Yoga and Total Health — June 2017

From the Archives of Yoga and Total Health

Laya Yoga

By H. Sequeira

Published in “Yoga and Total Health”

November 2008

During a dialogue between Shri
Vishnu and Brahma, the topic of
various types of yoga was discussed.
Shri Vishnu tells Brahma that Mantra,
Hatha, Laya, Raja Yoga form part of the
Mahayoga.

Laya Yoga has taken two directions:

1. Vedic and the 2) Tantric. The goal of
   both types is to dissolve the lower to the
   higher till the mind itself is dissolved
   (Laya).

Laya Yoga forms a pattern as in the
Ashtanga Yoga, with its eight steps of

• Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama,
  Pratyahara, Dharna, Dhyana and
  Samadhi.

However, it lays more emphasis
between the various Laya Kriyas /
practices which are wedged in-between
the 6th (Dharna) and the 7th (Dhyana)
steps of Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali.
Laya Yoga is the halfway house between
Hatha and Raja Yoga.

During the long history of yoga,
there have been variants, additions etc.

in Laya Yoga. After the post-classical

period of Patanjali, Hatha Yoga

incorporated these practices of Laya

Yo g a also.

Laya Kriyas

As mentioned above, the Laya Yogins

have wedged their own practices of

concentration into Ashtanga Yoga, sui

generis, which means after one’s own

inventions and discoveries.

Those with Tantric orientation have

created a road map of the Chakras

(psycho-energetic centres), which are

notional ideas of the grid of energy

centres in the body. Symbolically, these

Chakras, situated in the length of the

spine, seven in number traditionally,

represent the microcosms of earth, air,

fire, water and ether, and are dissolved

by a one-pointed concentration.

Then the Tantrics add their own ideas

flamboyantly, adding colour, sound

and so forth at each Chakra as they

go inward. Shri Jnaneshwar in the

Jnaneshwari and Adi Shankaracharya

in the wave of Bliss, write about their

mystic experiences in the realm of

the Chakras and Kundalini through the

practice of Laya Yoga.

One word of caution here: Most

modern writings on the Chakras and

the Kundalini have been trivialized by

irresponsible writers.

Summing up, Goswami highlights in

his book ‘Laya Yoga, a tour de force’,

tracing the fascinating story of Laya

Yo g a from the most ancient times to the

modern.