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🕉 Yoga Essentials

Illustration, Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti

Notes
Eight limbs of yoga
Silent meditation
Links
Books

Notes

A yogi knows their own true Self and practices self-control. They integrate their divine better nature with their lower selfish nature. Yoga = union, relation (requires balance)

A sadhaka is a person who aims at and believes in such attainment. They make a sincere effort to progress along their spiritual path. Sadh = exertion, practice (requires a goal)

Śrī Patañjali ... gave general principles and used specifics only as examples. For instance, in delineating objects for meditation... he simply gave various possibilities to choose from and then concluded: Or by meditating on anything one chooses which is elevating.

These great vows are universal, not limited by class, place, time, or circumstance. --Yoga Sutra 2:31

Among the devotees there is no distinction due to birth, education, colour, race, wealth, occupation, and the like. --Bhakti Sutra 72

The eight limbs of yoga

Abstinences (yama) - Moral disciplines which regulate our relationship with others.
Observances (niyama) - Observances designed to organize our personal daily lives.
Postures (āsana)
Breath control (prāṇāyāma)
Sense withdrawal (pratyāhāra) - Focusing inward, forgetting one's self during a creative act, etc.
Concentration (dhāraṇā) - Binding the mind to one place, object, or idea.
Contemplation (dhyāna) - Continuous flow of cognition toward that one object.
Self-realization (samādhi)

The five abstinences (yama)

Violence (ahimsā) vs compassion. Intention of kindness in thought, word, and deed.
Lying (satya) vs truthfulness. Right use of words for the welfare of all.
Stealing (asteya) vs loving yourself for who you are, and not envying another. Being attentively present when others are sharing their story, not mentally taking others' valuable time nor discounting their feelings.
Excess (brahmacharya) vs moderation. To see that all desires are the desire for the Great. Literally, "walking in Brahman." The actor, the act, the recipient of the act, and the results of the action are all part of a unified field, Oneness, or Divine Presence, depending on your cosmology. From this place of sacredness, the boundary is set to leave excess behind and live within the limits of enough.
Greed (aparigrahā) vs meeting your needs so as not to deprive others. Clinging to people, material, and mental possessions only weighs us down and makes life a heavy and disappointing experience. When we practice letting go, we move ourselves towards freedom and expansion. Use worldly things for their intended purpose, without a feeling of ownership nor being owned by them.

The five observances (niyama)

Purity (śaucha) Capacity to tell between essential and irrelevant. The quality of being aligned in our relationship with others, with the task at hand, and with ourselves.
Contentment (saṃtoṣa) Maintain integrity in a grounded baseline. Do not allow outside influences to disturb your inner tranquility. Literally "complete acceptance." To develop this state of mind we can remind ourselves when feeling overwhelmed and stressed that behind our anxieties and tensions we have a vast reservoir of creativity to solve problems individually and collectively. The obstacles we face can be seen as opportunities for positive personal and collective transformation.
Discipline (tapaḥ) Voluntary self-challenge as a means to spiritual growth. Accepting pain as help for purification. Literally "that which generates heat."
Study (svādhyāya) The search for true, universal knowledge, vs. mundane, relative knowledge. This includes study of one's own self. We become like the news, literature, and company we imbibe. Examine the stories we tell ourselves and realize that these stories create the reality of our lives.
Surrender (Iśvara Praṇidhānā) Resignation to God. Not my will but Thy Will be done. When you unite your individual will with that of a higher principle, all egotism, pettiness, and selfishness fall away. Practiced during meditation.