Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/859

* YOGA. 727 YOGA. whose appellation is Om, the term of glory." Sec Om. To attain the concentration which leads to union of the soul with the Supreme hord, Kiglit stagt^s are necessary. These are self -control (yama), religious observance (niyama), pos- tures (asana), regulation of the breath {prCtn- viyama), restraint of the senses (pratyuhara) , steadying of the mind (dhCirana) , meditation (dliyuim), and profound eont<>niplation (sama- dlii) . The first stage, self-control, consists in not doing injury to living beings, veracity, avoid- ance of theft, chastity, and non-acceptance of .gifts. The seconil stage, religious observance, comprises external as well as internal purity, contentment, avisterity, muttering of the Vedic hymns, and devoted reliance on the Lord. The third stage, of Yoga postures of various sorts, is regarded as essential to those following. The fourth stage, regulation of the breath, is three- fold, according as it concerns exhalation or in- halation, or becomes tantamount to suspension of the breatli. The fifth stage, the restraint of the senses, means the diversion or withdrawal of the senses from their respective objects, and their entire accommodation to the nature of the mind. This stage is preparatory to the si.th, or the steadying of the mind, which means the freeing of the mind from any sensual dis- turbance, by fixing the thoughts on some part of the body, on the navel or the tip of the nose, for instance, ilcditation, the seventh stage, is the fixing of the mind on the one object of knowl- edge, the Supreme Spirit, so as to exclude all other thoughts. The eighth and last stage, pro- found contemplation, is the perfect absorption ■of thought into the one object of contemplation, the Supreme Spirit ; it is devoid of all thought, even of meditation. In such a state a Yogin is insensible to heat and cold, to pleasure and pain ; he is the same in prosperity and adversity ; he enjoys an ecstatic condition. The last three stages are also comprised under the distinctive name samyama, or 'restraint,' because it is chiefly on the perfection attained in these three collectively that depend the wonderful results which are" promised to a Y'ogin when he applies them to the contemplation of special objects. Such results are, for instance, a knowledge of the past and future, a knowledge of the sounds of all animals, of all that happened in one's former births, of the tlioughts of others, of the time of one's own death, a knowledge of all that exists in the different worlds, of stars and planets, of the structure of one's own body, etc. There are esjiecially, however, eight great pow- ers which a Yogin will acquire when properly regulating and applying the samyama — the power of shrinking into the form of the minutest atom, of becoming extremely light, of becoming ex- tremely heavy, of unlimited reach of the organs, of irresistible will, of obtaining perfect dominion over everything, of changing the course of na- ture, and, lastly, of going anywhere at will. If the Yogin applies sami/nma to the contemplation of the smallest divisions of time, and the suc- cessive order in M'hich such divisions occiir, he obtains a discrimination which enables him to ■understand the subtle elements, and to see all objects at once, ^^^^en his intellect has become free from all considerations of self, and his spirit is no longer subject to the result of acts per- formed, and when both have thus obtained the same degree of purity, the Yogin obtains eternal liberation. This is seldom obtained in one birth, for usually only a succession of births brings to maturity the result obtained in a jirior birth, (See Karma; Metempsychosis.) When, how- ever, final liberation is attained, first, all ideas of self cease. In consequence, thought is turned inward, and this is the commencement of liliera- tion. But as recollections, derived from former existences, sometimes prevail in his mind, they nnist be abandoned. Vhcn the Yogin has suc- ceeded in tliis, Ills knowledge will have become so infinite that but little will remain for him to be known. Then the cosmical lyuncfs, or qualities (see Sankuya), having accomplished the main object of spirit, gradually arrive at the end of their functions, and, as a consequence, matter becomes separated from spirit. This is kiinalya, or true liberation. The practical part of the Y'oga was admitted into the later Vedanta (q.v.). The great power which this system of phi- losophy has at all periods exercised on the Hindu mind is less derived from its philosophical specu- lations or its moral injunctions, tlian from the wonderful efl'ects which (he Yoga practices are supposed to produce, and from the countenance they give to the favorite tendency of orthodox Hinduism, the performance of austerities. But to acquire such powers for show is expressly con- demned by Pataiijali and he recommends them merely as a means of practicing the Yoga-dis- positions, so as to fit one's self for the knowledge which can come only to those who have over- come all resistance. The perfect Yoga thus at- tained is called Raja-Yoya or Kaivdiya. in dis- tinction from the practical Y'oga called Hutha- YOya, which latter is but a means to the supreme end of liberation. The text-book of this form of Y'oga is Chintamani Svatmaram Jogindra's Hntliapradipihn (edited and translated by Tatya and lyangar, Bombay, 1893). Originally. Y'oga was not theistie ; the Purusha was not Ood, but the perfected (liberated) spirit. But this individual spirit gradually, in the course of centuries, being influenced by the Vedanta, assumed the place of a personal supreme spirit or God, and i/of/a. was interpreted as 'union with God.' whereas at first every spirit was individu- ally eternal and yoga was the attempt to isolate spirit from matter. The system of Patanjali was taught by him in a work called YOya-siltra (edited and translated by Mitra, Calcutta, 1883; translated by Dvivedi, " Bombay, 1890), which consists of four padas, or chapters, each com- prising a number of sutras (q.v.) . The oldest commentary on it. is ascribed to one Vyasa (q.v.) : and this was commented on by Vachaspati Jlisra. Of other commentaries, those by Vijnanabhikshu (edited by Sastri. Benares. 1884) and Bhojadeva (edited by Mitra, Cal- cutta, 1883) are the best. Consult: Hall. Cnnlrihution Toward an Index, fo the Biblioyrapliy of the Indian Philosophical Hysti'ms (Calcutta, 18,59) : Paul, Yopa-Phi- losophn (Benares, 18.51) ; Markus. Yoyn-Phi- loaophie (Halle. 18Sfi) : Garbe. l^a>il-hyn und Ynya (Strassburg. 189f)1 : Vivekananda. Yoga Ph'ilosnpliy (2d ed.. Xew Y'ork. 1808) : Mnller, Six !?ys1ems of Indian Philosophy (ib., 1899).