Using Joy As A Measure Of Success: Deepak Chopra On The True Meaning Of Yoga

The Yoga part of Royal Yoga needs a little clarification at the outset. The basic Sanskrit word Yoga simply means "to yoke, join, or unite" (the English word yoke can be directly traced back to its ancient roots). In my part of the book (Part I), when I talk about Yoga, I mean the complete system of Yoga, namely, the union of all aspects of life—physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Only one part of the whole Yoga system contains the exercises that people learn in yoga class (I will put the exercise part in lowercase and refer to the system of Yoga with a capital Y). The system is often called "Yoga philosophy," but that phrase sells the whole vision short.

Everyone is used to dividing life into distinct parts: mind, body, emotions, work, family, relationships, and so on. Those are handy divisions, of course. The experience of going to the doctor, the gym, or yoga class can all be put in the compartment labeled "body." Raising a child, going on a family vacation, and planning for retirement can all be placed in the compartment labeled "family."

As natural as it feels to divide life in this way, this kind of compartmentalization creates a problem that cuts to the very heart of existence. Royal Yoga holds that these compartments are false to the wholeness of life.

There are hidden possibilities that you will never reach, an intensity of fulfillment you will never experience when your life is chopped into separate pieces like a loaf of bread cut into neat slices. Imagine yourself going through certain rituals and habits of your day—you get up, eat breakfast, go to work, call friends, do things with your family, and so on.

Take a moment to visualize some specific ways that might make your day more satisfying. Perhaps a friend tells you a piece of good news, you complete a project at work, or you watch your child or spouse smile at you and you feel a rush of love.

If you rewind these experiences and evaluate them through the prism of Yoga, each event might look the same on the surface. But if you practice Royal Yoga, what happens inside is transformed: You find that you are living in the light. The effect is all-embracing because if there is life, there should be light.

For some, this is a vague spiritual term that connotes religion. A Christian might think of the phrase, "Don't hide your light under a bushel basket" or Jesus' declaration to his disciples, "You are the light of the world." In the rabbinical tradition of Judaism, the divine presence is Shechinah, which brings the light of God into the world when it permeates a devout or holy person. In many traditions, angelic beings are creatures of light, and saintly people emanate (physically or symbolically) a pure white light.

Royal Yoga transcends these religious connotations while embracing their deeper meaning. "Light" is pure awareness; it is the cosmic consciousness that creates and maintains the universe and everything in it. In practical terms, living in the light is about living consciously, and the ultimate goal in life is to live only in the light, having cast off every form of ignorance, pain, and suffering.

Having read this far, you might be either skeptical or inspired. Something as all-embracing as Royal Yoga feels strange, at the very least. I'm not offering these concepts from the viewpoint of a true believer, because the vision of the Yoga tradition isn't a set of beliefs. It is based on experiences that everyone is already having. You already live in the light; you just don't live there all the time. Many people have experienced happiness, joy, and sometimes even pure bliss. But, on the flip side, there are dark experiences that bring confusion, pain, and suffering. Nonetheless, the light of life is always with you because light is your very nature, your true self.

Royal Yoga is unique because it seeks to make everyday life ideal. There is infinite bliss as the starting point, located in your true self. Whenever you experience less bliss, no bliss, or actual pain and suffering, only one thing changes: how close you are to the light. This concept defines the entire Yoga system, no matter how complex its traditions are in India. There are literally thousands of Yoga commentaries, and their intricacy can be mind-bending. But we can cut through the complexity by focusing on just one thing: living in the light.

It is vital to understand what the ideal life is, according to Royal Yoga. What makes its approach so natural is that nothing achieved through Royal Yoga is mystical or otherworldly. The self you experience today owes its most valued experiences to your true self, which is already whole and perfect.