Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Asthang Yoga 2
Asthang Yoga 2
humans
‘himsa’
hungry
skillful manipulations
11
SATYA (TRUTHFULNESS)
pleasant untruth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBCW9588N9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbGfcFvxGFo
ASTEYA (NON-STEALING)
• Taking something not belonging to you is stealing; to
disposal
BRAHMACHARYA (CELIBACY)
strength
BRAHMACHARYA (CELIBACY)
courage, vigor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwb-SQJmw5o
APARIGRAHA (NON-HOARDING)
bare sustenance
possessions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZOsRcOTm_Q
NIYAMA
• Niyama, the second limb, has to do with self-discipline and
spiritual observances. Regularly attending temple or church
services, saying grace before meals, developing your own
personal meditation practices, or making a habit of taking
contemplative walks alone are all examples of niyama in
practice.
• The five niyama concerned with one’s personal life are:
1. Saucha: cleanliness/purity
2. Santosha: contentment
3. Tapas: heat; spiritual austerities
4. Svadhyaya: study of the sacred scriptures and of one's self
19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cipPitvHHQc
• There are occasions we work hard to get something.
• We get very disappointed when we don't get it.
• Some people will get into extreme depression as a result.
• We do these things because we do not have the discipline
of being content with what we have.
• We should accept that there is a purpose for everything -
yoga calls it karma.
• The real meaning of santosha is 'to accept what happens'.
God has a plan.
• Be happy with what we have rather than being unhappy
about what we don't have.
22
3. Tapah (austerity):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3k_zIn-Tyw
4. Svadhyaya (study of good literature and knowing about the
'self'):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_YqmgJ6FBA
5. Iishvara Pranidhana (dedication to the God/Supreme
power):
• There are ten vayus in the human body which are responsible
for the moving activities including respiration, circulation of
the blood excretion of wastes, movement of limbs; etc.
34
• The practice of pratyahara provides us with an opportunity to
step back and take a look at ourselves.
• No easy task!
• In the practice of concentration, which precedes meditation,
we learn how to slow down the thinking process by
concentrating on a single mental object: a specific energetic
center in the body, an image of a deity, or the silent repetition
of a sound.
• We, of course, have already begun to develop our powers of
concentration in the previous three stages of posture, breath
control, and withdrawal of the senses.
• At this stage, the mind has been quieted, and in the stillness it
produces few or no thoughts at all.
• The strength and stamina it takes to reach this state of stillness
is quite impressive.
• But don't give up.
• While this may seem a difficult if not impossible task,
remember that yoga is a process.
• Even though we may not attain the "picture perfect" pose, or
the ideal state of consciousness, we benefit at every stage of
our progress.
• Dhyana helps to perfect the most subtle layer of the mind and
leads the person to the final step of Ashtanga Yoga which is
samadhi.
• When Tantric teachers from India first brought Dhyana
meditation to China it became known as Chan, when brought
to Korea it was known as Den, and finally to Japan it bec41ame
known as Zen.
SAMADHI
42
SAMADHI (SUSPENSION OF MIND IN THE GOAL)
• Patanjali describes this eighth and final stage of ashtanga, samadhi, as
a state of ecstasy.
• At this stage, the meditator merges with his or her point of focus and
transcends the Self altogether.