The 8 Limbs of Yoga
Pathway to Liberation
In The 8 Limbs of Yoga, Bhava Ram’s second book, he explores the centerpiece of Raja Yoga known as Ashtanga, or Eight Limbs. Raja Yoga is the system of Self-realization articulated by the great sage Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. Written some 2,500 years ago, the Sutras still stands as one of the most important works on Yoga ever composed.
In exploring the Ashtanga system, Bhava seeks to bring forth the full relevance of these teachings for our modern age and provides practices
so that we can incorporate this time-tested wisdom into our daily lives.
Through this process, the reader is guided on a Journey of personal transformation, one in which they can live life more balanced, harmonized and fully expressed.
An excerpt of the book is provided below.
Chapter Eleven
Tapas
The birth of a new star, as seen in photos from the Hubble Spacecraft, looks remarkably like the transmutation of a fertilized egg in a woman’s womb. A bolt of lightning mirrors the firing of a nerve cell. The branches and stems of a great tree echo a human brain and neurological system. The patterns of a riverbed, with its branching arteries and tributaries, emulate our cardiovascular system. The very rhythm of our heartbeat is one with the rhythm of the universe.
More than being pleasing metaphors, these similarities reflect consistencies in the macrocosm and the microcosm. This is Dharma, or Divine Law, and it is universal and immutable. Divine Law permeates and governs all that is. Among the most important aspects of Divine Law is the principle of sustained effort. For a tree to burst forth from a seed, push through the soil and soar into the sky, a mighty effort is required. For wild animals to migrate, from caribou on the northern plains to Canadian geese to great whales, a mighty effort is required. For an athlete, artist, intellectual or entrepreneur to excel, a mighty effort is required. For all of life to survive and thrive, a mighty effort is required. This is the central principle of Yoga and the very essence of Tapas.
Sutra 2.43 Kayedriya Siddhir Asuddhi Ksayat Tapasah.
“By austerity, impurities of body and senses are destroyed and occult powers gained.”
Yoga is based upon action, as an embodiment and an expression of Vedic wisdom. Tapas is the austerity, hard work, self-discipline and sustained effort it takes to achieve Yoga. We can know everything there is to know about food, from planting to harvesting to serving, but we must ingest it to be nourished. We can study Yoga and come to know its myriad aspects and applications, but we must practice it with enduring effort and self-discipline for it to unfold its many blessings in our lives.
