Many Yogas

My experience with yoga meditation has come from learning, practicing and living raja, hatha, jappa, bahkti and karma yogas. Here are the traditional types of yoga with their classical dictionary definitions.

Hatha yoga: a method using physical exercises to attempt to control the body and attain union of the self with the Supreme Being.

Japa yoga: repetition of a mantra leading to communion with the Supreme.

Karma yoga: becoming indifferent to the consequences of one’s actions, thereby disassociating oneself from one’s ordinary consciousness.

Bhakti yoga: selfless devotion as a means of reaching Brahman or the Supreme.

Ashtanga yoga: As a new form of surya namaskara, ashtanga is characterized by athletic jumps and challenging push ups, and a series of poses that are as physically demanding as they are visually exciting. The poses are sequenced to be performed without interruption by young, flexible bodies.

Raja yoga: is also known as classical yoga or simply yoga. In the traditional sense, Raja Yoga is one of six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Although Raja Yoga has eight aspects, it is primarily concerned with the cultivating the mind using meditation to develop a consciousness of reality that utlimately leads to soul liberation.

Tantra yoga: traditional tantra relies on the guidance of a guru who is qualified to teach tantra’s extensive meditative practice, as well as its traditional rules of conduct of both a moral and ritualistic nature. Tantra as it is defined here is not to be confused with neotantra, a new age hybrid that is concerned primarily with spiritual sex or sacred sexuality.