59030 eb i-224 .pdf

Then having known me in truth

He enters into me immediately.

BhG 18:55

In all these uses of yoga in the Bhagavadg ̄ıt ̄ais the idea that knowledgeis

the foremost requirement for liberation. The various yogas both require

and cultivate understanding that supports discriminative, and hence lib-

erative insight.

Traditions of Yoga Practice

Many forms of yoga are practiced within India’s several religio-

philosophical currents. These include non-Hindu yogas (Buddhist and

Jain), T ̄antric yogas, non-systematic and popular forms of yoga, and the

classical Yoga of Patañjali. The following discussion identifies major

schools of yoga, beginning with yoga in non-Hindu traditions.

In Buddhism, the main problem of Indian soteriology—suffering

and emancipation—is treated in part by yogic techniques. Í ̄akyamuni

Buddha studied S ̄amkhya doctrines and yoga practice during his six yearsÓ

of seeking enlightenment, and his teachers of these two traditions are

named in the early Buddhist texts.^12 A major instance of yogic technique

in the Buddha’s teaching is sattipaÓtÓth ̄ana, ‘mindfulness’ of the body’s

structure, function, posture, and breathing:

And how O bhikkus, does a bhikku [monk] dwell observing the body in

the body?

Here a bhikku, having gone to a forest, or to the foot of a tree, sits

down crosslegged, keeps the body upright and fixes his awareness in the

area around the mouth. And with this awareness he breathes in, with

this awareness he breathes out. Breathing in a deep breath he under-

stands properly “I am breathing in a deep breath.” Breathing out a deep

breath he understands properly, “I am breathing out a deep breath.”^13

The Buddhist practice of mindfulness of breathing does not emphasize
physicalaction and control of breath as does yogic pr ̄aÓnay ̄ ̄ama, but in-
stead emphasizes mental effort, and the gaining of awareness and truth
by observing the arising and cessation of physical and mental states.
Mindfulness of the body and breath exemplifies Buddhism’s emphasis on
cultivation of mind and higher knowledge.
Jainism also incorporates yogic practices. For instance, the Jñ ̄an-
ar ̄ Ónavaof Íubhadra (c. 800 c.e.) discusses postures, regulation of breath,
and yogic meditation methods.^14 The Jain scholar Haribhadra (c. 750

one line long

classical yoga as a religious therapeutic 91