Millions of people practice Yoga all over the world. However, most of them treat it as an exercise routine, without really caring to understand the Yoga philosophy. This is like smelling a cup of coffee and not actually drinking it — nothing wrong with it, just that, you miss the real thing.
What is the real thing, you might ask? It’s our understanding of the underlying philosophy of Yoga.
Simply put, Yoga is one of the six main darshanas, or the orthodox schools of Hinduism. In many ways, it’s closely related to the Samkhya philosophy of Hinduism. Some even call it Samkhya with God.
Yoga is a dualist philosophy, working with two fundamental realities: purusha, meaning “pure consciousness,” and prakriti, meaning “matter.” Every living being is a form of connection between these two realities. The path of yoga is guided by ethical principles, yamas and niyamas, and should ultimately result in moksha (spiritual liberation). Notice that moksha and not God is the ultimate goal of almost all religious traditions which started in India.
Yoga philosophy is well described in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, where Patanjali outlines the eight limbs, or stages, that one should follow to reach moksha. The eight limbs include the yamas and niyamas, asanas (physical practice), pranayama (breathing exercises), pratyahara (withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (union with God).
These days we equate Asana (posture) with Yoga while it is only one part of one branch of Yoga. To understand this, we need to take a look at different branches of Yoga:
- Raja Yoga, known as the classical Yoga, is closely linked with Patanjali’s eight-fold path. This was originally intended for the royals who needed comprehensive education. Here, one works very hard on self-improvement through discipline, self-inquiry, meditation, and training.
- Jnana Yoga, related to knowledge, focuses on meditation through thoughts, and reflections on philosophical texts. Most scholars preferred this.
- Tantra Yoga is a combination of rituals and methods for one to connect with oneself. It includes mantra chanting, precise movements of body, breathing techniques, visualisation etc wrapped within certain rituals.
- Hatha Yoga, meant to bring balance between the sun and the moon, is perhaps most popular. It is here we find many Asanas along with pranayama, mudra, kriya, purification etc. In order to separate it from religion, many focus on only one aspect, that is Asana. It works but also misses out on some things.
- Bhakti Yoga is the Yoga of devotion. In Hindu philosophy, God is not the ideal, but moksha (liberation) is. This ideal is shared by almost all schools such as Buddhism or Jainism. Devotion to God is just one of the ways to find moksha. This practice works on meditation techniques based on a chosen deity. You pray and meditate at the same time.
- Karma Yoga focuses on our actions. Here we meditate on nobel and mindful conduct. Meditation while working (or doing anything) is an interesting concept that arises. So, mindfulness, compassion meditation, loving and kindness meditation, and service to community become important parts of this practice.
This is just the beginning. If you are looking to explore it in-depth, here are a few recommended reads for you:
Kalampedia 