There are many types of yoga, though six are considered principal, depending upon which school of thought they come from.
These are: Rajya (Royal) Yoga, Hatha (Forceful) Yoga, Bhakti (Worship) Yoga, Karma (Selfless Action) Yoga, Jnana (Wisdom) Yoga, and the Mantra (Hymn) Yoga.
Is it not interesting that a small word meaning 'union' can embrace so many different schools of thought? That probably shows the power in unity.
The ultimate goal of all yoga is the same, though the paths or methods prescribed by each may be different.
In his oft-quoted statement, Swami Vivekananda said, "Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do it either by work or worship, psychic control or philosophy; by one or more, or all of these and be free."
Patanjali's Rajyayoga
Rajya or royal yoga, the most comprehensive of all the types of yoga, was codified by sage Patanjali in his treatise on yoga, the `Yoga Sutras', some 2500 years ago.
It includes:
1. Yama, code of conduct in society
2. Niyama, self- discipline
3. Asana, postures
4. Pranyama, breath control
5. Pratyahara, contemplation, sense withdrawal
6. Dharana, concentration
7. Dhyana, meditation
8. Samadhi, super-consciousness
The above eight steps or limbs of yoga, often called Ashtanga yoga, are explained in succeeding paragraphs.
Yama
It comprises the five ethical disciplines of self-restraint, which are Non-violence, Ahimnsa; Truth, Satya; Continence, Brahmacharya; Non-stealing, Astey; and Non-hoarding, Apraigraha.
These are the commandments, code of conduct or rules of morality for individuals to live happily in the society.
A brief description of each follows:
1. Ahimsa.
Ahimsa means non-violence or not harming any body including your own self.
This is a very important self-restraint, which teaches us not to harm but love every creature, as all are the children of God.
To kill or harm any being or destroy any thing is to insult its creator.
People, who practice ahimnsa, believe that every creature has as much right to live as they have.
Not destroying any thing is a big environmental protection effort, which is so relevant today.
Ahimsa is about caring for the wellbeing of all. The deeper practice of Ahimsa would affect:
· The way we do our business; and organize trade,
· The way we develop our communities,
· The way we use our natural resources.
Non-violence should be practiced through our actions, words and thoughts. We can harm others physically, by aggressive or abusive language or having ill feelings.
The concept of ahimnsa is as relevant to our own selves as to others. We harm ourselves when we over eat, drink excessively, over indulge in pleasures, become angry, jealous or loose our poise.
2. Satya.
Satya means truth. Being true in all situations is the highest rule of conduct.
Life of Mahatma Gandhi is a true picture of Satya. He was not afraid of speaking truth even under very trying conditions.
Satya embraces truthfulness in thought, word and action. When a person speaks truth, he is heard with respect and attention. Keeping one's promise is also truth.
Some times a person who speaks truth may have to face difficulty, but in the long run, he is the winner.
A person firmly established in truth, is a great soul and God always takes care of him.
3. Brahmacharya.
Brahmacharya means continence, celibacy, chastity, religious study and self-restraint.
The yogic scriptures recommend abstaining from sex during the first 25 years of one's life, which should be devoted to education, learning various skills to be self-reliant, study of religious literature and character building.
Brahmacharya prepares the student to enter the next phase of life as a householder. As a married person, one is required to be loyal to one's spouse and refrain from illicit sex.
Brahmacharya does not mean that you don't marry and have a household. On the contrary, the scriptures encourage marriage to continue one's family tree. With marriage, we experience human love and happiness without which we cannot know divine love.
Most of our rishis and sages were happily married and had families.
Brahmcharya is to be observed through one's thought, speech and deed.
4. Asteya.
Asteya is non-stealing. The desire to posses and enjoy what belongs to others encourages a person to do evil deeds.
He may snatch those things by violence or by stealing.
People, who are not contented with what they have, generally show the tendency of stealing.
The concept of stealing extends to misappropriation, misuse, breach of trust, and non-transparency in one's dealing.
5. Aparigraha.
Aparigraha means non-hoarding. In one way it is extension of non-stealing.
Just as one should not take things that one does not really need, hoarding or collecting things that are not required immediately is also forbidden.
Many times it is observed that during shortage of a commodity, people resort to hoarding or collecting the commodity. This increases price or the commodity will disappear from the market putting poor people into difficulty. Hoarding is a serious marketing malpractice, discouraged by yoga.
By observing Aparigraha, we keep our lives simple and peaceful.
Aparigraha extends to not receiving any thing as a favor from others.
Niyama
Niyama are the five principles of observances or self-discipline.
These are Saucha, purity; Santosh, contentment; Tapa, austerity; Swadhaya, self-study; and Ishvar pranidhana, dedication to God,
These are explained as below:
1. Saucha.
Saucha is purity or cleanliness.
Purity of body is essential for keeping fit and free of diseases. Bathing and washing purify the body externally, where as asana, kriya and pranayama clean the body internally.
More than the physical cleaning of the body, cleaning the mind of its garbage like hatred, passion, anger, greed, pride, and other negative emotions is more important.
2. Santosha.
Santosha or Contentment is a state of mind.
We must cultivate it; otherwise it is very difficult to concentrate.
A discontented mind is always looking at what others have and is not satisfied with what he has, and therefore is never at peace.
3. Tapas.
Tapas or austerity means to blaze, burn, and shine.
It is the conscious and determined effort to burn up all negativities, which are barriers to achieve one's final goal.
It is tapas when one works hard with unshakable faith that nothing can prevent him to reach his goal.
Austerity can relate to body, speech or mind.
Celibacy and non-violence are austerities or tapas of body.
Using words that do not hurt others, speaking the truth, and singing the glory of God are tapas of speech.
Developing positive mental attitudes to remain calm and balanced in joy and sorrow are tapas of mind.
By Tapas, the practitioner develops strength, courage, discipline, and character.
4. Swadhaya.
Swadhaya is self-study, self-introspection through regular study of divine and other character building literature.
By practicing swadhaya, one reads one's own book of life. He learns that every creation is divine and there is divinity within him.
5. Isvara pranidhana.
Isvara pranidhana or Dedication to God at all times is Isvara pranidhana.
Those, who have faith in God never despair and get frustrated even when their efforts are not successful in bringing favorable results. They always trust in God and believe that He does every thing for their good.
And when such persons are successful in their endeavors, they will always be humble and never get proud of their achievements.
The five yama and the five niyama as described above are the ten yogic ethics, which like the Ten Commandments of Christianity, guide us to bring perfection in our lives, and lead us toward divinity. No doubt, these ethics are great virtues, and we should observe them under all situations.
However, many aspirants of yoga may find difficulty in practicing them in the beginning, and may get discouraged to follow the path of yoga. Keeping this in view, Swami Swatmarama in his `Hatha Yoga Pradipika' reduced the emphasis on yama and niyama. He starts with asana and pranayama, and only later, when the mind has become more stable and balanced, are yama and niyama introduced.
The best way for a new aspirant to get introduced to yoga is to start with asana, the third step of Asthang yoga without waiting for perfection in the first two steps.
In fact, you will find that by practicing asana for some time, you will automatically become conscious of these ethics, and start observing them more and more even without your putting any special efforts.
For example, attending a yoga class in the morning will require getting up early. You will find it hard to get up early in the morning, if you go to sleep very late in the evening. You may be late to yoga class once, twice or thrice, but then you yourself will realize that is not good. Ultimately you will try to sleep early so that you get proper sleep, and get up in the morning in time for the yoga class. Then slowly your late dinnertime will also change to enable you to go to bed in time. In this way, practice of asana itself will bring many changes in your lifestyle.
Asana
Asana or posture is the third limb of Ashtanga yoga. In fact, as said before, a beginner should generally start his yogic journey with asana without bothering much for the first two steps of yama and niyama in the beginning.
Many people think asana as a form of exercise. But this is not so.
Asana is a technique, which places the physical body in certain positions, which stretch, twist or massage the body, thereby cultivating awareness, relaxation, and concentration.
Certain specific body positions control hormonal secretions, and open energy channels, and psychic centers.
All this helps to develop a healthy, young and vibrant physical body, a calm, peaceful and open mind and positive attitudes.
There are numerous asanas as mentioned in yoga texts, probably 84,00,000 that correspond to the number of lives every individual passes through before attaining liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
Overtime, our great rishis and yogis modified and perfected asanas, and reduced them to a few hundred, which are in vogue in the present times.
Many of these asanas derive their names from animals. The animals know better how to live in harmony with their environment, and their own bodies. Our rishis carefully observed the behaviors of animals, and translated their (animals') movements and postures into a number of asanas.
Pranayama
This is the science of breathing. Pranayama is made up of two Sanskrit roots prana that means vital breath, life force or vital energy, and ayama meaning control. So, pranayama literally means control of breath or the vital life force.
Breathing or respiration is not only the mechanical process of inhaling and exhaling; it is rather a very complex, and most vital process in our body.
The air we breathe in provides the vital life force through the respiratory apparatus. We cannot live without this life force even for a few minutes.
The oxygen from the respiratory system is carried by blood circulation to each cell of the body for its metabolism. Cell metabolism produces the necessary energy for the various body functions.
Carbon dioxide and other toxic byproducts of metabolic reactions are taken away from the cells by the blood, and expelled from the body through respiration.
A subtle network of arteries and veins or channels carries prana (through blood) to the entire body for doing various functions.
The practice of pranayama makes us aware of our breathing. Various techniques of pranayama activate and regulate the vital life force.
Our breath becomes slow, deep and rhythmic which allows oxygen to reach the remotest cell in the body, and expel toxins therein. This enhances the activity of each and every cell.
Pranayama nourishes our whole body, gives us strength, dynamism, vigor and increases the life span.
Pratyahara
Pratyahara, contemplation is the fifth step of Ashtanga yoga. The four stages of yama, niyama, asana and pranayama mentioned earlier, are the external components of yoga. From here, the inward journey of the body, comprising Dharana, contemplation; Dhayana, concentration; and Samadhi, super-consciousness, starts to probe into the vast microcosm inside.
The five sense organs - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin are our windows to the external world. Our mind getting stimuli from these senses wanders everywhere in pursuit of worldly pleasures, and does not allow us to persuade the higher goals.
The mind is the cause of our bondage and liberation. It brings bondage if it is bound to the objects of desire, and liberation when it is free from them.
Through the practice of pratyahara, one learns to bring his senses under control, and to withdraw his mind from the external stimuli.
Dharana, Dhyana & Samadhi
Dharana, contemplation; Dhyana, concentration; and Samadhi super-consciousness, are parts of inward yoga, used for the control of mind. These three disciplines are basically similar, differing only by the intensity of their practice.
After controlling the sensual desires with the practice of pratyahara, one should concentrate wholly on a single point and make his mind steadfast through the practice of these disciplines.
Swami Vivekananda, in his book of Rajya Yoga gave a very simple explanation of dharana, dhyana and samadhi. He said, "If you can fix your mind on an object continuously for 12 seconds, it is dharana, concentration. Twelve times this, that is, if you are able to concentrate on the fixed object for 144 seconds, it is called dhyana, meditation. And if you can fix your mind on the object of concentration for twelve times the time of dhyana i.e. for 1728 seconds or approximately half an hour, it becomes smadhi, super-consciousness."
Mind is the product of thoughts. It is always busy in thinking or processing endless thoughts, jumping from one thought to another. Thoughts can be positive, but most of the time our mind is busy in useless, negative thoughts. Negative thoughts are harmful for our health and wellbeing. They take us to evil actions, and derail us from the path of self-realization. A thought, which is well guarded by a controlled mind, brings health and happiness.
Dharana, contemplation is the first stage of controlling mind. We need regular practice in which we concentrate our mind on a fixed object - a deity, a picture, candle, some mantra or any other thing, which pleases us. Over time, we will be able to keep our mind steadfast for longer time.
Dhyana is the next stage of concentration after dharana. Have you observed oil being poured slowly and carefully from one vessel to another? How oil flows in a steady, constant stream! When the flow of concentration is uninterrupted, the state that arises is dhyana, meditation.
The concept of meditation is not sitting in isolation with closed eyes. It is very much relevant to our day-to-day affairs. Doing any activity - studying, playing, walking etc, with full concentration is also meditation.
Samadhi is the end of a yogi's quest. It is the peak of his meditation, where his body and senses are at rest as if he was asleep, his mental faculties and reasons are alert as if he is awake. The person in a state of samadhi is merged into the soul within, transcending the sense of 'I' and 'Me'. There are no words to describe that state of super-consciousness. Comparing the experience of samadhi with other experiences, sages often say "Neti - It is not this".
Contributed by: harinag49 @ yahoo.co.in
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