Yoga: A Living Philosophy

In Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. These stories offer a glimpse into how yoga was interpreted, written about, and practiced throughout the years. This article first appeared in the November/December 1976 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here. 

Just as an Indian carpet is interwoven with many threads of various colors to produce a perceivable pattern of harmony, Indian writings and religion are interwoven, perhaps in an even more complex way, to produce the pattern we have come to know as Indian philosophy. But for the novice, this pattern can be more than confusing; it can be overwhelming. Actually, one can begin in a systematic way to study and discover the various teachings of Indian philosophy, such as Yoga.

Perhaps the place to begin is with the primary divisions of Indian philosophy. It has been divided into six Orthodox and three Heterodox systems of thought. The Orthodox systems are: Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa, and Uttara Mimamsa, also called Vedanta. The Heterodox systems are Buddhism, Jainism, and Carvaka. The primary difference between the two sets is that the former accepts the authority of the ancient scripts, the Vedas, and builds upon them, while the latter set does not.

What Is Samkhya? Understanding Yoga Philosophy

For those interested in Yoga specifically, understanding Samkhya philosophy helps to introduce the concepts of Yoga as they fit within the context of the larger whole of a philosophy which has been growing and changing for thousands of years. Samkhya reduces the categories of reality presented by the two preceding systems of Nyaya and Vaisesika to the dual concepts of Purusa and Prakriti.

Samkhya is notable for its theory of the evolution and interaction, on some levels, of these two aspects of the universe, which are the first divisions of Brahman, the undefined Ground of all Being. Purusa is the Conscious Being which supports the action of nature or Prakriti, which is the active executive form of Purusa, and from which all things as we know them spring. All things which we can perceive with the senses and the mind, on all levels, are a part of Prakriti. The subtle intelligence of the universe which can only be directly experienced, and yet which is beyond experience, is termed Purusa.

If this sounds a bit difficult to understand, that is because it is. It is the dual interplay of these two elements that have produced Tantra-Yoga, the aim of which is the experience of the union of these two elements through various religion’s practices.

From the first duality of Purusa and Prakriti, all other divisions come from Prakriti, as Purusa is undividable. From Prakriti comes the two aspects of intelligence: Mahat, which is Citta, or cosmic mind; also from Prakriti comes Buddhi, the subtle intelligence which is the individualization of Mahat. From the individual aspect of intelligence comes Ahamkara, the self-sense or ego, and from Ahamkara come the three Gunas, or the three major divisions of consciousness on an individual level. (The word “gunas” itself comes from the Sanskrit verb “gun” which means “to count.”)

The first of these divisions is Rajas, or energy; the two others are Sattvas and Tamas. From Sattvas is derived Manas, or mind as we know it, the Five Organs of Perception, including seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling, and the Five Organs of Action, including the organs of speech, reproduction, excretion, and the hands and feet. From Tamas is derived Tanmatras, the most subtle types of energy becoming form, and the Five Subtle Elements, including ether, gas, light, liquid, and solid. Rajas provides the energy for the development of the elements of Sattvas and Tamas.

Intelligence moves from the Undivided Brahman through more divisions until grosser objects like trees, clouds, and all physical objects are manifested. As can be seen, this gradual evolution of Energy becoming form through Prakriti is usually considered a process of the intelligence of Purusa being masked by the grosser layers of Prakriti. But this does not affect the nature of Purusa.

Samkhya philosophy states that the Self, as it exists in Purusa, is already totally free; any experience of “liberation” or “enlightenment” is only phenomenal as each of us is already free. This implies a dualism that Purusa and Prakriti exist side by side in the human being, and yet are untouched by one another. This can lead one to question, “How can Purusa affect Prakriti if the two are totally separate?” More intriguingly, how can anything done in the arena of Prakriti, i.e., all thoughts and actions, affect the evolution of Purusa?

This is where the technique and philosophy of Yoga are appropos.

The History of Yoga Philosophy

Yoga was first systematically set down in written form in the second century B.C. by Patanjali in his Yoga Aphorisms. Yoga states the practical information of how one can go about perceiving one’s true nature. Yoga is more atheistic than Samkhya, and introduces God into the 25 five elements already mentioned. In addition, Yoga teaches that mind is not one mind, Citta, but that we have as many “Cittas” as we have selves, and that it is the constant movement of our consciousness that keeps us from knowing our own depth. An example of this is a turbulent pool; it is difficult to see the bottom with all the movement. As soon as the movement is ceased, in this case by the practice of Yoga, one is able to see the “bottom,” in other words, to perceive the Self.

In order to still the mind, Patanjali has created a system termed Ashtanga Yoga, or the Eight-Limbed Yoga System. It begins with the practicing of certain moral precepts common in most religions, and continues with a system of bringing awareness to the body, the breath, the workings of the mind, and leads one into meditative states.

So the practice of Yoga is basically built upon the belief in the existence of a Consciousness within us which can be perceived and which is part of our true nature. Otherwise, it could not be perceived at all. Yoga attempts to teach ways in which one can become adept at preparing oneself for the experience of the consciousness of Purusa. But it does not suggest that the performance of any of the techniques of Yoga per se will bring enlightenment.

What it does say is that Yoga is one way of preparing the medium in which Purusa can manifest itself even more fully. Yoga philosophy states that without the manifestation of Purusa in us all now, we would not be alive. This phenomenon can be witnessed; it is a common experience to feel the clarity of some beings. This does not mean that they are “higher” than others, but rather that the light of Purusa can more fully shine out, just as a clean lantern provides a more direct light than a dirty one. But it is the birthright and privilege of each of us to become a bright lantern too, and the technique of Yoga, built upon the philosophy of Samkhya, is one way in which an individual can help to prepare the vessel.

Sri Aurobindo, the twentieth century saint of India, disagrees with the traditional view of Samkhya. He discounts the total division of reality into non-compatible aspects of Purusa and Prakriti, but believes that the descent from the Absolute (Brahman) into the Finite (Prakriti) holds within it, inherently, the seed for the ascent of the Finite into the Absolute through Purusa. When this happens within the individual, then the mind is turned into Supermind, and the individual lives what Aurobindo terms the Divine Life. True harmony will not exist on earth, claims Aurobindo, until each of us is conscious of and aids in the evolution of consciousness in us to help to bring about the manifestation of the Divine Life on earth.

Whether one holds the more traditional view of Purusa and Prakriti, or the one suggested by Sri Aurobindo in his voluminous writings, the practice of Yoga cannot be denied. The benefits of Yoga have proven to be of value not only because of their endurance over millennia, but also importantly, through the freedom from mental and physical disease they have afforded to the practitioners of this philosophy of action, not words. Without this freedom from disease, freedom from the tyranny of the ego is supremely difficult.