Yoga - WikiHQ

thumb |upright=1.2 |Statue of [[Shiva performing yoga in the lotus position ]]

Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain liberation (moksha), as practiced in the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions. Modern forms of yoga are practiced worldwide, often mainly for exercise accompanied by other elements like relaxation.

Yoga may have pre-Vedic origins, but it is first attested in the early first millennium BCE. It developed as various traditions in the eastern Ganges basin and drew from a common body of practices, including Vedic elements. Yoga-like practices are mentioned in the Rigveda and some early Upanishads, but systematic yoga concepts emerged during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's ascetic and Śramaṇa movements, including Jainism and Buddhism. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the classical text on Hindu yoga, samkhya-based but influenced by Buddhism, dates to the early centuries of the Common Era. Hatha yoga texts began to emerge between the ninth and 11th centuries, originating in Tantra.

Much of the yoga in the Western world is a modern syncretised form consisting largely of asanas, derived from hatha yoga and western physical culture; this differs from traditional yoga, which focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments. It was introduced by gurus from India after the success of Swami Vivekananda's adaptation of yoga without asanas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Vivekananda introduced the Yoga Sutras to the West, and they became prominent after the 20th-century success of hatha yoga. In 1925, Yogananda started a Kriya Yoga centre in Los Angeles, Translation 1: Seers of the vast illumined seer yogically [युञ्जते, yunjante] control their minds and their intelligence... (…) Translation 2: The illumined yoke their mind and they yoke their thoughts to the illuminating godhead, to the vast, to the luminous in consciousness; the one knower of all manifestation of knowledge, he alone orders the things of the sacrifice. Great is the praise of Savitri, the creating godhead.

Pāṇini (4th c. BCE) wrote that the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots: yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samādhau ("to concentrate"). In the context of the Yoga Sutras, the root yuj samādhau (to concentrate) is considered the correct etymology by traditional commentators. In accordance with Pāṇini, Vyasa (who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras) says that yoga means samadhi (concentration). Larson notes that in the Vyāsa Bhāsy the term "samadhi" refers to "all levels of mental life" (sārvabhauma), that is, "all possible states of awareness, whether ordinary or extraordinary".

A person who practices yoga, or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment, is called a yogi; a female yogi may also be known as a yogini.

|Katha Upanishad

| last centuries BCE

|"When the five senses, along with the mind, remain still and the intellect is not active, that is known as the highest state. They consider yoga to be firm restraint of the senses. Then one becomes un-distracted for yoga is the arising and the passing away" (6.10–11)

|Bhagavad Gita

| c. 2nd century BCE

|"Be equal minded in both success and failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga" (2.48)

"Yoga is skill in action" (2.50)

"Know that which is called yoga to be separation from contact with suffering" (6.23)

|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

|c. first centuries CE

|1.2. yogas chitta vritti nirodhah – "Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of mind." 1.3. Then the Seer is established in his own essential and fundamental nature. 1.4. In other states there is assimilation (of the Seer) with the modifications (of the mind).

| Yogabhasya

| same as Yoga Sutras

| yoga samadhih - "samadhi is yoga," referring to ekagrata, one-pointedness, and niruddha, that is, contentless samadhi (asamprajnata-samadhi)

|Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (Sravakabhumi), a Mahayana Buddhist Yogacara work

| 4th century CE

|"Yoga is fourfold: faith, aspiration, perseverance and means" (2.152)

|Kaundinya's Pancarthabhasya on the Pashupata-sutra

| 4th century CE

|"In this system, yoga is the union of the self and the Lord" (I.I.43)

|Yogaśataka a Jain work by Haribhadra Suri

| 6th century CE

|"With conviction, the lords of Yogins have in our doctrine defined yoga as the concurrence (sambandhah) of the three [correct knowledge (sajjñana), correct doctrine (saddarsana) and correct conduct (saccaritra)] beginning with correct knowledge, since [thereby arises] conjunction with liberation....In common usage this [term] yoga also [denotes the Self's] contact with the causes of these [three], due to the common usage of the cause for the effect." (2, 4).

|Linga Purana

|"By the word 'yoga' is meant nirvana, the condition of Shiva." (I.8.5a)

|Brahmasutra-bhasya of Adi Shankara

| c. 8th century CE

|"It is said in the treatises on yoga: 'Yoga is the means of perceiving reality' (atha tattvadarsanabhyupāyo yogah)" (2.1.3)

|Mālinīvijayottara Tantra, one of the primary authorities in non-dual Kashmir Shaivism

| 6th–10th century CE

|"Yoga is said to be the oneness of one entity with another." (4.4–8)

|Mrgendratantravrtti, of the Shaiva Siddhanta scholar Narayanakantha

| 6th–10th century CE

|"To have self-mastery is to be a Yogin. The term Yogin means "one who is necessarily "conjoined with" the manifestation of his nature...the Siva-state (sivatvam)" (yp 2a)

|Śaradatilaka of Lakshmanadesikendra, a Shakta Tantra work

| 11th century CE

|"Yogic experts state that yoga is the oneness of the individual Self (jiva) with the atman. Others understand it to be the ascertainment of Siva and the Self as non-different. The scholars of the Agamas say that it is a Knowledge which is of the nature of Siva's Power. Other scholars say it is the knowledge of the primordial Self." (25.1–3b)

|Yogabija, a Hatha yoga work

| 14th century CE

|"The union of apana and prana, one's own rajas and semen, the sun and moon, the individual Self and the supreme Self, and in the same way the union of all dualities, is called yoga. " (89)

Scholarly

Due to its complicated historical development, and the broad array of definitions and usage in Indian religions, scholars have warned that yoga is hard, if not impossible, to define exactly. David Gordon White notes that "'Yoga' has a wider range of meanings than nearly any other word in the entire Sanskrit lexicon."

In its broadest sense, yoga is a generic term for techniques aimed at controlling body and mind and attaining a soteriological goal as specified by a specific tradition:

Richard King (1999): "Yoga in the more traditional sense of the term has been practised throughout South Asia and beyond and involves a multitude of techniques leading to spiritual and ethical purification. Hindu and Buddhist traditions alike place a great deal of emphasis upon the practice of yoga as a means of attaining liberation from the world of rebirth and yogic practices have been aligned with a variety of philosophical theories and metaphysical positions."
John Bowker (2000): "The means or techniques for transforming consciousness and attaining liberation (mokṣa) from karma and rebirth (saṃsāra) in Indian religions."
Damien Keown (2004): "Any form of spiritual discipline aimed at gaining control over the mind with the ultimate aim of attaining liberation from rebirth."
W. J. Johnson (2009): "A generic term for a wide variety of religious practices [...] At its broadest, however, 'yoga' simply refers to a particular method or discipline for transforming the individual [...] A narrower reading makes the practice contingent on, or derived from, control of the body and the senses, as in haṭha-yoga, or control of the breath (prāṇāyāma) and through it the mind, as in Patañjali's rājayoga. At its most neutral, yoga is therefore simply a technique, or set of techniques, including what is usually termed 'meditation', for attaining whatever soteriological or soteriological-cum-physiological transformation a particular tradition specifies."

Knut A. Jacobsen writes that yoga has five principal meanings:

A disciplined method for attaining a goal
Techniques of controlling the body and mind
A name of a school or system of philosophy (')
With prefixes such as hatha-, mantra-, and laya-, traditions specialising in particular yoga techniques
The goal of yoga practice

White writes that yoga's core principles were more or less in place in the 5th century CE, and variations of the principles developed over time:

A meditative means of discovering dysfunctional perception and cognition, as well as overcoming it to release any suffering, find inner peace, and salvation. Illustration of this principle is found in Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and Yogasutras, in several Buddhist Mahāyāna works, as well as Jain texts.
The raising and expansion of consciousness from oneself to being coextensive with everyone and everything. These are discussed in sources such as in Hinduism Vedic literature and its epic Mahābhārata, the Jain Praśamaratiprakarana, and Buddhist Nikaya texts.
A path to omniscience and enlightened consciousness enabling one to comprehend the impermanent (illusive, delusive) and permanent (true, transcendent) reality. Examples of this are found in Hinduism Nyaya and Vaisesika school texts as well as Buddhism Mādhyamaka texts, but in different ways.
A technique for entering into other bodies, generating multiple bodies, and the attainment of other supernatural accomplishments. These are, states White, described in Tantric literature of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the Buddhist Sāmaññaphalasutta.

According to White, the last principle relates to legendary goals of yoga practice; it differs from yoga's practical goals in South Asian thought and practice since the beginning of the Common Era in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophical schools. James Mallinson disagrees with the inclusion of supernatural accomplishments, and suggests that such fringe practices are far removed from mainstream Yoga's goal as meditation-driven means to liberation in Indian religions.

A classic definition of yoga in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras 1.2 and 1.3, defines yoga as "the stilling of the movements of the mind," and recognises Purusha, the witness-consciousness, as different from Prakriti, mind and matter. According to Larson, in the context of the Yoga Sutras, yoga has two meanings. The first meaning is yoga "as a general term to be translated as "disciplined meditation" that focuses on any of the many levels of ordinary awareness." In the second meaning yoga is "that specific system of thought (sāstra) that has for its focus the analysis, understanding and cultivation of those altered states of awareness that lead one to the experience of spiritual liberation."

Another classic understanding sees yoga as union or connection with the highest Self (paramatman), Brahman, or God, a "union, a linking of the individual to the divine." This definition is based on the devotionalism (bhakti) of the Bhagavad Gita, and the jnana yoga of Vedanta.

While yoga is often conflated with the "classical yoga" of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Karen O'Brien-Kop notes that "classical yoga" is informed by, and includes, Buddhist yoga. Regarding Buddhist yoga, James Buswell in his Encyclopedia of Buddhism treats yoga in his entry on meditation, stating that the aim of meditation is to attain samadhi, which serves as the foundation for vipasyana, "discerning the real from the unreal," liberating insight into true reality. Buswell & Lopez state that "in Buddhism, [yoga is] a generic term for soteriological training or contemplative practice, including tantric practice."

O'Brien-Kop further notes that "classical yoga" is not an independent category, but "was informed by the European colonialist project."

History

There is no consensus on yoga's chronology or origins other than its development in ancient India. There are two broad theories explaining the origins of yoga. The linear model holds that yoga has Vedic origins (as reflected in Vedic texts), and influenced Buddhism. This model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars. According to the synthesis model, yoga is a synthesis of indigenous, non-Vedic practices with Vedic elements. This model is favoured in Western scholarship.

The earliest yoga-practices may have appeared in the Jain tradition at ca. 900 BCE. Speculations about yoga are documented in the early Upanishads of the first half of the first millennium BCE, with expositions also appearing in Jain and Buddhist texts . Between 200 BCE and 500 CE, traditions of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophy were taking shape; teachings were collected as sutras, and a philosophical system of Patanjaliyogasastra began to emerge. The Middle Ages saw the development of a number of yoga satellite traditions. It and other aspects of Indian philosophy came to the attention of the educated Western public during the mid-19th century.

Origins

Synthesis model

Heinrich Zimmer was an exponent of the synthesis model, arguing for non-Vedic eastern states of India. According to Zimmer, yoga is part of a non-Vedic system which includes the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, Jainism and Buddhism: "[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India [Bihar] – being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems." More recently, Richard Gombrich and Geoffrey Samuel also argue that the śramaṇa movement originated in the non-Vedic eastern Ganges basin, specifically Greater Magadha.

Thomas McEvilley favors a composite model in which a pre-Aryan yoga prototype existed in the pre-Vedic period and was refined during the Vedic period. According to Gavin Flood, the Upanishads differ fundamentally from the Vedic ritual tradition and indicate non-Vedic influences. However, the traditions may be connected:

The ascetic traditions of the eastern Ganges plain are thought to be drawn from a common body of practices and philosophies, with proto-samkhya concepts of purusha and prakriti as a common denominator.

Linear model

According to Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, Hindu researchers have favoured a linear theory which attempts "to interpret the origin and early development of Indian contemplative practices as a sequential growth from an Aryan genesis"; traditional Hinduism regards the Vedas as the source of all spiritual knowledge. Edwin Bryant wrote that authors who support Indigenous Aryanism also tend to support the linear model.

Indus Valley Civilisation

thumb|The Pashupati seal from the [[Indus Valley Civilisation (3300 BCE) shows a seated figure, surrounded by animals, in a posture that was thought by 20th century scholars to be Mulabandhasana. This is rejected by more recent scholars.]]

The twentieth-century scholars Karel Werner, Thomas McEvilley, and Mircea Eliade believed that the central figure of the Pashupati seal is seated in the Mulabandhasana posture, and the roots of yoga are in the Indus Valley Civilisation. This is rejected by more recent scholarship; for example, Geoffrey Samuel, Andrea R. Jain, and Wendy Doniger describe the identification as speculative; the meaning of the figure will remain unknown until Harappan script is deciphered, and the roots of yoga cannot be linked to the IVC.

Earliest references (1000–500 BCE)

The Vedas, the only texts preserved from the early Vedic period and codified between c. 1200 and 900 BCE, contain references to yogic practices primarily related to ascetics outside, or on the fringes of Brahmanism. The earliest yoga-practices may have come from the Jain tradition at ca. 900 BCE.

The Rigveda Nasadiya Sukta suggests an early Brahmanic contemplative tradition. Techniques for controlling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the Atharvaveda and in the Brahmanas (the second layer of the Vedas, composed c. 1000–800 BCE).

According to Flood, "The Samhitas [the mantras of the Vedas] contain some references ... to ascetics, namely the Munis or Keśins and the Vratyas." Werner wrote in 1977 that the Rigveda does not describe yoga, and there is little evidence of practices. The earliest description of "an outsider who does not belong to the Brahminic establishment" is found in the Keśin hymn 10.136, the Rigveda youngest book, which was codified around 1000 BCE. Werner wrote that there were

According to Whicher (1998), scholarship frequently fails to see the connection between the contemplative practices of the rishis and later yoga practices: "The proto-Yoga of the Vedic rishis is an early form of sacrificial mysticism and contains many elements characteristic of later Yoga that include: concentration, meditative observation, ascetic forms of practice (tapas), breath control practiced in conjunction with the recitation of sacred hymns during the ritual, the notion of self-sacrifice, impeccably accurate recitation of sacred words (prefiguring mantra-yoga), mystical experience, and the engagement with a reality far greater than our psychological identity or the ego." Jacobsen wrote in 2018, "Bodily postures are closely related to the tradition of tapas, ascetic practices in the Vedic tradition"; ascetic practices used by Vedic priests "in their preparations for the performance of the sacrifice" may be precursors of yoga. "The ecstatic practice of enigmatic longhaired muni in Rgveda 10.136 and the ascetic performance of the vratya-s in the Atharvaveda outside of or on the fringe of the Brahmanical ritual order, have probably contributed more to the ascetic practices of yoga."

According to Bryant, practices recognizable as classical yoga first appear in the Upanishads (composed during the late Vedic period). Alexander Wynne agrees that formless, elemental meditation might have originated in the Upanishadic tradition. An early reference to meditation is made in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 900 BCE), one of the Principal Upanishads. The Chandogya Upanishad (c. 800–700 BCE) describes the five vital energies (prana), and concepts of later yoga traditions (such as blood vessels and an internal sound) are also described in this upanishad. The practice of pranayama (focusing on the breath) is mentioned in hymn 1.5.23 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) is mentioned in hymn 8.15 of the Chandogya Upanishad. The Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana (probably before the 6th c. BCE) teaches breath control and repetition of a mantra. The 6th-c. BCE Taittiriya Upanishad defines yoga as the mastery of body and senses. According to Flood, "[T]he actual term yoga first appears in the Katha Upanishad, dated to the fifth to first centuries BCE.

Second urbanisation (500–200 BCE)

Systematic yoga concepts begin to emerge in texts dating to c. 500–200 BCE, such as the early Buddhist texts, the middle Upanishads, and the Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita and Shanti Parva.

Buddhism and the śramaṇa movement

thumb|upright=1.2|Bas-relief in [[Borobudur of the Buddha becoming a wandering hermit instead of a warrior |alt=Old stone carving of the Buddha with his servants and horse]]

According to Geoffrey Samuel, the "best evidence to date" suggests that yogic practices "developed in the same ascetic circles as the early śramaṇa movements (Buddhists, Jainas and Ajivikas), probably in around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE." This occurred during India's second urbanisation period. According to Mallinson and Singleton, these traditions were the first to use mind-body techniques (known as Dhyāna and tapas) but later described as yoga, to strive for liberation from the round of rebirth.

Werner writes, "The Buddha was the founder of his [Yoga] system, even though, admittedly, he made use of some of the experiences he had previously gained under various Yoga teachers of his time." He notes:

Early Buddhist texts describe yogic and meditative practices, some of which the Buddha borrowed from the śramaṇa tradition. The Pāli Canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate to control hunger or the mind, depending on the passage. There is no mention of the tongue inserted into the nasopharynx, as in khecarī mudrā. The Buddha used a posture in which pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to modern postures used to evoke Kundalini. Suttas which discuss yogic practice include the Satipatthana Sutta (the four foundations of mindfulness sutta) and the Anapanasati Sutta (the mindfulness of breathing sutta).

The chronology of these yoga-related early Buddhist texts, like the ancient Hindu texts, is unclear. Early Buddhist sources such as the Majjhima Nikāya mention meditation; the Aṅguttara Nikāya describes jhāyins (meditators) who resemble early Hindu descriptions of muni, the Kesin and meditating ascetics, but the meditation practices are not called "yoga" in these texts. The earliest known discussions of yoga in Buddhist literature, as understood in a modern context, are from the later Buddhist Yogācāra and Theravada schools.

Jain meditation is a yoga system which predated the Buddhist school. Since Jain sources are later than Buddhist ones, however, it is difficult to distinguish between the early Jain school and elements derived from other schools. Most of the other contemporary yoga systems alluded to in the Upanishads and some Buddhist texts have been lost.

Upanishads

The Upanishads, composed in the late Vedic period, contain the first references to practices recognizable as classical yoga. The first known appearance of the word "yoga" in the modern sense is in the Katha Upanishad (probably composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE), where it is defined as steady control of the senses which – with cessation of mental activity – leads to a supreme state.

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