These pieces of knowledge, which seemed quite separate, have connected, and it has been confirmed that the path of yoga is the same as the path of spirituality.

In the industry, even if things seem the same on the surface, there are often cases where people are unable or unwilling to understand each other's words and thoughts, and they each go their own way.

Yoga has its own way of expressing things, and spirituality also has its own. However, when you look at each expression, you can see that they correspond to each other in stages.

As for which to take as the basis, I think it's better to start with yoga. Or, even before that, if you introduce a stage of mindfulness or "zone," it might be even easier to understand.

First, you work hard and concentrate on whatever it is, whether it's your job or a hobby, and enter the state of "zone" and experience its joy. This is the foundation.

Then, you start yoga, meditate, and your kundalini is activated, and you gain physical energy, and also energetic energy (what yoga calls "prana"), allowing you to live a healthy life on this earth. This is quite sufficient, but if you go further, there is a stage of union with your higher self (or guide). This is sometimes referred to as union with Shiva or "samadhi" in some schools of yoga, and while the expression is not fixed, there seem to be similar expressions. In Esoteric Buddhism, there is talk of union with the principal deity, and I think this corresponds to that stage.

After that, the stage of awakening of the "sahasrara" corresponds to the "samadhi" in yoga, or the "Atman" in Vedanta, or "oneness" in spirituality.

In reality, these are not that different, but they use different expressions. Some schools say that "mixing them is not good" or "mixing them will slow down growth," but in my personal opinion, I think that is often just a matter of perception. After all, there are only a limited number of people who can grow, no matter what they do. So, there's no need to attribute the reason to something like that. People who can grow will grow no matter what they do, and people who cannot grow will remain at a certain level. In reality, the world of spirituality has a very cruel and immense difference, and for some people, it may be something that should be considered on a scale of 1000 years.

Therefore, when viewed from a broad perspective, it becomes clear that religion, spirituality, yoga, and other things all contain a certain degree of truth. However, it seems that these things alone may not be entirely true. Ultimately, it may be necessary to find the truth for oneself.

In theory, that is true, but it is not enough. I believe that concrete experiences and intuition are necessary.

Even when a subject of observation emerges, it quickly disappears. As a result, the subject and object dissolve into emptiness. In other words, it becomes clear that the object (concept) is the same as emptiness. This may be called "primal wisdom," and it refers to directly recognizing and understanding it.

In books, there are descriptions such as "emptiness and manifestation are unified" or "they exist together." This is naturally true in theory. However, what is important is to actually experience that state and recognize it as it is. This leads to a true understanding.

Even if you have understood it intellectually before, at this stage, you directly observe the moment when specific thoughts disappear. Just as clouds disappear in the sky, or smoke diffuses and becomes invisible, the subject of observation, which is the thought, gradually becomes thinner and eventually dissolves into space (light). By observing this phenomenon as it is, one can obtain "primal wisdom."

Thus, when we thoroughly recognize and understand, and when we truly perceive how concrete thoughts dissolve into emptiness, we come to understand the meaning written in books, which says, "Everything is one." This is also referred to as "oneness." This seems to be the beginning of true oneness. It is said that if we go beyond this point, dualism will be completely overcome. Indeed, I think that is true. According to the same book, "It does not mean that the subject and object do not exist, but rather that samadhi continues and dualism becomes limited." This aligns with my experience.