What is Yoga? (Yoga in general)

Member Name: Templar19

Product:	Yoga in general
Date:	10/08/08 (215 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A brief explanation of yoga philosophy

Disadvantages: A dense read for most, perhaps (sorry folks but that's just the nature of the beast)

I guess I should start with a warning: what follows is a piece about the basic philosophy of yoga so for those who have no interest in the more 'bookish' aspect of the discipline or in Eastern philosophy generally now might be a good time to turn around. At the very least it might spare you a headache! For anyone left ... .

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For most people who practice yoga, the vast majority perhaps, it is something that is done solely to keep the body toned and the mind settled. It's a useful weapon in the fight against all these modern stresses that play havoc with modern lives. But if a toned body and a calmed mind are all that we are looking for from our yogic pursuits then what we are doing, however useful and physically beneficial, is not yoga. Yoga is actually something more. Why do I say that? Good question. I got to thinking about it and decided that it might be an idea to briefly sketch what yoga really is and what it is really all about.

What follows is a short article I wrote for another website a while ago. I make no claim of expertise, although I've studied and practiced yoga for twenty years or more and in that time I've realised that there is a great deal of misleading information out there, some of it harmless nonsense, some of it potentially dangerous (to quote Sri Ramakrishna: "Beware of unripe gurus."). So this is just a very basic examination of what yoga really is. It's not an argumentative or opinionative piece; it simply outlines the core philosophy and core aim. Make of it what you will. (And just to show that I am still only a moderately-successful yogi with an ego that still needs to explain itself I must state that I am in no way a brown-rice-flavoured lotus-flower fruitcake! I'm just an ordinary Joe who happens to practice yoga.)

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What is Yoga?

'Yoga' is a very familiar word these days. Most of us will know of someone who practices it in some form or another and we can easily conjure up a picture of what we think that practice involves: physical contortions and deep breathing; calmness and peace of mind; above all, a state of physical and mental wellbeing. Yoga, it seems, is something vaguely spiritual that does us good.

Yet yoga is a complex subject, and although it may be easy to define it is not so easy to explain. Misunderstandings about yoga abound, with adherents and onlookers alike, and for that reason it might be a good idea for us to return to fundamentals and explore its core raison d'être.

Yoga is old, very old. It has been around in one form or another for as long as humans have been looking inwards to observe the workings of their own minds. The word itself derives from Sanskrit and means 'union' or 'integration'. This union is a coming together of the individual self (core consciousness) with the universal self of which it is actually a part (not a union of body and mind, as some maintain).

The first written teachings appeared over 2,000 years ago in the form of the Yoga Sutras (aphorisms). Written by an Indian sage called Pantanjali, these sutras are a series of moral and psychological tenets that have just one purpose: to help us rid that part of ourselves that is pure and unchanging (the self) of its fetters (the uncontrolled impulses of the mind with which it mistakenly identifies itself), and in so doing help it to realize its place not as an individual consciousness distinct from others (an illusion) but as a part of consciousness generally.

When we look in the mirror we see ourselves, distinct and unique. We have a name and a form and there is none other like us. But the yogi understands this individuality to be an illusion and seeks the sub-stratum of consciousness (the reality) that lies behind body and mind and the false egoism they manufacture. That consciousness is pure, unchanging and eternal. Body and mind are not. To realize that pure, unchanging existence we must find a way through (and a means to control) the cacophony of automatic and irrelevant thoughts that so dominate our everyday lives.

Pantanjali tells us: "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff from taking various forms." (Yoga Sutras, i, 2.)

The celebrated Hindu teacher and commentator, Swami Vivekananda (who introduced yoga to the West in the late 19th century), in his commentary on this fundamental sutra presents a useful analogy that helps us to understand its meaning. To paraphrase:

He compares the mind-stuff to a lake, the bottom of which is our true self (the unchanging basis of our makeup). Ordinarily we can't see the bottom because of the ripples that agitate the water's surface. These ripples are the innumerable thoughts and mental impulses that cloud our vision. If we are to see the bottom we must, therefore, still the water.

We do this by using the mind itself. We concentrate then we meditate.

Pantanjali again: "At that time (the time of concentration) the seer (Purusha) rests in his own unmodified state." (Yoga Sutras, i, 3.)

In other words, the self (Purusha) is not modified by the thoughts and impulses of the mind and does not identify itself with them. It sees ITSELF, pure and unchanging. It is always there, but the mind impedes its vision of itself and it comes to think of itself as mind. It becomes ego, individual and enslaved to circumstance. This, to the yogi, is an illusion.

We are slaves to our mental impulses. We are like chaff in the wind, blown here and there. We are angry, sad, frustrated, depressed, happy... we are all these things and more. But these impulses are of the mind and not of the self. The realization of this fact is the first step (awakening) in yoga. The mind is a tool and nothing more. We must use it and then, ultimately, transcend it.

In 'Raja Yoga' Swami Vivekananda states: "The real man (the self) is behind the mind; the mind is the instrument in his hands; it is his intelligence that is percolating through the mind. It is only when you stand behind the mind that it becomes intelligent. When man gives it up, it falls to pieces and is nothing."

In Pantanjali's system of yoga, concentration (dharana) is one of the eight steps (angas). These steps begin with moral guidelines, proceed through physical postures and breathing exercises and arrive ultimately at techniques of mind control. The aim is to purify the mind by ridding it of its habit of attachment (the fetters mentioned earlier) and the body by ridding it of impurities. These latter impurities are anything not conducive to a healthy body (this is not an easy pursuit!).

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All this talk of self-realization and transcending mind sounds somewhat rarefied and implausible, doesn't it? The fundamentals outlined above are what the yogi aims for, but for most of us the journey starts with more modest and mundane goals. We learn to control our thoughts. We learn to concentrate on specific things and to blot out all those impulses that are irrelevant to our meditations but which constantly demand our attention: Itches, aches, thoughts about dinner or what is on TV later. We slowly but surely gain control and learn to focus our minds. We strengthen our willpower and the mind slowly becomes our instrument and ceases to be our master.

For example, we concentrate on something (a coin, let's say) and we think about it. Concentration holds it in front of our mind's eye and we keep on thinking about it (meditating) until we have run out of thoughts to think. When that happens we don't let our minds drift but rather we keep focused on the coin, waiting without prejudice, until more thoughts come (they will). We begin to make connections and we find that new ideas come to mind. We learn and we grow.

As time goes on we slowly (very slowly) begin to replace objects of meditation with concepts and ideas and ultimately we meditate on our very self. To ultimately realize and know this self is yoga. It is then that "[the mind] falls to pieces and is nothing."

In essence, what is happening is this: WE are not mind meditating on external objects or internal ideas; we are (and always will be) the pure unchanging consciousness that lies behind mind and is simply using mind as a tool. Once mind has served its purpose and has been transcended then the pure self rests unchanging in its proper state. It has realized itself. Mind is simply a tool that aids this realization. The pursuit of this realization, ladies and gentlemen, is YOGA.

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This has been just a brief stroll through the fundamentals of yoga. It is an extremely complex subject and although it can be baffling at times it is always fascinating and occasionally enlightening.

For what it's worth, I would recommend that anyone interested in exploring the philosophy behind yoga should study the classical and standard texts first before turning towards more specific and modern works. Any Ramakrishna / Vedanta or Vivekananda centre will be a reliable source for serious books on yoga and Vedanta.

We should remember also that not all modern books with 'yoga' in the title are necessarily about yoga per se but are rather about the by-products of its practice, by-products such as physical conditioning and bodily health. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, so long as we remember that yoga, ultimately, is about self-realization and not just about the body-beautiful (bodies, however beautiful, have a limited shelf-life). To use yogic practices solely for the purpose of physical health and bodily conditioning, however beneficial in the short term, is not yoga. To do so with a view to aiding concentration, meditation and, ultimately, spiritual growth IS yoga.

And finally... yoga is NOT a religion nor is it the exclusive preserve of the religious. Christians, Muslims, atheists and agnostics can all practice yoga without compromising their fundamental creeds. Yoga is about reason and experience and calm, unprejudiced observation. Yoga is simply a word that describes a pursuit. That pursuit can happily be made by everyone in their own time and in their own way. As Swami Vivekananda has stated in 'Practical Vedanta': "Unity is the touchstone of truth. All that contributes to unity is truth." In more mundane language: All roads lead to Rome.

Summary: Yoga in a nutshell.