Goal of yoga

The goals of yoga are varied and range from improving health to achieving Moksha.Within Jainism and the monist schools of Advaita Vedanta and Shaivism, the goal of yoga takes the form of Moksha, which is liberation from all worldly suffering and the cycle of birth and death (Samsara), at which point there is a realisation of identity with the Supreme Brahman. In the Mahabharata, the goal of yoga is variously described as entering the world of Brahmua, as Brahman, or as perceiving the Brahman or Atman that pervades all things.For the bhakti schools of Vaishnavism, bhakti or service to Svayam bhagavan itself may be the ultimate goal of the yoga process, where the goal is to enjoy an eternal relationship with Vishnu.

History

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

In Indian philosophy, Yoga is the name of one of the six orthodox philosophical schools. The Yoga philosophical system is closely allied with the Samkhya school. The Yoga school as expounded by the sage Patanjali accepts the Samkhya psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic than t    he Samkhya, as evidenced by the addition of a divine entity to the Samkhya's twenty-five elements of reality

Bhagavad Gita

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, it introduces three prominent types of yoga:

Karma yoga: The yoga of action,

Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion,

Gnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge.

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga is a particular system of Yoga described by Yogi Swatmarama, compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika in 15th century India . Hatha Yoga differs substantially from the Raja Yoga of Patanjali in that it focuses on shatkarma, the purification of the physical body as leading to the purification of the mind (ha), and prana, or vital energy

ASTANG YOGA( IN HINDU METHOLOGY)

• Yama (The five "abstentions"): non-violence, non-lying, non-covetousness, non-sensuality, and non-possessiveness.
• Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerity, study, and surrender to god.
• Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
• Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Pr?na, breath, "?y?ma", to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
• Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
• Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.
• Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
• Sam?dhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.

Yoga practices in other traditions

Buddhism

Early Buddhism incorporated meditative absorption states. The most ancient sustained expression of yogic ideas is found in the early sermons of the Buddha.

Yogacara Buddhism

Yogacara (Sanskrit: "yoga practice"), also spelled yog?ch?ra, is a school of philosophy and psychology that developed in India during the 4th to 5th centuries. Yogacara received the name as it provided a yoga, a framework for engaging in the practices that lead to the path of the bodhisattva.

Ch'an (Seon/Zen) Buddhism

Zen (the name of which derives from the Sanskrit "dhyaana" via the Chinese "ch'an") is a form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayana school of Buddhism is noted for its proximity with Yoga. In the west, Zen is often set alongside Yoga

Indo-Tibetan Buddhism

Yoga is central to Tibetan Buddhism. In the Nyingma tradition, the path of meditation practice is divided into nine yanas, or vehicles, which are said to be increasingly profound. The last six are described as "yoga yanas": Kriya yoga, Upa yoga, Yoga yana, Mah? yoga, Anu yoga and the ultimate practice, Ati yoga

Jainism

According to Tattvarthasutra, 2nd century CE Jain text, Yoga, is the sum total of all the activities of mind, speech and body.Umasvati calls yoga as the cause of asrava or karmic influx  as well as one of the essentials—samyak caritra—in the path to liberation.

Islam

The development of Sufism was considerably influenced by Indian yogic practises, where they adapted both physical postures (asanas) and breath control (pranayama). The ancient Indian yogic text, Amritakunda, ("Pool of Nectar)" was translated into Arabic and Persian as early as the 11th century

Christianity

In 1989, the Vatican declared that Eastern meditation practices such as Zen and yoga can "degenerate into a cult of the body".In spite of the Vatican statement, many Roman Catholics bring elements of Yoga, Buddhism, and Hinduism into their spiritual practices

Tantra

Tantrism is a practice that is supposed to alter the relation of its practitioners to the ordinary social, religious, and logical reality in which they live. Through Tantric practice, an individual perceives reality as maya, illusion, and the individual achieves liberation from it.