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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga 1/27
Yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yoga (Sanskrit: yoga pronunciation ) is the physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines
which originated in ancient India with a view to attain a state of permanent peace.
[1][2]
Yoga is a Sanskrit
word which means "union" and is interpreted as "union with the divine".
[3]
One of the most detailed and
thorough expositions on the subject is the Yoga Stras of Patajali, which defines yoga as "the stilling of
the changing states of the mind"
[1]
(Sanskrit: : - :). Yoga is also interpreted as the yoke
that connects beings to the machine of existence.
[4]
Various traditions of yoga are found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
[5][6][7][6]
In Hinduism, yoga is
one of the six stika ("orthodox") schools of Hindu philosophy.
[8]
Post-classical traditions consider Hiranyagarbha as the originator of yoga.
[9][10]
Prephilosophical
speculations and diverse ascetic practices of first millennium BCE were systematized into a formal
philosophy in early centuries CE by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
[11]
By the turn of the first millennium,
hatha yoga emerged from tantra.
[12][13]
It along with its many modern variations, is the style that many
people associate with the word yoga today. Vajrayana Buddhism, founded by the Indian Mahasiddhas,
[14]
has a parallel series of asanas and pranayamas, such as cal
[15]
and yantra yoga.
[16]
Hindu monks, beginning with Swami Vivekananda, brought yoga to the West in the late 19th century. In
the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. This form of
yoga is often called Hatha yoga. Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a
complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma and heart patients.
[17][18][19][20]
In a
national survey, long-term yoga practitioners in the United States reported musculoskeletal and mental
health improvements.
[21]
Contents
1 Terminology
2 Purpose
3 History
3.1 Prehistory
3.2 Vedic period
3.3 Preclassical era
3.3.1 Upanishads
3.3.2 Bhagavad Gita
3.3.3 Mahabharata
3.4 Classical yoga
3.4.1 Early Buddhist texts
3.4.2 Samkhya
3.4.3 Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
3.4.4 Yoga Yajnavalkya
3.4.5 Jainism
3.4.6 Yogacara school
3.5 Middle Ages
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Statue of Shiva in Bangalore, India,
performing yogic meditation in the
Padmasana posture.
3.5.1 Bhakti movement
3.5.2 Tantra
3.5.3 Vajrayana
3.5.4 Hatha Yoga
3.5.5 Sikhism
3.6 Modern history
3.6.1 Reception in the West
3.6.2 Medicine
3.6.2.1 Potential benefits for adults
3.6.2.2 Physical injuries
3.6.2.3 Pediatrics
4 Yoga compared with other systems of meditation
4.1 Zen Buddhism
4.2 Tibetan Buddhism
4.3 Christian meditation
4.4 Islam
5 See also
6 References
6.1 Notes
6.2 Citations
6.3 Bibliography
7 External links
Terminology
In Vedic Sanskrit, the more commonly used, literal meaning of the
Sanskrit word yoga which is "to add", "to join", "to unite", or "to
attach" from the root yuj, already had a much more figurative
sense, where the yoking or harnessing of oxen or horses takes on
broader meanings such as "employment, use, application,
performance" (compare the figurative uses of "to harness" as in
"to put something to some use"). All further developments of the
sense of this word are post-Vedic. More prosaic moods such as
"exertion", "endeavour", "zeal" and "diligence" are also found in
Epic Sanskrit.
[citation needed]
There are very many compound words containing yog in Sanskrit.
Yoga can take on meanings such as "connection", "contact",
"method", "application", "addition" and "performance". For
example, gu-yoga means "contact with a cord"; chakr-yoga
has a medical sense of "applying a splint or similar instrument by
means of pulleys (in case of dislocation of the thigh)"; chandr-
yoga has the astronomical sense of "conjunction of the moon with a constellation"; pu-yoga is a
grammatical term expressing "connection or relation with a man", etc. Thus, bhakti-yoga means "devoted
attachment" in the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriy-yoga has a grammatical sense, meaning
"connection with a verb". But the same compound is also given a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras
(2.1), designating the "practical" aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the "union with the Supreme" due to
performance of duties in everyday life
[22]
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In Hindu philosophy, the word yoga is used to refer to one of the six orthodox (stika) schools of Hindu
philosophy.
[note 1]
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are often labelled as Rja yoga.
[24]
According to Pini, a
6th-century BCE Sanskrit grammarian, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga
(to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to concentrate).
[25]
In the context of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the root yuj
samdhau (to concentrate) is considered by traditional commentators as the correct etymology.
[26]
In
accordance with Pini, Vyasa (c. 4th or 5th century CE), who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga
Sutras,
[27]
states that yoga means samdhi (concentration).
[28]
In other texts and contexts, such as the
Bhagavad Gt and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the word yoga has been used in conformity with yujir yoge
(to yoke).
[29]
Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment is called a
yogi or yogini.
[30]
Purpose
Generally put, yoga is a disciplined method utilized for attaining a goal.
[23]
The ultimate goal of Yoga is
moksha (liberation) though the exact definition of what form this takes depends on the philosophical or
theological system with which it is conjugated. In Shaiva theology, yoga is used to unite kundalini with
Shiva.
[31]
Mahabharata defines the purpose of yoga as the experience of Brahman or tman pervading all
things.
[32]
In the specific sense of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as citta-vtti-nirodha (the cessation of the
perturbations of the mind).
[23]
This is described by Patanjali as the necessary condition for transcending
discursive knowledge and to be one with the divinely understood "spirit" ("purusha"): "Absolute freedom
occurs when the lucidity of material nature and spirit are in pure equilibrium."
[33]
In the Yoga Sutras,
Patanjali indicates that the ultimate goal of yoga is a state of permanent peace or Kaivalya.
[2]
Apart from the spiritual goals the physical postures of yoga are used to alleviate health problems, reduce
stress and make the spine supple in contemporary times. Yoga is also used as a complete exercise program
and physical therapy routine.
[34]
History
Prehistory
Several seals discovered at Indus Valley Civilization sites, dating to the mid 3rd millennium BCE, depict
figures in positions resembling a common yoga or meditation pose, showing "a form of ritual discipline,
suggesting a precursor of yoga," according to archaeologist Gregory Possehl.
[35]
Ramaprasad Chanda,
who supervised Indus Valley Civilization excavations, states that, "Not only the seated deities on some of
the Indus seals are in yoga posture and bear witness to the prevalence of yoga in the Indus Valley
Civilization in that remote age, the standing deities on the seals also show Kayotsarga (a standing posture
of meditation) position. It is a posture not of sitting but of standing."
[36]
Some type of connection between
the Indus Valley seals and later yoga and meditation practices is speculated upon by many scholars, though
there is no conclusive evidence.
[note 2]
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Male figure in a crossed legs posture
on a mold of a seal from the Indus
valley civilization
Many scholars such as Marshall associated Pashupati seal with Shiva because We would discuss these
features under the following heads : (1) three faces (2) the attitude of yoga (3) ithyphallicism (4)
connection with animals (5) pair of horns.
[44]
The standing yogic position in Hindu scriptures is associated with Shiva and has in earliest occurrences
been mentioned as the sthanu asana. Shiva has repeatedly been called Sthanu in several scriptures.
[45]
That
Shiva's standing pose is a meditative penance is clear from the pose being associated in Kalidas' literature
as "Tapasvinah Sthanu"
[46]
and tapasvin is the term for a mendicant. Also Shiva as Sthanu in Kalidas'
literature has been described as "Sthanu sthira-bhakti-yoga-sulabha" meaning "attainable through devotion
yoga."
[47]
In modern Hindu yoga too the standing yoga asana is applied and called samabhanga asana
[48]
and tadasana.
Shiva's association with the 'Pashupati seal' is that the seal reads
"Lord of the Cattle" and "Lord of the animals" and Shiva has been
described as both the lord of cattle and animals. The Pashupati seal
also depicts the mendicant in the yogasana which is another
attributed associated with Shiva from scriptures.
In reference to the bulls that appear on the Indus Valley seals,
archeologists have linked them to Shiva as the bull is associated
with him in scriptures. In the Rig Veda, Shiva (Rudra) is termed
Vrishaba or "bull."
[49]
Shiva connection with the three heads on the Indus Valley yogi
seal is that Shiva has been described and portrayed a three-headed
in certain parts of history. For example, in the an Elora temple he
is depicted with three heads.
[50]
Vedic period
Ascetic practices (tapas), concentration and bodily postures used by Vedic priests to conduct yajna (Vedic
ritual of fire sacrifice) might have been precursors to yoga.
[note 3]
Vratya, a group of ascetics mentioned in
the Atharvaveda, emphasized on bodily postures which probably evolved into yogic asanas.
[51]
Early
Vedic Samhitas also contain references to other group ascetics such as, Munis, the Kein, and Vratyas.
[53]
Techniques for controlling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the Brahmanas (ritualistic texts of the
Vedic corpus, c. 1000800 BCE) and the Atharvaveda.
[51][54]
Nasadiya Sukta of the Rig Veda suggests
the presence of an early contemplative tradition.
[note 4]
The Vedic Samhitas contain references to ascetics, and ascetic practices known as (tapas) are referenced in
the Brhmaas (900 BCE and 500 BCE), early commentaries on the Vedas.
[57]
The Rig Veda, the earliest
of the Hindu scripture mentions the practice.
[58]
Robert Schneider and Jeremy Fields write,
Yoga asanas were first prescribed by the ancient Vedic texts thousands of years ago and are
said to directly enliven the body's inner intelligence.
[59]
According to David Frawley, verses such as Rig Veda 5.81.1 which reads, "Seers of the vast illumined
seer yogically [yunjante] control their minds and their intelligence,"
[60]
show that "at least the seed of the
entire Yoga teaching is contained in this most ancient Aryan text".
[61]
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According to Feuerstein, breath control and curbing the mind was practiced since the Vedic times.,
[62]
and
yoga was fundamental to Vedic ritual, especially to chanting the sacred hymns
[63]
While the actual term "yoga" first occurs in the Katha Upanishad
[64]
and later in the Shvetasvatara
Upanishad,
[65]
an early reference to meditation is made in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the earliest
Upanishad (c. 900 BCE).
[note 5]
Yoga is discussed quite frequently in the Upanishads, many of which
predate Patanjali's Sutras.
[67]
Preclassical era
Diffused pre-philosophical speculations of yoga begin to emerge in the texts of c. 500200 BCE such as
the middle Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and Mokshadharma of the Mahabharata. The terms samkhya
and yoga in these texts refer to spiritual methodologies rather than the philosophical systems which
developed centuries later.
[68]
Upanishads
Alexander Wynne, author of The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, observes that formless meditation and
elemental meditation might have originated in the Upanishadic tradition.
[69]
The earliest reference to
meditation is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest Upanishads.
[53]
Chandogya Upanishad
describes the five kinds of vital energies (prana). Concepts used later in many yoga traditions such as
internal sound and veins (nadis) are also described in the Upanishad.
[51]
Taittiriya Upanishad defines
yoga as the mastery of body and senses.
[70]
The term "yoga" first appears in the Hindu scripture Katha Upanishad (a primary Upanishad c. 400 BCE)
where it is defined as the steady control of the senses, which along with cessation of mental activity, leads
to the supreme state.
[53][note 6]
Katha Upanishad integrates the monism of early Upanishads with concepts
of samkhya and yoga. It defines various levels of existence according to their proximity to the innermost
being tman. Yoga is therefore seen as a process of interiorization or ascent of consciousness.
[72][73]
It is
the earliest literary work that highlights the fundamentals of yoga. Shvetashvatara Upanishad (c. 400-200
BCE) elaborates on the relationship between thought and breath, control of mind, and the benefits of
yoga.
[73]
Like the Katha Upanishad the transcendent Self is seen as the goal of yoga. This text also
recommends meditation on Om as a path to liberation.
[74]
Maitrayaniya Upanishad (c. 300 BCE)
formalizes the sixfold form of yoga.
[73]
Physiological theories of later yoga make an appearance in this
text.
[75][76]
While breath channels (nis) of yogic practices had already been discussed in the classical Upanishads, it
was not until the eighth-century Buddhist Hevajra Tantra and Carygiti, that hierarchies of chakras were
introduced.
[77][78]
Further systematization of yoga is continued in the Yoga Upanishads of the
Atharvaveda (viz., ilya, Pupata, Mahvkya).
[79]
Bhagavad Gita
Main article: Bhagavad Gita
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Krishna narrating the Gita to Arjuna.
The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord'), uses the term "yoga" extensively in a variety of ways. In addition
to an entire chapter (ch. 6) dedicated to traditional yoga practice, including meditation,
[80]
it introduces
three prominent types of yoga:
[note 7]
Karma yoga: The yoga of action.
[note 8]
Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion.
[note 9]
Jnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge.
[note 10]
In Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains to Arjuna
about the essence of yoga as practiced in daily lives:
-: F I +
: J
(yoga-stha kuru karmani sanyugam tyaktv
dhananjay
siddhy-asiddhyo samo bhutv samatvam yoga ucyate)
- Bhagavad Gita 2.48
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translates it as "Be steadfast in yoga (yoga-stha), O Arjuna.
Perform your duty (kuru karmani) and abandon all attachment (sangam) to success or failure (siddhy-
asiddhyo). Such evenness of mind (samatvam) is called yoga."
[85]
Madhusudana Sarasvati (b. circa 1490) divided the Gita into three sections, with the first six chapters
dealing with Karma yoga, the middle six with Bhakti yoga, and the last six with Jnana (knowledge).
[86]
Other commentators ascribe a different 'yoga' to each chapter, delineating eighteen different yogas.
[87]
Aurobindo, a freedom fighter and philosopher, describes the yoga of the Gita as "a large, flexible and
many-sided system with various elements, which are all successfully harmonized by a sort of natural and
living assimilation".
[88]
Mahabharata
Description of an early form of yoga called nirodhayoga (yoga of cessation) is contained in the
Mokshadharma section of the 12th chapter (Shanti Parva) of the Mahabharata epic. The verses of the
section are dated to c. 300200 BCE. Nirodhayoga emphasizes progressive withdrawal from the contents
of empirical consciousness such as thoughts, sensations etc. until purusha (Self) is realized. Terms like
vichara (subtle reflection), viveka (discrimination) and others which are similar to Patanjali's terminology
are mentioned, but not described.
[89]
There is no uniform goal of yoga mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Separation of self from matter, perceiving Brahman everywhere, entering into Brahman etc. are all
described as goals of yoga. Samkhya and yoga are conflated together and some verses describe them as
being identical.
[32]
Mokshadharma also describes an early practice of elemental meditation.
[90]
Classical yoga
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Amitabha (Buddha) depicted as a
yoga practitioner, Kamakura, Japan.
During the period between the Mauryan and the Gupta era (c. 200 BCE500 CE) philosophical schools of
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were taking form and a coherent philosophical system of yoga began to
emerge.
[91]
Early Buddhist texts
Werner notes that "only with Buddhism itself as expounded in the
Pali Canon" do we have the oldest preserved comprehensive yoga
practice:
"But it is only with Buddhism itself as expounded in the
Pali Canon that we can speak about a systematic and
comprehensive or even integral school of Yoga practice,
which is thus the first and oldest to have been preserved for
us in its entirety"
[92]
Another yoga system that predated the Buddhist school is Jain
yoga. But since Jain sources postdate Buddhist ones, it is difficult
to distinguish between the nature of the early Jain school and
elements derived from other schools.
[93]
Most of the other contemporary yoga systems alluded in the Upanishads and some Pali canons are lost to
time.
[94][95][note 11]
The early Buddhist texts describe meditative practices and states, some of which the Buddha borrowed
from the ascetic (shramana) tradition.
[97][98]
One key innovative teaching of the Buddha was that
meditative absorption must be combined with liberating cognition.
[99]
Meditative states alone are not an
end, for according to the Buddha, even the highest meditative state is not liberating. Instead of attaining a
complete cessation of thought, some sort of mental activity must take place: a liberating cognition, based
on the practice of mindful awareness.
[100]
The Buddha also departed from earlier yogic thought in
discarding the early Brahminic notion of liberation at death.
[101]
While the Upanishads thought liberation
to be a realization at death of a nondual meditative state where the ontological duality between subject and
object was abolished, Buddha's theory of liberation depended upon this duality because liberation to him
was an insight into the subject's experience.
[101]
The Pali canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the
palate for the purposes of controlling hunger or the mind, depending on the passage.
[102]
However there is
no mention of the tongue being inserted into the nasopharynx as in true khecar mudr. The Buddha used a
posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to even modern postures used to
stimulate Kundalini.
[103]
Samkhya
Further information: Samkhya
Samkhya emerged in the first century CE.
[104]
When Patanjali systematized the conceptions of yoga, he
set them forth on the background of the metaphysics of samkhya, which he assumed with slight variations.
In the early works, the yoga principles appear together with the samkhya ideas. Vyasa's commentary on
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Traditional Hindu depiction of
Patanjali as an avatar of the divine
serpent Shesha.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
[107]
Pada (Chapter) English meaning Sutras
Samadhi Pada On being absorbed in spirit 51
Sadhana Pada On being immersed in spirit 55
Vibhuti Pada On supernatural abilities and gifts 56
Kaivalya Pada On absolute freedom 34
the Yoga Sutras, also called the Samkhyapravacanabhasya (Commentary on the Exposition of the
Sankhya Philosophy), brings out the intimate relation between the two systems.
[105]
Yoga agrees with the
essential metaphysics of samkhya, but differs from it in that while samkhya holds that knowledge is the
means of liberation, yoga is a system of active striving, mental discipline, and dutiful action. Yoga also
introduces the conception of god. Sometimes Patanjali's system is referred to as Seshvara Samkhya in
contradistinction to Kapila's Nirivara Samkhya.
[106]
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Main articles: Raja Yoga and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
In Hindu philosophy, yoga is the name of one of the six orthodox
(which accept the testimony of Vedas) philosophical
schools
[108][109]
founded by Patanjali. Karel Werner, author of
Yoga And Indian Philosophy, believes that the process of
systematization of yoga which began in the middle and Yoga
Upanishads culminated with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
[note 12]
Scholars also note the influence of Buddhist and Samkhyan ideas
on the Yoga Sutras.
[110][111]
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras reminds us of
Buddhist formulations from the Pli Canon, Sarvstivda
Abhidharma and Sautrntika.
[112]
The yoga school accepts the
samkhya psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic than
the samkhya, as evidenced by the addition of a divine entity to the
samkhya's twenty-five elements of reality.
[113][114]
The parallels
between yoga and samkhya were so close that Max Mller says
that "the two philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished
from each other as Samkhya with and Samkhya without a
Lord...."
[115]
The intimate relationship between samkhya and
yoga is explained by Heinrich Zimmer:
These two are regarded in India as twins, the two aspects of
a single discipline. Skhya provides a basic
theoretical exposition of human nature,
enumerating and defining its elements,
analyzing their manner of co-operation in a
state of bondage ("bandha"), and describing
their state of disentanglement or separation in
release ("moka"), while yoga treats
specifically of the dynamics of the process
for the disentanglement, and outlines
practical techniques for the gaining of
release, or "isolation-integration" ("kaivalya").
[116]
Patanjali is widely regarded as the compiler of the formal yoga philosophy.
[117]
The verses of Yoga Sutras
are terse and are therefore read together with the Vyasa Bhashya (c. 350450 CE), a commentary on the
Yoga Sutras.
[118]
Patanjali's yoga is known as Raja yoga, which is a system for control of the mind.
[119]
Patanjali defines the word "yoga" in his second sutra, which is the definitional sutra for his entire work:
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A sculpture of a Hindu yogi
in the Birla Mandir, Delhi
: - :
(yoga citta-vtti-nirodha)
- Yoga Sutras 1.2
This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is
the inhibition (nirodha) of the modifications (vtti) of the mind (citta)".
[120]
The use of the word nirodha
in the opening definition of yoga is an example of the important role that Buddhist technical terminology
and concepts play in the Yoga Sutras; this role suggests that Patanjali was aware of Buddhist ideas and
wove them into his system.
[121]
Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-
stuff (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis)."
[122]
Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to as
"Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"). This eight-limbed concept
derived from the 29th Sutra of the 2nd book, and is a core characteristic of
practically every Raja yoga variation taught today. The Eight Limbs are:
1. Yama (The five "abstentions"): Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya
(Truth, non-lying), Asteya (non-covetousness), Brahmacharya (non-
sensuality, celibacy), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
2. Niyama (The five "observances"): Shaucha (purity), Santosha
(contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study of the Vedic
scriptures to know about God and the soul), and Ishvara-Pranidhana
(surrender to God).
3. Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the
seated position used for meditation.
4. Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Prna, breath, "yma", to
restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
5. Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from
external objects.
6. Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.
7. Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
8. Samadhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.
In the view of this school, the highest attainment does not reveal the experienced diversity of the world to
be illusion. The everyday world is real. Furthermore, the highest attainment is the event of one of many
individual selves discovering itself; there is no single universal self shared by all persons.
[123]
Yoga Yajnavalkya
Main article: Yoga Yajnavalkya
The Yoga Yajnavalkya is a classical treatise on yoga attributed to the
Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. It takes the form of a dialogue between
Yajnavalkya and his wife Gargi, a renowned female
philosopher.
[125]
The text contains 12 chapters and its origin has
been traced to the period between the second century BCE and
fourth century CE.
[126]
Many yoga texts like the Hatha Yoga
+
[154]
Modern history
Reception in the West
Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the
mid 19th century along with other topics of Indian philosophy. As
part of this budding interest N. C. Paul published his Treatise on
Yoga Philosophy in 1851. The first Hindu teacher to actively
advocate and disseminate aspects of yoga to a western audience
was Swami Vivekananda, who toured Europe and the United
States in the 1890s.
[155]
The reception which Swami
Vivekananda received is inconceivable without the active interest
of intellectuals, in particular the New England Transcendentalists,
among them R. W. Emerson, who drew on German Romanticism
and the interest of philosophers and scholars like G. F. W. Hegel, the Schlegel brothers, Max Mueller, A.
Schopenhauer and others who found Vedanta in agreement with their own ideas and a cherished source of
religious-philosophical inspiration.
[156]
Theosophists also had a large influence on the American public's view of Yoga.
[157]
Esoteric views
current at the end of the 19th century were a further basis for the reception of Vedanta and of Yoga with its
theory and practice of correspondence between the spiritual and the physical.
[158]
The reception of Yoga
and of Vedanta are thus entwined with each other and with the (mostly Neo-platonically based) currents of
religious and philosophical reform and transformation throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. M.
Eliade, who was rooted in the Romanian currents of these traditions brought a new element into the
reception of Yoga by the strong emphasis on Tantric Yoga in his seminal book: Yoga: Immortality and
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A western style Hatha yoga class.
Freedom.
[note 14]
By introducing the Tantra traditions and philosophy of Yoga the conception of the
"transcendent" to be attained by Yogic practice shifted from experiencing the "transcendent" ("Atman-
Brahman" in Advaitic theory) in the mind to the body itself.
[159]
In the West, the term "yoga" is today typically associated with Hatha yoga and its asanas (postures) or as a
form of exercise.
[160]
In the 1910s and the 1920s Yoga suffered a period of bad public will largely as a
result of backlash against immigration, a rise in puritanical values, and a number of scandals. In the 1930s
and 1940s it began to gain more public acceptance as a result of celebrity endorsement. In the 1950s there
was another period of paranoia against yoga,
[157]
but by the 1960s, western interest in Hindu spirituality
reached its peak, giving rise to a great number of Neo-Hindu schools specifically advocated to a western
public. During this period, most of the influential Indian teachers of yoga came from two lineages:
Sivananda Saraswati (18871963) and Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (18881989).
[161]
Among the teachers
of Hatha yoga who were active in the west in this period were B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, and
Swami Vishnu-devananda, and Swami Satchidananda.
[162][163][164]
Kundalini Yoga was brought to the
United States by Yogi Bhajan in 1969.
[165]
A second "yoga boom" followed in the 1980s, as Dean Ornish, a follower of Swami Satchidananda,
connected yoga to heart health, legitimizing yoga as a purely physical system of health exercises outside of
counter culture or esotericism circles, and unconnected to a religious denomination.
[155]
Numerous asanas
seemed modern in origin, and strongly overlapped 19th and early 20th century Western exercise
traditions.
[166]
Since 2001, the popularity of yoga in the USA has been on the constant rise. The number of people who
practiced some form of yoga has grown from 4 million (in 2001) to 20 million (in 2011).
In 2013, for the White House,