Yoga

Large outdoor concrete statue; see caption
Statue of Shiva performing yoga in the lotus position

Yoga (/ˈjɡə/ ;[1] Sanskrit: योग, lit.'yoke' or 'union' pronounced [joːɡɐ]) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness untouched by the mind (Chitta) and mundane suffering (Duḥkha). There is a wide variety of schools of yoga, practices, and goals[2] in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism,[3][4][5] and traditional and modern yoga is practiced worldwide.[6]

Yoga-like practices were first mentioned in the ancient Hindu text known as Rigveda.[7] Yoga is referred to in a number of the Upanishads.[8][9][10] The first known appearance of the word "yoga" with the same meaning as the modern term is in the Katha Upanishad,[11][12] which was probably composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE.[13][14] Yoga continued to develop as a systematic study and practice during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's ascetic and Śramaṇa movements.[15] The most comprehensive text on yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, date to the early centuries of the Common Era;[16][17][note 1] Yoga philosophy became known as one of the six orthodox philosophical schools (Darśanas) of Hinduism in the second half of the first millennium CE.[18][web 1] Hatha yoga texts began to emerge between the ninth and 11th centuries, originating in tantra.[19][20]

Two general theories exist on the origins of yoga. The linear model holds that yoga originated in the Vedic period, as reflected in the Vedic textual corpus, and influenced Buddhism; according to author Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, this model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars. According to the synthesis model, yoga is a synthesis of non-Vedic and Vedic elements; this model is favoured in Western scholarship.[21][22]

The term "yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga and a posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief and relaxation technique,[23] consisting largely of asanas;[24] this differs from traditional yoga, which focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments.[23][25] It was introduced by gurus from India after the success of Swami Vivekananda's adaptation of yoga without asanas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[26] Vivekananda introduced the Yoga Sutras to the West, and they became prominent after the 20th-century success of hatha yoga.[27]

  1. ^ "yoga, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press. September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. ^ White 2011, p. 2.
  3. ^ Denise Lardner Carmody, John Carmody (1996), Serene Compassion. Oxford University Press US. p. 68.
  4. ^ Stuart Ray Sarbacker, Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga. SUNY Press, 2005, pp. 1–2.
  5. ^ Tattvarthasutra [6.1], see Manu Doshi (2007) Translation of Tattvarthasutra, Ahmedabad: Shrut Ratnakar p. 102.
  6. ^ "Yoga: How did it conquer the world and what's changed?". BBC News. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference kwerneryrv289 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Deussen 1997, p. 556.
  9. ^ T. R. S. Ayyangar (1938), The Yoga Upanishads The Adyar Library, Madras
  10. ^ Ruff 2011, pp. 97–112.
  11. ^ Singleton 2010, pp. 25–34.
  12. ^ Flood 1996, p. 95.
  13. ^ Stephen Phillips (2009). Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy. Columbia University Press. pp. 28–30. ISBN 978-0-231-14485-8.
  14. ^ Patrick Olivelle (1998). The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text and Translation. Oxford University Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0-19-512435-4.
  15. ^ Samuel 2008, p. 8.
  16. ^ Bryant 2009, p. xxxiv.
  17. ^ Desmarais 2008, p. 16–17.
  18. ^ Whicher 1998, p. 320.
  19. ^ Mallinson 2012, p. 20, "The techniques of hatha yoga are not taught in Sanskrit texts until the 11th century or thereabouts."
  20. ^ Burley 2000, p. 15, "While many scholars prefer to locate hatha-yoga's formative years somewhere between the ninth and tenth centuries CE, coinciding with the estimated flourishing of the great siddhas Matsyendra and Goraksa, other researchers and practitioners of yoga look much farther back in time.".
  21. ^ Crangle 1994, pp. 1–6.
  22. ^ Crangle 1994, pp. 103–138.
  23. ^ a b Burley 2000, pp. 1–2.
  24. ^ "Yoga Landed in the U.S. Way Earlier Than You'd Think—And Fitness Was Not the Point". HISTORY. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  25. ^ Marek Jantos (2012), in Oxford Textbook of Spirituality in Healthcare (Editors: Mark Cobb et al.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-957139-0, pp. 362–363.
  26. ^ White 2011, p. xvi–xvii, 2.
  27. ^ White 2014, pp. xvi–xvii.


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