YOGA IN ANCIENT TEACHINGS
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LET'S MOVE TO THE EARLIEST REFERENCES TO YOG IN THE ANCIENT TEACHINGS. THE FIRST REFERENCE TO YOGA IN THE UPANISHADS, THE BRAHMANICAL TEXTS, OCCURS IN THE KATHA UPANISHAD.
KATHA UPANISHAD: RESTRAINT OF THE SENSES - WHEN THE FIVE SENSES (UNSTRUMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE) AND THE MIND REMAIN STILL, NOT ACTIVE, IT IS KNOWN AS THE HIGHEST STATE. YOGA IS CONSIDERED AS THE RESTRAINT OF THE SENSES. THEN ONE IS INDISTRACTED, FOR YOGA IS THE RISING AND THE PASSING AWAY.
THEN THE BHAGAVAD GITA:👀
TRANQUILLITY AND SKILLED ACTION:
* PERFORM ACTIONS ESTABLISHED IN YOGA, GIVE UP ATTACHMENT, ARJUJA. TREAT SUCCESS AND FAILURE AND EQUAL. YOGA IS EQUANIMITY.
* YOGA IS TO BE SKILLED IN ACTION.
* YOGA IS TO BE SKILLED IN ACTION.
* YOGA IS SEPARATION FROM CONTANT WITH SUFFERERING.
* THE YOGA IS SUPERIOR TO THE ASCETICS, SUPERIOR TO THOSE WHO HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE, EVEN THE RITUALISTS. BE A YOGI, ARJUNA.
THE MAHABHARATA SAYS :👀
THERE IS NO POWER EQUAL TO YOGA. NO KNOWLEDGE EQUAL TO SANKHYA.
THEN THERE ARE A NUMBER OF YOGACHARA TEXTS OF THE BUDDHISTS. THE YOGACARABHUMI-SASTRA IS ONE AMONG MANY TEXTS THAT DEAL WITH YOGA. THERE IS ALSO A BODY OF SRAMANA LITERATURE LINKED TO THE ANCIENT JAINA SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT ELABORATE ON YOGIC PRACTICES. THE YOGACHARA SCHOOL, IT SHOULD BE NOTED, PRE-DATES PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRAS. THE CLASSIC DEFINITION OF YOGA IN THE YOGA SUTRAS IS :
GIVEN BELOW ARE SOME OF THE TITLES :
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1. VAISESIKA SUTRA
2. MALINIVIJAYOTTARA TANTRA
3. SHIVA PURANA
4. VYASA'S COMMENTARY ON THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI
5. VASISTHA SAMHITA
6. YOGASASTRA OF HEMACHANDRA
7. YOGA BIJA
8. HAMSAVILASA OF SRI HAMSAMITHU
9. GHERANDA SAMHITA
10. GORAKSHA SHATAKA
11. YOGA PRADIPIKA
12. YOGA YAJNAVALKYA
THERE IS A FAIR AMOUNT OF CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THE DATES OF THESE TEXTS, HOWEVER, IT IS NOT RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION. BEFORE ENDING THIS CHAPTER, HERE IS A QUOTATION FROM THE BHAGAVAD GITA, WHICH ENDORSES MY VIEW THAT THE YOGA DARSHANA IS BY AND LARGE, NOT VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE SANKHYA DARSHANA, THOUGH YOGA LAYS MORE STRESS ON PRACTICE.
THE FOOLISH DECLARE THT SANKHYA AND YOGA ARE SEPERATE. NOT THE WISE . HE WHO PERFORMS EVEN ONE OF THEM CORRECTLY OBTAINS THE FRUIT OF BOTH. THE STTE ATTAINED BY THE SANKHYAS IS ALSO ATTAINED BY THE YOGIS. SANKHYA AND YOGA ARE ONE. WHO KNOWS THIS TRULY KNOW'S - THE BHAGAVAD GITA.
SANKHYA IS NOT AN ATHEISTIC PHILOSOPHY.
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THE PRACTICE OF YOGA
WE HAVE DISCUSSED THE QUESTION OF WHETHER THE CONCEPT OF A CREATOR GOD - ISHWARA - IS AN INTRINSIC PART OF THE YOGA OF PATANJALI AND FOUND THAT IT IS NOT SO. WE CAN NOW PROCEED TO THE THEORY, AND ABOVE ALL, THE PRACTICE OF YOGA . PLEASE NOTE THAT EVEN IN SANKHYA AND IN THE BUDDHIST AND JAIN TEACHINGS, THE IDEA OF A CREATOR GOD PLAYS NO ROLE.
PATANJALI BEGINS WITH THE RATHER TERSE SUTRA, ATHA YOGA AMUHASANAM. NOW BEGINS THE PRACTICE OF YOGA.
LET'S START WITH :👇
1. SAMADHI PADA : THE STUDY OF THE SUPERCONSCIOUS STATE.
2. SADHANA PADA : THE ACTUAL PRACTICE.
3. VIBHUTI PADA : THE EXTRA ORDINARY ATTAINMENTS ACHIEVED BY THE PRACTICE.
4. KAIVALYA PADA : THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM REALISED BY THE PRACTIONER ON ATTAINMENT THE HIGHEST GOAL - THE POWER OF EXTRA ORDINARY AWARENESS AND FREEDOM FROM CONDITIONING.
THE CHOICE OF BELIEF IN ISHWARA IS ENTIRELY THE INITIATE'S PREROGATIVE. LET ME REITERATE THAT BELIEF IN ISHWARA IS NOT A PREREQUISITE FOR SUCCESS IN YOGA, EVEN TO REACH THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF KAIVALYA.
IN ADDITION TO THE YOGA SUTRAS, WE WILL REFER TO OTHER POST PATANJALI TEXTS LIKE THE SHIVA SAMHITA AND YOGA YAGNAVALKYA, AMONG OTHERS, WHENEVER, REQUIRED TO SUPPLEMENT OUR LEARNING. THE UPANISHADS, INCLUDING THE EARLIEST PRINCIPAL UPANISHADS AND THE LATER YOGA UPANISHADS, WILL ALSO FORM A PART OF OUR REFERENCE MATERIAL.
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