Namaste Vasily,

From now on, I will recommend higher emphasis on deity worship and mantra meditation.

The two most important deities here could be Mother Chinnamastā, and Vel Murugan. You should look up on Internet, wiki and HDF to explore into these two deities.

In their worship you will also discover slowly that you are not alone at all: the traditions of bhakta-s are very real and continue to thrive to this day.

Also, Yoga and Vedanta are both offshoots of Vedic tradition and therefore are rather complementary to each other. When doing Yoga, therefore, Vedantic paradigms are hardly applicable.

Again, there is no such thing as Yoga apart from Hinduism. I am saying this because there has been ongoing efforts in the West to distort Yogic knowledge systems. Without Hindu deities there to support us at every baby step, and without committing honourably oneself to Hinduism that is Sanatan Dharm, what is the scope?

But people are there to distort Vedic knowledge. Such kind are known as rAkshasa folk. One shouldn't fall in their trap (rAkshasa are also known to do a lot of Tapasya).

To give a simple worship-meditation technique on Vel Murugan --
Imagine the golden Vel (spear) in a vertical position with its sharp tip situated at a height between that of Anahata chakra and Manipura chakra. That being the best seat of prANa, concentrate the breathe on that. Every breathe then becomes worship offered to Lord Murugan. The other end of the Vel, however extends infinitely upwards and lets all realisations unfold towards the sAdhaka gradually over time, destroying all contradictions, dichotomies within and without.


ATB