Question: Can anybody practise Yoga?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, anybody can practise Yoga and it can be practised irrespective of age. But we must understand what Yoga really involves. Unfortunately in the West, there are many people who think that Yoga means physical postures and breathing exercises. This is a deplorable mistake. These postures and exercises are preliminary and preparatory states, leading towards concentration and meditation which alone can take us to a deeper, higher and fuller life.

Yoga is not something unnatural, abnormal or unearthly. It is something practical, natural and spontaneous. Right now, we do not know where God is and what God looks like. But by practising Yoga, we see Him at first hand. As in the material world, we achieve success in our chosen activity by constant practice, so also in the spiritual world, by practising Yoga, we achieve the goal of Goals — God-Realisation.

Sri Chinmoy, AUM — Vol. 3, No. 1,2, 27 Aug. — Sep. 1967, Boro Park Printers -- Brooklyn, N. Y., 1967