Yoga
The practice of Yoga is
intimately connected to the religious beliefs and practices of both Hinduism
and Buddhism. However, there are distinct variations in the usage of
yoga terminology in the two religions.
In Hinduism, the term "Yoga"
commonly refers to the eight limbs of yoga as defined in the Yoga Sutras
of Patanjali, written sometime after 100 BCE, and means "yoke", with
the idea that one's individual atman, or soul, would yoke or bind with the
monistic entity that underlies everything (brahman). Yoga
in Hinduism also known as being 'complex', based on yoking (integrating). Yoga
defines a specific process, it has an emphasis on knowledge and practice, as
well as being known to be 'mature' and difficult. The most basic meaning
of this Sanskrit term is with technique. The technique of the different forms
of yoga is what makes the practice meaningful. Yoga is not an easy or simple
practice, viyoga is what is described as simple. Yoga is difficult in the fact
of displaying the faith and meaning of Hinduism. Many Hindus tend to pick and
choose between the five forms of yoga because of the way they live their life
and how they want to practice it in the form they are most connected to.
In the Vajrayana Buddhism of
Tibet, however, the term "Yoga" is simply used to refer to any type
of spiritual practice; from the various types of tantra (like Kriyayoga orCharyayoga)
to 'Deity yoga' and 'guru yoga'. In the early translation phase of the Sutrayana and Tantrayana from
India, China and other regions to Tibet, along with the practice lineages of sadhana,
codified in the Nyingmapa canon, the most subtle 'conveyance'
(Sanskrit: yana) is Adi Yoga (Sanskrit). A contemporary scholar
with a focus on Tibetan Buddhism, Robert Thurman writes that
Patanjali was influenced by the success of the Buddhist monastic
system to formulate his own matrix for the version of thought he considered
orthodox.