Saturday, April 12, 2008
History of Yoga
Indus Valley seals
Several seals discovered at Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1700 BC) sites depict figures in a yoga or meditation like posture. There is considerable evidence to support the idea that the images show "a form of ritual discipline, suggesting a precursor of yoga"[13] according to archaeologist Gregory Possehl. He points to sixteen specific "yogi glyptics"[14] in the corpus of Mature Harappan artifacts as pointing to Harappan devotion to "ritual discipline and concentration." These images show that the yoga pose "may have been used by deities and humans alike."[15]
The most widely known of these images was named the "Pashupati seal"[16] by its discoverer, John Marshall, who believed that it represented a "proto-Shiva" figure.[17] Many modern authorities discount the idea that this "Pashupati" (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit paśupati)[18] represents a Shiva or Rudra figure.[19][20] Gavin Flood characterizes the Shiva or Rudra view as "speculative", and goes on to say that it is not clear from the 'Pashupati' seal that the figure is seated in a yoga posture, or that the shape is intended to represent a human figure.[21][22] Authorities who support the idea that the 'Pashupati' figure shows a figure in a yoga or meditation posture include Archaeologist Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, current Co-director of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project in Pakistan[23][24] and Indologist Heinrich Zimmer.[25]
Literary sources
- See also: History of Yoga
Ascetic practices (tapas) are referenced in the Brāhmaṇas (900 BCE and 500 BCE),[26] early commentaries on the vedas. In the Upanishads, an early reference to meditation is made in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,[27] one of the earliest Upanishads (approx. 900 BCE). The main textual sources for the evolving concept of Yoga are the middle Upanishads, (ca. 400 BCE), the Mahabharata (5th c. BCE) including the Bhagavad Gita (ca. 200 BCE), and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (200 BCE-300 CE).
Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord'), uses the term yoga extensively in a variety of senses. Of many possible meanings given to the term in the Gita, most emphasis is given to these three:[28]
- Karma yoga: The yoga of action
- Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion
- Jnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge
The influential commentator Madhusudana Sarasvati (b. circa 1490) divided the Gita's eighteen chapters into three sections, each of six chapters. According to his method of division the first six chapters deal with Karma yoga, the middle six deal with Bhakti yoga, and the last six deal with Jnana (knowledge).[29] This interpretation has been adopted by some later commentators and rejected by others.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
In Indian philosophy, Yoga is the name of one of the six orthodox philosophical schools.[30][31] The Yoga philosophical system is closely allied with the Samkhya school.[32] The Yoga school as expounded by Patanjali accepts the Samkhya psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic than the Samkhya, as evidenced by the addition of a divine entity to the Samkhya's twenty-five elements of reality.[33][34] The parallels between Yoga and Samkhya were so close that Max Müller says that "the two philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished from each other as Samkhya with and Samkhya without a Lord...."[35] The intimate relationship between Samkhya and Yoga is explained by Heinrich Zimmer:
These two are regarded in India as twins, the two aspects of a single discipline. Sāṅkhya provides a basic theoretical exposition of human nature, enumerating and defining its elements, analyzing their manner of co-operation in a state of bondage (bandha), and describing their state of disentanglement or separation in release (mokṣa), while Yoga treats specifically of the dynamics of the process for the disentanglement, and outlines practical techniques for the gaining of release, or 'isolation-integration' (kaivalya).[36]
The sage Patanjali is regarded as the founder of the formal Yoga philosophy.[37] The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are ascribed to Patanjali, who, may have been, as Max Müller explains, "the author or representative of the Yoga-philosophy without being necessarily the author of the Sutras."[38] Indologist Axel Michaels is dismissive of claims that the work was written by Patanjali, characterizing it instead as a collection of fragments and traditions of texts stemming from the second or third century.[39] Gavin Flood cites a wider period of uncertainty for the composition, between 100 BCE and 500 CE.[40]
Patanjali's yoga is known as Raja yoga, which is a system for control of the mind.[41] Patanjali defines the word "yoga" in his second sutra, which is the definitional sutra for his entire work:
योग: चित्त-वृत्ति निरोध:
( yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ )
- Yoga Sutras 1.2
This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition (nirodhaḥ) of the modifications (vṛtti) of the mind (citta)".[42] Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis)."[43] Gavin Flood translates the sutra as "yoga is the cessation of mental fluctuations".[44]
Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to it as "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"). This eight-limbed concept derived from the 29th Sutra of the 2nd book became a feature of Raja yoga, and is a core characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation taught today.[1]The Eight Limbs of yoga practice are:
- (1) Yama (The five "abstentions"): nonviolence, truth, non-covetousness, chastity, and abstain from attachment to 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 ("Lengthening Prāna"): Prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, "āyāma", to lengthen or extend
- (5) Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
- (6) Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object
- (7) Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation
- (8) Samadhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation
They are sometimes divided into the lower and the upper four limbs, the lower ones being parallel to the lower limbs of Hatha Yoga, while the upper ones being specific for the Raja yoga. The upper three limbs practiced simultaneously constitute the Samyama.
It details every aspect of the meditative process, and the preparation for it. The book is available in as many as 40 English translations, both in-print and on-line.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] [9]
Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Hatha Yoga is a particular system of Yoga described 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).[45][46] 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,[47][48] 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.[49]
Hatha Yoga in its many modern variations is the style that most people actually associate with the word "Yoga" today.[50] 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.
Yoga in other traditions
Yoga and Buddhism
Yoga is intimately connected to the religious beliefs and practices of the Indian religions.[51] The influence of Yoga is also visible in Buddhism, which is distinguished by its austerities, spiritual exercises, and trance states.[52][53]
Yogacara Buddhism
Yogacara (Sanskrit: "Practice of Yoga [Union]"[54] ), also spelled yogāchāra, is a school of philosophy and psychology that developed in India during the 4th to 5th centuries.
Yogacara received the name as it provided a yoga, a framework for engaging in the practices that lead to the path of the bodhisattva.[55] The Yogacara sect teaches yoga in order to reach enlightenment.[56]
Ch`an (Zen) Buddhism
Zen (the name of which derives from the Sanskrit "dhyana" via the Chinese "ch'an"[57]) is a form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayana school of Buddhism is noted for its proximity with Yoga.[53] In the west, Zen is often set alongside Yoga; the two schools of meditation display obvious family resemblances.[58] This phenomenon merits special attention since the Zen Buddhist school of meditation has some of its roots in yogic practices.[59] Certain essential elements of Yoga are important both for Buddhism in general and for Zen in particular.[3]
Tibetan Buddhism
Yoga is central to Tibetan Buddhism. In the Nyingma tradition, practitioners progress to increasingly profound levels of yoga, starting with Mahā yoga, continuing to Anu yoga and ultimately undertaking the highest practice, Ati yoga. In the Sarma traditions, the Anuttara yoga class is equivalent. Other tantra yoga practices include 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. The body postures of Tibetan ancient yogis are depicted on the walls of the Dalai Lama's summer temple of Lukhang. A semi-popular account of Tibetan Yoga by Chang (1993) refers to Dumo, the generation of heat in one's own body, as being "the very foundation of the whole of Tibetan Yoga" (Chang, 1993, p7). Chang also claims that Tibetan Yoga involves reconciliation of apparent polarities, such as prana and mind, relating this to theoretical implications of tantrism.
Yoga and Tantra
Tantrism is a practice that is supposed to alter the relation of its practitioners to the ordinary social, religious, and logical reality in which they live. Through Tantric practice an individual perceives reality as maya, illusion, and the individual achieves liberation from it.[60]
This particular path to salvation among the several offered by Hinduism, links Tantrism to those practices of Indian religions, such as yoga, meditation, and social renunciation, which are based on temporary or permanent withdrawal from social relationships and modes.[60]
During tantric practices and studies, the student is instructed further in meditation technique, particularly chakra meditation. This is often in a limited form in comparison with the way this kind of meditation is known and used by Tantric practitioners and yogis elsewhere, but is more elaborate than the initiate's previous meditation. It is considered to be a kind of Kundalini Yoga for the purpose of moving the Goddess into the chakra located in the "heart," for meditation and worship.[61]
Goal of Yoga
There are numerous opinions on what the goal of Yoga may be. Goals can range from improving health and fitness, to reaching Moksha.
Within the monist schools of Advaita Vedanta and Shaivism this perfection takes the form of Moksha, which is a liberation from all worldly suffering and the cycle of birth and death (Samsara) at which point there is a realisation of identity with the Supreme Brahman. For the dualistic bhakti schools of Vaishnavism, bhakti itself is the ultimate goal of the yoga process[62], wherein perfection culminates in an eternal relationship with Vishnu or one of his associated avatars such as Krishna or Rama.[63]
Pranayama (Sanskrit: prāṇāyāma) is a Sanskrit word meaning "lengthening of the prana or breath". The word is composed of two Sanskrit words, Prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, and "āyāma", to lengthen or extend. It is often translated as control of the life force (prana).[1][2][3][4] When used as a technical term in yoga, it is often translated more specifically as "breath control".[5][6][7] Literal translations include A. A. Macdonell's "suspension of breath"[8] and I. K. Taimni's "regulation of breath".[9]
The Qigong practice in China may also have its roots in Pranayama.
Etymology
Pranayama (Devanagari: प्राणायाम, prāṇāyāma) is a Sanskrit compound.
V. S. Apte provides fourteen different meanings for the word prana (Devanagari: प्राण, prāṇa) including these:[10]
- Breath, respiration
- The breath of life, vital air, principle of life (usually plural in this sense, there being five such vital airs generally assumed, but three, six, seven, nine, and even ten are also spoken of)[11]
- Energy, vigor
- The spirit or soul
Of these meanings, the concept of "vital air" is used by Bhattacharyya to describe the concept as used in Sanskrit texts dealing with pranayama.[12] Thomas McEvilley translates "prana" as "spirit-energy".[13]
Monier-Williams defines the compound prāṇāyāma as (m., also pl.) "N. of the three 'breath-exercises' performed during Saṃdhyā (See pūraka, recaka, kumbhaka"[14][15] This technical definition refers to a particular system of breath control with three processes as explained by Bhattacharyya: pūraka (to take the breath inside), kumbhaka (to retain it), and recaka (to discharge it).[16] There are also other processes of pranayama in addition to this three-step model.[17]
Macdonell gives the etymology as prāṇa + āyāma and defines it as "m. suspension of breath (sts. pl.)".[18]
Apte's definition of āyāmaḥ derives it from ā + yām and provides several variant meanings for it when used in compounds. The first three meanings have to do with "length", "expansion, extension", and "stretching, extending", but in the specific case of use in the compound prāṇāyāma he defines āyāmaḥ as meaning "restrain, control, stopping".[19]
An alternative etymology for the compound is cited by Ramamurti Mishra, who says that:
"Expansion of individual energy into cosmic energy is called prāṇāyāma (prāṇa, energy + ayām, expansion)."[20]
The word "yama" (Devanagari: याम, yāma) means "cessation"[21][22] or more generally "control" or "restraint".[23][24]
Hatha and Raja Yoga Varieties
Some scholars distinguish between hatha and raja yoga varieties of pranayama, with the former variety usually prescribed for the beginner. According to Taimni, hatha yogic pranayama involves manipulation of pranic currents through breath regulation for bringing about the control of chitta-vrittis and changes in consciousness, whereas raja yogic pranayama involves the control of chitta-vrittis by consciousness directly through the will of the mind.[25] Students qualified to practice pranayama are therefore always initiated first in the techniques of hatha pranayama.[26]
Bhagavad Gita
Pranayama is mentioned in verse 4.29 of the Bhagavad Gita.[27]
Quotes
Prana is a subtle invisible force. It is the life-force that pervades the body. It is the factor that connects the body and the mind, because it is connected on one side with the body and on the other side with the mind. It is the connecting link between the body and the mind. The body and the mind have no direct connection. They are connected through Prana only and this Prana is different from the breathing you have in your physical body.
Yoga works primarily with the energy in the body, through the science of pranayama, or energy-control. Prana means also ‘breath.’ Yoga teaches how, through breath-control, to still the mind and attain higher states of awareness. The higher teachings of yoga take one beyond techniques, and show the yogi, or yoga practitioner, how to direct his concentration in such a way as not only to harmonize human with divine consciousness, but to merge his consciousness in the Infinite.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Pranayama is the fourth 'limb' of the eight limbs of Raja Yoga mentioned in verse 2.29 in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[30][31] Patanjali discusses his specific approach to pranayama in verses 2.49 through 2.51, and devotes verses 2.52 and 2.53 to explaining the benefits of the practice.[32] Patanjali refers to pranayama as the control of life force that comes as a result of practicing the various breathing techniques, rather than the numerous breathing exercises themselves.[33][29]
Many yoga teachers advise that pranayama should be part of an overall practice that includes the other limbs of Patanjali's Raja Yoga teachings, especially Yama, Niyama, and Asana.[34]
Medical claims
Several researchers have reported that pranayama techniques are beneficial in treating a range of stress related disorders,[35] improving autonomic functions,[36] relieving symptoms of asthma,[37][38] and reducing signs of oxidative stress.[39][40] Practitioners report that the practice of pranayama develops a steady mind, strong will-power, and sound judgement,[34] and also claim that sustained pranayama practice extends life and enhances perception.[41]
Cautions & contraindications
Many yoga teachers recommend that pranayama techniques be practiced with care, and that advanced pranayama techniques should be practiced under the guidance of a teacher. These cautions are also made in traditional Hindu literature.[42][43] [44]
Some common asanas
 Uttanasana |  Paschimottanasana |  Adho Mukha Svanasana |  Bhujangasana |
 Dhanurasana |  Halasana |  Urdhva Dhanurasana |  Sarvangasana |
 Shirsasana |  Shavasana |  Vajrasana |  Vrksasana |
Uttanasana (forward bend) is a hatha yoga posture, one of the most 'popular', utilized in most hatha yoga classes.
The posture consists of standing with feet together, then hinging forward from the hips, letting the head hang, with palms placed flat on the floor near the feet.
Practitioners suggest that this posture provides these benefits:
- Provides a complete stretch to the entire back side of the body.
- Rejuvenates the spinal nerves.
- Removes depression, makes the mind peaceful and calm.
- Tones the kidneys, liver, and spleen.
- Increases flexibility of the spine, hips, sciatic nerves, tendons, and ligaments of the legs.
- Improves blood circulation in the legs.
- Calms and rejuvenates the nervous system as it soothes the brain cells.
- Releases anxiety.
- Provides nourishment to the facial skin, scalp, and hair roots.
- Improves eyesight and hearing.
- Stretches the hamstrings.
Because of its great popularity, this posture has a very large number of variations and associated techniques.
Yoga (Sanskrit: योग Yoga, IPA: [joːgə]) is a group of ancient spiritual practices originating in India. According to Gavin Flood, Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies[1] it has been defined as referring to "technologies or disciplines of asceticism and meditation which are thought to lead to spiritual experience and profound understanding or insight into the nature of existence."[2] Yoga is also intimately connected to the religious beliefs and practices of the other Indian religions.
Outside India, Yoga is mostly associated with the practice of asanas (postures) of Hatha Yoga or as a form of exercise, although it has influenced the entire Indian religions family and other spiritual practices throughout the world.[3]
Hindu texts discussing different aspects of yoga include the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva Samhita, and many others.[3][4]
Major branches of Yoga include: Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga.[5] [6] [7] Raja Yoga, established by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and known simply as Yoga in the context of Hindu philosophy, is one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of thought
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