Integral Yoga: Head, Heart and Hands — "Yoga of the 21st Century"

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati speaks about his guru, Swami Satyananda

The foundation of yoga is spiritual experience — not in abstract terms, but in very clear and precise words. One day, my guru, Swami Satyananda, entrusted me with the duty of caring for the ashram garden during his travels. I was seven or eight years old at the time, and I carried out this duty as best I could. When he returned, he asked me what had happened, since all the trees, plants, flowers and fruit had withered. I told him that every day I had dusted the leaves, removed the insects, smelled the flowers, and polished the fruit until it shone. My guru said, "I appreciate your efforts, but answer just one question: did you water the plants?"

That was my first lesson about yoga and spiritual life, and also about physical life. My teacher explained that the most important part of a tree is not the visible, external part that we see, but the roots, which lie underground and unseen. The roots sustain the tree, and as long as they are nourished, the tree can face any situation; but if the roots are neglected and forgotten, the tree will weaken and fall in a storm. Our life is the same, because we identify with the body, the senses, the mind and the emotions, which are the outer manifestations of our personality. We ignore, and remain unaware of, the greater potential that exists within us, which is recognized as spirit.

Spirit is not something abstract and vague, but part of the evolution of consciousness. Life is a process of continuous evolution on different levels. Evolution is the result of a focused and enlightened mind. We all come with the same potential. God has been very generous with us. We carry within us the same qualities as Christ and Buddha. The only difference is that they... We experimented with these qualities and ignored this aspect of our lives. They kept perfecting themselves without end, while we, at a certain point, got stuck in place. This is the barrier we all face as human beings, the limitation we cannot overcome in our lives.

The goal of yoga:

When yoga first arose, its aim was to discover an inner potential that is spiritual, not material. At the same time, the creators of yoga realized that growth must take place across every dimension of existence. The body needs harmony in order to cope with illness, ailments and physical stress. To address physical imbalance, physical postures were developed, which have since gained popularity throughout the world. Many people perform them as stretching or aerobic exercises, to experience lightness in the body and to release tension and tightness. Physical harmony changes and influences brain activity, and this harmony of brain and body in turn changes psychological behavior. In the process of harmonizing the personality, the mind also attunes itself to its inner forces. This is where yoga begins.

Classical literature states that yoga begins with the management of the mind. It does not say that the goal of yoga is self-realization; rather, it clearly states that the goal is the management of psychological behavior. The desire for self-realization is like a blind person who wants to see the sun, when their real need is sight itself, through which they could see not only the sun but the whole of creation in all its splendor. If my need is to gain vision, then in yoga my goal becomes the preparation and transformation of myself, changing my nature and the limiting elements of my life. How we can become aware of and manage our mind, body and emotions is the central theme of yoga. Everything else is simply a result of that harmony.

In the past, this concept was not clearly presented by yoga teachers, and so yoga came to be seen as a mystical, abstract subject. Fifty years ago, yoga was not widely known, even in India. In the 1960s it began to be promoted by those who realized that yoga was a need for people all over the world, both then and in the future. Awareness of yoga became more and more widespread. At the same time, many taboos surrounded yoga, because no one really knew what it was. To stay safe, people practiced only its physical aspect, because the body felt light, full of life and energy. This is how hatha yoga gained its popularity. Today there are many variations of hatha yoga in the world, and most people understand only its physical aspect. Yoga was practiced in this way more or less until the end of the twentieth century.

Integral Yoga: Head, Heart and Hands

During this time, an important event took place in the history of yoga: a yoga university was founded in India. This was the fulfillment of an idea of Swami Sivananda, a physician and philosopher. He believed that yoga should be framed in scientific terms, and that people should understand both the practical and scientific aspects of yoga, as well as its philosophical and abstract aspects. Swami Sivananda's vision was carried forward and further developed by my guru, Swami Satyananda.

Swami Satyananda was one of the first propagators of yoga to incorporate mental, psychological and psychic aspects into the transformation of personality, and into the management of physical, mental and spiritual imbalance. He also promoted the application of yoga within society. This is called Integral Yoga, or Satyananda Yoga. The central theme of Satyananda's Integral Yoga is the awakening of the faculties of Head, Heart and Hands. The Head represents intelligence, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, awareness and observation. The Heart represents feelings, emotions and sentiments. The Hands represent the capacity for action, activity and creation. The ability to manage these three elements of our life is a need of the twenty-first century, because this balance is what makes a human being complete.

Lecture — May 19, 2005, Santillana Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia

Piyush Mittal