Sri Antaranga Yoga – Beyond External
Sri Antaranga Yoga is meant for this who want to advance further on the path of yoga and understanding how to get to the uttama level of yoga. Uttama level of yoga is the highest lever of yoga advancement. The word uttama means the best or beyond the tamas or the material ignorance.
Three Modes
Material energy is made of the three modes of the operation – sattva or goodness, rajas or passion and tamas or ignorance. All the three modes are conditioning and have their own effects.
Tamas or the mode of ignorance is resulting in confusion, pain, deterioration, breaking, darkness of the soul, ignorance, destruction, violence, demise, contamination, deception, foolishness, madness, illusion and so on.
Rajas or the mode of passion is characterised by the desire for creation, excess endeavour, greed, lust, pride, egoism, desire for gaining honor,
Sattva or the mode of goodness is known to give knowledge, health, happiness, ability of maintenance, steadiness, purification of one’s existence, self control, nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, tranquility and so on.
The mode of passion is better than the mode of ignorance and the mode of goodness is better than the mode of passion. The mode of goodness is pure than the pardon and ignorance and is illuminating. By the influence of the mode of goodness one develops knowledge that leads to purification from and to transcending the all the three modes of material nature.
When a pure spirit soul comes in contact with these modes and becomes influenced by them, he becomes conditioned by these modes and is known as the conditioned soul. The process of getting out of this influence is called yoga.
Therefore, vedic scriptures assert – yoga-yukto vishudhatma – one who is engaged in yoga is a purified soul.
Sri Antaranga Yoga Transcends External
When the spirit soul, currently encaged in the mortal body, is able to transcend the influence of the three modes of the material nature, he can become free from the distresses of the material life – repeated birth, old age, diseases and death; and can enjoy the real joy of life that is natural and unlimited. That joy or the nectar of life is called amrita.
On the uttama level of yoga (the best of all the yoga levels), one is always immersed in the amrita of life. Sri Antaranga Yoga is a path to reaching this amrita through the authorised process and carefully structured steps.
