योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥२॥
yogaś
citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
— Yoga Sutras 1.2
Swami Vivekananda
translates the sutra as “Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from
taking various forms (Vrttis).” Essentially, it means that yoga is the
practice of attaining a state of consciousness free from all modes of active
or discursive thoughts of the external world, eventually attaining a state
where consciousness is unaware of any object external to itself and only aware
of its own nature as consciousness unmixed with any other object.
The ultimate
goal of Yoga is mukti, nirvāna, kaivalya or moksha, which is liberation
from Maya, the illusion of what we perceive as reality in this life.
The Eight
Limbs of Yoga
Yoga sadhanas are the mobility of the
physical body through Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prānāyāma, Pratyāhara,
Dhārana, Dhyāna, Samādhi. These are known as the eight limbs (अष्टाङ्ग aṣṭāṅga) of Yoga.
A few more sadhanas are in
yoga, i.e. Bandhas and Mudras, Shatkarmas, Yuktāhāra, Mantra-japa,
Yukta-karma etc.
Yama
Yamas are ethical vows in the
Yogic tradition and can be thought of as moral imperatives. The five yamas
listed in Yogasūtra :-
- Ahiṃsā (अहिंसा): Nonviolence,
non-harming other living beings through actions and speech.
- Satya (सत्य): Truthfulness, non-falsehood.
- Asteya (अस्तेय): Non-stealing.
- Brahmacārya (ब्रह्मचर्य): Chastity, marital fidelity or sexual restraint.
- Aparigraha (अपरिग्रह): Non-greed, non-grasping, non-possessiveness.
Niyama
It includes virtuous
habits, behaviours and observances. The niyamas are :-
- Śhaucha
(शौच): Purity and clearness of body, mind and speech.
- Santoṣha
(संतोष): Contentment,
acceptance of others, acceptance of one's circumstances as they are in
order to get past or change them, optimism for self.
- Tapas
(तपस्): Persistence, perseverance, austerity.
- Svādhyāya
(स्वाध्याय): Study of Vedas,
study of self, self-reflection, introspection of self's thoughts, speeches
and actions.
- Īśvarapraṇidhāna (ईश्वरप्रणिधान): Contemplation
of the Ishvara (God/Supreme Being), Brahman, True Self, Unchanging
Reality.
Āsana
स्थिरसुखमासनम्
॥४६॥
sthira
sukham asanam॥46॥
An Āsana is what is
steady and pleasant.
---Patanjali's
Yoga Sutra 2.46
Āsana (आसन) is thus a (meditation) posture that one
can hold for a period of time, staying relaxed, steady, comfortable and
motionless.
Prānāyāma
Prānāyāma is made out of two Sanskrit words prāṇa (प्राण, breath) and āyāma
(आयाम, restraining, extending
and stretching).
Prānāyāma consists of
developing awareness of one's breathing practices of consciously regulating breath
(inhalation and exhalation). It helps in developing
awareness of one's mind and helps to establish control over the mind. In the beginning
stages, this is done by developing awareness of the "inhalation and
exhalation" (svāsa-prasvāsa) through nostrils. Then after, this phenomenon is done, through
regulated, controlled and monitored inhalation (svāsa) leading to the awareness of
the body space getting filled (puraka), and
then suspending exhalation for a period the space(s)
remaining in a filledstate (Antara kumbhaka) and
then exhalation (prasvāsa)
and it getting emptied (rechaka) and suspending inhalation
for a period (Bahya kumbhaka). During the period of prānāyāma one’s regulated, controlled and monitored the inhalation and
exhalation consciously and slowing and changing the time/length
of breath (deep, short breathing). Prānāyāma should be
practiced under the supervision of a experienced Yoga Guru.
Pratyāhara
Pratyāhāra is a combination of two
Sanskrit words prati- (the prefix प्रति-, "against" or "contra") and
āhāra (आहार, "bring near,
fetch").
Pratyāhāra is drawing within one's
awareness. It is a process of retracting the sensory experience from external
objects. It is a step of self extraction and abstraction.
This refers to
withdrawing one’s awareness from the outside sensory world and consciously closing
the mind processes to the sensory external world and turning to inner world. In
this stage, our senses start to shut down and indifference is created towards
worldly things. The body no longer produces any physiological response towards
sensory world. Pratyāhāra is a
natural elevation of our consciousness, not a forced one.
Pratyāhāra marks the transition of
yoga experience from the first four limbs of Aṣṭāṅga limbs that
perfect the external forms, in the next three limbs that proper meditation
state begins: moving from outside to inside, form the outer sphere of the body
to the inner sphere of the sprite.
Dhārana
Dhārana (Sanskrit: धारणा) means concentration,
introspective focus and one-pointedness of mind. The root of the word is dhṛ (धृ), meaning “to hold,
maintain, keep”.
Dhārana is concentration one's mind onto a chosen particular inner
state, subject or topic. The mind is fixed on a mantra or one's breath,
navel, tip of nose, centre of two eyebrows, any place or an object one wants to
observe or a concept or idea in one's mind. Holding fix the mind means
one-pointed focus, without drifting of mind and without jumping from one topic
to another.
Dhyāna
Dhyāna (Sanskrit: ध्यान) literally means “contemplation, reflection” and “profound,
abstract meditation”.
Dhyāna is contemplating, reflecting on whatever the Dhārana as focused on. It is non-judgmental, non-presumptuous
observation of the focused object. Dhyāna is uninterrupted train
of thought, current of cognition, flow of awareness.
Dhyāna is integrally related to
Dhārana
one leads to other. Dhārana is a state of mind, Dhyāna is the process of mind. Dhyāna is distinct from Dhārana in that the meditator becomes actively engaged with its
focus.
At the state of
Meditation (Dhyāna) the mind becomes continuously focused on the
chosen object and there is no interruption and no other thought comes to mind. There
is only one thought in the mind and the focus is so strong that nothing can
disturb.
Samādhi
Samdāhi
(Sanskrit: समाधि) literally means “putting
together, joining, combining with, union, harmonious whole, trance”.
Samdāhi
is oneness with the subject of
meditation and the final stage of enlightenment. The difference between Dhyāna
and Samdāhi
is that in Dhyāna
we ‘know’ that we are meditating but in Samadhi is that spiritual state when
one's mind is so absorbed in whatever it is contemplating on, that the mind
loses the sense of its own identity and we do not even know ourselves. In this
state one’s ego or the sense of ‘I’ disappears. There is only oneness; Samdāhi
is a state wherein the subject, object and the process become one.
Bandha
Bandhas in yoga is an art of
locking certain areas of the body so we can manipulate energy running around
those specific areas. Energy manipulation within the body becomes possible only
by the flow of prana (life energy).
Bandha is a Sanskrit word,
that means ‘lock
or to bind’.
As the practice of Bandha locks or binds prana in certain
parts of the body with the
help of the contraction on some muscle fibres, so yogi can manipulate energy running around
those specific areas of the body. There are three major Bandhas, Jalandhara, Uddiyana and Moola Bandha, that lock the energy in
the throat, abdomen, and
pelvis.
A yogi’s aim of
performing bandhas is to lock the energy within the central energy channel (Sushumna
Nadi), which is considered no obstacle path of flowing energy.
Mudra
Yoga mudra
is the symbolic hand, eyes & body gesture to heal and redirects energy in
the different organs of the body. Mudras practices in conjunction with Prānāyāma and Dhyāna to redirects the flow
of life-energy (Prana).
There are 3
qualities (Trigunas: Sattva, Rajas,Tamas) in the universe which combines
to develop 5 elements:
Fire, Air, Ether, Earth & Water. Our
physical body has the characteristics of these 5 elements represented by 5
fingers. Yoga Mudra is closely related to the 5 elements exists in our
body.
1. Thumb Finger: Tejas
(Fire or universal consciousness)
2. Index Finger: Vayu (Air or Individual Awareness)
3. Middle Finger: Akasha
(Ether or Connection)
4. Ring Finger: Prithivi
(Earth or Physical Sensation)
5. Little Finger: Apas (Water
or Water Flow)
The balance
state of these 5 elements to each other indicates effective work of the body
and mind. When there is an imbalance in these 5 elements, it can lead to
malfunctioning of the body and mind.
Śhatkarmas
Śhatkarmas are cleaning
procedures which detoxify and help to remove the toxins accumulated in the body.
Yuktāhāra
Yuktāhāra is the proper
balanced food and food habits for healthy living. (Later on we’ll discuss about the balanced diet for healthy life....)
Mantra-japa
One
of the great yoga system is japa—the continuous chanting of a mantra.
The repetition of the Divine Name like Om (ॐ) is known as mantra japa.
A great gospel in the Bhagavad Gita among all the spiritual or religious
sacraments as below:
महर्षीणां भृगुरहं गिरामस्म्येकमक्षरम्।
यज्ञानां जपयज्ञोऽस्मि स्थावराणां हिमालयः॥10-25॥
maharṣīṇāṁ bhṛgurahaṁ girām asmyekam akṣaram|
yajñānāṁ japayajño’smi sthāvarāṇāṁ himālayaḥ||10-25||
Among the great sages, I am Bhrigu;
among words, I am the one syllable OM; among sacrifices (yajnas); I am the
sacrifice of silent- recitation; and among the immovable, I am the Himalyas;
Yukta-karma
Yukta-karma is the right actions
(karmas) and behaviour in one’s day to day life without expecting any
results of that karma to live a better healthy life.
ज्ञेय:
स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ् क्षति |
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ||5.3||
jñeyaḥ
sa nitya-sannyāsī yo na dveṣhṭi na kāṅkṣhati
nirdvandvo hi
mahā-bāho sukhaṁ bandhāt pramuchyate
The karm
yogis, who neither desire nor hate anything, should be considered always
renounced. Free from all dualities, they are easily liberated from the bonds of
material energy.
श्री भगवानुवाच
काम्यानां
कर्मणां न्यासं संन्यासं कवयो विदुः।
सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं
प्राहुस्त्यागं विचक्षणाः।।18.2।।
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
kāmyānāṁ karmaṇāṁ nyāsaṁ sannyāsaṁ kavayo viduḥ
sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ prāhus tyāgaṁ vichakṣhaṇāḥ
The Supreme
Personality of Godhead said: The giving up of activities that are based on
material desire is what great learned men call the renounced order of life (sannyasa).
And giving up the results of all activities is what the wise call renunciation
(tyaga).
Cont.d....
