Yoga and the Idea of a Deeper Reality

What is the meaning of yoga in the context of the non-dual teachings? The popular idea of yoga, which many take for granted, is that it is a system of physical exercises which originated in India and is now available in most sports centres. One with deeper knowledge would point out a link between yoga and meditation, and explain that yoga is as much concerned with the mind as with the body. In this context, meditation may be viewed as yoga for the mind, helping us to be relaxed, free from nervous tension, peaceful and inwardly strong.

Yet our picture is still incomplete, until we appreciate that yoga is a means to a unique kind of knowledge. For we are not just body and mind, but body, mind and spirit—or ultimate Self. Through the inner practices of yoga, our mind will become fit to comprehend and realise the deeper reality underlying the universe, and also at the basis of our own being. One of the original meanings of yoga is that of joining or uniting our individual consciousness to the cosmic consciousness. It is the means for revealing in our own being the essential presence of eternal Truth, or God, as the true nature of our consciousness and existence.