Tweet
What is Yoga ?
What is Yoga?
“Yoga” is a Sanskrit word that comes from the root-word yuj that means “to join.” Yoga, then, is both union and the means to union. What do we join through yoga? Two eternal beings: God, the Infinite Being, and the individual spirit that is finite being. In essence they are one, and according to yogic philosophy all spirits originally dwelt in consciousness of that oneness. But in the descent into the material world for the purpose of evolving and extending its scope of consciousness, the individual spirit has lost both its awareness of that eternal union and the capacity to manifest the union on a practical level. Through yoga, however, that lost consciousness can be regained and made manifest in the individual spirit’s practical life sphere.
TOO MUCH CONFUSING !!!
Yoga means union. Etymologically, it is connected to the English word, yoke. Yoga means union with God, or, union of the little, ego-self with the divine Self, the infinite Spirit.
Still it is Confusing Or shall i say.. More confusing...
... Yoga is an ancient art based on a harmonizing system of development for the body, mind, and spirit. The continued practice of yoga will lead you to a sense of peace and well-being, and also a feeling of being at one with their environment. This is a simple definition.
The word yoga has assumed worldwide significance after UN declaration that Jun 21 shall be celebrated as International Yoga Day.
Yoga is a type of exercise in which you move your body into various positions in order to become more fit or flexible, to improve your breathing, and to relax your mind.
Yoga is a philosophy which first developed in India, in which physical exercises and meditation are believed to help people to become calmer and united in spirit with God
How yoga is primarily a spiritual discipline.
Most people in the West, and also many in India, confuse yoga with Hatha Yoga, the system of bodily postures. But yoga is primarily a spiritual discipline.
Hatha Yoga has its origins in India and as a practice has been handed down orally from guru to disciple, teacher to student for many generations to this day. There are a variety of approaches to Hatha Yoga emphasizing different aspects of the discipline.
Hatha Yoga is primarily a physical discipline. It is system of physical training. Exercise benefits the body and Yoga is a form of exercise par excellence. One of the very immediate effects of practice is that one simply feels better. The body becomes energised, more vital, more alive.
Yoga has been translated as union, the bringing together. The bringing together of what? The bringing together of body and heart, body and mind, the integration of parts, the integration of subject and object perhaps?
Like all arts to become skilled in Yoga requires practice, it requires discipline and in order to perfect one's art one needs to apply effort, will and determination. We need to come back again and again to our practice, repeated the same movements again and again looking to work more effectively, more deeply each time, or simply see where we are this time.
Yoga is a spiritual discipline which aims at joining the individual soul or Atma, a fraction of God inside human body, with ParamAtma, Supreme self, Brahman, the unmanifested God without a second. This is based on the teachings of Bhagavad Gita where Lord Krishna states ‘I am seated in the hearts of all’.
The soul or Atma inside human beings which is covered with the impurities of mind is potentially divine and Yoga aims at manifesting this divinity within a human body so that the mind covering the soul becomes absolutely pure and transparent enabling the Atma to manifest itself as Brahman. The impurities of mind are created due to unrighteous acts committed by man in this life or in past lives which makes a human being take repeated births in the world. The world is described in Gita as a place of sorrow where one has to face birth death, old age and disease. Yoga teaches a person to practice divine virtues so that the impurities covering the Atma are removed and the Atma which is enclosed in the human body is released to join or enter into ParamAtma. This is called Moksha or perfection which enables a person to obtain release from the cycle of birth and death.
From children to seniors , everyone can take advantage of it.
Gita asks you to become a Yogi
Bhagavad Gita not only asks you to do yoga but it insists that you should also become a yogi. Yogi is one who practices yoga and acquires a state when he experiences the effects of yoga practice like becoming truthful, knowledgeable and compassionate and other divine virtues. A yogi is one who remains in a higher state of consciousness. He loves all, serves all and shares his virtues with others. Gita says that the best yogi is the one who treats the pains and pleasures of others as his own. He rejoices in the welfare of all and he is not troubled by any outer situation.
Source: Web Search
This post is for sharing knowledge only, no intention to violate any copy writes