Introduction and links to related topics Below are some short introductions. Click on the blue hyperlinked word to get more related articles.
Mudra - Hand movement mainly of the fingers, capable of expressing ideas and emotions. In yoga these sacred hand positions relate to a particular meditation, enhancing the effect of the posture.
Concentration - Concentration With meditation, an equivalent for certain parts of yoga, as found in samadhi, dharana; the removal or surmounting of distractions originating in the mind and centering the latter on the spiritual and intellectual objective to be attained, which in the best sense is union with the inner god, the divine monad -- a conscious identification of oneself with the universal through the individual''s innate divinity.
The method of meditative concentration prescribed in the Bhagavad-Gita is to perform all the duties of life without either attachment or avoidance. The hindrances to concentration which are to be removed are those arising from anger, lust, vanity, fear, sloth, etc. Such obstacles are removed by lifting the mind above them or by deliberately ignoring them, since directly fighting with them serves to concentrate the mind on them, thus defeating the object aimed at; and by cultivating the spirit of impersonal love and the light of wisdom which it evokes. Thus the blending of the personal self with the impersonal self is achieved by an orderly process of self-directed evolution, first by unselfish work in the cause of humanity, continued in the various degrees of chelaship, culminating in initiation.
Concentration has often been perverted to mean a kind of personal self-culture, having for its aim the attainment of personal power or self-satisfaction. If unsuccessful, the attempt upsets the balance of the constitution, and if successful, it sows a bitter harvest of aroused personality for future reaping; for when yearning for sympathetic fellowship with our fellowmen we shall find our faculties counterworking us. True meditative concentration actually applies more to the heart than to the mind, and is not a forcible mental practice but a general although very positive and impersonal attitude towards life. It means the centering of our wishes, thoughts, and acts on the ideal of self-identification with the spiritual and universal.
See also DHYANA.
Ananda Yoga - Ananda Yoga focuses on gentle postures designed to move the body''s energy to different organs and muscles, but primarily to the brain to prepare for meditation.
Vaishnavism - The system of Hindu beliefs and practices that honor Vishnu/Krishna as Supreme God; probably the most widely followed kind of Hinduism. Bhakti yoga is the primary practice of this religion, the final reward of which is eternal communion with God.
The most famous of this god''s many names are Vishnu, Narayana, Hari, Bhagavan, Krishna, and Rama; hence the usage Vishnu/Krishna. Vaishnavism''s ancient name, Bhagavata ("followers of the Blessed Lord, i. e. , Bhagavan"), may clarify its beginnings, for it makes a connection with the movement''s two most important literary works: the Bhagavad Gita (first put in print ca. 150 BC) and the Bhagavata Purana (Shrimad Bhagavatam, ca. 850-900).
Though the tradition began earlier, two things became clear by about 200 BC: the Bhagavatas related to their god, Krishna, by devotion and accepted the Vedas and Upanishads, the scriptures of Brahmanic Hindu religion. In this process the Brahmanic deities Vishnu and Narayana became identified with Bhagavan Krishna. Thereafter, Krishna has been viewed as an incarnation (avatara) of the Supreme God Vishnu (by South Indian Vaishnavas), and Vishnu has been viewed as a subordinate form of the Supreme God Krishna (by North Indian Vaishnavas).
The Bhagavad Gita is the earliest full statement of the Bhagavata synthesis. Krishna teaches a path of salvation: desire-free performance of one''s born duty should be combined with the meditative wisdom of the Upanishads, suffused by and culminating in loving devotion to Krishna.
Upaya - (Sanskrit) "Means."
A term used in Kashmir Saivism to describe the means to move from individual into universal consciousness.
anavopaya: "Individual, or limited means." Also called kriyopaya, the way of ritual worship, hatha yoga, concentration and yogic breathing.
shaktopaya: "Way of power." Active inquiry through mental effort, emphasizing control of awareness, japa and meditation.
shambhavopaya: "Way of Shambhu (Siva)." Also called icçhopaya, "Way of will." Seeing Siva everywhere; surrender in God.
anupaya: "Nomeans." Not really a means, but the goal of the first three upayas - the transcendent condition of Siva Consciousness. The spontaneous realization of the Self without effort. Also called pratyabhijna upaya, "way of recognition."
See: Kashmir Saivism.
Yoga Sutra - A succint set of aphorisms or sutras written by Patanjali which describe what has come to be known as Rajayoga.
"[Rajayoga] aims at the liberation and perfection not of the bodily, but of the mental being, the control of the emotional and sensational life, the mastery of the whole apparatus of thought and consciousness. It fixes its eyes on the citta, that stuff of mental consciousness in which all these activities arise, and it seeks, even as Hathayoga with its physical material, first to purify and to tranquilise. ... The preliminary movement of Rajayoga is a careful self-discipline by which good habits of mind are substituted for the lawless movements that indulge the lower nervous being. By the practice of truth, by renunciation of all forms of egoistic seeking, by abstentin from injury to others, by purity, by constant meditation and inclination to the divine Purusha who is the true lord of the mental kingdom, a pure, glad, clear state of mind and heart is established.
This is the first step only. Afterwards, the ordinary activities of the mind and sense must be entirely quieted in order that the soul may be free to ascend to higher states of consciousness and acquire the foundation for a perfect freedom and self-mastery."
-- Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, Introduction, The Systems of Yoga, SABCL Vol. 20
Sisumara - Sisumara (Sanskrit). An imaginary rotating belt, upon which all the celestial bodies move.
This host of stars and constellations is represented under the figure of Sisumara, a tortoise (some say a porpoise !), dragon, crocodile, and what not. But as it is a symbol of the Yoga-meditation of holy Vasudeva or Krishna, it must be a crocodile, or rather, a dolphin, since it is identical with the zodiacal Makara. Dhruva, the ancient pole-star, is placed at the tip of the tail of this sidereal monster, whose head points southward and whose body bends in a ring.
Higher along the tail are the Prajapati Agni, etc., and at its root are placed Indra, Dharma, and the seven Rishis (the Great Bear), etc., etc. The meaning is of course mystical.
|
