Definitions of yoga
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 5 years before Mar 23, 2018
MiBeloved 5 years ago
Sanjay on LinkedIn wrote:
Meditation is for inner feel and Yoga is for physical sync.
Complete shift of your being is what you can achieve from these methods.
MiBeloved's Response:
You are defining yoga in your own way. Language really means that we come to some agreement for the meaning of words, otherwise there will be endless confusion and misunderstanding.
Usually in language we are following some authority. For yoga Patanjali is one such authority. Recently for computer introduced things we accept authority of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others.
I studied some image software like Adobe Illustrator, and the first thing I had to do was to abandon the meanings for some words which I knew before and accept new definitions, otherwise I could not learn the programs because the engineers used specific terms which I had to accept.
If we endlessly change the meanings of words and do not agree to set definitions, we will get the freedom to do whatever we like but along with that advantage we will transmit many misunderstandings. Compliance is such a hard thing for us to sign up to, isn't it?
To understand what you wrote, to move it over and use Patanjali’s terminology,
Meditation is for inner feeling and asana postures are for physical sync.
Why?
Because meditation is given as samyama in the Yoga Sutras. Asana is given as the physical postures of the material body.
Yoga is not given as asana postures but asana postures are given as the 3rd stage in the progressive eight fold system of yoga.
For that matter in the second sutra Patanjali declares that yoga begins once the mental and emotional gyrations cease, and that is not a physical process but a psychological one:
Even Lord Krishna adhered to the same eightfold system as the definition of yoga when he described the practice to Uddhava in the Uddhava Gita.
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Here is one verse from Patanjali about yogah
Yoga Sutras Chapter 1 Verse 2
योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः॥२॥
yogaḥcittavṛtti nirodhaḥ
yogaḥ – the skill of yoga; cittavṛtti = citta – mento-emotional energy + vṛtti – vibrational mode; nirodhaḥ – cessation, restraint, non-operation.
The skill of yoga is demonstrated by the conscious non-operation of the vibrational modes of the mento-emotional energy.
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Sanjaya wrote:
Thanks for your definition Mr Michael but can You describe Love.
MiBeloved's Response:
I do not have a definition for love but Patanjali had this idea about it in regards to the Ishvara, the Supreme Lord.
Here is that verse and my translation of it:
Yoga Sutras Chapter 1 Verse 23
ईश्वरप्रणिधानाद्वा॥२३॥
īśvara praṇidhānāt vā
īśvara – The Supreme Lord; praṇidhānāt – derived from profound religious meditation; vā – or.
Or by the method of profound religious meditation upon the Supreme Lord.
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To be honest with you, I feel it is near impossible for me as a relative being to come up with a valid definition for love. The reason being that my nature is erratic. As a child love for me was seeing my mother. Tears used to pour down from my eyes like water gushing out of an artesian well. Then after sexual maturity, love for me was seeing a certain girl. Then after being private with a female, love for me was sexual indulgence. Then after having children, love for me was participating in raising the infants.
Now in old age, love for me is a productive session of meditation practice.
I did have a few spiritual experiences with Krishna in his four armed and two handed forms in his spiritual body directly. Now that is really love when compared to all the other features which seemed to be love at the time they were happening. But you know what, Krishna is free to come and go as he likes. It is not that I can command him to exhibit himself. It never happened like that. Nor can I perform a profound meditation love on him if he does not make himself available. He is not the kind of person I can command to do this or command to do that. He is the completely free agent.
What is your experience with love?
