4 types of yoga

R

robtex

Registered Senior Member
I was reading about Hinduism a few days back and I came across a quick summary of the 4 types of yoga used (sorry i lost source )

Bhakti yoga--path of devotion inclination of people who learn through emotion

jnana yoga--path of rational inquiry

raja yoga--path of mental concentration (meditative it said)

karma yoga--path of right action.

The article emphasised many paths one truth and said these were four meathods for finding spirtuality in hinduism and that there were was not one because there is more than one path to enlightnement.

It was a very eye-opening idea to a non-hindu. I want to ask the hindu's and others.....any experimentation with this, if so which ones and why did u choose the yoga style you choose?
 
Maybe that which Jesus teaches is a kind of raja-yoga, because the point was to concentrate everything one God, which is the hardest but straightest path to God.
 
well there's more than 4 styles, personally speaking I'd question the completeness of an article that fails to mention Ashtanga Yoga and other styles like Kundalini Yoga. Here's a site for you to look at http://www.yogamovement.com/resources/styles.html

Yoga, from what I gather, is not exclusive to hinduism...while some others may even associate it with buddism, it's a discipline on its own. If you wish to get deeper into this, try T.K.V. Desikachar's "The heart of Yoga" which contains some good facts on Yoga and even some practice exercises that are common to most styles. It also has some descriptions on what may be some differences across the different styles. Finally, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are appended to the book.

To actually answer your question (wow I just realized I've never met a live hindu at school that practices yoga :bugeye: ), I haven't done Yoga in ages, but pretty much if you get well into it you might start experiencing some changes, but don't trick yourself into something you're not legitimately feeling...these changes come in time, be patient. One thing that might help you with your practice is to throw goals out the window. Do everything for what it's worth and don't expect anything to follow, then things will "fall in place"...cos they've always been there :D
 
Oscar thank your for the link and I will read it but the article I orginally read was referreing to yoga in use with hinduism. I found it curious because the religion is amazing flexable and I think that may be why is has been around for as long as it has. I figure I can read hindu stuff on the net till i am old but I was hoping to find a live one on here. I do have a hindu friend whom I talk to about 3-4 times a week. I am thinking of asking him ( he is relcutant in a christian country to talk about hinduism) if i learn anything from him I will post it.

thank you for the link though...I will read it (but not tonight)
 
The path that Jesus teaches is more like Bhakti yoga (devotion to god and everything).

Raja Yoga has more to do with meditation and pranic exercises that calm the mind and allow for enlightenment, there's also subsets of Raja yoga like Kundalini yoga and Hatha Yoga.

According to Hinduism, Bhakti yoga is the easiest for most people because it doesn't require you to give up many things. But Hinduism also says that all people are different, therefore different paths are suitable for different people. Some many find union with the Brahman through knowledge, others through action, some through will, devotion, etc...

Raja yoga is like the "direct" path to enlightenment. It incorporates spiritual science with exercises, meditation, diet, and your daily lifestyle. It doesn't matter which path you choose, they'll all eventually lead you to the samething.

If you want to know what paths will lead you what in the after you're dead you should look up Vedic Cosmology - http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/planetarium/ , which maps out all the places and dimensions of the universe you would supposedly end up depending on your actions.

According to Hinduism, the highest type of humans are the ones who have knowledge of the doctrine of ultimate impersonal oneness.
 
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I've learned and practiced some Hatha Yoga -- the stretching and relaxing exercises. I have a lot of muscle spasms from nervous tension and just the little bit of yoga I know has changed my life. Back and neck aches that used to last for days and require massive doses of muscle relaxants and pain killer can now often be banished in an hour or two of on-and-off stretching. I can even tame my body into relaxing and falling asleep an hour or two earlier than what used to be customary.

I know a few people who practice transcendental meditation, which the teachers among them say is a yoga discipline as well. A couple of them feel that it saved them from a life of ruin.

I appreciate Hinduism's acceptance of what in ancient times was obvious common sense: that everybody is different and we must each follow our own path to whatever kind of enlightenment and self-actualization that we're capable of achieving. That follows naturally from a polytheistic model of the human spirit in which we have a couple dozen different mythic figures for role models instead of just one -- who happens to be male and automatically marginalizes half the population.

The Hindus have not quite distinguished themselves as the non-violent, vegetarian pacifists that Gandhi represented and their caste system is only a couple of rungs up the ladder from slavery. Still, considering that they comprise about fifteen percent of the world's population, they haven't brought nearly as much pain and grief to humanity as the Abrahamic religions have with their binary model of good versus evil.
 
Fraggle I took a stab at Hatha also for about 6 months. I was helping a guy who had studied for over 15 years with martial arts stuff and he in return presented his yoga knowlege. I am afraid it was not enough time for me to even really gain any knowledge from it but I could do the splits after working with him in that time period. The stuff he showed me was vey isometric and put a heavy emphasis on using gravity as opposed to kinetic motions to increase flexablity. Movements went for increased durations over time I remember being so relaxed at times it felt like I was in a trance.

As a footnote, he was about 45 at the time but his body looked like it was in his mid-20's. His face looked older though.....

I read some about TM when I was in college but only in books. I would love to hear if you experimented with it physically and if so what you learned.
 
Oscar do you have any physcial experience with yoga and if so what did you learn?
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
I've learned and practiced some Hatha Yoga -- the stretching and relaxing exercises. I have a lot of muscle spasms from nervous tension and just the little bit of yoga I know has changed my life. Back and neck aches that used to last for days and require massive doses of muscle relaxants and pain killer can now often be banished in an hour or two of on-and-off stretching. I can even tame my body into relaxing and falling asleep an hour or two earlier than what used to be customary.

I know a few people who practice transcendental meditation, which the teachers among them say is a yoga discipline as well. A couple of them feel that it saved them from a life of ruin.

I appreciate Hinduism's acceptance of what in ancient times was obvious common sense: that everybody is different and we must each follow our own path to whatever kind of enlightenment and self-actualization that we're capable of achieving. That follows naturally from a polytheistic model of the human spirit in which we have a couple dozen different mythic figures for role models instead of just one -- who happens to be male and automatically marginalizes half the population.

The Hindus have not quite distinguished themselves as the non-violent, vegetarian pacifists that Gandhi represented and their caste system is only a couple of rungs up the ladder from slavery. Still, considering that they comprise about fifteen percent of the world's population, they haven't brought nearly as much pain and grief to humanity as the Abrahamic religions have with their binary model of good versus evil.
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Hinduism isn't really polytheistic, if you really read the scriptures and understand the philosophy. The caste system was more of an economical, governmental system than a religous system. Its just like in Ancient Egypt how only certain people were allowed to read and write. According to the scriptures, in this Kali Yuga, "No one follows the duties of one's own caste, and the four Ashrams or stages of life also disappear".
 
robtex said:
Oscar do you have any physcial experience with yoga and if so what did you learn?
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*Uh-oh, the sensitive question* My experience with Yoga is brief, having taken only a semester of Ashtanga Yoga at school, twice a week for 80 minutes on each session. Don't ask, I did not feel it was enough.

One of the most meaningful things I learned during that time was Pranayama (breath control). I felt so relaxed after 20 minutes of doing Savasana and meditating as I focused on my breath, it's as if I had been praying for hours at a time. Also, I learned a bit of coordination since we mainly practiced sequences where one posture leads into another...at the time I finally excercised some muscles that I had not even known were there! :p As a result, my posture improved as well.

I don't think I lost weight during that time, and I also tried to gain some muscle tone but I didn't get that far into my practice to see any results (hence I had to learn to get rid of goals if I really wanted to enjoy it). I won't get into "personal changes" with this cos uhm...I'm still pretty much still learning the do's and don't of life, but I will assure you that a solid Yoga practice can prove to be therapeutical for everyone.
 
I can look it on the net goofy...I wanted ur personal experiences..if you aren't comfortable though that is cool.....
 
The Hindus have not quite distinguished themselves as the non-violent, vegetarian pacifists that Gandhi represented and their caste system is only a couple of rungs up the ladder from slavery. Still, considering that they comprise about fifteen percent of the world's population, they haven't brought nearly as much pain and grief to humanity as the Abrahamic religions have with their binary model of good versus evil.
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Hinduism as a religion is not a very peaceful, non - violent one. The independance movement and Mahatma Gandhi changed the world's perception of Hinduism. Non - violence in India may be said to have Buddhist origins. One of the hindu trinity is Shiva, who as Rudra is the lord of destruction. Kali with her chain of human skulls and decapitated head in one hand and Durga are not what one would call pacifist.
 
oh...well...I already said everything I had to say about my personal experience...not much I guess.. :confused:

there's a thread going around named "The Arayashiki, what is it?" in this forum, it explains most of the curiosity I had for Yoga, meditation and Eastern thought. I've run into other things along the way but at a certain point it pretty much begins to stray from just Yoga. Thanks for the reminder though, I guess I could get back into Yoga again :)
 
airavata said:
Hinduism as a religion is not a very peaceful, non - violent one. The independance movement and Mahatma Gandhi changed the world's perception of Hinduism. Non - violence in India may be said to have Buddhist origins. One of the hindu trinity is Shiva, who as Rudra is the lord of destruction. Kali with her chain of human skulls and decapitated head in one hand and Durga are not what one would call pacifist.
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True, but being non-violent and peaceful is encouraged in Hinduism:

“Be fearless and pure; never waver in your determination or your dedication to the spiritual life. Give freely. Be self-controlled, sincere, truthful, loving, and full of the desire to serve...Learn to be detached and to take joy in renunciation. Do not get angry or harm any living creature, but be compassionate and gentle; show good will to all. Cultivate vigor, patience, will, purity; avoid malice and pride. Then, you will achieve your destiny." - The Bhagavad Gita (spoken by Krishna)

"That is the whole purpose of human existence here on earth: to benefit other people through one's life, one's possessions, one's thoughts and one's words." - Bhagavata Purana

In order to attain Moksha, one has to practice ahimsa (non-violence).

Violent, non-peaceful action or speech, or thought is bad karma.

Ofcourse, there is a lot of violence in the mythology.
 
robtex said:
I was reading about Hinduism a few days back and I came across a quick summary of the 4 types of yoga used ....

I want to ask the hindu's and others.....any experimentation with this, if so which ones and why did u choose the yoga style you choose?
Click to expand...

My 2 cents...I practice Jnana Yoga but teach Hatha Yoga and sometimes Raja Yoga. I consider Jana Yoga (Understanding through Knowledge) as the best form. But different strokes for different folks....

Jnana Yoga is difficult since one must have current understanding about everything. That causes one to learn life long. Bhakti Yoga is easy...let the Lord guide you, Karma Yoga is semi-difficult - i.e. do what you are supposed to do.
 
kmguru how long have u studied...what is one or two things that you have learned ...from any style you mentioned?
 
I was indoctrinated to Jnana Yoga at age 14 just after high school. It happenes this way. A Swami (a holy man) came to see my Dad in India and wanted some favors for his disciples. My Dad wanted a return favor and asked him to teach me some Yoga because I was too hyperactive and getting into mischief a lot (who, me?).

So, the Swami asked me what I want to learn. I was cocky and said, teach me the most difficult Yoga (because I could do all regular Hatha Yoga stuff - too skinny then). He taught me Jnana Yoga with hypnotic suggestion (that I later learned). A dozen years passed by and the Swami later became famous in India (Swami Nikhilananda)

What I learned is difficult to explain. But my practice allows me to assimilate information very rapidly in most areas of our activities in this modern world. Which means I learned a lot and can discern junk from good stuff. They come handy doing Business Architecture using Systems Dynamic Science. I can do Powersim or Vensim type Business Modeling in my sleep etc etc...I am able to understand very complex structures with time-variant multivariables. And my health is pretty good for an old man.

That is good enough for me....but I feel, I have a long way to go. I am now focusing to solve some of the complex issues of our time - namely how to create mind challenging jobs for the disabled people and people who fall through social cracks, single mothers, prison recidivism etc etc for a truely vibrant and civil society.
 
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