The
Eight Limbs , The Core of Yoga
by William J.D. Doran
The practice of
yoga is an art and science dedicated
to creating union between body, mind
and spirit. Its objective is to assist
the practitioner in using the breath
and body to foster an awareness of
ourselves as individualized beings
intimately connected to the unified
whole of creation. In short it is
about making balance and creating
equanimity so as to live in peace,
good health and harmony with the greater
whole. This art of right living was
perfected and practiced in India thousands
of years ago and the foundations of
yoga philosophy were written down
in The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, approximately
200 AD. This sacred text describes
the inner workings of the mind and
provides an eight-step blueprint for
controlling its restlessness so as
to enjoying lasting peace.
The core of Patanjali’s
Yoga Sutra is an eight-limbed path
that forms the structural framework
for yoga practice. Upon practicing
all eight limbs of the path it becomes
self-evident that no one element is
elevated over another in a hierarchical
order. Each is part of a holistic
focus which eventually brings completeness
to the individual as they find their
connectivity to the divine. Because
we are all uniquely individual a person
can emphasize one branch and then
move on to another as they round out
their understanding.
In brief the eight
limbs, or steps to yoga, are as follows:
Yama : Universal morality
Niyama : Personal
observances
Asanas : Body postures
Pranayama : Breathing
exercises, and control of prana
Pratyahara : Control
of the senses
Dharana : Concentration
and cultivating inner perceptual awareness
Dhyana : Devotion,
Meditation on the Divine
Samadhi : Union with
the Divine
The first two limbs that Patanjali
describes are the fundamental ethical
precepts called yamas, and the niyamas.
These can also be looked at as universal
morality and personal observances.
Yamas and niyamas are the suggestions
given on how we should deal with people
around us and our attitude toward
ourselves. The attitude we have toward
things and people outside ourselves
is yama, how we relate to ourselves
inwardly is niyama. Both are mostly
concerned with how we use our energy
in relationship to others and to ourselves.
The yamas are broken
down into five "wise characteristics."
Rather than a list of dos and don’ts,
"they tell us that our fundamental
nature is compassionate, generous,
honest and peaceful." i They
are as follows:
I. Yamas (Universal Morality)
1. Ahimsa –
Compassion for all living things
The word ahimsa literally mean not
to injure or show cruelty to any creature
or any person in any way whatsoever.
Ahimsa is, however, more than just
lack of violence as adapted in yoga.
It means kindness, friendliness, and
thoughtful consideration of other
people and things. It also has to
do with our duties and responsibilities
too. Ahimsa implies that in every
situation we should adopt a considerate
attitude and do no harm.
2. Satya –
Commitment to Truthfulness
Satya means "to speak the truth,"
yet it is not always desirable to
speak the truth on all occasions,
for it could harm someone unnecessarily.
We have to consider what we say, how
we say it, and in what way it could
affect others. If speaking the truth
has negative consequences for another,
then it is better to say nothing.
Satya should never come into conflict
with our efforts to behave with ahimsa.
This precept is based on the understanding
that honest communication and action
form the bedrock of any healthy relationship,
community, or government, and that
deliberate deception, exaggerations,
and mistruths harm others. ii
3. Asteya - Non-stealing
Steya means "to steal";
asteya is the opposite-to take nothing
that does not belong to us. This also
means that if we are in a situation
where someone entrusts something to
us or confides in us, we do not take
advantage of him or her. Non-stealing
includes not only taking what belongs
to another without permission, but
also using something for a different
purpose to that intended, or beyond
the time permitted by its owner.iii
The practice of asteya implies not
taking anything that has not been
freely given. This includes fostering
a consciousness of how we ask for
others’ time for inconsiderate
behavior demanding another’s
attention when not freely given is,
in effect, stealing.
4. Brahmacharya -
Sense control
Brahmacharya is used mostly in the
sense of abstinence, particularly
in relationship to sexual activity.
Brahmacharya suggests that we should
form relationships that foster our
understanding of the highest truths.
Brahmacharya does not necessarily
imply celibacy. Rather, it means responsible
behavior with respect to our goal
of moving toward the truth. Practicing
brahmacharya means that we use our
sexual energy to regenerate our connection
to our spiritual self. It also means
that we don’t use this energy
in any way that might harm others.iv
5. Aparigraha - Neutralizing
the desire to acquire and hoard wealth
Aparigraha means to take only what
is necessary, and not to take advantage
of a situation or act greedy. We should
only take what we have earned; if
we take more, we are exploiting someone
else. The yogi feels that the collection
or hoarding of things implies a lack
of faith in God and in himself to
provide for his future.v Aparigraha
also implies letting go of our attachments
to things and an understanding that
impermanence and change are the only
constants.
The Yoga Sutra describes
what happens when these five behaviors
outlined above become part of a person's
daily life. Thus, the yamas are the
moral virtues which, if attended to,
purify human nature and contribute
to health and happiness of society.
II. Niyama (Personal Observances)
Niyama means "rules"
or "laws." These are the
rules prescribed for personal observance.
Like the yamas, the five niyamas are
not exercises or actions to be simply
studied. They represent far more than
an attitude. Compared with the yamas,
the niyamas are more intimate and
personal. They refer to the attitude
we adopt toward ourselves as we create
a code for living soulfully
1. Sauca - Purity
The first niyama is sauca, meaning
purity and cleanliness. Sauca has
both an inner and an outer aspect.
Outer cleanliness simply means keeping
ourselves clean. Inner cleanliness
has as much to do with the healthy,
free functioning of our bodily organs
as with the clarity of our mind. Practicing
asanas or pranayama are essential
means for attending to this inner
sauca. Asanas tones the entire body
and removes toxins while pranayama
cleanses our lungs, oxygenates our
blood and purifies our nerves. "But
more important than the physical cleansing
of the body is the cleansing of the
mind of its disturbing emotions like
hatred, passion, anger, lust, greed,
delusion and pride." vi
2. Santosa - Contentment
Another niyama is santosa, modesty
and the feeling of being content with
what we have. To be at peace within
and content with one's lifestyle finding
contentment even while experiencing
life’s difficulties for life
becomes a process of growth through
all kinds of circumstances. We should
accept that there is a purpose for
everything - yoga calls it karma –
and we cultivate contentment 'to accept
what happens'. It means being happy
with what we have rather than being
unhappy about what we don't have.
3. Tapas –
Disciplined use of our energy
Tapas refers to the activity of keeping
the body fit or to confront and handle
the inner urges without outer show.
Literally it means to heat the body
and, by so doing, to cleanse it. Behind
the notion of tapas lies the idea
we can direct our energy to enthusiastically
engage life and achieve our ultimate
goal of creating union with the Divine.
Tapas helps us burn up all the desires
that stand in our way of this goal.
Another form of tapas is paying attention
to what we eat. Attention to body
posture, attention to eating habits,
attention to breathing patterns -
these are all tapas.
4. Svadhyaya –
Self study
The fourth niyama is svadhyaya. Sva
means "self' adhyaya means "inquiry"
or "examination". Any activity
that cultivates self-reflective consciousness
can be considered svadhyaya. It means
to intentionally find self-awareness
in all our activities and efforts,
even to the point of welcoming and
accepting our limitations. It teaches
us to be centered and non-reactive
to the dualities, to burn out unwanted
and self-destructive tendencies.
5. Isvarapranidhana
- Celebration of the Spiritual
Isvarapranidhana means "to lay
all your actions at the feet of God."
It is the contemplation on God (Isvara)
in order to become attuned to god
and god's will. It is the recognition
that the spiritual suffuses everything
and through our attention and care
we can attune ourselves with our role
as part of the Creator. The practice
requires that we set aside some time
each day to recognize that there is
some omnipresent force larger than
ourselves that is guiding and directing
the course of our lives. vii
III. Asanas (Body postures)
Asana is the practice
of physical postures. It is the most
commonly known aspect of yoga for
those unfamiliar with the other seven
limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra.
The practice of moving the body into
postures has widespread benefits;
of these the most underlying are improved
health, strength, balance and flexibility.
On a deeper level the practice of
asana, which means "staying"
or "abiding" in Sanskrit,
is used as a tool to calm the mind
and move into the inner essence of
being. The challenge of poses offers
the practitioner the opportunity to
explore and control all aspects of
their emotions, concentration, intent,
faith, and unity between the physical
and the ethereal body. Indeed, using
asanas to challenge and open the physical
body acts as a binding agent to bring
one in harmony with all the unseen
elements of their being, the forces
that shape our lives through our responses
to the physical world. Asana then
becomes a way of exploring our mental
attitudes and strengthening our will
as we learn to release and move into
the state of grace that comes from
creating balance between our material
world and spiritual experience.
As one practices
asana it fosters a quieting of the
mind, thus it becomes both a preparation
for meditation and a meditation sufficient
in and of itself. Releasing to the
flow and inner strength that one develops
brings about a profound grounding
spirituality in the body. The physicality
of the yoga postures becomes a vehicle
to expand the consciousness that pervades
our every aspect of our body. The
key to fostering this expansion of
awareness and consciousness begins
with the control of breath, the fourth
limb – Pranayama. Patanjali
suggests that the asana and the pranayama
practices will bring about the desired
state of health; the control of breath
and bodily posture will harmonize
the flow of energy in the organism,
thus creating a fertile field for
the evolution of the spirit. "This
down-to-earth, flesh-and-bones practice
is simply one of the most direct and
expedient ways to meet yourself. …
This limb of yoga practice reattaches
us to our body. In reattaching ourselves
to our bodies we reattach ourselves
to the responsibility of living a
life guided by the undeniable wisdom
of our body."viii To this B.K.S.
Iyengar adds: "The needs of the
body are the needs of the divine spirit
which lives through the body. The
yogi does not look heaven-ward to
find God for he know that He is within."ix
IV. Pranayama (Breath
Control)
Pranayama is the
measuring, control, and directing
of the breath. Pranayama controls
the energy (prana) within the organism,
in order to restore and maintain health
and to promote evolution. When the
in-flowing breath is neutralized or
joined with the out-flowing breath,
then perfect relaxation and balance
of body activities are realized. In
yoga, we are concerned with balancing
the flows of vital forces, then directing
them inward to the chakra system and
upward to the crown chakra.
Pranayama, or breathing
technique, is very important in yoga.
It goes hand in hand with the asana
or pose. In the Yoga Sutra, the practices
of pranayama and asana are considered
to be the highest form of purification
and self discipline for the mind and
the body, respectively. The practices
produce the actual physical sensation
of heat, called tapas, or the inner
fire of purification. It is taught
that this heat is part of the process
of purifying the nadis, or subtle
nerve channels of the body. This allows
a more healthful state to be experienced
and allows the mind to become more
calm.x As the yogi follows the proper
rhythmic patterns of slow deep breathing
"the patterns strengthen the
respiratory system, soothe the nervous
system and reduce craving. As desires
and cravings diminish, the mind is
set free and becomes a fit vehicle
for concentration."xi
V. Pratyahara (Control
of the Senses)
Pratyahara means
drawing back or retreat. The word
ahara means "nourishment";
pratyahara translates as "to
withdraw oneself from that which nourishes
the senses." In yoga, the term
pratyahara implies withdrawal of the
senses from attachment to external
objects. It can then be seen as the
practice of non-attachment to sensorial
distractions as we constantly return
to the path of self realization and
achievement of internal peace. It
means our senses stop living off the
things that stimulate; the senses
no longer depend on these stimulants
and are not fed by them any more.
In pratyahara we
sever this link between mind and senses,
and the senses withdraw. When the
senses are no longer tied to external
sources, the result is restraint or
pratyahara. Now that the vital forces
are flowing back to the Source within,
one can concentrate without being
distracted by externals or the temptation
to cognize externals.
Pratyahara occurs
almost automatically when we meditate
because we are so absorbed in the
object of meditation. Precisely because
the mind is so focused, the senses
follow it; it is not happening the
other way around.
No longer functioning
in their usual manner, the senses
become extraordinarily sharp. Under
normal circumstances the senses become
our masters rather than being our
servants. The senses entice us to
develop cravings for all sorts of
things. In pratyahara the opposite
occurs: when we have to eat we eat,
but not because we have a craving
for food. In pratyahara we try to
put the senses in their proper place,
but not cut them out of our actions
entirely.
Much of our emotional
imbalance are our own creation. A
person who is influenced by outside
events and sensations can never achieve
the inner peace and tranquility. This
is because he or she will waste much
mental and physical energy in trying
to suppress unwanted sensations and
to heighten other sensations. This
will eventually result in a physical
or mental imbalance, and will, in
most instances, result in illness.
Patanjali says that
the above process is at the root of
human unhappiness and uneasiness.
When people seek out yoga, hoping
to find that inner peace which is
so evasive, they find that it was
theirs all along. In a sense, yoga
is nothing more than a process which
enables us to stop and look at the
processes of our own minds; only in
this way can we understand the nature
of happiness and unhappiness, and
thus transcend them both.xii
VI. Dharana (Concentration
and cultivating inner perceptual awareness)
Dharana means "immovable
concentration of the mind". The
essential idea is to hold the concentration
or focus of attention in one direction.
"When the body has been tempered
by asanas, when the mind has been
refined by the fire of pranayama and
when the senses have been brought
under control by pratyahara, the sadhaka
(seeker) reaches the sixth stage,
dharana. Here he is concentrated wholly
on a single point or on a task in
which he is completely engrossed.
The mind has to be stilled in order
to achieve this state of complete
absorption."xiii
In dharana we create
the conditions for the mind to focus
its attention in one direction instead
of going out in many different directions.
Deep contemplation and reflection
can create the right conditions, and
the focus on this one point that we
have chosen becomes more intense.
We encourage one particular activity
of the mind and, the more intense
it becomes, the more the other activities
of the mind fall away.
The objective in
dharana is to steady the mind by focusing
its attention upon some stable entity.
The particular object selected has
nothing to do with the general purpose,
which is to stop the mind from wandering
-through memories, dreams, or reflective
thought-by deliberately holding it
single-mindedly upon some apparently
static object. B.K.S. Iyengar states
that the objective is to achieve the
mental state where the mind, intellect,
and ego are "all restrained and
all these faculties are offered to
the Lord for His use and in His service.
Here there is no feeling of 'I' and
'mine'."xiv
When the mind has
become purified by yoga practices,
it becomes able to focus efficiently
on one subject or point of experience.
Now we can unleash the great potential
for inner healing.
VII. Dhyana (Devotion
, Meditation on the Divine)
Dhyana means worship,
or profound and abstract religious
meditation. It is perfect contemplation.
It involves concentration upon a point
of focus with the intention of knowing
the truth about it. The concept holds
that when one focuses their mind in
concentration on an object the mind
is transformed into the shape of the
object. Hence, when one focuses on
the divine they become more reflective
of it and they know their true nature.
"His body, breath, senses, mind,
reason and ego are all integrated
in the object of his contemplation
– the Universal Spirit."xv
During dhyana, the
consciousness is further unified by
combining clear insights into distinctions
between objects and between the subtle
layers of perception. "We learn
to differentiate between the mind
of the perceiver, the means of perception,
and the objects perceived, between
words, their meanings, and ideas,
and between all the levels of evolution
of nature."xvi
As we fine-tune
our concentration and become more
aware of the nature of reality we
perceive that the world is unreal.
"The only reality is the universal
self, or God, which is veiled by Maya
(the illusory power). As the veils
are lifted, the mind becomes clearer.
Unhappiness and fear – even
the fear of death – vanishes.
This state of freedom, or Moksha,
is the goal of Yoga. It can be reached
by constant enquiry into the nature
of things."xvii Meditation becomes
our tool to see things clearly and
perceive reality beyond the illusions
that cloud our mind.
VIII. Samadhi (Union
with the Divine)
The final step in
the eight-fold path of Yoga is the
attainment of Samadhi. Samadhi means
"to bring together, to merge."
In the state of samadhi the body and
senses are at rest, as if asleep,
yet the faculty of mind and reason
are alert, as if awake; one goes beyond
consciousness. During samadhi, we
realize what it is to be an identity
without differences, and how a liberated
soul can enjoy pure awareness of this
pure identity. The conscious mind
drops back into that unconscious oblivion
from which it first emerged.
Thus, samadhi refers
to union or true Yoga. There is an
ending to the separation that is created
by the "I" and "mine"
of our illusory perceptions of reality.
The mind does not distinguish between
self and non-self, or between the
object contemplated and the process
of contemplation. The mind and the
intellect have stopped and there is
only the experience of consciousness,
truth and unutterable joy.
The achievement
of samadhi is a difficult task. For
this reason the Yoga Sutra suggests
the practice of asanas and pranayama
as preparation for dharana, because
these influence mental activities
and create space in the crowded schedule
of the mind. Once dharana has occurred,
dhyana and samadhi can follow.
These eight steps
of yoga indicate a logical pathway
that leads to the attainment of physical,
ethical, emotional, and psycho-spiritual
health. Yoga does not seek to change
the individual; rather, it allows
the natural state of total health
and integration in each of us to become
a reality.xviii
Sources:
HolisticOnLine http://www.holisticonline.com/Yoga/hol_yoga_home.htm
Yoga Mind, Body &
Spirit, by Donna Farhi
Light On Yoga, by
B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga Mind & Body,
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center
The Essence of Yoga,
Reflections on the Yoga Sutras of
Patanjali, by Bernard Bouanchaud
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