Yoga

The literal meaning of the word yoga is
“the act of joining,” and it is cognate
with the English word “yoke.” Just as the
latter word can serve as either a verb or
a noun—either the act of yoking, or the
thing to which animals are yoked—in
the same way the word yoga can refer
both to the act or process of spiritual
development and also to a specific set of
teachings fostering this development.
Both these meanings can be conveyed
by the word “discipline,” and this is one
of the preferred translations.
There are many specific teachings
styling themselves as yogas. The oldest
one is laid out in the Yoga Sutras attributed to the sage Patanjali; this system is
known as ashtanga (“eight-limbed”)
yoga, because of its eight constituent
parts. Other well-known yogas are the
three “paths” described by the god
Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, an
important religious text: the yogas of
action (karma), wisdom (jnana), and
devotion (bhakti). Another well-known
yoga is kundalini yoga, the practice of
which is entirely internal, in the alternate physiological system known as the
subtle body. Kundalini yoga stresses
awakening the kundalini, the latent
spiritual power that exists in every person, and through this gaining spiritual
benefits. These make up the main categories of teachings, but the members of
many particular religious communities
will describe their religious practice
as yoga: Thus there is the surat-shabdyoga of the Radha Soamis, the Raja
Yoga of the Brahma Kumaris, or the
Siddha Yoga of the SYDA Foundation.
In such cases the word is used to
identify a particular religious group’s
characteristic teaching, which usually
includes elements from the classical
articulations of yoga.
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Yoga