What Is Yoga: Understanding It's Spirit And Essence

What Is Yoga Spirit?

Yoga has lately come to be known for the asanas, or yogic postures. Practicing these asanas for the health benefits they offer has been found to be extremely rewarding. But, the asanas are only one part of the Yoga system.

You will get answers to all these questions in the following paragraphs.

Yoga is derived from the word 'Yuj', to join. The word explains the true spirit of Yoga: the Yoga aims to join you with your real self – the 'atma'. By knowing the 'atma' the seeker gets to know the 'parmatma', the Supreme Being. It is the self realization of the ultimate kind that Yoga sets out to achieve.

The Yoga starts with the body – the 'asana' part. It strengthens and purifies the body.

Then it goes through the mind, intellect, will, discriminating consciousness, conscience and ultimately reaches the Self. When the seeker reaches the ultimate state of self realization there is complete peace with oneself and the world.

He who knows one lump of clay has known all the clay in the universe. He who knows and controls his own mind, knows the secret of every mind and has power over every mind. ~~ Swami Vivekananda

What Is Yoga: It Is A System?

The system of Yoga is said to have been created by the Brahma himself, the creator of the Universe. Yoga principals were first formally written down by Patanjali, a great scholar, who also wrote the first grammar of Sanskrit.

Yoga Sutra is a collection of 195 aphorisms. These aphorisms explain the entire system of Yoga. It might interest you to know that it does not contain description of any method; it only explains the Principals. Within its short corpus Yoga Sutra is a definitive text of the system of Yoga.

Yoga Sutra states the meaning of Yoga in the very beginning with the following words –

YogashChittVrittiNirodhah
Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff from taking various forms.

This one sentence explains the purpose of Yoga, which leads to the next sutra –

Tada Drashtuh Swaroopevasthanam
At that time (the time of concentration) the seer (purusha) rests in his own (unmodified) state.

When the mind is devoid of all the activities ceaselessly going on within it, which is the very nature of the mind, the seeker reaches a state of stillness, calm and nonchalance that enables him to see his own true nature.

All the above interpretations have been taken from Vivekanada’s Raja Yoga. Elsewhere, he has stated thrown more light on the purpose of Yoga. While discussing what is Yoga system and what is it's purpose, he explains-

The utility of this science (Yoga) is to bring out the perfect man, and not let him wait and wait for ages, just a plaything in the hands of the physical world, like a log of drift-wood carried from wave to wave and tossing about in the ocean. This science wants you to be strong, to take the world in your own hand, instead of leaving it in the hands of nature, and get beyond this little life. That is the great idea. ~~ Swami Vivekananda

The ultimate aim of the Yoga is the attainment of Samadhi, the state of inner peace. This is the eighth and last stage of yoga.

What is Yoga: Is It A Religion?

Yoga leads to the discovery of the innermost self, the ultimate reality which enables man to witness the Supreme Being. In recognizing his true nature the seeker realizes the ultimate truth.

Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, saw two kinds of unconscious – the Individual Unconscious, and the Collective Unconscious. You get a glimpse of the universal consciousness now and then: in your dreams or rare moments of insight. At one point we all have access to this reservoir.

…the Kundalini in psychological terms is that which makes you go on the greatest adventures. …It is the quest that makes life livable, and this is Kundalini; this is the divine urge.

Through Yoga you seek your deepest self (Atma): this pursuit takes you to the ultimate truth. It lies within all, but needs intense effort to truly realize it. Yoga is a gift of Sanatana Dharma to the humanity.

As the Yogic path is in the nature of spirituality, does it make Yoga a religion?

NO!

Many religions ask you to believe in their set of beliefs; and only then to expect salvation. They demand faith, belief and following of certain norms and traditions.

But Yoga is far from that. It is a system, a method – not derived from any religious belief – that empowers you to discover the God on your own – it seeks to make you independent of, not dependent upon, any kind of belief system.

Juxtapose the thinking of Jung with Yoga, and observe how scientific yoga’s approach is, and how modern; and absolutely independent of any belief, race, space or time. You are not required to adopt any beliefs or discard any.

What is Yoga, then?

Yoga is system that seeks to send you on a journey of self discovery, by having a strong body, clm mind and fearless spirit.

Further Reading

Five Main Causes Of Stress

Diaphragmatic Breathing: The Correct Way To Breathe

Meditation: Stress Relief Through Awareness

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) For Stress And Anxiety Relief

What Is Stress - Is It Always Bad?

Practice Yoga For Stress Management And Relaxation

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