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{{Cquote|''Yoga has become a universal language of spiritual exercise in the United States, crossing many lines of religion and cultures,... Every day, millions of people practice yoga to improve their health and overall well-being. That's why we're encouraging everyone to take part in PALA ''(Presidential Active Lifestyle Award)'', so show your support for yoga and answer the challenge.''}}
{{Cquote|''Yoga has become a universal language of spiritual exercise in the United States, crossing many lines of religion and cultures,... Every day, millions of people practice yoga to improve their health and overall well-being. That's why we're encouraging everyone to take part in PALA ''(Presidential Active Lifestyle Award)'', so show your support for yoga and answer the challenge.''}}


At this time some schools in America are against its practice inside educational facilities, saying it promotes [[Hinduism]] in violation of the [[Establishment Clause]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-President-Barack-Obama-throws-weight-behind-yoga/articleshow/19312748.cms?fb_action_ids=10200829361558502&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200829361558502%22%3A155657327933475%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200829361558502%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D|title=US President Barack Obama throws weight behind yoga|accessdate=2013-04-1|author=Chidanand Rajghatta|publisher=Times of India}}</ref>
At this time some schools in America are against its practice inside educational facilities, saying it promotes [[Hinduism]] in violation of the [[Establishment Clause]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-President-Barack-Obama-throws-weight-behind-yoga/articleshow/19312748.cms?fb_action_ids=10200829361558502&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200829361558502%22%3A155657327933475%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200829361558502%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D|title=US President Barack Obama throws weight behind yoga|accessdate=2013-04-1|author=Chidanand Rajghatta|publisher=Times of India}}</ref>

The [[American College of Sports Medicine]] supports the integration of Yoga into the exercise regimens of healthy individuals as long instruction is given by properly trained professionals, citing its promotion of "profound mental, physical and spiritual awareness" and its benefits as a form of stretching, and as an enhancer of breathe control and core strength.<ref>{{cite web|title=Diversify Your Client's Workout With Yoga|url=http://certification.acsm.org/blog/2013/february/diversify-your-clients-workouts-with-yoga|publisher=American College of Sports Medicine|accessdate=19 September 2013}}</ref>


====Medicine====
====Medicine====

Revision as of 22:14, 19 September 2013

For the discipline of exercise and physical postures, see
Hatha Yoga
.
For other uses, see Yoga (disambiguation).

Template:IndicText Yoga (

ancient India with a view to attain a state of permanent peace.[1][2] Yoga is a Sanskrit word which means "union" and is interpreted as "union with the divine".[3] One of the most detailed and thorough expositions on the subject is the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, which defines yoga as "the stilling of the changing states of the mind"[1] (Sanskrit: योग: चित्त-वृत्ति निरोध:). Yoga is also interpreted as the yoke that connects beings to the machine of existence.[4]

Various traditions of yoga are found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.[5][6][7][8] In Hinduism, yoga is one of the six āstika ("orthodox") schools of Hindu philosophy.[9]

Post-classical traditions consider

yantra yoga.[16]

Hindu monks, beginning with

system of physical exercise across the Western world. This form of yoga is often called Hatha yoga. Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma and heart patients.[17][18][19][20] In a national survey, long-term yoga practitioners in the United States reported musculo–skeletal and mental health improvements.[21]

Terminology

Statue of Shiva in Bangalore, India, performing yogic meditation in the Padmasana posture.

In

Epic Sanskrit.[citation needed
]

There are very many

monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriyā-yoga has a grammatical sense, meaning "connection with a verb". But the same compound is also given a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras (2.1), designating the "practical" aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the "union with the Supreme" due to performance of duties in everyday life[22]

In

Rāja yoga.[24] According to Pāṇini, a 6th-century BCE Sanskrit grammarian, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samādhau (to concentrate).[25] In the context of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the root yuj samādhau (to concentrate) is considered by traditional commentators as the correct etymology.[26] In accordance with Pāṇini, Vyasa (c. 4th or 5th century CE), who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras,[27] states that yoga means samādhi (concentration).[28] In other texts and contexts, such as the Bhagavad Gītā and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the word yoga has been used in conformity with yujir yoge (to yoke).[29]

Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment is called a yogi or yogini.[30]

Purpose

Generally put, yoga is a disciplined method utilized for attaining a goal.

Shaiva theology, yoga is used to unite kundalini with Shiva.[31] Mahabharata defines the purpose of yoga as the experience of Brahman or Ātman pervading all things.[32]

In the specific sense of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ (the cessation of the perturbations of the mind).[23] This is described by Patanjali as the necessary condition for transcending discursive knowledge and to be one with the divinely understood "spirit" ("purusha"): "Absolute freedom occurs when the lucidity of material nature and spirit are in pure equilibrium."[33] In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali indicates that the ultimate goal of yoga is a state of permanent peace or Kaivalya.[2]

Apart from the spiritual goals the physical postures of yoga are used to alleviate health problems, reduce stress and make the spine supple in contemporary times. Yoga is also used as a complete exercise program and physical therapy routine.[34]

History

Prehistory

Male figure in a crossed legs posture on a mold of a seal from the Indus valley civilization

Several seals discovered at

yoga posture and bear witness to the prevalence of yoga in the Indus Valley Civilization in that remote age, the standing deities on the seals also show Kayotsarga (a standing posture of meditation) position. It is a posture not of sitting but of standing."[36] Some type of connection between the Indus Valley seals and later yoga and meditation practices is speculated upon by many scholars, though there is no conclusive evidence.[note 2]

Many scholars such as Marshall associated Pashupati seal with Shiva because We would discuss these features under the following heads : (1) three faces (2) the attitude of yoga (3) ithyphallicism (4) connection with animals (5) pair of horns.[44]

The standing yogic position in Hindu scriptures is associated with Shiva and has in earliest occurrences been mentioned as the sthanu asana. Shiva has repeatedly been called Sthanu in several scriptures.[45] That Shiva's standing pose is a meditative penance is clear from the pose being associated in Kalidas' literature as "Tapasvinah Sthanu"[46] and tapasvin is the term for a mendicant. Also Shiva as Sthanu in Kalidas' literature has been described as "Sthanu sthira-bhakti-yoga-sulabha" meaning "attainable through devotion yoga."[47] In modern Hindu yoga too the standing yoga asana is applied and called samabhanga asana[48] and tadasana.

Shiva's association with the 'Pashupati seal' is that the seal reads "Lord of the Cattle" and "Lord of the animals" and Shiva has been described as both the lord of cattle and animals. The Pashupati seal also depicts the mendicant in the yogasana which is another attributed associated with Shiva from scriptures.

In reference to the bulls that appear on the Indus Valley seals, archeologists have linked them to Shiva as the bull is associated with him in scriptures. In the Rig Veda, Shiva (Rudra) is termed Vrishaba or "bull."[49]

Shiva connection with the three heads on the Indus Valley yogi seal is that Shiva has been described and portrayed a three-headed in certain parts of history. For example, in the an Elora temple he is depicted with three heads.[50]

Vedic period

Ascetic practices (

Vedic priests to conduct yajna (Vedic ritual of fire sacrifice) might have been precursors to yoga.[note 3] Vratya, a group of ascetics mentioned in the Atharvaveda, emphasized on bodily postures which probably evolved into yogic asanas.[51] Early Vedic Samhitas also contain references to other group ascetics such as, Munis, the Keśin, and Vratyas.[53] Techniques for controlling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the Brahmanas (ritualistic texts of the Vedic corpus, c. 1000–800 BCE) and the Atharvaveda.[51][54] Nasadiya Sukta of the Rig Veda suggests the presence of an early contemplative tradition.[note 4]

The Vedic

Hindu scripture mentions the practice.[58]

According to David Frawley, verses such as Rig Veda 5.81.1 which reads, "Seers of the vast illumined seer yogically [yunjante] control their minds and their intelligence,"[59] show that "at least the seed of the entire Yoga teaching is contained in this most ancient Aryan text".[60]

According to Feuerstein, breath control and curbing the mind was practiced since the Vedic times.,[61] and yoga was fundamental to Vedic ritual, especially to chanting the sacred hymns[62]

While the actual term "yoga" first occurs in the Katha Upanishad[63] and later in the Shvetasvatara Upanishad,[64] an early reference to meditation is made in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the earliest Upanishad (c. 900 BCE).[note 5] Yoga is discussed quite frequently in the Upanishads, many of which predate Patanjali's Sutras.[66]

Preclassical era

Diffused pre-philosophical speculations of yoga begin to emerge in the texts of c. 500–200 BCE such as the middle Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and Mokshadharma of the Mahabharata. The terms samkhya and yoga in these texts refer to spiritual methodologies rather than the philosophical systems which developed centuries later.[67]

Upanishads

Alexander Wynne, author of The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, observes that

Chandogya Upanishad describes the five kinds of vital energies (prana). Concepts used later in many yoga traditions such as internal sound and veins (nadis) are also described in the Upanishad.[51] Taittiriya Upanishad defines yoga as the mastery of body and senses.[69]

The term "yoga" first appears in the Hindu scripture

a primary Upanishad c. 400 BCE) where it is defined as the steady control of the senses, which along with cessation of mental activity, leads to the supreme state.[53][note 6] Katha Upanishad integrates the monism of early Upanishads with concepts of samkhya and yoga. It defines various levels of existence according to their proximity to the innermost being Ātman. Yoga is therefore seen as a process of interiorization or ascent of consciousness.[71][72] It is the earliest literary work that highlights the fundamentals of yoga. Shvetashvatara Upanishad (c. 400-200 BCE) elaborates on the relationship between thought and breath, control of mind, and the benefits of yoga.[72] Like the Katha Upanishad the transcendent Self is seen as the goal of yoga. This text also recommends meditation on Om as a path to liberation.[73] Maitrayaniya Upanishad (c. 300 BCE) formalizes the sixfold form of yoga.[72] Physiological theories of later yoga make an appearance in this text.[74][75]

While breath channels (

Hevajra Tantra and Caryāgiti, that hierarchies of chakras were introduced.[76][77] Further systematization of yoga is continued in the Yoga Upanishads of the Atharvaveda (viz., Śāṇḍilya, Pāśupata, Mahāvākya)[clarification needed].[78]

Bhagavad Gita

Krishna narrating the Gita to Arjuna.
Main article: Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord'), uses the term "yoga" extensively in a variety of ways. In addition to an entire chapter (ch. 6) dedicated to traditional yoga practice, including meditation,[79] it introduces three prominent types of yoga:[note 7]

In Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains to Arjuna about the essence of yoga as practiced in daily lives:

योगस्थ: कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनंजय ।
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्यो: समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ।।
(yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmani sanyugam tyaktvā dhananjay
siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhutvā samatvam yoga ucyate)
- Bhagavad Gita 2.48

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translates it as "Be steadfast in yoga (yoga-sthaḥ), O Arjuna. Perform your duty (kuru karmani) and abandon all attachment (sangam) to success or failure (siddhy-asiddhyoḥ). Such evenness of mind (samatvam) is called yoga."[84]

Madhusudana Sarasvati (b. circa 1490) divided the Gita into three sections, with the first six chapters dealing with Karma yoga, the middle six with Bhakti yoga, and the last six with Jnana (knowledge).[85] Other commentators ascribe a different 'yoga' to each chapter, delineating eighteen different yogas.[86] Aurobindo, a freedom fighter and philosopher, describes the yoga of the Gita as "a large, flexible and many-sided system with various elements, which are all successfully harmonized by a sort of natural and living assimilation".[87]

Mahabharata

Description of an early form of yoga called nirodha–yoga (yoga of cessation) is contained in the Mokshadharma section of the 12th chapter (Shanti Parva) of the Mahabharata epic. The verses of the section are dated to c. 300–200 BCE. Nirodha–yoga emphasizes progressive withdrawal from the contents of empirical consciousness such as thoughts, sensations etc. until purusha (Self) is realized. Terms like vichara (subtle reflection), viveka (discrimination) and others which are similar to Patanjali's terminology are mentioned, but not described.[88] There is no uniform goal of yoga mentioned in the Mahabharata. Separation of self from matter, perceiving Brahman everywhere, entering into Brahman etc. are all described as goals of yoga. Samkhya and yoga are conflated together and some verses describe them as being identical.[32] Mokshadharma also describes an early practice of elemental meditation.[89]

Classical yoga

During the period between the

Mauryan and the Gupta era (c. 200 BCE–500 CE) philosophical schools of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were taking form and a coherent philosophical system of yoga began to emerge.[90]

Early Buddhist texts

Kamakura, Japan
.

Werner notes that "only with Buddhism itself as expounded in the Pali Canon" do we have the oldest preserved comprehensive yoga practice:

"But it is only with Buddhism itself as expounded in the Pali Canon that we can speak about a systematic and comprehensive or even integral school of Yoga practice, which is thus the first and oldest to have been preserved for us in its entirety"[91]

Another yoga system that predated the Buddhist school is Jain yoga. But since Jain sources postdate Buddhist ones, it is difficult to distinguish between the nature of the early Jain school and elements derived from other schools.[92]

Most of the other contemporary yoga systems alluded in the Upanishads and some Pali canons are lost to time.[93][94][note 11]

The early Buddhist texts describe meditative practices and states, some of which the Buddha borrowed from the ascetic (

nondual meditative state where the ontological duality between subject and object was abolished, Buddha's theory of liberation depended upon this duality because liberation to him was an insight into the subject's experience.[100]

The Pali canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate for the purposes of controlling hunger or the mind, depending on the passage.

nasopharynx as in true khecarī mudrā. The Buddha used a posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to even modern postures used to stimulate Kundalini.[102]

Samkhya

Further information: Samkhya

Samkhya emerged in the first century CE.[103] When Patanjali systematized the conceptions of yoga, he set them forth on the background of the metaphysics of samkhya, which he assumed with slight variations. In the early works, the yoga principles appear together with the samkhya ideas. Vyasa's commentary on the Yoga Sutras, also called the Samkhyapravacanabhasya (Commentary on the Exposition of the Sankhya Philosophy), brings out the intimate relation between the two systems.[104] Yoga agrees with the essential metaphysics of samkhya, but differs from it in that while samkhya holds that knowledge is the means of liberation, yoga is a system of active striving, mental discipline, and dutiful action. Yoga also introduces the conception of god. Sometimes Patanjali's system is referred to as Seshvara Samkhya in contradistinction to Kapila's Nirivara Samkhya.[105]

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Main articles:
Raja Yoga and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Traditional Hindu depiction of Patanjali as an avatar of the divine serpent Shesha.

Template:Yoga Sutras of Patanjali In Hindu philosophy, yoga is the name of one of the six

Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma and Sautrāntika.[110] The yoga school 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.[111][112] 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...."[113] 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").

— [114]

Patanjali is widely regarded as the compiler of the formal yoga philosophy.[115] The verses of Yoga Sutras are terse and are therefore read together with the Vyasa Bhashya (c. 350–450 CE), a commentary on the Yoga Sutras.[116] Patanjali's yoga is known as Raja yoga, which is a system for control of the mind.[117] 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)".[118] The use of the word nirodhaḥ in the opening definition of yoga is an example of the important role that Buddhist technical terminology and concepts play in the Yoga Sutras; this role suggests that Patanjali was aware of Buddhist ideas and wove them into his system.[119] Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis)."[120]

A sculpture of a Hindu yogi in the Birla Mandir, Delhi

Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to as "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"). This eight-limbed concept derived from the 29th Sutra of the 2nd book, and is a core characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation taught today. The Eight Limbs are:

  1. Yama (The five "abstentions"): Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (Truth, non-lying), Asteya (non-covetousness), Brahmacharya (non-sensuality, celibacy), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
  2. Niyama (The five "observances"): Shaucha (purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study of the Vedic scriptures to know about God and the soul), and Ishvara-Pranidhana (surrender to God).
  3. Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
  4. Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Prāna, breath, "āyāma", to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
  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.

In the view of this school, the highest attainment does not reveal the experienced diversity of the world to be

selves discovering itself; there is no single universal self shared by all persons.[121]

Yoga Yajnavalkya

Main article: Yoga Yajnavalkya

संयोगो योग इत्युक्तो जीवात्मपरमात्मनोः॥
saṁyogo yoga ityukto jīvātma-paramātmanoḥ॥
Union of the self (jivātma) with the Divine (paramātma) is said to be yoga.

—Yoga Yajnavalkya[122]

The

Gargi, a renowned female philosopher.[123] The text contains 12 chapters and its origin has been traced to the period between the second century BCE and fourth century CE.[124] Many yoga texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Yoga Kundalini and the Yoga Tattva Upanishads have borrowed verses from or make frequent references to the Yoga Yajnavalkya.[125] In the Yoga Yajnavalkya, yoga is defined as jivatmaparamatmasamyogah, or the union between the individual self (jivatma) and the Divine (paramatma).[122]

Jainism

Parsva in Yogic meditation in the Kayotsarga
posture.

According to

five major vows of Jainism, indicating a history of strong cross-fertilization between these traditions.[129][note 13]

Mainstream Hinduism's influence on Jain yoga is noticed as Haribhadra founded his eightfold yoga and aligned it with Patanjali's eightfold yoga.[131]

Yogacara school

Main article:
Yogacara

In the late phase of Indian antiquity, on the eve of the development of

Classical Hinduism
, the
Gupta period
(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.[132] The yogacara sect teaches "yoga" as a way to reach enlightenment.[133]

Middle Ages

Middle Ages saw the development of many satellite traditions of yoga. Hatha yoga emerged as a dominant practice of yoga in this period.[134]

Bhakti movement

Main article:
Bhakti Yoga

The

Vaishnava bhakti traditions integrated aspects of Yoga Sutras, such as the practical meditative exercises, with devotion.[136] Bhagavata Purana elucidates the practice of a form of yoga called viraha (separation) bhakti. Viraha bhakti emphasizes one pointed concentration on Krishna.[137]

Vajrayana

Main article: Vajrayana

While breath channels (

Hevajra Tantra and Caryāgiti, that hierarchies of chakras were introduced.[138]

Hatha Yoga

Main articles: Hatha yoga and Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The earliest references to hatha yoga are in Buddhist works dating from the eighth century.

Yogi Swatmarama, compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika in 15th century CE. This yoga differs substantially from the Raja yoga of Patanjali in that it focuses on shatkarma, the purification of the physical body as leading to the purification of the mind (ha), and prana, or vital energy (tha).[143][144] Compared to the seated asana, or sitting meditation posture, of Patanjali's Raja yoga,[145] it marks the development of asanas (plural) into the full body 'postures' now in popular usage[13] and, along with its many modern variations, is the style that many people associate with the word yoga today.[146]

It is similar to a diving board – preparing the body for purification, so that it may be ready to receive higher techniques of meditation. The word "Hatha" comes from "Ha" which means Sun, and "Tha" which means Moon.[147]

Sikhism

Various yogic groups had become prominent in

Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, describe many dialogues he had with Jogis, a Hindu community which practiced yoga.[148] Guru Nanak rejected the austerities, rites and rituals connected with Hatha Yoga.[149] He propounded the path of Sahaja yoga or Nama yoga (meditation on the name) instead.[150] The Guru Granth Sahib
states:

Listen "O Yogi, Nanak tells nothing but the truth. You must discipline your mind. The devotee must meditate on the Word Divine. It is His grace which brings about the union. He understands, he also sees. Good deeds help one merge into Divination."

— [151]

Modern history

Reception in the West

An early illustration of Indians performing Yoga Asana in 1688

Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the mid 19th century along with other topics of Indian philosophy. As part of this budding interest N. C. Paul published his Treatise on Yoga Philosophy in 1851. The first Hindu teacher to actively advocate and disseminate aspects of yoga to a western audience was Swami Vivekananda, who toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s.[152] The reception which Swami Vivekananda received is inconceivable without the active interest of intellectuals, in particular the New England Transcendentalists, among them R.W. Emerson, who drew on German Romanticism and the interest of philosophers and scholars like G.F.W. Hegel, the Schlegel brothers, Max Mueller, A. Schopenhauer and others who found Vedanta in agreement with their own ideas and a cherished source of religious-philosophical inspiration.[153]

Theosophists also had a large influence on the American public's view of Yoga.[154] Esoteric views current at the end of the 19th century were a further basis for the reception of Vedanta and of Yoga with its theory and practice of correspondence between the spiritual and the physical.[155] The reception of Yoga and of Vedanta are thus entwined with each other and with the (mostly Neo-platonically based) currents of religious and philosophical reform and transformation throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. M. Eliade, who was rooted in the Romanian currents of these traditions brought a new element into the reception of Yoga by the strong emphasis on Tantric Yoga in his seminal book: Yoga - Immortality and Freedom,[note 14] By introducing the Tantra traditions and philosophy of Yoga the conception of the "transcendent" to be attained by Yogic practice shifted from experiencing the "transcendent" ("Atman-Brahman" in Advaitic theory) in the mind to the body itself.[156]

In the West, the term "yoga" is today typically associated with

asanas (postures) or as a form of exercise.[157]
In the 1910s and the 1920s Yoga suffered a period of bad public will largely as a result of backlash against immigration, a rise in puritanical values, and a number of scandals. In the 1930s and 1940's it began to gain more public acceptance as a result of celebrity endorsement. In the 1950s there was another period of paranoia against yoga,
Neo-Hindu schools specifically advocated to a western public. During this period, most of the influential Indian teachers of yoga came from two lineages: Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963) and Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989).[158]
Among the teachers of Hatha yoga who were active in the west in this period were
Yogi Bhajan in 1969.[162]

A second "yoga boom" followed in the 1980s, as

esotericism circles, and unconnected to a religious denomination.[152] Numerous asanas seemed modern in origin, and strongly overlapped 19th and early 20th century Western exercise traditions.[163]

Since 2001, the popularity of yoga in the USA has been on the constant rise. The number of people who practiced some form of yoga has grown from 4 million (in 2001) to 20 million (in 2011).

A western style Hatha yoga class.

In 2013, for the White House,

Yoga has become a universal language of spiritual exercise in the United States, crossing many lines of religion and cultures,... Every day, millions of people practice yoga to improve their health and overall well-being. That's why we're encouraging everyone to take part in PALA (Presidential Active Lifestyle Award), so show your support for yoga and answer the challenge.

At this time some schools in America are against its practice inside educational facilities, saying it promotes Hinduism in violation of the Establishment Clause.[164]

The American College of Sports Medicine supports the integration of Yoga into the exercise regimens of healthy individuals as long instruction is given by properly trained professionals, citing its promotion of "profound mental, physical and spiritual awareness" and its benefits as a form of stretching, and as an enhancer of breathe control and core strength.[165]

Medicine

Main article:
Yoga as exercise or alternative medicine
Potential benefits for adults

Long-term yoga practitioners in the United States have reported musculoskeletal and mental health improvements, as well as reduced symptoms of asthma in asthmatics.

GABA levels and has been shown to improve mood and anxiety more than some other metabolically matched exercises, such as walking.[166][167] The three main focuses of Hatha yoga (exercise, breathing, and meditation) make it beneficial to those suffering from heart disease. Overall, studies of the effects of yoga on heart disease suggest that yoga may reduce high blood pressure, improve symptoms of heart failure, enhance cardiac rehabilitation, and lower cardiovascular risk factors.[168] For chronic low back pain, specialist Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs has been found 30% more beneficial than usual care alone in a UK clinical trial.[169] Other smaller studies support this finding.[170][171] The Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs programme is the dominant treatment for society (both cheaper and more effective than usual care alone) due to 8.5 fewer days off work each year.[172] A research group from Boston University School of Medicine also tested yoga’s effects on lower back pain. Over twelve weeks, one group of volunteers practiced yoga while the control group continued with standard treatment for back pain. The reported pain for yoga participants decreased by one third, while the standard treatment group had only a five percent drop. Yoga participants also had a drop of 80% in pain medication use.[173]

There has been an emergence of studies investigating yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer patients. Yoga is used for treatment of cancer patients to decrease depression, insomnia, pain, and fatigue and increase anxiety control.[174] Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs include yoga as a mind-body technique to reduce stress. A study found that after seven weeks the group treated with yoga reported significantly less mood disturbance and reduced stress compared to the control group. Another study found that MBSR had showed positive effects on sleep anxiety, quality of life, and spiritual growth in cancer patients.[175]

Yoga has also been studied as a treatment for schizophrenia. Some encouraging, but inconclusive, evidence suggests that yoga as a complementary treatment may help alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia and improve health-related quality of life.[18]

Implementation of the Kundalini Yoga Lifestyle has shown to help substance abuse addicts increase their quality of life according to psychological questionnaires like the Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale and the Quality of Recovery Index.[176]

Yoga has been shown in a study to have some

executive functioning, including inhibitory control) acute benefit.[177]

Physical injuries
Main article: Sports injury

Since a small percentage of yoga practitioners each year suffer physical injuries analogous to sports injuries;

Yoga foot drop,"[180] etc. An exposé of these problems by William Broad published in January, 2012 in The New York Times Magazine[181] resulted in controversy within the international yoga community. Broad, a science writer, yoga practitioner, and author of The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards,[182] had suffered a back injury while performing a yoga posture.[183] Torn muscles, knee injuries,[184] and headaches are common ailments which may result from yoga practice.[185]

An extensive survey of yoga practitioners in Australia showed that about 20% had suffered some physical injury while practicing yoga. In the previous 12 months 4.6% of the respondents had suffered an injury producing prolonged pain or requiring medical treatment. Headstands, shoulder stands, lotus and half lotus (seated cross-legged position), forward bends, backward bends, and handstands produced the greatest number of injuries.[178]

Some yoga practitioners do not recommend certain yoga exercises for women during menstruation, for pregnant women, or for nursing mothers. However, meditation, breathing exercises, and certain postures which are safe and beneficial for women in these categories are encouraged.[186]

Among the main reasons that experts cite for causing negative effects from yoga are beginners' competitiveness and instructors' lack of qualification. As the demand for yoga classes grows, many people get certified to become yoga instructors, often with relatively little training. Not every newly certified instructor can evaluate the condition of every new trainee in their class and recommend refraining from doing certain poses or using appropriate props to avoid injuries. In turn, a beginning yoga student can overestimate the abilities of their body and strive to do advanced poses before their body is flexible or strong enough to perform them.[181][185]

Vertebral artery dissection, a tear in the arteries in the neck which provide blood to the brain can result from rotation of the neck while the neck is extended. This can occur in a variety of contexts, for example, in a beauty shop while your hair is being rinsed, but is an event which could occur in some yoga practices. This is a very serious condition which can result in a stroke.[187][188]

Acetabular labral tears, damage to the structure joining the femur and the hip, have been reported to have resulted from yoga practice.[189]

Pediatrics

Yoga can be an excellent training for children and adolescents, both as a form of physical exercise and for breathing, focus, mindfulness, and stress relief.

Many school districts have considered incorporating yoga into their P.E. programs. The Encinitas, California school district gained a San Diego Superior Court Judge's approval to use yoga in P.E., holding against the parents who claimed the practice was intrinsically religious and hence should not be part of a state funded program.[190]

Yoga compared with other systems of meditation

Tantra

maya, illusion, and the individual achieves liberation from it.[191] Both Tantra and yoga offer paths that relieve a person from depending on the world. Where yoga relies on progressive restriction of inputs from outside; Tantra relies on transmutation of all external inputs so that one is no longer dependent on them, but can take them or leave them at will. They both make a person independent.[192] 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.[191]

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.[193]

Buddhism

Further information:
Dhyāna in Buddhism

Zen Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayana school of Buddhism is noted for its proximity with yoga.[195] In the west, Zen is often set alongside yoga; the two schools of meditation display obvious family resemblances.[196] This phenomenon merits special attention since yogic practices have some of their roots in the Zen Buddhist school.[note 16] Certain essential elements of yoga are important both for Buddhism in general and for Zen in particular.[197]

Tibetan Buddhism

In the

Anuttara yoga class substituting for Mahayoga and Atiyoga.[200]

Other tantra yoga practices include a system of 108 bodily postures practiced with breath and heart rhythm. The Nyingma tradition also practices

tantrism
.

Christian meditation

Main articles:
A Christian reflection on the New Age, and Aspects of Christian meditation

Some Christians integrate yoga and other aspects of Eastern spirituality with prayer and meditation. This has been attributed to a desire to experience God in a more complete way.

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.[204][205][206]

In 1989 and 2003, the

New Age movement inconsistent with Christianity.[209]

Another view holds that Christian meditation can lead to religious pluralism. This is held by an interdenominational association of Christians that practice it. "The ritual simultaneously operates as an anchor that maintains, enhances, and promotes denominational activity and a sail that allows institutional boundaries to be crossed." [210]

Islam

The development of

asanas) and breath control (pranayama).[211]
The ancient Indian yogic text Amritakunda ("Pool of Nectar)" was translated into Arabic and Persian as early as the 11th century. Several other yogic texts were appropriated by Sufi tradition, but typically the texts juxtapose yoga materials alongside Sufi practices without any real attempt at integration or synthesis. Yoga became known to Indian Sufis gradually over time, but engagement with yoga is not found at the historical beginnings of the tradition.[212]

Yoga is a growing industry in Islamic countries (Two Bikram Yoga studios in Iran). Also, yoga is used in developing countries like Palestine to help the population manage stress. This article is a comparative study of yoga and Islam, showing their similarities.[213][214][215]

Malaysia's top

haraam. Muslim yoga teachers in Malaysia criticized the decision as "insulting."[216] Sisters in Islam, a women's rights group in Malaysia, also expressed disappointment and said that its members would continue with their yoga classes.[217]

The fatwa states that yoga practiced only as physical exercise is permissible, but prohibits the chanting of religious mantras,[218] and states that teachings such as the uniting of a human with God is not consistent with Islamic philosophy.[219] In a similar vein, the

Deobandi Islamic seminary in India.[221]

In May 2009, Turkey's head of the

Directorate of Religious Affairs, Ali Bardakoğlu, discounted personal development techniques such as yoga as commercial ventures that could lead to extremism. His comments were made in the context of yoga possibly competing with and eroding participation in Islamic practice.[222]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Jacobsen writes, "Yoga has five principal meanings:
    • yoga as a disciplined method for attaining a goal
    • yoga as techniques of controlling the body and the mind
    • yoga as a name of one of the schools or systems of philosophy (darśana)
    • yoga in connection with other words, such as "hatha-, mantra-, and laya-," referring to traditions specialising in particular techniques of yoga
    • yoga as the goal of yoga practice."[23]
    Monier-Williams includes "it is the second of the two Sāṃkhya systems," and "abstraction practised as a system (as taught by Patañjali and called the Yoga philosophy)" in his definitions of "yoga."
  2. ^ See:
    • Jonathan Mark Kenoyer describes one figure as "seated in yogic position."[37]
    • Karel Werner writes that "Archeological discoveries allow us therefore to speculate with some justification that a wide range of yoga activities was already known to the people of pre-Aryan India."[38]
    • Heinrich Zimmer describes one seal as "seated like a yogi."[39]
    • Thomas McEvilley writes that "The six mysterious Indus Valley seal images...all without exception show figures in a position known in hatha yoga as mulabhandasana or possibly the closely related "utkatasana" or "baddha konasana...."[40]
    • Dr. Farzand Masih, Punjab University Archaeology Department Chairman, describes a recently discovered seal as depicting a "yogi."[41]
    • Gavin Flood disputes the idea regarding one of the seals, the so-called "Pashupati seal," writing that it isn't clear the figure is seated in a yoga posture, or that the shape is intended to represent a human figure.[42]
    • Geoffrey Samuel, regarding the Pashupati seal, believes that we "do not actually "know" how to interpret the figure, nor do we know what he or she represent."[43]
  3. ^ See:
    • Jacobsen writes that "Bodily postures are closely related to the tradition of tapas, ascetic practices in the Vedic tradition. The use by Vedic priests of ascetic practices in their preparations for the performance of the sacrifice might be precursor to Yoga."[51]
    • Whicher believes that "the proto-Yoga of the Vedic rishis 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..."[52]
  4. ^ See:
    • Wynne states that "The Nasadiyasukta, one of the earliest and most important cosmogonic tracts in the early Brahminic literature, contains evidence suggesting it was closely related to a tradition of early Brahminic contemplation. A close reading of this text suggests that it was closely related to a tradition of early Brahminic contemplation. The poem may have been composed by contemplatives, but even if not, an argument can be made that it marks the beginning of the contemplative/meditative trend in Indian thought."[55]
    • Miller suggests that the composition of Nasadiya Sukta and Purusha Sukta arises from "the subtlest meditative stage, called absorption in mind and heart" which "involves enheightened experiences" through which seer "explores the mysterious psychic and cosmic forces...".[56]
    • Jacobsen writes that dhyana (meditation) is derived from Vedic term dhih which refers to "visionary insight", "thought provoking vision".[56]
  5. ^ Flood: "...which states that, having become calm and concentrated, one perceives the self (atman), within oneself."[65]
  6. ^ For the date of this Upanishad see also Helmuth von Glasenapp, from the 1950 Proceedings of the "Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur"[70]
  7. ^ Flood writes, "...Bhagavad Gita, including a complete chapter (ch. 6) devoted to traditional yoga practice. The Gita also introduces the famous three kinds of yoga, 'knowledge' (jnana), 'action' (karma), and 'love' (bhakti)." [80]
  8. ^ Karma yoga involves performance of action without attachment to results.[81]
  9. ^ The yoga of devotion is similar to the yoga of action, but the fruits of action, in yoga of devotion, are surrendered to Krishna.[82]
  10. ^ Jnana yoga is the path of wisdom, knowledge, and direct experience of Brahman as the ultimate reality. The path renounces both desires and actions, and is therefore depicted as being steep and very difficult in the Bhagavad Gita.[83]
  11. ^ On the dates of the Pali canon, Gregory Schopen writes, "We know, and have known for some time, that the Pali canon as we have it — and it is generally conceded to be our oldest source — cannot be taken back further than the last quarter of the first century BCE, the date of the Alu-vihara redaction, the earliest redaction we can have some knowledge of, and that — for a critical history — it can serve, at the very most, only as a source for the Buddhism of this period. But we also know that even this is problematic... In fact, it is not until the time of the commentaries of Buddhaghosa, Dhammapala, and others — that is to say, the fifth to sixth centuries CE — that we can know anything definite about the actual contents of [the Pali] canon."[95]
  12. ^ Werner writes, "The word Yoga appears here for the first time in its fully technical meaning, namely as a systematic training, and it already received a more or less clear formulation in some other middle Upanishads....Further process of the systematization of Yoga as a path to the ultimate mystic goal is obvious in subsequent Yoga Upanishads and the culmination of this endeavour is represented by Patanjali's codification of this path into a system of the eightfold Yoga."[78]
  13. ^ Worthington writes, "Yoga fully acknowledges its debt to Jainism, and Jainism reciprocates by making the practice of yoga part and parcel of life."[130]
  14. ^ Eliade, Mircea, Yoga - Immortality and Freedom, Princeton, 1958: Princeton Univ.Pr. (original title: Le Yoga. Immortalité et Liberté, Paris, 1954: Libr. Payot)
  15. ^ "The Meditation school, called 'Ch'an' in Chinese from the Sanskrit 'dhyāna,' is best known in the West by the Japanese pronunciation 'Zen' "[194]
  16. ^ Exact quote: "This phenomenon merits special attention since yogic roots are to be found in the Zen Buddhist school of meditation."[197]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Bryant 2009, p. 10.
  2. ^ a b Bryant 2009, p. 457.
  3. ^ Bryant 2009, p. xvii.
  4. Abhidhamma Section 365.4: http://archive.org/stream/AManualOfAbhidhamma/abhidhamma_djvu.txt
  5. ^ Denise Lardner Carmody, John Carmody, Serene Compassion. Oxford University Press US, 1996, page 68.
  6. ^ Stuart Ray Sarbacker, Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga. SUNY Press, 2005, pp. 1–2.
  7. ^ a b Tattvarthasutra [6.1], see Manu Doshi (2007) Translation of Tattvarthasutra, Ahmedabad: Shrut Ratnakar p. 102
  8. ^ Stuart Ray Sarbacker, Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga. SUNY Press, 2005, pp. 1–2.
  9. ^ Changing World Religions, Cults & Occult by Jerry Stokes
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  12. ^ Whicher, pp. 38–39.
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  14. ^ Davidson, Ronald. Indian Esoteric Buddhism. Columbia University Press. 2002, pg.169-235.
  15. ^ Lama Yeshe. The Bliss of Inner Fire. Wisdom Publications. 1998, pg.135-141.
  16. ^ Norbu, Namkhai. Yantra Yoga. Snow Lion Publications. 2008, pg.1.
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    )
  18. ^ a b Vancampfort, D.; Vansteeland, K.; Scheewe, T.; Probst, M.; Knapen, J.; De Herdt, A.; De Hert, M. (2012). "Yoga in schizophrenia: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials". Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 126 (1): 12–20. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help), art.nr. 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01865.x
  19. doi:10.1177/2156587212453727. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help
    )
  20. doi:10.3122. {{cite journal}}: Check |doi= value (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help
    )
  21. ^ a b Birdee, Gurjeet S. et al. "Characteristics of Yoga Users: Results of a National Survey." Journal of General Internal Medicine. Oct 2008, Volume 23 Issue 10. p1653-1658
  22. ^ Whicher, p. 6–7.
  23. ^ a b c Jacobsen, p. 4.
  24. ^ Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971 edition, Volume II, pp. 19–20.
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  26. ^ Bryant 2009, p. 5.
  27. ^ Bryant 2009, p. xxxix.
  28. ISBN 81-87594-00-4
    .
  29. ISBN 81-208-0412-0
    .
  30. ^ American Heritage Dictionary: "Yogi, One who practices yoga." Websters: "Yogi, A follower of the yoga philosophy; an ascetic."
  31. ^ Larson, p. 142.
  32. ^ a b Jacobsen, p. 9.
  33. ^ Patanjali, Yoga Sutra III, 55, ed.: Miller, Barbara Stoler (transl., intr.), Yoga - Discipline of Freedom. The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali, New York, 1998: Bantam Books, p. 73
  34. ^ Dupler, Douglas; Frey, Rebecca. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed (2006). Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  35. ^ Possehl (2003), pp. 144–145
  36. ^ Chanda, Ramaprasad (August 1932). "Mohen-jo-Daro: Sindh 5000 Years Ago". Modern Review.
  37. ^ ""Around the Indus in 90 Slides" by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer". Harappa.com. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  38. ^ Werner, p. 103.
  39. ^ Zimmer, p. 168.
  40. ^ McEvilley, pp. 219-220
  41. ^ "Rare objects discovery points to ruins treasure". Archives.dawn.com. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  42. ^ Flood, pp. 28–29.
  43. ^ Samuel, p. 4.
  44. ^ P. 79 Calcutta Review By University of Calcutta
  45. ^ P. 33 The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages By Mahadev Chakravarti
  46. ^ P. 104 The Birth of Kumāra By Kālidāsa
  47. ^ P. 14 The Megha-Dūta of Kālidāsa By Kālidāsa
  48. ^ P. 16 The Book of Hindu Imagery: Gods, Manifestations and Their Meaning By Eva Rudy Jansen
  49. ^ P. 89 The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages By Mahadev Chakravarti
  50. ^ P. 461 The Cave Temples of India By James Burgess
  51. ^ a b c d Jacobsen, p. 6.
  52. ^ Whicher, p. 12.
  53. ^ a b c Flood, p. 94–95.
  54. ^ Whicher, p. 13.
  55. ^ Wynne, p. 50.
  56. ^ a b Whicher, p. 11.
  57. ^ Flood 1996, p. 94. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFFlood1996 (help)
  58. ^ P. 51 The Complete Idiot's Guide to Yoga By Joan Budilovsky, Eve Adamson
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  60. ^ P. 25 Haṭha-Yoga: Its Context, Theory, and Practice By Mikel Burley
  61. ^ P. 531 The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice By Georg Feuerstein (2002)
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  63. ^ Flood 1996, p. 95. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFFlood1996 (help)
  64. ^ P. 99 The Wisdom of the Vedas By Jagadish Chandra Chatterji
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  66. ^ P. 132 A Student's Guide to A2 Religious Studies for the OCR Specification By Michael Wilcockson
  67. ^ Larson, p. 34–35, 53.
  68. ^ Wynne, pp. 44–45,58.
  69. ^ Whicher, p. 17.
  70. ^ "Vedanta and Buddhism, A Comparative Study". Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  71. ^ Whicher, p. 18–19.
  72. ^ a b c Jacobsen, p. 8.
  73. ^ Whicher, p. 20.
  74. ^ Whicher, p. 21.
  75. ^ Feuerstein, Georg (1988). "Introducing Yoga's Great Literary Heritage". Yoga Journal (78): 70–5. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  76. ^ White, David Gordon. Yoga in Practice. Princeton University Press 2012, page 14.
  77. ISBN 0-226-89483-5
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  78. ^ a b Werner, p. 24.
  79. ^ Jacobsen, p. 10.
  80. ^ Flood, p. 96.
  81. ^ Fowler, p. xliv.
  82. ^ Jacobsen, p. 11.
  83. ^ Folwer, p. xli.
  84. ^ "Ch. 2.48" "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
  85. ^ Gambhirananda, p. 16.
  86. ^ Jacobsen, p. 46.
  87. ^ Fowler, p. xlv.
  88. ^ Whicher, p. 25–26.
  89. ^ Wynne, p. 33.
  90. ^ Larson, p. 36.
  91. ^ Werner p. 119-20
  92. ^ Werner p. 119-20
  93. ^ Douglass, Laura (2011). "Thinking Through The Body: The Conceptualization Of Yoga As Therapy For Individuals With Eating Disorders". Academic Search Premier: 83. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  94. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0
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  95. ^ Wynne, pp. 3–4.
  96. ^ Richard Gombrich, "Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo." Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, p. 44.
  97. ^ 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.
  98. ^ Wynne, p. 92.
  99. ^ Wynne, p. 105.
  100. ^ a b Wynne, p. 95.
  101. ^ Mallinson, James. 2007. The Khecarīvidyā of Adinathā. London: Routledge. pg.17-19.
  102. ^ James Mallinson, "Sāktism and Hathayoga," 6 March 2012. <URL> [accessed 10 June 2012] pgs. 20-21 "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."
  103. ^ Larson, p. 38.
  104. ^ Radhankrishnan, Indian Philosophy, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971 edition, Volume II, p. 342.
  105. ^ Radhankrishnan, Indian Philosophy, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971 edition, Volume II, p. 344.
  106. ^ For an overview of the six orthodox schools, with detail on the grouping of schools, see: Radhakrishnan and Moore, "Contents," and pp. 453–487.
  107. ^ For a brief overview of the yoga school of philosophy see: Chatterjee and Datta, p. 43.
  108. ^ Karel Werner, The Yogi and the Mystic. Routledge 1994, page 27. "Patanjali's system is unthinkable without Buddhism. As far as its terminology goes there is much in the Yoga Sutras that reminds us of Buddhist formulations from the Pāli Canon and even more so from the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma and from Sautrāntika."
  109. ^ Larson, pp. 44–45.
  110. ^ Karel Werner, The Yogi and the Mystic. Routledge 1994, page 27. "Patanjali's system is unthinkable without Buddhism. As far as its terminology goes there is much in the Yoga Sutras that reminds us of Buddhist formulations from the Pāli Canon and even more so from the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma and from Sautrāntika."
  111. ^ For yoga acceptance of samkhya concepts, but with addition of a category for God, see: Radhakrishnan and Moore, p. 453.
  112. ^ For yoga as accepting the 25 principles of samkhya with the addition of God, see: Chatterjee and Datta, p. 43.
  113. ^ Müller (1899), Chapter 7, "Yoga Philosophy," p. 104.
  114. ^ Zimmer (1951), p. 280.
  115. ^ For Patanjali as the founder of the philosophical system called yoga see: Chatterjee and Datta, p. 42.
  116. ^ Larson, p. 21–22.
  117. ^ For "raja yoga" as a system for control of the mind and connection to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras as a key work, see: Flood (1996), pp. 96–98.
  118. ^ For text and word-by-word translation as "Yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind." See: Taimni, p. 6.
  119. ^ 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, page 9.
  120. ^ Vivekanada, p. 115.
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  123. issn}}: Invalid ISSN
    .
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Bibliography

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