Jnana means the knowledge. This
yoga is the yoga for the intelligent and selected people.
This yoga is the ultimate goal of all the other varieties
of yoga. This yoga teaches you to look at the world as it
is without any ignorance and bias. You can achieve this
state by practicing rigorous mental discipline and virtue.
This yoga is also called Raja Yoga or the king of all the
yogas, since it is of the highest variety and rules over
all the other varieties. This is the Yoga that Patanjali
has described in his Yoga Sutras.
This yoga is made up of eight parts of which five are external
and the other three are internal. Two of its parts, viz
yama and niyama deal with types of behaviour that the student
of yoga should avoid like lying, cheating, stealing etc.
and those behaviours that he should cultivate like cleanliness,
non-collection etc. Asanas and Pranayama are the next two
parts of this yoga. Asanas are the physical movements that
help in developing the suppleness of the body and thus cure
any diseases. You can control your breath by using pranayama
which increases the capacity of the lungs to take in air
and thus increases the vitality of the body. The next part
Pratyahara denotes the withdrawal of the sense organs from
objects of enjoyment. The remaining three parts deal with
intense mental concentration.
Patanjali maintained that practicing these eight parts of
yoga faithfully and intensely will, over a period of time,
erase all the impurities of the body and mind and thus attain
knowledge that will liberate the person from bondage and
ignorance. This yoga is called Ashtanga Yoga since it is
made of eight parts. It is also called as Dhyana yoga due
to its stress on mental concentration. Hence, whenever there
is any mention of yoga, it is usually implied that the person
is talking about Jnana Yoga
About the author:
Sharon Hopkins is the webmaster for Yogawiz where you can
find information on , yoga
basics, different yoga asanas, poses, Jnana Yoga,Ashtanga
yoga and much more . Jnana Yoga is the science of knowledge
and helps one unite with the Supreme.
