Patanjali and His Eightfold Path of Yoga

[mccoy]

[This is why i appreciate - so much - the spiritual company I have. God certainly made enlightenment anything but an easy attainment. i am often at odds with my spiritual practice. But i have come a long way in this life in getting spiritual support. We aim to make you feel the same way mccoy.

Thanks Steve, I appreciate it!

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Paramahansa Yogananda describes dharana in lesson 114.  He says: The essential thing to remember is that scientific meditation means the withdrawal of life current from the nerves. When you can do that, sensations cannot reach the brain to rouse perceptions and associated thoughts. Concentration and meditation both have two sides: disengaging your attention from objects of disturbance and putting it on one object at a time. In the beginning you cannot make your attention stay on one thing. After you have attained that state wherein you can control attention (dharana, the sixth of the eight steps of yoga described by Pentanjali), you will find that you can accomplish much in both a spiritual way and in a material way. If at death you can hold on to that state of deep meditation, of soul awareness, you will go consciously and know no change. P.Y.

The essential Point here is that Yogananda is saying that meditation is not only releasing yourself from objects of distraction but also concentrating on one thing at a time. Hmmmm. Sounds like what the Buddhists call Mindfulness.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/the-eight-limbs

Get to Know the Eight Limbs of Yoga

Patanjali's eight-fold path offers guidelines for a meaningful and purposeful life. Delve into this prescription for moral and ethical conduct and self-discipline.

In Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, the eightfold path is called ashtanga, which literally means "eight limbs" (ashta=eight, anga=limb). These eight steps basically act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. They serve as a prescription for moral and ethical conduct and self-discipline; they direct attention toward one's health; and they help us to acknowledge the spiritual aspects of our nature.

The first four Limbs...

These first four stages of Patanjali's ashtanga yoga concentrate on refining our personalities, gaining mastery over the body, and developing an energetic awareness of ourselves, all of which prepares us for the second half of this journey, which deals with the senses, the mind, and attaining a higher state of consciousness.