YOGA AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
Yoga comes from the Sanskrit of the English word "yoke" and basically means "union". Yoga is a method by which one may obtain spiritual realization and become united with the Infinite, Absolute or God.
Yoga has been handed down since prehistoric times and most likely had its origins in the Upanishads and Vedanta philosophy. In the Svetasvatara Upanishad, we see a description of early yoga practices;
"If a wise man hold his body with his chest, neck and head even, and turn his senses with the mind towards the heart, he will then in the boat of the Brahma cross all the torrents which cause fear.
Compressing his breathings let him who has subdued all motions, breathe forth through the nose with gentle breath. Let the wise man without fail restrain his mind, that chariot yoked with vicious horses.
Let him perform his exercises in a place level, pure, free from pebbles, fire, and dust, delightful by its sounds, its waters, and bowers, not painful to the eye, and full of shelters and caves.
As a mirror is tarnished by dust, shines bright again after is has been cleaned, so is the one incarnate person satisfied and free from grief , after he has seen the real nature of the Self.
And when by means of the real nature of his self he sees, as by a lamp, the real nature of Brahman, then having known the unborn, eternal God, who is beyond all natures, he is freed from all fetters."
Here we see the practices of Yoga through posture, breath control and meditation leading to union with the divine or Brahma.
Swami Vivekananda, who was the first spiritual leader to bring Yoga to the West, wrote extensively about four different basic types of Yoga that included: Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Raja Yoga.
Karma Yoga is the yogic path of right action and selfless service. The "Bhagavad Gita" which is one of Hindus most sacred texts, is considered to be the foremost exposition of the path of Karma Yoga. The Bhagavad Gita is about the moral and spiritual teachings of Krishna to his disciple, Arjuna.
Bhakti Yoga is the yogic path of love and devotion. This path involves the unconditional love and devotion between the Yogi and a worshipped God, or Deity such as: Shiva, Krishna, Kali, etc.
Jnana Yoga is the yogic path of knowledge and wisdom. It consists of study and meditation upon yogic precepts and philosophy. Through the understanding and practice of yogi precepts, one comes to a true realization of the Self.
Raja Yoga is the yogic path of mental and psychic discipline. It utilizes Hatha Yoga, with its practices of physical postures and breath control, to work upon the purification of the body. Then Raja Yoga focuses on psychic and mental practices to still the mind towards experiencing higher levels of consciousness towards Self-Realization.
The methodology of Yoga was most clearly formulated fifteen hundred years ago by the Indian sage, Patanjali. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Yoga" and wrote the "Yoga Sutras". In the "Yoga Sutras", Patanjali outlines the aim and method of Yoga. He is also widely known for his postulation of the eight limbs of Yoga. They consist of: "yama" which is abstention from wrong doing; "niyamas" consisting of observances towards purity and devotion to God; "asanas" which basically means postures; "pranayama" meaning control of the breath; "prahyahara" consisting of the withdrawl of the mind from sense perception; "dharana" meaning concentration, "dhyana" for meditation and lastly; "samadhi" which is union with the Absolute, God, Brahman. Patanjali maintained that through the practice of the eight limbs of Yoga, one could obtain spiritual realization.
Most people who practice Yoga follow specific spiritual lineages such as; Kriya Yoga that revolves around the spiritual lineage of Master Babaji through Lahiri Mahasaya and Paramahansa Yogananda, or Iyengar Yoga that follows the spiritual lineage of Krishnamacharya through B.K.S. Iyengar, or Kripalu Yoga that involves the spiritual lineage of Swami Pranavanandaji and Swami Kripalvnandji. There are also many other yogic spiritual lineages including; Swami Shankara, Swami Rama, Swami Muktananda, Sri Aurobindo, and many others.
Here in the West, Yoga has recently become very popular. It is offered in many health clubs, recreational facilities and yoga studios. Its main focus has been on the practice of the asanas and breath control which is part of Hatha Yoga. The practice of the various asanas or postures has a very good benefit on improving flexibility, and condition of the physical body. While this is an important aspect of Yoga practice, it is really just the preliminary part of Yoga. According to Patanjali, the aim of Yoga is not just to increase the flexibility and conditioning of the body, but to lay a foundation for the higher yoga practices of meditation which lead to higher levels of consciousness and spiritual realization.
Little known to most people is that Yoga leads to the development of spiritual powers known as "siddhis". There are many yogic practices for spiritual development, such as "tumo" where the yogi is able to withstand extreme cold in perfect comfort. Tumo is practiced by Tibetan yogis, who go out in the bitter cold and sit for long periods of meditation. There are yogic practices of levitation where practitioners of Marahishi Yoga do "yogic flying" through special meditation practices. Many yogis can put themselves in suspended animation and have been buried underground for days with no harm to their bodies. There is the practice of "Yoga Nidra" that means "sleep of the yogis" which is used to explore past lives and facilitate astral travel. Patanjali talks about many other spiritual abilities or siddhis in his "Yoga Sutras";
"By controlling the nerve-currents that govern the lungs and the upper part of his body, the yogi can walk on water and swamps, or on thorns and similar objects"
"By making samyama on the relation between the body and the ether, or by acquiring through meditation the lightness of cotton fiber, the yogi can fly through the air."
"If one makes samyama on the form of one's body, obstructing its perceptibility and separating its power of manifestation from the eyes of the beholder, then one's body becomes invisible."
"By making samyama on the thought-waves of the mind when it is separated from the body-the state known as the Great Disincarnation-all coverings can be removed from the light of knowledge."
Samyama basically means the threefold process of concentration, meditation and absorption or union. For Patanjali, Yoga consists of spiritual development towards understanding the ultimate reality. The first five limbs of Yoga: yama, niyama, asanas, pranayama and prahyahara are mainly a form of training and purification to prepare one for spiritual experiences. Samyama helps one to develop spiritual abilities and experience higher levels of consciousness towards the realization of the ultimate reality in "samadhi" or absolute union with God.