Paths of Yoga I
by Alma De La Cruz
zone3
With dozens of Hollywood celebrities following in their Guru’s lotus
footsteps and the sick Western commercial behaviour exploding Yogas
popularity to a system that simply enhances people’s health, Yoga remains
a system of spiritual unity of mind, body and soul among millions of
Indians and many others from Eastern beliefs, as it has been for over five
thousand years. As a result, some forms of yoga have gained significant
popularity outside India, particularly in the West during the past
century.
Yoga is a form of mysticism that developed on the Indian subcontinent
in the Hindu cultural context. The origins of Yoga are difficult to track
due to the lack of recorded testimony. One of the closest meanings of Yoga
comes from the Sanskrit word “Yuj” which it is generally translated as
“union” or “integration” of the individual soul with the cosmos, or higher
self.
Since the goal of Yoga dwells above any bodily consciousness, it has
both a philosophical and a practical dimension to achieve that ideal
state. On one hand, the philosophy of yoga manages the relation of both
the individual soul and the cosmos. This universal philophy enjoins the
practitioner to pursue his or her own path to enlightenment. And on the
other hand, its practice can be any exercise or activity that approaches
the yoga practitioner to self-realization.
Four Paths of Yoga
Special practical yoga techniques have been developed by experts in
yoga. Traditionally, they have been classified into four categories or
paths: the path of meditation (Raja Yoga), the path of devotion (Bhakti
Yoga), the path of selfless service to the Divine (Karma Yoga), and the
path of intellectual analysis or the discrimination of truth and reality
(Jnana Yoga).
These Yoga techniques cover a broad range, encompassing physical,
mental, and spiritual activities.
• Raja Yoga involves psycho-physical meditational techniques to attain
experience of the truth and finally achieve liberation described in Hindu
thought to be moksha. The basis of ashtanga yoga is the Yoga sutras
(Sanskrit Verses) of Patanjali. We will consider the different aspects of
yoga while remaining under the guiding principles of Patanjali's Yoga
(Ashtanga Yoga). Raja Yoga is a comprehensive yoga system which deals with
the refinement of human behavior and personality through the practice the
Yama (restraint) and Niyama (disciplines); attainment of physical health
and vitality through Asana (postures) and Pranayama (pranic breathing
techniques); management of mental and emotional conflicts and development
of awareness and concentration through Pratyahara (sensory withdrawal) and
Dharana (concentration); and developing the creative aspect of
consciousness for transcendental awareness through Dhyan (meditation)
& Samadhi (absorption in the universal identity).
• Bhakti Yoga is the Hindu term for the spiritual practice of fostering
of loving devotion to God, called Bhakti. Traditionally there are 9 forms
of bhakti yoga.
Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories), Kirtana
(singing of His glories), Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence),
Padasevana (service of His feet), Archana (worship of God), Vandana
(prostration to Lord), Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with
God), Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and Atmanivedana (complete
surrender of the self). The nine modes of Bhakti are the ways in which a
devotee attains the Supreme Ideal of life. A devotee can take up any of
these paths and reach the highest state. The path of Bhakti is the easiest
of all and is not very much against the nature of human inclinations.
• Karma Yoga focuses on the adherence to duty (dharma) while remaining
detached from the reward. Karma means to do, action, including those acts
done by the individual from birth to death. "Karma Yoga is the selfless
devotion of all inner as well as the outer activities as a Sacrifice to
the Lord of all works, offered to the eternal as Master of all the soul’s
energies and austerities," the Bhagavad Gita says. Following the practice
of Karma yoga, an individual becomes true spiritual seeker and realizes
his true nature as Atman and he lives in this world, works for this world
and still stays untouched from the grossness of the mundane pleasures,
thus doing immense good to the society while on his path to salvation and
spiritual freedom.
The Swami Sivananda Yoga Venanda Center sums up karma yoga into five
actions:
Right Attitude
It’s not what you do that counts, it’s the attitude
while doing it that determines if a job is a karma yoga job, i.e. a
liberating job, or a binding job.
Right Motive
Same as attitude. It is not what you do that counts but
your real motive behind it.
Do your duty. Give your best. Give results.
• Jnana Yoga. This is the most difficult path, requiring tremendous
strength of will and intellect. Taking the philosophy of Vedanta the Jnana
Yogi uses his mind to inquire into its own nature. We perceive the space
inside and outside a glass as different, just as we see ourselves as
separate from God.
Jnana Yoga leads the devotee to experience his
unity with God directly by breaking the glass, dissolving the veils of
ignorance. Before practicing Jnana Yoga, the aspirant needs to have
integrated the lessons of the other yogic paths - for without selflessness
and love of God, strength of body and mind, the search for
self-realization can become mere idle speculation.
Jnana yoga teaches that there are four means to salvation:
Viveka - Discrimination: The ability to differentiate between what is
real/eternal (Brahman) and what is unreal/temporary (everything else in
the universe.)
Vairagya - Dispassion: After practice one should be able to "detach"
themself from everything that is "temporary."
Shad-sampat - The 6 Virtues: Tranquility (control of the mind), Dama
(control of the senses), Uparati (renunciation of activities that are not
duties), Titiksha (endurance), Shraddha (faith), Samadhana (perfect
concentration).
Mumukshutva - Intense longing for liberation from temporal
limitations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alma De la Cruz, a staff mystic employed, has
a profound personal history where she has unabashedly delved deep into the
heart of occult mysteries for an extensive period of her life. Check out
her bi weekly metaphysical column; where
she takes a new twist, incorporating Latin shamanistic philosophies with
leading edge occult beliefs.
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