What is Raja YOGA?
A favorite quotes states “Yoga is a science, where Life is the experiment and the body is the laboratory.” This describes Raja Yoga, the classic 8 limbed path of yoga described in Patanjali’s Sutras. It is more scientific and one in which the student is encouraged to try out the practices and see what works for them. One of the practices described is asana. This is when we finally come to.
This is the yoga that we are going to focus on. Raja Yoga was put together by a sage named Patanjali who could have lived at anytime between 4th century B.C to 4th century A.D. Patanjali has presented to humanity the Raja Yoga path, so named probably because he first presented it to the kings of his time.
Raja yoga translates as raja, meaning “royal” and yoga, meaning “union.” This concept refers to the individual uniting with the divine. In Hindu philosophy, raja yoga is considered classical yoga and one of the six astika (orthodox) schools of yoga. The great sage Patanjali introduced the eight limbs of raja yoga in his Yoga Sutras. This regal discipline aims to establish the student in an experience of oneness with God. The yoga sutra techniques are a progressive thread that weaves the student through a path to enlightenment. These techniques involve personal conduct (yama), devotion (niyama), integration between the body and mind through physical yoga positions (asana), body and mind integration through the regulation of the breath (pranayama), the disruption of the senses (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), inner focus of meditation (dhyana), and finally, the transcendence of thought, body and emotions or pure awareness (samadhi). The biggest obstacle in understanding raja yoga i
Yoga.com Staff 7/15/2002 The designation raja-yoga, meaning “royal Yoga,” is a compartively late coinage that came in vogue in the sixteenth century C.E. It refers specifically to the Yoga system of Pantanjali, created in the second century C.E, and is most commonly used to distinguish Patanjali’s eightfold path of meditative introversion from Hatha Yoga. According to the Yoga-Raja-Upanishad, a late work, there are four kinds of Yoga, namely Mantra Yoga, Laya-Yoga, Hatha-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga. All are said to include the well-know practices of posture breath control, meditation, and ecstasy. Raja yoga is a meditative quest that should lead to the discoverey of transcendental Reality beyond thought and image, beyond worship and prayer, beyond ritual and magic. Reprinted with Permission Georg Feuerstein Yoga Research and Education Center http://www.yrec.
