Yogas Spiritual Path Means to Join Essay - 882 Words

The yogas are active spiritual paths, a way for people to achieve illumination by the Divine Spark within us all. The word yoga literally means â€Å"union† and is related to the English words join and yoke. Through yoga, we â€Å"unwrap† the Divinity within, thereby allowing our true spiritual natures to shine forth ever brighter. There are numerous types of yoga; here is a short explanation of some of the main ones: Jnana yoga is the yoga of wisdom and true knowledge.To know Brahman as ones individual Self is Jnana. It looks into the reality about who we are and what we are experiencing and the complete comprehension of this reality carries enlightenment. According to Shankara (c.788-820), everything is fundamentally one divine reality, and†¦show more content†¦Refers to a set of physical exercises, that contain stretching and balancing, designed to align your skin, muscles, and bones. The postures are also designed to open the various channels of the body, especially the primary channel, the spine, so that energy can circulate freely. The main Hindu beliefs are Brahman, Atman, Maya, Karma, Dharma, and Moksha. These primary concepts are still taught today. The word Brahman means divine reality at the center of things. Brahman itself constitutes the basic building material of all reality, the font of all things. It is the long-lasting experience that all things are in some way holy because they originate from the same sacred fount. It is also the experience that all things are basically one. It says that every seemingly individual reality in the world is, in reality, a wave of the same sacred ocean of energy. Theres three words that help define its nature: Brahman is Sat, reality itself; Chit, pure consciousness; and Ananda, bliss. Atman is sometimes translated as self, soul, or deepest self. Each individual has a soul and the soul presents its own uniqueness and personality. At the deepest level of what you are, there is a divine reality, a divine spirit, that everything shares. The Atman is equal with Brahman, it refers to the experience of the sacred within oneself. It could be said that in this world, a spiritual being, the Atman, has a human experience instead of a human being having aShow MoreRelatedIs Yoga A Metaphysical Practice?1847 Words   |  8 Pages â€Å"Derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning to yoke, join or attach, ’yoga’ can most broadly be thought of as any practice aimed at helping facilitate a union between the limited self and the Divine, or Ultimate Being† (Heerman, 6). For thousands of years the practice of yoga has been used to connect one’s mind, body and soul. We as humans live in a time where it is easy to become detached to our bodies, minds, and sp irituality to the world around us. Yoga is a metaphysical practice this is infamous