Basic Principles for Meditation and Sunyoga

Before starting to practise sunyoga, it is very important to follow certain principles in order to purify your mind, and to develop your power of concentration through regular practise of meditation. These principles can be explained through the first three steps of the eight steps of Yoga; Yama, Nyama and Asana.

Umasankar-ji explains Yama as the foundation of Yoga, the primary stage at which the beginner make's his/her life plan; What do I want and why do I want it? It is the stage at which one turns inward to question the purpose of one's life, to make a plan and start preparing to carry it out. It is the stage at which the 'sadhak' begins to surrender to a higher ideal, to listen to one's heart and decide what one wants.

Once a plan, or the seed of a plan, has been put together, the sadhak must stick to it; I will do it, I must do it, even if I die I will do it. The path of Yoga is never without challenges, so one must have confidence and persevere. The time it takes to achieve the goal depends on the sadhak's will-power.

The second step, Nyama, is the actual implementation of the plan. The two basic principles of Nyama are discipline and punctuality. At this stage, the sadhak knows what he wants, and why he wants it. The challenge now is to carry out the plan, and not to be distracted by challenges along the way and not to waste valuable time. The stronger the foundation, i.e. the plan made in the primary stage, yama, the easier it is to carry out the second step; Nyama.

The third basic step is Asana, the most important principle of which is to develop a correct posture and attitude. The most important aspect of Asana is to keep one's spine straight and relaxed. In this way, the divine force can move freely through the main energy channels that run from the top to the base of the spine. At this stage the sadhak can start his/her practise of meditation. There are three sitting postures that are most effective for meditation; padmasana, sidhyasana and gomukasana.