The Wisdom of Yoga

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Section 1
  • Welcome Guide

  • How to Submit Continuing Education Hours to Yoga Alliance

Section 2
  • History of Yoga - PDF

  • History of Yoga

    1m30s
  • Why study? Origins and why they matter. Benefits: Expanding horizons. Clarity. Rooting and strength. Traditions as maps. Importance of ideology/world view. Difference from religion. Yoga as self-awareness. Method: What (fact vs interpretation). So What (implications, non-dogmatism, applications, etc.). How. Philosophy vs darśana. Yoga as problem solving technique: removing obstacles.
  • Origins of Yoga. Mohenjodaro & Harappan culture. Śramaṇas (Buddhism, Jainism). Vedic tradition. Evidencia suggests the Śrāmaṇas as source of yoga. Characteristics of early yoga: concern with karma. Renunciation and self-control (masculine approach). Meditation as the central practice of yoga.
  • The yoga of Buddhism: the “Middle Path”. The 4 Noble Truths. The 8-fold Noble Path
  • The Upaniṣads, part of the Vedas. Elitism of early forms of yoga: women and the lower classes excluded in early yoga. Bhagavad Gītā (ca 3rd-2nd c BCE.) The historical period of the Gītā: time of development and intermixing of ideas and traditions. Three forms of yoga: Jñāna Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga. Revolutionary: includes all groups and offers different approaches to yoga. Historical development: It took many centuries for Bhakti Yoga to appear in specific lineages.
  • Continuity of renunciation-based forms of yoga throughout history. Yoga Sūtras (ca 325-425 CE). Systematic synthesis of earlier yoga sources. Focus on the mind. Stilling mental activity in order to develop self-awareness. Analysis of the first 4 sūtras.
  • Historical context for Vedānta: intellectual developments (debate and cross-polination; increased sophistication). Vedānta (8th c CE). The 3 basic statements of Śaṅkara’s Vedānta. Ignorance as the fundamental problem. Vedānta as a process of deconstruction of conditioning. The essence: the pure “I”
  • Resonances with the teachings of the Bhagavad Gītā, democratic outlook. Tantra is not “sacred sexuality”. The essence of Tantra is about finding the sacred everywhere. New approaches to practice: Haṭha Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Laya Yoga, Nāda Yoga. Same concerns as before but increased sophistication and tools. Historical developments after the rise of Tantra.
  • We will practice a very traditional method of meditation, which is based on the single-point approach. The idea is maintaining attention and concentration in one point, that is, not erase the mind, but gradually reduce mental activity.
Section 3
  • The Yoga of the Upanisads - PDF

  • The Yoga of the Upanisads

    47s
  • The Vedic tradition. The 4 Vedas. Components of the Vedas. Samples from the Vedic texts. The Upaniṣads. Main teachings and practices explored through stories. The Yoga of the Upaniṣads
  • Sample of Vedic materials: saṃhitās (hymns)
  • Sample of Vedic materials: brāhmaṇas (texts on the ritual life)
  • Historical considerations. Definition of the term. Classification of the Upaniṣads. The 4 Mahāvākyas or great statements of the Upaniṣads
  • Story of Indra, Virocana and Prajāpati
  • Teachings from the story of Indra and Virocana. Qualities of the disciple. Symbology of the time periods. The method, the yoga of the Upaniṣads (3 steps). The process: internal process, successive stages through various layers: physical, subtle, causal. The Self.
  • Story of Satyakāma Jābāla
  • Teachings from the story of Satyakāma Jābāla. Qualities of the student. Importance of giving. The guru-student tradition and the mportance of studentship.
  • Meditation from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: Neti, neti.
Section 4
  • The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita - PDF

  • The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita

    1m20s
  • The Bhagavad Gītā (3rd-2nd c BCE). Overview. Date and relevance. 3 forms of yoga: jñāna yoga, karma yoga and bhakti yoga. Difference between religion and yoga, ritual and transcendence. Emphasis on the practices. Background: Mahābhārata.
  • Symbology of the situation: the conflict, the chariot and the characters, the center. Structure of the text. Arjuna’s state and attitude: opening to wisdom.
  • Jñāna Yoga, the yoga of knowledge (awareness). Key verses from chapter 13.
  • Jñāna Yoga meditation: bringing awareness inwards, to the puruṣa (Self)
  • Conclusion: the essence of Jñāna Yoga. Further teachings about this yoga in the Bhagavad Gītā: pointers for a balanced life.
  • Karma Yoga, the yoga of action (freedom from karma). Teachings from chapter 2. Contrast with religious ritual. Karma as psychological mechanism. Verses 47 and 48. Acting from higher awareness. Equanimity.
  • Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion (love). Chapters 9, 10 and 11. God in everything. The power of love as awareness. role of grace.
  • Meditation from Bhagavad Gītā, chapter 6, verses 11, 12 and 13
Section 5
  • The Yoga System of Patañjali - PDF

  • The Yoga System of Patañjali

    1m43s
  • The Yoga Sūtra. Overview of contents in this module. Recent research on the topic. Dispelling misunderstandings about the Yoga Sūtras and Patañjali. Date: ca 325 - 425 CE
  • Historical context. Patañjali’s contribution, drawing from śramaṇa traditions (Jainism, Buddhism). Practical manual for meditation. The oral tradition and Patañjali’s method. Structure of the Yoga Sūtra, 4 pādas or chapters: Samādhi, Sādhana, Vibhūti, Kaivalya. Sūṭra: definition and methodology.
  • Sūtras 1-4, basic paradigm of Patañjali’s yoga: restraining the mind. Sūtra 12 and following: basic elements for the restraint of the mind.
  • Sūtra 17: the methodology of meditation: gradual restraint; from the outside in; beyond the senses.
  • Meditation from sūtra 17, the four stages
  • Chapter 2: Additional, complementary practices (to meditation). Consistent methodology. Kriyā-yoga.
  • Chapter 2: Additional practices, the 8 limbs of yoga (aṣṭāṅga).
  • Meditation on Oṃ

    4m
  • Meditation on the Breath

    7m
  • Meditation on the Heart

    3m
Section 6
  • The World of Tantric Yoga - PDF

  • The World of Tantric Yoga

    1m15s
  • Demistifying Tantra and correcting misunderstandings: what Tantra is not. The reception of Tantra in the West and its rise in India.
  • What is Tantra? Definition of the term. Contraction and expansion. Non-transgressive forms of Tantra: left handed and right handed paths. The geography of Tantra. Different branches of Tantra: Jaina, Buddhist and Hindu—Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, Śākta, Saurya, Gāṇapatya. Evolution of Śākta Tantra.
  • Main Teachings of Tantra. Secret teachings and symbolic meanings. Evolution and the maturity of the soul. Tantric forms of yoga: haṭha yoga, kuṇḍalinī yoga, laya yoga, mantra yoga, nāda yoga. Description of Tantra's main features.
  • “Transgressive” Tantra: the pañcamakāra ritual. Three types of seekers. Pañcamakāra
  • Tantric cosmology: ultimate reality and the creation of the universe. The microcosm and the macrocosm.
  • Tantric meditation: bhūtaśuddhi, purification of the elements.
Section 7
  • Hatha Yoga and its Sources - PDF

  • Hatha Yoga

    1m31s
  • Haṭha yoga. Chronological background and development. Sources: Āyurveda, alchemy & kuṇḍalinī. Basic concepts in Āyurveda: hollistic understanding and mind-body connection; dietary considerations; lifestyle advice; emphasis on therapy.
  • Alchemy. Geographical spread. The 3 phases in its development. Haṭhayoga as inner alchemy.
  • Kuṇḍalinī and the subtle body. Demystifying kunḍalinī: symbol vs actual process (dynamics of prāṇa flow in body/mind). Esoteric anatomy & early translation sources. The symbolic system of cakras & its use in layayoga.
  • Kuṇḍalinī, continued: dynamics of the subtle body and the effect of memories (saṃskāras). Stages in the process of kuṇḍalinī.
  • Haṭha yoga. Etymologies of the term. Myth of its origins. The Haṭhapradīpikā: structure and ṣatkarma. The word “āsana” and its number. The most important practices in each category.
  • Haṭhapradīpikā continued. Varieties of prāṇāyāma. Kumbhāka, retention of breath. Description of bhāstrika and the 3 bandhas. Meditation on nāda, inner sound. Final state.
  • Meditation: visualization on kuṇḍalinī.