Why does modern man need yoga | Age of Aquarius

According to astrology, the entire universe exists, obeying the unified cosmic laws of the creation. Celestial bodies scattered across the vast expanse of galaxies, moving along a certain trajectory, necessarily affect each other. This movement, by its duration, is divided into different cycles. The shorter cycles are well known to us, people, because we can observe them repeatedly during one life. For example, one of the most obvious is a day, that is, one revolution of the Earth around its axis. Even such a tiny cosmic cycle significantly affects the way of our life. We are awake during the day and asleep at night, and if this natural mode is disrupted, it seriously affects our health. Another well-known natural cycle, which involves one revolution of the Earth around the Sun, is the year. The impact of this time period has already a more serious scale of influence. Somewhere the snow falls, somewhere the rainy season comes, and somewhere, on the contrary, there is heat and drought. We, people, have nothing else to do but to adjust to the different hands of the “cosmic clock”, harmonizing our way of life with the current conditions. Those who refuse to recognize the laws of nature and decide to fight them will seem to others, at least, not quite reasonable. Isn’t it?

The same is true of cosmic cycles of a longer character, the scale of which goes beyond the life of an ordinary person. For example, there are so-called Epochs or Eras, each of which bears the name of some sign of the Zodiac. The duration of one epoch is 2160 years. Total of such Epochs is 12 and in the sum they form a full circle, duration of 25920 years. It is considered that each Epoch throws its special challenges to the human body, mind and soul, so in each of them are born exactly those souls that correspond to them with their karmic limitations. Knowledge of the characteristics of the Age in which you were born, as well as possession of the tools that help to cope with these challenges, greatly facilitates and accelerates the path of consciousness evolution.

Today we live in a historically unique time when one Age replaces another. The one that has just ended is called the Age of Pisces (which lasted from the I-II century B.C. to 1991-2012 A.D.), and the one that has just begun is the Age of Aquarius. Let’s look at the fundamental differences between these two cosmic cycles in order to understand what lies ahead and how we should work with it. Fortunately, for our generation it will be not a discussion of empty theory, but a practice of the actual day, because all events characterizing this difference, either happened recently, or are unfolding right now. We will be convinced of the truth of this concept by concrete historical examples.

So, the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius. What is the fundamental difference between the two?

1. Information. In the Age of Pisces, information was closed. In order to get access to any valuable knowledge it was necessary either to pass initiation at a serious master (having previously earned it), and/or to go to distant lands where this knowledge was stored and protected (for example, in Tibet). In the Age of Aquarius, there are no secrets. Information is open. Anything from bomb-making technology to sacred techniques for spiritual growth is available. Enter the necessary term in the search engine and you do not even need to leave the house to get a whole library for your use. Today everyone has the right and opportunity to determine their vector of development, you just need to direct your attention in the desired direction. However, now how to make sense of all this abundance? How to understand where there is the essence of knowledge, and where is information garbage? And, most importantly, how to decide what exactly you need from all this spectrum of opportunities?
2. Speed and Change. In the bygone Age, the pace of life was much slower. This applied to all spheres of human activity, from sending a letter to your relative to the speed of technology change. When you were young, you could learn a profession and work according to this method all your future life. Today, the situation has changed dramatically. Getting an education is just the initial point of departure. You have just graduated from an educational institution, got a job, mastered a computer with all the necessary software, you are already given a tablet. You made efforts, got used to and mastered the tablet – that’s it, it’s not relevant, now your working tool is a phone. Well, you have learned to work with a phone – you are told that it makes no difference what you work on, because your working gadgets are connected to a cloud server, where information from all your devices is collected and synchronized. Now you just sit back and figure out all these innovations. In addition, apart from technology, everything is changing, requiring immediate reaction and adaptation: the economic situation, scientific concepts, the political environment. How can you adapt to such a changing world, traveling at such fast speeds?
3. Physical and mental health. In the Age of Pisces, ailments of a physical nature were mostly relevant. People could die early solely because of any diseases of their body (except for violent death, of course). Today, in the 21st century, we see that the main cause of much human suffering is mental illness: depression, insomnia, inability to concentrate or make decisions, mental fatigue and burnout. These diagnoses are spreading with epidemic progression. The fast pace of life, as well as the tons of relevant information our brains must process in a critically short period of time, throws even the most competent, productive, and intellectually advanced people off balance. How can we learn to recover and keep our energy level up to withstand the onslaught of this unbridled Age?
4. To be or to appear is the question. In the bygone period, everyone could put on a face – a mask under which he appeared to the world, by which he was known. Today, the principle of openness is inherent not only in information and knowledge, but also in any facet of human activity. Everything that is hidden comes out. Everything that is false and fake is exposed. This happens both at the level of the laws of the Universe, which determine the reality of this Epoch, and on a completely down-to-earth plane – technological. Every action can be traced. Every transaction, every statement, every deed leaves a trace. And by these deeds, people are recognized. How should one behave in the absence of a private form of life?
5. The private and the common. In the Age of Pisces, human consciousness was characterized by a sense of duality, the division of the world into “me” and “not me”. There is me and there is another person, my house and not mine, my children and someone else’s, my transportation and yours – I and the rest of the planet existed separately. In the Age of Aquarius, such boundaries are being erased. Human beings increasingly realize that they are not separate from their environment. We are all dependent on each other’s behavior It is impossible to dump dirt and garbage into a body of water that flows through your territory without harming your neighbor. How do we abandon selfishness and self-centeredness in favor of the common good? How to take responsibility for the whole planet based on your own behavior?
6. Where is God, outside or inside? A characteristic feature of the spiritual concept of the Age of Pisces is that the Creator was mostly sought somewhere outside of oneself, outwardly, raising one’s eyes to the heavens (again, an inherent approach of the dual paradigm). Humanity, en masse, has forgotten that God creates and breathes within everyone. He is part of us, he is not separate. How to find unity with something greater than your own insignificantly small Ego? How can we feel the Creator not in a carved stone image on the altar or an artistic sculpture on the wall, but even in a small grain of sand under our feet?

There are undoubtedly many other characteristics that reflect the difference between these two Epochs of relevance to us, but even these six suggest the enormity of the changes that are taking place.

Summarizing the above, in order to effectively live life in the Age of Aquarius, we need to learn how to: 1) choose the essence among the abundance of information; 2) quickly adjust to the ever-changing environment, continuously learning new skills; 3) recover (physically, emotionally and mentally), maintaining energy at the proper level; 4) to be and not to seem, accepting yourself as you really are, without hiding it from anyone; 5) to feel responsible for this world, having learned productive interaction with your environment; 6) to know and experience the Most High within yourself, on your own experience, on the level of the soul, but not of the mind. Knowledge and understanding of these processes already guarantee us 50% of successful movement through life, because now we have the opportunity to move purposefully, focusing on absolutely specific indicators. However, for this movement to be truly worthwhile, it is obvious that we need technology, some holistic approach that will provide us with all of the above skills. Of course, I’m going to talk about yoga.

A competent, consistent and regular approach of yoga, applied in everyday life, that is not only on the mat in the studio, will allow a socially active person to align with the general movement of the universe in an absolutely natural way, on all levels of his existence.

As we said above, there is so much information today that intelligence is not enough to process it and make the right choice. It will simply get confused in all the possible solutions to any problem, even if it uses modern software to help itself. To achieve a steady movement in the right direction, intuition is essential. Only at the level of our inner self do we really know, or rather feel, where we should move. Only there is a clear understanding of where and in what capacity we need to be. We can hear the voice of intuition only when the noise of the mind is silenced. Developing a meditative state of consciousness, we move to a new level of existence, when all unnecessary things are silenced, all information garbage disappears and the true Path, formed not for one life, becomes clearer.

By practicing yogic complexes (asanas, for example), you can develop the much-needed skill of flexibility – physical, emotional and mental. A flexible mind in conditions of constant change does not experience any suffering. With it you move through life like a surfer on the waves, where the waves are natural processes changing each other, and the board is your actions adapted to the current conditions. You do not fight with anything, do not resist, but move according to the basic rhythm of the Universe. You are on your way with it.

The energy generated in the practice will help you cope with the high speed of life rhythm. First of all you have to learn how not to waste this energy. Yoga has the necessary rules and regulations for this. In brief, anything that entails emotional outbursts, such as experiencing negative emotions (fear, anger, greed, envy) or lower pleasures (lust, tamasic and rajasic foods, wanton consumption and greed) uses up precious energy in incredible amounts. Take control of your desires and emotions and you will already get considerable relief. At the next stage, you will be able to effectively apply the techniques available in yoga (pranayama, for example), aimed at restoring and maintaining consciousness at the proper level.

Meditation, first of all, will provide you with an understanding of yourself. As a consequence, you will no longer need to hide anything, be shy or experience any other complexes. Why? It doesn’t make any sense. The yogic path is about exploring, understanding and harmonizing all the “warps” in the mind. Anything you don’t like there can be changed for the better. You have a wide range of tools available to you for this purpose. Over time, by illuminating all the dark corners of your personality, you will begin to shine and it will be clearly visible from the outside. You will accept yourself for who you really are. Fake masks will no longer be necessary. You are pure, beautiful and ready to share your joy with others.

At this stage, you also realize quite naturally that there is no distinction between you and the society around you. All people are part of a whole, like drops in the ocean. If one drop gets polluted, it will pollute the next, just as by cleaning yourself you will help the whole bowl of water to become cleaner. Mutually beneficial cooperation for the benefit of the common greatly increases the efficiency of the process of evolution of the collective consciousness. All this for you will become not just a beautiful theory, but a natural state of mind.

Eventually, by making efforts and going deeper and deeper into yourself, you will reach the source of the universe. The final stage of the meditative state will allow you to experience union with the Most High, having cognized Him on your own experience, regardless of what religion you adhere to. You will not need to believe in Him, to call Him by different names, because now there is no distinction between you. You are Him and He is you. Everything is one. Yoga is unity.

Yogi Bhajan. «Учитель Эпохи Водолея: Международная программа по подготовке учителей Кундалини йоги школы Йоги Бхаджана Уровня I». РОО «Федерация Учителей Кундалини Йоги». 2011 г. 332 с.