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To borrow from a passage of an ancient text, “Here Begins Instruction in Union”.
Union of the fragmented principles which divide humanity from the Earth; one culture from another; one religion from another; a country from its neighbor; and ultimately, which divides the Self from itself.
It is the need for a sense of Union, which essentially underlies mankind’s deepest desires. It is the absence of a sense of unity, which seeds discontentment, and, a yearning for such a sense which drives many of our innermost desires, only to manifest themselves in a complex variety of outward behaviors, as well as subconscious chaos. Only when desires are satisfied, perhaps even the ultimate desire - the desire to desire, can inner contentment take root in the heart of both an individual and a society. True contentment arises through the lack of a sense of need, of a sense of desire itself. Unity, the result of a sense of Union, is the ultimate bounty. It is abundance. An abundance, both inner and outer, so complete, that desire, even as a concept, is moot. When the need for a sense of Union is satisfied, need itself is extinguished, for then, the whole is one with Itself.
Yoga is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning “union” or “one-ness” of all things in the universe. Meta is from the Greek, which means to “transcend onto a higher level”. Meta-Yoga, this book, is a 21st century renaissance of the original science of Yoga, resurrecting its deepest roots, and transcending the reader onto a higher level of awareness of Yoga as the holistic science of union, that the ancient Rishis, the creators and masters of Yoga, had intended it to be in ancient times, and from which all other forms of Yoga - Hatha, Raja, Pranayama, and so on, ultimately sprang forth as a practical means of achieving harmony with our world and within ourselves.
Twentieth century scientific developments in the form of quantum mechanics and Albert Einstein’s work on relativity tell us that the world is not as we perceive it to be. They tell us that time and space are one; that there is a fundamental interconnectedness between ourselves and the universe; that the past, present, and future are all co-incident; that both we and that which we perceive through our senses are a singular indivisible entity. They tell us these things not in some vague metaphysical manner, but in fact. Numerous mainstream philosophical schools of thought dating back 5,000 years have told us the same thing. Why is it then that despite 5,000 years of philosophical persuasion and recent cold, hard mathematical proof, it remains so very difficult for each of us to internalize this reality?
We continue to see the world around us as being fundamentally outside, fundamentally characterized by fragmentation, diametrically at odds with the reality that we now intellectually know to be fact.
This fragmented view of reality is so acutely embedded within our psyche that even within ourselves, we habitually strive to isolate and compartmentalize our most personal attributes. We see our consciousness as dwelling within our brains, emotion in our hearts, and so on and so forth. No wonder then that we have some difficulty in achieving a harmonious union with the world that we perceive as being outside of ourselves.
This is a pity. For if the conclusions of quantum physics, relativity theory and some ancient schools of philosophy are correct, then we should all be basking in the infinite glow of the harmonious balance of the cosmos; not in the divisive struggles of a world of fragmentation. Inner peace and contentedness would be the natural state of humanity. It is this state of being which we all seek through money, power, fame, and so forth. And it is the lack of the fulfillment of this state of union that triggers an inner angst, which we all carry either consciously or subconsciously.
We will now begin to break those chains of endless needs and desires. We will gradually become still and contented in the awareness that even at this very moment, in all of its seemingly gross imperfection, our universe is indeed unfolding as it should in blissfully perfect balance and harmony.
We will develop an intimate awareness of the deeper nature of the world around and within ourselves, not the world that we are patterned to see by our limited and easily deceived senses, but the world promised by the revelations of modern science and ancient logicians. We will explore the nebulous and relatively uncharted area where conventional science (the logic and physics of three-dimensional physical reality) ends, and spirituality (intuition) begins.
In summary, we are about to take a fantastic journey into the deepest regions of ourselves - a journey through a new meta-physical and spiritual realm of ancient Yoga, into the eternal Self within. The quest for Union through the ages has taken many forms; from religion, to military conquest, to philosophy, to meditation, to psychedelic drugs, to mysticism. Here then begins anew, Instruction in Union, which will lead us to the Awakening of the Eternal Self Within.
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