Hatha yoga? What is it and will it Work For You?
I often wondered will this yoga work for me and what the heck is Hatha Yoga?
Yoga
Well if you have read the previous two posts you should be starting to get the idea, so have a read and tell me what you think.
Over the last century the term yoga has come to be especially associated with the postures (Sanskrit asanas) of hatha yoga (“Forced Yoga”).
Hatha yoga has gained wide popularity outside of India and traditional yoga-practicing religions, and the postures are sometimes presented as entirely secular or non-spiritual in nature.
Traditional Hatha Yoga is a complete yogic path, including moral disciplines, physical exercises (e.g., postures and breath control), and meditation, and encompasses far more than the yoga of postures and exercises practiced in the West as physical culture. The seminal work on Hatha Yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Swami Svatmarama.
Hatha Yoga was invented to provide a form of physical purification and training that would prepare aspirants for the higher training that is called Raja Yoga (see above). This is still true today. Despite this, many in the West practice ‘Hatha yoga’ solely for the perceived health benefits it provides, and not as a path to enlightenment.
Natya yoga
The guide to Natya (Dance) Yoga was written by Bharata Muni. Sage Narada along with Gandharvas were the first to practise Natya Yoga, which comprise all the four main yoga’s. Natya Yoga was practised by the medieval devadasis, and is currently taught in a few orthodox schools of Bharatanatyam and Odissi.
Buddhist yoga
Within the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism yoga likewise holds a central place, though not in the form presented by Patanjali or the Gita. (For example, physical postures are rarely practiced.) An example would be “guru yoga,” the union with the mind of the spiritual teacher which must be done at the beginning of the spiritual path and regularly throughout. In the tantric traditions a number of practices are classified with the name “yoga”, for example, the two of the four general classification of tantras–”Yoga Tantra” and “Highest Yoga Tantra”.
A system of 108 bodily postures practiced with breath and heart rhythm timing in movement exercises is known as Thrul-Khor or union of moon and sun (channel) prajna energies. The body postures of tibetan ancient yogis are depicted on the walls of the Dalai Lama’s summer temple of Lukhang.
As the whole buddhist lineage transmission of Kagyu school came to Tibet over the Indian Yogis Naropa, Tilopa, Marpa then Milarepa, Gampopa, authentic old buddhist yogic practices have been passed over to students still following these instructions throughout many Kagyu Monasteries and institutes worldwide.
Yogacara (“Yoga Adepts”), which is also known as Cittamatra (“Consciousness Only”) is an important philosophical school within Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.
Yoga and tantra
Yoga is often mentioned in company with Tantra. While the two have deep similarities, most traditions distinguish them from one another.
They are similar in that both amount to families of spiritual texts, practices, and lineages with origins in the Indian subcontinent. (Coincidentally, both have been popularized to some extent in the West, with perhaps a shallower understanding of their nature). It should be noted however that for the most part, we are speaking of different families of texts, lineages, etc.
Their differences are variously expressed. Some Hindu commentators see yoga as a process whereby body consciousness is seen as the root cause of bondage, while tantra views the body as a means to understanding, rather than as an obstruction. It must be said that in India, tantra often carries quite negative connotations involving sexual misbehavior and black magic. Nevertheless, most forms of tantra follow more mainstream social mores. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is generally classified as a Hindu tantric scripture.
Dont get to worried if a lot of the terminolgy is hard to understand, it is all in here to keep with the tradition that hatha and other forrms of yoga deserve. Just read and take in the best that suits you the reader.
The yoga itself is what counts here although we do need to keep tradition here alive and respectful.
Tantra has roots in the first millennium CE, and incorporates much more of a theistic basis. Almost entirely founded on Shiva and Shakti worship, Hindu tantra visualizes the ultimate Brahman as Param Shiva, manifested through Shiva (the passive, masculine force of Lord Shiva) and Shakti (the active, creative feminine force of his consort, variously known as Ma Kali, Durga, Shakti, Parvati and others). It focuses on the kundalini, a three and a half-coiled ‘snake’ of spiritual energy at the base of the spine that rises through the chakras until union between Shiva and Shakti (also known as samadhi) is achieved. (Some Hindu yoga teachers, however, have adopted these concepts.)
Tantra emphasises mantra (Sanskrit prayers, often to gods, that are repeated), yantra (complex symbols representing gods in various forms through intricate geometric figures), and rituals that range from simple murti (statue representations of deities) or image worship to meditation on a corpse! While tantric texts (see kaularvatantra, mahanirvana tantra) and teachers (e.g. Abhinava Gupta) may seem odd and highly arcane from the point of view of classical yoga, that these incorporate yoga concepts seems clear.
In Tibetan Buddhism, which embraces both, yoga is seen as a synonym for “spiritual practice,” while “tantra” refers to a specific category of texts and practices, etc that are roughly analogous to the Hindu ones described above. (The fact that Hindu “yoga” has these things as well may have escaped the attention of classical Tibetan commentators.) In that spirit other Buddhist traditions, such as Theravada, practice a form of “yoga” but reject “tantra.”
Links
• Samkhya and Yoga in Hinduism and Buddhism
• The Yoga philosophy
• The Yoga with its eight limbs
• Concepts of Hinduism- Yoga
• About the yoga sutras and Patanjali
• Yogasutras of Patanjali
• Yoga, longevity and quality of life
• The yoga techniques and practices
• Hinduism and yoga
• Concepts of Hinduism- Yoga
Did this help you at all? if so leave a comment,
Cheers
Gaylene
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