Yoga Not Union?
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Anyone have a take on this:
To summarize part:
Patanjali, who’s philosophy of the Yoga Sutras is becoming increasingly influential in Western yoga circles, never emphasized yoga as union, but rather described yoga as suspension, as restriction, as duality.
WHA!?
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@Tinman said
"Anyone have a take on this:
To summarize part:
"Patanjali, who’s philosophy of the Yoga Sutras is becoming increasingly influential in Western yoga circles, never emphasized yoga as union, but rather described yoga as suspension, as restriction, as duality."
WHA!?"
93,
This is only true within the specific metaphysical framework where there is a distinction between Purusha, the pure spirit, and Prakriti, dualistic Nature. Insofar as Yoga is Union, Patanjali is recommending 'union' with Purusha, or Spirit. This involves, under the Samkhya philosophy, the separation of Spirit from Matter and therefore is 'dualistic' in this sense. It can be conceived otherwise, especially insofar as - in Advaita Vedanta - that Atman (similar if not virtually identical with Purusha in Samkhya) is one with Brahman, which actually contains duality/Prakriti/Nature in itself.
One might say it is similar to how, for a Buddhist, Nirvana is something other than Samara. One has to 'cross the stream' to get to Nirvana. This is dualistic in that there is a distinction between Samsara and Nirvana, illusion and truth. Yet, once one is in Nirvana, one can realize the truth of the statement that 'Nirvana is Samsara.' I hope that's helpful.
93 93/93
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I would definitely consider Dharana to be "dualistic", while Dyhana or Samadhi to be "union". These words are chosen to try to convey the idea at the expense of accuracy.
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The essay seems to be contrasting various methods of yoga with the goal of yoga, and calling it a contradiction...
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@Tinman said
"Anyone have a take on this:
www.elephantjournal.com/2011/05/why-yoga-means-union-the-spiritual-historical-and-psychological-reasons-and-why-patanjalis-yoga-sutras-had-nothing-to-do-with-i
To summarize part:"Patanjali, who’s philosophy of the Yoga Sutras is becoming increasingly influential in Western yoga circles, never emphasized yoga as union, but rather described yoga as suspension, as restriction, as duality."
WHA!?"
I am reading a book by Osho on Tantra, and at one point he explained how yoga was suicide.
www.oshoteachings.com/osho-on-difference-in-yoga-and-tantra
That really blew my mind for a few days.....But I can see it clearly now.
I put away my yoga mats, and got out my silk sheets.....
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Amen.
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@Dara Allarah said
"There are some Zen masters that comment disparagingly on people too attached to meditation. They see the attachment to the light and the striving to maintain unity by shutting off external activity and minimising sensory pleasures as being a selfish activity and the sign of an unenlightened mentality. In western language - a black brother practise. They say - the light is both internal and external - everywhere and in everything. Why prefer one mode of existence to another when life offers you an abundance of light and joy? The real practise is getting way down and still being able to see the light - through tears, through sadness, through anger - realising that all these are temporary states - and not just being on cloud 9 in meditation all the time and renouncing the world. That's easy, and cowardly."
Try to see the light washing vomit out of your carpetd stairs,
Wrapping a bandage arou d a child gushing wound
Wringing the neck of a rooster
Confronting a bully and standing your groundI personally am getting so much out of my study of Tantra, that it almost feels like I wasted a part of myself on my practice of Yoga. But, its only a brief feeling.
Thanks for sharing that!
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@Dara Allarah said
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@Avshalom Binyamin said
"Amen."Lol."
I still agree with it, but maybe not in such an "Amen-y" way as last night after band practice intoxicants...
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I can see things in light of that perspective, especially when considering the 0 = 2 or Unity = 2 equation.
Perhaps, in this situation, a more easily grasped notion is that of control equating freedom.
Taking Hatha Yoga as an example, while it relaxes the muscles it also shapes them.
While in a Yogi's body there may be no tension they do not fall or slouch forward as one might expect.
That is because the shaping, sculpting of the muscles leads to upright posture being the normal, relaxed state. -
@Tinman said
"Anyone have a take on this:
To summarize part:
"Patanjali, who’s philosophy of the Yoga Sutras is becoming increasingly influential in Western yoga circles, never emphasized yoga as union, but rather described yoga as suspension, as restriction, as duality."
WHA!?"
my take is that Patanjali was (is) a *practical *author, oriented toward getting you going - doing the practices - not thinking about them, - ehm, especially not thinking
- yogašcittavrttinirodhah
his point was: do this 'exercises' step-by-step, achieve this state where there are no more thought-streams (vrtti); this state is Yoga.and there's a translation of Patanjali's Sutras that simply translates the word 'yoga' as 'union':
www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yogasutr.htm