A Yoga term that you are not likely to hear anywhere else at this moment, is the term Varṇa Yoga. What is it?
Varṇa Yoga is a way of seeking Union with the Divine through a study of energy patterns. Of simple parts of complexer wholes. Of seeing the simplicity within complexity. You could therefore also call it the ‘Yoga of Complexity’. This may sound like a very mentally oriented approach to Yoga, but that is not necessarily so. However it does offer an approach to Yoga in which the mind has a more prominent role than in some of the other approaches.
Varṇa Yoga is about the fact that everything that exists can be regarded as a whole and at the same time as a thing which consists of various components. We can look at a thing in its totality or look at its parts, right? This is a simple fact of life. Now, there is a more direct way to work with this principle in such a way that it brings spiritual growth.
Varṇa Yoga is a type of Yoga, or Path to Union, that has a close relation to the ancient Indian philosophical system of Saṃkhya, but it is more practically oriented, whereas Saṃkhya can be quite theoretical. It leads to direct insight into any object of attention and organically connects your meditative life on the pillow with the rest of your life, which happens off the meditation pillow.
Clinical vs. in situ
In a way, sitting in meditation on your meditation pillow is like doing research in a laboratory. It is a safe and clean environment to build up your meditation and in this way it is easier to ensure a certain degree of quality in your meditation and to determine results. This is very important to do regularly — especially in the beginning, but also later on on the path.
However, ultimately, one should let go of the safety, seek to challenge oneself more deeply and try to establish meditation in any situation outside of your clean and pure time on the pillow. We should not be afraid to get our hands dirty. Even though not as pure and clean, it is very possible (and certainly very valuable) to reach a state of meditation while on a bench in a park. During a quiet walk. A busride to visit a friend. Or even in the midst of a busy crowd at a local festival.
T is great benefit in doing so. Not only because it feels good, or because it will positively influence both yourself and the atmosphere around you. It can also can connect you much more deeply with your surroundings. Even to the point where it can grant you direct insight into the Divine Nature of things that are found there. This is what true meditative living means.
Here, Varṇa Yoga comes in…
Varṇa Yoga is a technique or method for practising on your pillow how you can apply your meditation in daily living. It is a way of getting used to seeking and establishing a meditative state of consciousness while receiving sensory information or even actively using the mind. In this way meditation can grant you insight into any subject you can apply it to. More than that, it restores the connection to your Soul. And thereby your connection to the source of all life that goes by many names, but which some call the Divine.
To bring this about we work with three elements of life that have a clear order to them and which have an informative as well as creative function that we can become familiar with with relative ease. These are the Three Instruments: Sound, Speech and Colour.
What we are really doing when we are working with these Three Instruments, is the studying of differences in the nature of things, on the level of energy. By doing so, we further sensitise ourselves to the perception of such differences. While at the same time, to truly observe these differences we must merge our consciousness with the object of our attention. Thus, we train our ability to reach Oneness while growing our discernment of the Diversity of both the material world and the spiritual world.
In this way, the world becomes a playground. One full of serious and often difficult or burdensome things, but nonetheless a playground. This is a poetic way of pointing towards the relaxed, contemplative attitude that a well-aimed Varṇa Yoga practice can bring you. It is an attitude which much resembles the playful way in which little children approach daily living.
Read more about Varṇa Yoga on our page about the Three Instruments.
