Preparing for the Journey

The first guru of yoga was Shiva and parvati was the first disciple. It is said that when humankind began to forget its potential for spiritual realization. Shesh Nag, the serpent king and the carrier of Vishnu. Incarnated as Sage.  Patanjali and wrote the yoga sutra.
Though the purpose of yoga is Self-realisation, there are various by products as you move up the ladder towards realization. Here you embrace the inner and outer realities for a perfect harmonious balance; the important point is that you do not intellectually understand inner and outer realities but experience them. Yoga is an experience and not a subject of the intellect. Yoga works on all aspects of a person – physical, vital, mental, FINANCIAL, EMOTIONS, PSYCHIC AND SPIRITUAL. Only when all the aspects are in a state of balance does a being experience liberation and perfect harmony. The aim of yoga is kundalini awakening for liberation from bondages. A practitioner of yoga goes through three phases.
The first stage assumes that the practitioner is a normal person who is attracted to various aspects of the physical world; that he wants to enjoy everything and miss nothing. He wants to live life to the fullest. Yoga says, why not? Go ahead, enjoy and go beyond, do not suppress your desires, go and sail in the ocean of life, but do not sink in it. Be like the boat, which is in the water but the water is not in it. It sails through the ocean and misses no part of the ocean and yet completes its journey, experiencing the ocean in totality.
The first stage of yoga deals with very simple asanas and pranayamas; these are preparatory for the journey ahead; your vehicle, that is your body, is taken through physical purifications with the aid of yogic asanas, pranayams and shatkarmas. The emphasis is on purifying yourself. A by product of yogic practices is a light body, a clear and active mind, great physical and mental strength and balanced emotions. You feel as if you have been overhauled, and have gained a new body.
Now you are ready for the intermediate practices on the physical plane that make your limbs supple and your bones strong so that you can do long hours of meditation. Only when an asana is perfected do you feel bliss and stillness in that posture, which is indicative of you having thoroughly gone over the yoni, the level of existence. Now your mind is prepared for controlling thoughts and emotions. You are getting ready for awakening the kundalini. You are preparing for the advanced stage through total experience and ananda. By the time you have reached here, body and mind are in perfect harmony. You have total control over body, mind and spirit.
The next step is advanced yoga. You are ready to awaken the kula kundalini or the force of creation, which lies in a semi-dormant state in your mooladhar chakra. The guru gives you shaktipath; the mother, the kundalini, awakens and begins her ascent. You are given mantras for various levels of evolution. You are introduced to the energies controlling creation and are told how to harmonize  yourself with them. You are taught the five states of matter and how to become one with each state. The advanced level is a level of pure bliss and ananda. This you will achieve with the help of a suitable guru.