The practice of Yoga
If we refer to the Gheranda Samhita, or to the text of the YOGATATTVA UPANISHAD (The true nature of Yoga), we can see that Hatha Yoga offers a complete system of practice made up of 8 steps, or 8 activities, since there is no idea of progression in these steps: they can all be done at the same time...
These 8 steps are already present in the YOGATATTVA Upanishad, and Patanjali would later speak of them at greater length in his famous text, the Yoga Sutra:
The 8 steps of Yoga defined by Patanjali are:
- Asanas : the yoga postures that make us aware of our body and its energies, while reintegrating and channelling our strengths and weaknesses.
- Pranayama: Works on the energies through breathing disciplines of retention, suspension or stopping of the breath. Pranayama is not the control of breathing but its stopping or suspension!
- Pratyâhâra: Fusion of the senses, withdrawal of the sensory faculties and turning the attention inwards. - Dhâranâ: Concentration on one element, one point.
- Dhyâna: Deep meditation, an uninterrupted flow of consciousness on a particular object, the mind may be this object or anything else. - Samâdhi: Absorption in the absolute, higher consciousness.
Yoga is one of the 6 orthodox systems for defining the world (Darshana), together with Samkhya (which is also a Darshana).
The 6 orthodox points of view of India: the Darshanas
Samkhya is one of the six points of view of classical Indian philosophy, called Darshanas. These different approaches are paired according to the following principle: each pair includes an experimental method and a theoretical method. The first two approaches deal with the impermanent world, that is, the apparent and objective world. These are Vaisheshika, which studies the particular and scientific experimentation, and its counterpart, logical reasoning, called Nyaya.
Next come the two aspects that study deep intuition and the relationships between humans, spirits and gods.
Mimansa explores the effectiveness of the rites that make it possible to establish contact with the heavenly world and influence it, while Vedanta deals with the purely metaphysical and universal aspect of reality, called Brahman.
Finally, the points of view that concern us study the permanent aspects of the world.
Yoga has introspection as its object, the microcosm of the inner world of the living being, while Samkhya deals with the nature of the universe, the macrocosm of the outer world.
Samkhya seems to be one of the oldest philosophical systems in India. Its name means the enumeration or counting of the creative principles of the world (the Tattvas).
There are at least two different enumerations: one is the classical system, which sets out 25 elementary principles, the other is the tantric system, which has subtler divisions and sets out 36 principles.
There are a great many Yogas. - Hatha yoga - Bhakti yoga - Karma yoga - Mantra yoga - Kundalini yoga - Raja yoga - Natha yoga - Kriya yoga - Laya yoga - Jnana yoga, etc. They all aim to help us discover, or at least rediscover, our deep, serene and luminous nature.
There are 3 great paths, or 3 great Yogas: - Karma Yoga: the Yoga of right action - Bhakti Yoga: the Yoga of love and compassion. - Raja Yoga: the path of knowledge. It is said that Hatha Yoga is the stepping stone to one of these great paths. However, Hatha is a complete path with 8 steps, or 8 activities (as defined by Patanjali), and its last 4 steps are similar to Raja Yoga.
Denis Billo