December 10, 2023
Anything that disturbs the inner harmony, and threatens to break that wholeness within himself, the yogi avoids, including what we call ill health. Ill health, wrong functioning of the internal organs, is a sort of disharmony within oneself. The cause may be physical, the cause may be mental, but the harmony must be restored.
If the cause is physical, treated with physical means. If the cause is internal, treat it with internal means. If your living habits are not right, rectify those habits. If the cause is emotional, put it right there. These things are not to be confused. Restoration of that inner harmony is the goal. This demands the performance of yoga postures, which are wonderful, followed by some breathing exercises, also wonderful, followed by meditation, where you glimpse the inner harmony, followed by what we call Karma yoga - dealing with people and still preserving that inner harmony.
Harmonizing our relationship with one another is also yoga. Harmonizing our relationship with the cosmic forces is also yoga, Bhakti yoga. All these together constitute yoga.