Yoga

Yoga (Skt., ‘yoking’, ‘joining’). The means or techniques for transforming consciousness and attaining liberation (mokṣa) from karma and rebirth (saṃsāra) in Indian religions. The mind (manas, citta) is thought to be constantly fluctuating, but through yoga it can be focused, one-pointedness (ekāgrata) developed, and higher states of consciousness (samādhi) experienced. Such control of consciousness, which is taught by a guru, also results in the attainment of paranormal powers (siddhi).

Techniques of meditative absorption (dhyāna, samādhi) were developed in the Śramana tradition which constrained Jainism and Buddhism, emphasizing control of consciousness as the means of liberation. Although the early Upaniṣads speak of the interiorization of the sacrifice, the actual term ‘yoga’ and technical terms such as āsana do not appear until the late Upaniṣads (500 BCE onwards).

Classical yoga is referred to as one of the six systems of Indian philosophy (darśana). Expressed in Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra (2nd–3rd cents. CE) it represents a refinement of ideas and practices found in the Upaniṣads. Patañjali states the goal of yoga to be quite simply the ‘cessation of mental fluctuation’ (cittavṛtti nirodha) which results in higher levels of consciousness or absorptions (samādhi) and the purification of the self (ātman). The Yoga Sūtra advocates rāja or eightfold (aṣṭaṅga) yoga.

The Bhagavad-gītā addresses yoga specifically, in that here Kṛṣṇa is the object of the yogin's meditation. The Gītā advocates three kinds of yoga, karma-yoga, the performance of action without attachment to its result, jñāna yoga, knowledge of God, and bhakti yoga, devotion to God (which the Gītā evidently regards as the highest).

Yoga became associated with the theistic traditions of Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism, and Śaktism, the object of meditation becoming the deities of those traditions. During this period (900–1600 CE) various yoga techniques were developed along with ideas about the physiology of the subtle body (liṅga/ sūkṣma śarīra)—for example in the Yoga Upaniṣads. The Nāth tradition developed Haṭha-yoga, though the latter is not confined to this one tradition. The yoga of Tantrism places particular emphasis on practices involving sound and vision, that is the visualization of maṇḍalas, yantras, and deities (devatā), mantra, and kuṇḍalinī yoga. Tantrism also uses sexual intercourse (maithuna) as a form of yoga.

Today yoga is an integral part of Hinduism. Important modern Hindus have advocated various kinds of yoga. For example, Aurobindo advocated a form of Tantric yoga, calling it Integral Yoga, Rāmakrishna practised bhakti yoga, and Ramana Mahaṛshi the yoga of knowing the identity of the self and God. Many of the new religions encourage the practice of some kind of yoga. For example, the Vedānta Society practises jñāna yoga, ISCKON/Hare Krishna (International Society …), bhakti yoga, and the 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) a form of Tantric yoga. Haṭha yoga has become very popular in the West, though more as an aid to health than as a soteriology.