Raja Yoga Meditation

Part of the ‘Let’s Meditate’ series posted on 14 April 2014

Raja Yoga Meditation is often called the Royal Yoga. It is known to be the king of all yogas. As one masters this gentle art, one also masters one’s inner kingdom of the five senses.

The word yoga is most often used these days to mean physical postures, but the real meaning of the word yoga is ‘union’, ‘link’ or ‘connection’. In Raja Yoga we are connecting with the higher, or ‘royal’ self.

Most people would probably accept the fact that we are more than just this physical body. There is also a charge to this body that is not the heart or brain, but the soul, the spirit, the eternal being. Without this life force, the body has no value, it perishes.

For some the concept of ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ may be a vague notion. Raja yoga teaches us that the soul is the actor that plays a part through the costume, this body.

As human beings we become increasingly caught up in this physical, material world, it seems that the master has now become a servant; the soul has become a slave to the physical senses. As we travel further down the road of materialism, we have moved further away from our core selves. The soul has been forgotten as we place more and more emphasis on physical appearances and academic, intellectual and material achievements. As we race to compete and accumulate, we have forgotten how to be content, satisfied and happy.

Meditation is not an end in itself: it is simply a method to help us to re-connect with our inner truth, to see beyond the obvious to the truth within, to reawaken the self to our deeper truth, to help us to realise that we are not victims in this world, but that we do have the God-given power within us to create a life of worth and value.

Meditation is our key to the door of our inner world. It is the tool that allows us to see ourselves for what we really are: a pure being made not of blood and bones, but of peace, love, truth. When we remember this it brings us back to our spiritual power. We remember that happiness is our natural state of being.

Meditation teaches us first of all to accept ourselves; the good and bad. When we know that our core is only good; then it is possible to look at the aspects of ourselves that we may want to change. As a detached observer we can choose to only keep the best of ourselves, and let go of the rest.

And the ultimate proof that meditation works is the transformation that it brings in our everyday lives. We not only become more peaceful and purposeful, we also build up our inner resources, train the muscles of our mind, and therefore are able to deal with difficult situations. We build better relationships, we have more focus and clarity, and the list goes on.

In short, we not only discover ourselves, but we discover the power to live our lives in the best possible way. We may never in our physical lifetime know the limits of this magnificent being we are, but at least we can understand how to harness our potential so that we can once again begin to take control of our lives.

It’s time… to regain our inner kingdom by seeing the self as a master, an eternal being that is the embodiment of all the qualities. Remember who you are and become powerful once again.

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