Guest guest Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Hi, I was perusing the book list on amazon and found the entry for Saundarya Lahari of Sri Sankaracarya and the page describing it talks about bhakti yoga. I've just started "hot yoga" at a local studio, and it's based on Bikram Yoga, and the only thing I really cared about going in was that it might help me with some physical issues and it was recommended by my chiropractor. But once I got there I realized that there was a connection to a genuine yoga practice and suddenly I realized that I really don't know what yoga means. Open to information! Thanks and namaste, prainbow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Hi prainbow: Congratulations on developing your hatha yoga practice. Did your chiropractor suggest Bikram yoga, or just hatha yoga in general? I think it is valuable to explore different teachers and methods to find what works best. I know of some Bikram students who left hatha yoga after their experiences there without even looking into other teachings (yet), which is unfortunate. One of my yoga teachers recommended a book to me recently called Yoga for the Three Stages of Life - Developing Your Practice as an Art Form, a Physical Therapy, and a Guiding Philosophy. It describes yogic practices, physical and otherwise, in great detail. It's by Srivatsa Ramaswami (from deep southern India, a Tamil Smarta) who studied with Sri Krishnamacarya, who taught BKS Iyengar and TKV Desikachar, among others. (Those two have well-known methodologies, Iyengar and Viniyoga) The book lists a definition of "bhaktiyoga" as: "yoga of devotion. Integration of the individual soul with the supreme through love, devotion. An important aspect of both the Bhagavad Gita and the Yogasutras." And "bhakti" is defined as: "devotion, sublime love toward the supreme being." The author tells of two "subsystems" of yoga methodology, one in which it is up to the devotee to exert the effort to unite with the Divine, the other in which the devotee surrenders to the Divine. These two ways are likened to the experience of a baby monkey, and a kitten. A baby monkey clings to its mother as she swings from branch to branch, etc. The baby must make all the effort and take care to hold onto the mother in order to get where she/they are going. "This is the essence of bhaktiyoga," says the author. The second subsystem is likened to a kitten that surrenders its own effort completely as it travels in the mouth of its parent, trusting it will be completely taken care of by so doing. There's a lot more than just the above discussed in the book. It's easy to read and quite in-depth. Mary Ann , "prainbow61" <paulie- rainbow@u...> wrote: > > Hi, > > I was perusing the book list on amazon and found the entry for Saundarya Lahari of Sri > Sankaracarya and the page describing it talks about bhakti yoga. > > I've just started "hot yoga" at a local studio, and it's based on Bikram Yoga, and the only > thing I really cared about going in was that it might help me with some physical issues and > it was recommended by my chiropractor. But once I got there I realized that there was a > connection to a genuine yoga practice and suddenly I realized that I really don't know what > yoga means. > > Open to information! > > Thanks and namaste, > > prainbow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 --- Mary Ann <buttercookie61 wrote: > The author tells of two "subsystems" of yoga > methodology, one in > which it is up to the devotee to exert the effort to > unite with the > Divine, the other in which the devotee surrenders to > the Divine. > These two ways are likened to the experience of a > baby monkey, and a > kitten. A baby monkey clings to its mother as she > swings from > branch to branch, etc. The baby must make all the > effort and take > care to hold onto the mother in order to get where > she/they are > going. "This is the essence of bhaktiyoga," says the > author. > The > second subsystem is likened to a kitten that > surrenders its own > effort completely as it travels in the mouth of its > parent, trusting > it will be completely taken care of by so doing. What does this correspond to? Jnana yoga? I've read the paths of the baby monkey and kitten as also typifying the Grace of Krishna (hang on for dear life, like a baby monkey!), or of Shiva (who'll carry you to moksha whether you want to go or not!). The Grace of Shakti was compared to a baby eagle -- Mother eagle always watching, but from a distance. -- Len/ Kalipadma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 This book describes asana practice combined with pranayama, and includes pictures and descriptions of asanas and their benefits as the path to to unity between any two principles as well as, ultimately, union with the Divine. It is not comprehensive in covering approaches beyond this, though the author tells as much about them as he is able to fit around his purpose of "Developing Your Practice As An Art Form, a Physical Therapy, and a Guiding Philosophy." "Jnanayoga" is defined as "a yoga relying on sharp uncompromising intellect and yogic practice, to realize the unchanging, absolute underlying principle of the universe (Brahman)." The author discusses many different yoga systems and which ancient texts provide guidance in accordance with those systems. He states that yoga (root "yuj" meaning "union") is normally used to mean integration between any two principles, and in spiritual parlance, it refers to unity with a higher principle. He also states that hathayoga (to be pronounced with a hard "t" sound, with the "h" added for emphasis), is the unity between the sun and moon principles, prana and apana. Jnanayoga, and rajayoga, bhaktiyoga, etc. are defined in the glossary, and some are in the text itself, like what I excerpted on bhaktiyoga. But the author says that he is adhering to the style of ancient yoga texts by beginning with a description of the end result of yoga spiritually (union with the Divine), based on or as in the yoga sutras of Patanjali, and the Vedas. He discusses other works, including the Puranas and Tantric texts, and which systems of yoga they provide guidance for. Mary Ann , Len Rosenberg <kalipadma108> wrote: > > --- Mary Ann <buttercookie61> wrote: > > > The author tells of two "subsystems" of yoga > > methodology, one in > > which it is up to the devotee to exert the effort to > > unite with the > > Divine, the other in which the devotee surrenders to > > the Divine. > > These two ways are likened to the experience of a > > baby monkey, and a > > kitten. A baby monkey clings to its mother as she > > swings from > > branch to branch, etc. The baby must make all the > > effort and take > > care to hold onto the mother in order to get where > > she/they are > > going. "This is the essence of bhaktiyoga," says the > > author. > > > The > > second subsystem is likened to a kitten that > > surrenders its own > > effort completely as it travels in the mouth of its > > parent, trusting > > it will be completely taken care of by so doing. > > What does this correspond to? Jnana yoga? > > I've read the paths of the baby monkey and kitten as > also typifying the Grace of Krishna (hang on for dear > life, like a baby monkey!), or of Shiva (who'll carry > you to moksha whether you want to go or not!). The > Grace of Shakti was compared to a baby eagle -- Mother > eagle always watching, but from a distance. > > -- Len/ Kalipadma > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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