Yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yoga, has the esoteric meaning Union with God, and the literal meaning 'yoke' in Sanskrit, and is a family of ancient spiritual practices originating in India. It is one of the six schools of Hindu Philosophy, in which it is often paired with Samkhya, and they are referred together as the Samkhya-Yoga school.
Today in India and across the World, Yoga remains a vibrant living tradition and is seen as a means to enlightenment. Karma Yoga (yoga of Action), Jnana Yoga (yoga of Knowledge), Bhakti Yoga (yoga of Devotion), and Raja Yoga (yoga of Meditation) are considered the four main paths of Yoga, though each inevitably incorporate elements from the others.
Outside India, Yoga has become primarily associated with the asanas (postures) of Hatha Yoga, a system of physical culture that was developed to prepare students for the practise of Raja Yoga.
Yoga as a means to enlightenment is central to Vedanta, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and has influenced other religious and spiritual practices throughout the world. Nevertheless, Yoga was created by the Hindus and it is defined as a Hindu practice which branches of Hinduism such as Buddhism and Jainism adopted. Ancient Hindu texts establishing the basis for yoga include the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and many others, which specify the criteria of having successfully mastered a particular yoga technique.
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[edit] Roots of Yoga
[edit] Origins
The word "yoga" derives from the Sanskrit root yuj ("to yoke"); which is cognate to modern English "yoke", "jugal" and "jugum" in Latin. All derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *yeug- meaning "to join" or "unite".[1] It is generally translated as "union of the individual atma (loosely translated to mean soul) with Paramatma, the universal soul." This may be understood as union with the Divine by integration of body, mind, and spirit. A committed practitioner of yoga is referred to as a yogi or yogin (masculine), or yogini (feminine). These designations are for serious practitioners, who have already made considerable progress along the path towards yoga.
Images of a meditating yogi from the Indus Valley Civilization are thought to be 6 to 7 thousand years old. The earliest written accounts of yoga appear in the Rig Veda, which began to be codified between 1500 and 1200 BC but had been orally transmitted for at least a millennium prior to this. The first quasi-rational, full description of the principles and goals of yoga is to be found in the Upanisads, thought to have been composed between 800 and 300 BC. The Upanisads are also called Vedanta since they constitute the end or conclusion of the Vedas (the traditional body of spiritual wisdom). In the Upanisads, the older practice of offering sacrifices and ceremonies to appease external gods gives way instead to a new understanding that man can, by means of an inner sacrifice, become one with the Supreme Being (referred to as Brāhman or Māhātman) -- through moral culture, restraint and training of the mind.
[edit] Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord') is thought to have been written some time between 400 and 100 BC. Technically it is not an individual work - it is a section of the epic Mahabharata - but it is frequently published and discussed as if it were. To this day, it remains the single most influential and popular work of Hindu philosophy ever written, and it is also the first work devoted explicitly and wholly to yoga. Its narrative concerns a moral dilemma faced by Prince Arjuna, who is advised by Lord Krishna as to the best course of action regarding how he should regain his lost kingdom.
The first and foremost lesson of the Bhagavad Gita is regarding the importance of action - that we have a moral imperative to act, and that by implication non-action is an immoral choice when faced with a dilemma. But this action should always be conducted without selfish motivation. Thus the principle of Karma Yoga, of selfless action. It distinguishes several types of yoga according to what is most appropriate for the different nature of people, such that a devoted person will be most suited to the duty of Bhakti yoga, an intellectual person to Jnana yoga and so on.
The Bhagavad Gita talks of four branches of yoga:
- (1) Karma yoga (sometimes called Kriya yoga), the yoga of action in the world
" With the body, with the mind, with the intellect, even merely with the senses, the yogins perform action toward self-purification, having abandoned attachment. He who is disciplined in yoga, having abandoned the fruit of action, attains steady peace..." (Ch5:V11-12)
- (2) Jnana yoga, the yoga of knowledge and intellectual endeavor
" When he perceives the various states of being as resting in the One, and from That alone spreading out, then he attains Brahman. They who know, through the eye of knowledge, the distinction between the field and the knower of the field, as well as the liberation of beings from material nature, go to the Supreme." (Ch15:V31/35)
- (3) Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a deity
".... those who, renouncing all actions in Me, and regarding Me as the Supreme, worship me... of those whose thoughts have entered into Me, I am soon the deliverer from the ocean of death and transmigration, Arjuna. Keep your mind on Me alone, your intellect on Me. Thus you shall dwell in me hereafter." (Ch12:V6-8) " And he who serves me with the yoga of unswerving devotion, transcending these qualities [binary opposites, like good and evil, pain and pleasure] is ready for absorption in Brahman." (Ch14:V26)
- (4) Raja yoga, the yoga of meditation
" Establishing a firm seat for himself in a clean place... having directed his mind to a single object, with his thought and the activity of the senses controlled, he should practice yoga for the purpose of self-realization. Holding the body, head and neck erect, motionless and steady, gazing at the tip of his own nose and not looking in any direction, with quieted mind, banishing fear, established in the brahmacharin vow of celibacy, controlling the mind, with thoughts fixed on Me, he should sit, concentrated, devoted to Me. Thus, continually disciplining himself, the yogin whose mind is subdued goes to nirvana, to supreme peace, to union with Me." (Ch6:V11-15)
[edit] Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are a book of 196 aphorisms compiled by the sage Patanjali sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras presents the goal of yoga as 'the cessation of mental fluctuations' (cittavrtti nirodha).
In reference to the Bhagavad Gita classifications, Patanjali's yoga is a form of Raja yoga, as it seeks meditiation as the path towards the ultimate goal. Patanjali himself referred to it as "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"), from the eight steps he set out as the practical path towards attainment of enlightenment. This eight-limbed concept became an authoritative feature of Raja yoga from that point forward, and is a core characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation (including Hatha yoga) taught today.
Patanjali's Eight Limbs of yoga practice are:
- (1) Yama (The five "abstentions"): violence, lying, theft, (illicit) sex, and possessions
- (2) Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerities, study, and surrender to god
- (3) Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to seated positions used for meditation. Later, with the rise of Hatha yoga, asana came to refer to all the "postures"
- (4) Pranayama ("Breath Control"): Control of prāna or vital breath
- (5) Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Reversal of the sense organs
- (6) Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object
- (7) Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the true nature of reality
- (8) Samadhi ("Liberation"): Super-conscious state of enlightenment
[edit] Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Hatha Yoga is a particular system of Yoga introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, a yogic sage of the 15th century in India, and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Hatha Yoga is a development of - but also differs substantially from - the Raja Yoga of Patanjali, in that it focuses on shatkarma, the purification of the physical as leading to the purification of the mind (ha) and prana, or vital energy (tha). In contrast, the Raja Yoga posited by Patanjali begins with a purification of the mind (yamas) and spirit (niyamas), then comes to the body via asana (body postures) and pranayama (breath). Hatha yoga contains substantial tantric influence, and marks the first point at which chakras and kundalini were introduced into the yogic canon. Compared to the seated asanas of Patanjali's Raja yoga which were seen largely as a means of preparing for meditation, it also marks the development of asanas as full body 'postures' in the modern sense.
Hatha Yoga in its many modern variations is the style that most people actually associate with the word "Yoga" today. [2] Because its emphasis is on the body through asana and pranayama practice, many western students are satisfied with the physical health and vitality it develops and are not interested in the other six limbs of the complete Hatha yoga teaching, or with the even older Raja Yoga tradition it is based on.
[edit] Other Works
The sage Sri Nathamuni supposedly composed the Yoga-Rahasya in the 9th or 10th century CE, although no copies of this work are known to exist. Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya claimed to have received knowledge of this text in a vision. Krishnamacharya is also responsible for the only known translation of the Yogayajnavalikya Samhita, a dialogue between the great sage Yajnavalkya and his learned wife Gargi. Like the Gheranda Samhita and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Yogayajnavalikya Samhita is generally considered a tantric yoga work.
[edit] Yoga Philosophy
Yoga has been called a science or technology of liberation. This is because, unlike purely theoretical philosophies, yoga seeks to provide the student with a practical path (or indeed many possible paths) towards the common goal of liberation. As explained above, Yoga is a diverse tradition, which makes it quite difficult to provide a concise summary of the philosophy. One approach is to consider common elements that are found in all (or nearly all) branches of the tradition.
Within othodox Hindu philosophy there are six schools (astika) that recognise Vedic authority, of which Yoga is one. These schools are traditionally placed into three complimentary pairs - Yoga being paired with Samkhya, which is the oldest of the orthodox philosophical systems in Hinduism. The Samkhya school has deeply influenced the Hindu Yoga school of philosophy. Samkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two eternal realities: Purusha and Prakrti; it is therefore a strongly dualist and enumerationist philosophy. The Purusha is the centre of consciousness, whereas the Prakriti is the source of all material existence. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered to be the founder of the Samkhya school, although no historical verification is possible. The definitive text of classical Samkhya is the extant Samkhya Karika, written by Ishvara Krishna, circa 200 CE.
Returning to the practical side, the first step for any potential student (shishya or chela) of yoga is to find a suitable teacher. Traditionally, this relationship would be with a guru - who is seen as an embodiment of the Divine - and would involve a relatively full-time committment to study, often involving manual service to the guru as a form of payment for instruction. A guru may also found an ashram or order of monks. Many gurus write modern translations and elucidations of classical texts, explaining how their particular teachings should be followed. In practice, the modern western student is much more likely to attend a local yoga course and receive instruction from a teacher who are themselves practicing the style of a particular school founded by a guru. It is often a mark of accomplishment and authenticity if a yoga teacher can demonstrate their close link to a guru with a strong lineage.
In all braches of yoga, the ultimate goal is the attainment of liberation from worldly suffering and the cycle of birth and death (Samsara). Yoga entails mastery over the body, mind, and emotional self, and transcendence of desire. It is said to lead gradually to knowledge of the true nature of reality. The Yogi reaches the enlightened state (Moksha) where there is a cessation of thought and an experience of blissful union. This union may be of the individual soul (Atman) with the supreme Reality (Brahman), as in Vedanta philosophy; or with a specific god or goddess, as in theistic forms of Hinduism and some forms of Buddhism. Enlightenment may also be described as cessation of mental fluctuations (citta-nirodha) accompanied by extinction of the limited ego, and direct and lasting perception of the non-dual nature of the universe.
Common to most forms of yoga is the practice of concentration (dharana) and meditation (dhyana). Dharana, according to Patanjali's definition, is the "binding of consciousness to a single point." The awareness is concentrated on a fine point of sensation (such as that of the breath entering and leaving the nostrils). Sustained single-pointed concentration gradually leads to meditation (dhyana), in which the inner faculties are able to expand and merge with something vast. Meditators sometimes report feelings of peace, joy, and oneness.
The focus of meditation may differ from school to school, e.g. meditation on one of the chakras, such as the heart center (anahata) or the 'third eye' (ajna); or meditation on a particular deity, such as Krishna; or on a quality like peace. Non-dualist schools such as Advaita Vedanta may stress meditation on the Supreme with no form or qualities (Nirguna Brahman). This resembles Buddhist meditation on the Void.
[edit] Yoga and Other Traditions
The goals of yoga are expressed differently in different traditions. In theistic Hinduism, yoga may be seen as a set of practices intended to bring people closer to God - to help them achieve union with God. In Buddhism, which does not postulate a creator-type god, yoga may help people deepen their wisdom, compassion, and insight. In Western nations, where there is a strong emphasis on individualism, yoga practice may be an extension of the search for meaning in self, and integration of the different aspects of being. The terms Self-Realization and god-Realization are used interchangeably in Hindu yoga, with the underlying belief that the true nature of self, revealed through the practice of yoga, is of the same nature as God.
For the average person still far from enlightenment, yoga can be a way of increasing one's spiritual awareness, or cultivating compassion and insight. While the history of yoga strongly connects it with Hinduism, proponents claim that yoga is not a religion itself, but contains practical steps which can be found in the esoteric spiritual practices of all religions, as well as those who do not consider themselves religious.
[edit] Yoga and Buddhism
It is quite likely that Buddha (Siddhartha Guatama), who is estimated to have lived 563 to 483 BC, actually studied what was known of yoga at that time as part of his extensive education on Hindu philosophy. It is also very likely, given the rapid growth of Buddhism after his death and before the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras were composed, that Buddhism had some influence on those works.
In either case, there is a considerable overlap between Yoga and Buddhism. Of particular interest is a comparison of the Buddhist eight-fold path and the eight limbs of Patanjali's Yoga. Their moral precepts (the sila of Buddhism, the yama and niyama of yoga) share the Hindu principle of non-violence (ahimsa); their final steps point towards a common goal - 6. Buddhist Samma Vayama (Effort) vs Yogic Dharana (Concentration), 7. Buddhist Samma Sati (Mindfulness) vs Yogic Dhyana (Meditation) and 8. Buddhist Samma Samadhi vs Yogic Samadhi. An in relation to views of the Self, yoga's asmita-samapatti is designed to eradicate the wrong views on the Self much in the same way Buddha did it in Anatta-lakkhana-sutta.
The correlation between Yoga and Buddhism seems to be particularly strong in Tibetan Buddhism, due to various historical events including the influence of Tantra on Tibetan traditions. For example, a system of 108 bodily postures practiced with breath and heart rhythm timing in movement exercises is known as Trul khor or union of moon and sun (channel) prajna energies, and the body postures of Tibetan ancient yogis are depicted on the walls of the Dalai Lama's summer temple of Lukhang.
[edit] Yoga and Tantra
Yoga is often mentioned in company with Tantra, and it is true that these traditions have influenced one another over time. They are both families of spiritual texts, practices, and lineages with origins in the Indian subcontinent and both have been popularized in the West.
Tantra has roots in the first millennium, and incorporates Shiva and Shakti worship. It focuses on the kundalini, a three and a half-coiled 'snake' of spiritual energy at the base of the spine that rises through chakras until union ('samadhi') between Shiva and Shakti is ultimately achieved. These concepts were formally introduced into yoga with the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and because of the subsequent popularity of Hatha Yoga, many Hindu and western yoga teachers now accept these essentially tantric concepts within the yogic philosophy, and this is the most obvious major intersection between tantra and yoga today. The acceptance of tantric kundalini teachings into modern yoga was reinforced by the New Age movement which accompanied (and fed into) the rise of popularity of yoga in the West.
However, Tantra and Yoga have notable points of difference. Where body consciousness is seen as the root cause of bondage in Yoga, Tantra views the body as a means to understanding, rather than as an obstruction. As a result, in India particularly, Tantra often carries quite negative connotations involving sexual misbehavior and black magic, although it must be said most forms actually follow quite mainstream social mores and this is simply an expression of prejudice.
The actual method of Tantra is quite different to traditional Raja Yoga. It emphasises mantra (Sanskrit prayers, often to gods, that are repeated), yantra (complex symbols representing gods in various forms through intricate geometric figures), and rituals that range from simple murti (statue representations of deities) or image worship to meditation on a corpse.
[edit] Yoga Therapy
It has been proposed by T.K.V. Desikachar, through his organisation the KYM [1], that Yoga be integrated with other medical practices for the purpose of therapeutic healing. The KYM is currently running training courses for Yoga teachers to become Yoga therapists.
It is not clear at this stage to what extent Yoga Therapy can be considered a unique practice, or where it is merely a mixture of traditional Ashtanga yoga with Ayurvedic medicine.
[edit] Notable Yogis
Centuries ago, such individuals included Mirabai from the Bhakti tradition, Shankaracharya from the Jnana Yoga tradition, and Patanjali, who formalized the system of Raja Yoga.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886), a Bhakti Yogi, brought about a rebirth of yoga in India. A devotee of Mother Kali and a teacher of Advaita Vedanta, he preached that "all religions lead to the same goal."
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), Ramakrishna's disciple, is well known for introducing Yoga philosophy to many in the west, as well as reinvigorating Hinduism in a modern setting during India's freedom struggle.
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) translated and interpreted Yogic scriptures, such as the Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita. His epic poem Savitri is a treasure of Hindu Yogic literature, among the longest poems ever written in English. He also founded an Ashram in Pondicherry, which continues to propagate the practice of Integral Yoga, which is Aurobindo's synthesis of the four main Yogas (Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Raja).
Swami Sivananda (1887-1963), founder of the Divine Life Society lived most of his life in Rishikesh, India. He wrote an impressive 300 books on various aspects of Yoga, religions, philosophy, spirituality, Hinduism, moral ethics, hygiene and health. He was a pioneering Yogi in bringing Yoga to the west and throughout the world. He was clear, simple and precise in all his teachings. His motto being: "Serve. Love. Give. Meditate. Purify. Realise."
Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989), taught at Mysore Palace from 1924 until his death in 1989. He can be considered the father of modern yoga, inasmuch as he catalysed its popularity. As much for his many accomplishments, he is known as the teacher of four of the most influential yogi gurus who have subsequently spread yoga knowledge throughout the world: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-present), B.K.S. Iyengar (1918-present), Indra Devi (1899-2002) and his own son T.K.V. Desikachar. See Krishnamacharya's yoga.
Yogiraj Swami Bua (1888?-Present), founded the Indo-American Yoga Vedanta Society in 1969. He received the titles of "Yogiraj" and "Maharaja of Hatha Yoga" from Swami Sivananda. He is maybe the only Yogi who can still perform Khechari Mudra (Tongue Lock). His actual age is unverified: although he is almost certainly over 100 years of age, it is unclear is he is 116 as his devotees claim.
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), a practitioner of Kriya Yoga, taught Yoga as the binding force that reconciled Hinduism and Christianity. Yogananda founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, in 1925. His book Autobiography of a Yogi continues to be one of the best-selling books on yoga.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) popularised Bhakti Yoga in many countries through his movement, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, (popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement) which he founded in 1966. His followers, known for enthusiastic chanting in public places, brought Bhakti Yoga to the attention of many westerners.
Gopi Krishna (1903-1984) was a Kashmiri office worker and spiritual seeker who wrote best-selling autobiographical[3] accounts of his spiritual experiences. He wrote frequently about the nature of kundalini and was important in introducing this concept to a wider western audience.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917-present) is the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement, which came to great public knowledge when the Beatles studied it for a short time in the mid-1960s, and still has many followers today. Although not a traditional yoga, it is clearly following that tradition and its goals.
Swami Vishnu-devananda (1927-1993) Founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, Swami Vishnu-devananda, was a world authority on Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga. He originated the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course in 1969 - a certification now common in Yoga practice in the West. Swamiji was also known as the "Flying Swami" for the different peace missions he accomplished around the world.
P.R. Sarkar also known as Baba (1921-1990), founded the socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (the path of bliss) in 1955. Based on tantric yoga, his teaching emphasizes social service in the context of a political, economic and cultural theory; or "self-realization and service to all."
[edit] See also
[edit] Related topics
[edit] Orthodox Yoga
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[edit] Unorthodox and Contemporary Yoga
[edit] External Links
- JOY: The Journal of Yoga Online journal dedicated to yogic philosophy and spirituality
- A History of Yoga Detailed history
- ABC of Yoga A comprehensive general site
- Yoga Basics General site
- Santosha General site
- Yoga Cards Information, pictures of asanas
- Yoga Darsana Reference to history and theory
- Isha Yoga A Non-profit Organization - Isha Foundation
[edit] References
- Donatelle, Rebecca J. Health: The Basics. 6th ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc. 2005.
- Feuerstein, Georg. The Shambhala Guide to Yoga. 1st ed. Boston & London: Shambhala Publications 1996.
- Saraswati, swami satyananda (November 2002 (12th edition))"Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha" ISBN 81-86336-14-1
- Mittra, Dharma Sri. Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses. 1st ed. California: New World Library 2003.
- Usharabudh, Arya Pandit. Philosophy of Hatha Yoga. 2nd ed. Pennsylvania: Himalayan Institute Press 1977, 1985.
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| Texts | Yoga Sutra | Nyaya Sutra | Vaiseshika Sutra | Samkhya Sutra | Mimamsa Sutra | Brahma Sutra | Mūlamadhyamakakārikā | More... |
| Yogas: | Agni Yoga - Anahata Yoga - Anusara Yoga - Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga - Bikram Yoga - Hatha yoga - Integral yoga - Iyengar Yoga - Kriya yoga - Kundalini yoga - Natya Yoga - Sahaj Marg - Sahaja Yoga - Satyananda Yoga - Sivananda Yoga - Six yogas of Naropa (Tummo) - Surat Shabd Yoga - Viniyoga - Yoga in Daily Life - Yoga Nidra |
| Texts: | Hatha Yoga Pradipika - Yoga Sutra - Gherand Samhita |
| Hinduism paths: | Bhakti yoga - Karma Yoga - Jnana Yoga - Raja Yoga |
| Raja Yoga limbs: | Yama - Niyama - Asana - Pranayama - Pratyahara - Dharana - Dhyana - Samadhi |
| Lists: | Yoga schools and their gurus - Hatha yoga postures |
| Related topics: | Ayurveda - Chakra - Mantra - Tantra - Vedanta - Yoga (alternative medicine) - Yoga as exercise |
