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Volume 1, Number 4 OCTOBER 1977 The Way of Divine Communion and Traditional Yoga by Bubba Free John This essay places the Way of Divine Communion in its
historical and esoteric context by comparing it with the
ancient Ashtanga ("Eightfold") system of yoga taught by
Patanjali. Here Bubba illustrates how the spontaneous
unfoldment of the Way of Divine Communion radically
duplicates the stages of practice methodically undertaken in
conventional yoga. In Patanjalis system, all practice leads
toward "samadhi" (or union with the Real Condition) as its
ultimate goal. Whereas the practice of devotees in the Way
of Divine Communion must be already founded in such samadhi,
in the intuitive Communion with the Real Condition that
appears when there is true hearing of the Teaching of
Truth. The Way of Divine Communion begins with "yama" and
"niyama," restraints and disciplines. On the basis of the
"hearing" of the argument or the Spiritual Master, the
individual accepts the initial conditions of a life of
sacrificial devotion. This process matures through the
discipline of personal conditions, relative to money, food,
and sex, and the constant maintenance of general conditions
of study (regular attention to the argument of the Spiritual
Master) and service (love, or unobstructed
feeling-attention, in all relations, under all
conditions). In time, the prepared devotee enters into formal
spiritual contact with the Spiritual Master. In that
contact, Divine Communion is awakened and stabilized through
direct spiritual initiation. Thus, the devotee becomes
responsible for constant meditative recollection of the
Divine (the "Name" of God) and service to the Divine through
whole body participation (the "Breath" of God, or the
psycho-physical love of God). The awakening of spiritual responsibility in the Way of
Divine Communion effectively includes the yogic disciplines
of "asana" (right posture, attitude, and approach),
"pranayama" (right breathing, or right participation of the
living being in the Divine Condition), "pratyahara" (release
from obsessive fascination, concern, and fixed attention in
worldly events or life-conditions in themselves), "dharana"
(concentration of attention in the process wherein the
Divine or Real Condition is constantly Revealed), and
"dhyana" (meditation, or contemplation of the Divine or Real
Condition under all conditions). The Way of Divine Communion matures on the basis of these
seven limbs of discipline (yama, niyama, asana, pranayama,
pratyahara, dharana, and dhyana). But the key to them all is
the Revelation of Truth in "hearing" the argument of the
Spiritual Master and entering into spontaneous devotional
sacrifice in his spiritual Company. That is "samadhi,"
equanimity, or unity with the Real Condition, which is
Divine Ignorance. In that unity there is the constant
flowering of wisdom, or a life that manifests spontaneous
ordinary and extraordinary knowledge ("samyama") as well as
absorption in the Condition that is Truth. Therefore, the Way of Divine Communion essentially and
truly duplicates the eightfold ("ashtanga") process of yoga
described by Patanjali-except that "samadhi," or the
ultimate Unity, is the foundation and core of the practice
rather than its result. The stages of practice that follow the Way of Divine
Communion are stages of maturing responsibility which
develop on the basis of the foundation Realization and
disciplines of the Way of Divine Communion. The Way of
Divine Communion is never abandoned. It simply matures
toward its own perfection. The Way of Divine Ignorance as a
whole is not the method of yoga, but the priorly awakened
Way in which yoga is fulfilled and transcended.
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