'Monkeys...

...live in Yoga."

It is indeed the grace and blessings of Hanuman, the Monkey God of India, who has given me this beautiful opportunity to write about him, following my comment, 'Monkeys live in Yoga,' in a post at Warrior Geezer.
When I said, I would write on this, little did I realise that I would post this beautiful picture of Hanuman in meditation as Yoga Anjaneya (he is called Anjaneya as he was the son of Anjana Devi) and Rishab or Nandi the divine bull, who is considered by some as a manifestation of Hanuman. And all this is so beautifully happening at a time when people in India are now celebrating Hanuman Jayanthi, the birth of Hanuman.
When I said, 'Monkeys live in Yoga,' I meant not just monkeys, but all forms of animal, plant and everything else about the Universe is existing in meditation. There is a beautiful line in Sanskrit, Dhyayativa Prithvi, Dhyayativa Parvataha, Dhyayativa Sagaraha,' which means, 'It is as if the Earth is in Meditation, the mountains are in meditation and the oceans are in meditation.' In just the same way monkeys are in meditation. Living in Yoga, is living in total union with the cosmic energy and everything that moves or stays in this Universe is living in Yoga, even the human mind. The difference lies in just the Awareness of one's existence in meditation.
When I say monkeys live in Yoga, I mean, a monkey eats when it wants to eat, sleeps when it wants to sleep, jumps when it wants to jump or just do as it pleases and that's just what it is designed for - nothing more nothing less.
It is seeing monkeys, crocodiles, snakes, cats, dogs, cranes and peacocks that the Yogis and masters of various martial arts devised bodily poses and methods of breathing that goes into the vast body of literature and practice of Hatha Yoga and Pranayama. They don't need to practice Yoga, because they are already living it. It is human beings who have to practice Yoga, observing and learning from the Universe as they have the equipment called mind, which has evolved out of the animal existence, which is invisible and hence not known and understood.
When the highest principle of the divine consciousness manifests in animals, they become self-realised souls, transcending even the human mind and examples of such beings that are venerated and worshipped till date are Hanuman and Nandi.
A compilation of discourses of my Guru, Swami Akshara on the qualities of the Hanuman mind, is published as a book called, 'Hanuman The Hero In You,' by the Akshara Foundations. It is a wonderful book to read, unfolding the positive qualities that becomes of a mind, which does not spring at the outside world, but is quiet and turned to the eternal inner silence of the soul. The power of Hanuman and Nandi can be might, when expressed, but in quiet composure the mind is a great reservoir of energy when it is merged with the soul.
In the words of Sri Aurobindo, All Life is Yoga. Everything is happening in tune with the flow of cosmic energies, but our individual life is able to experience that flow only when it is aware of the flow and not fighting against it.