Swami Krishnananda - Process of Yoga, @Yoga
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THE PROCESS OF YOGA
by
S
WAMI
K
RISHNANANDA
The Divine Life Society
Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India
Website: swami-krishnananda.org
ABOUT THIS EDITION
Though this eBook edition is designed primarily for
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Page size dimensions are 5.5" x 8.5", or half a regular size
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CONTENTS
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Publisher's Note
This is a series of discourses that Swamiji gave during the
ashram's annual Sadhana Week in 1972. Swamiji goes over
the stages through which the seeker passes on the way to
higher thinking, living and being.
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Chapter 1
THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
Spirituality is the condition of the spirit. This definition
would be indication enough as to whether we have to live a
life spiritual or not. The nature of the spirit is, therefore,
what we mean by ‘the spiritual’. And if we are to have a
knowledge of the spirit, we shall also know whether it is
necessary to be spiritual or whether it is possible for us to
conduct ourselves in any manner other than the spiritual.
The spirit is what we generally call the essence or the
substance of anything. We generally put a question: “What is
the spirit of the whole situation?” “What is the spirit of what
that person spoke?” and so on, by which we mean that the
spirit of anything is the quintessential substance of that
particular thing. The spirit, therefore, differs from the form,
from the letter, and from the appearance.
While we try to investigate into the nature of the spirit in
order to know what ‘the spiritual’ is, we simultaneously get
into the question as to where the spirit of a thing lies. Also,
how many spirits could be there, inasmuch as we seem to be
having many things, many objects, many persons in this
world. If the spirit of any particular object or thing is to be
something, and the spirit of another object or another thing
is to be another thing, then there could be infinite spirits,
infinite essences; and if spirituality is the condition of the
spirit, we can have innumerable conditions of spirituality.
Hence, the question that we pose to ourselves should be
pointed and should go to the core thereof. Any effort or any
action whatsoever in any direction and in any field of life is
always preceded by a knowledge, an understanding of the
principles involved in the effort or the action. We have a
theory and a practice in every kind of activity, profession,
business or effort in life. We have an educational career
precedent to the efforts that we put forth in life. The
educational process is the period of scientific training in the
art of the implementation of that very science in practical
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