cause of his involvement in this earthly process called life. To regain a true awareness
and to realise once again his everlasting oneness with the Divine is actually the practice of Yoga.
The means of overcoming the defects and imperfections of this earth-life and thus experiencing
union with the Supreme constitutes its structure. Yoga shows how to overcome the imperfections
of the lower nature and to gain complete mastery over the mind and senses.
All the techniques of Yoga require perfect ethical and moral purity. Purity is the foundation
of Yogic life. One cannot be a bad man and yet try to practise Yoga. One cannot allow himself to be
impure, insincere, untruthful, deceitful and harmful to others and at the same time try to practise
Yoga. There cannot be any spiritual realisation when interior circumstances are imperfect. There
cannot be any religious practice or true interior life when moral goodness is not deeply implanted in
the being. One has to be rooted in goodness, in purity, in truth and in selflessness. Half of the
process of Yoga is in getting thus perfectly established in ideal moral conduct. When this basis has
been established, then the application of the techniques of Yoga is like the striking of a dry march
upon the match-box and immediately there is a flame. Without this basis, it is like trying to strike
and ignite a wet match upon a cake of soap—nothing happens.
In all phases of Yogic life, the supreme factor is the grace of God. Call it what you will. It is
the grace of the Supreme Essence, the source of all existence in which alone man realises his true
nature and his deathless divinity. All the practices are purposeful when they make man move
towards God and merge into oneness with Him. This is the purpose of Yoga.