DOCSLIB.ORG

Yoga As Philosophy & Practice 41055

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Yoga As Philosophy & Practice 41055 PHL 356-2: Yoga as Philosophy & Practice 41055 (cross-listed as RS 341G: 42080) Fall 2019 Waggener (WAG) 308 MWF 3-4 Stephen Phillips Office: WAG 301 Office Hours: Wednesdays & Fridays 4-5 & by appointment Email: [email protected] Course requirements: • Final exam = 40%. The exam will consist of an essay (50%), quote identification and contextualization (restricted to ancient and classical yoga literature, no modern scholarship or commentary) (30%), and a multiple-choice section, alternatively, true/false (20%). • Midterm exam = 15%. Essay. • A two-to-three-page paper =25%. Explanation and commentary on one or more sutras of the Yoga-sutra. • Quizzes = 10% (best two scores count). Three short tests over glossary items and important concepts. • Attendance = 10%. Twelve attendance sheets distributed without notice throughout the term (1% each, 2 absences free). Required reading: • David Frawley, Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses • Shambala Encyclopedia of Yoga and Tantra • James Woods (tr.), The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Links to an external site.) • Stephen Phillips,Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth • Readings linked to this Canvas Web page as designated, including this page and links used in lecture. Suggested reading: Other translations of the Yoga-sutra (esp., B.K.S. Iyengar's) Web readings and links as designated (including Woods' translation of the sutras without commentary(links to an external site) and outlined according to his own original reading). James Mallinson & Mark Singleton, Roots of Yoga Mircea Eliade, Yoga, Immortality, and Freedom Schedule of quizzes: Sept 16 (M), Oct 7 (M), Nov 18 (M) Yoga-sutra commentary due: by Oct 14 (M) Midterm exam: Nov 20 (W) Final exam: Dec 18 (W) 7-10 pm, location to be announced Topics & Requirements Weeks 1 - 3: Aug 28 - Sept 13 Introduction. Types of yoga. Definitions of the word yoga. Yoga and awareness; the subconscious and yoga's putative "superconscious." THE ASHTANGA-YOGA OF THE YOGA-SUTRA , the yamas and niyamas, "social constraints" and "personal discipline." Pronunciation exercise. (Example: ashta, "ushtu(h)," eight; anga, "ungu(h)," limb, part; yoga, discipline; astanga, "ushtAngu(h)," something that has eight parts or limbs.) See the "Pronunciation Guide" on pp. 236-37 of David Frawley, Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses. Yoga as philosophy. Hinduism and the guru: "Tradition and the individual talent." Yoga literature. The Upanishads. The Bhagavad-gita. The Yoga-sutra (YS). The Yoga-sutra commentaries. Later yoga literature. An overview of yoga psychology: self-monitoring consciousness. Three levels of language in the Yoga-sutra: practice-oriented psychological metaphysical Theory and practice I. The tasks of philosophy: phenomenology evaluation speculation (theory-building) The classical "Yoga" school of philosophy (the school of Patanjali and his Yoga-sutra). Samkhya dualism. The "disidentification" prescription of Samkhya. Overview of yoga practice in all the classical philosophies. Yoga as meditation and breath-control and other practices. The goal of the yoga of the YS, kaivalya, "aloneness," and its competitors. Careful reading of YS, chapter 1, and then chapter 4. The structure of the YS (or "How to read the text"). The classical commentators, in particular Vyasa and Vachaspati Mishra. Indology. Modern commentators. Reading: A. Links: • (1) from B. K. S. Iyengar, Tree of Yoga (Boston: Shambala, 2002, pp. 7-9), on the first two "limbs" of yoga (the yama-s, "ethical or social restraints," and the niyama-s, "personal disciplines") • (2) G. Feuerstein, "Patanjali and the Exegetical Literature" included in (his YS translation), The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 1979) • (3) from Swami Satyananda Saraswati, (on pranayama ) Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha (Munger: Bihar School of Yoga, 1989), pp. 363-71. B. The Yoga-sutra (YS), chapter one, translation by James Woods: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (please read both the sutras and the commentatary by Vyasa but you may skip over the subcommentary by Vachaspati). Please read also S. Phillips' translation, chapter one--now available in Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth, pp. 206-211, with notes, pp. 314- 315--along with any other translation of YS ch. 1 to which you have access. C. Entries in the Encyclopedia of Yoga and Tantra. D. Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth, from ch. 1, "Yoga Literature and Classical Philosophies," pp. 27-40. E. (recommended, not required) PowerPoint talk by S. Phillips, "Yoga and Classical Darśana ," at a conference on the Yoga-sūtra at Loyola Marimont in Los Angeles Weeks 4 - 6: Sept 16 - Oct 4 >> QUIZ 1: M Sept 16, at the beginning of class Interactive dualism and other models of the mind/body relationship. Materialism and causal closure. Holism. Jaina perspectivalism. The range of Yoga philosophies. The YS's practice concepts and psychological theories II. Karma and samskara, "mental dispositions." Phenomenology and first- and third-person points of view. "Voluntarism" (aka "existentialism") as making central a first-person point of view. "Phenomenology" as trying to capture "what it's like" from a first-person point of view. Self-determination vs. the determinism of nature. Yoga's self-determination thesis. Yoga and ethics. AHIMSA (the first limb of ASHTANGA YOGA), "nonharmfulness," and the Jaina argument for vegetarianism. The Buddhist arguments of Shantideva for ahimsa and compassion. Aurobindo's ethical skepticism. The YS's yama-s and niyama-s revisited. Reading: A. Links: • (4) "Jainism" and from the Acaranga Sutra on "ahimsa ,"Muni Mahendra Kumar, trans., Ayaro Acarangasutra (New Delhi: Jain Vishva Bharati, 1981) • (5) from Shantideva, The Bodhisattvacaryavatara • (6) from Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, "Standards of Conduct and Spiritual Freedom" (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 1973, pp. 190-93) • (7) from Swami Satyananda Saraswati, A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya (Munger: Bihar School of Yoga, 1989, pp. 47-50), in particular "Codes 1-10" (a slightly different list of practices and rules in comparison with the yama-s and niyama-s of the Yoga-sutra; cf., the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism). B. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, tr. J.H. Woods, through the end for the sutras, but only chapter one, part of chapter two, and all of chapter four with the commentary by Vyasa. The subcommentary (small print) by Vacaspati is not required except for sutras on which you write your required three-page paper. (For the paper--see below--it is crucial to read and understand Vacaspati.) To repeat, the main commentary by Vyasa is required through sutra 2.28 (p. 174) and then for the whole of chapter four. For chapter three and the other sutras, read the commentary whenever a sutra is unclear. Also read Phillips' translation and notes, Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth, Appendix C, with notes, as needed. C. Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth, from ch. 2, "Yogic Self-Monitoring," "Yoga on Philosophy's Mind/Body Problem," and "Mind-Body Interactive Dualism," pp. 41-67. (The last section of the chapter, on holism, is strongly recommended but not required.) And from ch. 3, "Ahimsa," pp. 88-97, and "Karmic Justice," pp. 102-109 (strongly recommended but not required). Compare Woods' and Phillips' translations (and any other that you have access to, e.g. Georg Feuerstein's or B.K.S. Iyengar's). As stated, it is not invariably necessary to read the commentary (except to help to understand the sutras, similarly with Phillips' notes); here are the sutras only but of course for the sutra or sutras on which you write your paper you definitely should read the commentary and Phillips' notes: see below. » Two-to-three-page YS paper due M Oct 14, by midnight Explain one or more sutras taken from the YOGA-SUTRA. Specify the sutra or sutras which you are targeting by typing them out at the top of your paper. Write a double- spaced essay, 11-pt font, reasonable margins, at most three pages in length. Please make at least one pertinent reference to an earlier or later sutra or sutras in the text, designating them, e.g. "YS 1.2," by chapter as well as sutra number. And be sure to refer to, severally, the sutras themselves (by Patanjali), the commentary (by Vyasa), and the subcommentary (by Vacaspati). Alternative topics are possible if cleared in advance by your professor. Weeks 7 - 8: Oct 7 - 18 » QUIZ 2: Oct 7 (M), at the beginning of class Yogic perception and testimony. Should we believe yogic claims? The classical arguments. Epistemology of perception; the theory of appearing. Nyaya's externalist epistemology. Yoga's parallelism thesis. Epistemology of mysticism. Can yogic experience provide information about reality? (That is to ask, is it cognitive?) Review for the hour exam. Reading: (A) From Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth, pp. 132-135. (B) Links: • (8) from William Wainwright, Mysticism (Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982) • (9) from C.B. Martin, Religious Belief ( Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1959) • (10) "Theistic Mystical Experience" : From Saint Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle (tr. J. Venard), and Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, in S. Phillips, Philosophy of Religion (Orlando: Harcourt Brace, 1996), pp. 170-76. Weeks 9 - 10: Oct 21 - Nov 1 Yoga within the history of Indian thought presented in greater detail. The Upanishads. Buddhism. The Bhagavad-Gita. Vedanta. Yoga and the Upanishads. The Upanishadic kosha ("sheath") psychology. Brahman, the Absolute. The teachings of the Upanishads. The Brahma-sutra. The classical Vedanta subschools. Reconsideration of yogic practices within the broad span of classical Sanskrit literature, especially the different darsana-s, "world views" (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, Vedanta, and the rest). The Gita. The Gita's textual setting in the "Great Indian Epic," the Mahabharata. The philosophical environment: Vedanta, Samkhya, Yoga (Seshvara Samkhya), Epic Samkhya. The three "paths" (trimarga) of the Gita: karma-yoga: the yoga of action/sacrifice jnana-yoga: the yoga of knowledge/meditation bhakti-yoga: the yoga of love/devotion.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ashtanga Yoga Yama (Principles) Niyama
    ASHTANGA YOGA The basis of Ashtanga yoga is the Yoga sutras (Sanskrit Verses) of Patanjali. We will consider the different aspects of yoga while remaining under the guiding principles of Patanjali's Yoga (Ashtanga yoga). The Asana, Pranayama, Dharana, Dhyan & Samadhi or the Yama and Niyama are systematically described by Patanjali in his Sanskrit Sutras (verses). YAMA (PRINCIPLES) NIYAMA (PERSONAL DISCIPLINES) ASANA (YOGA POSITIONS OR YOGIC POSTURES) PRANAYAMA (YOGIC BREATHING) PRATYAHARA (WITHDRAWAL OF SENSES) DHARANA (CONCENTRATION ON OBJECT) DHYAN (MEDITATION) SAMADHI (SALVATION) HATHA YOGA The term Hatha Yoga has been commonly used to describe the practice of asana (postures). The syllable 'ha' denotes the pranic (vital) force governing the physical body and 'tha' denotes the chitta (mental) force thus making Hatha Yoga a catalyst to an awakening of the two energies that govern our lives. More correctly the techniques described in Hatha Yoga harmonise and purify the body systems and focus the mind in preparation for more advanced chakra and kundalini practices. The Hatha Yoga system includes asana along with the six shatkarmas (physical and mental detox techniques), mudras and bandhas (psycho-physiological energy release techniques) and Pranayama (pranic awakening practices). Fine tuning of the human personality at increasingly subtle levels leads to higher states of awareness and meditation. 1. YOGASANA(YOGA POSITIONS) 2. SIX SHATKARMAS(PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DETOX TECHNIQUES) 3. MUDRAS AND BANDHAS(PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL ENERGY RELEASE TECHNIQUES) 4. PRANAYAMA Read more about Hatha Yoga Paramhansa Swami Satyananda Saraswati JNANA YOGA Jnana Yoga is the process of converting intellectual knowledge into practical wisdom. It is a discovery of human dharma in relation to nature and the universe.
    [Show full text]
  • Jnana, Bhakti and Karma Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita
    Jnana, Bhakti and Karma Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita - written between 600 -500 BCE is sometimes referred to as the last Upanishad. As with many Yoga texts and great literature there are many possible layers of meaning. In essence it is grounded by the meditative understanding of the underlying unity of life presented in the Upanishads, and then extends this into how yoga practice, insight and living life can become one and the same. Ultimately it is a text that describes how yoga can clarify our perception of life, its purpose and its challenges, and offers guidance as to how we might understand and negotiate them. It encourages full engagement with life, and its difficulties and dilemmas are turned into the manure for potential liberation and freedom. The Bhagavad-Gita is actually a sub story contained within a huge poem/story called the Mahabharata, one of the ‘Puranas’ or epics that make up much of early Indian literature. It emphasises the importance of engagement in the world, perhaps a reaction to the tendency developing at the time in Buddhism and Vedanta to renounce worldly life in favour of personal liberation. The yoga of the Bhagavad-Gita essentially suggests that fully engaging in all aspects of life and its challenges with a clear perspective is a valid yogic path and possibly superior to meditative realisation alone. There is an implication in this emphasis that there is a potential danger for some people of using yoga practice and lifestyle to avoid difficulties in life and not engage with the world and the culture and time we find ourselves in; and/or perhaps to misunderstand that yoga practice is partly practice for something – to re-evaluate and hopefully enrich our relationship to the rest of life.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gandavyuha-Sutra : a Study of Wealth, Gender and Power in an Indian Buddhist Narrative
    The Gandavyuha-sutra : a Study of Wealth, Gender and Power in an Indian Buddhist Narrative Douglas Edward Osto Thesis for a Doctor of Philosophy Degree School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 2004 1 ProQuest Number: 10673053 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10673053 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract The Gandavyuha-sutra: a Study of Wealth, Gender and Power in an Indian Buddhist Narrative In this thesis, I examine the roles of wealth, gender and power in the Mahay ana Buddhist scripture known as the Gandavyuha-sutra, using contemporary textual theory, narratology and worldview analysis. I argue that the wealth, gender and power of the spiritual guides (kalyanamitras , literally ‘good friends’) in this narrative reflect the social and political hierarchies and patterns of Buddhist patronage in ancient Indian during the time of its compilation. In order to do this, I divide the study into three parts. In part I, ‘Text and Context’, I first investigate what is currently known about the origins and development of the Gandavyuha, its extant manuscripts, translations and modern scholarship.
    [Show full text]
  • The Concept of Bhakti-Yoga
    Nayankumar J. Bhatt [Subject: English] International Journal of Vol. 2, Issue: 1, January 2014 Research in Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN:(P) 2347-5404 ISSN:(O)2320 771X The Concept of Bhakti-Yoga NAYANKUMAR JITENDRA BHATT B-402, Ayodhya Appt., Maheshnagar, Zanzarada Road, Junagadh Gujarat (India) Abstract: Bhakti-Yoga is a real, genuine search after the lord, a search beginning, continuing, and ending in love. One single moment of the madness of extreme love to God brings us eternal freedom. About Bhakti-Yoga Narada says in his explanation of the Bhakti-aphorisms, “is intense love to God.” When a man gets it, he loves all, hates none; he becomes satisfied forever. This love cannot be reduced to any earthly benefit, because so long as worldly desires last, that kind of love does not come. Bhakti is greater than Karma, because these are intended for an object in view, while Bhakti is its own fruition, its own means, and its own end. Keywords: Bhakti Yoga, God, Karma, Yoga The one great advantage of Bhakti is that it is the easiest, and the most natural way to reach the great divine end in view; its great disadvantage is that in its lower forms it oftentimes degenerates into hideous fanaticism. The fanatical crews in Hinduism, or Mohammedanism, or Christianity, have always been almost exclusively recruited from these worshippers on the lower planes of Bhakti. That singleness of attachment to a loved object, without which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the cause of the denunciation of everything else. When Bhakti has become ripe and has passed into that form which is caned the supreme, no more is there any fear of these hideous manifestations of fanaticism; that soul which is overpowered by this higher form of Bhakti is too near the God of Love to become an instrument for the diffusion of hatred.
    [Show full text]
  • Yoga in the Visnu Purana
    Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department Faculty Publications Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department 2017 Yoga in the Visnu Purana Sucharita Adluri Ms. Cleveland State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clphil_facpub Part of the Hindu Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Publisher's Statement Copyright Springer Verlag. https://link.springer.com/journal/10781 Original Citation Adluri, S. (2017). Yoga in the Visnu Purana. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 45(2), 381-402. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Yoga in the Visnu Purana Sucharita Adluri Abstract Though scholarship on diverse methods of yoga in the Indian traditions abounds, there has not been sufficient research that examines the traditions of yoga in the puranas. The present paper explores yoga articulated in the Visnu Purana (fourth century CE) and argues that what seems like a unified teaching is a com­ posite of an eight-limbed yoga embedded within an instruction on proto-Sämkhya. An evaluation of the key elements of yoga as developed in this text as a whole, clarifies our understanding of the emergence of yoga and its relationship to epic formulations on the one hand and to the Classical System of the Yogasiitras of Patafijali on the other.
    [Show full text]
  • Tilak's View of Karma Yoga to Attain Salvation
    Journal of Management (JOM) Volume 6, Issue 3, May-June 2019, pp. 154-156, Article ID: JOM_06_03_018 Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/JOM/issues.asp?JType=JOM&VType=6&IType=3 Journal Impact Factor (2019): 5.3165 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com ISSN Print: 2347-3940 and ISSN Online: 2347-3959 DOI: 10.34218/JOM.6.3.2019.018 © IAEME Publication TILAK’S VIEW OF KARMA YOGA TO ATTAIN SALVATION: AN ANALYSIS Dr. Hitesh Chandra Kalita HOD &Associate Professor in Philosophy MNC BalikaMahavidyalaya, Nalbari, Assam, India ABSTRACT The paper proposes to present and elaborate and critically analyze the main concept of Tilak’s view of karma yoga to attain the knowledge of salvation or ultimate goal. Karma yoga is simply the way of desireless or self-based action through the help of knowledge from jnana yoga and bhakti yoga. That knowledge is only sufficient for salvation. His karma yoga based interpretation of the is called Gita Rahasya. Keywords: Tilak, Karma Yoga and Salvation. Cite this Article: Dr. Hitesh Chandra Kalita, Tilak’s view of Karma Yoga to Attain Salvation: An Analysis, Journal of Management (JOM), 6 (3), 2019, pp. 140-149. http://www.iaeme.com/JOM/issues.asp?JType=JOM&VType=6&IType=3 1. INTRODUCTION Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s (1856-1920) wrote the Gita Rahasya as the interpretation of the Gita in the Mandalay Jail in March, 1911. He was a mainly freedom fighter, philosopher, social reformer and humanitarian. Its scientific philosophy finds that philosophy brings a necessary harmony between the theory of Parabrahman and its spontaneous practice.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Causal Body (Karana Sarira)?
    VEDANTA CONCEPTS Sarada Cottage Cedar Rapids July 9, 2017 Peace Chanting (ShAnti PAtha) Sanskrit Transliteration Meaning ॐ गु셁땍यो नमः हरी ओम ्। Om Gurubhyo Namah Hari Om | Salutations to the Guru. सह नाववतु । Saha Nau-Avatu | May God Protect us Both, सह नौ भुन啍तु । Saha Nau Bhunaktu | May God Nourish us Both, सह वीयं करवावहै । Saha Viiryam Karavaavahai| May we Work Together तेजस्वव नावधीतमवतु मा Tejasvi Nau-Adhiitam-Astu Maa with Energy and Vigour, वव饍ववषावहै । Vidvissaavahai | May our Study be ॐ शास््तः शास््तः शास््तः । Om Shaantih Shaantih Enlightening and not give हरी ओम ्॥ Shaantih | Hari Om || rise to Hostility Om, Peace, Peace, Peace. Salutations to the Lord. Our Quest Goal: Eternal Happiness End of All Sufferings Transcending Birth & Death Problem: Fleeting Happiness Endless Suffering Cycle of Birth & Death 3 Vedanta - Introduction Definition: Veda = Knowledge, Anta = End End of Vedas Culmination or Essence of Vedas Leads to God (Truth) Realization Truth: Never changes; beyond Time-Space-Causation Is One Is Beneficial Transforms us Leads from Truth Speaking-> Truth Seeking-> Truth Seeing 4 Vedantic Solution To Our Quest Our Quest: Vedantic Solution: Goal: Cause of Problem: Ignorance (avidyA) of our Real Eternal Happiness Nature End of All Sufferings Attachment (ragah, sangah) to fleeting Objects & Relations Transcending Birth & Death Problem: Remedy: Fleeting Happiness Intense Spiritual Practice (sadhana) Endless Suffering Liberation (mukti/moksha) Cycle of Birth & Death IdentificationIdentification &&
    [Show full text]
  • The Psychology of Yoga: Integrating Eastern and Western Approaches for Understanding the Mind
    The Psychology of Yoga: Integrating Eastern and Western Approaches for Understanding the Mind . Written by Georg Feuerstein, PhD Reviewed by Dawn Bhat, MA, MS, NCC, RYT-500, LMHC A Personal Note What fascinated me, having studied with Georg, was how seeped he was in the yoga tradition and that he intended to explore Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing; yet, my impression is that he was unaware of the fields of somatic psychology and body psychotherapy, though he does include a brief comment on Reichian physiology, which I note later in my review. Knowing Georg and being academically immersed in somatic psychology, I respect how difficult it is to comprehend Eastern thought and dogmatic modern psychological science. Personally, I was as engaged reading this book (583 pages, released posthumous, 2014), as I was with most of his writings. My intellect was nourished by Georg’s study on yoga psychology. My heart filled with gratitude for this absolutely wonderful work. My inner awareness came to a place of stillness as I realized, felt, and witnessed the connection and space deep within. Georg Feuerstein, authored numerous PhD wrote what might books and can be be the most credited with bringing comprehensive work on yoga into academia, the subject of the education, research and psychology of yoga therapy. In this volume, today: The Psychology Feuerstein focuses on of Yoga: Integrating understanding the mind Eastern and Western by integrating ancient Approaches for yoga tradition, Understanding the Hinduism, Buddhism, Mind . One of the Jainism, and modern world’s finest scholars psychology in his of yoga, Indian and formation and Eastern spiritual conceptualization of traditions, Feuerstein yoga psychology.
    [Show full text]
  • Deepen Your Practice Refine Your Understanding Teach Yoga
    Deepen your practice About Eliot Refine your understanding Eliot’s greatest delight arises in teaching yoga to guide students to discover the beauty and magnificence of their true Teach Yoga Self. Though her passion for the connection of all things has led her to a 553-hour program with Eliot study holistic nutrition, ReiKi healing and yoga, her preferred medium is teaching yoga. She completed Anusara Teacher Training in 2010 and certified in hatha yoga. She gratefully continues the study and refinement of asana under the guidance of senior Iyengar teachers. Not only is she committed to continuously hone her skills to practice and teach asana, but as a long-time meditator and student of non-dual Tantra, she also elegantly weaves higher teachings into her classes as a way of bringing students deeper into the subtler realms of experience. Eliot teaches to support the increase of awareness and to empower students to align with their highest potential in their bodies, their minds and their hearts. Her wholesome classes follow the rhythms of the moon and always include aligned asana, pranayama, chanting and meditation. Now, through this unique new program, Eliot would like extend the opportunity to mature students to deepen their practice and refine their understanding of the teachings. For those students who then feel the yearning to teach and share, the first part of the program becomes a foundation upon which she will teach the second part on how to elegantly, appropriately and powerfully articulate both the asana and the subtler teachings to
    [Show full text]
  • View of Gita Rahasya About Bhakti-Yoga (A Devotion) for Salvation: a Critical Evaluation
    © 2019 JETIR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 6 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) View of Gita Rahasya about Bhakti-Yoga (A Devotion) for Salvation: A Critical Evaluation Dr. Hitesh Ch. Kalita HOD &Associate Professor in Philosophy MNC BalikaMahavidyalaya, Nalbari, Assam, India ABSTRACT The paper proposes to present and and critically evaluate the main concept of G.ita Rahasya about bhakti-yoga for salvation. Bhakti-yoga is the combination of Bhakti and yoga which generally means devotees’ prayer to God. It believes in God as our ultimate Lord. It is simply ‘love for God’. But Gita Rahasya against it significantly states that Bhakti-yoga is not an independent path or means to attain salvation. Keywords: Gita Rahasya, salvation or ultimate truth or Brahman and karma-yoga. INTRODUCTION Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s (1856-1920) wrote the Gita Rahasya as the interpretation of the Gita in the Mandalay Jail in March, 1911. He was a mainly freedom fighter, philosopher, social reformer and humanitarian. Gita Rahasya establishes philosophy into practical religion. METHODOLOGY: It has been mainly used by rational and analytical methods. It is mainly helped by, news paper, book, journal, research paper, internet (web resources) and discussion of the issue. OBJECTIVE The main objectives are to be stated as following: (1) To study the main concept Tilak’s Gita Rahasya relating bhakti-yoga. (2) To study the concept of bhakti-yoga for attaining salvation. (3) To study the relations among jnana, bhakti and karma. Result and Discussion: Gita Rahasya and Bhaki-Yoga According to the Gita Bhakti-yoga is important one of the eighteen Yogas.
    [Show full text]
  • Essence of Yoga
    ESSENCE OF YOGA By SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA 6(59(/29(*,9( 385,)<0(',7$7( 5($/,=( Sri Swami Sivananda So Says Founder of Sri Swami Sivananda The Divine Life Society A DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY PUBLICATION Thirteenth Edition: 1988 (5000 Copies) World Wide Web (WWW) Edition : 1998 WWW site: http://www.rsl.ukans.edu/~pkanagar/divine/ This WWW reprint is for free distribution © The Divine Life Trust Society ISBN 81-7052-024-x Published By THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY P.O. SHIVANANDANAGAR—249 192 Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, Himalayas, India. PUBLISHERS’ NOTE Even among the inspiring books of Sri Gurudev, this is a unique book. It was written with the special intention of having the entire matter recorded on the gramophone disc. For this purpose Gurudev had given in this book the very essence of his own teachings. Hence, this book was chosen for being sent to every new member of the Divine Life Society on enrolment. It is, as it were, the ‘Beginner’s Guide to Divine Life’. Members of the Divine Life Society and spiritual aspirants have added this precious volume to the scriptures which they study daily as Svadhyaya and have derived incalculable benefit by the assimilation of these teachings into their daily life. This text containing, a valuable treasure of wisdom is placed in the hands of aspirants all over the world in the fervent hope that it will guide them to the great goal of human life, viz., God-realisation. —THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY iii UNIVERSAL PRAYER Thou art, O Lord! The creator of this universe.
    [Show full text]
  • Panchadashee – 05 Mahavakya Vivekah
    Swami Vidyaranya’s PANCHADASHEE – 05 MAHAVAKYA VIVEKAH Fixing the Meaning of the Great Sayings MODERN-DAY REFLECTIONS On a 13TH CENTURY VEDANTA CLASSIC by a South African Student TEXT Swami Gurubhaktananda 47.05 2018 A FOUNDATIONAL TEXT ON VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY PANCHADASHEE – An Anthology of 15 Texts by Swami Vidyaranyaji PART Chap TITLE OF TEXT ENGLISH TITLE No. No. Vers. 1 Tattwa Viveka Differentiation of the Supreme Reality 65 2 Maha Bhoota Viveka Differentiation of the Five Great Elements 109 3 Pancha Kosha Viveka Differentiation of the Five Sheaths 43 SAT: 4 Dvaita Viveka Differentiation of Duality in Creation 69 VIVEKA 5 Mahavakya Viveka Fixing the Meaning of the Great Sayings 8 Sub-Total A 294 6 Chitra Deepa The Picture Lamp 290 7 Tripti Deepa The Lamp of Perfect Satisfaction 298 8 Kootastha Deepa The Unchanging Lamp 76 CHIT: DEEPA 9 Dhyana Deepa The Lamp of Meditation 158 10 Nataka Deepa The Theatre Lamp 26 Sub-Total B 848 11 Yogananda The Bliss of Yoga 134 12 Atmananda The Bliss of the Self 90 13 Advaitananda The Bliss of Non-Duality 105 14 Vidyananda The Bliss of Knowledge 65 ANANDA: 15 Vishayananda The Bliss of Objects 35 Sub-Total C 429 WHOLE BOOK 1571 AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BY THE STUDENT/AUTHOR The Author wishes to acknowledge the “Home Study Course” offerred by the Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF) to students of Vedanta in any part of the world via an online Webinar service. These “Reflections” are based on material he has studied under this Course. CIF is an institute for Samskrit and Indology research, established in 1990 by Pujya Gurudev, Sri Swami Chinmayananda, with a vision of it being “a bridge between the past and the present, East and West, science and spirituality, and pundit and public.” CIF is located at the maternal home and hallowed birthplace of Adi Shankara, the great saint, philosopher and indefatigable champion of Advaita Vedanta, at Veliyanad, 35km north-east of Ernakulam, Kerala, India.
    [Show full text]