| Cougar Press PO Box 894 Meadview AZ 86444 |
| Raja means the royal path in yoga. In many senses all of the various yogic disciplines are linked under the veil of Raja. The eight limbs of Yoga are: |
Raja |
Body-conditioning includes all exercise, such as Hatha, as well as nutrition and sensible concern for
ones health.
Self-study embraces a huge field of resources. One may pursue ever deeper knowledge of oneself
by sitting under a tree and contemplating the navel. Another extreme might entail a search
through the various self-help offerings. Any and all of the sciences, from physics and chemistry
through biology and psychology, biography and fiction, poetry and art, music and philosophy, can
fill in blanks and answer questions that spin off from self-study. Everyone is different. Each of us
has a different path, with different subjects calling our attention at different times.
Attentiveness to God also includes a wide range of application. Some would say that it covers what
is left after the body and the mind have been dealt with. A more harmonious attitude is to see all
three tied together.
Regardless of ideology, one needs to at least be aware of the questions that can arise to haunt the
novice or the veteran, questions like:
ones health.
Self-study embraces a huge field of resources. One may pursue ever deeper knowledge of oneself
by sitting under a tree and contemplating the navel. Another extreme might entail a search
through the various self-help offerings. Any and all of the sciences, from physics and chemistry
through biology and psychology, biography and fiction, poetry and art, music and philosophy, can
fill in blanks and answer questions that spin off from self-study. Everyone is different. Each of us
has a different path, with different subjects calling our attention at different times.
Attentiveness to God also includes a wide range of application. Some would say that it covers what
is left after the body and the mind have been dealt with. A more harmonious attitude is to see all
three tied together.
Regardless of ideology, one needs to at least be aware of the questions that can arise to haunt the
novice or the veteran, questions like:
who am I?
what is real?
where did everything come from?
when did it happen?
why is there anything at all?
how do we know?
what is real?
where did everything come from?
when did it happen?
why is there anything at all?
how do we know?
For starters, it is not necessary to know the answers to any of these questions in order to be happy,
healthy or safe. Furthermore, it is entirely realistic to suppose that no one can ever find complete
answers to any of these questions. Claims have been made that the studies of theology and moral
philosophy are part of the giant search for questions that have no answers. This implies a mean
suggestion that such devotion is a waste of time and energy. But maybe it’s not such a waste.
Curiosity ignored can wreck any life.
Answers can change. What we were happy with as children for explanation of reality changes as we
get older. Visions of gods can change from fairy-tale giants in the sky, to altruistic deities who
sacrifice their own well-being for the salvation of creatures, to fire and thunder disciplinarians who
will not brook moral imperfection, to unification with the divine will.
In yoga, the devotions to self-study and attentiveness to God may be pictured as wings of the same
bird. Self-study, exemplified by the discipline of Jnana yoga, relies on perception and rational
thought. Attentiveness to God, Bhakti yoga, rests on the gifts of emotion, faith, hope and love.
The wings of Jnana and Bhakti are joined at the body of the bird, Hatha. A bird with only one
wing can be seen to flounder helplessly when it tries to fly. The wings need the body for energy.
The body needs the wings for expression of that energy. The body and the wings together need the
head to provide vision and direction.
healthy or safe. Furthermore, it is entirely realistic to suppose that no one can ever find complete
answers to any of these questions. Claims have been made that the studies of theology and moral
philosophy are part of the giant search for questions that have no answers. This implies a mean
suggestion that such devotion is a waste of time and energy. But maybe it’s not such a waste.
Curiosity ignored can wreck any life.
Answers can change. What we were happy with as children for explanation of reality changes as we
get older. Visions of gods can change from fairy-tale giants in the sky, to altruistic deities who
sacrifice their own well-being for the salvation of creatures, to fire and thunder disciplinarians who
will not brook moral imperfection, to unification with the divine will.
In yoga, the devotions to self-study and attentiveness to God may be pictured as wings of the same
bird. Self-study, exemplified by the discipline of Jnana yoga, relies on perception and rational
thought. Attentiveness to God, Bhakti yoga, rests on the gifts of emotion, faith, hope and love.
The wings of Jnana and Bhakti are joined at the body of the bird, Hatha. A bird with only one
wing can be seen to flounder helplessly when it tries to fly. The wings need the body for energy.
The body needs the wings for expression of that energy. The body and the wings together need the
head to provide vision and direction.
| This might be called the “Bluebird of Yoga.” |
The idea would be that we journey through our search for truth, happiness, justice or whatever we feel
we wish to find. The wings of intelligence and emotion are both essential for progress. Reduced to
either one, we flop helplessly in circles. With both we can fly.
we wish to find. The wings of intelligence and emotion are both essential for progress. Reduced to
either one, we flop helplessly in circles. With both we can fly.
Patanjali lived in India in the second century, B.C. His collection of aphorisms on the subject of Raja
Yoga is a standard source. An excellent translation and interpretation of these aphorisms can be found
in the book:
Yoga is a standard source. An excellent translation and interpretation of these aphorisms can be found
in the book:
Professor Wood's explanation of Raja is excellent for both beginning and advanced students of yoga.
I keep a copy on my shelf, right next to:
I keep a copy on my shelf, right next to:
This list is best thought of not as a sequence on any gradient like time, priority or ability. Deeper
participation in every feature of the path will be the result of the weakening of the sources of
trouble which comes from the practice of body-conditioning, self-study and attentiveness to God.
participation in every feature of the path will be the result of the weakening of the sources of
trouble which comes from the practice of body-conditioning, self-study and attentiveness to God.
Professor Wood puts it this way:
"Let him not think that the limbs of yoga are the branches, as it were, of a tree up which he is
climbing. They are his own yoga limbs, with which he pulls himself up, and they remain with him,
for yoga is in himself, not in the world."
"Let him not think that the limbs of yoga are the branches, as it were, of a tree up which he is
climbing. They are his own yoga limbs, with which he pulls himself up, and they remain with him,
for yoga is in himself, not in the world."
| Practical Yoga, Ernest Wood, E.P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1948, p.101. |
| Yoga for Carnivores by Jay Dyck |