Understanding The Yog Of Anguish

The first chapter of the

Gita

is named

Arjun Vishaad Yog

, which means yog of Arjun's anguish - Arjun's journey through the

spiritual discipline

of anguish in order to be united with his self-nature. How can this be so? What is the connection between anguish and yog? And in what sense has the word 'yog' been used in the Gita?The

yog of anguish

! There are many meanings of yog. There are even meanings that are exactly the opposite of our commonly held understanding of yog.So, it is right to ask this question: How can anguish be yog? Bliss can be yog, but how can anguish be yog? But anguish can be yog precisely because it is only an inverted form of bliss; it is bliss standing on its head. You are still a man whether you are standing on your feet or on your head. Even what we call the opposite of our self-nature is just our self-nature standing on its head. Whatever we call insanity - even though it is a perversion of our self-nature - is still a part of our self-nature.Gold that is mixed with dust is called impure gold. We may ask why we call it 'gold' when it is impure - but it must be called gold; even with these impurities it remains gold. It has to be called gold because the impure element in it can be burnt away and the gold that was mixed with the dust can again become pure.

No one has ever come upon such a state of anguish that he cannot return to his true self-nature. Even in the deepest state of anguish the path leading back to one's true self-nature remains intact. It is for the remembrance of this path that yog is being mentioned - and this anguish is happening for that very reason.Why is anguish there in the first place? A rock never feels anguish. It never feels anguish because it can never feel bliss either. This is the reason why anguish is felt. In a deep sense it is because of a memory of bliss. It is a remembrance of the fact - somewhere deep within our consciousness, the understanding is there - that our

consciousness

cannot be what it actually can be, is not able to attain what it actually can attain; that what is possible is not actually happening. This is the reason why anguish occurs.Hence, the greater genius a person is, the deeper into anguish he will go... For someone who knows what he can become, for someone who knows that bliss is possible, the darkness of anguish will become more pronounced; he will feel anguish more intensely. One who knows about the morning will find the darkness of night to be very dark. But for one who has no idea about the morning, even night may appear to be the dawn - and he may find the night quite acceptable.Even the state of Arjun's anguish is being called 'yog' here, because an awareness of anguish only becomes possible when it is contrasted with our self-nature. Otherwise, it cannot be seen.Authored by: OshoAbridged from Inner War and Peace/OSHO Times International/www.osho.com