Classical Yoga
Om Bhur Bhuvat Svah
Om Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya
Dhimahi
Dhiyo Yo Nah Pracodayat |
“O Self-effulgent light that has given birth to all the
spheres of consciousness, who is worthy of worship and
appears through the orbit of the Sun, illumine our
intellect”
Classical
Yoga is a term often used to describe the accumulated
knowledge of yoga philosophy and practices dating from the
Ancient Vedic scriptures (1500 - 2000 B.C) to the British
Invasion (1750 AD). The word “yoga” comes from
the root “yuj” and literally means to “yoke or to harness.”
Although it has a wide range of applications in the Sanskrit
language it has ultimately come to express the union of
man’s individual consciousness with Universal Consciousness
in order to transcend the human condition.
There are several paths of yoga: Bhakti Yoga,
the path of devotion; Jnana Yoga, the path of
knowledge; Karma Yoga, the path of selfless
service; Raja Yoga, the path of mind mastery;
Hatha Yoga, the path of physical purification;
Mantra Yoga, the path of sound vibration;
Kundilini Yoga, the path of awakening the
psycho-spiritual force and Laya Yoga, the yoga
of absorption or dissolution. All of these paths lead to
One.
Classical Yoga is also the term used to describe the Yoga of
Patanjali (Raja Yoga), the Sanskrit Scholar
who gave the Yoga tradition its classical format by
systematizing yogic discipline as a means to expand
consciousness, through a four-chapter treatise known as the
Yoga Sutras. Built upon Samkhya philosophy,
the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are said to have been written
around 200 AD. The four padas (chapters) are
comprised of 195 verses or aphorisms that describe how to
“yoke” one’s mind in order to dwell in one’s true nature.
Sutra 1:2 (second sutra from chapter one) sums up the entire
endeavor in one succinct verse:
“Yoga citta vritti nirodha”
“Control of thought waves in the mind is yoga”
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