Yoga is a family of ancient spiritual practices
that originated in India, where it remains a vibrant living
tradition and is seen as a means to enlightenment. Karma
Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Raja Yoga are considered
the four main yogas, but there are many other types. In
the West, yoga has become associated with the asanas (postures)
of Hatha Yoga, which are popular as fitness exercises.
Yoga see daily practice as beneficial in
itself, leading to improved health, emotional well-being,
mental clarity, and joy in living. (Some skeptics question
these claims.) Yoga adepts progress toward the experience
of samadhi.
Diversity of
yoga :
Over the long history of yoga, different schools have
emerged, and there are numerous examples of subdivisions
and synthesis. It is common to speak of each form of yoga
as a "path" to enlightenment. Thus, yoga may
include love and devotion (as in Bhakti Yoga), selfless
work (as in Karma Yoga), knowledge and discernment (as
in Jnana Yoga), or an eight-limbed system of disciplines
emphasizing meditation (as in Raja Yoga).
Other types of yoga include Mantra Yoga,
Kundalini Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Integral Yoga, Nitya Yoga,
Maha Yoga, Purna Yoga, Anahata Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Tibetan
Yoga, etc. It is often helpful to check the teacher and
lineage to be sure how these terms are being used. Another
name for Raja Yoga ("royal yoga") is Ashtanga
Yoga ("eight-limbed yoga"), but this should
not be confused with the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga developed
by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, which is a specific style of
Hatha Yoga practice.
Yoga and religion
:
In the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain traditions, the
spiritual goals of yoga are seen as inseparable from the
religions of which yoga forms a part. Some yogis make
a subtle distinction between religion and yoga, seeing
religion as more concerned with culture, values, beliefs
and rituals; and yoga as more concerned with Self-Realization,
i.e., direct perception of the ultimate truth. In this
sense, religion and yoga are complementary.
If yoga is one of India's great gifts to
the world, the widespread acceptance of that gift - with
the concomitant diversity - is sometimes incomprehensible
to traditional Hindu practitioners of yoga. Yet the sheer
number of people practicing yoga outside India suggests
the need to define yoga both by its historical roots and
its modern adaptations.
Bhagavad Gita:-
The Bhagavad Gita famously distinguishes
several types of "yoga", corresponding to the
duties of different nature of people. Capturing the essence
and at the same time going into detail about the various
Yogas and their philosophies, it constantly refers to
itself as such, the "Scripture of Yoga" (see
the final verses of each chapter). The book is thought
to have been written some time between the 5th and the
2nd century BC. In it, Krishna describes the following
yogas:
(1) Karma yoga, the yoga of "action"
in the world
(2) Jnana yoga, the yoga of meditation or intellectual
endeavor
(3) Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a deity (for
example, to Krishna)
