The Original Meaning Of Yoga
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Yoga actually means the union between the observer and the observed, the knower and the known and the subject and the object. The distinction between the two arises because of the impurities that veil the cit consciousness and act as obstacles to clear perception. Patanjali identified five types of perception that leads to five types of modifications in the citta. They are correct perception which is based in reality, incorrect or false perception which is based in error or misunderstanding, deluded perception which is rooted in delusion, perception that is based in sleep and perception that is based in memory. Patanjali did not say that one type of perception is better than the other because all these cause modfication in the citta and lead to suffering. The purpose of yoga is to supress these modification so that the self can become absorbed in the essence of the object which is itself.
