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Yama, Niyama,
Asana, Pranayama,
Pratyahara and -
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Dharana, and now -
Attain unto Dhyana.
Then, arrives Yoga.
When ready, a call comes to walk the path of light. You will hear the conch shell and so you will turn, looking for the source of the sound. You will travel across time and starry space seeking the source of the sound. ‘Not this,” and again and again “not this” you say trying one experience after another as you seek to find the source of the deep longing call.
At some point haphazard tracking this way and that is recognized as time wasting and only occasionally and minimally successful and so, now you begin. Brought to your knees with longing, you offer up a true prayer and the beginning of the way to the light is shown. Now, you become a yogi.
You may be following a well-defined pathway: Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Catholic, Native American, Saami – or something other way - and the call comes. You might even consider yourself an atheist or an agnostic and still the call comes. You are ready for the discipline that cuts across religions and cultures and morays. You may continue to attend church, temple, or ceremonial gathering – there is no contradiction.
💥BE THOU A YOGII
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Patanjali’s Eightfold Path of Yoga:
1. Yama (moral conduct): noninjury to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness
2. Niyama (religious observances): purity of body and mind, contentment in all circumstances, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to God and guru
3. Asana: right posture
4. Pranayama: control of prana, the subtle life currents in the body
5. Pratyahara: interiorization through withdrawal of the senses from external objects
6. Dharana: focused concentration; holding the mind to one thought or object
7. Dhyana: meditation, absorption in the vast perception of God in one of His infinite aspects — Bliss, Peace, Cosmic Light, Cosmic Sound, Love, Wisdom, etc. — all-pervading throughout the whole universe
8. Samadhi: superconscious experience of the oneness of the individualized soul with Cosmic Spirit
http://www.yogananda-srf.org/The_Eightfold_Path_of_Yoga.aspx?terms=PATANJALI#.WyGwBPacGas
The meaning of the word "Yoga" is "union". It is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj," (pron. "yug") meaning "to join", "to unite" --- The English word "yoke" is also derived from the same Sanskrit root.
Quote / image taken from Yogoda Satsanga Society of India web site
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