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The steps towards world peace

The eight limbs of Yoga are an integrated whole, not sequential steps to be mastered individually. They are like the limbs of one body or petals of a flower that open together. Practice is not a linear staircase but a unified growth. When you practice posture, you engage breath control. When you regulate breath, you withdraw the senses. Concentration flows into meditation, which merges into superconsciousness. Do not perfect one limb before moving to another. They develop simultaneously from a single seed of practice. Your entire life becomes the integrated practice of all limbs together.

"The steps are not separate. They are one. They are the limbs of one body."

"They are not steps like a staircase... They are like the petals of a flower. They open together."

Filming location: Ahmedabad, India

The question is, which steps should we practice? The answer is: all of them. The steps are not separate. They are one. They are the limbs of one body. You cannot say, "I will only practice this limb." The body is one. The steps are one. They are the limbs of Yoga. The first limb is Yama. Yama is the great vow. It is the foundation. Without Yama, nothing can be built. The second is Niyama. Niyama is the discipline, the internal observance. Then comes Āsana, the posture. Then Prāṇāyāma, the regulation of the life force. Then Pratyāhāra, the withdrawal of the senses. Then Dhāraṇā, concentration. Then Dhyāna, meditation. Then Samādhi, the state of superconsciousness. But you ask, "Which one should I practice?" You must practice all. They are not steps like a staircase, where you finish one and then go to the next. They are like the petals of a flower. They open together. When you practice Āsana, you are also practicing Prāṇāyāma. When you practice Prāṇāyāma, you are also practicing Pratyāhāra. When the mind is concentrated, you are in Dhāraṇā. When the concentration becomes flow, it is Dhyāna. And when that flow merges into the object, it is Samādhi. So do not think, "First I will perfect Yama, then I will go to Niyama." No. You practice Yama as you practice Āsana. You practice Niyama as you practice Prāṇāyāma. They grow together. The seed contains the tree. When you water the seed, the whole tree grows. You do not grow the roots first, then the trunk, then the branches. All grow together from the one seed. Therefore, practice all the steps. Let your practice be integrated. Let your life be the practice. That is the way.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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