Swami Vivekananda on Yoga

The science of Yoga claims that it has discovered the laws which develop this personality, and by proper attention to those laws and methods, each one can grow and strengthen his personality. This is one of the great practical things, and this is the secret of all education. This has a universal application. In the life of a householder, in the life of the poor, the rich, the man of business, the spiritual man, in every one's life, it is a great thing, the strengthening of this personality. There are laws, very fine, which are behind the physical laws, as we know. That is to say, there are no such realities as a physical world, a mental world, a spiritual world. Whatever is, is one. Let us say, it is a sort of tapering existence; the thickest part is here, it tapers and becomes finer and finer. The finest is what we call spirit; the grossest, the body. And just as it is here in microcosm, it is exactly the same in the macrocosm. The universe of ours is exactly like that; it is the gross external thickness, and it tapers into something finer and finer until it becomes God. (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda -Volume 2     [  Page : 16 ] -THE POWERS OF THE MIND)

 

To become harmoniously balanced in all these four directions is my  ideal of religion. And this religion is attained by what we, in India, call Yoga -- union. To the worker, it is union between men and the whole of humanity; to the mystic, between his lower and Higher Self; to the lover, union between himself and the God of Love; and to the philosopher, it is the union of all  existence. This is what is meant by Yoga. This is a Sanskrit term, and these four divisions of Yoga have in Sanskrit different name. The man who seeks after this kind of union is called a Yogi. The worker is called the Karma - Yogi. He who seeks the union through love is called the Bhakti - Yogi. He who seeks it through mysticism is called the Raja - Yogi. And he who seeks it through philosophy is called the Jnana - Yogi. So this word Yogi comprises them all. (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda -Volume 2     [  Page : 388 ] -THE IDEAL OF A UNIVERSAL RELIGION)