Yoga and the Yoga philosophy

Introduction

The Upanisads assume the Yoga practice (philosophy) in the sense of a conscious inward search or striving after a true knowledge of reality. The securing of many physical and mental powers, which are not found ordinarily, by means of discipline, and the restraint of bodily and mental activities helps to gain release from suffering. A preliminary Yogic experience and ecstasy by the Munis seems to be mentioned in the Rig Veda (10:136:2-5). Both the Vedas and the Upanisads regard tapas and austerities as virtues productive of great power. Moreover, the Upanisads which speak of the Samkhya theories refer to yoga practices as well. In this sense, the Yoga may be considered as the practical aspect of the theoretical Samkhya investigating the field of experience. The Katha Upanisad speaks of the highest condition of Yoga as a state in which the senses, with mind and intellect, are brought to a standstill. The Yogatattva Upanisad speaks of four kinds of Yoga: (1) Mantra-yoga (based on faith-healing and involves cure by mantras), (2) Laya-yoga (focusing, lyrically, melodies, etc.), (3) Hatha-yoga (exercises etc.); and (4) Raja-yoga (meditation etc.). Yoga basically involves the purification of the body, mind and soul, and preparing them for the beatific vision.

Yoga, according to Patanjali (second century B.C.), is a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. The word Yoga is used in a variety of senses. It may simply mean "method." It is often used in the sense of yoking. In the Upanisads and the Bhagavadgita, the soul (divine and eternal part of the being) in the worldly and the sinful condition is said to live separate and estranged from the supreme soul. The root of all sin and suffering is this separation, disunion and estrangement. To be rid of sorrow and sin, one must, according to Yoga philosophy, attain spiritual unification, the consciousness of two in one, or Yoga. In Patanjali, Yoga simply means the effort to bring this union. Thus Yoga, the effort, also signifies exertion, strenuous endeavor, and the restraint of the senses and the mind. The physical body, the active will and the understanding mind are to be brought under control. When this condition is arrived at through certain practices resulting in the increased vitality, prolonged youth and longevity, these are to be employed in the interest of spiritual freedom (i.e. separation between purusa and prakrti). The main interest of Patanjali is the practical motive, rather than metaphysical theorizing, of showing the way to attain salvation by disciplined activity.

The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is one of the earliest complete texts on the Yoga system and it is divided into four parts. The first part explores the nature and aim of samadhi, or meditative absorption (samadhipada), the second explains the means of attaining this end (sadhanapada), the third describes the supernatural powers that can be attained through the Yoga practice (vibhutipada), and the fourth sets forth the nature of liberation (kaivalyapada). Important contributors to Yoga also include Vatsyayana, Bhoja, Vijnanabhiksu and Vacaspati et al.

The Samkhya and the Yoga

In the early works (the Mahabharata etc.) the Yoga principles appear along with the Samkhya ideas. The twenty-five principles (tattvas) of the Samkhya are accepted by the Yoga. The universe is uncreated and eternal. It undergoes changes. In its noumenal state it is called prakrti, which is associated with the gunas, and is always the same. There are countless individual souls which animate living beings and are by nature pure, eternal and immutable. But, through the association with the universe, they become indirectly the experiencers of joys and sorrows, and assume innumerable embodied forms in the course of samsara. Regarding the development of prakrti, the Yoga holds that there are two parallel lines of evolution, starting from mahat (subtle matter) to buddhi, which, on the one side, develops into ahamkara (ego), manas (mind), the five senses of cognition and the five of action, and, on the other, develops into the five gross elements through the five tanmatras. In the Samkhya, ahamkara, as sattvika, gives rise to the senses, and, as tamasa, to the tanmatras, and both these are held up in the mahat; and so this distinction between the Samkhya and the Yoga accounts of evolution is not a serious one. Moreover, Yoga does not recognize ahamkara and manas as separate from budhhi (intellect), and brings these three internal organs of Samkhya under citta. It also looks upon the sense-organs as material in character, and so finds no need for a subtle body.

The Yoga accounts for creation by the two agencies of God and avidya. Through the force of the latter, the energy of prakrti transforms itself into modifications as the mental and the material world, while God, though remaining outside the vale of prakrti, removes the obstructions offered by the latter. Avidya is unintelligent and so is not conscious of the desires of the innumerable purusas; God is the intelligence adjusting the modifications of prakrti to the ends of purusas. The jiva (embodied soul) is found to be involved in matter, and this constitutes his fall from his purity and innocence. The individual in the Yoga, is not so much at the mercy of prakrti as in the Samkhya. He has greater freedom, and, with the help of God, he can effect his deliverance. As in the Samkhya, so in the Yoga, the round of rebirths, with its many pains, is that which is to be escaped from. The conjunction of pradhana (the first cause or the subtle matter) and the self is the cause of this samsara; the destruction of this conjunction is the escape (freedom), and perfect insight (or jnana) is the means of escape. The self is the seer and pradhana is the object of knowledge, and their conjunction is the cause of samsara.

The end of liberation is the isolation of purusa from prakrti, to be attained by discrimination between the two. While the Samkhya holds that knowledge is the means of liberation, the Yoga insists on the methods of concentration and active striving. The aim of the Yoga is to free the individual from the clutches of matter. The highest form of matter is citta, and the Yoga lays down the course by which a man can free himself from the fetters of citta. By withdrawing the citta from its natural functions, one overcomes the pain of the world and escapes from samsara.

Psychology

Citta is the first product of prakrti and includes intellect, self-consciousness or ego, and mind. It is subject to the three gunas, and undergoes various modifications according to the predominance of the gunas. It is essentially unconscious, though it becomes conscious by the reflection of the self which abides by it. Citta, including the mind, undergoes modifications when it is affected by the objects through the senses. The consciousness of purusa reflected in it leads to the impression that it is the experiencer. Citta is really the spectacle of which the self is by reflection the spectator. Citta, as cause, is all pervading like akasa, and there are as many cittas as there are purusas, since each purusa has a citta connected with it. Yoga does not admit a separate subtle body in which the citta is encased. It is the aim of the Yoga discipline to turn back the citta to its original status of all-pervading karana-citta, by the suppression of rajas and tamas. The Yogin acquires omniscience when all-pervading state of citta is restored. When it becomes as pure as the purusa itself, the latter is liberated. It is by means of citta that the self (purusa) becomes aware of objects and enters into relation with the world. Citta exists for the sake of the purusa, who is deeper than thought, feeling and will. It is the reflection of the self acting on it that makes it perceive what is presented to it, because it cannot itself perceive what it sees due to its own unconscious nature. Getting knowledge about an object relates to the modification in the citta, and since citta can undergo only one modification at a time, the self knows only one object at a time. Similarly, two different ideas can not arise simultaneously. Impressions produced in the citta leave behind certain residues, which are the causes of interests and desires, new births and further experiences. The functionings of citta produce potencies, which, in their turn, cause potencies; so the wheel of samsara goes on perpetually. From these relations passions and desires arise, and the sense of personality is produced. Life in samsara is the outcome of desires and passions. Deliverance consists in severing the relation of self and citta. The purusa in true nature is merely the spectator of the mind's activity. When the mind is active, the self seems to experience various conditions, and when mind becomes calm in meditation the self abides in its true form.

Mind is an arena of conflicting forces, which require to be subdued to some unity. There are some desires that seek satisfaction, some vital urges of life, such as those of self-preservation and self-reproduction, which refuse to be easily controlled. The obstacles to concentration are said to be the different forms of misconception (representing the general attitude of life unfavorable to concentration), namely, ignorance (avidya), egoism (asmita), attachment (raga), aversion (dvesa), and clinging to life (abhinivesa). Others, or those obstructing the process of concentration, are sickness, languor, doubt, heedlessness, laziness, worldliness, erroneous perception, and failure to attain concentration and instability in it when attained.

The Pramanas (proofs) and the Sources of Knowledge

Perception, inference and scripture are accepted as the three means of knowledge. When the citta is affected by some external object, through the sense-organs, there is perception. The mental modification is directly related to the object. The reality of external objects is accepted by the Yoga. When an object changes into other, only its form is modified, and when all forms are destroyed, the object ultimately reverts to its primary or noumenal state. The forms are, however, not phantasmal. Sensations occur whenever there are sensible objects exciting the senses. It is, however, true that though the presented object is the same, the resulting sensations may be different. For the citta receives the impressions of the presented objects under the influence of one or other of the three gunas.

Inference is the mental modification through which the generic nature of objects is cognized. The cognition of invariable conjunction is the basis of inference. Of two things invariably connected with each other, the perception of one establishes the existence of the other.

Scripture or testimony relates to the knowledge of an object seen or inferred by a trustworthy person and communicated to others by means of words.

The Yoga holds that the knowledge gained through perception, inference and scriptural testimony is not absolutely valid, since it assumes that empirical knowledge is the product of the erroneous confusion between purusa and buddhi. Thus, according to Yoga, the truth of things as they are can be gained only through, in addition to these three methods, the practice of contemplation.

The Art of Yoga

The reality of the self is to be found not by means of an objective use of the mind, but by a suppression of its activities and penetration beneath the mental strata with which one's ordinary life and activity conceal his diviner nature. Though the seed of spirit is present in everyone, it is not realized by a person's consciousness which is too busily engaged with other things. One must undergo a severe discipline before he can achieve the redirection of his consciousness. The Yoga philosophy urges that the necessary inhibition of mental states is brought about by practice and conquest of desire. While the latter is the result of a life of virtue, the former refers to the effort towards steadiness of thought, which is gained by purificatory action, continence, knowledge and faith. Vairagya or passionlessness is the consciousness of mastery possessed by one who has rid himself of thirst for seen or revealed objects. Such a one is supremely indifferent to the pleasures of heaven or of earth. In the highest form of Vairagya, where the discernment of the self arises, there is no danger of any subjection to the desire for objects or their qualities. This leads to the ultimate freedom, while the lower form of vairagya, which has a trace of rajas (and so pravrtti) in it, results in the condition of absorption in prakrti.

The human organism consists of the physical body, the vital dynamism, the psychic principles, and the purusa. The purusa is hidden behind veils of corruptible flesh and restless mind, all of which offer hindrances to the method of Yoga. The close connection of body and mind is associated with pain, despondency, unsteadiness of the body, and other distractions. Though physical health is not the end of human life, it is still one of its essential conditions. Moreover, the body is the instrument for the expression of spiritual life. So, instead of renouncing the material basis, the Yoga accepts it as part of the spiritual problem. To overcome the hindrances, the Yoga proposes the eightfold method, consisting of yama ( abstention), niyama (observance), asana (posture), pranayama (regulation of breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dhyana (fixed attention), dharana (contemplation), and samadhi (concentration). The last three are direct or internal (antaranga) aids, while the first five are indirect or external (bahiranga). Although all these were originally included in one Yoga scheme, later these were classified as Karma yoga (the system of salvation by work), Bhakti yoga (perfection through devotion to God), Jnana yoga (perfection through wisdom), Raja yoga (training of the mind and its psychic powers) and Hatha yoga ( methods of bodily control, breath regulation and mantra).

The Yoga has developed a system of physiology which relates to (1) nadis (or infinitely small nerves) which traverse the body (more than 700 million in number), (2) psychic centers or cakras, and (3) a hidden energy known as kundalini, said to reside at the base of the spine, which, when aroused, stimulates the cakras to activity. The human body has two main parts, the upper and the lower. The center of the body, in human beings especially, lies at the base of the cerebro-spinal column, which supports and controls the two parts of the body. The nerves and ganglionic masses of nervous matter are arranged in two great systems, the sympathetic and the cerebro-spinal. The brain and the spinal cord contained within the bony cavity of the skull and the spinal column are the great centers of the cerebro-spinal system. Brahmadanda or Merudanda of Hindu physiology is the spinal column. It is the seat of the nadisusumna, which extends from the muladhara, or root support at the base of the vertebral column to the Sahasrara lying within the cerebral region. The other four cakras (plexuses) are Svadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata and Visudha. The spinal column contains three yoganadis of special significance, namely, ida, pingala and susumna. The last is the chief of them. To the right of it pingala, and to its left ida. This nadi has six subtle centers called padmas or cakras (invisible to the senses) that could be experienced through the eyes of Yoga.

Accessories to the Yoga

Ethical preparation (yama and niyama), bodily posture (asana), breath-control (pranayama), and abstraction of the senses from their natural functions (pratyhara) are considered as accessories to the Yoga, and these are not themselves elements in it.

Ethical Preparation: Yama and niyama, abstentions and observances, lay stress on the ethical preparation necessary for the practice of Yoga. One should practice ahimsa (or non-violence), truthfulness, honesty, continence and non-acceptance of gifts. Thus one should abstain from inflicting of injury, from falsehood, theft, incontinence and avarice. The chief of all these is the non-violence, in which all other virtues are rooted. Ahimsa -- not merely non-violence but non-hatred (vairatyagah) -- is interpreted broadly as abstinence from malice towards all living creatures in every way and all the time. The cultivation of friendliness, sympathy, cheerfulness and imperturbability with regard to things (pleasant and painful, good and bad) produces serenity of mind. One must be free from jealousy and not be callous to the suffering of others. No exceptions are allowed to these (yama) principles, which are absolute in their character. The observances (niyama) are optional -- but are also to be followed regularly in Yoga practice -- and comprise purification (external and internal), contentment, austerity (tapas), and devotion to God. A practice of yama and niyama favors the development of vairagya (passionlessness or freedom from desire) either for the things of the world or the pleasures of heaven. Note that the stream of mind flows in both directions towards good and towards evil. When it makes for freedom and knowledge, it is said to be flowing towards the good; and when it is borne to the whirlpool of existence, downward towards non-discrimination (or lack of judgment), it is then flowing unto evil.

Discipline of the Body: The Yoga realizes that the body has a dignity of its own, as much as the mind. Asna, or posture, is a physical help to concentration. To help in meditation, the posture must be firm, pleasant and easy. Similarly, food (including drinks) should be chosen carefully so as not to set the nerves on edge, driving them into fever or stupor. Note that if intellectual life and moral activity are the true ends of man, therefore the bodily needs should be subordinated to them. Hatha Yoga aims at perfecting the bodily instrument, freeing it from its liability to fatigue and arresting its tendency to decay and age. Yoga says that the perfection of body consists in beauty, grace, strength and adamantine hardness.

Breath-Control: Serenity of mind may be attained by the cultivation of virtues or regulation of breath. Breath-control is regarded as a steadying influence on the mind, and plays an important part in Hatha Yoga, where it is esteemed for its great efficiency in producing occult powers. Respiratory exercises are highly beneficial to health.

Sense-Control: Pratyhara, or the withdrawal of the senses from their natural outward functioning, answers to the process of introversion in psychology. The mind is to be resolutely shut against all impressions from outside. The discipline requires to drive away the vagrant impulses and insistent thoughts.

Contemplation

To the roving, restless mind of man the yoga says that the truth can be known by a persistent withdrawal of consciousness from outward acts as well as inward changes. Dharana is fixing the mind (citta) in a particular spot. It is steadfastness of mind. In normal life ideas come and go, but do not stay long. Concentration is normally sustained at its fullest for a very short time only. But dhyana corresponds to the resulting state of an even current of thought undisturbed by others. It is meditation. Dhyana culminates in samadhi, where the sense of identity is lost; body and mind become dead to all external impressions, and only the object of meditation, whatever it be, remains shining out. When all effort is directed to a single object, the resulting state is called samyama.

Samadhi or Concentration

Samadhi is the name of the condition to be passed through before reaching deliverance. Yoga insists on attaining freedom through samadhi (or Yogah samadhih), which is the ecstatic condition in which the connection with the outer world is broken. It is the goal of Yoga discipline, since it lifts the soul from the temporal, conditioned, changing existence into a simple, eternal and perfect life. The purusa regains through it the eternal status. The idea of samadhi may have developed out of the Upanisad doctrine that compares the realization of the Absolute or freedom from the things of empirical life to the deep dreamless sleep. There are degrees of concentration or samadhi; samprajnata or conscious, and asamprajnata or superconscious. In the former the mind remains conscious of the object. That state where the citta is single in intent and fully illumines a distinct and real object, removes the afflictions and slackens the bonds of karma, and has for its goal the restraint of all modifications, is called sam-prajnata-samadhi. In it there is a union between the knower and the known, in which the knower may be said to know the object simply because he is it. The thought and the object of thought are the same. This state is accompanied by deliberation (vitarka), reflection (vicara), joy (ananda), and sense of personality (asmita). These are forms of concentration which have definite objects on which they rest. One generally feels a sense of joy and a sense of individuality. When the feeling of joy passes away and is lost in a higher equanimity, there occurs the state called dharma-megha, in which the isolation of the soul and its complete distinction from matter are realized and karma operates no more. According to the Vedanta, it is the state in which the ideas flow in the clearest manner. He who has gained internal calm has an intuitive insight into the truth of things.

As Vyasa indicates, "in the super-reflective (nirvicara) samadhi -- the sattva of buddhi, the essence of which is light (prakasa), has a pellucid (clear) steady flow -- the yogin gains inner calm and the vision by the flash (sphuta) of insight." This insight, filled with truth, is truth-bearing. There is not a trace of misconception. It is higher perception. The individual object, whether it belongs to the subtle elements or to the self, is apprehended only by this concentrated insight. It is seeing with the soul when a person's bodily eyes are shut. When this intuition arises, its impression rules out all other impressions, so that their ideas no more recur. When one gains the highest kind of intuitive knowledge, which simultaneously embraces the past, present and future, with all their states in one whole, it leads him to final perfection.

Samadhi is not a simple experience uniform as long as it lasts. On the contrary, it is a succession of mental states which grow more and more simple until they end in unconsciousness. Asamprajnata samadhi is concentration where there is no mental mode (citta-vrtti), though the latent impressions may remain. In samprajnata samadhi there is a clear consciousness of the object reflected upon as distinct from the subject, whereas this distinction disappears in the asamprajnata.

Until a person reaches the stage of samadhi his effort is the negative one of discriminating purusa from prakrti. When the distinction is realized, the positive nature of spirit manifests itself. This manifestation of the nature of spirit on its own plane, above all confusion with prakrti, is the highest form of samadhi. In this superconscious samadhi the seer abides in himself. All possibility of confusion between the self and the activity of citta ceases. It is the mystical state which occurs as a sequel to intense concentration. Samadhi is a condition which few can attain and almost none can possess long, since it is broken upon by the calls of life. So it is said that final liberation is not possible until the body is cast off.

In Yoga, every soul is potentially divine, and its divinity is manifested when nature, external and internal, is controlled (such as during samadhi, etc.). The visions and voices (to a person) are, in Yoga, regarded as the revelations of the creative spirit in man. Whether they are authentic or not is to be judged by the light of reason.

Freedom

Freedom in the Yoga is kaivalya, or absolute independence. It is not a mere negation, but the eternal life of the purusa when it is freed from the fetters of prakrti. It is defined as the relapse of qualities (guna) in view of the absence of the purpose of the self or the energy of intelligence grounded in itself. The purusa is in his true form (svarupa). The cause of all desire is ignorance of the true nature of things. The effect of this ignorance is the body, its support is citta, and its object is worldly enjoyment. So long as avidya remains, the individual does not shake off his burden. Avidya can be removed by discriminative knowledge (viveka-khyati). When the individual acquires knowledge, all false notions disappear. The self is purified and remains untouched by the conditions of citta. The gunas retire to rest and the self abides in its own essence.

The goal of jiva is detachment and independence. Salvation is the realization of the true nature of the self which is obscured by many impurities. They can be got rid of only by effort and discipline. One must subdue the inner turmoil of emotion and passion. The Yoga also recognizes that not everyone is capable of the discipline it insists on.

A Yogi who has attained the powers of samadhi sets about destroying karma, which is of three kinds: (1) deeds done in the past whose consequences have begun to operate in the present life (prarabdha); (2) those done in the past whose consequences have to be expiated in some future life or the stored (samcita) karma; and (3) those produced in the present life which require to be expiated in the present life or in some future one (agami). The last can be checked through devotion to God and social service. The ripe karmas are exhausted in this life and the unripe ones demand a future life.

Karma

So long as avidya is not overcome, there will be life in samsara. The law of karma is assumed valid, and a person's life and its character and length, are all determined by it. Though one does not remember his past lives, he can infer particulars about them from the tendencies of the present; and these tendencies will cease to exist on the disappearance of their cause (hetu), motive (phala), substratum (asraya), and object (alambana). The root cause is avidya, though there may be other proximate causes. The motive refers to the purpose with reference to which any conation becomes operative in the present; citta is the substratum of the residual potencies, and the object is that which excites the potencies.

Supernatural Powers

The Hindu scriptures speak of men who, through dint of hard tapas, acquired marvelous powers. The acquisition of these powers is subordinated to the chief end of samadhi in the Yoga system. Though the highest goal may be attained, the lower stages are not without their value either. Each stage brings its own reward. Control of the body through postures results in an indifference to the extreme heat and cold. Similarly one obtains the intuitive knowledge of whatever he concentrates on. Samyama, or concentration, is the means by which a person acquires knowledge of supersensuous objects. Through it he can reach the great light of wisdom. By means of constraint on friendliness, compassion and joy, these qualities increase. Similarly, concentration on muscular powers leads to a giant's strength. Heightened powers of the senses, by which the yogin can see and hear at a distance, follow as a result of concentration. According to Patanjali, he who discerns the distinction between the self and objective existence gains authority over all states of existence and omniscience.

These supernatural powers are the byproducts of the higher life (samadhi) and should not be considered as the end in themselves or as interfering with the laws of nature. The world open to the senses is not the whole world of nature. What appears to be a contravention of the principles of the physical world is only a supplementing of it by the principles of another part of the cosmic order. The world beyond the physical has its own science and laws. Note that the powers and perfections (siddhis), relating to the world beyond the physical one, are attainable through birth, samadhi (concentration), and tapas (austerities), etc.

God

The omniscient God is one of the aids to Yoga. God is not only the object of meditation, but is also said to help realize the goal by removal of obstacles. A personal God or Isvara serves the practical purpose. It is said that God is the guide of the evolution of non-intelligent prakrti to serve purusa. God is also seen as a special kind of self, untouched by the taint of imperfection and above the law of karma. Being free from all entanglements in worldly existence, He lives in eternal bliss, without merit or demerit, unaffected by the weight of suffering with which living beings are burdened. God is the omniscient and therefore the teacher of truth, and finds an echo in the heart of great thinkers and rsis. He is unlimited by time, all-merciful, and though he has no desires to satisfy, yet, for the sake of those in the samsara, helps in the development of the scriptures. His sattva nature of perfect quality, which is devoid of any imperfection due to rajas or tamas, is the means of his self-expression and it is completely under his control. God is ever free, and therefore cannot be confused with either the freed souls who were once bound, or those absorbed in prakrti (prakrtilayas) who may incur bondage in the future. Unlike the liberated souls, who have no further relation with the world, God is everlastingly in connection with it. It is assumed that God stands in an eternal and indissoluble connection with the purest side of matter, sattva, and therefore He is for ever endowed with supreme power, wisdom and goodness. He in his mercy enters into the scene of change by assuming the quality of sattva. Since he does so voluntarily for the sake of the struggling purusas, he is not bound by the law of karma. At the great dissolution, when prakrti relapses into its unmanifested state, this assumed form is set aside, though it is taken up again at the next development. As an individual resolves overnight to wake up at a certain hour next morning and does so through the force of the impression left behind by his determination, even so Isvara resolves to resume the character of the great teacher when prakrti begins a fresh evolution and the purusas emerge. The mystic syllable "Aum" (or "Om") represents God, and by meditating on it the mind rests in the true vision of God. Incidentally, the goal of human aspiration is not union with God, but the absolute separation of purusa from prakrti leading to liberation. By bhakti or disinterested devotion, a man becomes eligible for grace of God. Isvara facilitates the attainment of liberation, but does not directly grant it. The reality of God is seen in the purified life of man. The witness of God is the religious experience of man. The over-soul speaks to the soul, and those who seek for truth find the answer in their hearts. In samadhi the soul sees and possesses God.
-------------------------------------

Compiled from: Indian Philosophy, Vol. 2, by S. Radhakrishnan, ISBN 019563821-4, pp. 336-373.
by: Dr. Subhash C. Sharma
Email:
[email protected]
Date: June 15, 2004

link to: Related topics by the author

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1