Yoga

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Yoga

There is no practice associated with Hinduism better known to Americans than yoga, and perhaps no other single term has a greater range of spiritual and secular connotations to those who practice it. The term "yoga" refers variously to an ancient philosophical tradition of orthodox Hinduism, to a number of mental, physical, and spiritual disciplines practiced widely in South Asian religious traditions, and to a range of different practices valued in modern life for their promotion of health and well-being.

Yoga was developed in India in ancient times by religious seekers (yogis) as a spiritual discipline. The etymology of the term derives from the Sanskrit verb yuj, meaning literally to "yoke" or "harness," and in this sense yoga is the harnessing of mental, physical and spiritual potential. Although its precise dating and origins are unclear, the theoretical and practical foundations of yoga were systematized in the Yogas?tra of Patañjali, which many scholars place in the second or third century c.e. This text forms the normative core of classical yoga, one of the six philosophical systems of orthodox Hinduism. The aim of classical yoga is to realize the absolute distinctness of spirit and matter, and thereby to bring about liberation and peace from the domination that the material world exerts over the immaterial spirit. The Yoga-s?tra describes eight steps of practices that cultivate mental tranquility, beginning with the observance of moral principles and culminating in a state of spiritual freedom.

In a more general sense, the term "yoga" is used in South Asia to refer to meditative and religious disciplines practiced not only by Hindus, but also by Jains and Buddhists. Yoga meditation also provided the roots from which forms of Buddhist meditation such as Zen and Vipassana developed and spread across Asia. It was within the Hindu tradition, however, that yoga was most elaborated and developed as a central form of religious practice.

Hindu authorities recognize several different types of yoga. In some contexts, yoga means discipline or religious path and suggests a plurality of different conceptions of the religious life. One important schema, articulated in the Bhagavad G?t?, describes three types of yoga to be followed according to an individual's inclination and abilities: jñ?na yoga, the discipline of wisdom; karma yoga, the discipline of works; and bhakti yoga, the discipline of devotion to God. All of these disciplines are aimed at the goal of liberation from the ignorance and limitations of the human condition.

In addition to this threefold schema, other traditions of yoga have developed through the ages. Ha?hayoga, the yoga of physical exertion, may be the yoga most familiar to Americans. It involves disciplining and controlling the body through assuming rigorous physical postures, regulating the breath, and cleansing the body by various purifying techniques. R?ja yoga, "royal yoga," refers to the meditative yoga articulated in the classical system of Patañjali. Ku??alin? yoga, the yoga of serpent power, is a type of esoteric or tantric yoga that involves envisioning the divine energy that lies in a potential but unrealized state at the base of the spinal column, like a coiled serpent. The awakening of this energy and its movement up to the top of the head produces enlightenment. None of these varieties of yoga need preclude the others; ha?ha yoga is sometimes conceived to be a preparatory discipline for r?ja yoga, and some modern teachers have combined different aspects of some or all of these yogas to form syntheses, as in the case of integral yoga.

Yoga has been known and practiced in the United States for more than a century. It entered America's literary imagination through Trancendentalist Henry David Thoreau's writings, in which he described himself striving to practice "the yoga" and claimed that at "rare intervals, even I am a yogi." However, a more substantial introduction of yoga to America came with the arrival of Swami Vivekananda from India for the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Swami Vivekananda represented Hinduism at the Parliament with great flair and charisma, and went on to found the Vedanta Society in New York in 1894 to promote the teachings of Vedanta philosophy and yoga.

Although the Vedanta Society attracted a small following of Americans, it was not until the arrival of Paramahamsa Yogananda and the publication of his Autobiography of a Yogi (1946) that yoga began to become familiar to mainstream America. His organization, the Self-Realization Fellowship, attracted a considerable number of Americans to yoga and the teachings of Hinduism. Yogananda taught kriy? yoga, a form of r?ja yoga that incorporates concepts and exercises drawing from ku??alin? yoga. Other charismatic Indian teachers have introduced yoga to America, such as the disciples of Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872–1950) of India, who established international associations and ashrams in the United States to teach his style of yoga. In addition, Sri Swami Satchidananda, a disciple of Swami Sivananda Saraswati, founded Integral Yoga International, an organization with centers across North America promoting yoga and a life of nonviolence, purity, and nonattachment.

The repeal of the Asian Exclusion Act in 1965 brought about the emergence of a vibrant Indian-American community, which has expanded and altered the nature and presence of Hinduism and yoga in America. Temples, ashrams, and summer camps offer yoga classes and retreats, and many Indian-Americans view yoga as a vital aspect of Indian culture and heritage.

Since the 1960s ha?ha yoga, the yoga of breathing and postures, has become popular as a form of exercise to promote health, strength, and relaxation, and is often entirely disassociated from its spiritual and religious moorings. While yoga was traditionally undertaken as a means for transcending secular and worldly existence, it has in modern times become a method for people not to free themselves from the human condition, but to find well-being, longevity, and tranquility within it. Its influence has grown steadily in the last several decades, such that yoga classes are now a staple in many fitness and wellness centers. Yoga has also been adopted by the New Age movement among seekers of holistic health practices and eastern wisdom.

Teachers of yoga within Hindu communities as well as New Age and secular yoga organizations often emphasize the scientific nature of yoga. For many Hindus, yoga is a meeting place where science and religion come together, and they view yoga as demonstrating universal and scientific truths of Hinduism. Many non-Hindus regard yoga as a means to inner peace and stress relief, with results that can be scientifically verified. In both cases, the distinctly modern regard for science combines with ancient spiritual teachings to form creative and adaptive responses to the needs and challenges of contemporary American life.