Yoga

History, Philosophy & Relevance

Part I: The 5 Selves of Yoga

Purusha: Permanent Universal Awareness

Prakrti: Transient Field of Becoming

Buddhi: The Real reflected in the world of illusion

Ahamkara: Personal Ego

Manas: Consciousness of Matter

Part II: Characteristics of Protean Yoga

Yoga a living organism, not a rigid system

India is Yoga’s body

Yoga belief: Humans suffer due to ignorance

Yoga belief: There is a solution to suffering

Yogi attains superhuman powers, siddhis

Yoga requires sacrifice

Enlightenment

Part III: Origins of Yoga

Yoga, a timeless evolving tradition with no beginning

Yoga’s earliest history: fertility cults of Mohenjo Daro

1500 BCE Aryan influence

Tolerant Brahmins include Yoga under their umbrella

Brahman, absolute God, equivalent to Atman, inner Self

With Samkhya Yoga attains a philosophy and Brahmanism a technique

Tantra completes the intercourse

Part IV. Yoga-Sutra and the Bhagavad-Gita

Popular Theism vs. Elite philosophy

Classic Yoga - no action: Gita - must act

Gita includes worship, puja, as a technique for common man

Gita for all: Classic Yoga for ascetic elite

Gita: any discipline becomes a Yoga

Part V: Polar Techniques of Yoga – Classic & Tantra

Classical: Eight-limbed discipline, Astanga Yoga

Tantra: transformation through the body

Self-identification with Sakti, the Divine Mother

Purusha & Prakrti one, not two

Comparison Classical Yoga and Tantra

Part VI. Yoga’s translation into a Western context

The West embraces Yoga’s Body

The West rejects Yoga’s Mind

An essence of Yoga’s Mind – only for the select few

Resource: Reawakening Spirit through Nature