1 Yoga systems

Yoga: yoke, union with the ultimate; citta vrtti nirodha: disciplining the activity of consciousness. Yoga may be regarded as a definite or an experimental activity – as a dynamics of possibility

Samkhya: enumerating knowledge a dualistic theory of human nature describing the theoretical dynamics of bandha [bondage] and release while Yoga describes and prescribes the practical dynamics of release

Astanga yoga: eight-fold yoga of Patanjali [Gonikaputra]; eight-fold system of restraint [yama] and observance [niyama] are “moral,” followed by physical preparation, the physical postures [asana] and breath control [pranayama.] The fifth stage is the redirection [pratyahara] and training of attention from the immediate world and direction to the self or mind. The final, internal stages are focusing [dharana] attention on a fixed object, uninterrupted ego-less meditation [dhyana] on an object of focus, and union [samadhi] with the object of awareness

Hatha yoga: yama, niyama, asana and pranayama [breath control] as an end in itself

The Yoga of the Bhagavad-Gita: the epic poem, Bhagavad-Gita elaborates four paths or ways to the union, meditation [Raja Yoga,] thought, wisdom or knowledge [Gyana Yoga], action or work [Karma Yoga] and attitude or devotion [Bhakti Yoga.]

Kriya Yoga: yoga of purification – tapas, svadhyaya, Isvara pranidhana

Mantra Yoga: one approach to dhyana or meditation

Kundalini Yoga: an approach to the ascent of the kundalini up the spine through the six padmas [lotuses] or cakras [“centers”] to the final ajna [command] padma between the eyebrows at which Isvara is seen. The kundalini is the sleeping serpent at the base of the spine and is a metaphor for sakti - the divine power

2 Details of the systems

2.1 Astanga Yoga

Ethical Preparation – stages 1 and 2; Hatha Yoga is the ethical preparation and the discipline of the body – stages 1 – 4

1. Yama: restraint

Ahimsa	Not hurting
Satya	Truth
Asteya	Not stealing
Brahmacarya	Control of senses
Aparigraha	Non possessiveness

2. Niyama: observance

Sauca	Purity
Santosa	Contentment
Tapas	Zeal
Svadhyaya	Study
Isvara Pranidhana	Surrender to the real

Discipline of the body – stages 3 and 4

3. Asana: posture [as conducive to the spiritual goals]

Sukhasana	Easy
Svastikasana	Auspicious
Padmasana	Lotus
Sidhasana	Accomplished
Dhyanasana	Meditative

4. Pranayama: observance and flow of vital force. The main prana are

Prana	Inspiration
Apana	Excretory
Samana	Assimilative
Udana	Energetic
Vyana	Contractile

5. Pratyahara: withdrawal of senses

Samyana [the following three stages constitute Raja yoga]

6. Dharana: concentration

7. Dhyana: meditation

8. Samadhi: Sabija “With seeds”…of attachment in latent form. Truth realized but sense of separateness of “I” from truth maintained; Nirbija “Seedless” complete unity. I or self = Truth

2.2 Samkhya: Yoga Psychology and Philosophy

“There is no theory like Samkhya, no practice like yoga”

Purusha

Spirit, the knower of Prakriti

Prakriti or pradhana

Everything else, other than Purusha – the filed of mind and matter, the field of phenomena, whatever has name and form

Gunas

The forces that make up Prakriti, the three basic states of energy

Tamas – inertia

Rajas – activity

Sattva – equilibrium

2.3 The Bhagavad-Gita

The Gita is Brahmavidya Yogashastra – a text on the supreme science of yoga

Gyana yoga	The yoga of knowledge, knowing one is Atman
Bhakti yoga	“Love”, devotion, identifying with Ishvara [or Isvara, i.e. personal god] in love – the way of the Christian, Judaic and Islamic mystics
Karma yoga	Selfless action: identifying with the with the whole of life through action
Raja yoga	Stilling the mind and merging with the self; meditation
Shraddha	That which is placed in the heat… All the beliefs held so deeply we never think to question them… “A person is what his Shraddha is” – Gita… “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” – Bible… “You are the result of all that you have thought” – Buddha… Right Shraddha [Gita]… Faith in spiritual laws, in Atman = Brahman… Wrong Shraddha… There is no more to life than physical existence…

3 Yoga Vocabulary

Abhyasa	Practice
Advaita	Not two
Ahimsa paramo dharma	Non-violence is the highest dharma
Atman	The ultimate self of Sankara's Vedantic monism [Advaita;] divine core of personality; indistinguishable from Brahman; reality as known subjectively
Brahmacarya	“To walk in Brahman”
Brahman	In Vedanta: the ultimate; reality known objectively; Godhead; Isvara is its phenomenal form
Brahmavidya	Supreme science
Citta	Mind – as substance
Devas	Deities
Dharana	Concentration
Dharma	The law that maintains the unity of creation
Dhyana	Meditation
Japa	Repetition of mantra
Kaivalya	Absoluteness, the highest goal in life
Karma	The law that maintains the unity of creation
Mana	Mind Has five states: avidya - ignorance or error, vikalpa - fantasy, nidra - sleep, vidya - correct knowledge, smrti -memory. The first three are klista - afflications or klesa, the remaining two are aklista. Avidya has four sources: amsita - self absorption, raga - attachment, dvesa - hatred, and abhinivesa - fear of death Four stages: ksipta - wandering, mudha - forgetful, viksipta - changeful between steady and distracted, ekagra - one pointed, nirudha - restrained Four layers of man: body, consciousness, individual unconsciousness, Atman
Moksa	Spiritual liberation – life’s supreme goal
Prakrti	Unconscious principle or substance The elements [guna] of prakrti are sattva - light, rajas - activity, tamas - dark or heavyness. In balance they form prakrti; out of balance they are vikrti
Prana	Pratham + ana [animation] the original or primal force or energy or na: prana, apana, samana, udana, vyana, naga, kurma, krkala, devadatta, dhananjaya
Pranayama	Control of vital force
Samadhi	In which individual awareness becomes the one awareness; the experience of Atman = Brahman, the state called Moksa
Samahitam	State in which all questions are answered
Samsara	Cycle of birth and death
Samyana	Combined state of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi
Shruti	Heard
Sidhi	Uncommon power esperienced in the smooth flow of meditation; a distraction on the way to samadhi
Sri Krishna	“The Lord”, inner, true self
Tat tvam asi	Thou art that [Atman = Brahman]
Vairagya	Detachment
Vayu	Thread of prāna
Yoga	Union with the ultimate; realizing Atman = Brahman; The disciplines for obtaining yoga
Yoga Sutra	The yoga sutra of Patanjali = 196 aphorisms in 4 sections [sutra literally is thread…an aphoristic codification of the school of thought]
Yogacara	Form of Buddhism combining yoga and good conduct [acara]

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