“The essence of yoga is to reach oneness with God” — K Pattabhi Jois
Hinduism contains within it six major schools of thought, or darshana: Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, and Vedanta. The underlying thread between these six darshanas is that they are inspired by the Vedas and other Hindu concepts. Thus, Hindu philosophy is often described as Vedic or the Vedic tradition. Hindus commonly refer to Hinduism as Sanatana Dharma, or the Eternal Truth.
Also uniting the darshanas is the concept of pluralism, the belief that multiple paths exist to reach liberation, or moksha, or unity with God and escape from the cyle of birth and death. In Hindu thought, the Supreme Being or the Divine resides within all that exists. And any one, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender, has the ability to achieve moksha. No one person is born saved or condemned, but rather earns the fruit of their actions, words, and thoughts, or karma, and advances spiritually by acting in accordance with dharma, or righteousness.
It is with this very basic understanding in mind that yoga should be examined.
“Yoga is from the Vedas.” – T.K.V. Desikachar 2
At its broadest, yoga, from the root word “yuj” in Sanskrit, means to unite. Most Hindu texts discuss yoga as a practice to control the senses and ultimately, the mind. The most famous is the Bhagavad Gita (dating back to 6th-3rd Century BCE), in which Krishna speaks of four types of yoga – bhakti, or devotion; jnana, or knowledge; karma, or action; and dhyana, or concentration (often referred to as raja yoga, though not all sources agree on the term) – as paths to achieve moksha, the ultimate goal according to Hindu understanding
Read More at https://www.hinduamerican.org/projects/hindu-roots-of-yoga
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