An improvisation over the traditional Yoga systems of
India, Purna Yoga or Integral Yoga is the art, wherein, people are
taught to loving their own self by living from the heart. Just as the
name suggests, 'Purna' which means 'complete', the Yoga aims at
attaining a union of the body, mind and the spirit. It was thought that
the traditional Yoga system revolved more around salvation and next
life, rather than the present one. On the other hand, Integral Yoga lays
more emphasis on the importance of Karma in our day-to-day lives.
Purna Yoga gives Yoga a positive and dynamic form. It suggests three
levels of integration- the integration of the inner, the integration of
the human psyche with its external environment and the integration of
the psyche with its ultimate spiritual Ground. It not just brings
optimism and positive energies to the body but also to the world at
large. It is this united spirituality that proficiently combines
self-transcendence with love, sympathy, and reverence for all living
beings. It outs together the varied aspects of yoga, needed for
transformation and healing.
Purna Yoga revolves around alignment-based asana, meditation and
pranayama, along with nutrition and yogic living. According to the
Integral Yoga the ultimate goal of life is complete self-integration.
This self-integration involves other important elements like action,
love, wisdom and peace. The yoga of love or devotion (Bhakti yoga) is
perfectly right in affirming love as the fulfillment of life and as an
essential ingredient of salvation. It is important to note that Purna
Yoga does not separate love from wisdom and selfless action. Love in its
spiritual essence is an attribute of wisdom.
Integral yoga points out that knowledge is inseparable from love and
action, but that action is not merely a means to self-purification
resulting in salvation. The main stages of Purna Yoga include aspiration
for the Divine, surrender of the individual soul to the Universal Soul
and rejection of all obstructions to the path of total transformation.
The realization of the Divine is the first step of Purna Yoga. This can
be attained through constant practice of concentration, meditation or
prayer. Once a person has attained the realization of the Divine, the
next step would be to extend this realization beyond entities of the
subjective self.
Herein, the person realizes that the Divine is omnipresent, and that
human beings have come from a common origin. The third stage of Purna
Yoga comprises of a true recognition with the 'Transcendental Divine'.
It is thence that a person realizes that the Divine is not restricted
within the being of a single individual and is neither within any other
constituents of existence. The ultimate goal of a person is to reach the
higher consciousness, known as the 'Supramental Consciousness' to attain
liberation of the soul.
