Types of People in Yoga Class (video)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Flama (TheFlamaSub)

Meditate, do yoga, and surf like Ruah Yoga (NY) in Bhayekapada galavasana.

Exotic Jess Lizama gets her Zen (serene being) on while we grunt away. Okay, now Ananda balasana (baby pose), everyone! Here she goes with Ricky Rebel for The Flama on Instagram. They bring up the question, What is yoga? It's a bunch of poses, yes? No, it's so much more.

It's an ancient practice summarized by the Sage Patanjali 2,000 years ago. Patanjali formulated an eightfold path (ashtanga) mirroring the very popular Buddhist path in India. Like Buddhism, it is composed of interlinking factors. The paths go well together, but they are not the same and do not lead ultimately to the same place. Too bad people fail to realize that, doing one thing thinking they're doing another. If "zen" is dhyāna (Pali jhana) then any serene practice might lead one to the first few mental absorptions. But that's where it will remain without the Buddha's teachings on taking it further, taking it beyond, taking it beyond the beyond to complete liberation.

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(W/WQ) Rāja yoga ("royal yoga," "supreme union," also known as classical or aṣhṭānga yoga) is one of the six schools of dharmic (astika) Hindu philosophy. Its principal text is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. It is concerned with the cultivation of a seer/viewer's (ṛiṣhi) mind using various limbs, such as meditation (dhyāna, dhyana) and concentration (samādhi, samadhi). Its object is to further one's acquaintance with reality, achieve awakening (moksha), and eventually enlightenment (kaivalya). Note that what the Buddha and Buddhism calls "enlightenment" is BODHI. By developing insight on top of serenity (jhana, meditative absorptions), one finds "liberation" (moksha) in NIRVANA, the going out of all suffering, not yet another pleasant rebirth with Brahmā.