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Dhyāna (Sanskrit: ध्यान) in Hinduism means meditation [1] and contemplation. Dhyana is taken up in Yoga practices, and is a means to samadhi and self-knowledge. [2]The various concepts of dhyana and its practice originated in the Sramanic movement of ancient India, [3] [4] which started before the 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre-Mahavira), [5] [6] and the practice has been ...
The postural yoga of the Western world is a physical activity consisting of asanas, often connected by smooth transitions, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises and usually ending with a period of relaxation or meditation. It is often known simply as "yoga", [18] despite older Hindu traditions (some dating to the Yoga Sutras) in which ...
Later developments in Hindu meditation include the compilation of Hatha Yoga (forceful yoga) compendiums like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the development of Bhakti yoga as a major form of meditation, and Tantra. Another important Hindu yoga text is the Yoga Yajnavalkya, which makes use of Hatha Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy. [82]
In section 6.1, Yoga Vasistha introduces Yoga as follows, [100] Yoga is the utter transcendence of the mind and is of two types. Self-knowledge is one type, another is the restraint of the life-force of self limitations and psychological conditioning. Yoga has come to mean only the latter, yet both the methods lead to the same result.
Classical yoga emphasizes the practice of dhyana (meditation), and this is an element of all three classical paths in Hinduism, including jñāna yoga. [ 5 ] [ 16 ] In the Bhagavad Gita, jnana is equated with samkhya (yoga), the discernment of purusha , pure consciousness, as different from prakriti , matter and material desires.
A "fourth yoga" is sometimes added, Raja Yoga or "the Path of Meditation". This is the classical Yoga presented in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali's system came to be known as Raja Yoga (Royal Yoga) retro-actively, in about the 15th century, as the term Yoga had become popular for the general concept of a "religious path".
Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or meditation. Yoga in this form has become familiar across the world, especially in the US and Europe.
The Yoga Sutras is a classical text for the Hindu Yoga tradition, which gained renewed popularity in the 20th century. [ 230 ] Since the 19th century, Indian modernists have re-asserted the 'Aryan origins' of Hinduism, "purifying" Hinduism from its Tantric elements [ 157 ] and elevating the Vedic elements.