Ashtanga yoga

Ashtanga yoga

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  Ashtanga Yoga The EightLimbs of Yoga
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  1. Yama(Self restraint,moral guidelines for human development) 2. Niyama(Observances, principles of morality) 3. Asana (yoga postures) 4. Pranayama(breath control) 5. Pratyahara(withdrawal of mind) 6. Dharana(concentration) 7. Dhyana(meditation) 8. Samadhi (suspension of mind in the goal)
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  Niyama 1. Shaoca: Purityof mind and cleanliness of body.Shaoca is of two kinds - purity of the body and of the mind. The methods for mental purity are kindliness towards all creatures, charity, working for the welfare of others and being dutiful. Internal cleanliness depends on what we eat, and other things we ingest. 2. Santosa: Mental ease and contentment. Contentment with things received unasked for is santos’a. It is essential to try to be cheerful always. 3. Tapah: Social service. To undergo physical hardship to attain the objective is known as Tapah. Upava’sa (fasting), serving the guru (preceptor), serving father and mother, and the four types of yajina, namely. pitryajina, nr yajina, bhu’tayajina and adhya’tmayajina (service to ancestors, to humanity, to lower beings and to Consciousness), are the other limbs of tapah. For students, study is the main tapah. Social service. 4. Svadhyaya: Inspirational reading. To read uplifting books. The study, with proper understanding, of scriptures and philosophical books is sva’dhya’ya. Sva’dhya’ya is also done by attending group meditation regularly and having satsaunga (spiritual company), but this kind of sva’dhya’ya is intended only for those who are not capable of studying in the above manner. 5. IishvaraPranidhana: To meditate on the Cosmic Consciousness. This is to have firm faith in Iishvara (the Cosmic Controller) in pleasure and pain, prosperity and adversity, and to think of oneself as the instrument, and not the wielder of the instrument, in all the affairs of life.
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   The mostimportant effect of asanas is on the endocrine glands which secrete hormones. If the secretion of any gland is too much or too little, then there will be an imbalance in the mind and a malfunctioning in the body. Asanas help to regulate these secretions. Asanas also keep the spinal cord flexible and strong, and they detoxify the organs. The AnnamayaKos’a is perfected through A’sanas.
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   Pranayama workson controlling the vital energy. The vital energies are known as Vayus or “winds”. 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. The controlling point of all these vayus is an organ known as Pranendriya. In pranayama there is a special process of breathing in which the pulsation of the Pranendriya becomes still and the mind becomes very calm. This helps meditation greatly. Pra’na’ya’ma perfects the ManomayaKo’sa, (&PranamayaKo’sa).
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  Pratyahara means towithdraw the mind from its attachment to external objects. In Tantra the repetition of mantra is preceded by a process in which the meditator retracts his or her mind to one point. Pratyahara perfects the Atima’nasaKos’a
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  Dha’rana’ means theconcentration of the mind at a specific point. In the basic lesson of Tantric meditation the aspirant brings his or her mind to a specific chakra which is his or her spiritual and psychic nucleus. This point is called the Ista Chakra. Dha’rana’ is found in the first lesson of meditation, there is another form of Dharana known as TattvaDharana in which the aspirant concentrates on the chakras and the specific factors controlled by the chakras. This lesson is important because it helps the meditator to gain control over the mental propensities governed by that chakra (vrttis), as well as to increase the concentration powers of the mind which is especially valuable in the other lessons of meditation. The Vijina’nmayaKos’a is perfected through Dha’rana’.
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  Dhyana helps toperfect 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 Dhyan meditation to China it became known as Chan, when brought to Korea it was known as Den, and finally to Japan it became known as Zen. The Hiran’mayaKos’a is perfected through Dhyana.
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  Samadhi is theabsorption of mind in the Supreme Consciousness. There are two main types of samadhi, nirvikalpa and savikalpa. Savikalpa is a trance of absorption with distortion or qualification. In savikalpasamadhi the person has the feeling that “I am the Supreme Consciousness”, but in nirvikalpasamadhi there is no longer a feeling of “I”. The individual consciousness is totally merged in the Cosmic Consciousness. “when his or her mind merges in universal mind, this state is called savikalpasamadhi”. Samadhi can also be attained through intense devotion, sometimes this is called Bhava Samadhi. The Soul is accessed only through Dhyana Samadhi.
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  Art and designby Aaron Staengl Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved Text adopted from ShriiShriiAnandamurti, & AC Dada VedaprajinanandaAvt. http://www.anandamarga.org