Preparations For True Yoga
We must live in the now to follow the path to enlightenment. In the lower realms of the mind, where time and space seem very real, we are worried about the past or concerned about the future. These two intermingle and limit conscious awareness. Living in the past or the future obstructs us in this way: the past, by reliving old experiences—mainly the negative ones, for they are vividly remembered—clouds our vision of the future. Living in the future overactivates the intellect, the emotion and the desires. The future is little more than another form of mental fantasy. Past and future are equally unreal and a hindrance to spiritual unfoldment. A person functioning in the now is in control of his own mind. He is naturally happier, more successful. He is performing every task with his fullest attention, and the rewards are to be seen equally in the quality of his work and the radiance of his face. He cannot be bored with anything he does, however simple or mundane. Everything is interesting, challenging, fulfilling. A person living fully in the now is a content person.
To attain even the permission to perform yoga one must have the grace of Lord Gaṇeśa and the grace of Lord Murugan. Lord Murugan is the God of the kuṇḍalinī, of the advanced yogic practices. Unfoldment all happens within the kuṇḍalinī and the chakras within our subtle bodies. Once a profound relationship is developed with Lord Murugan, then, with the guru’s permission and guidance, true yoga may commence. Otherwise, no matter how long one sits in meditation, no matter how hard one tries, it is just sitting, it is just trying. There is no fire there, no śakti, no power, no change. It is the Gods who control the fire and at this stage help the devotee immensely, bringing him closer and closer to the supreme God, Śiva. Quite often the yogī in his deep internalized state may see in vision the feet or form of God Śiva before he begins to blend into the mind of God Śiva, called Satchidānanda. It is God and Gods in form that help us to find the formless God.