Georg Feuerstein

No one knows exactly when the Yoga tradition began.

Yoga is not easy to define. Yoga's three major forms are Hindu Yoga, Buddhist Yoga and Jaina Yoga. Yoga lies in the heart of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. I am awed by Yoga's wealth of experience and understanding of the human condition. Yoga is relevant today as it was thousands of years ago, and possibly more so.

Yoga can stand for either union or discipline.

Yoga's whole purpose is to remove ignorance and suffering, which is the way to enlightenment. Yoga is a continuum of theory and practice.

Yoga calls for thoughtful and mindful practice. Yoga balances the nervous system and calms the mind.

Yoga is a spiritual tradition, which seeks to bestow happiness and inner freedom rather than merely physical fitness and health. Yoga is a condensate of massive experience and knowledge. It is the greatest product of the genius of the Indic people. Yoga never disappoints. Yoga is valid today as it was then. Yoga is incredibly powerful. The challenge is to unlock its full potential; which is only possible only when we are willing to practice it in depth.

Regardless of our present physical, emotional, mental, moral, or spiritual condition, we can always improve our situation by resorting to the yogic disciplines. Yoga is a potent antidote to suffering and can if consistently practiced can fulfill our impulse toward inner freedom, inner peace of mind, and lasting happiness.

Yoga is concerned with the elimination of suffering. Yoga has been employed as a pathway out of suffering, liberation and enlightenment.

Yoga brings a new perspective on life. Upon enlightenment, neither pain or pleasure will diminish our inner freedom.

Yoga seeks to tap into our full potential.

Ignorance is lethargy, fear of change, prejudice, self-delusion and etc.

Yoga should be practiced at least once a day but ideally two sessions per day.

Yoga is more beneficial in a group which produces a kind of a field effect.

Yoga is a liberation teaching. It seeks to liberate us from our limited notion of who we are. Human beings have different strengths and weaknesses

Yogic want to be liberated beings that are perfectly ordinary. The are happy washing dishes as they are quietly sitting.

Yoga is initiatory. Yoga first and foremost must practice patience. Yoga's fundamental tenets is that no effort is ever wasted. It is our patient cumulative effort that flowers into enlightenment sooner or later.

Yoga quests for truth. Not merely factual truth but the kind of truth that sees everything in context and also perserves that context.

Yoga is ecstasy.

Gentle style yoga prepares the mind for meditation.

Yoga's energy consciously directs the body's energy.

Yoga's purpose is awaken the serpent power by means of postures, breath control, chanting and meditation.

Yoga emphasizes visualization, very slow movement into and out of postures, conscious breathing, mindfulness, and frequent relaxation between postures.

My approach to spiritual life is integrative rather than sectarian. I hold all liberation teachings in the highest regard, even when I do not feel moved to practice them personally.

At the heart of both the Hindu and Buddhist Yoga practice are (1) guru yoga (focus on one's teacher), (2) visualization, (3) mantra recitation, (4) knowledge and mastery of of enlightenment and (5) transformative rituals.

Yoga can be difficult to comprehend and demands serious concentration and perseverance.

Today, one must study. Although one may not become a sage in this life, knowledge is firmly accumulated for future lives, just as secured assets can be used later.

Yoga is steeped in symbolism. The yogic symbol is seldom obvious. Number symbols has always been important to the Indic mind.

Conventional life primarily revolves around the pursuit of rather limited goals: physical comfort, material possessions, sex, emotional gratification, mental stimulation, and power. Our civilization has invented countless ways to keep our attention focused on comfort and pleasure.

If there is no doubt or self-delusion, then they are quite simply enlightened.

The higher the elevation, the seeper the drop into oblivion and misery. Yoga admonish practitioners to be circumspect, to keep their attainments to themselves, to focus on the cultivation of moral integrity, and understanding.

Many are addicted to alcohol, tobacco, drugs, food, sex, gambling, and relationships.

According to Hinduism, there are four legitimate pursuits to which we can dedicate our time and energy: material welfare, physical, emotional, and intellectual satisfaction, morality, and spiritual fulfillment.

Everyone is seeking to maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness. What is happiness?

Happiness is often confused with pleasure. We hunt for pleasurable repetition, and in the process run the risk of becoming addicted. Pleasure is inherently addictive, precisely because it is not completely fulfilling.

Happiness, on the other hand, is deep, full, and enduring. It gives us peace and tranquility. Suffering follows in the wake of pleasure, either because the pleasure has ended or because the its pursuit has led to painful imbalances, happiness has no repercussions. It gives rise to harmony. Happiness ends all sorrow; it concludes our frantic search for the next injection of pleasure. Pleasure always spurs us on to experience greater pleasure. It drives us, and in driving us it enslaves us.

The person who is happy does not look for greater happiness. Happiness sets us free. It is freedom. When we are happy, we are whole.

It is a sign of health and sanity to seek happiness.

Happiness is the dream of all people and races.

As long as we are spiritually fragmented, we must expect to be unfit. Spiritual wholeness and happiness go hand and hand.

The more actively we seek happiness, the less likely we are to find it.

Happiness is accessible to us. We must simply be happy in every moment. It sounds so simple and even paradoxical. Yet it is really profound wisdom. We cannot become happy; we can always only be happy. Happiness is our birthright.

Fear undermines our innate happiness and freedom. Fear of change, fear of the unknown, fear of death, and so on.

Another result of ignorance is greed. Anger is also ignorance.

Positive behavior: kindness, compassion, love, nonharming, generosity, patience, contentment, correct understanding, etc.

Negative behavior: self-delusion, anger, greed, harming, miserliness, inconsiderateness, impatience and etc. It too creates karmic deposits in the deep levels of the mind.

It is impossible for happiness to arise from nonvirtuous karma. It is impossible for suffering to arise from virtuous karma. That is the law of cause and effect.

Only liberation is total freedom from suffering.

Aggression is innate in human beings, that we are programmed to attack, maim, and kill.

Gentleness is also an innate impulse in human beings.

We can cultivate nonviolence, or nonharming, as a viable lifestyle.

Life is built on the sacrificial death of others. We must appreciate how we owe our life to other beings and how they owe their lives to us.

Our consumption directly or indirectly causes harms to others. Our military industry revolves around violence.

Our food consumption directly harms animals.

Jains walk lightly on this planet.

Life is found everywhere.

We become inattentive and negligent through negative mental states, notably pride, passion, anger, greed, and delusion.

Carelessness and Negligence causes injury or even death.

Seek peace, comfort and security.

The term "meat industry" drives home the point that animals are being treated as objects that can be processed for consumption.

Ecology is the study of the vital relationships between plants and animals and the environment in which they live.

Resources are by no means inexhaustible. Resources are limited.

Yoga is balance.

We need to avoid conspicuous consumption; including the needless waste of food.

Life is a precious gift, which must not be squandered, neglected, or abused.

Our Western upbringing, does not make us predisposed to express our gratitude and it teaches us to be critical rather than full of praise. We do no need to withhold criticism where it is due, but it is often received more readily when it is tempered with compassion and praise.

Living in our postmodern world has wounded us all in one way or another, and there is much need for healing. Praise and the expression of gratitude are excellent means of soothing our pain and restoring hope. When we experience lilfe as a spiritual opportunity for which we are grateful, the world ceases to be our enemy.

The motivating factor in ordinary life is often called poisns of life: ignorance, anger/hostility, attachment, lust, pride, deceitfulness and greed.

When a person thinks of things, contact with them is made. From contact springs desire, from desire arises anger. Anger leads to bewilderment, bewilderment brings confusion of the memory; confusion of memory leads to obliteration of wisdom. Upon the obliteration of wisdom, one is lost.

Yoga masters call for the control of both the mind and senses.

We are creating our destiny in every moment.

Yoga is a spiritual way of life; not merely a system of physical or mental exercises for improving one's bodily health.

We live inauthentic lives-revolving around self-centered expectations, assumptions, and projections.

Yoga is a powerful agent of social change in our confused world.

Truthfulness is inherently life enhancing. It simplifies our interactions with one another.

There is no virtue greter than truth; there is no sin greater than falsehood. Nothing is superior than truth.

Yoga is an integrated way of life. Disicipline, Restraint, Nonharming, Truthfulness, nonstealing, chastity, greedlessness.

Yogin should abstain from giving medical advice unless they have the neccessary qualifications.

Yogis should not force their own opinions on people.

He is content without need for stimulation from the senses.

Realistically speaking, becoming a yoga master is out of reach for most of us. Not because we are not capable of it; but because very few of us have a determination and stamina to even pursue this yogic ideal.

Yoga postures improves flexibility, strength, resilience, endurance, cardiovascular, respiratory, immunity, sleep, eye-hand coordination, balance, awareness, attention, memory, learning, and mood. It decreases anxiety, depression, and aggression.

Our body behavior is a direct manifestation of our mental state.

Breathe slow and rhythmetically.

When we are upset, we breathe faster. When we are calm, our breathing slows down.

Life goes by very quickly. We want to our every breath to count.

Eating pure and wholesome food.

Keep the body healthy through appropriate exercise and habits.

Entertain pure and wholesome thoughts.

Engage virtuous actions.

Speaking in kind and helpful words.

Practice silence.

Focus on what matters rather than scattering our energy.

Wisdom is marked by wholesome and happiness.

Yoga is the control of the senses, which are inherently unstable. The control of the mind depends on the control of the senses.

Action is your rightful interest, never to its fruit. Let not the fruit of action be your motive, neither let yourself be attached to inaction.

Material life is inherently limited and pleasures are likewise limited, temporary and ultimately unfullfilling.

Happiness is independant of our nervous system and the stimuli that excite it.

Many are deluded by the glamour of wealth.