Worldwide, billions of people covet the industrial world's

wealth and are replicating its system of modern

consumerism as rapidly as possible. But what they are

ignoring, perhaps perilously so, is the fact that as

materially well off as the industrial world is, too many of

us are also chronically living what Henry David Thoreau

coined "a life of quiet desperation."

According to John M. Grohol, Psy.D. in thePsychCentral

News, in America alone, over 10 percent of the

population, (over 30 million people), rich by the rest of

the world's standards, exist on antidepressants and anti-

anxiety drugs. And the ever-growing use of sleep-aid

drugs has increased to over 56 million people, according

to Denise Gellene with the Los Angeles Times.

So, if the emerging nations obtain the wealth and

technology they desire, it is likely they will discover the

same shocking revelation that Americans have

discovered: They are still not happy. Americans are

depressed and stressed out. What can be deduced from

this is that our careers, cars, smart phones, and even our

flat-screen TVs will not ultimately make us happy,

healthy, or feel that we live a meaning life.

One of the great hopes in all this is that in the past

decade there has been a huge upsurge in people

embarking on self-examination. People are again asking

the big question, "What is this life about?" And no matter

how hard we may try to deny it, the answer we are left

facing is a spiritual one.

Because of this reawakening, yoga is sweeping across

the globe at a dazzling speed, as millions are turning to

yoga not only to exercise, but also as an alternative to

the experience of a spiritual gathering they cannot find

in a church, synagogue, mosque or Web site. Perhaps the

reason for this lies in the chief difference between

religion and Western-style yoga, and that is that Yoga is

usually offered in a nondogmatic format, which makes it

inclusive to many more people. Because of its message of

healing, unity and a simpler life, yoga may be one of the

great rays of hope for our future. Why? Because

worldwide, yoga is being embraced primarily by college-

educated, upper-middle-class thinkers and

businesspeople in positions of power--the very strata of

society that has the power to make the changes this

world so desperately needs.

In my own experience as a teacher of yoga and personal

transformation, I witness many white-collar

businesspeople park their $85,000 cars, turn off their

cell phones, and walk into yoga rooms in a courageous

attempt to transform their bodies and emotional states

without the use of pharmaceuticals. The transformation

is powerful to observe. Through the practice of special

breathing techniques, meditation, and a sequence of

postures, one day they experience a sense of calm

beingness that they have not felt in years or even

decades. This wondrous heart-opening consciousness

triggers the profound realization that a 90 minute, $20

yoga class fulfills many of their essential needs, more

than any of their other possessions they have worked

like dogs to obtain. This life-changing insight compels

them to reassess the value of their priorities and their

very purpose in life: Who am I? Why am I? Where am I

going?

The world at large could reap untold benefits as the core

of the world's white-collar workforce becomes more

concerned with opening their hearts than filling their

wallets. I believe that most yoga teachers can attest that

yoga is visibly de-stressing and healing countless people

each day. This new wave of peace and tolerance can be

felt rising, and not just in America; the wave has now

stretched across the seas to Europe, the Far East, and

even the Middle East. International power-cities like

Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Berlin, London,

Istanbul, and Tel Aviv all offer yoga classes in impressive

yoga centers. Lives are being changed and are souls re-

inspired to reach beyond themselves and into the

possibility of a greater world through peace, health,

nondogmatic spirituality, and a conscious life.

Because of the enormous influence of yoga teachers, I

believe that what we teachers need to do next is to focus

on ethical renewal, teaching by example first and also by

planting seeds in our yoga classes. Ethics must become a

focalized component as it is one of the missing links in

modern society, as made clearly evident in the collapse

of the banking system. In this world, it is not enough to

be smart and well educated, we must begin to see our

fellow man and woman to be as important as our own

families. The Yoga Community, and particularly its yoga

teachers have a meaningful influence over the white-

collar strata of society, including those in pinnacle power

positions. So, it is our responsibility to inspire our

students to set an example to infuse their highest ideals

into their work and workplace, always looking for win-

win events and holding firm that the end never justifies

the means. Perhaps the impact of yoga on the world will

ultimately be in opening people's minds and hearts and

helping to guide our actions on an exemplary course

through history.

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Copyright © International Journal of Yoga

Impact of yoga way of life on organizational performanceHasmukh Adhia, HR Nagendra,1 and B Mahadevan2

Government of Gujarat, Gulbai Tekra, Ahmedabad - 380 006, India1Swami Vivekanand Yoga Anusandhan Samsthan, Kempegowda Nagar, Bangalore - 19, India2Indian Institute of Management, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560 076, IndiaAddress for correspondence: Prof. B Mahadevan, Indian Institute of Management, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore - 560 076, India. E-mail: mahadev@iimb.ernet.inThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

  Other Sections ▼

PubMed articles by these authors

Adhia, H.

Nagendra, H.

Mahadeva n, B.

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Bringing corporate culture to the bottom line.

[Organ Dyn. 1984]

Revie

Abstract

Background:

Organizational performance can be attributed

to a number of factors. However, there are

certain organizational factors, the presence or

absence of which can determine the success

or failure of the organization. There are

different ways in which organizations try to

improve their performance by working on

such factors. In the research presented in this

article, an attempt is made to find out whether

adoption of the Yoga Way of Life by

managers can have a positive impact on such

organizational performance indicators.

Aims:

To measure effect of yoga way of life on five

different indicators through an empirical

study.

Materials and Methods:

The five indicators are job satisfaction, job

involvement, goal orientation, affective

organizational commitment and organizational

wOrganizational research with impact: working backwards.

[Worldviews Evid Based Nurs. 2004]

Quality of working life and organizational performance--two sides of the same coin?

[Scand J Work Environ Health. 2009]

Healing models for organizations: description, measurement, and outcomes.

[J Healthc

citizenship behavior.

Statistics Analysis:

Pre- and post-data was measured using self-

reported questionnaire. Independent T-test

(Paired) and Pearson’s correlation test were

conducted using SPSS.

Results and Conclusion:

The results of the study show that Yoga has a

significant positive impact on four out of five

of these indicators. Only job involvement does

not show significant improvement. The

construct used for measuring job involvement

had a Chronbach alpha of 0.613, which is an

indicator of moderate reliability, which could

be the main reason for not getting positive

result.

Keywords: Yoga way of life, job satisfaction,

job involvement, goal orientation,

organizational citizenship behavior, affective

organizational commitment

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Manag. 2000]

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INTRODUCTION

The globalization of the industrial world

makes it imperative for organizations to put

special emphasis on organizational

innovation, flexibility, productivity, and

responsiveness for changing the external

conditions of their performance.

Organizational performance can be measured

in terms of different criteria for different

organizations, and it depends to a great

extent on the goals of an organization.

However, one way of comparing

organizations with different goals is to identify

surrogate indicators of performance. In this

article we have utilized the past studies and

relevant literature to identify five

organizational factors that can be used as

alibis to assess the performance of an

organization from the view point of the set

objectives. These factors are common to

most organizations, and therefore, can be

used to make comparisons between

companies or groups.

Today, there is considerable interest among

the management practitioners and

researchers with regard to the role and

benefits of introducing spirituality at the

workplace. The Harvard Business School

study, drawn over a period of 11 years,

showed a marked relation between the

strength of the organizations’ corporate

culture and its profitability.[1] Lloyd[2]

maintains that organizations high in

workplace spirituality outperform those

without it by 86%. Taking a cue from such

other studies, we have been motivated to

introduce the concept of the ‘Yoga way of life’.

We have analyzed the possible impact it can

have on such organizational factors, and have

utilized the empirical study and literature to

make our inferences.

Yoga is generally perceived to be a way of

keeping oneself healthy and happy. However,

if one truly understands the concept of yoga

as a complete way of life, one can clearly see

its benefit for changing the paradigms of its

practitioners. Such a change in the psycho-

motivation of people is useful at the

organizational level also. However, so far,

very few empirical studies have been

undertaken to establish such a link. The main

contribution of this article is to fill this gap.

Using a controlled scientific experimentation

of employees in a manufacturing unit, we

provide an empirical assessment of the

impact of the yoga way of life on positive

organizational factors.

We pose the question, “Can adoption of the

yoga way of life make a positive impact on the

factors which are responsible for the

performance of organizations? If so, can we

empirically observe this phenomenon and

provide relevant literature support to explain

this?” To the best of our knowledge, there is

no empirical research available so far, to

answer these questions. We study these

issues in this article using an empirical study

conducted in a manufacturing unit involving

84 executives.

We show that adoption of the yoga way of life

can bring about better job satisfaction,

affective organizational commitment,

organizational citizenship behavior, and goal

orientation of managers. These factors indeed

contribute to the performance of the

organization as we have argued in the article.

Through a rigorous literature review and

understanding of the science of Yoga, as

given in our scriptures, we also provide an

explanation of how this happens. We also

motivate the HR managers in organizations to

explore ways of implementing the yoga way

of life, as it promises to address the issue of

organizational climate at a fundamental level.

The rest of the article is organized as follows.

In the next section we provide a review of the

literature to introduce various factors

contributing to the performance of an

organization and the manner in which these

contribute. On the basis of this, we identify

the variables for our study. In Section 3, we

discuss the role of yoga in management by a

study of the literature. Based on these we

also develop the hypothesis for our study. We

present the study details in Section 4, and

discuss the results in the following Section.

Finally in Section 6, we conclude by

highlighting the implications of our study.

  Other Sections ▼

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Factors contributing to organizational performance

Organizational performance can be termed as

the achievement of the goals of an

organization. The goals of an organization

may differ from organization to organization

and may also include in its fold quantitative

and qualitative aspects. When an

organization achieves its goals, it is said to

have performed well. As performance is the

main reason for the survival of an

organization, there is considerable interest

among practitioners and researchers to

understand what results in a better

organizational performance.

Marmol and Murray[3] studied High

Performing Organizations (HPOs) from a

variety of sectors including financial services,

technology, consumer goods, retail

manufacturing, transportation, customer

services, and energy. The focus of the study

was on identifying qualities and practices that

helped organizations sustain a superior

performance over a long period. They

observed that of the six attributes that were

common to the HPOs, the most important

was leadership competence. According to

Uma,[4] most organizations are impacted by

globalization, new challenges, and

complexities irrespective of whether they

operate globally or not. Leadership

competence is critical to the success of the

organization perhaps more than ever before.

Prahalad,[5] discussed the challenges that

leaders face in the current environment and

the qualities required. The main

competencies that he emphasized to face

these are:

Coping with ambiguities and uncertainties

econciling the coexistence of opposites

Managing the diversity in terms of race,

age, gender, culture, and intellectual

person integrity

Selflessness

Humility and courage

Networking across organizations

Contextual influence and authority

According to Tichy,[6] the single most

important factor that differentiates winning

companies from losing ones is that the

winning companies possess a leadership

engine — a proven system for creating

dynamic leaders at every level. Warren[7]

observed that the key to future competitive

advantage will be the organization’s capacity

to create a social architecture capable of

generating intellectual capital; and leadership

is the key to realize full intellectual capital.

The quality and disposition of managerial

level employees is thus a key to

organizational performance. Some of the

factors that can measure these qualities are

job satisfaction, job involvement, goal

orientation, organizational commitment, and

organizational citizenship behavior. We

present a review of their influence on the

quality of leadership and organizational

performance.

Job satisfactionAccording to Bullock,[8] job satisfaction is an

attitude that results from a balancing and

summation of many specific likes and dislikes

experienced in connection with the job.

Smith[9] has defined job satisfaction as an

employee’s judgment of how well his job has

satisfied his various needs. Blum and

Naylor[10] have defined job satisfaction as a

general attitude formed as a result of specific

job factors, individual characteristics, and

relationships outside the job. Robbins[11] too

has defined job satisfaction as an employee’s

general attitude toward his job.

In the mid-seventies, Locke[12] reviewed the

research work done on job satisfaction during

the preceding 40 years, beginning with the

classic study by Hoppock.[13] Locke reported

that more than 3000 studies had been

published during the said period of 40 years.

A critical review of the researches indicated

that although there was no direct or

consistent relationship between job

satisfaction and productivity, the scholars and

management practitioners were still interested

in the study of job satisfaction for the following

reasons, which had broad implications for the

individual, the organization, and the society at

large;

Absenteeism is higher among dissatisfied

employees[14,15]

Dissatisfied employees are more likely to

quit[16]

Satisfied employees enjoy better health

and live longer[12,17]

Job satisfaction is infectious and carries

over to life outside the work place[18]

In a survey of 440 commercial bank

employees in Bangladesh, Mosharraf[19]

concluded that job satisfaction had a

significant positive contribution to

performance. Judge and Bono[20] found

through empirical evidence that self-esteem,

generalized self-efficacy, internal locus of

control, and emotional stability are among the

best dispositional predictors of job satisfaction

and job performance. Lopez[21] found that

self-esteem moderates the job performance –

job satisfaction relationship. Cropazano

Bonnet (2007) established that the

employees’ psychological well-being and

employee morale have a moderating effect on

the relationship between job-performance and

job-satisfaction. Based on Korman’s

Consistency Theory of Work Motivation,

Inkson[22] established that self-esteem

exercised a significant moderating effect on

the correlation between performance and

intrinsic satisfaction, but not on the correlation

between performance and extrinsic

satisfaction.

These studies point to the role ‘job

satisfaction’ plays in creating a positive

ambience for the employees, motivating them

and thereby ensuring high productivity. These

in turn are likely to contribute to the

performance of an organization.

Job involvementJob involvement is an important factor in the

lives of most people. Work activities consume

a large proportion of time and constitute a

fundamentally important aspect of life for

most people. People may be stimulated by

and drawn deeply into their work or alienated

from it mentally and emotionally. The quality

of one’s entire life experience can be greatly

affected by one’s degree of involvement in or

alienation from work.[23,24] A state of

involvement implies a positive and relatively

complete state of engagement of the core

aspects of the self in the job, whereas, a state

of alienation implies a loss of individuality and

separation of the self from the work

environment. For example, Argyris,[23]

Kanungo,[25] Marx,[26] McGregor,[27]

Kanungo[25,28] considered involvement and

alienation to be polar opposites.

Lawler and Hall[29] defined job involvement

as a ‘psychological identification with one’s

work’ and ‘the degree to which the job

situation is central to the person and his (or

her) identity’ (p. 310-311). Increasing job

involvement can enhance organizational

effectiveness and productivity by engaging

employees more completely in their work, and

making the work a more meaningful and

fulfilling experience.[30]

The ‘individual difference perspective’ holds

that job involvement results from socialization

processes that inculcate the importance of

work as a virtuous and necessary activity, as

well as from other stable individual

differences. This research draws on the work

of Weber,[31] with its emphasis on

individuality and the virtue of work as an end

in itself. Such beliefs are likely to predispose

people to be more job involved.[32–34]

Individuals with an internal locus of control

(i.e., those who believe they are active causal

agents) are likely to be more job involved than

individuals with an external locus of control.

Previous research has not established the

causal ordering of job involvement with

respect to job satisfaction and organizational

commitment. We can classify job satisfaction

as a consequence of job involvement, even

though reciprocal causation is likely. One can

consider job satisfaction primarily as a

consequence, because cognitive appraisal of

the potential for need satisfaction logically

precedes actual need satisfaction. It is also

likely that actual satisfaction then reciprocally

influences job involvement. Conclusively,

disentangling the causal priority of these two

constructs empirically is likely to be difficult.

Stumpf[35] concluded that both work

performance and work satisfaction had

antecedent influences on job involvement. All

of these studies were co-relational, and none

conclusively ruled out alternate causal

orderings.

Organizational commitmentRobbins[36] has pointed out that dedicated or

committed employees serve as ‘pivotal

variables without which the inanimate assets

are worthless’. Several research and

consulting organizations[37] also suggest that

a committed workforce is the ‘hallmark’ of a

successful organization. ‘Committed or

dedicated employees are expected to be

more productive and work with focus on

quality, to increase customer satisfaction and

profitability of their organization’.[38] In a

study of skilled workers of a private

manufacturing unit (n=200) Pal,[39] found that

a humane and fair management style

significantly related to organizational

commitment. Objectivity and rationality was

found to be significantly related to

organizational commitment in a study

undertaken by Sharma.[40]

In a study conducted on 400 employees at

the Indian Institute of Management

Bangalore, Adhia[41] found that three factors,

organizational politics, distributive justice, and

procedural justice are strong predictors of

affective organizational commitment. In the

regression of affective organizational

commitment, taking these three as predictors,

the adjusted R square comes to 0.224,

with P<0.01.

It appears from this that organizational

commitment is an obvious contributor to

organizational performance because loyalty to

the organization significantly enables the

organization to achieve its objectives. The

primary difference between organizational

commitment and job involvement is that job

involvement primarily reflects one’s attitude

toward a specific job, whereas, organizational

commitment refers to one’s attachment to the

organization.[42,43] It would be possible, for

example, to be very involved in a specific job

but not be committed to the organization and

vice versa.[44,45]

Organizational citizenship behaviorOrganizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

pertains to the employees’ behavior over and

above the call of duty (job description and job

specification), which is very important for

organizational effectiveness. The

globalization of the industrial world makes it

imperative for organizations to put special

emphasis on organizational innovation,

flexibility, productivity, and responsiveness to

changing external conditions for their

performance. It has been increasingly felt that

work behavior such as OCB, which is beyond

the reach of traditional measures of job

performance, holds promise for long-term

organizational performance. A comprehensive

theoretical discussion is available in the works

of Organ,[46] Konovsky and Pugh,[47]

Moorman and Blakey,[48] and Padsakoff and

MacKenzie.[49] Attempts are also made to

assess the probable factors (causes) which

may lead employees to foster organizational

citizenship behavior.[50–54]

In 1983, Denis Organ and his colleagues

were the first to use the term OCB.[50,51]

Later, drawing on the concept of ‘willingness

to cooperate’ based on Bernard’s,[55] the

distinction between dependable role

performance and innovative and spontaneous

behaviors, Organ, defined OCB as an

individual behavior that was discretionary,

and not directly or explicitly recognized by the

formal reward system, and that in aggregate

promotes the effective performance of the

organization.

This concept has also been characterized as

including constructive and cooperative extra

role gestures that are neither mandatory nor

directly compensated by a formal

organizational reward system. In addition

such behaviors have been described as

having an accumulative positive effect on

organizational functioning. Bateman and

Organ[51] attempted to cluster a list of

employee behaviors that managers typically

need and appreciate, but are helpless to

demand. These behaviors also formed part of

what they called OCB. Included in the list are

gestures such as, constructive statements for

improvement of the organization/ department,

expressing personal interest in the work of

others, monitoring the new entrants in the

organization, respecting the spirit as well as

the rules of the organization, care for

organizational property, and so on. It also

takes into account specific behaviors that

employees refrain from indulging in, even

though they may have every right to do so. To

be more specific, these behaviors include

finding fault with coworkers/ managers,

expressing resentment, complaining against

trivial/ insignificant issues, arguing with

others, and so forth. The contention behind

including such behaviors within the purview of

the concept is that OCB does not only include

enactment of positive gestures and

contributions, but it also takes into account

the quality of forbearance.

Clearly, the concept of OCB induces

behavioral and attitudinal patterns on the part

of managers that influence organizational

performance.

Goal orientationGoal orientation refers to taking one’s goals

seriously and being persistent in pursuing the

goal. Achievement goal theory and research

suggest that employee job performance and

job satisfaction depend on their goal

orientations.[56,57] Goal orientation can be

regarded as a personality concept, implying

the existence of individual differences in the

extent to which people set goals and pursue

them. Highly goal-oriented persons develop

long range and clear goals. They are

persistent in pursuing them, especially when

difficulties arise. Therefore, goal orientation is

assumed to be an important prerequisite for

effective leadership.

Previous research has shown that a person’s

goal orientation was related to his or her

performance in individual settings.[58] In a

study reported by Sonnentag, Stolte, Frese,

Heinbokel, and Brodbeck,[59] it was stated

that the team leaders’ goal orientation is

related to the quality of the development

process, the quality of the final product, and

the interaction within the team. The goal

orientation of individuals in an organization

does lead to focused action, which helps in

achieving organizational objectives.

On the basis of the review of literature one

can make certain inferences pertaining to

factors influencing organizational

performance. We summarize them below:

The quality and disposition of managerial

level employees is the key to

organizational performance.

These are indeed reflected in some

organizational indicators, such as, job

satisfaction, job involvement, goal

orientation, organizational commitment,

and organizational citizenship behavior.

These factors are suitable for our study

also, because they can be studied and

measured in respect of any organization,

irrespective of their goals or line of

business.

Yoga way of lifeThe yoga way of life encompasses the

philosophy of Karma Yoga (path of detached

action), Jnana Yoga (knowledge of

self), Bhakti Yoga (Trust in the supreme

order) and Raja Yoga (Asana, Pranayam,

Meditation etc.). Practicing this knowledge

may bring about a complete transformation of

one’s personality, on the physical, mental,

emotional, and spiritual levels, which

strengthens one’s ability and desire to put in

one’s best. Yoga is one of the six foundations

of Indian philosophy and has been used for

millennia to study, explain, and experience

the complexities of the mind and human

existence.[60] Patanjali, an ancient yoga

sage, defines yoga as a technique used to

still the mental fluctuations of the mind to

reach the central reality of the true self.

[61] Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras outline a skillful

way of conducting life that fosters moderation

and harmony.[62] These guidelines, which

include ethical and moral standards of living

in addition to postural and breathing

exercises, are used to foster spiritual growth

and evolve one’s consciousness.

Ashtanga Yoga, the eight step path of yoga,

encompasses cognitive learning, moral

conduct, physiological practices, and

psychological therapy. The first two steps

ofYama and Niyama seek and shape external

behavior and thought patterns and thus

minimize disturbances in the mind and the

body. On the behavioral side, abstinence is

sought from violence, falsehood, dishonesty,

sexual excess, and acquisitive tendencies.

On the cognitive moral side, the ideals

prescribed are — purity, contentment,

austerity, self study, and forbearance. The

stages of Asana andPranayama are meant

for disciplining the body and regulating subtle

energy flows. In the fifth stage of Prayahara,

the secondary input is regulated so the mind

is not distracted. The stages of dharana,

dhyana, and Samadhi are for uplifting one’s

spiritual self and for heightening

consciousness.

According to Srinivas,[63] a series of

techniques collectively known under the

general label ‘Yoga’ present a rich source for

generating indigenous organizational

development techniques that may perhaps

find better acceptance than imported

intervention designs from the west (p. 271).

Originally developed for personal spiritual

growth, yoga offers a well-formulated

approach to planned change.[63]

Impact of yoga on managementSpirituality in a workplace is a topic of hot

discussion today. Wisnieski and Askar and

Syed[64] present four interesting advantages

in their review of workers who maintain a

spiritual mindset. First they claim: ‘The

stronger the spiritual factor of the personality,

the more tolerant the person is of work failure

and less susceptible to stress’ (p. 102).

Second, these authors assert, ‘the stronger

the spiritual factor of the personality the more

the person favors the democratic style of

leadership, is more trusting and the higher is

his/ her tolerance of human diversity’. Third, it

is the opinion of Mohamed et al. that, ‘The

stronger the spiritual factor of the personality

the more the person exhibits altruistic and

citizenship behavior’. Finally, these authors

find that, ‘The stronger the spiritual factor of

the personality, the more the person’s

commitment to the organization and work

group increases’.

In the article of Sangster,[65] he re-

emphasizes an often presented clarification

when the topic of spirituality in the workplace

is mentioned, he places religion out of the

scope, stressing that ‘it is possible to lead a

spiritual way of life without following any

particular religious path’ (p. 16). In Sangster’s

opinion, spiritual workers are those who think

cooperatively and/ or altruistically; have a

balanced, objective view of the world; listen

as much as (or more than) they speak; apply

a three-dimensional or bigger picture when

thinking; believe in some higher driving force

and purpose beyond humankind; find the time

to think things through objectively; think

laterally in order to promote realistic solutions;

encourage and empower others selflessly;

work open-mindedly with a wide range of

people; consistently display integrity and trust;

and expect the best from people without

having a soft touch. (p. 16)

Jurkiewicz and Giacalone[66] stress yet

another major advantage of nurturing the

spiritual mindset within each worker in the

organization: ethicality. These authors assert

that the ‘Fundamental aspects of workplace

spirituality, such as meaningful work that

provides a feeling of purpose, a sense of

connection and positive social relations with

their coworkers, and the ability to live an

integrated life in which the work role does not

conflict with the essential nature of the person

as a human being, may interact to create

different perceptions of ethicality within the

organization’ (p. 85). Most of the work

available on the subject of the impact of yoga

on work life/ management centers around the

impact of Transcendental Meditation on

various aspects of management. A review[67]

of over 500 experimental studies conducted in

over 200 universities, in 33 countries,

revealed that Transcendental Meditation

helps expand consciousness, decrease

oxygen intake and stress level, increase basal

skin resistance and coherence in EEG, and

virtually suspends breathing up to one minute.

Transcendental Meditation is a skill of

effortlessly minimizing mental activity so the

body settles into a state of rest deeper than

deep sleep, while the mind becomes clear

and alert. At the University of Texas, Orme-

Johnson et al.[68] showed that mediators

display a greater physiological equilibrium

than non-mediators. He also showed that

mediators maintain this equilibrium under

stress more effectively than non-mediators.

David[69] completed a study, which

concludes that TM increases individual

productivity. David found that mediators show

increased job satisfaction, a decreased desire

to change jobs, better performance, and

better relationships with supervisors and co-

workers. Findings on the TM technique

relevant to organizational performance

include, improved cognitive performance,[70]

increased self-esteem,[71] and higher levels

of self-actualization and development,[72,73]

associated with more effective managerial

performance.[74] Previous case studies

suggest that large proportions of organization

members practicing the Transcendental

Meditation technique have contributed to

improvements in organizational performance.

[75]

Pande and Naidu[76] reported empirical

evidence to show that people having a strong

orientation to niskam karma (working

sincerely without being preoccupied with the

outcome) experience less work-related stress.

Misra[77] found that effort orientation rather

than concern for the outcome leads to greater

intrinsic satisfaction. Chakraborty[78,79]

provides experimental evidence that

practicing yoga, meditating, controlling

breathing, and stilling the turbulent mind can

enable workers and managers to purify their

chitta and make it spiritual, expand their self

to include others around them, and help them

grow and transform themselves, without

expecting anything in return.

From a complete review of the literature, one

finds that there have been attempts in the

past research to capture the positive impact

of some aspect of yoga (such as asana or

meditation) on personal factors such as

stress, and so on. However, there has been

no attempt to capture the effect of the

adoption of complete yoga philosophy on

organizational factors. As we have seen in the

literature review, Yoga has a deeper

psychological impact on a person, in terms of

changing paradigms of one’s life. Similarly

most of the organizational factors selected for

this study are psycho-motivational in nature.

There is, therefore, enough ground for us to

hypothesize that adoption of yoga as a

philosophy and practice helps in increasing

the levels of positive organizational factors.

This research is an attempt to prove or

disprove this hypothesis.

Empirical study details and results

This controlled experiment was conducted at

a manufacturing company in Gujarat, called

Birla Celluloise, located at Kosamba, one of

the units manufacturing Viscose Staple Fiber,

owned by the Grasim Industry, located at

Kharach village near Bharuch. This unit has

more than 120 people in the managerial

cadre and more than 1000 in the workers

category. Most of them stay in the township of

the company, which makes it easy to conduct

the intervention of Yoga. Grasim Industries

Limited, a flagship company of the Aditya

Birla Group, ranks among India’s largest

private sector companies, with consolidated

net revenues of Rs. 141 billion and a

consolidated net profit of Rs. 20 billion

(FY2007). Starting as a textiles manufacturer

in 1948, today Grasim’s businesses comprise

viscose staple fiber (VSF), cement, sponge

iron, chemicals, and textiles. Its core

businesses are VSF and cement, which

contribute to over 90 percent of its revenues

and operating profits. The Aditya Birla Group

is the world’s largest producer of VSF,

commanding a 21 percent global market

share. The company meets India’s entire

domestic VSF requirements. Grasim’s VSF

plants are located at Nagda in Madhya

Pradesh, Kharach in Gujarat, and Harihar in

Karnataka, with an aggregate capacity of

270,100 tons per annum (tpa). The VSF plant

at Kharach, where this experiment was

conducted, was set up in 1996.

The salient aspects of the study methodology

are summarized below:

The managers of the company were

given the option of joining this experiment

after explaining to them the purpose and

modality of this experiment and making

clear to them the expectations of

regularity and so on. Written consent for

being a part of the experiment was

obtained.

Those who opted were initially divided in

two equal groups of 42 each — Group

one was called the Yoga group and

Group 2 was called the physical exercise

group, which was the control group for

this experiment.

The Yoga group was given 30 hours of

yoga practice (75 minutes every day) and

25 hours of theory lectures on the

philosophy of yoga. The total intervention

period was six weeks. The theory

lectures were given by the first author of

this article and included topics such as

the definition of the yoga way of life,

implications of the four types of yoga

(Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana

Yoga and Bhakti Yoga) on life, analysis

on the aspects of true happiness in

life,ashtanga yoga steps, central theme

of universality of consciousness as given

in Vedanta, and so on. The practice was

given for asanas, pranayama, Kriya, and

relaxation by a well-trained yoga

instructor.

The control group was also given training

of equal number of hours for normal

physical work-out and lectures on

success factors in life (based on modern

thought). This was thought necessary in

order to obviate the possibility of the

Hawthorne effect on the experiment

group. The topics for theory given to this

group included — Success and

Happiness, Importance of Attitude, Self-

Image, Good Relationship with Others,

Goal Setting, Power of sub-conscious

mind, Communication, Motivation, and

leadership. The practice given to this

group was fast exercises such as spot

jogging, bending, body rotation, hand and

leg movements, and the like.

In order to prove or disprove the

hypotheses, variables were measured for

both the groups, before and after the

experiment, with the help of a standard

self-reported questionnaire. In addition,

the measurement of certain physical

parameters such as weight, BMI, BP,

Blood Sugar, and so on, were taken for

all, both pre- and post-experiment.

The pre-measurement data was taken on

17 September, 2007. The intervention to

both the groups was simultaneously

given between the 18 September and 24

October, 2007. The post-measurement

data was taken on 24 October, 2007.

Out of the group of 42 in both groups,

there were some who did not attend all

theory and practice classes on many

days, and hence only top 30 (in terms of

regularity) were included for both groups

in the final sample, for the analysis. This

came to a minimum attendance figure of

65% approximately for both groups. In

short, people with less than 65%

aggregate attendance were excluded

from both groups. The profile of the

sample finally included in the experiment

can be seen in Tables Tables11 and 

and2.2. Figure 1 schematically shows the

study methodology and the group

composition.

Table 1Profile of sample-age wise age2

Table 2Profile of sample-level of management group crosstabulation

Figure 1A schematic representation of the study plan

Constructs used for measurement of variables

Questionnaires were both easy to administer

and inexpensive,[80] due to their brevity and

self-reportive nature. It was therefore decided

to use self-reported questionnaire, pre- and

post-intervention, for this study. Intrinsic job

satisfaction was measured using the shorter

version of the Minnesota Job Satisfaction

Questionnaire, popularly known as MSQ,[81]

from which items loading highly on the

‘intrinsic’ factor were chosen.[48] These items

were related to the opportunity the

respondent had to make use of, his/her skills

and abilities, the trying of new ideas and

methods, and the feeling of accomplishment

that was generated on the job. This scale was

preferred over other scales such as Job

Descriptive Index,[82] because they were

lengthy and multidimensional. Furthermore,

the MSQ was the most cognitive in its

orientation.

Affective Organizational Commitment was

measured using eight items pertaining to the

affective component of organizational

commitment, from the instrument developed

by Allen and Meyer,[83,84] which is

responded to on a seven-point Likert type

scale. The items are used to tap the extent of

the employee’s emotional attachment to,

identification with, and involvement in the

organization. Job Involvement was measured

using the 13-item job involvement-role scale

developed by Paullay, et al.,[85] with

responses taken on a seven-point Likert type

scale. It was used to tap the extent to which

the respondent was involved personally in the

type of work that he/she did in his/her present

job.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

was measured using a slightly modified

version of the scale developed by Moorman

and Blakely,[48] based on Graham’s[86] four-

dimensional model of OCB. The modification

was mainly intended to facilitate self-

reporting. The four dimensions proposed by

Graham were Interpersonal Helping (IH),

Personal Initiative (PI), Loyal Boosterism, and

Personal Industry. However, only items

related to Interpersonal Helping and Personal

Initiative were included in the scale, because

of the potential for a high level of social

desirability of other items.

Goal orientation was measured with a scale

developed by Frese, et al. It is argued that

while measuring goal orientation, it is optimal

to refer to the same situations for all

respondents, due to project difference.

However, Frese, et al. have showed that

there is no need to provide a situational input

for the goal, as there is a certain degree of

cross-situational generality in the goal

orientation scale. The four items used to

measure goal orientation were anchored on a

seven-point scale with 1 standing for ‘strongly

disagree’ and 7 standing for ‘strongly agree’.

The data collected was analyzed using SPSS.

The sample profile given in Tables 

Tables11and and22 indicated that 80 and

86% of the participants from the yoga and

control groups, respectively, were from the

age group of 21 to 50, while the rest were

above 50. Similarly, 20% of the yoga group

and 17% of the control group were from the

top management (i.e., Deputy General

Manager and above), while 57% of the yoga

group and 63% of the control group were from

the line-level managers (Deputy Managers

and officers). The average total work

experience of the sample group was 16.11

years.

Table 3 shows that at Baseline there is no

difference in any indicator (Independent

Sample t test). It can be concluded from

Tables Tables44 and and55 that in the yoga

group, remarkable positive changes are

observed in all the Indicators except Job

Involvement (Paired t test), unlike in the

physical exercise group where the post

intervention impact on indicators do not show

a statistically significant difference in any of

the five indicators. Table 6 shows that

although, there is significant improvement

within the Yoga group in four of the indicators

(except JI), the comparison of Post

Intervention Averages between the two

groups using t-test exhibits that the two

groups after intervention (at endpoint) do not

differ significantly in any one of the five

variables. The changes that are occurring in

other indictors remain small in terms of effect.

One reason for this may be the limited time

frame of the study (two months). Furthermore,

in many cases the initial level of all five

factors in this organization was already high

for both the groups. It appears that in the long

run the Yoga group may turn out to be

improving significantly in all indicators

compared to the physical group.

Table 3Comparison of indicators at baseline between yoga and physical exercise groups

Table 4Post intervention paired comparison to see improvement/deterioration in each indicator separately for yoga and physical exercise groups

Table 5Physical exercise group

Table 6Post-intervention mean scores comparison between two groups

Table 7 shows the Pearson’s correlations,

post-experiment, among the five variables

measured. The results show that most of

these five variables are strongly correlated,

which means the presence of one factor will

mean the presence of other factors also. Only

job involvement does not show significant

correlation with job satisfaction. Interestingly,

the construct used for measuring job

involvement had a Chronbach alpha of 0.613,

which is an indicator of moderate reliability.

Table 7Correlations

Yoga as a viable and positive

organizational tool

Today, there is considerable interest among

the management practitioners and

researchers on the role and benefits of

introducing spirituality at the workplace. The

Harvard Business School study drawn over a

period of 11 years showed a marked relation

between the strength of the organizations’

corporate culture and its profitability.[1] Lloyd

maintains that organizations high in

workplace spirituality outperform those

without it by 86%.

According to Sharma,[87,88] Indian

management ideas such as yoga in

management, Vedanta in management, and

the Kosha model in management offer new

approaches to the concept of management,

wherein competitive advantage, collective

advantage, and karma advantage are

balanced. According to Sharma, the Indian

word ‘Udyoga’ (which means Industry)

contains in itself the word ‘yoga’. Thus, in

Indian management thought, Udyoga is a

yoga (Udyog hi yog hai/Udyog bhi ek yog

hai). In popular terms Sharma[87,88] refers to

this as the BHMS (Body–Heart–Mind–Soul)

model. There is an interactive relationship

between the Body, Heart, Mind, and Soul.

They influence each other in varying ways.

Even organizations can be conceptualized as

BHMS systems. With the arrival of the

services and knowledge economy, the need

for the BHMS approach to management is

getting attention. This implies a shift from a

fragmented view to a holistic view of human

beings, society, and organizations.

Vedanta in management implies management

by higher values and higher vision. Thus,

YVK (Yoga, Vedanta, Kosha) constitute three

‘Eastern Doors’ that can be combined with

‘Western Windows’ (traditional Western

Management theories and concepts). These

ideas can be combined with various wisdom

traditions to arrive at a new philosophy of

what Sharma[87] calls ‘Western Windows,

Eastern Doors, and Wisdom Corridors’ in the

field of management and related social

sciences.

How can we explain the result, obtained in

this experiment, is a moot question? Yoga

Way of Life, the concept presented in this

article is an integrated approach of the

changing physical, mental, vital, and

emotional personality of an individual. It aims

at making managers more evolved

individuals, with a better understanding of

their job situation in the overall context of life.

The teachings of Karma Yoga are useful in

changing outcome orientation to effort

orientation, and in reducing the managers’

expectations from the job. The system of

Yoga is analytical and makes an individual

more aware of his situation and allows him to

give a considered rather than an intuitive

response to it.

Yoga psychology conceives the self (atman)

in terms of different levels of being. The inner-

most core or atman is covered by hierarchy of

five sheaths or layers. This continuation of

layers corresponds to a sort of stepwise

ladder, leading inward to theatman; the

journey inward forms the basis of growth and

development: Biological evolution from a

protozoan to man, psychological evolution

from child to adult, consciousness

enhancement from mere cognitive to

universal consciousness, wherein there is no

ego and there is realization that the concerns

and needs of all people are the same, and

that what is good for one is good for all. In this

growth process, feeling and emotions are

accepted as having a place, they are not

considered wrong or repressed, but are

transformed and redirected.[63]

According to Rama Swami et al.,[89] Yoga

psychology integrates behavioral and

introspective approaches to growth. It

provides a perspective by which one can

become disengaged from involvement in the

unhappy personalities he has created for

himself and in the negative role he has

adopted. It moves quickly to a training

program for changing habits, thought

patterns, and self concepts.

The positive results obtained in this research

confirm this. Yoga Philosophy helps a person

to have a broader view of life, with greater

awareness of his actions. This automatically

results in enhanced commitment to his job

and organization. It also means that his

willingness to go beyond the call of his duty is

a result of his understanding the concept

of karma yoga, in which the performer does

not depend on rewards for his/ her

performance. The high level of OCB found in

the Yoga group here can be attributed to this.

Furthermore, as at least four out of the five

factors measured here are strongly

correlated, this positive impact is also found in

job satisfaction, affective organizational

commitment, and so on.

Some people may be unnecessarily

apprehensive about the renunciation effect

that introduction of this philosophy may have

on the drive or killer instinct of their

executives. Such apprehensions come out of

the wrong understanding of the true concepts

of yoga. For example, far from being against

‘goal orientation’, the concept of Karma Yoga

is so dynamic in nature that it frees an

individual from all worries and propels him to

action immediately. Also a person who is not

excessively worried about the results can only

be a true risk-taker, who will take tough

decisions in the best interest of his

organization. The results of this research

show that the yoga way of life can bring about

better ‘Goal-orientation’ among managers.

In most organizations, leaders play a pivotal

role in driving performance. There are

varieties of leadership training programs

being tried nowadays by successful

companies. However, the yoga way of life is

rarely taught in these training programs. At

the most, yogasanas are being taught to the

group, as part of a morning physical work-out.

There are few companies who have of late

started providing meditation rooms at the

work place, for the ease of managers who

want to go into solitude to sharpen their

creativity.

It may be a good idea to now start thinking of

giving systematic exposure of wisdom,

enshrined in our ancient scriptures, to all

managerial cadres of companies, which

would help them personally as well as

professionally. They can become better self-

aware and self-regulated individuals, with a

proper perspective of life and various

relationships. The Yoga way of life is all about

the correct attitude to life, which can result in

a better organizational climate. In the Indian

context, the assimilation of this knowledge

may be better and easier, as the Indians have

grown with all these concepts right from

childhood.

’How can one proceed in this?’ is a very

important question. First of all, the top leaders

of the company have to be convinced about

the utility of this idea. They should themselves

have the necessary trust in this philosophy

and in the results it can bring. Once

convinced about the utility of this kind of

training, the tougher challenge lies in finding

the right people to train company executives.

And second, this has to be a continuous

training, which is repeated periodically. Third,

the atmosphere of the yoga way of life has to

be created in the company policy. The

company policies have also to pass the test of

the yoga way in terms of completely adhering

to the ethical-moral code prescribed in Yama

and Niyama.

  Other Sections ▼

CONCLUSION

There are certain organizational factors, such

as Job Satisfaction, which have a crucial

bearing on organizational effectiveness. Our

study confirms the useful role that the Yoga

way of life can play in improving these factors

positively among managers. The results show

a significant difference among those who are

introduced to the practice of the yoga way of

life. However, in order to get the benefit of

yoga in its entirety, one has to adopt yoga as

a technique of life management. This would

include not only the Raj Yoga practices

of asana, pranayama, and meditation, but

also imbibe the concept of detatched action

(Karma Yoga), trust in God’s justice system

(Bhakti Yoga), and seeking the knowledge of

self (Jnan Yoga). Such an integrated

approach can yield superior results for

individual happiness and also for

organizational performance.

On the basis of our study we are motivated to

recommend similar experimental studies in

multiple organizational settings to further

refine these findings and insights. One

approach is to conduct a similar study with a

large sample size, which may corroborate this

initial attempt. Also in case of other similar

experiments, different instruments for

measuring these factors may be tried, in order

to take care of social desirability.

  Other Sections ▼

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62. Becker I. Uses of yoga in psychiatry and medicine. In: Muskin PR, editor. Complementary and alternative medicine and psychiatry. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press; 2000. pp. 107–45.63. Srinivas KM. Organization development: Maya moksha. In: Kanunga RN, Manuel M, editors. Work Motivation Models for Developing Country. New Delhi: Sage Publications; 1994.64. Mohamed AA, Wisnieski JM, Askar M, Syed I. Towards a theory of spirituality in the workplace.Competitiveness Rev. 2004;14:102–7.65. Sangster C. Spiritually in the workplace; Finding the holistic happy medium. Training Journal, 16.200366. Jurkiewicz CL, Giacalone RA. Right from wrong: The influence of spirituality on perceptions of unethical business activities. J Bus Ethics. 2003;46:85.67. Orme-Johnson DW, Zimmerman E, Hawkins M. Maharishi’s Vedic psychology: The science of the Cosmic Psyche. In: Kao HS, Sinha D, editors. Asian perspectives on psychology. New Delhi: Sage Publications; 1997. pp. 282–308.68. Orme-Johnson DW, Zimmerman E, Hawkins M. Maharishi’s Vedic psychology: The science of the Cosmic Psyche. In: Kao HS, Poortinga YH, editors. Asian Perspectives on Psychology. 1992. p. 282.69. Frew D. Transcendental meditation and productivity. Acad Manage J. 1974;17:362–8.70. Orme-Johnson DW, Alexander CN, Hawkins MA. Critique of the National Research Council’s report on meditation. Applications of Maharishi Vedic Science. [Special issue] J Soc Behav Pers.2005;17:383–414.71. Dillbeck MC, Orme-Johnson DW. Physiological differences between transcendental meditation and rest. Am Psychol. 1987;42:879–81.72. Alexander CN, Rainforth MV, Gelderloos P. Transcendental meditation, self-actualization, and

psychological health: A conceptual overview and statistical meta-analysis. J Soc Behav Pers.1991;6:189–247.73. Alexander CN, Robinson P, Rainforth MV. Treating and preventing alcohol, nicotine, and drug abuse through transcendental meditation: A review and statistical meta-analysis. Alcohol Treat Q.1994;11:13–88.74. Torbert W. Managing the Corporate Dream: Restructuring for Long-Term Success. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones Irwin; 1987.75. Schmidt-Wilk J, Alexander CN, Swanson GC. Developing consciousness in organizations: The transcendental meditation program in business. J Bus Psychol. 1996;10:429–44.76. Pande N, Naidu RK. Anasakti and health: A study of non-attachment. Psychol Dev Soc J.1992;4:89–104.77. Misra G. Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Reward and Performance. Indian Educ Rev. 1989;17:24–5.78. Chakraborty SK. Managerial effectiveness and quality of work life: Indian insights. New York: McGraw Hill; 1987.79. Chakraborty SK. “Managerial Transformation by Values: A Corporate Piligrimate” Saga. New York: 1993.80. Ganster DC, Hennessey HW, Luthans F. Social desirability response effects: Three alternative models. Acad Manage J. 1983;26:321–31.81. Weiss DJ, Dawis RV, England GW, Lofquist LH. Manual for the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Industrial Relations Center; 1967.82. Smith PC. The development of method of measurement of job satisfaction: The Cornell Studies. In: Fleishman EA, editor. ‘Studies in Personnel and Industrial Psychology’. Homewood, IL: Dorsey; 1969.83. Allen NJ, Meyer JP. The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative

commitment to the organization. J Occup Psychol. 1990;63:1–18.84. Allen NJ, Meyer JP. Affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization: An examination of construct validity. J Vocat Behav. 1996;49:252–76. [PubMed]85. Paullay IM, Alliger GM, Stone-Romero EF. Construct validation of two instruments designed to measure job involvement and work centrality. J Appl Psychol. 1994;79:224–8.86. Graham J. Principled organization dissent: A theoretical essay. In: Staw BM, Cummings LL, editors. Research in Organizational Behavior. Vol. 12. Greenwich CT: JAI Press; 1986. pp. 43–72.87. Sharma S. Management in the New Age: Western Windows Eastern Doors. New York: New Age Publishers; 2006.88. Sharma S. New Mantras in Corporate Corridors: From Ancient Roots to Global Routes. New York: New Age International Publishers (P) Limited; 2007.89. Swamy R, Ballentine R, Swami A. Yoga and psychotherapy. Honesdale, PA: Himalayan International Institute; 1976.

Articles from International Journal of Yoga are provided here courtesy of Medknow Publications

ReviewA reevaluation of the absenteeism-job satisfaction relationship.[Organ Behav Hum Decis Process. 1985]

See more articles cited in this paragraph

Relationship of core self-evaluations traits--self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability--with job satisfaction and job performance: a meta-analysis.[J Appl Psychol. 2001]

Self-esteem as a moderator of the relationship between job performance and job satisfaction.[J Appl Psychol. 1978]

Citizenship behavior and social exchange. [Acad Manage J. 1994] Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to the

Organization: An Examination of Construct Validity[J Vocat Behav. 1996]

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Karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga, mantra yoga, kundalini yoga -- what do the various yogas have to do with inquiry into nondualism? If “there's nothing to do,” then why are there yogas? Because not everyone follows a nondual course of inquiry. Nondualism is descriptive, not prescriptive. By itself, it never prescribes any course of action. But if one is already on a spiritual path or desires to begin one, the yogas are there. The various yogas all have their own story to tell about liberation, and can be pursued on their own. But as nondualism sees it, the yogas tend to serve as ramp-ups to non-dual inquiry itself. Whether practiced in a phase of life before, during or after one begins nondual inquiry, the yogas assist by developing the character and making the person well-balanced. This in turn decreases the chance that attachments and personality issues will arise that sidetrack one's nondual inquiry. For example, there is often thought to be a tension between the approach of the head and the approach of the heart. An overly intellectual approach can err on the side of dry arrogance and can lack love. An overly emotional approach can err on the side of sentimentality and a proprietary attachment to the deity or guru. Ideally, a balanced approach avoids these extremes.

There are many kinds of yoga. A yoga is basically one's spiritual or developmental path. More formally, yoga is usually interpreted as “union,” whether union with God or a deity figure, or one's true nature, one's guru, one's higher self, or the Self that is the Self of all. Various yogic paths are discussed by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Spiritual teachers around the world instruct students in what can be called various forms of yoga. Indeed, in the Hindu tradition, all religions and spiritual paths can be classified as one kind of yoga or another. Four of the most common yogas are karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, and jnana yoga. The nondual inquiry is often associated with jnana yoga, and it tends to view the other yogas as preparatory practices for its own inquiry (actually many paths make similar claims about themselves!). Here are capsule descriptions of the four common yogas:

Four Common Yogas

Karma Yoga -- Selfless action, service to God, the Self, to other beings, or one's teacher. Liberation, according to this path, is through through the disappearance of the separate sense of self as the doer and enjoyer of actions, combined with knowledge of one's true nature. The service aspect of Christianity falls under the category of karma yoga, as does volunteer work helping the poor, and the service that meditation retreat-goers render when they wash dishes and pull weeds between sittings. What makes something karma yoga is one's motive. If one is on a work-study program in order to attend a retreat, it is not so clearly karma yoga. One can even be said to be practicing karma yoga by learning to do one's duty in military service. This was the great lesson that Krishna taught Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. 

Bhakti Yoga -- Devotion to one's chosen deity, teacher, principle, e.g., to the Self. Liberation, according to this path, is through the merging of the separate self into the boundlessness of the Lord or chosen deity/guru, combined with knowledge of one's true nature. The hymns, chants, worship services in most religions fall under the category of bhakti yoga. Another important aspect of bhakti yoga is the urge to approach ever closer to the deity or teacher, and perhaps visualizing the deity or teacher in meditation. The Dalai Lama comments on this practice in his Union of Bliss and Emptiness: A Commentary on the Lama Choepa Guru Yoga Practice. More generally, bhakti yoga is acting out of intense love, admiration and respect for someone or something.

Raja Yoga -- Control of the constituents of one's mind and body. Liberation, according to this path, is through the absorption of the constituents of the mind and body into divine consciousness, combined with knowledge of one's true nature. Raja yoga begins with the development of ethical and moral restraints, the building of one's character and the sharpening of one's ability to concentrate. It can extend to the acquisition of psychic or miraculous powers, yet these are usually explained as nonessential signs of progress along the path, and not ends in themselves. The canonical text for this path is the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. But the context need not be formal or officially yogic. One can be said to be practicing raja yoga whenever one is trying to practice discipline, vigilance, moral restraint, or improve concentration.

Jnana Yoga -- Discernment between the real and the unreal. Liberation, according to this path, is through the deep, experiential knowledge of one's true nature as inseparable from the Self or Consciousness. The study of advaita vedanta and other nondual path such as Zen, Taoism, or Sufism can be said to fall under the category of jnana yoga. But one can also be said to be practicing jnana yoga whenever one is heartfully and seriously considering life's great questions such as “Who am I?,” “Why is there suffering?,” “Why are we here?,” or “What is the source of everything?”

While most major spiritual traditions happen to offer a mixture of these yogas, it is often said that active people are drawn to karma yoga, emotional people are drawn to bhakti yoga, those interested in mystical experiences are drawn to raja yoga, and intellectual people are drawn to jnana yoga. That is, a person is often drawn to a path because her particular strengths are emphasized by that path.

But on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis, none of the yogas is practiced in isolation. The actual path pursued by most people is usually a combination of activities, a mixture of these yogas, with perhaps one yoga predominating at a time. Even within a two-hour period, a person can sweep the floor in the meditation hall (karma yoga), sit down to meditate chanting the guru's name with love (bhakti yoga), fall into an objectless samadhi

transcending body and mind (raja yoga), and then arise with a transformed experience of the eternal and the transitory (jnana yoga).

Qualifications for Advaita?!?

Advaita vedanta recommends the practice of karma, bhakti and raja yoga before one undertakes jnana yoga. In formal advaita vedanta, it is said that the karma-kanda (ritualistic form of Hinduism) precedes the jnana-kanda (non-dual inquiry). Advaita even outlines certain qualifications for the effective study of Truth. And advaita is not alone in this kind of recommendation. In Kabbala (Judaism's non-dual path) it is often said that the incoming student must be 40 years old, married, and “have a bellyful of Torah.” In Madhyamika, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, it is said that the student must never be exposed to the sublime teachings on emptiness without already practicing compassion. Not only that, but it should be that “tears come to their eyes at the very mention of the word 'emptiness'.” Age-old wisdom and experience has shown that the personality characteristics one gains in other yogic pursuits greatly facilitate the quiet mind and equipoise that allow the deep experience of one's self as Self.

Qualifications -- Why??

The idea behind “qualifications” is not to bar or reject anyone from the pursuit of a nondual path. Anyone may enter at any time. But the qualifications are to encourage a quiet mind and balanced emotional outlook so that one can focus more effectively on the inquiry into one's nature. The happiness and liberation indicated by the great nondual world teachings are best realized when the only outstanding personal issue is liberation itself. If the mind is busy with other things such as the satisfaction of worldly desires or the attainment of emotional bliss states, then advaita will be derailed and co-opted to serve these other purposes. Liberation must be sought for its own sake (or for the sake of all beings), not as a means to another personal end.

Shankara's Qualification List

Adi Shankara, in his introductory advaita text TATTVA BODHA (Knowledge of Reality/Truth) actually lists four qualifications for the study into the truth of one's nature. Basically, Shankara is recommending a well-balanced approach to inquiring into Truth.

1. Discrimination -- The ability to discriminate between the eternal and the timebound.

2. Dispassion -- Dispassion for the enjoyment of the fruits of one's actions.

3. The Six Accomplishments --

i. Control of the mind and emotions

ii. Control of the sense organs, restraining behavior

iii. Responsibility, ability to do one's duty

iv. Patience and forbearance towards pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, pleasant and unpleasant

v. Trust in the words of the teacher and scriptures/teachings

vi. Ability to focus on a single object of mind

4. The burning desire for liberation

Shankara's List -- Do I Have To?

Perhaps not. But quite often the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If the yogas are practiced in an unbalanced manner, the aspirant will tend to cultivate impressive strengths in some areas while developing weaknesses in other areas. The weaknesses can later arise as the squeaky wheel that turns, calling for attention just when the nondual inquiry is being attempted.

Each of the yogas emphasizes different aspects of the person with all its various strengths, weaknesses, and imperfections. Each yoga cultivates different personality qualities. By the time one has cultivated karma, bhakti and raja yoga, one has developed the equivalents of Shankara's four qualifications. For example, karma yoga cultivates a sense of selflessness, generosity, a moral approach in dealing with others, energy and a motivation to do one's duty. Bhakti yoga cultivates a sense of love, devotion, morality, generosity, gratitude, serenity and joy. Raja yoga cultivates moderation, constraint, morality, discipline, fortitude, meditation, concentration and confidence. Jnana yoga cultivates peace, sharpness of intellect, contemplation, joy, and the ability to see all as the Self.

The four yogas and their personality traits work in a sort of progressive and cumulative way, like Maslow's Hierarchy. Jnana yoga is easier if one has the personality traits from raja, bhakti and karma yoga. Raja yoga is easier if one has the traits from bhakti and karma yoga. Bhakti yoga is easier if one has the traits from karma yoga. All of the yogas interact with all the others, but the main cumulations are in the direction indicated.

Qualifications - How Do I Go About Them?

How are these qualifications attained? According to advaita vedanta, it is by practicing the other yogas -- karma, bhakti and raja yoga. These paths cultivate the qualifications in the form of personality and character traits that help stabilize the mind for the pursuit of a nondual path. The more preparation one has had in these other paths, the more ready one will become like Ramana Maharshi's example of the “dry wood,” ready to ignite in a flash.

The Yogas and Personality Traits (Chart)

The links below will display a chart depicting karma, bhakti, raja and jnana yoga. Each yoga is briefly explained, along with its concept of liberation, the character attributes it cultivates, and the excesses that can happen if at some point that yoga is not balanced with the other yogas.

Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: यो�ग, yoga) is a physical, mental,

andspiritual discipline, originating in ancient India.[1][2] The goal of

yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state

of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility whilemeditating on the

Hindu concept of divinity or Brahman.[3]The word is associated

with meditative practices in Hinduism,Jainism, and Buddhism.[4][5][6]

Within Hindu philosophy, the word yoga is used to refer to one of

the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy.[7][8] Yoga in

this sense is based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and is also

known as Rāja Yoga to distinguish it from later schools.[9] Patanjali's system is discussed and elaborated upon in many

classical Hindu texts, and has also been influential

in Buddhism and Jainism. The Bhagavad Gita introduces

distinctions such as Jnana Yoga ("yoga based on knowledge")

vs. Karma Yoga ("yoga based on action").

Other systems of philosophy introduced in Hinduism during the

medieval period are bhakti yoga, and hatha yoga.[10][11][12]

The Sanskrit word yoga has the literal meaning of "yoke", from a

root yuj meaning to join, to unite, or to attach. As a term for a

system of abstract meditation or mental abstraction it was

introduced by Patañjali in the 2nd century BC. Someone who

practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of

commitment is called a yogi oryogini.[13]

The goals of yoga are varied and range from improving health to

achieving moksha.[14] Within the Hindu monist schools ofAdvaita

Vedanta, Shaivism and Jainism, the goal of yoga takes the form

of moksha, which is liberation from all worldly suffering and the

cycle of birth and death (samsara), at which point there is a

realization of identity with the SupremeBrahman. In the

Mahabharata, the goal of yoga is variously described as entering

the world of Brahma, as Brahman, or as perceiving the Brahman

or Ātman that pervades all things.[15] For the bhakti schools

of Vaishnavism, bhakti or service to Svayam Bhagavan itself may

be the ultimate goal of the yoga process, where the goal is to

enjoy an eternal relationship with Vishnu.[16]

Contents

  [hide] 

1   Terminology 2   History o 2.1   Before Patanjali

2.1.1   Prehistory 2.1.2   Upanishadic and Early Buddhist era

o 2.2   Indian Antiquity 2.2.1   Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.2.2   Yoga Yajnavalkya 2.2.3   Yoga and Samkhya 2.2.4   Bhagavad Gita 2.2.5   Yoga and Jainism 2.2.6   Yogacara school

o 2.3   Middle Ages 2.3.1   Yoga in classical Jain literature 2.3.2   Bhakti movement 2.3.3   Hatha Yoga

o 2.4   Modern history 2.4.1   Hindu revivalism 2.4.2   Reception in the West

3   Yoga compared with other systems of meditation o 3.1   Tantra o 3.2   Buddhism

3.2.1   Zen Buddhism 3.2.2   Tibetan Buddhism

o 3.3   Christian meditation o 3.4   Sufism

4   References o 4.1   Notes o 4.2   Bibliography

5   Further reading 6   External links

[edit]Terminology

Statue of Lord Shiva in Bangalore, India, performing yogic meditation in thePadmasana posture.

The Sanskrit word yoga has the literal meaning of "yoke", or "the

act of yoking or harnessing", from a root yuj. A serious

practitioner of Yoga (someone pursuing the higher spiritual and

religious goals of Yoga) takes upon themselves a life of austere

self-discipline common to nearly all forms of mystical and religious

life. The practices that constitute this self-disciplined life are called

in yogayama and niyama. This self-discipline is the 'yoke' that one

puts upon oneself for the purpose of attaining moksha. An

alternative definition is that Yoga is the method of yoking, or

unifying, the “lower” (egoistic) personality (those inclinations that

in Hellenistic philosophy and Christianity are called passions) to

the “higher” via a process of sublimation.[17] In Vedic Sanskrit, the

term "yoga" besides its literal meaning, the yoking or harnessing

of oxen or horses, already has a figurative sense, where it takes

the general meaning of "employment, use, application,

performance" (compare the figurative uses of "toharness" as in "to

put something to some use"). All further developments of the

sense of this word are post-Vedic. A sense of "exertion,

endeavour, zeal, diligence" is found in Epic Sanskrit. The more

technical sense of the term "yoga", describing a system of

meditation or contemplation with the aim of the cessation of

mental activity and the attaining of a "supreme state" arises

with early Buddhism (5th century BC), and is adopted

in Vedanta philosophy by the 4th century BC.

There are a great many compounds containing yog in Sanskrit,

many of them unrelated to the technical or spiritual sense the

word has taken in Vedanta. Yoga in these words takes meanings

such as "union, connection, contact", or "method, application,

performance", etc. For example, guṇá-yogameans "contact with a

cord"; cakrá-yoga has a medical sense of "applying a splint or

similar instrument by means of pulleys (in case of dislocation of

the thigh)"; candrá-yoga has the astronomical sense of

"conjunction of the moon with a constellation"; puṃ-yoga is a

grammatical term expressing "connection or relation with a man",

etc.

Many such compounds are also found in the wider field of

religion. Thus, bhakti-yoga means "devoted attachment" in

the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriyā-yoga has a

grammatical sense, meaning "connection with a verb". But the

same compound is also given a technical meaning in the Yoga

Sutras (2.1), designating the "practical" aspects of the philosophy,

i.e. the "union with the Supreme" due to performance of duties in

everyday life.

[edit]History

[edit]Before Patanjali[edit]Prehistory

Several seals discovered at Indus Valley Civilization sites, dating

to the mid 3rd millennium BC, depict figures in positions

resembling a common yoga or meditation pose, showing "a form

of ritual discipline, suggesting a precursor of yoga," according to

archaeologist Gregory Possehl.[18] Some type of connection

between the Indus Valley seals and later yoga and meditation

practices is speculated upon by many scholars, though there is no

conclusive evidence.[19]

Techniques for experiencing higher states of consciousness in

meditation were developed by theshramanic traditions and in

the Upanishadic tradition.[20] While there is no clear evidence for

meditation in pre-Buddhist early Brahminic texts, there is a view

that formless meditation might have originated in the Brahminic

tradition. This is based on strong parallels between Upanishadic

cosmological statements and the meditative goals of the two

teachers of the Buddha as recorded in early Buddhist texts.[21] As

well as some less likely possibilities,[22] the view put forward is that

cosmological statements in the Upanishads reflect a

contemplative tradition, and it is concluded that the Nasadiya

Sukta contains evidence for a contemplative tradition, even as

early as the late Rg Vedic period.[21]

The Vedic Samhitas contain references to ascetics, while ascetic

practices ("tapas") are referenced in the Brāhmaṇas (900 to 500

BCE), early commentaries on the Vedas.[23]

[edit]Upanishadic and Early Buddhist era

Further information: Buddhism and Hinduism#Meditation

See also: Pranayama#Buddhism

The Buddha depicted in yogic meditation,Kamakura, Japan

The more technical linguistic sense of the term "yoga", describing

a system of meditation or contemplation with the aim of the

cessation of mental activity and the attaining of a "supreme state"

arises with early Buddhism. In Hindu scripture, this sense of the

term "yoga" first appears in the middle Upanishads, such as

the Katha Upanishad (ca. 400 BCE).[24] Shvetashvatara

Upanishad mentions, "When earth, water, fire, air and akasa

arise, when the five attributes of the elements, mentioned in the

books on yoga, become manifest then the yogi's body becomes

purified by the fire of yoga and he is free from illness, old age and

death." (Verse 2.12). More importantly in the following verse

(2.13) it mentions, the "precursors of perfection in yoga", namely

lightness and healthiness of the body, absence of desire, clear

complexion, pleasantness of voice, sweet odour and slight

excretions.[25]

The early Buddhist texts describe meditative practices and states

that existed before the Buddha, as well as those first developed

within Buddhism.[26][27][28] One key innovative teaching of the

Buddha was that meditative absorption must be combined with

liberating cognition.[29] Meditative states alone are not an end, for

according to the Buddha, even the highest meditative state is not

liberating. Instead of attaining a complete cessation of thought,

some sort of mental activity must take place: a liberating

cognition, based on the practice of mindful awareness.[30] The

Buddha also departed from earlier yogic thought in discarding the

early Brahminic notion of liberation at death.[31] Liberation for the

Brahminic yogin was thought to be the realization at death of

a nondual meditative state anticipated in life. In fact, old

Brahminic metaphors for the liberation at death of the yogic adept

("becoming cool," "going out") were given a new meaning by the

Buddha; their point of reference became the sage who is liberated

in life.[32]

Many of the Yogic practices that came in later ages synthesized

the multiple approaches seen in this era, incorporating elements

from Jainism and Buddhism into the Hindu Samkhya philosophy.

[edit]Indian Antiquity

Classical Yoga as a system of contemplation with the aim of

uniting the human spirit with Ishvara, the "Supreme Being"

developed in early Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism during Indian

Antiquity, between the Mauryan and the Gupta era (roughly the

2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE).

[edit]Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Main articles: Raja Yoga and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali[33]

Pada (Chapter) English meaning Sutras

Samadhi Pada On being absorbed in spirit 51

Sadhana Pada On being immersed in spirit 55

Vibhuti Pada On supernatural abilities and gifts 56

Kaivalya Pada On absolute freedom 34

In Hindu philosophy, Yoga is the name of one of the

six orthodox philosophical schools [34][35]founded by Patanjali with

heavy Buddhistinfluence[36]. This school accepts the Samkhya

psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic than the

Samkhya, as evidenced by the addition of a divine entity to the

Samkhya's twenty-five elements of reality.[37][38] The parallels

between Yoga and Samkhya were so close that Max Müller says

that "the two philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished

from each other as Samkhya with and Samkhya without a

Lord...."[39] The intimate relationship between Samkhya and Yoga

is explained by Heinrich Zimmer:

These two are regarded in India as twins, the two aspects of a single discipline.Sāṅkhya provides a basic theoretical exposition of human nature, enumerating and defining its elements, analyzing their manner of co-operation in a state of bondage ("bandha"), and describing their state of disentanglement or separation in release ("mokṣa"), while Yoga treats specifically of the dynamics of the process for the disentanglement, and outlines practical techniques for the gaining of release, or "isolation-integration" ("kaivalya").[40]

Patanjali is widely regarded as the compiler of the formal Yoga

philosophy.[41] Patanjali's yoga is known as Raja yoga, which is a

system for control of the mind.[42] Patanjali defines the word "yoga"

in his second sutra, which is the definitional sutra for his entire

work:

यो�ग: चि�त्त- वृ�चित्त निरो�ध:(yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ)- Yoga Sutras 1.2

This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit

terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition

(nirodhaḥ) of the modifications (vṛtti) of the mind (citta)".[43] The

use of the wordnirodhaḥ in the opening definition of yoga is an

example of the important role that Buddhist technical terminology

and concepts play in the Yoga Sutra; this role suggests that

Patanjali was aware of Buddhist ideas and wove them into his

system.[44] Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is

restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various forms

(Vrittis)."[45]

A sculpture of a Hindu yogi in the Birla Mandir, Delhi

Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to

as "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"). This eight-limbed

concept derived from the 29th Sutra of the 2nd book, and is a core

characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation taught

today. The Eight Limbs are:

1. Yama  (The five "abstentions"): Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya

(Truth, non-lying), Asteya (non-covetousness),

Brahmacharya (non-sensuality, celibacy), and Aparigraha

(non-possessiveness).

2. Niyama  (The five "observances"): Shaucha(purity),

Santosha(contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya

(study of the Vedic scriptures to know about God and the

soul), and Ishvara-Pranidhana (surrender to God).

3. Asana : Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras

refers to the seated position used for meditation.

4. Pranayama  ("Suspending Breath"): Prāna, breath, "āyāma",

to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life

force.

5. Pratyahara  ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs

from external objects.

6. Dharana  ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single

object.

7. Dhyana  ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature

of the object of meditation.

8. Samadhi  ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the

object of meditation.

In the view of this school, the highest attainment does not reveal

the experienced diversity of the world to be illusion. The everyday

world is real. Furthermore, the highest attainment is the event of

one of many individual selves discovering itself; there is no single

universal self shared by all persons.[46]

[edit]Yoga Yajnavalkya

Main article: Yoga Yajnavalkya

सं�यो�ग� यो�ग इत्यो�क्तो� जी�वृ�त्मपरोम�त्म��॥saṁyogo yoga ityukto jīvātma-paramātmanoḥ॥Union of the self (jivātma) with the Divine (paramātma) is said to be yoga.

—Yoga Yajnavalkya I.43

The Yoga Yajnavalkya is a classical treatise on yoga attributed

toVedic sage Yajnavalkya. It takes the form of a dialogue between

Yajnavalkya and his wife Gargi, a renowned female philosopher.

The text consists of 12 chapters and its origin has been traced to

the period between the second century B.C.E. and fourth century

C.E. The Yoga Yajnavalkya predates most other yoga texts, with

the exception of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Most later yoga

texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Yoga Kundalini and Yoga

Tattva Upanishads have borrowed verses almost verbatim from or

make frequent references to the Yoga Yajnavalkya. The Yoga

Yajnavalkya is regarded to be the most important and authentic

classical text on yoga after the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In

the Yoga Yajnavalkya, yoga is defined

as jivatmaparamatmasamyogah, or the union between the

individual self (jivatma) and the Divine (paramatma).

[edit]Yoga and Samkhya

Further information: Samkhya

Patanjali systematized the conceptions of Yoga and set them

forth on the background of the metaphysics of Samkhya, which he

assumed with slight variations. In the early works, the Yoga

principles appear along with the Samkhya ideas. Vyasa's

commentary on the Yoga Sutras, also called the

“Samkhyapravacanabhasya,” brings out the intimate relation

between the two systems.[47]

Yoga agrees with the essential metaphysics of Samkhya, but

differs from it in that while Samkhya holds that knowledge is the

means of liberation, Yoga is a system of active striving, mental

discipline, and dutiful action. Yoga also introduces the conception

of God. Sometimes Patanjali's system is referred to as “Seshvara

Samkhya” in contradistinction to Kapila's "Nirivara Samkhya." [48]

[edit]Bhagavad Gita

Main article: Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord'), uses the term "yoga"

extensively in a variety of ways. In addition to an entire chapter

(ch. 6) dedicated to traditional yoga practice, including meditation,[14] it introduces three prominent types of yoga:[49]

Karma yoga : The yoga of action.

Bhakti yoga : The yoga of devotion, note Krishna had also

specified devotion itself was action similar to above.

Jnana yoga : The yoga of knowledge.

In Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains

to Arjuna about the essence of Yoga as practiced in daily lives:

यो�गस्थ: कु� रु कुम��णि� संङ्गं� त्योक्त्वृ� ध�जीयो ।चिसंद्ध्यचिसंद्ध्य�: संम� भू%त्वृ� संमत्वृ� यो�ग उच्योते) ।।(yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmani sanyugam tyaktvā dhananjaysiddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhutvā samatvam yoga ucyate)- Bhagavad Gita 2.48

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translates it as "Be

steadfast in yoga (yoga-sthaḥ), O Arjuna. Perform your duty

(kuru karmani) and abandon all attachment (sangam) to

success or failure (siddhy-asiddhyoḥ). Such evenness of mind

(samatvam) is called yoga."[50]

Madhusudana Sarasvati (b. circa 1490) divided the Gita into three

sections, with the first six chapters dealing with Karma yoga, the

middle six with Bhakti yoga, and the last six with Jnana

(knowledge).[51]Other commentators ascribe a different 'yoga' to

each chapter, delineating eighteen different yogas.[52]

[edit]Yoga and Jainism

According to "Tattvarthasutra," 2nd century CE Jain text, "Yoga,"

is the sum total of all the activities of mind, speech and body.[6] Umasvati calls yoga the cause of "asrava" or karmic influx [53] as

well as one of the essentials—samyak caritra—in the path to

liberation.[53] In his "Niyamasara," AcaryaKundakunda,

describes yoga bhakti—devotion to the path to liberation—as the

highest form of devotion.[54] Acarya Haribhadra and

Acarya Hemacandra mention the five major vows of ascetics and

12 minor vows of laity under yoga. This has led

certain Indologists like Prof. Robert J. Zydenbos to call Jainism,

essentially, a system of yogic thinking that grew into a full-fledged

religion.[55]

The five yamas or the constraints of the Yoga Sutras of

Patanjali bear a resemblance to the five major vows of Jainism,

indicating a history of strong cross-fertilization between these

traditions.[56][57]

[edit]Yogacara school

In the late phase of Indian antiquity, on the eve of the

development of Classical Hinduism, theYogacara movement

arises during the Gupta period (4th to 5th centuries). Yogacara

received the name as it provided a "yoga," a framework for

engaging in the practices that lead to the path of thebodhisattva.[58] The Yogacara sect teaches "yoga" as a way to reach

enlightenment.[59]

[edit]Middle Ages

The practice of Yoga remained in development in Classical

Hinduism, and cognate techniques of meditation within Buddhism,

throughout the medieval period.

[edit]Yoga in classical Jain literature

Tirthankara Parsva in Yogic meditation in the Kayotsargaposture.

Kevala Jñāna of Mahavira in "mulabandhasana" posture

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensureverifiability.

Earliest of Jain canonical literature like Acarangasutra and texts

like Niyamasara, Tattvarthasutra etc. had many references on

yoga as a way of life for laymen and ascetics. The later texts that

further elaborated on the Jain concept of yoga are as follows:

Pujyapada (5th century CE) Ishtopadesh

Acarya Haribhadra Suri(8th century CE) Yogabindu Yogadristisamuccaya Yogasataka Yogavimisika

Acarya Joindu (8th century CE) Yogasara

Acarya Hemacandra (11th century CE) Yogasastra

Acarya Amitagati (11th century CE) Yogasaraprabhrta

[edit]Bhakti movement

Main article: Bhakti Yoga

The Bhakti movement was a development in medieval Hinduism

advocating the concept of a personal God (or "Supreme

Personality of Godhead"), initiated by the Alvars of South India in

the 6th to 9th centuries, and gaining influence throughout India by

the 12th to 15th centuries, giving rise to sects such as Gaudiya

Vaishnavism.[60] The Bhagavata Purana is an important text of the

Bhakti movement withinVaishnavism. It focusses on the concept

of bhakti (devotion to God) in the theological framework

of Krishnaism.

The Bhagavata Purana discusses religious devotion as a kind

of yoga, called bhaktiyoga. It also emphasizeskriyāyoga, i.e. the

devotion to the deity in everday life (4.13.3).

The Bhagavata Purana is a commentary and elaboration on

the Bhagavadgita, an older text of the Mahabharata epic which

rose to great importance in Vaishnavism during the Bhakti

movement. In the Bhagavadgita (3.3),jñānayoga is the acquisition

of true knowledge, as opposed to karmayoga, the performance of

the proper religious rites.

This terminology involving various yogas has given rise to the

concept of the Four Yogas in modern Hinduism from the 1890s.

These are

1. Karma Yoga

2. Bhakti Yoga

3. Raja Yoga

4. Jnana Yoga

In this usage, the term "Yoga" ceases to translate to "a system of

meditation" and takes on the much more general sense of

"religious path". Thus, Karma Yoga is "the Path of Action", Bhakti

Yoga "the Path of Devotion" and Jnana Yoga "the Path of

Knowledge", all standing alongside Raja Yoga, "the Path of

Meditation" as alternative possibilities towards religious fulfillment.

[edit]Hatha Yoga

Main articles: Hatha yoga and Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Hatha Yoga, sometimes referred to as the “psychophysical yoga",[61] is a particular system of Yoga described by Yogi Swatmarama,

compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika in 15th century India. Hatha

Yoga differs substantially from the Raja Yoga of Patanjali in that it

focuses on "shatkarma," the purification of the physical body as

leading to the purification of the mind ("ha"), and "prana," or vital

energy (tha).[62][63] Compared to the seated asana, or sitting

meditation posture, of Patanjali's Raja yoga,[64] it marks the

development of asanas (plural) into the full body 'postures' now in

popular usage[65] and, along with its many modern variations, is

the style that many people associate with the word "Yoga" today.[66]

Hatha Yoga exercises have resulted in severe bodily dysfunction

or injury. Practitioners suggest that this is primarily the case when

individuals push themselves or are pushed beyond what their

physical condition will support.[67]

[edit]Modern history[edit]Hindu revivalism

New schools of Yoga were introduced in the context of Hindu

revivalism towards the end of the 19th century.

The physical poses of Hatha Yoga have a tradition that goes back

to the 15th century, but they were not widely practiced in India

prior to the early 20th century. Hatha Yoga was advocated by a

number of late 19th to early 20th century gurus in India,

including Tirumalai Krishnamacharya in south India,Swami

Sivananda in the north, Yogendra in Bombay, and Swami

Kuvalyananda in Lonavla, Maharashtra.

In 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda in his Autobiography of a

Yogi introduced the term Kriya Yoga for the tradition of Yoga

transmitted by his lineage of gurus, deriving it via Swāmī

Śrīyukteśwara Giri andSyāmacaran Lahiri "Mahasaya"

from Mahāvatār Bābājī. Also influential in the development of

modern Yoga were Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, and his

disciple K. Pattabhi Jois, who introduced his style ofAshtanga

Vinyasa Yoga in 1948. Most systems of Hatha Yoga which

developed from the 1960s in the "yoga boom" in the West are

derived from B.K.S. Iyengar.

[edit]Reception in the West

Main article: Yoga as exercise or alternative medicine

A western style Hatha Yoga class.

Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the

mid 19th century along with other topics of Hindu philosophy. The

first Hindu teacher to actively advocate and disseminate aspects

of Yoga to a western audience wasSwami Vivekananda, who

toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s.[68]

In the West, the term "yoga" is today typically associated

withHatha Yoga and its asanas (postures) or as a form of

exercise.[69] In the 1960s, western interest in Hindu spirituality

reached its peak, giving rise to a great number of Neo-

Hinduschools specifically advocated to a western public. Among

the teachers of Hatha yoga who were active in the west in this

period were B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, and Swami Vishnu-

devananda, and Swami Satchidananda. [70] [71][72] A second "yoga

boom" followed in the 1980s, as Dean Ornish, a follower

of Swami Satchidananda, connected yoga to heart health,

legitimizing yoga as a purely physical system of health exercises

outside of counter culture oresotericism circles, and unconnected

to a religious denomination.[68]

Kundalini Yoga, considered an advanced form of yoga and

meditation, was on the whole a secretive and misunderstood

technology – it was not widely taught by any master teachers

outside of India untilYogi Bhajan(Siri Singh Sahib) brought his

understanding of the teachings to the United States in 1969.[73]

There has been an emergence of studies investigating yoga as a

complementary intervention for cancer patients. Yoga is used for

treatment of cancer patients to decrease depression, insomnia,

pain, and fatigue and increase anxiety control.[74] Mindfulness

Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs include yoga as a

mind-body technique to reduce stress. A study found that after

seven weeks the group treated with yoga reported significantly

less mood disturbance and reduced stress compared to the

control group. Another study found that MBSR had showed

positive effects on sleep anxiety, quality of life, and spiritual

growth.[75]

Yoga has also been studied as a treatment for schizophrenia.

Yoga is found to improve cognitive functions and reduce stress in

schizophrenia, a condition associated with cognitive deficits and

stress-related relapse. In one study, at the end of four months

those patients treated with yoga were better in their social and

occupational functions and quality of life.[76]

The three main focuses of Hatha yoga (exercise, breathing, and

meditation) make it beneficial to those suffering from heart

disease. Overall, studies of the effects of yoga on heart disease

suggest that yoga may reduce high blood pressure, improve

symptoms of heart failure, enhance cardiac rehabilitation, and

lower cardiovascular risk factors.[77]

Long-term yoga practitioners in the United States have reported

musculoskeletal and mental health improvements, as well

reduced symptoms of asthma in asthmatics.[78] Regular yoga

practice increases brain GABA levels and has been shown to

improve mood and anxiety more than some other metabolically

matched exercises, such as walking.[79] Implementation of the

Kundalini Yoga Lifestyle has shown to help substance abuse

addicts increase their quality of life according to psychological

questionnaires like the Behavior and Symptom Identification

Scale and the Quality of Recovery Index.[80]

[edit]Yoga compared with other systems of meditation

[edit]Tantra

Tantrism is a practice that is supposed to alter the relation of its

practitioners to the ordinary social, religious, and logical reality in

which they live. Through Tantric practice, an individual perceives

reality as maya, illusion, and the individual achieves liberation

from it.[81] Both Tantra & Yoga offer paths that relieve a person

from depending on the world. Where Yoga relies on progressive

restriction of inputs from outside; Tantra relies on transmutation of

all external inputs so that one is no longer dependent on them,

but can take them or leave them at will. They both make a person

independent.[82] This particular path to salvation among the

several offered by Hinduism, links Tantrism to those practices

ofIndian religions, such as yoga, meditation, and

social renunciation, which are based on temporary or permanent

withdrawal from social relationships and modes.[81]

As Robert Svoboda attempts to summarize the three major paths

of the Vedic knowledge, he exclaims:

Because every embodied individual is composed of a body, a

mind and a spirit, the ancient Rishis of India who developed the

Science of Life organized their wisdom into three bodies of

knowledge: Ayurveda, which deals mainly with the physical body;

Yoga, which deals mainly with spirit; and Tantra, which is mainly

concerned with the mind. The philosophy of all three is identical;

their manifestations differ because of their differing emphases.

Ayurveda is most concerned with the physical basis of life,

concentrating on its harmony of mind and spirit. Yoga controls

body and mind to enable them to harmonize with spirit, and

Tantra seeks to use the mind to balance the demands of body

and spirit.[82]

During tantric practices and studies, the student is instructed

further in meditation technique, particularly chakra meditation.

This is often in a limited form in comparison with the way this kind

of meditation is known and used by Tantric practitioners and yogis

elsewhere, but is more elaborate than the initiate's previous

meditation. It is considered to be a kind of Kundalini Yoga for the

purpose of moving the Goddess into the chakra located in the

"heart", for meditation and worship.[83]

[edit]BuddhismFurther information: Dhyana

Even though the roots of Yoga date back to a period of time

contemporaneous with early Buddhismand its interaction

with Vedanta, Buddhist meditation or dhyana in the medieval

period took a separate development from Yoga as laid down by

Patanjali and its descendants.

[edit]Zen Buddhism

A Falun Gong practitioner depicted in yogic meditation in the Lotus position

Zen (the name of which derives from the Sanskrit "dhyaana" via

the Chinese "ch'an"[84]) is a form of Mahayana Buddhism. The

Mahayana school of Buddhism is noted for its proximity with

Yoga.[85] In the west, Zen is often set alongside Yoga; the two

schools of meditation display obvious family resemblances.[86] This phenomenon merits special attention since yogic

practices have some of their roots in the Zen Buddhist school.[87] Certain essential elements of Yoga are important both for

Buddhism in general and for Zen in particular.[88]

[edit]Tibetan Buddhism

Yoga is central to Tibetan Buddhism. In the Nyingma tradition, the

path of meditation practice is divided into nine yanas, or vehicles,

which are said to be increasingly profound.[89] The last six are

described as "yoga yanas": "Kriya yoga," "Upa yoga," "Yoga

yana," "Mahā yoga," "Anu yoga" and the ultimate practice, "Ati

yoga." [90] The Sarma traditions also include Kriya, Upa (called

"Charya"), and Yoga, with the Anuttara yoga class substituting for

Mahayoga and Atiyoga.[91]

Other tantra yoga practices include a system of 108 bodily

postures practiced with breath and heart rhythm. The Nyingma

tradition also practices Yantra yoga (Tib. "Trul khor"), a discipline

that includes breath work (or pranayama), meditative

contemplation and precise dynamic movements to centre the

practitioner.[92] The body postures of Tibetan ancient yogis are

depicted on the walls of the Dalai Lama's summer temple

of Lukhang. A semi-popular account of Tibetan Yoga by Chang

(1993) refers tocaṇḍalī (Tib. "tummo"), the generation of heat in

one's own body, as being "the very foundation of the whole of

Tibetan Yoga." [93] Chang also claims that Tibetan Yoga involves

reconciliation of apparent polarities, such as prana and mind,

relating this to theoretical implications of tantrism.

[edit]Christian meditationMain articles: A Christian reflection on the New Age and Aspects

of Christian meditation

Some Christians integrate yoga and other aspects of Eastern

spirituality with prayer and meditation. This has been attributed to

a desire to experience God in a more complete way.[94] The Roman Catholic Church, and some other Christian

organizations have expressed concerns and disapproval with

respect to some eastern and New Age practices that include yoga

and meditation.[95][96][97]

In 1989 and 2003, the Vatican issued two documents: Aspects of

Christian meditation and "A Christian reflection on the New Age,"

that were mostly critical of eastern and New Age practices. The

2003 document was published as a 90 page handbook detailing

the Vatican's position.[98] The Vatican warned that concentration

on the physical aspects of meditation "can degenerate into a cult

of the body" and that equating bodily states with mysticism "could

also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral

deviations." Such has been compared to the early days of

Christianity, when the church opposed the gnostics' belief that

salvation came not through faith but through a mystical inner

knowledge.[94]

The letter also says, "one can see if and how [prayer] might be

enriched by meditation methods developed in other religions and

cultures"[99] but maintains the idea that "there must be some fit

between the nature of [other approaches to] prayer and Christian

beliefs about ultimate reality."[94]

Some fundamentalist Christian organizations consider yoga to be

incompatible with their religious background, considering it a part

of the New Age movement inconsistent with Christianity.[100]

[edit]Sufism

The development of Sufism was considerably influenced by

Indian yogic practises, where they adapted both physical postures

(asanas) and breath control (pranayama).[101] The ancient Indian

yogic text Amritakunda ("Pool of Nectar)" was translated into

Arabic and Persian as early as the 11th century. Several other

yogic texts were appropriated by Sufi tradition, but typically the

texts juxtapose yoga materials alongside Sufi practices without

any real attempt at integration or synthesis. Yoga became known

to Indian Sufis gradually over time, but engagement with yoga is

not found at the historical beginnings of the tradition.[102]

Malaysia's top Islamic body in 2008 passed a fatwa, which is

legally non-binding, against Muslimspracticing yoga, saying it had

elements of "Hindu spiritual teachings" and that its practice

wasblasphemy and is therefore haraam. Muslim yoga teachers in

Malaysia criticized the decision as "insulting."[103] Sisters in Islam,

a women's rights group in Malaysia, also expressed

disappointment and said that its members would continue with

their yoga classes.[104]

The fatwa states that yoga practiced only as physical exercise is

permissible, but prohibits the chanting of religious mantras,[105] and states that teachings such as the uniting of a human with

God is not consistent with Islamic philosophy.[106] In a similar vein,

the Council of Ulemas, an Islamic body in Indonesia, passed

a fatwa banning yoga on the grounds that it contains "Hindu

elements"[107]These fatwas have, in turn, been criticized by Darul

Uloom Deoband, a Deobandi Islamic seminary in India.[108]

In May 2009, Turkey's head of the Directorate of Religious

Affairs, Ali Bardakoğlu, discounted personal development

techniques such as yoga as commercial ventures that could lead

to extremism. His comments were made in the context of yoga

possibly competing with and eroding participation in Islamic

practice.[109]

The only sect of the Islam community that has successfully

incorporated yoga into its practice is theJogi Faqir, whose

followers are Muslim converts from the Hindu Jogicaste.