Disciples of the Brotherhood must break out of the narrow, limited ways of the past. They represent the new mankind who must grow and develop in every domain:

  • They must act with absolute selflessness, and this is Karma-yoga.
  • They must love, seek and adore God, and this is Bhakti-yoga.
  • They must meditate and practise concentration, so as to rule over themselves and their population of cells, and this is Raja-yoga
  • When they are sitting perfectly still and meditating, or executing the movements of our gymnastics or dancing the Paneurythmy, they are practising a form of Hatha-yoga.
  • When they mentally surround themselves with light and colour, and work to build up a brilliant, luminous aura, they are practising Kriya-yoga.
  • When they fix their mind on fire, calling on it to burn away all their impurities, this is Agni-yoga
  • They are practising Shabda-yoga when they strive to control every word they utter, and to be constantly on their guard not to say anything that might cause divisions amongst men or infect them with doubt or despair; they endeavour, on the contrary, to use their faculty of speech to create new life.
  • Finally, when they focus all their attention on the sun, loving it and seeking to unite with it, seeing it as the gateway to heaven, the manifestation of Christ, God’s representative, they are practising Surya-yoga.

A disciple who practises Surya-yoga rejects none of the other kinds of yoga; on the contrary, they use them to become a whole being and fulfil themselves in every way.

What I have described to you is the new ideal, the new model for mankind which the Brotherhood is creating: human beings whose ideal is to develop every possible quality and virtue. Surya-yoga includes it all: adoration, wisdom, power, purity and activity, selflessness, light, and the sacred fire of divine love. Each of the other types of yoga helps to develop one particular aspect of oneself, whereas Surya-yoga activates all our psychic centres.

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
The Bonfin, 31 July 1967

Complete Works, Volume 10, The Splendour of Tiphareth
Chapter 1, The Sun, Centre of our Universe