Foreword

Since time immemorial humans have asked the question “what is the purpose of life?” Experience teaches us that life is not always pleasant and is often associated with sorrow, and yet our deepest wish is for lasting happiness. How can we ride the winds of fate and fulfil our deep inner longing for lasting bliss?

Are we merely just like reeds being tossed to and fro by the storms of unchangeable and coincidental events? To accept this as being so would mean denying that there was any purpose or aim in our lives. Nowadays rational thinking does not allow us to consider gods and demons as the drivers of our fate or fortune, and modern science is still unable to provide mankind with an answer to this crucial question.

Thousands of years ago, through divine inspiration and meditative visions, the great seers and sages of India developed the science of Yoga. Yoga provides information related to questions concerning our destiny. This knowledge, originally passed down orally, forms the basis of all the great religions of the world. The uniqueness of the Yoga teachings is that they actually provide practical methods of deliverance rather than merely giving theoretical knowledge.

The basic principles are:

• that we ourselves are responsible for our fate and happiness in life
• that within us lies the ability to free ourselves from the sorrows of life
• that lasting happiness is only found in union with the divine Self.

The world perceived by the senses is only a very small part of the spectrum of our consciousness; unconscious and invisible energies and powers form the real source of our thoughts and actions. To become aware of these still yet unconscious levels of the personality and the influences and laws that affect them, is the first step on the path to Self-Knowledge and Self-Realisation. This also means to gradually shed the little, restrictive ego with its countless covers of education, habit and convention and to follow the divine Self, which is our true nature.

The sense and purpose of this human life lies in gaining knowledge of and realising our true and immortal Self. Every person has within them the basis for a fulfilled and happy life, and the path is open to everyone who earnestly seeks truth. However, this path requires the instruction and guidance of a self-realised, spiritual Master. It is a path that calls for discipline and work on one’s self. It is only when we have learnt to master ourselves that we are capable of influencing our destiny.

This current work by Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda (Swāmījī), the author of the globally renowned System “Yoga in Daily Life”, provides a profound insight into the functioning of the energy centres and the powers hidden within that determine our destiny. He instructs us not to look outside, but to find them within ourselves. Rather than merely imparting theoretical knowledge Swāmijī encourages us to experience the divine reality for ourselves. Guided by his instructions we are shown the way to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.

This book will certainly find those for whom it was destined. May it be a source of knowledge and wisdom for everyone.

Dr. Günther Reisel
“Yoga in Daily Life” Society – Vienna