Tattva

To remind the reader, Yoga Charcha is an informal discussion of Yoga literature. In this article we try to explore the overview of Yoga and Yama as described by Patanjali. We refer to Swami Ramdeo’s ‘Yoga Sadhana via Yoga Chikitsa Rahasya’ and B.K.S. Iyengar’s ‘Light on Yoga’. Most people with even a passing interest in yoga would surely have come across the words ‘Ashtanga Yoga’. They refer to the eight limbs of yoga or the eight stages in the path of a yogi’s quest as written in Patanjali’s ‘Yoga Sutra’. Read the rest of this entry »

To remind the reader Yoga Charcha is an informal discussion of Yoga literature. In this article we try to explore the analysis of human behaviour as written by Patanjali and other sages in Yogic literature. In this article we quote excerpts from Iyengar’s Light on Yoga. We will find that this analysis is oriented towards making progress in yoga. Nevertheless we can find spiritual guidance that will help us in our daily routines or sansarik jeevan.

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On hearing the word ‘Yoga’, the first image that comes to our mind is that of a person doing some kind of a complex pose displaying unnatural flexibility. Almost everyone invariably associates Yoga with conditioning the body for some kind of flexibility. Indeed, the desire to keep our bodies in shape and beauty has attracted most people to Yoga. So what exactly is Yoga? Is it limited to achieving flexibility in the body? As we shall see, this is just one of the many aspects of Yoga. Yoga is a way of life. Yoga is an entire philosophy in itself. This article (which will continue into a series), attempts to explore how Yoga can affect us in ways other than improving our physical fitness.

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