When I first learning yoga back in 1989, I was taught about a common traditional view of yoga, “The Four Yogas: Karma, Bhakti, Rāja & Jñāna Yogas.” So, when I went to India my first time in 1999 to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, I asked him to please talk about “The Four Yogas,” but surprisingly, his response was very brief. He simply said, “There are not four yogas. There is only yoga, only one yoga.” This resonated with me; it showed me that yoga is holistic, and that the creation of various yoga types is essentially artificial. Thus this has influenced my understanding of the various “yogas” and why I correlate them all within the Yoga Sūtras. The Yoga Sūtras is the definitive text on Rāja Yoga, and it is where the term Aṣṭāṅga Yoga comes from. Thus Rāja Yoga, as explained by the Yoga Sūtras, is holistic and inclusive of the other traditional types of yoga listed below; and in fact, this is why it is the called Rāja Yoga: It is the crowning fulfillment of yoga. Let's look at the different yogas to understand its parts and how they are actually interconnected as a whole.
Rāja Yoga: Rāja Yoga means Royal Yoga and commonly refers to the yoga of meditation. However it is actually an all inclusive yoga process leading to greater levels of self-mastery. Rāja Yoga includes the other major yoga categories mentioned herein:
Kriyā Yoga: Kriyā Yoga is Rāja Yoga’s three-fold method of practice found in the Yoga Sūtras and is necessary for success in yoga. This three-fold practice is comprised of discipline (tapas), study (svādhyāya), and servitude (īśvara praṇidhāna). [cf. Sūtras 2:01-02, 2:10-11, 2:33-34, 2:43-45]
Aṣṭāṅga Yoga: Aṣṭa means eight (8) and aṅga means limb. In Rāja Yoga, these eight limbs are specific aspects of ourselves in which we must apply the three-fold method of Kriyā Yoga. (See the article About Yoga & Aṣṭāṅga Yoga for more details).
Haṭha Yoga: Haṭha Yoga is physical yoga practices – primarily āsana and prāṇāyāma. Haṭha Yoga is both a technical term for any and all physical yoga practice as well as being the name of a specific tradition of yoga. Often referred to as classical Haṭha Yoga, this tradition is characterized by resting in between each āsana. In Rāja Yoga’s eight limbs (Aṣṭāṅga Yoga), the third and fourth limbs comprise Haṭha Yoga.
Karma Yoga: Karma Yoga commonly refers to altruistic servitude, but properly includes all actions done selflessly. In reality, all yoga practices – as with all actions – are to be done selflessly. Karma mārga (path of work or action) is the cultivation of a selfless attitude; it purifies and strengthens the mind allowing for greater depths of clarity and intuitive understanding. In Rāja Yoga, Karma Yoga is found in the three-fold method of practice, Kriyā Yoga.
Jñāna Yoga: Jñāna Yoga is the yoga of discernment. Rāja Yoga says that discerning awareness is the method through which we overcome our misconceptions about ourselves and the world (YS 2:26). Jñāna mārga (path of discerning inquiry) comes after karma māgra and is supported by the mastery of āsana, prāṇāyāma and meditation. In this way philosophy is actualized rather than merely memorized.
Bhakti Yoga: Bhakti Yoga commonly refers to external worship such as group singing in praise to the divine. However, Bhakti Yoga is the devotional sentiment towards our creator whose breath gives us life. In Rāja Yoga, devotion is expressed in altruistic service and a diminishing of our selfish attachments.
Samādhi: Samādhi, the eighth limb of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, and the pinnacle of Haṭha Yoga, is a state of concentration wherein we become so engrossed in something, everything else seems to disappear for a time – including even the passage of time. Samādhi is not the goal of yoga; it is merely a tool that helps us better understand what we engage with. Samādhi also improves our base mode of functionality. From a Haṭha Yoga perspective, Samādhi occurs when our energies (prāṇa) enters into the central core of the body (suṣumnā nāḍī).
Kaivalya: Kaivalya is a Rāja Yoga term for freedom. It is synonymous with mokṣa, mukti, nirvāṇa. Kaivalya represents the goal of Rāja Yoga wherein we have mastered ourselves to the degree that we are not only skillfully capable but can also truly live in service to others.
Comments