Origins
Origins
This statue of a yogini goddess was created in Kaveripakkam in Tamil Nadu during the 10th century. There were 64 such yoginis worshipped in a practice later incorporated into Hinduism.Main article: History of Yoga Images of a meditating yogi from the Indus Valley Civilization are thought to be 6 to 7 thousand years old. The earliest written accounts of yoga appear in the Rig Veda, which began to be codified between 1500 and 1200 BC. It is difficult to establish the date of yoga from this as the Rig Veda was orally transmitted for at least a millennium. The first Yoga text dates to around the 2nd century BC by Patanjali, and prescribes adherence to "eight limbs" (the sum of which constitute "Ashtanga Yoga") to quiet one's mind and merge with the infinite.
The first full description of the principles and goals of yoga are found in the Upanisads, thought to have been composed between the eighth and fourth centuries BC. The Upanisads are also called Vedanta since they constitute the end or conclusion of the Vedas (the traditional body of spiritual wisdom). In the Upanisads, the older practises of offering sacrifices and ceremonies to appease external gods gives way instead to a new understanding that man can, by means of an inner sacrifice, become one with the Supreme Being (referred to as Brāhman or Māhātman) -- through moral culture, restraint and training of the mind.
Hindu yoga
Bhagavad GitaMain article: Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita famously distinguishes several types of "yoga", corresponding to the duties of different nature of people. Capturing the essence and at the same time going into detail about the various Yogas and their philosophies, it constantly refers to itself as such, the "Scripture of Yoga" (see the final verses of each chapter). The book is thought to have been written some time between the 5th and the 2nd century BC. In it, Krishna describes the following yogas:
(1) Karma yoga, the yoga of "action" in the world (2) Jnana yoga, the yoga of meditation or intellectual endeavor (3) Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a deity (for example, to Krishna)
PatanjaliMain articles: Patanjali & Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Perhaps the classic description of yoga is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which form the basis not only of the darshana called "yoga"--one of six such "orthodox" (i.e. Veda-accepting) schools of Hindu philosophy--but also of the practice of yoga in most ashrams (to the extent these can be distinguished). The school (dharshana) of Indian philosophy known as "yoga" is primarily Upanishadic with roots in Samkhya, and some scholars see some influence from Buddhism.
Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras presents the goal of yoga as 'the cessation of mental fluctuations' (cittavrtti nirodha), an achievement which gives rise to the possibility of stable meditation and thus deeper states of absorption (dhyana or samadhi). This requires considerable restraint (yama) and self-discipline (niyama; see below for Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga)). Patanjali's yoga is sometimes called Raja Yoga (Skt: "Royal yoga") or "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"), in order to distinguish it from Hatha yoga. It is held as authoritative by all schools.
Patanjali's text sets forth eight "limbs" of yoga practice. Interestingly, only one of them involves physical postures (and these mainly involve seated positions). The eight are:
(1) Yama (The five "abstentions"): violence, lying, theft, sex, and possessions (2) Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerities, study, and surrender to God (3) Asana: This term literally means "seat," and originally referred mainly to seated positions. With the rise of Hatha yoga, it came to be used of these yoga "postures" as well. (4) Pranayama: Control of prana or vital breath (5) Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): "[T]hat by which the senses do not come into contact with their objects and, as it were, follow the nature of the mind." - Vyasa (6) Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object (7) Dhyana ("Meditation") (8) Samadhi: Super-conscious state or trance
This statue of a yogini goddess was created in Kaveripakkam in Tamil Nadu during the 10th century. There were 64 such yoginis worshipped in a practice later incorporated into Hinduism.Main article: History of Yoga Images of a meditating yogi from the Indus Valley Civilization are thought to be 6 to 7 thousand years old. The earliest written accounts of yoga appear in the Rig Veda, which began to be codified between 1500 and 1200 BC. It is difficult to establish the date of yoga from this as the Rig Veda was orally transmitted for at least a millennium. The first Yoga text dates to around the 2nd century BC by Patanjali, and prescribes adherence to "eight limbs" (the sum of which constitute "Ashtanga Yoga") to quiet one's mind and merge with the infinite.
The first full description of the principles and goals of yoga are found in the Upanisads, thought to have been composed between the eighth and fourth centuries BC. The Upanisads are also called Vedanta since they constitute the end or conclusion of the Vedas (the traditional body of spiritual wisdom). In the Upanisads, the older practises of offering sacrifices and ceremonies to appease external gods gives way instead to a new understanding that man can, by means of an inner sacrifice, become one with the Supreme Being (referred to as Brāhman or Māhātman) -- through moral culture, restraint and training of the mind.
Hindu yoga
Bhagavad GitaMain article: Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita famously distinguishes several types of "yoga", corresponding to the duties of different nature of people. Capturing the essence and at the same time going into detail about the various Yogas and their philosophies, it constantly refers to itself as such, the "Scripture of Yoga" (see the final verses of each chapter). The book is thought to have been written some time between the 5th and the 2nd century BC. In it, Krishna describes the following yogas:
(1) Karma yoga, the yoga of "action" in the world (2) Jnana yoga, the yoga of meditation or intellectual endeavor (3) Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a deity (for example, to Krishna)
PatanjaliMain articles: Patanjali & Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Perhaps the classic description of yoga is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which form the basis not only of the darshana called "yoga"--one of six such "orthodox" (i.e. Veda-accepting) schools of Hindu philosophy--but also of the practice of yoga in most ashrams (to the extent these can be distinguished). The school (dharshana) of Indian philosophy known as "yoga" is primarily Upanishadic with roots in Samkhya, and some scholars see some influence from Buddhism.
Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras presents the goal of yoga as 'the cessation of mental fluctuations' (cittavrtti nirodha), an achievement which gives rise to the possibility of stable meditation and thus deeper states of absorption (dhyana or samadhi). This requires considerable restraint (yama) and self-discipline (niyama; see below for Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga)). Patanjali's yoga is sometimes called Raja Yoga (Skt: "Royal yoga") or "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"), in order to distinguish it from Hatha yoga. It is held as authoritative by all schools.
Patanjali's text sets forth eight "limbs" of yoga practice. Interestingly, only one of them involves physical postures (and these mainly involve seated positions). The eight are:
(1) Yama (The five "abstentions"): violence, lying, theft, sex, and possessions (2) Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerities, study, and surrender to God (3) Asana: This term literally means "seat," and originally referred mainly to seated positions. With the rise of Hatha yoga, it came to be used of these yoga "postures" as well. (4) Pranayama: Control of prana or vital breath (5) Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): "[T]hat by which the senses do not come into contact with their objects and, as it were, follow the nature of the mind." - Vyasa (6) Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object (7) Dhyana ("Meditation") (8) Samadhi: Super-conscious state or trance
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