Question: I am a student. I am deeply inspired by the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother & Swami Vivekananda. I have been initiated. Beside my spritual practices, I get great pleasure in reading the ‘Complete works of Swami Vivekananda’.
I find in the ‘Raja Yoga’, the practice of Pranayama by an untrained person can have bad effects. I am keen to know which parts of Raja Yoga can be safely practised by ordinary people & whether one would lose something by omitting Pranayama in order to achieve a harmony between the four Yogas as depicted by Sri Ramakrishna. I will be very grateful to you if you kindly reply my question in the light of Sri Ramakrishna & Swami Vivekananda.
Answer: Pranayama is not a compulsory thing. But a simple Pranayama helps for the concentration. Swamiji has explained it in his Raja Yoga in the introduction. You can safely follow that.