Talk:Yoga

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 Definition:  An entire (Indian) philosophy of being, with the goal of achieving peace of mind and of body, which also includes a set of exercises and breathing techniques to induce relaxation. [d] [e]
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Please continue, Dawei. Excellent start. (applause from the grateful audience) Nancy Nancy Sculerati MD 08:51, 8 February 2007 (CST)

I do not know enough to know if you already have included this in one of the already written subheadings, but could you kindly add "Yoga as a healing art" to the article? This article will open up into several others, and at least one should go in that direction. Thanks, Nancy Nancy Sculerati MD 20:49, 8 February 2007 (CST)

Okay, will do. Thanks for the kind words! Bei Dawei

Big Clean-up

Nothing much to change if I am not mistaken. Thomas Simmons 17:50, 16 March 2007 (CDT)

Intro

Great content so far, but I'm wondering if the intro is a bit too chummy. Would anyone object to making it a bit more academic? Blessings. --Michael J. Formica 10:44, 5 November 2007 (CST)

Go for it!--Gary Giamboi 12:44, 5 November 2007 (CST)

Buddhism & Daoism

Please see my last revision on the history page. I picked the word "Entity"; but, I am wondering if "Concept," might be closer to the Central Ideas of BUddhism and/or Daoism; and, thus make it eaiser to see how they could be included in the final goal of Yoga. Any thoughts?--Gary Giamboi 12:44, 5 November 2007 (CST)

The problem is that Yoga is not restricted to One Eternal Absolute Being/Entity/Concept, etc. Yoga appears in Taoist practice, Wicca, Kabala, and even Christianity. As a practice within the Hindu religion, the statement fails, as both Hinduism and Buddism regard a patheon of dieties, without One Supreme anything...Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma are all part of Brahman, which is part of Indra...and on and on... Blessings --Michael J. Formica 13:04, 5 November 2007 (CST)

Perhaps I was not clear. I changed the word to try to include the other belief systems. As for the pantheon of deities, in the end there is only One in Hinduism and in some forms of Buddhism. Even Daoism ends with the Dao. So back to my question: is there a word which will include these belief systems better? As for religions in the Judeo-Christian system, I believe they all end up with God is God and You are You, no matter how close to God you may become. Which is not my idea of a complete union. In Hinduism you realize your consciousness is part of "Tat" or "That which Is" or "Tat Tvam Asi" (That Thou Art), in Buddism you become a Buddha, in Daoism, you become one with the Dao.--Gary Giamboi 13:36, 5 November 2007 (CST)

How about just One Eternal Absolute. That covers the base and still leaves room for the more amorphous version of G-d? Blessings --Michael J. Formica 16:08, 5 November 2007 (CST)

Too much in one place...

My fear is that this article suffers the same problem as the Martial arts article (see my comments there Talk:Martial arts#Article scope. There are, to my thinking, several articles here. Can we come together on separating things out? Blessings, or, here, Namaste... --Michael J. Formica 10:48, 6 November 2007 (CST)

References

References need to be in-line, in order to populate the References section. A reference to a work that is not tied to a statement in the article is not going to pass the demands of academic rigor, I suspect, for which we are striving. Blessings... --Michael J. Formica 18:14, 7 November 2007 (CST)

Content moved from main article for org. purposes

More fundamentally, "yoga" refers to a family of voluntary spiritual practices, together with their attendant texts and teacher-student lineages (guruparampara), aimed at release from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). This liberation is given various Sanskrit names:

  • moksha ("liberation")
  • mukti ("release," i.e. from bondage)
  • kaivalya ("aloneness")
  • samadhi ("equipoise")
  • nirvana ("extinction" or "snuffing out," as with a candle, of egoism and delusion. Chiefly Buddhist, however cf. Bhagavadgita 2:72)


Its underlying assumption is that by stilling or concentrating the mind, the yoga practitioner can see through "Maya" or Illusion and perceive things as they really are. Then, and only then, is it possible to achieve the 'Union" which is referred to below.

In Indian philosophy, "Yoga" is the name of one of the six "orthodox" (i.e., Veda-affirming) schools, while "Yogacara" ("Yoga Practitioners") is an important school of thought within Mahayana Buddhism.

The term is attested since the Rg Veda in the sense of "act of yoking, joining, attaching, harnessing" but also "undertaking, business, performance". A mental sense of "exertion, zeal, diligence" is attested since the Mahabharata, and the spiritual or mystical sense of "abstract contemplation, meditation" likewise appears in the Mahabharata as well as in the Upanishads.

A practitoner of yoga is called a yogin (masculine), yogini (feminine), or most commonly, a yogi.

Without this spiritual component, the "Union" which is the basis of Yoga cannot exist. Therefore, regardless of how popular the physical aspect of modern westernized Yoga practice has become, this form of practice can not be called Yoga.

Most would-be Yogis begin their practice of Yoga by learning some form of Hatha Yoga. For most of these students, the practice consists of learning the Asanas or poses.

The purpose of these Hatha Yoga Asanas is not to make its students more flexible, in-of-itself. It is to make them healthier by enabling their Prana or Internal Energy flow more freely and evenly. Greater flexibility just happens to be a by-product of this freer energy flow.

Indeed, the name Hatha is a compound Sanskrit word comprised of the words Ha and Tha.

Ha represents a person's Solar or masculine energy and Tha represents their Moon or feminine energy.

Practicing all aspects of Hatha Yoga will give a student the chance to balance these two energies and open up their center nadii or energy channel, the Suhsumna, which runs up the center of their spine.

Only balanced energy can flow through this channel. Its opening ensures the student an almost limitless source of purified energy. It can also lead to the awaking of a person's Kundalini Shakti.

Kundalini Shakti is a person's Feminine energy and is located at (coiled around) the base of the spine at the Muladhara Chakra.

A Chakra is an Internal Energy or Prana center. It is shaped like a wheel and it spins around itself. It can open and close like the lens of a camera. When it is open, it can send and receive energy and nerve impulses freely. When it is closed, nothing enters or leaves it easily.

There are Seven Chakras located along the spine. As they are purified, they open; and, this opening enables one's Kundalini to rise to that Chakra. When the top most Chakra, the Sahasrara, located at the Crown or top of one's head opens, it enables one's Kundalini to travel all the way up the Sushumna from the Muladhara Chakra to the Sahasrara Chakra.

The opening of the Crown or Sahasrara Chakra and the resulting flow of Kundalini up into it, leads one to Moksha or enlightenment and liberation.

The Crown Chakra is the seat of our Cosmic Principle which is Masculine in nature. So once again, when the Feminine unites with the Masculine and "Union" or Yoga occurs, great things are possible.

"Yoga in..." sections

Write away...

Yoga in Hinduism

Yoga in Buddhism

Yoga in Jainism

Yoga in Taoism

Yoga in Christianity

Yoga in Islam

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