Let's discuss a bit about the practice of Yoga. It means attainment. Who attains whom? The scriptures of Yoga say that the Jīvatma attains the Paramatma. That which makes this possible is the practice of Yoga. In the process of crossing the several stages; gradually in such Yogic practice, a Yogi attains many siddhis (powers). To attain siddhis, there are so many others that he has to keep at bay. They are innumerable. Since we cannot talk about so many, let's talk about the 18 primary dōshas (flaws). You can now know what real Yoga is.
Inhalation and exhalation is one Yoga. But, let's talk about the Yoga of attaining Brahma tattva. The yogic scriptures say, "If a Yogi can follow some rules, he can be free of all the 18 flaws and attain Yogic siddhi." What are those 18 flaws? Let's discuss a bit.
The first one is sleep. Even though, it is very good for health, excessive sleep is considered to be dōsha. Hence, one must lessen this habit. The second one is tandra (lethergy). Lethergy does not allow a person to do anything good and respectful. This is a hurdle in the practice of Yoga. Hence, one must overcome this. Only if one overcomes this, it is possible to concentrate in the Yogic practices. The third one is fear. Few people get scared with everything. Most important fear is the fear of death. One has to give this up. If one can understand the universal truth that those who are born must die one or the other day, then one can overcome the fear of death. The next one is anger. Lord Krishna said that anger is nothing but a mental weakness. Because of anger, one lacks good health. If one can change the way of expressing such anger, then gradually, one can reach a stage where one is totally devoid of anger. The fifth one is mōha (passion). It is nothing but possessing excessive love for the world by forgetting God. The fifth one is delusion. It arises out of ego. It is a wrong feeling like, "I am doing everything. There is no one superior to me." There is no difference between an elephant and a human with such delusion. The seventh is unmāda. It means to behave like a mad drunkard who lost the fundamental discretion between dharma and adharma. The eighth one is pramāda. Elders say that pramāda is nothing but loss of memory. Pramāda is nothing but the lack of recollecting the Lord's names. Getting surprised for everything and wasting time is known as Vismaya. This is the ninth fault. Doubtful attitude is the tenth one. The dubious people do not place trust on anyone. Those who have this fault doubt even Vedas and Gurus. The habit of doubting is hence considered to be a big disease. Hence, they cannot achieve anything. The eleventh one is lōbha (misery). Our elders have added misery as a bad habit which is the entrance door to hell. A miser will end up in hell alone. The next one is jealousy. It is the intolerance towards others' progress. God will never come close to such people. The thirteenth bad quality is mātsarya. The bad feelings and thought processes like, "No one should get the knowledge of mine. No one should take my object. I should be the superior one" come under mātsarya. The fourteenth one is cunning attitude. Having something in the mind but saying something else is known as cunning nature. This must be gotten rid off for Yoga. The fifteenth one is mithya. Forgetting the atma and instead assuming the body to be everything is mithya. The sixteenth one is atheism. Lack of belief in the existence of God, Paramatma and thinking that whatever exists is this world and oneself alone is known as atheism. The next one is āgama darshita dosha. Whatever we do, it must be according to the Vedas. If we cross the boundaries of Vedas, it is āgama darshita dōsha. The last flaw is ashiksha. Not receiving education from Guru is ashiksha. The practice of Yoga must be learnt through Guru and must be adhered to. Else, it amounts to flaws.
Overcome all these eighteen flaws and practice Yoga. Let us discuss everything in detail.
Jaya Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!