Yoga & Advaita Vedanta

[Guest guest]

Namaste to all

 

Recently, a friend of mine and I had a discussion on the salient points of

Patanjali's Yoga philosophy and Advaita Vedanta. Several points were raised

by both of us and we were not satisfied at the end of our discussion as we

do possess only a limited knowledge on the subject we are dealing with. I

still have several doubts on this subject and would greatly appreciate if

the list members can enlighten me. I have jotted them down in the form of

questions and here they are:

 

1. Is the way and goal of Patanjali's Yoga and Advaita Vedanta the same?

2. Is Samadhi (Nirvikalpa) the goal of Advaita Vedanta?

3. Did Sri Sankara refute the philosophy of yoga?

4. In aparokshanabhuti, Sri Sankara teaches the 15 limb approach to the

realization of the Self. He also incorporates the terms used by Patanjali

on the 8 limbs but interprets them in a different way. In the last verse of

the text, he uses the term Hatha Yoga. What is he specifically referring to

by this term?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Om Shanti

Kathi

[Guest guest]

On 8/16/99 at 7:31 PM K Kathirasan ADM NCS wrote:

>K Kathirasan ADM NCS <kathirasan

>

>Namaste to all

>

>Recently, a friend of mine and I had a discussion on the

salient points of

>Patanjali's Yoga philosophy and Advaita Vedanta. Several

points were raised

>by both of us and we were not satisfied at the end of our

discussion as we

>do possess only a limited knowledge on the subject we are

dealing with. I

>still have several doubts on this subject and would greatly

appreciate if

>the list members can enlighten me. I have jotted them down

in the form of

>questions and here they are:

>

>1. Is the way and goal of Patanjali's Yoga and Advaita

Vedanta the same?

[...]

The goal of Patanjali's yoga is Kaivalya. A translation of the

Patanjali Sutra (IV,33) says: "The succession (of

transformations) has, as counterparts, moments and is cognized

only at the last stage of transformation." This implies that

"liberation proper" has to mean that the proverbial match that

started the fire is burnt itself. In a subtle way, Purohit

Swami hints at it, commenting (I,27: His name is OM) "[...]

The last word the yogi hears before passing into the final

condition of illumination is OM; when he passes out of it and

comes to his sense again, the first word he hears is OM". This

sequence equals the "alpha and omega" of the NT. I haven't

found anything on this in Vedanta but it has be be known;

swami Sivananda mentions the various "types" of jivan muktas

and according to him, one of those "types" wouldn't feel pain

when a leg would be amputated (using no anaesthetic). For this

to be true, transformations must have been completed so the

issue should be known. The Patanjali Sutras can't be called a

nondual text but at the end of transformations, that issue

will no longer be relevant..

 

Jan

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 16 Aug 1999, K Kathirasan posed some interesting questions

about the relationship between Patanjali-type yoga and Advaita

Vedanta. Anyone care to offer some light?

>1. Is the way and goal of Patanjali's Yoga and Advaita Vedanta the same?

>2. Is Samadhi (Nirvikalpa) the goal of Advaita Vedanta?

>3. Did Sri Sankara refute the philosophy of yoga?

>4. In aparokshanabhuti, Sri Sankara teaches the 15 limb approach to the

>realization of the Self. He also incorporates the terms used by Patanjali

>on the 8 limbs but interprets them in a different way. In the last verse of

>the text, he uses the term Hatha Yoga. What is he specifically referring to

>by this term?

 

 

 

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