Yoga & religion

Dr.Dilip Kumar Panda

Asstt.Prof. Ghatal R.S.Mahavidyalaya

Yoga has become more and more popular in the west. Now- a- days million
of people practicing yoga but unfortunately most of them have no idea of higher
yogic sadhanas , nor of the ideals and aims of yoga.
Most of the lectures here in the U.S.A start their talks with the assertion
“yoga is not a religion it is a way of life”. The question arises then, what is religion
if it is not a way of life? Is it merely a set of dogmas and blind beliefs?
Unfortunately for many, and even for otherwise educated people, it is so. And in
this respect those lecturers are partly justified in their statements.
However, if we approach the subject matter from a scientific point of view,
we ought to be more careful in using our words. Let us now see what the word
religion really mean and stands for.
According to st. Auguastine, Lactantuls, Lucretius, and Servius the word
“religion” is derived from “religare”. The preposition “re”means again and “ligare”
means to bind1. So the full meaning of the word religion is to reunite or rejoin.
The word yoga is derived from the root “yuj” meaning to unite, to bind, etc2.
So we see that the root meaning of the words is yoga and religion is identical.
One of the classical definitions of yoga is to join, or unite the individual soul
(jivatma) with the supreme soul (paramatma) or God.
As all the higher religions assert that there is only one God, logically there
can be only one religion and the various so-called religious are only branches and
off-shoots of the one ideal religion. What the majority of people understand by
religion is actually not religion, as such, but merely a faith. Faiths are many
because doctrines, beliefs, etc. vary with the teachers and adherents of various
faiths. But the doctrines, dogmas, rituals, etc. are only the outer crust and non-
essentials of a religion. If this is so the question arises what are the essentials of a
religion.
Swami Abhedananda in his book,“spiritual unfoldment” states that they are
self–control and self–realization3.Self– control meaning the subdual or restraint of
our sensual or lower nature. And self-realization or self-knowledge is knowledge
of the higher self, the divine nature of man.4
The Bhagavadgita puts a great emphasis on the control of the mind. In
chapter VI, verse 34 Arjunia compares the mind to wind and says:
च चलं िह मनः कृ ण मािथ वलव ढृ म ।
त याहं िन हं म ये वायो रव सदु ु करम् ॥5
And the next verse ,lord Krishna concurs :
असश ं यं महावाहो म ये दिु न हं जलम् ।
अ यासेन तु कौ तेय वैरा येन च गृ ते ॥6
The Bhagvad Gita also says; as long “as one does not realize the Truth are
should practice self–control.” the so we come to the practical side of religion. In all
faiths we find some advice to control the lower nature which stands in the way of
realization of truth. In the Christian Bible we find the mention of two practices –-
fasting and prayer7. In the monastic orders of the Greek and Roman Catholic
Churches we find evolved some exercises resembling yogic exercises like breath
control and meditation. But only in the Hindu scriptures do we find a scientific,
systematic approach.
Mystics and saints are unanimous in their declaration that the Self or God
cannot be realized in the ordinary states of human consciousness but rather in a
state of ecstasy or a transcendental state of consciousness called Turiya or Samadhi
by the Hindus. Turiya is discussed in Mandukya Upanishada
िनवृ े सवदःु खानामीशानः भरु ययः
अ ैतः सवभावानां देव तयु ः िवभःु मृतः ॥8

The insight during meditation of Turiya is known as amaatra,the ‘immeasurable’

or ‘measureless’in the Mandyka Uponisad, being synonymous to Samadhi 9. Also,
in religion’s history we find that super conscious state while engaged in deep
meditation. So meditation is the pen-ultimate state of super consciousness or
Samadhi.
As already mentioned, the Hindu saints and sages have evolved a systematic
scheme of exercises leading step by step to Samadhi in which the supreme truth is
realized .These steps are elucidated by the Maharshi Patanjali in his yoga sutras
.They are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama,pratyahara,dharana,dhyana and
Samadhi 10.The last step Samadhi leads one to Self-realization and freedom or
moksha which is the aim of yoga and religion as well.
 All of those great ones who have reached the mystic union (yoga) with God
have practiced deep meditation (dhyana) and thereby reached the super
consciousness state wherein theu realized the Truth or God.
People who try to practice dhyana without any preliminary discipline find it
difficult, if not impossible, to meditate because the mind ,by its very nature, is
restless and unstable. So Patanjali Maharshi has advised the practice of dharma or
concentration in which the unstable mind should brought back to the lakshya again
and again, as often as it slips away from the point of concentration. But ever this
sadhana is not easy for the beginner in Yogabhyasa. For the mind is drawn out or
distracted by sensation of sound, sight, touch, etc. Therefore Maharshi Patanjali
has advised the practice of sense withdrawal or prtyahara as the step preceding
dharma (concentration) z11.Again the senses are difficult to control, for the sounds,
sights ,etc .easily agitate and divert the mind. So the only effective and scientific
method of sense control lies in withdrawing or switching off the life form the
senses which is achieved by the practice of the preceding step pranayama- ति मन् सित
बास बासयोगितिव छे दः ाणायामः । 12.
Patanjali indicates that to successfully practice pranayama one needs to
master a yoga posture or asana13. The mastery of posture is also essential for the
higher steps of yoga because every movement of the body distracted the meditating
mind.
So far everything is logically clear and reasonable in the systematic scheme
of yoga sadhanas. One question might arise, however, as regards the first two
limbs of yoga yama and niyama which are moral disciplines. Is there a necessity
for them in such a scientific scheme? Yes, there is a necessity .Such necessity
might not be felt in the study of purely materialistic phenomena of nature, but if
the study and control of one’s own mind is the objective, then the purity of the
mind is a sine qua non, for otherwise the impure vasanas will stand as an
insurmountable obstacle when we come to the practice of Dhyana or meditation.
In conclusion we might recapitulate that the aim of religion and yoga are the
same, the state of deliverance from suffering and attainment of bliss. The
difference lies, however, in that most of the so-called religions, or rather faiths,
give spiritual injunctions or Moral codes but do not offer scientific method of how
this spiritual regeneration could be effected.
Yoga shows the way!
References :-
1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org.>wiki>yoga
3. Spiritual unfoldment by swami Abhedananda ,seventh edition,Vedanta
ashrama,west cornwall,conn.
4. Complete works of swami abhedananda vol-I,ramkrishna Vedanta math,19-
b,raja rajkrishna street,Calcutta.India.
5. Srimadbhgbadgita, Tattvavivecani (English commentary) by Jaydayal
Goyandka, Gita Press , Gorakhpur,1994,p.310
6. Ibid.,p.311
7. http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical verses/bible-verse-about-fasting &
prayer-bible-verse
8. Isadi nou upanisad(sankarbhasya),geeta press,gorokhpur.p.596
9. Goldberg,Ellen(2002)Ardhanarishvara: The lord who is Half Women,p.85.
10.Maharshi patanjalikrit yogo darshan(Bengali),geeta press,gorkshpur,page-
29
11. Ibid.,P.62.
12.Ibid.,P.62.
13.Patanjal yogadarshan, udbodhan karyalaya, swami bhargananda,Page166