This book is meant above all for someone whose primary goal is to
be completely liberated from illusion, united with one’s true self, and
totally open in one’s heart to the true self of each other individual. It is
also meant for someone whose primary goal is to be successful in life –
more honest, healthy, creative, wealthy, and loving. Which of these two
separate goals is one’s primary one determines how one reads this book
and how one approaches the practices it describes.
The approach of a reader who seeks a successful life is to learn
selected techniques from the book and practice them until he or she
becomes a master at using the will to focus the attention and channel the
energy of life. The mental stillness and physical ability thus achieved
allow such a master to fulfil his or her ethical desires in life. However,
the mental stillness produced through this wilful approach is not
complete. This is because the life energy, the power at the root of the
mind and body, cannot be completely controlled by the will.
If one seeks total liberation, the liberated authors of the verses in
The Small Burning Lamp of Sun-Moon Yoga (The Hathayoga Pradipika)
teach that one’s practice should consist of surrendering one’s life to
whatever it is that is absolute or ultimate. One may think of this Absolute
in any number of ways, among them, Truth, God, and Love. In the
practice of surrender to the Absolute, the life energy is released from the
control of the will and given to the Absolute, allowing the fundamental
constituents of the body and mind to be evolved. During this process, the
techniques described in the book gradually unfold without the use of the
will. Surrender to the Absolute eventually leads to a stillness of the life
energy that is not dependent on the will; it is an evolved state. With that
state comes complete mastery over the body, and absolute, timeless
stillness of the mind. In the end, body, mind and soul are transformed
into divinity. The true divine individual, your true self, is completely
open to the divinity of others as they truly are.