In the west yoga has become synonymous with the aspect of physical exercises known as Hatha Yoga. However Yoga is a wide ranging set of spiritual teachings which seek to bring an aspirant closer to the Universal Self. The word yoga means “union” and in this case it is the union of a seeker with God or union with the transcedental consciousness. Sri Chinmoy says the essence of yoga is ” Yoga is our union with Truth.” Sri Chinmoy’s path encompasses all aspects of Yoga. The principle strands of Yoga being

1. Hatha Yoga – physical exercises

2. Karma Yoga – Yoga of selfless action

3. Raja Yoga – Yoga of gaining control over mind

4. Bhakti Yoga – Yoga of love and devotion

5. Jnana Yoga – Yoga of wisdom

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga is the science of practising different yoga postures for the improvement of physica health and general well being. It has been well documented that regular practise of Hatha Yoga can also improve posture and also contribute to an improved state of mind.

Hatha Yoga is not an integral part of Sri Chinmoy’s yoga. Meditation and spiritual growth depend primarily on a seekers sincere inner cry. Sri Chinmoy says of Hatha Yoga

“If your aim is just to keep the body relaxed and fit, then Hatha Yoga will certainly help you. But if you want to complete your course in the inner life, you have to enter into the school of concentration, meditation and contemplation.”

But Sri Chinmoy does place great stress on the importance of physical health. A healthy body is of great benefit in the spiritual life. To this end Hatha Yoga can complement meditation very well. Several of Sri Chinmoy’s students offer Hatha Yoga classes such as Lotus Yoga in Ireland and Yoga centres in San Francisco and Seattle.These hatha yoga classes are held independently of meditation classes, but often there is an overlap with people benefiting from both.

Karma Yoga

Karma yoga is the yoga of dedicated action or selfless service. The aim of Karma Yoga is to engage in activities without attachment to the result. An example of this selfless service is the humanitarian aid programme founded by Sri Chinmoy called “Oneness Heart Tears and Smiles.” Staffed by volunteers from the Sri Chinmoy Centres the OHTS has collected aid for distribution in over 100 countries. In the spirit of Karma Yoga the OHTS programme aims to be more than charity but to extend a feeling of oneness with those less privileged in material needs.

Sri Chinmoy says of Karma Yoga

“Karma Yoga is desireless action undertaken for the sake of the Supreme. Karma Yoga is man’s genuine acceptance of his earthly existence. Karma Yoga is man’s dauntless march across the battlefield of life… Karma Yoga claims that life is a divine opportunity for serving God” (3)

Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga sometimes known as ashtanga Yoga is the yoga of gaining control over the mind in order to achieve liberation. In Raja yoga the aspirant practices concentration and meditation in order to still the mind. The great proponent of Raja yoga was Patanjali who described the various practices in a series of aphorisms. Sri Chinmoy’s approach to Raja Yoga and meditation is to take a path of simplicity. Sri Chinmoy recommends focusing on the spiritual heart. It is here in the spiritual heart that a seeker can gain access to the inner wealth of peace, love and happiness. By meditating in the mind it is more difficult to be unemcumbered with thoughts.

“Our path is basically the path of the heart and not the path of the mind. … The heart is all love.

The mind is quite often all confusion. When we say the heart, we mean the spiritual heart, which is flooded with divine love.”

- Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy Centres offer free meditation classes in cities around the world. The courses are aimed at beginners of meditation and are based on the meditation teachings of Sri Chinmoy. The classes are free at the request of Sri Chinmoy that spirituality should be available to all and not have a monetary fee.

Bhatki Yoga

Bhakti yoga is known as the yoga of devotion. Here a seeker seeks to attain union with God through an attitude of love, devotion and surrender. Sri Chinmoy’s yoga places great emphasis on devotion. For example his numerous songs emphasize a strong devotional approach, as does his early poetry.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana Yoga is the yoga of wisdom. In Jnana yoga the aspirant strives to understand the mystery of the transcendental truth.

“A Jnana yogin declares: Neti, neti. “Not this, not this.” What does he mean? He means that there is a higher world than this sense-world, a higher truth than this earthbound truth. “

- Sri Chinmoy

In one sense Sri Chinmoy does not give great importance to the mind, advocating instead the path of the heart. However his prolific literary output serves as a guide for those seeking to overcome mental obstacles. In particular his short aphorisms and poems (which number over 100,000) and designed as spiritual instruction.

More on Yoga of Sri Chinmoy

By: R.Pettinger, Richard is a member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Oxford.

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Whether you’re an experienced yoga practitioner or a beginner, there are many accessories available to enhance your yoga. Here are some of the most popular and helpful:

Yoga Bags & Totes

If you’re going to a yoga class or yoga studio for your yoga, you’ll probably want a yoga bag to carry your yoga mat. A yoga bag will carry and protect your yoga bag as well as provide you with a stylish accessory. Many yoga bags or yoga totes also come with inner or outer pockets for carrying a water bottle, yoga props, clothing or other yoga accessories.

Yoga Mats

A yoga mat is one of the most essential accessories you should have for your yoga. A quality yoga mat will have some stickiness to it so that it grips the floor and does not slide. A yoga mat protects you from the harshness, hardness and coldness of the floor while doing your yoga. A yoga mat is essential for any yoga practitioner.

Yoga Attire

Many designers now have lines of clothing specifically made for doing yoga. Yoga clothing tends to be lightweight, soft, comfortable but form fitting so that the clothing does not get in the way of your postures. Typical yoga clothing includes tank tops, long sleeve tops, shorts, leggings and sweat pant and sweatshirt type apparel. Special yoga clothing is available for men and women and often comes with colors or symbols that represent meanings in yoga practice.

Yoga Props

There are many yoga props available to help or enhance your yoga practices. These include yoga blocks, yoga straps, yoga bolsters, yoga pillows and yoga blankets. In the case of yoga blocks, these are used to prop yourself up to reduce the risk of over-extension and a resulting injury. Yoga straps are great for beginners and people who can’t stretch very far, a yoga strap enables them to stretch farther or hold limbs when they wouldn’t have been able to without a strap. Yoga straps are useful for many poses. In addition to yoga straps, yoga bolsters or pillows can also be used to anchor yourself during certain poses or provide comfort during awkward poses or allow you to deepen or extend certain poses.

Yoga Blankets & Rugs

Yoga blankets are one of the most versatile yoga accessories you can buy. A yoga blanket can be a mat for shoulder stands, stand in for yoga pillows, blocks or bolsters and can even provide added warmth under your body while you’re doing your poses, for added relaxation.

More Yoga Accessories

Additional yoga accessories are also available, including yoga sandbags, benches, balls, aromatherapy accessories and much more.

Yoga Kits

There are also all-in-one yoga kits available to buy, where a mat, bag, blocks, pillows, straps and other accessories are included in one package. These yoga kits may also include a book or video about yoga.

Whatever yoga accessories you decide on, you’re sure to enhance and strengthen your yoga experience.

Lydia Quinn writes for Attapinya, offering the finest quality in yoga bags, yoga jewelry and yoga accessories made using fair trade practices by talented artisans in Thailand. Visit us at: http://www.attapinya.com

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Buddhist Yoga

Hatha Yoga is enjoying unprecedented growth globally and is being used as a tool for physical fitness, physical therapy, and spiritual development. Modern practice is derived from ancient Tantric exercises, but less well known are the systems of Buddhist Yoga, which share a common lineage with the ancient discipline.

History of Buddhist Yoga

“Yoga exists in the world because everything is linked”

References to Hatha Yoga predate the Buddhist period (6th century B.C.) by many centuries. It was originally developed as an integral part of the Spiritual Path, and as preparation for higher meditative practices. With the birth of Buddha in the 6th Century BC and subsequent popularity of the Buddha’s teachings meditation became one of the main expression of Spiritual Practice along with exercises designed to still the mind towards this state.

More than 500 years after the Buddha’s death, two great centres of Buddhist ideas were established in India. Nalanda became the centre of the Hinayana – Narrow Path Buddhism and Mingar became the centre for Mahayana – Great Path Buddhism.

The Narrow Path Buddhism claimed orthodoxy, whilst the Greater Path adopted a more liberal view of the teachings of the Buddha and also incorporated some practices not directly touched upon by the Buddha during his life. This included some indigenous Tantric practices, including Hatha Yoga Exercises.

The Buddha and Yoga

“This calm steadiness of the senses is called yoga.

Then one should become watchful, becomes yoga comes and go.”

It is thought that an Indian disciple of the Buddha, Batuo transmitted Zen from India to China in the early 6th century C.E. and most modern Zen lineages trace their past directly to this monk and the Shaolin Monastery where he taught.

According to tradition, it was said he found the monks at Shaolin too weak to make satisfactory progress on their Spiritual Paths. So Batuo secluded himself in a cave for nine years, emerging with a solution (including Yoga) to the health problems of the Shaolin Monks and powerful practises to assist their spiritual development.

These practices became a set of Yogic exercises.

Before the arrival of the Batuo, meditation was the primary method used by Chinese Buddhists for seeking enlightenment. Yoga methods used in India had not been passed to the Chinese Monks

Buddhism, Meditation and Yoga

“Yoga is bodily gospel.”

Early Buddhism incorporated meditation into its practice. In fact the oldest expression of Yoga is found in the early sermons of the Buddha. An innovative teaching of the Buddha was that meditation should be combined with the practice of mindfulness with which Yoga could assist the practitioner to this end.

So the difference between the Buddha’s teaching and the yoga presented in other early Indian texts is striking. Meditation alone is not an end, according to the Buddha, and even the highest meditative state is not liberating.

Instead of attaining a nothingness, the Buddha taught that some sort of mental activity must take place: based on the practice of mindful awareness.

The Yogic thoughts of the Buddha also departed from other traditional thoughts and the essence was that their point of reference became the sage who is liberated in life.

Buddhism and Yoga: Where the Paths Cross

“Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind.”

In the forests of Vedic India, students followed teachers who taught them in the path of liberation called yoga, which means “union.” Three centuries after the life of the Buddha his teachings of yoga were compiled by Patanjali as the Yoga Sutras, and another two thousand years later, the teachings of both Buddha and Patanjali have found a new home in the West.

Buddha advocated training the physical body as well as the mind. “He knows himself through internal wisdom and takes care of his body through external discipline”

A healthy body made Spiritual Cultivation less difficult, and the same yoga exercises that could strengthen the physical body could also be used to prepare the mind for liberation.”

Yoga Channels and Chakras

“Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.”

Buddhist and Yoga practitioners use three energy channels and seven chakras in their working model of major energetic/spiritual structures.

The channels that Buddhist and Yoga Practitioners use are the central channel (Sushumna) which runs up the middle of the body, the left channel (Ida) which runs on the left side of the spine and the right channel (Pingala) which runs on the spine’s right side. These channels begin at the base of the spine and end at the Brow Chakra.

The left side channel is considered negative (Yin) and the right side channel is considered positive (Yang). The middle channel is thought to be neutral.

Buddhist Yoga Exercises

“Yoga accepts. Yoga gives.”

It is thought that the Buddha taught three different sets of Buddhist Yoga exercises. These Yoga exercises met with stiff resistance from many in the established Buddhist community with this Yoga eventually becoming “secret” practices, passing to only a few disciples in each generation. It is thought that this secret Yoga tradition will lead to a healthy body and an integrated emotional life.

18 Buddha Hands Yoga

“Yoga is difficult for the one whose mind is not subdued.”

This is one set of yoga exercises that traces its origin right back to the Buddha. One system used today contains 18 chapters of from one to three exercises each. Additionally there is a standing yoga position following each chapter to allow energy that has been mobilized during the exercise to return to balance.

Like Hatha Yoga, this technique is directed at regulating body, breath, and mind. The purpose of this Yoga exercise is to increase the quantity and quality of energy in the body and to facilitate a smooth balanced flow of energy, remove any obstacles, thus calming the mind, and nourishing the spirit.

Thus Yoga exercises contribute to a healthy, vitally alive body and balanced mind and assist in positive spiritual growth.

As a system, 18 Buddha Hands Yoga is unique in several ways. The 18 Buddha Hands Yoga system uses both moving and standing postures. This Yoga system thus helps to develops stillness in movement, and movement in stillness.

The Middle Way is an apt description of the functions of 18 Buddha Hands Yoga systems. On the physical level, the Yoga practitioner gently exercises the whole body, opening and balancing the acupuncture meridians. On a deeper level, the 18 Buddha Hands Yoga system is designed to energize and balance the two side channels, thereby opening the central channel leading towards perfect stillness and a precursor to higher conscious states.

Although the 18 Buddha Hands Yoga system was originally an integral part of Zen Buddhism, it remains a valuable tool for anyone interested in using Yoga for physical well being, mental harmony, and consequential spiritual growth

From the Buddha’s Face Buddhism 101 Project

http://www.thebuddhasface.co.uk

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