A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie
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137 päflha<br />
While the Yoga that is taught in the<br />
West usually concentrates on the learning<br />
<strong>of</strong> a variety <strong>of</strong> postures supposed to<br />
be beneficial to health, Pantañjali says<br />
that any posture can be taken that is<br />
agreeable and allows a practitioner to<br />
sit in meditation for a length <strong>of</strong> time.<br />
The aim <strong>of</strong> Räja Yoga is neither selfmortification<br />
nor physical exercise, but<br />
the achievement <strong>of</strong> inner freedom. Some<br />
YOGIS focus on the extraordinary faculties<br />
connected with Yoga, such as making<br />
oneself small like an atom or large<br />
like a mountain, understanding the languages<br />
<strong>of</strong> all peoples and even <strong>of</strong> animals,<br />
reading other people’s minds,<br />
making onself invisible etc., but the<br />
Yoga Sütras discourage the practitioner<br />
from cultivating them. They are more <strong>of</strong><br />
a hindrance than a help on the path to<br />
freedom. There are certain dietetic rules<br />
to be observed as well: a yogi is to avoid<br />
spicy food, everything pungent, sour or<br />
salty. While the use <strong>of</strong> drugs, especially<br />
bhaög (hashish), is widespread among<br />
Yogis in India, Patañjali discourages<br />
this practice. Kaivalya is a state <strong>of</strong> mind<br />
that should be reached without any<br />
involvement <strong>of</strong> foreign substances.<br />
Breath control, präæäyäma, is a central<br />
practice in Yoga. The Upani•ads<br />
contain many speculations on präæa,<br />
life breath, and controlling one’s breath<br />
is an ancient and widely practised<br />
method <strong>of</strong> purification. Some yogis succeed<br />
in controlling their breath to such<br />
an extent that they can reduce the<br />
metabolism to a point where it becomes<br />
possible for them to be buried for days<br />
or even weeks and emerge alive. The<br />
Yoga Sütras do not encourage such<br />
extraordinary feats, but they consider<br />
breath control basic. Similarly, the ability<br />
to withdraw one’s senses, pratyahära, is<br />
essential. The senses, no longer occupied<br />
with transmitting impulses from<br />
the body, cease to hinder the mind from<br />
functioning according to its own<br />
‘mental’ mode.<br />
The central feature <strong>of</strong> Pätañjala<br />
Yoga is samyama, ‘effort’, consisting <strong>of</strong><br />
the triad <strong>of</strong> dhäraæa–dhyäna–samädhi,<br />
‘concentration–contemplation–trance’.<br />
They are not seen as flowing from a<br />
special ‘psychic’ capability but as resulting<br />
from strenuous effort. They completely<br />
interiorize consciousness and<br />
separate self-consciousness from everything<br />
that is not self, i.e. the body and<br />
sense-objects. By applying the technique<br />
to a number <strong>of</strong> dimensions <strong>of</strong> reality the<br />
yogi both identifies with and transcends<br />
each realm. The detail in which the<br />
Yoga Sütras describe the process is highly<br />
technical and must be studied under<br />
the guidance <strong>of</strong> an experienced teacher.<br />
From a certain point onwards in the<br />
practice <strong>of</strong> Yoga the process becomes<br />
irreversible: kaivalya, complete introversion,<br />
becomes the ‘natural’ goal <strong>of</strong><br />
the practitioner’s mind. The state <strong>of</strong><br />
mind shortly before reaching the final<br />
condition is defined as dharmameghasamädhi,<br />
‘dharma-cloud trance’<br />
in which the finite, elementary nature <strong>of</strong><br />
all things becomes experientially apparent<br />
to the yogi. A kind <strong>of</strong> zero-time<br />
experience precedes the entering into<br />
timelessness. Kaivalya is described as<br />
the spirit ‘finding its own true state <strong>of</strong><br />
nature’, the coming home <strong>of</strong> the soul<br />
from the exile <strong>of</strong> involvement in the<br />
process <strong>of</strong> material evolution.<br />
Patañjali (second century BCE)<br />
A celebrated name, the reputed author<br />
<strong>of</strong> a treatise on Yoga (Yoga Sütras), on<br />
medicine (Carakasaƒhitä) and on<br />
grammar (Mahäbhä•ya), healer <strong>of</strong><br />
body, mind and soul.<br />
päflha (‘reading’)<br />
This applies especially to the reading <strong>of</strong><br />
a Vedic text. There are three päflhas:<br />
samhitäpäflha (words read with sandhi,<br />
rules for combining vowels and consonants),<br />
padapäflha (words read