Spiritual yoga aims to unite personal consciousness with universal consciousness. It does this by increasing awareness of higher consciousness and detaching from ordinary consciousness of memories and desires. This allows spiritual qualities to arise and overcome personal tendencies, expanding awareness to see from a more interior perspective and develop deeper insight. The practice begins by controlling attention, which allows reorganizing priorities and concentrating without distraction, clearing negative thoughts and emotions.

1. Introduction
Yoga has been introduced in the western world as a
technique for reducing stress and improvinghealth.
However, the traditional purposeof Yoga is to
develop the spiritual life.Here we explore this
‘spiritual side’of Yoga. It is the practiceof unitingor
ATTUNING the personal consciousness, our mind,
with the universal consciousness,which can be
referred to as a higher consciousness, God or the
soul.It is concerned with developing the ‘subject-
side’of our existence and not the object or material
side.
What happens? It increases our awareness of the
higher consciousness and detaches itfrom the
ordinary consciousness,which is fromour personal
memories, desires and possessions. Then spiritual
qualities begin to arisein our mind, and itbecomes
easier for us to overcome the personal tendencies
that keep our awareness bound to our individual
nature.
Gradually our awareness expands and we begin to
see everything from a more interior partof our
being. Then we see the larger picture; we develop a
deeper insightinto the issues of life;and we take a
more inclusivepointof view in social matters.
How doyou begin?
You normally begin by gaining control over your
attention. When you have sufficientcontrol,you can
change many things in your life:You can re-organise
your priorities;you can concentrate on your tasks
without distraction;and your decisionsarenoteasily
influenced by your personal desires and preferences.
Further, once you can control your attention, you can
use itto clear the negative thoughts and negative
emotions from your mind. That is important,since
you experience the thoughts and emotions that
occupy your mind. Your mental state, that is your
happiness and well-being,depends more on how you
handlethe thoughts and emotions and less on your
external circumstances. Hence, you don’t have to be
successful to become happy. You can remain joyful
even when things aregoing bad.
In this introduction,firstyou observe the drifting
tendency of the mind. Next, you learn how to control
your attention. And then you learn how you can
bringa higher consciousnessinto your life.
The Practiceof Concentration
Normally,when you concentrate something, you
bringsome things together. In the spiritual context
you bringtogether all the scattered forces of your
attention.
You accomplish this task by practicingconcentration.
It brings the different forces inside your mind UNDER
the leadership of your will.Itwill overcome the
driftingtendency of your mind. Then you can attend
to your tasks without distraction.
The practiceis simple:First,you give the mind a
theme to hold on to. Then, you put a steady pressure
of your will to confine your attention to that theme.
The natural tendency of the mind is to drift onto
other thoughts, particularly to thoughts of pending
matters and personal concerns. So, your attention
will stray onto other thoughts. However, when you
find that your attention has strayed,you simply
return it to your chosen theme.
The act of PERSISTENTLY RETURNING your attention
to the chosen theme makes all the difference:
Gradually all theforces insidethe mind begin to
acknowledge the presence of your will.Then they
adjustthemselves and accept the dictates of your
will.As a result your attention gets concentrated and
you develop a one-pointed mind.
This is the firstgreat achievement in Yoga. It will
allowyou to remain inwardly calmand peaceful,and
outwardly you can get more focused on your tasks.
Then you will do better in all your undertakings.
Mantra Yoga
All spiritual techniques havetheir advantages, but
the technique of Mantra Yoga has some special
advantages.Here you nurture a spiritual vibration
within your system that has a leadingquality.It
ALTERS the personal vibration thatyou carry in your
mindset. And that inclines you to think differently
and respond to the happenings in life differently.
Thus, the mantra practicewill gradually changeyour
attitude; it will changehow you regard everything;
and it will changewhere you look for your
satisfaction.As a resultyou begin to connect up

2. different kind of people; you eat different kind of
food; you valuethings differently; and you actwith
different motives.
Further, the mantra maintains your connection with
a spiritual influence,and that greatly simplifies your
spiritual practice.Then you don’t have to search
blindly for directions in your life.You can know the
rightthing to do by simply mirroringthehigher
consciousness.
The key idea of Yoga
Wisdomand the higher values arisenaturally in your
mind when you involvea higher consciousness in
your life.Hence, to grow spiritually,you do not have
to develop the ordinary human consciousness,the
mind, through an intellectual process.Instead,you
have to disciplinethe mind and make it more
RECEPTIVE to the higher consciousness!
When the higher consciousnessbecomes activein
your life,itwill speak in your mind. Then you can
know many things intuitively,through an internal
process.Then you will notbe deceived easily by the
illusory values generated by the desires and
tendencies of your mind and body.
Is the pursuit theistic or atheistic?
Let us consider thetwo different points of view.The
atheistic viewregards God as an imaginary conceptor
a belief.On the other hand the theistic viewregards
God as a spiritual presencethatyou can learn to
perceiveand relatewith.
Spiritual Yoga isessentially a theistic pursuit.Ituses a
personal (self-made) God to deliberately bringabouta
SHIFT in the focus of your life–from the ordinary
consciousnessto the higher consciousness.
Whathappens? It changes your experienceof yourself
and the world.Instead of considering yourself to bea
superficial personality thatarisesoutof a mind and
body, now you will regard yourself asa spiritual being
that is temporarily functioningon earth through the
instruments of a mind and body. And this will open up
the mystical dimensionof your life.
About the Speaker
He was educated in Chemistry atMassachusetts
Instituteof Technology (BS), and University of
California,(MS & PhC),and initiated into Yoga-
Mysticismby Shri Nyaya Sharma — a Master of Shiva-
Tantra-Yoga.
He is a counsellor and a spiritual guide.He conducts
‘Spiritual Development COURSES’ through the
internet. He also conducts ‘Spiritual Awareness
WORKSHOPS’ in India,USA and UK. He speaks clearly,
in simplelanguage,and from personal experience.
He is the author of the followingbooks:The Crisis of
Modern Humanity (1976); The Essence of Hindu
Astrology (1987);The Practice of Mysticism (2009);
The Art of Awakening the Soul (2011); Healing
without Drugs (2014).
Spiritual Yoga
The art of succeeding with yourself
Outline of a talk ON understanding the deeper
purpose of human life and the nature of the
spiritual pursuit BY © Prashant S. Shah AT a
workshop in Puerto Rico in August 2015.
26 Alkapuri Soc, Apt # 202, Baroda 390007.
Site at http://spiritual-living.in