The study of comparative yoga was initially stimulated by the various queries on the subject which kept pouring in from seekers and disciples in the West. But in trying to answer them in a systematic and comprehensive manner, it has grown into something much larger than its original intent. As it has now evolved it may, I hope, be of service not only to those whose questions first led to its writing, but to all seekers in general who wish to understand what yoga is, the varieties of its forms and their respective modes and spiritual efficacy.

    In this age of publishing, there is no dearth of books on yoga. However, if one scrutinizes them carefully, one finds that the majority fall short in one direction or another. They either treat it as primarily a system of asanas and physical exercises, or as an abstract and highly monistic system of thought, positing the unity of all existence and the ultimate oneness of the individual soul and the Oversoul. In either case, the view of yoga that we gather is an incomplete one, reducing it from a practical mode of spiritual transcendence and union with the Absolute, to a system of physical culture or school (or group of schools) of philosophy.

    To avoid the possibility of such error, the ultimate aim of all yoga, at-one-ment with the Supreme Lord, has been kept as a focusing point for all discussions in this study. All the important forms, ancient and modern, are taken up in turn, their practices explained and discussed, and the extent to which each can lead us toward the final goal evaluated. This last is perhaps the most easily misunderstood and the most widely confused aspect of a comparative study of yoga. It is a characteristic of mystic experience that the soul as it ascends to a plane higher than the one to which it is accustomed, tends (in the absence of superior guidance) to mistake the higher plane as the very highest, the Absolute Realm. And so we find that most yogas, while taking us up to a certain point on the inner journey, mistake this for its end, and for a relative validity claim for themselves an absolute one.

    The only way by which we can effectively evaluate the comparative spiritual value of each yogic form and so escape the present state of confusion, is by adopting as our standard the very highest form of yoga, whose potency is absolute and not merely relative. This standard is provided by the Surat Shabd Yoga also known as Sant Mat (or the path of the Sants or Masters of this mystic school), the veritable Crown of Life. By following its practices under proper guidance, its adepts have reached realms not known to other mystic schools, and have finally merged with the Supreme Lord in His Absolute, Nameless and Formless State. They have, in their compositions, repeatedly affirmed the incomparable superiority of this Yoga of the Sound Current and, while describing through direct inner perception the varying spiritual range of other yogas, have gone on to expound the absolute nature of their own.

    Once a seeker can begin to grasp the perspectives on comparative mysticism which Sant Mat can provide, he will, I believe, find this extremely complex subject becoming progressively clearer to him. He will see that the contradictions which disturb so many when they first undertake a comparative study of mysticism are not essential to mystic experience as such, but are the result of a confusion of a relative truth with an absolute one, an error which does not exist for those, who by following the highest path, have experienced first-hand all the inner states, and know the points up to which each yoga can lead. He will no longer be tempted to evade the issue of spirituality by dismissing it as a mere remnant of old superstition and black magic but will begin to see it as a kind of timeless inner science with its own unchanging laws and varying modes of operation, with knowledge which is not static, but has developed as men have moved from lower to higher forms of yoga. And above all, he will, I hope, realize that mergence with the Supreme Lord is no mere day-dream or hypothetical postulate of a monistic school of philosophy, but a living possibility whose realization is the true end of human existence and whose attainment, given the right guidance, the right method and the right effort, lies within the reach of all, irrespective of age, sex, race or creed.

KIRPAL SINGH
Sawan Ashram, Delhi
June 6, 1961

I. YOGA: AN INTRODUCTION
   Vritis: What they are
   Soul and Oversoul
   Prakriti or matter
   Relationship between the three bodies and five koshas
   Division of creation according to the koshas

II. YOG VIDYA AND YOG SADHNA - The Path of Yoga in Theory and Practice

  1. THE BASIS OF ANCIENT YOGA
     Origin and technique of the yoga system
     Fundamental concepts

  2. THE PATH AND THE BRANCHES OF ASHTANG YOGA
      i-ii. YAMAS AND NIYAMAS
       iii. ASANAS
         Asana as a form of yoga
         Advantages of asanas
         Perfection in asanas
         Food
      iv. PRANAYAM OR YOGIC BREATHING
         Plexuses and chakras
         Pranayam: Elementary exercises
         Sukh Purvak Pranayam
         Pranayam as a form of yoga
         Pranic discipline
         Advantages of Prana Yoga
       v. PRATYAHARA OR SENSE CONTROL
      vi. DHARNA OR SAMYAM
         Dharna as a form of yoga
     vii. DHYAN OR CONTEMPLATION
         Dhyan as a system of yoga
         Advantages of Dhyan Yoga
    viii. SAMADHI
         Samadhi Yoga

   3. ASHTANG YOGA AND MODERN MAN

III. THE FORMS OF YOGA
   1. MANTRA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF UTTERANCE
       Technique in Mantra Yoga
   2. HATHA YOGA
   3. LAYA YOGA
   4. RAJA YOGA
   5. JNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE
   6. BHAKTI YOGA OR THE YOGA OF DEVOTION
   7. KARMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF ACTION
   8. OTHER YOGAS MENTIONED IN THE GITA
       Yoga of Meditation
       Yoga of Spiritual Experience
       Yoga of Mysticism
   9. YOGA IN THE ZOROASTRIAN SCRIPTURES
 10. YOGA AND THE OUTER SCIENCES

IV. ADVAITISM
      Self--the basis of conscious life
      The nature of creation
      The Self or atman
      The nature of Self
      Individual knowledge and consciousness
      Knowledge and its sources
      The nature of Brahman
 
 

PART TWO
The Study of Surat Shabd Yoga

V. SURAT SHABD YOGA  -  The Yoga of the Celestial Sound Current
   The Sound Current
   The cornerstones
   A perfect science
   The Master

VI. THE ESSENCE OF RELIGION

  1. ANCIENT RELIGIOUS THOUGHT: INDIAN, CHINESE AND IRANIAN
      Hinduism
      Buddhism
      Taoism
      Zoroastrianism
  2. CHRISTIANITY
  3. ISLAM
  4. SIKHISM

VII. SOME MODERN MOVEMENTS
      Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and  "I Am" Activity
      Christian Science and Subud
      Spiritism and spiritualism
      Hypnosis and mesmerism

VIII. CONCLUSION
 
 

Charts

 Some Yamas and Niyamas
 Hatha Yoga Foods
 Chakras or Plexuses

Notes about this web published edition