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Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of Asana, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various soteriological goals (moksha), as practiced in the Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism traditions.
Yoga may have pre-Vedic period origins, but is first attested in the early first millennium BCE. It developed as various traditions in the eastern Ganges basin drew from a common body of practices, including Vedas elements. Yoga-like practices are mentioned in the Rigveda and a number of early Upanishads, but systematic yoga concepts emerge during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's sannyasa and Śramaṇa movements, including Jainism and Buddhism. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the classical text on Hindu yoga, samkhya-based but influenced by Buddhism, dates to the early centuries of the Common Era. Hatha yoga texts began to emerge between the ninth and 11th centuries, originating in tantra.
Yoga is practiced worldwide, but "yoga" in the Western world often entails a modern form of Hatha yoga and a posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief and relaxation technique, consisting largely of ; this differs from traditional yoga, which focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments. It was introduced by from India after the success of Swami Vivekananda's adaptation of yoga without asanas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Vivekananda introduced the Yoga Sutras to the West, and they became prominent after the 20th-century success of hatha yoga.
Buswell and Lopez translate "yoga" as "'bond', 'restraint', and by extension "spiritual discipline." Flood refers to restraining the mind as yoking the mind.
Yoga is a cognate of the English language word "yoke," since both are derived from an Indo-European root. According to Mikel Burley, the first use of the root of the word "yoga" is in hymn 5.81.1 of the Rigveda, a dedication to the rising Sun-god, where it has been interpreted as "yoke" or "control".
Pāṇini (4th c. BCE) wrote that the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots: yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samādhau ("to concentrate"). In the context of the Yoga Sutras, the root yuj samādhau (to concentrate) is considered the correct etymology by traditional commentators. In accordance with Pāṇini, Vyasa (who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras) says that yoga means samadhi (concentration). Larson notes that in the Vyāsa Bhāsy the term "samadhi" refers to "all levels of mental life" (sārvabhauma), that is, "all possible states of awareness, whether ordinary or extraordinary".
A person who practices yoga, or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment, is called a yogi; a female yogi may also be known as a yogini.American Heritage Dictionary: "Yogi, One who practices yoga". Websters: "Yogi, A follower of the yoga philosophy; an ascetic".
| + !Source Text !Approx. Date !Definition of Yoga | ||
| Maitrayaniya Upanishad | c. 4th century BCE | "Because in this manner he joins the Prana (breath), the Om, and this Universe in its manifold forms, or because they join themselves (to him), therefore this (process of meditation) is called Yoga (joining). The oneness of breath, mind, and senses, and then the surrendering of all conceptions, that is called Yoga" |
| Vaisesika sutra | c. 4th century BCE | "Pleasure and suffering arise as a result of the drawing together of the sense organs, the mind and objects. When that does not happen because the mind is in the self, there is no pleasure or suffering for one who is embodied. That is yoga" (5.2.15–16) Vaisesika sutra, 5.2.15–16 |
| Katha Upanishad | last centuries BCE | "When the five senses, along with the mind, remain still and the intellect is not active, that is known as the highest state. They consider yoga to be firm restraint of the senses. Then one becomes un-distracted for yoga is the arising and the passing away" (6.10–11) Katha Upanishad, 6.10–11 |
| Bhagavad Gita | c. 2nd century BCE | "Be equal minded in both success and failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga" (2.48) "Yoga is skill in action" (2.50) "Know that which is called yoga to be separation from contact with suffering" (6.23) Bhagavad Gita, 2.48, 2.50, 6.23 |
| Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | c. first centuries CE | 1.2. yogas chitta vritti nirodhah – "Yoga is the calming down the fluctuations/patterns of mind" 1.3. Then the Purusha is established in his own essential and fundamental nature. 1.4. In other states there is assimilation (of the Seer) with the modifications (of the mind). Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1.2–4 |
| Yogabhasya | same as Yoga Sutras | yoga samadhih - "samadhi is yoga," referring to ekagrata, one-pointedness, and niruddha, that is, contentless samadhi ( asamprajnata-samadhi) |
| Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (Sravakabhumi), a Mahayana Buddhist Yogacara work | 4th century CE | "Yoga is fourfold: faith, aspiration, perseverance and means" (2.152) Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (Sravakabhumi), 2.152 |
| Kaundinya's Pancarthabhasya on the Pashupata-sutra | 4th century CE | "In this system, yoga is the union of the self and the Lord" (I.I.43) |
| Yogaśataka a Jain work by Haribhadra Suri | 6th century CE | "With conviction, the lords of Yogins have in our doctrine defined yoga as the concurrence ( sambandhah) of the three correct beginning with correct knowledge, since thereby conjunction with liberation....In common usage this term yoga also denotes contact with the causes of these three, due to the common usage of the cause for the effect." (2, 4). Yogaśataka, 2, 4 |
| Linga Purana | "By the word 'yoga' is meant nirvana, the condition of Shiva." (I.8.5a) Linga Purana, I.8.5a | |
| Brahmasutra-bhasya of Adi Shankara | c. 8th century CE | "It is said in the treatises on yoga: 'Yoga is the means of perceiving reality' ( atha tattvadarsanabhyupāyo yogah)" (2.1.3) Brahmasutra-bhasya, 2.1.3 |
| Mālinīvijayottara Tantra, one of the primary authorities in non-dual Kashmir Shaivism | 6th–10th century CE | "Yoga is said to be the oneness of one entity with another." (4.4–8) Mālinīvijayottara Tantra, 4.4–8 |
| Mrgendratantravrtti, of the Shaiva Siddhanta scholar Narayanakantha | 6th–10th century CE | "To have self-mastery is to be a Yogin. The term Yogin means "one who is necessarily "conjoined with" the manifestation of his nature...the Siva-state ( sivatvam)" (yp 2a) Mrgendratantravrtti, yp 2a |
| Śaradatilaka of Lakshmanadesikendra, a Shakta Tantra work | 11th century CE | "Yogic experts state that yoga is the oneness of the individual Self (jiva) with the atman. Others understand it to be the ascertainment of Siva and the Self as non-different. The scholars of the Agamas say that it is a Knowledge which is of the nature of Siva's Power. Other scholars say it is the knowledge of the primordial Self." (25.1–3b) Śaradatilaka, 25.1–3b |
| Yogabija, a Hatha yoga work | 14th century CE | "The union of apana and prana, one's own rajas and semen, the sun and moon, the individual Self and the supreme Self, and in the same way the union of all dualities, is called yoga. " (89) Yogabija, 89 |
In its broadest sense, yoga is a generic term for techniques aimed at controlling body and mind and attaining a Soteriology goal as specified by a specific tradition:
According to Knut A. Jacobsen, yoga has five principal meanings:
White writes that yoga's core principles were more or less in place in the 5th century CE, and variations of the principles developed over time:
According to White, the last principle relates to legendary goals of yoga practice; it differs from yoga's practical goals in South Asian thought and practice since the beginning of the Common Era in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophical schools. James Mallinson disagrees with the inclusion of supernatural accomplishments, and suggests that such fringe practices are far removed from mainstream Yoga's goal as meditation-driven means to liberation in Indian religions.
A classic definition of yoga in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras 1.2 and 1.3, defines yoga as "the stilling of the movements of the mind," and recognises Purusha, the witness-consciousness, as different from Prakriti, mind and matter. According to Larson, in the context of the Yoga Sutras, yoga has two meanings. The first meaning is yoga "as a general term to be translated as "disciplined meditation" that focuses on any of the many levels of ordinary awareness." In the second meaning yoga is "that specific system of thought (sāstra) that has for its focus the analysis, understanding and cultivation of those altered states of awareness that lead one to the experience of spiritual liberation."
Another classic understanding sees yoga as union or connection with the highest Self ( paramatman), Brahman, or God, a "union, a linking of the individual to the divine." This definition is based on the devotionalism (bhakti) of the Bhagavad Gita, and the jnana yoga of Vedanta.
While yoga is often conflated with the "classical yoga" of Patanjali's yoga sutras, Karen O'Brien-Kop notes that "classical yoga" is informed by, and includes, Buddhist yoga. Regarding Buddhist yoga, James Buswell in his Encyclopedia of Buddhism treats yoga in his entry on meditation, stating that the aim of meditation is to attain samadhi, which serves as the foundation for vipasyana, "discerning the real from the unreal," liberating insight into true reality. Buswell & Lopez state that "in Buddhism, yoga a generic term for soteriological training or contemplative practice, including tantric practice."
O'Brien-Kop further notes that "classical yoga" is not an independent category, but "was informed by the European colonialist project."
The earliest yoga-practices may have appeared in the Jain tradition at ca. 900 BCE. Speculations about yoga are documented in the early Upanishads of the first half of the first millennium BCE, with expositions also appearing in Jain and Buddhist texts . Between 200 BCE and 500 CE, traditions of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophy were taking shape; teachings were collected as , and a philosophical system of Patanjaliyogasastra began to emerge. The Middle Ages saw the development of a number of yoga satellite traditions. It and other aspects of Indian philosophy came to the attention of the educated Western public during the mid-19th century.
Thomas McEvilley favors a composite model in which a pre-Aryan yoga prototype existed in the pre-Vedic period and was refined during the Vedic period. According to Gavin D. Flood, the Upanishads differ fundamentally from the Vedic ritual tradition and indicate non-Vedic influences. However, the traditions may be connected:
The ascetic traditions of the eastern Ganges plain are thought to drew from a common body of practices and philosophies, with proto-samkhya concepts of purusha and prakriti as a common denominator.
The Rigveda Nasadiya Sukta suggests an early Brahmanic contemplative tradition. Techniques for controlling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the Atharvaveda and in the (the second layer of the Vedas, composed c. 1000–800 BCE).
According to Flood, "The the contain some references ... to ascetics, namely the Munis or Keśins and the Vratyas." Werner wrote in 1977 that the Rigveda does not describe yoga, and there is little evidence of practices. The earliest description of "an outsider who does not belong to the Brahminic establishment" is found in the Keśin hymn 10.136, the Rigveda youngest book, which was codified around 1000 BCE. Werner wrote that there were
According to Whicher (1998), scholarship frequently fails to see the connection between the contemplative practices of the and later yoga practices: "The proto-Yoga of the Vedic is an early form of sacrificial mysticism and contains many elements characteristic of later Yoga that include: concentration, meditative observation, ascetic forms of practice ( tapas), breath control practiced in conjunction with the recitation of sacred hymns during the ritual, the notion of self-sacrifice, impeccably accurate recitation of sacred words (prefiguring mantra-yoga), mystical experience, and the engagement with a reality far greater than our psychological identity or the ego." Jacobsen wrote in 2018, "Bodily postures are closely related to the tradition of tapas, ascetic practices in the Vedic tradition"; ascetic practices used by Vedic priests "in their preparations for the performance of the Yajna" may be precursors of yoga. "The ecstatic practice of enigmatic longhaired muni in Rgveda 10.136 and the ascetic performance of the vratya-s in the Atharvaveda outside of or on the fringe of the Brahmanical ritual order, have probably contributed more to the ascetic practices of yoga."
According to Bryant, practices recognizable as classical yoga first appear in the Upanishads (composed during the late Vedic period). Alexander Wynne agrees that formless, elemental meditation might have originated in the Upanishadic tradition. An early reference to meditation is made in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 900 BCE), one of the Principal Upanishads. The Chandogya Upanishad (c. 800–700 BCE) describes the five vital energies ( prana), and concepts of later yoga traditions (such as blood vessels and an internal sound) are also described in this upanishad. The practice of pranayama (focusing on the breath) is mentioned in hymn 1.5.23 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) is mentioned in hymn 8.15 of Chandogya Upanishad.Mircea Eliade (2009), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, , pages 117–118 The Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana (probably before the 6th c. BCE) teaches breath control and repetition of a mantra. The 6th-c. BCE Taittiriya Upanishad defines yoga as the mastery of body and senses. According to Flood, "The actual term yoga first appears in the Katha Upanishad, dated to the fifthRichard King (1995). Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: the Mahāyāna context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā. SUNY Press. , page 52 to first centuries BCE.
Werner writes, "The Buddha was the founder of his Yoga system, even though, admittedly, he made use of some of the experiences he had previously gained under various Yoga teachers of his time." He notes:
Early Buddhist texts describe yogic and meditative practices, some of which the Buddha borrowed from the śramaṇa tradition.Richard Gombrich, "Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo." Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, p. 44.Barbara Stoler Miller, "Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: the Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali; a Translation of the Text, with Commentary, Introduction, and Glossary of Keywords." University of California Press, 1996, p. 8. The Pāli Canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate to control hunger or the mind, depending on the passage.Mallinson, James. 2007. The Khecarīvidyā of Adinathā. London: Routledge. pp. 17–19. There is no mention of the tongue inserted into the nasopharynx, as in khecarī mudrā. The Buddha used a posture in which pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to modern postures used to evoke Kundalini., "The Buddha himself is said to have tried both pressing his tongue to the back of his mouth, in a manner similar to that of the hathayogic khecarīmudrā, and ukkutikappadhāna, a squatting posture which may be related to hathayogic techniques such as mahāmudrā, mahābandha, mahāvedha, mūlabandha, and vajrāsana in which pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, in order to force upwards the breath or Kundalinī." Sutra which discuss yogic practice include the Satipatthana Sutta (the Satipatthana sutta) and the Anapanasati Sutta (the Anapanasati sutta).
The chronology of these yoga-related early Buddhist texts, like the ancient Hindu texts, is unclear. Early Buddhist sources such as the Majjhima Nikāya mention meditation; the Aṅguttara Nikāya describes jhāyins (meditators) who resemble early Hindu descriptions of muni, the Kesin and meditating ascetics,Bronkhorst, Johannes (1993), The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 1–24 but the meditation practices are not called "yoga" in these texts. The earliest known discussions of yoga in Buddhist literature, as understood in a modern context, are from the later Buddhist Yogachara and Theravada schools.
Jain meditation is a yoga system which predated the Buddhist school. Since Jain sources are later than Buddhist ones, however, it is difficult to distinguish between the early Jain school and elements derived from other schools. Most of the other contemporary yoga systems alluded to in the Upanishads and some Buddhist texts have been lost.
The hymns in book two of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (another late-first-millennium BCE text) describe a procedure in which the body is upright, the breath is restrained and the mind is meditatively focused, preferably in a cave or a place that is simple and quiet.See: Original Sanskrit: Shvetashvatara Upanishad Book 2, Hymns 8–14;
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad, probably composed later than the Katha and Shvetashvatara Upanishads but before the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, mentions a sixfold yoga method: breath control, introspective withdrawal of the senses, meditation ( dhyana), mental concentration, Tarka sastra, and Samadhi. In addition to discussions in the Principal Upanishads, the twenty Yoga Upanishads and related texts (such as Yoga Vasistha, composed between the sixth and 14th centuries CE) discuss yoga methods.
Onesicritus also mentions attempts by his colleague, Kalanos, to meet them. Initially denied an audience, he was later invited because he was sent by a "king curious of wisdom and philosophy". Onesicritus and Calanus learn that the yogis consider life's best doctrines to "rid the spirit of not only pain, but also pleasure", that "man trains the body for toil in order that his opinions may be strengthened", that "there is no shame in life on frugal fare", and that "the best place to inhabit is one with scantiest equipment or outfit". According to Charles Rockwell Lanman, these principles are significant in the history of yoga's spiritual side and may reflect the roots of "undisturbed calmness" and "mindfulness through balance" in the later works of Patanjali and Buddhaghosa.
The Bhagavad Gita ( Song of the Lord), part of the Mahabharata, contains extensive teachings about yoga. According to Mallinson and Singleton, the Gita "seeks to appropriate yoga from the renunciate milieu in which it originated, teaching that it is compatible with worldly activity carried out according to one's caste and life stage; it is only the fruits of one's actions that are to be renounced." In addition to a chapter (chapter six) dedicated to traditional yoga practice (including meditation), it introduces three significant types of yoga:
The Gita consists of 18 chapters and 700 shlokas (verses);Bibek Debroy (2005), The Bhagavad Gita, Penguin Books, , Introduction, pages x–xi each chapter is named for a different form of yoga.Georg Feuerstein (2011), The Bhagavad Gita – A New Translation, Shambhala, Some scholars divide the Gita into three sections; the first six chapters (280 shlokas) deal with karma yoga, the middle six (209 shlokas) with bhakti yoga, and the last six (211 shlokas) with jnana yoga. However, elements of all three are found throughout the work.
The Brahma Sutras, the foundation text of the Vedanta school of Hinduism, also discusses yoga. Estimated as completed in its surviving form between 450 BCE and 200 CE,, "From a historical perspective, the Brahmasutras are best understood as a group of sutras composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years, most likely composed in its current form between 400 and 450 BCE."NV Isaeva (1992), Shankara and Indian Philosophy, State University of New York Press, , page 36, ""on the whole, scholars are rather unanimous, considering the most probable date for Brahmasutra sometime between the 2nd-century BCE and the 2nd-century CE" its sutras assert that yoga is a means to attain "subtlety of body". The Nyaya Sutras—the foundation text of the Nyaya school, estimated as composed between the sixth century BCE and the secondcentury CEJeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, , page 129B. K. Matilal (1986), "Perception. An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge", Oxford University Press, p. xiv.—discusses yoga in sutras 4.2.38–50. It includes a discussion of yogic ethics, dhyana (meditation) and samadhi, noting that debate and philosophy are also forms of yoga.SC Vidyabhushana (1913, Translator), The Nyâya Sutras, The Sacred Book of the Hindus, Volume VIII, Bhuvaneshvar Asrama Press, pages 137–139Karl Potter (2004), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Indian metaphysics and epistemology, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 237
The Yoga Sutras are also influenced by the Sramana traditions of Buddhism and Jainism, and may be a further Brahmanical attempt to adopt yoga from those traditions. Larson noted a number of parallels in ancient samkhya, yoga and Abhidharma Buddhism, particularly from the second century BCE to the first century AD. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are a synthesis of the three traditions. From Samkhya, they adopt the "reflective discernment" ( adhyavasaya) of prakrti and purusa (dualism), their metaphysical rationalism, and their three epistemology methods of obtaining knowledge. Larson says that the Yoga Sutras pursue an altered state of awareness from Abhidharma Buddhism's nirodhasamadhi; unlike Buddhism's "no self or soul", however, yoga (like Samkhya) believes that each individual has a self. The third concept which the Yoga Sutras synthesize is the Sannyasa tradition of meditation and introspection.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are considered the first compilation of yoga philosophy. The verses of the Yoga Sutras are terse. Many later Indian scholars studied them and published their commentaries, such as the Vyasa Bhashya (c. 350–450 CE). Patanjali defines the word "yoga" in his second sutra, and his terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition ( ) of the modifications () of the mind ( )". Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff ( Citta) from taking various forms ( Vrittis)." Edwin Bryant writes that to Patanjali, "Yoga essentially consists of meditative practices culminating in attaining a state of consciousness free from all modes of active or discursive thought, and of eventually attaining a state where consciousness is unaware of any object external to itself, that is, is only aware of its own nature as consciousness unmixed with any other object."Edwin Bryant (2011, Rutgers University), The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali IEP
Baba Hari Dass writes that if yoga is understood as nirodha (mental control), its goal is "the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process)". "Yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state ... as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation."
Patanjali defined an eight-limbed yoga in Yoga Sutras 2.29:
In Hindu scholasticism since the 12th century, yoga has been one of the six orthodox philosophical schools (darsanas): traditions which accept the Vedas.
Tantric concepts influenced Hindu, Bon, Buddhist, and Jain traditions. Elements of Tantric rituals were adopted by, and influenced, state functions in medieval Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in East Asia and Southeast Asia. By the turn of the first millennium, hatha yoga emerged from tantra.
Tantra yoga practices include postures and breathing exercises. The Nyingma school practices Trul khor, a discipline which includes breath work, meditation and other exercises."Yantra Yoga: The Tibetan Yoga of Movement" by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu. Snow Lion, 2008. Nyingma meditation is divided into stages, The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra, by Chogyam Trungpa. Shambhala, 2001 such as Kriya Yoga, Upa yoga, Yoga yana, Mahayoga, Anuyoga and atiyoga."Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet" by Ray, Reginald A. Shambhala: 2002. pp. 37–38 The Sarma traditions also include Kriya, Upa (called "Charya"), and yoga, with anuttara yoga replacing mahayoga and atiyoga."Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet" by Ray, Reginald A. Shambhala: 2002. p. 57
Theosophists, including Helena Blavatsky, also influenced the Western public's view of yoga. Esoteric views at the end of the 19th century encouraged the reception of Vedanta and yoga, with their correspondence between the spiritual and the physical. The reception of yoga and Vedanta entwined with the (primarily Neoplatonism) currents of religious and philosophical reform and transformation during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Mircea Eliade brought a new element to yoga, emphasizing tantric yoga in his Yoga: Immortality and Freedom. With the introduction of tantra traditions and philosophy, the conception of the "transcendent" attained by yogic practice shifted from the mind to the body.Flood, Gavin D., Body and Cosmology in Kashmir Saivism, San Francisco, 1993: Mellen Research University Press, pp.229ff.
Yoga as exercise is part of a modern yoga renaissance, a 20th-century blend of Western gymnastics and haṭha yoga pioneered by Shri Yogendra and Swami Kuvalayananda. Before 1900, hatha yoga had few standing poses; the Sun Salutation was pioneered by Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi, the Rajah of Aundh, during the 1920s. Many standing poses used in gymnastics were incorporated into yoga by Krishnamacharya in Mysore between the 1930s and the 1950s. Several of his students founded schools of yoga. Pattabhi Jois created ashtanga vinyasa yoga, which led to Power Yoga; B. K. S. Iyengar created Iyengar Yoga and systematised asanas in his 1966 book, Light on Yoga; Indra Devi taught yoga to Hollywood actors; and Krishnamacharya's son, T. K. V. Desikachar, founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandalam in Chennai. Other schools founded during the 20th century include Bikram Choudhury's Bikram Yoga and Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh's Sivananda yoga. Yoga as exercise has spread around the world.
The number of asanas used in yoga has increased from 84 in 1830 (as illustrated in Joga Pradipika) to about 200 in Light on Yoga and over 900 performed by Dharma Mittra by 1984. The goal of haṭha yoga (spiritual liberation through energy) was largely replaced by the goals of fitness and relaxation, and many of its more esoteric components were reduced or removed. In modern usage, the term "hatha yoga" denotes gentle exercise, often for women.
Yoga as exercise has developed into a worldwide, multi-billion-dollar business involving classes, teacher certification, clothing, books, videos, equipment, and holidays. The ancient, cross-legged lotus position and Siddhasana are widely recognised symbols of yoga. The United Nations General Assembly established 21 June as the International Day of Yoga, and it has been celebrated annually around the world since 2015. On 1 December 2016, yoga was listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.
The effect of yoga as exercise on physical and mental health has been a subject of study, with evidence that regular practice is beneficial for low back pain and stress. In 2017, a Cochrane review found that yoga as exercise interventions designed for chronic low back pain increased function at the six month mark, and modestly decreased pain after 3–4 months. The decrease in pain was found to be similar to other exercise programs designed for low-back pain, but the decrease is not large enough to be deemed clinically significant.
In early Buddhism, yoga practices included:
These meditations were seen as supported by the other elements of the Noble Eightfold Path, such as Buddhist ethics, right exertion, sense restraint and right view.Analayo (2017), Early Buddhist Meditation Studies, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, pp. 69–70, 80 Two mental qualities are said to be indispensable for yoga practice in Buddhism: samatha (calm, stability) and vipassanā (insight, clear seeing). Thanissaro Bhikkhu, One Tool Among Many, The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice, 1997. Samatha is a stable, relaxed mind, associated with samadhi (mental unification, focus) and dhyana (a state of meditative absorption). Vipassanā is insight or penetrative understanding into the true nature of phenomena, also defined as "seeing things as they truly are" ( yathābhūtaṃ darśanam). A unique feature of classical Buddhism is its understanding of all phenomena ( dhammas) as being empty of a self.Buswell, Robert, ed. (2004), Encyclopedia of Buddhism, MacMillan, p. 889.Paul Williams (2008). Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. Routledge. pp. 68–69. .
Later developments in Buddhist traditions led to innovations in yoga practice. The conservative Theravada school developed new ideas on meditation and yoga in its later works, the most influential of which is the Visuddhimagga. Mahayana meditation teachings may be seen in the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra, compiled c. 4th century. Mahayana also developed and adopted yoga methods such as the use of and dharani, pure land practices aiming at rebirth in a Pure land, and visualization. Chinese Buddhism developed the Chan Buddhism practice of Koan introspection and Hua Tou. Vajrayana developed and adopted tantric methods which are the basis of the Tibetan Buddhist yoga systems, including deity yoga, guru yoga, the six yogas of Naropa, Kalacakra Tantra, Mahamudra and Dzogchen.
Classical yoga incorporates epistemology, metaphysics, ethical practices, systematic exercises and self-development for body, mind and spirit. Its epistemology ( pramana) and metaphysics are similar to the Samkhya school. The Classical yoga's metaphysics, like Sāṅkhya's, primarily posits two distinct realities: prakriti (nature, the eternal and active unconscious source of the material world composed of three guṇas) and puruṣa (consciousness), the plural consciousnesses which are the intelligent principles of the world.Ruzsa, Ferenc, Sankhya, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Moksha (liberation) results from the isolation ( kaivalya) of puruṣa from prakirti, and is achieved through meditation, stilling one's thought waves ( citta vritti) and resting in pure awareness of puruṣa. Unlike Sāṅkhya, which takes a non-theistic approach,Lloyd Pflueger, Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra, in Theory and Practice of Yoga (Editor: Knut Jacobsen), Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 38–39 the yoga school of Hinduism accepts a "personal, yet essentially inactive, deity" or "personal god" (Ishvara).K. T. Behanan (2002), Yoga: Its Scientific Basis, Dover, , pages 56–58
One of the earliest and most influential sub-traditions of Vedanta is Advaita Vedanta, which posits non-dualistic monism. It emphasizes Jnana yoga (yoga of knowledge), which aims at realizing the identity of one's atman (individual consciousness) with Brahman (the Absolute consciousness).Deutsch, Eliot (1988), Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction, University of Hawaii Press, pp. 104–105. Comans, Michael (2000), The Method of Early Advaita Vedānta: A Study of Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkara, Sureśvara, and Padmapāda, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 183. The most influential thinker of this school is Adi Shankara (8th century), who wrote commentaries and other works on jñāna yoga. In Advaita Vedanta, jñāna is attained from scripture, one's guru, and through a process of listening to (and meditating on) teachings.P. P. Bilimoria (2012). Śabdapramāṇa: Word and Knowledge. Springer. pp. 299–301. . Qualities such as discrimination, renunciation, tranquility, temperance, dispassion, endurance, faith, attention, and a longing for knowledge and freedom are also desirable.Eliot Deutsch (1980), Advaita Vedanta : A Philosophical Reconstruction, University of Hawaii Press, , pages 105–108 Yoga in Advaita is a "meditative exercise of withdrawal from the particular and identification with the universal, leading to contemplation of oneself as the most universal, namely, Consciousness".Michael Comans (1993), The question of the importance of Samādhi in modern and classical Advaita Vedānta, Philosophy East & West. Vol. 43, Issue 1, pp. 19–38
Yoga Vasistha is an influential Advaita text which uses short stories and anecdotes to illustrate its ideas. Teaching seven stages of yoga practice, it was a major reference for medieval Advaita Vedanta yoga scholars and one of the most popular texts on Hindu yoga before the 12th century. Another text which teaches yoga from an Advaita point of view is the Yoga Yajnavalkya.
Some scholars include Gorakshanath's 11th-century Goraksha Samhita on the list, since Gorakshanath is considered responsible for popularizing present-day hatha yoga.On page 140, David Gordon White says about Gorakshanath: "... hatha yoga, in which field he was India's major systematizer and innovator."Bajpai writes on page 524: "Nobody can dispute about the top ranking position of Sage Gorakshanath in the philosophy of Yoga."Eliade writes of Gorakshanath on page 303: "...he accomplished a new synthesis among certain Shaivist traditions (Pashupata), tantrism, and the doctrines (unfortunately, so imperfectly known) of the siddhas – that is, of the perfect yogis." Vajrayana Buddhism, founded by the Indian ,Davidson, Ronald. Indian Esoteric Buddhism. Columbia University Press. 2002, pg.169–235. has a series of asanas and pranayamas (such as tummo) which resemble hatha yoga.
Kundalini yoga aims to awaken bodily and Shakti with breath and body techniques, uniting them with universal consciousness.Larson, p. 142. A common teaching method awakens kundalini in the lowest chakra and guides it through the central channel to unite with the absolute consciousness in the highest chakra, at the top of the head.
In 1989 and 2003, the Holy Office issued two documents: Aspects of Christian meditation and "A Christian reflection on the New Age," that were mostly critical of eastern and New Age practices. The 2003 document was published as a 90-page handbook detailing the Vatican's position. Handbook of vocational psychology by W. Bruce Walsh, Mark Savickas 2005 page 358 The Vatican warned that concentration on the physical aspects of meditation "can degenerate into a cult of the body" and that equating bodily states with mysticism "could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral deviations." Such has been compared to the early days of Christianity, when the church opposed the Gnosticism' belief that salvation came not through faith but through mystical inner knowledge. The letter also says, "one can see if and how prayer might be enriched by meditation methods developed in other religions and cultures" but maintains the idea that "there must be some fit between the nature of other prayer and Christian beliefs about ultimate reality." Some fundamentalist Christian organizations consider yoga to be incompatible with their religious background, considering it a part of the New Age movement inconsistent with Christianity.Dr Ankerberg, John & Dr Weldon, John, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, Harvest House Publishers, 1996
Malaysia's top body imposed a legally-enforceable 2008 fatwa prohibiting from practicing yoga, saying that it had elements of Hinduism and its practice was haram as blasphemy.Paul Babie and Neville Rochow (2012), Freedom of Religion Under Bills of Rights , University of Adelaide Press, , page 98 Malaysian Muslims who had been practicing yoga for years called the decision "insulting." Top Islamic body: Yoga is not for Muslims – NBC News Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian women's-rights group, expressed disappointment and said that yoga was a form of exercise. Malaysia's prime minister clarified that yoga as exercise is permissible, but the chanting of religious mantras is not.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) imposed a 2009 fatwa banning yoga because it contains Hindu elements. These fatwas have been criticized by Darul Uloom Deoband, a Deobandi Islamic seminary in India. Similar fatwas banning yoga for its link to Hinduism were imposed by Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa in Egypt in 2004, and by Islamic clerics in Singapore earlier.
According to Iran's yoga association, the country had about 200 yoga centres in May 2014. One-quarter were in the capital, Tehran, where groups could be seen practising in parks; conservatives were opposed. In May 2009, Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs head Ali Bardakoğlu discounted personal-development techniques such as reiki and yoga as commercial ventures which could lead to extremism. According to Bardakoğlu, reiki and yoga could be a form of proselytizing at the expense of Islam. Nouf Marwaai brought yoga to Saudi Arabia in 2017, contributing to making it legal and recognized despite being allegedly threatened by her community which asserts yoga as "un-Islamic".
Web sources
Second urbanisation (500–200 BCE)
Systematic yoga concepts begin to emerge in texts dating to c. 500–200 BCE, such as the early Buddhist texts, the middle Upanishads, and the Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita and Shanti Parva.
Buddhism and the śramaṇa movement
According to Geoffrey Samuel, the "best evidence to date" suggests that yogic practices "developed in the same ascetic circles as the early śramaṇa movements (Buddhism, Jainism and Ajivikas), probably in around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE." This occurred during India's second urbanisation period. According to Mallinson and Singleton, these traditions were the first to use mind-body techniques (known as Dhyāna and tapas) but later described as yoga, to strive for liberation from the round of rebirth.
Upanishads
The Upanishads, composed in the late Vedic period, contain the first references to practices recognizable as classical yoga. The first known appearance of the word "yoga" in the modern sense is in the Katha Upanishad (probably composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE), where it is defined as steady control of the senses whichwith cessation of mental activityleads to a supreme state. The Katha Upanishad integrates the monism of the early Upanishads with concepts of samkhya and yoga. It defines levels of existence by their proximity to one's innermost being. Yoga is viewed as a process of interiorization, or ascent of consciousness. The upanishad is the earliest literary work which highlights the fundamentals of yoga. According to White,
English Translation: Paul Deussen (German: 1897; English Translated by Bedekar & Palsule, Reprint: 2010), Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 309–310
Macedonian texts
Alexander the Great reached India in the 4th century BCE. In addition to his army, he brought Greek academics who wrote memoirs about its geography, people, and customs. One of Alexander's companions was Onesicritus (quoted in Book 15, Sections 63–65 by Strabo in his Geography), who describes yogis.Charles R Lanman, The Hindu Yoga System, Harvard Theological Review, Volume XI, Number 4, Harvard University Press, pages 355–359 Onesicritus says that the yogis were aloof and adopted "different postures – standing or sitting or lying naked – and motionless".Strabo, Geography Book XV, Chapter 1, see Sections 63–65, Loeb Classical Library edition, Harvard University Press, Translator: H. L. Jones
Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita
Nirodhayoga (yoga of cessation), an early form of yoga, is described in the Mokshadharma section of the 12th chapter ( Shanti Parva) of the third-century BCE Mahabharata. Nirodhayoga emphasizes progressive withdrawal from empirical consciousness, including thoughts and sensations, until purusha (self) is realized. Terms such as vichara (subtle reflection) and viveka (discrimination) similar to Patanjali's terminology are used, but not described. Although the Mahabharata contains no uniform yogic goal, the separation of self from matter and perception of Brahman everywhere are described as goals of yoga. Samkhya and yoga are Conflation, and some verses describe them as identical. Mokshadharma also describes an early practice of elemental meditation. The Mahabharata defines the purpose of yoga as uniting the individual ātman with the universal Brahman pervading all things.
Philosophical sutras
Yoga is discussed in the foundational of Hindu philosophy. The Vaiśeṣika Sūtra of the Vaisheshika school of Hinduism, composed between the sixth and second centuries BCE, discusses yoga. According to Johannes Bronkhorst, the Vaiśeṣika Sūtra describes yoga as "a state where the mind resides only in the Self and therefore not in the senses". This is equivalent to pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses). The sutra asserts that yoga leads to an absence of sukha (happiness) and dukkha (suffering), describing meditative steps in the journey towards spiritual liberation.
Classical era (200 BCE – 500 CE)
The Indic traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were taking shape during the period between the Maurya Empire and the Gupta Empire eras (c. 200 BCE – 500 CE), and systems of yoga began to emerge; a number of texts from these traditions discussed and compiled yoga methods and practices. Key works of the era include the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, the Yoga Yajnavalkya, the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra, and the Visuddhimagga.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
One of the best-known early expressions of yoga thought is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (early centuries CE, the original name of which may have been the Pātañjalayogaśāstra-sāṃkhya-pravacana (c. 325–425 CE); some scholars believe that it included the sutras and a commentary. As the name suggests, the metaphysical basis of the text is samkhya; the school is mentioned in Kauṭilya's Arthashastra as one of the three categories of anviksikis (philosophies), with yoga and Charvaka.Original Sanskrit: साङ्ख्यं योगो लोकायतं च इत्यान्वीक्षिकी |
English Translation: Arthasastra Book 1, Chapter 2 Kautiliya, R Shamasastry (Translator), page 9Olivelle, Patrick (2013), King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya's Arthasastra, Oxford University Press, , see Introduction Yoga and samkhya have some differences; yoga accepted the concept of a personal god, and Samkhya was a rational, non-theistic system of Hindu philosophy. Patanjali's system is sometimes called "Seshvara Samkhya", distinguishing it from Kapila's Nirivara Samkhya. The parallels between yoga and samkhya were so close that Max Müller says, "The two philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished from each other as Samkhya with and Samkhya without a Lord." Karel Werner wrote that the systematization of yoga which began in the middle and early Yoga Upanishads culminated in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
+ Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 51 55 56 34
Yoga and Vedanta
Yoga and Vedanta are the two largest surviving schools of Hindu traditions. Although they share many principles, concepts, and the belief in Self, they differ in degree, style, and methods; yoga accepts three means to obtain knowledge, and Advaita Vedanta accepts. Yoga disputes Advaita Vedanta's monism. It believes that in the state of moksha, each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as an independent identity; Advaita Vedanta teaches that in the state of moksha, each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as part of oneness with everything, everyone and the Universal Self. They both hold that the free conscience is transcendent, liberated and self-aware. Advaita Vedanta also encourages the use of Patanjali's yoga practices and the Upanishads for those seeking the supreme good and ultimate Jivanmukta.
Yoga Yajnavalkya
The Yoga Yajnavalkya is a classical treatise on yoga, attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya, in the form of a dialogue between Yajnavalkya and the renowned philosopher Gargi Vachaknavi. The origin of the 12-chapter text has been traced to the second century BCE and the fourth century CE. A number of yoga texts, such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Yoga Kundalini and the Yoga Tattva Upanishads, have borrowed from (or frequently refer to) the Yoga Yajnavalkya. It discusses eight yoga (Swastika, Gomukha, Padma, Vira, Simha, Bhadra, Mukta and Mayura), a number of breathing exercises for body cleansing, and meditation.
Abhidharma and Yogachara
The Buddhist tradition of Abhidharma spawned treatises which expanded teachings on Buddhist theory and yoga techniques which influenced Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism. At the height of the Gupta period (fourth to fifth centuries CE), a northern Mahayana movement known as Yogachara began to be systematized with the writings of Buddhist scholars Asanga and Vasubandhu. Yogācāra Buddhism provided a systematic framework for practices which lead a bodhisattva towards awakening and full Buddhahood.Dan Lusthaus. Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch'eng Wei-shih Lun. Published 2002 (Routledge). . pg 533 Its teachings are found in the encyclopedic Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra ( Shastra for Yoga Practitioners), which was also translated into Tibetan and Chinese and influenced East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism traditions.Ulrich Timme Kragh (editor), The Foundation for Yoga Practitioners: The Buddhist Yogācārabhūmi Treatise and Its Adaptation in India, East Asia, and Tibet, Volume 1 Harvard University, Department of South Asian studies, 2013, pp. 16, 25. Mallinson and Singleton write that the study of Yogācāra Buddhism is essential to understand yoga's early history, and its teachings influenced the Pātañjalayogaśāstra. The South India and Sri Lankan-based Theravada school also developed manuals for yogic and meditative training, primarily the Vimuttimagga and the Visuddhimagga.
Jainism
According to Tattvarthasutra, a second-to-fifth century Jain text, yoga is the sum of all activities of mind, speech and body. Umasvati calls yoga the generator of Asrava,Tattvarthasutra 6.2 and essential to the path to liberation. In his Niyamasara, Kundakunda describes yoga bhakti—devotion to the path to liberation—as the highest form of devotion. Haribhadra and Hemacandra note the five major vows of ascetics and 12 minor vows of laity in yoga. According to Robert J. Zydenbos, Jainism is a system of yogic thinking which became a religion. The five yamas (constraints) of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are similar to Jainism's five major vows, indicating cross-fertilization between these traditions. Hinduism's influence on Jain yoga may be seen in Haribhadra's Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, which outlines an eightfold yoga influenced by Patanjali's eightfold yoga.
Middle Ages (500–1500 CE)
The Middle Ages saw the development of satellite yoga traditions. Hatha yoga emerged during this period.
Bhakti movement
In medieval Hinduism, the Bhakti movement advocated the concept of a personal god or Svayam Bhagavan. The movement, begun by the Alvars of South India during the 6th to 9th centuries, became influential throughout India by the 12th to 15th centuries. Shaivism and Vaishnava bhakti traditions integrated aspects of the Yoga Sutras (such as meditative exercises) with devotion. The Bhagavata Purana elucidates a form of yoga known as viraha (separation) bhakti, which emphasizes concentration on Krishna.
Tantra
Tantra is a range of esoteric traditions which had begun to arise in India by the 5th century CE. Its use suggests that the word tantra in the Rigveda means "technique". George Samuel wrote that tantra is a contested term, but may be considered a school whose practices appeared in nearly-complete form in Buddhist and Hindu texts by about the 10th century CE. Tantric yoga developed complex visualizations, which included meditation on the body as a microcosm of the cosmos. It included mantras, breath control, and body manipulation (including its nadis and . Teachings about chakras and Kundalini became central to later forms of Indian yoga.
Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism
Vajrayana is also known as Tantric Buddhism and Tantrayāna. Its texts began to be compiled during the seventh century CE, and Tibetan translations were completed the following century. These tantra texts were the main source of Buddhist knowledge imported into Tibet,John Powers (2004), in Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Editors: Damien Keown et al.), Routledge, , pages 775–785 and were later translated into Chinese and other Asian languages. The Buddhist text Hevajra Tantra and caryāgiti introduced hierarchies of chakras.White, David Gordon. Yoga in Practice. Princeton University Press 2012, page 14. Yoga is a significant practice in Tantric Buddhism.Lama Yeshe (1998). The Bliss of Inner Fire. Wisdom Publications. pp. 135–141.Chogyam Trungpa (2001) The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra. Shambhala. Edmonton Patric 2007, Pali and Its Significance, p. 332
Zen Buddhism
Zen, whose name derives from the Sanskrit dhyāna via the Chinese ch'an, is a form of Mahayana Buddhism in which yoga is an integral part.: "This phenomenon merits special attention since yogic roots are to be found in the Zen Buddhist school of meditation."
Medieval hatha yoga
The first references to hatha yoga are in eighth-century Buddhist works.: "The earliest references to hathayoga are scattered mentions in Buddhist canonical works and their exegesis dating from the eighth century onwards, in which it is the soteriological method of last resort." The earliest definition of hatha yoga is in the 11th-century Buddhist text Vimalaprabha.: "In its earliest definition, in Pundarīka's eleventh-century Vimalaprabhā commentary on the Kālacakratantra, hathayoga is said to bring about the "unchanging moment" (aksaraksana) "through the practice of nāda by forcefully making the breath enter the central channel and through restraining the bindu of the bodhicitta in the vajra of the lotus of wisdom". While the means employed are not specified, the ends, in particular restraining bindu, semen, and making the breath enter the central channel, are similar to those mentioned in the earliest descriptions of the practices of hathayoga, to which I now turn." Hatha yoga blends elements of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras with posture and breathing exercises. It marks the development of asanas into the full-body postures in current popular use and, with its modern variations, is the style presently associated with the word "yoga".
Sikhism
Yogic groups became prominent in Punjab during the 15th and 16th centuries, when Sikhism was beginning. Compositions by Guru Nanak (the founder of Sikhism) describe dialogues he had with Jogis, a Hindu community which practiced yoga. Guru Nanak rejected the austerities, rites and rituals associated with hatha yoga, advocating sahaja yoga or nama yoga instead. According to the Guru Granth Sahib,
Modern revival
Introduction in the West
Yoga and other aspects of Indian philosophy came to the attention of the educated Western public during the mid-19th century, and N. C. Paul published his Treatise on Yoga Philosophy in 1851. Swami Vivekananda, the first Hindu teacher to advocate and disseminate elements of yoga to a Western audience, toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s.Shaw, Eric. "35 Moments", Yoga Journal, 2010. His reception built on the interest of intellectuals who included the New England Transcendentalists; among them were Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), who drew on German Romanticism and philosophers and scholars such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831), the brothers August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845) and Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829), Max Mueller (1823–1900), and Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860).Von Glasenapp, Hellmuth. Die Philosophie der Inder. Stuttgart, 1974: A. Kroener Verlag, pp. 166f.
Yoga as exercise
The postural yoga of the Western world is a physical activity consisting of asanas, often connected by smooth transitions, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises and usually ending with a period of relaxation or meditation. It is often known simply as "yoga", despite older Hindu traditions (some dating to the Yoga Sutras) in which asanas played little or no part; asanas were not central to any tradition.
Traditions
Yoga is practised with a variety of methods by all Indian religions. In Hinduism, practices include jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga, kundalini yoga, and hatha yoga.
Jain yoga
Yoga has been a central practice in Jainism. Jain spirituality is based on a strict code of nonviolence, or ahimsa (which includes vegetarianism), almsgiving (dāna), faith in the Ratnatraya, austerities ( tapas) such as fasting, and yoga. Jain yoga aims at the liberation and purification of the self from the forces of karma, which binds the self to the cycle of reincarnation. Like yoga and Sankhya, Jainism believes in a number of individual selves bound by their individual karma. Only through the reduction of karmic influences and the exhaustion of collected karma can one become purified and released. Early Jain yoga seems to have been divided into several types, including meditation, abandonment of the body (Kayotsarga), contemplation, and reflection (bhāvanā).Pragya, Samani Pratibha (2017), Prekṣā meditation : history and methods. PhD Thesis, SOAS, University of London, p. 42.
Buddhist yoga
Buddhist yoga encompasses a variety of methods which aim to develop the 37 aids to awakening. Its ultimate goal is bodhi (awakening) or nirvana (cessation), traditionally seen as the permanent end of suffering (dukkha) and rebirth. Buddhist texts use a number of terms for spiritual praxis in addition to yoga, such as Bhavana ("development") and jhāna/dhyāna.
Classical yoga
What is often referred to as classical yoga, ashtanga yoga, or rāja yoga is primarily the yoga outlined in the dualistic Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The origins of classical yoga are unclear, although early discussions of the term appear in the Upanishads. Rāja yoga (yoga of kings) originally denoted the ultimate goal of yoga; samadhi, but was popularised by Vivekananda as a common name for ashtanga yoga, the eight limbs attain samadhi as described in the Yoga Sutras. Yoga philosophy came to be regarded as a distinct orthodox school ( Hindu philosophy) of Hinduism in the second half of the first millennium CE.
In Advaita Vedanta
Vedanta is a varied tradition, with a number of sub-schools and philosophical views. It focuses on the study of the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras (one of its early texts), about gaining spiritual knowledge of Brahman: the unchanging, absolute reality.George Thibaut, Vedanta Sutras Part 1, The Sacred Books of the East at Google Books, Volume 34 (Editor: Max Muller), Oxford University Press, pages lxxii–lxxiii
Tantric yoga
According to Samuel, Tantra is a contested concept. Tantra yoga may be described as practices in 9th to 10th century Buddhist and Hindu (Saiva, Shakti) texts which included yogic practices with elaborate deity visualizations using geometric arrays and drawings (), male and (particularly) female deities, life-stage-related rituals, the use of and , and sexual techniques aimed at aiding one's health, longevity and liberation.Mukunda Stiles, Tantra Yoga Secrets, Weiser, , pages 3–7
Hatha yoga
Hatha yoga focuses on physical and mental strength-building exercises and postures described primarily in three Hindu texts:See Kriyananada, page 112.See Burley, page 73.See Introduction by Rosen, pp 1–2.
Laya and kundalini yoga
Laya and kundalini yoga, closely associated with hatha yoga, are often presented as independent approaches. According to Georg Feuerstein, laya yoga (yoga of dissolution or merging) "makes meditative absorption ( laya) its focus. The laya-yogin seeks to transcend all memory traces and sensory experiences by dissolving the microcosm, the mind, in the transcendental Self-Consciousness."Feuerstein, Georg, Yoga: The Technology of Ecstasy, J.P. Tarcher, 1989, p. 61. Laya yoga has a number of techniques which include listening to the "inner sound" ( nada), mudras such as Khechari and Shambhavi mudra, and awakening kundalini (body energy).
Reception by other religions
Christianity
Some Christians integrate Asana of yoga, stripped from the spiritual roots of Hinduism, and other aspects of Eastern spirituality with Christian prayer, meditation and Jesus affirmations. The practice also includes renaming poses in English (rather than using the original Sanskrit terms), and abandoning Mantra as well as the philosophy of Yoga; Yoga is associated and reframed into Christianity. This has drawn charges of cultural appropriation from various Hindu groups; scholars remain skeptical. Previously, the Roman Catholic Church, and some other Christian organizations have expressed concerns and disapproval with respect to some eastern and New Age practices that include yoga and meditation.
Islam
Early-11th-century Persian scholar Al-Biruni visited India, lived with Hindus for 16 years, and (with their help) translated several Sanskrit works into Arabic and Persian; one of these was Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.S Pines and T Gelblum (Translators from Arabic to English, 1966), Al-Bīrūni (Translator from Sanskrit to Arabic, ~ 1035 AD), and Patañjali, Al-Bīrūnī's Arabic Version of Patañjali's "Yogasūtra" , Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2 (1966), pages 302–325 Although Al-Biruni's translation preserved many core themes of Patañjali's yoga philosophy, some sutras and commentaries were restated for consistency with monotheistic Islamic theology.Philipp Maas (2013), A Concise Historiography of Classical Yoga Philosophy, in Periodization and Historiography of Indian Philosophy (Editor: Eli Franco), Sammlung de Nobili, Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde der Universität Wien, , pages 53–90, Al-Biruni's version of the Yoga Sutras reached Persia and the Arabian Peninsula by about 1050. During the 16th century, the hatha yoga text Amritakunda was translated into Arabic and Persian.Satish Chandra (2007), Historiography, Religion, and State in Medieval India, , pages 135–136 Yoga was, however, not accepted by mainstream Sunni Islam and Shia Islam. Minority sects such as the mystic Sufi movement, particularly in South Asia, adopted Indian yoga postures and breath control. Muhammad Ghawth, a 16th-century Shattari Sufi and translator of yoga text, was criticized for his interest in yoga and persecuted for his Sufi beliefs.Carl W. Ernst, Persecution and Circumspection in Shattari Sufism , in Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Debate and Conflict (Editors: Fred De Jong and Berndt Radtke), Brill, 1999
See also
Notes
Sources
Printed sources
(2025). 9780241253045, Penguin Books. ISBN 9780241253045
(1990). 9780863184208, Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 9780863184208
Further reading
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