Yoga (philosophy)
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Yoga philosophy is one of the six major important schools of Hindu philosophy,[1][2] though it is only at the end of the first millennium CE that Yoga is mentioned as a separate school of thought in Indian texts, distinct from Samkhya.[3][4][web 1] Ancient, medieval and modern literature often simply call Yoga philosophy Yoga.[1][5] A systematic collection of ideas of Yoga is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,[6][7] a key text of Yoga[web 1] which has influenced all other schools of Indian philosophy.[8][9]
The metaphysics of Yoga is Samkhya's dualism,[web 1] in which the universe is conceptualized as composed of two realities: Puruṣa (witness-consciousness) and Prakṛti (nature). Jiva (a living being) is considered as a state in which puruṣa is bonded to Prakṛti in some form, in various permutations and combinations of various elements, senses, feelings, activity and mind.[10] During the state of imbalance or ignorance, one or more constituents overwhelm the others, creating a form of bondage. The end of this bondage is called liberation, or mokṣa, by both the Yoga and Samkhya schools of Hinduism,[11] and can be attained by insight and self-restraint.[12][web 1]
The ethical theory of Yoga philosophy is based on Yamas and Niyama, as well as elements of the Guṇa theory of Samkhya.[web 1] The epistemology of Yoga philosophy, like the Sāmkhya school, relies on three of six Pramanas as the means of gaining reliable knowledge.[13] These include Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference) and Sabda (Āptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources).[14][15] Yoga philosophy differs from the closely related non-theistic/atheistic Samkhya school by incorporating the concept of a "personal, yet essentially inactive, deity" or "personal god" (Ishvara).[16][17][18]
- ^ a b Knut Jacobsen (2008), Theory and Practice of Yoga, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-3232-9, pages 100-101, 333-340
- ^ Maurice Phillips (Published as Max Muller collection), The Evolution of Hinduism, Origin and Growth of Religion, p. 8, at Google Books, PhD. Thesis awarded by University of Berne, Switzerland, page 8
- ^ Whicher 1999, p. 320.
- ^ David Lawrence (2014), in The Bloomsbury Companion to Hindu Studies (Editor: Jessica Frazier), Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN 978-1-4725-1151-5, pages 137-150
- ^ Mikel Burley (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga – An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-64887-5, pages 43-46 and Introduction chapter
- ^ Maas 2006.
- ^ Larson, p. 21–22.
- ^ Mikel Burley (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga – An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-64887-5, pages 20-29
- ^ Roy Perrett, Indian Ethics: Classical traditions and contemporary challenges, Volume 1 (Editor: P Bilimoria et al), Ashgate, ISBN 978-0-7546-3301-3, pages 149-158
- ^ Samkhya – Hinduism Encyclopædia Britannica (2014)
- ^ Gerald James Larson (2011), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0503-3, pages 36-47
- ^ Yoga Vasistha 6.1.12-13
- ^ John A. Grimes, A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-3067-5, page 238
- ^ Larson 1998, p. 9
- ^ * Eliott Deutsche (2000), in Philosophy of Religion : Indian Philosophy Vol 4 (Editor: Roy Perrett), Routledge, ISBN 978-0-8153-3611-2, pages 245-248;
- John A. Grimes, A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-3067-5, page 238
- ^ Mikel Burley (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga – An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-64887-5, page 39-41
- ^ Lloyd Pflueger, Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra, in Theory and Practice of Yoga (Editor: Knut Jacobsen), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-3232-9, pages 38-39
- ^ Kovoor T. Behanan (2002), Yoga: Its Scientific Basis, Dover, ISBN 978-0-486-41792-9, pages 56-58
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