Dear all, if you've ever wondered "What is yoga?", here's the most concise & impartial summary I've ever come across, being presented as an official write-up of Indian culture, and not as any promotional material of any branch of yoga practice. Some other related topics are also a good read, listed as follows:
Yoga
Hatha Yoga
Kundalini
Meditation
Ayurveda
Karma
Mantra
Prana
[url=hthttp://www.haryana-online.com/Culture/buddhism.htm]Buddhism[/url]
Hinduism
There are also a few other terms found as hyperlinks on some of the pages above. Please feel free to explore if you're interested.
One noticeable topic is on meditation, with brief mention of how people from each culture practices it, including Abrahamic traditions which sounds similar to the praying that some churches teach. There is even a Jesus-style meditation which I haven't heard of before, quoted from New Age writing 'The Urantia Book'.
TM (Transcendental Meditation) founded by Mahesh Yogi (which has been mentioned in Maharishi University of Management in 'Unrelated Topics' forum, and Tom's book 'The Joy of Perfect Health') is also briefly mentioned on the Mantra page.
On Indian-originated Spiritual Practices
Moderator: Moderators
I still find Patanjali's definition great: Yoga is the cessation of mind.
The problem is with translation. In all the Eastern langauge, whether that be sanskrit or a local dialect, are words which we haven't have the right translation for. And the translaters often aren't Enlightened themselves, so how can they truly translate?? Down the years much bad info is accumulated, especially on the internet. I have seen things which really were THE OPPOSITE of what was actually meant. So be careful. If you read a book from Mr. A read one from Mr. B too, and from Mr. C and Mr. D. Really, you will see, everyone will contradict eachother. Some say the energy has to be drawn up from the back and back down by the front of the body, but then others say it has to be done completely opposite, up by the front and down by the back! What to do?? Who knows?? So not only does your own mind make errors and you have to watch out for them, you will have to watch out for other people's errors too!!
If you really need to read something about Yoga, or any other 'Eastern' subject, Osho is the best I have found. I love him! I have e-books, 200 of them, that I would love to share with others, although I guess it is a bit illegal. But to hell with the rules, such great info can't be held back!
Contact me if you want them. Or if you have some space (about 160 MB) I can place them online for everyone to download.
The problem is with translation. In all the Eastern langauge, whether that be sanskrit or a local dialect, are words which we haven't have the right translation for. And the translaters often aren't Enlightened themselves, so how can they truly translate?? Down the years much bad info is accumulated, especially on the internet. I have seen things which really were THE OPPOSITE of what was actually meant. So be careful. If you read a book from Mr. A read one from Mr. B too, and from Mr. C and Mr. D. Really, you will see, everyone will contradict eachother. Some say the energy has to be drawn up from the back and back down by the front of the body, but then others say it has to be done completely opposite, up by the front and down by the back! What to do?? Who knows?? So not only does your own mind make errors and you have to watch out for them, you will have to watch out for other people's errors too!!
If you really need to read something about Yoga, or any other 'Eastern' subject, Osho is the best I have found. I love him! I have e-books, 200 of them, that I would love to share with others, although I guess it is a bit illegal. But to hell with the rules, such great info can't be held back!
Contact me if you want them. Or if you have some space (about 160 MB) I can place them online for everyone to download.
Don't read my signature.