Yoga

[Guest guest]

Yoga besides being a classical darshana by itself has historically

had its own generic meaning with regards spiritual practice –

Krishna, Manu, the Buddha, Gaudapaada all use the word "yoga" to

denote some particular form of spiritual practice. Likewise all

darshanas too have their own meaning/use for yoga.

 

So in this context can yoga be interpreted as a fundamental spiritual

discipline underlying the metaphysics of all schools? As irrespective

of their metaphysics, all schools have taught the things like the

control of the psycho/physical faculties as a pre-cursor for the dawn

of true knowledge. Patanjali's yoga in this context is nothing but

the traditional yogic spiritual practice mapped under the framework

of Saamkhyan metaphysics.

 

Also is there any comparative work on Patanjala Yoga and Yogaacaara

Buddhism? Here I'm not really talking about metaphysical comparison

(what with modern interpreters obsession with "mind only" etc), but

in terms of spiritual practice. I've noticed some verses from the

Patanjala Yoga Sutras quoted intact in some Yogaacaara works – but

again this is more in the context of spiritual practice than

metaphysics.

 

Advance thanks for all clarifications/suggestions.