SSC Descriptive Writing Precis Writing SSC-CGL (TIER-III) - Passage on Yoga

PASSAGE ON YOGA

Spirituality is not a path for the weak-hearted. Swami Vivekananda has said, I need lions and not sheep." He said so because spirituality is a platform where one has to constantly work on oneself. Every moment we work on ourselves to make sure we reach the ultimate aim of enlightenment. It's a journey that we take from what we are for the outside world to what we are really inside.

The journey can be started only after the rite of initiation is over. And when it comes to spiritual realm, this rite of initiation is in the form of the five fundamental qualities that is espoused by Patanjali under the step of yama'. The primary elements of Patanjali's Astanga Yoga, starting with yama, niyama etc., can be better appreciated and actually realised by a few moments of daily meditation.

The word yama5 has different connotations and meanings. . In Sanskrit, it means 'regulation' or 'self-discipline', yama means to give up. It is actually giving up one's desires, and all passions other than the passion for spiritual enlightenment. It is disciplining one's mind and body so that it becomes strong and pure enough to take in the whole of spiritual truth.

In Hindu mythology, Yama is the god of death. How is the god of death connected to the very first step of spirituality? The answer lies in the right understanding of life itself. The ending and beginning of life is all subjective. The beginning is when the soul gets attached and the end is when the soul withdraws itself.

The real secret is to die when you are still alive. You have to go beyond your attachments and aspirations of your present self and control your inner desires to realize what you really are. Meditation is also called a process of conscious annihilation. But people get sacred when they go deep into meditation, and they open their eyes immediately. They are unaware of the real goal and are thus scared.

Live as if you are going to die the next moment. Though it sounds negative in the beginning, there is a deep wisdom conveyed in the whole idea. This idea of the living dead is nothing but transcending one's ego with love. And this in turn removes all the restriction that was being placed in one's spiritual journey, thus leading to spiritual enlightenment.

PRECIS

YAMA-THE FIRST STEP TO SPIRITUALITY

Spirituality suits people who are strong-minded since it requires constant self-analysis. It's a path that begins with rationality and ends in consciousness. This journey can begin only after the the follower is initiated into the five qualities mentioned by Patanjali, that starts with Yama. niyama etc. Yama is disciplining oneself, and to purify one's mind. Yama is the cessation of attachment to life which can only take one to further levels. Meditation helps in this, and one must do it to completion, and not get afraid when one ventures into the unknown, and thus embrace the condition with love.