Yoga Transformations final review

group of five who are the heroes of the Mahabharata, are taken up to the sun in their chariot (a heroic yoga)

"materiality," the second tattva in Samkhya that gives rise to the mind-body complex and elements

a word or saying that often invokes a deity or spiritual being

 A prince who lived around the 6th century BCE and who preached enlightenment through awareness of sorrow's cause

meditation / meditative absorption in Hinduism and Buddhism

"innate," "inborn": a primal state of perfect simplicity in Tantric Buddhism and later Baul songs

a class of scriptures as well as body of practices that utilize sexual practices and also meditation on diagrams

modern culture of physical wellness into which yoga became absorbed

Vedic priestly caste

the "Great Vehicle" of Buddhism that developed around four centuries after the Buddha and emphasized compassion

Shaiva practitioners of yoga from the medieval period to the present who revere Gorakhnath as their founder

 transforming physical metals into gold, also linked to a transformation of the yogic body

triad of gods: Brahma as creator, Vishnu as preserver, Shiva as destroyer

16th-century Hindavi romance written by Mir Sayyid Manjhan Shattari Rajgiri that includes an allegory of love as yoga

"composure" or inner ecstasy brought about through practice of yoga — often synonymous with yoga itself

the "Yoga of Kings," a yoga that emphasized samādhi or meditative composure

"Lamp on Haṭha (Yoga)," a collection of medieval Haṭha Yoga teachings

enlightened beings in Buddhism often linked to lands, meditative objects, colors, and other symbols

literally "partaking" in a deity or human, a form of devotion often through songs and poetry

the yoga of force, usually physical techniques of yoga that originated in medieval South Asia

Hindu god who is the destroyer of the universe, lord of dance, yoga, other names: Rudra, Mahadeva

"extinction," a goal of Buddhism

Pali for "mindfulness," consists of samatha (tranquility) and vipassana (insight)

Secret Community Tantra, important ca. 8th-century Buddhist manual that teaches Subtle Yoga

a religion that developed after the Buddha died, often divided into Theravada and Mahayana

emptiness, nothingness, voidness: a doctrine and goal in Mahayana and later Tantric Buddhism

the most famous Baul, who lived in the nineteenth century

the cosmic "person," the first tattva in Samkhya that is aloof and apart from manifestation

mind, located in heart region

a form of modern yoga that integrated Hatha Yoga with Swedish gymnastics and physical culture

Buddhist doctrine of "not-self," the idea that there is no soul behind the fluctuations of the skandhas

control of the vital-breath

"enumeration," a system linked to yoga that describes the emanations of tattvas or reality principles

Sanskrit term for impersonal infinite spirit, ground of all existence, formless absolute

Arjuna's charioteer, a god and avatar of Vishnu, other names: Hari, Govinda, Kanai

Hindu god who is specifically the creator of the universe

Sufi recitation of spiritual words, often from the Qu'ran

Pali for "insight," technique for mindfulness (satipatthana) aimed at concentration and heightened awareness of reality

meditation in Sanskrit, also a kind of yoga of meditation

"tranquility," Buddhist technique for mindfulness (satipatthana) that uses eight jhanas or meditations

one of the Pandava brothers (heroes of the Mahabharata) and a chariot-rider instructed by Krishna on the eve of battle

a serpentine energy in Haṭha Yoga and Tantric texts, usually located in root-support chakra

"Path of the Elders": one of the earliest and more conservative schools of Buddhism

 "principle" or "faculty," "world-reality," in Samkhya there are 25 and some Shaiva traditions 36

 "dissolution," "annihilation," a mystical experience in Sufism

vital breath / life energy in Sanskrit

"intellect" in Sanskrit

release or liberation from saṃsāra

knowledge or gnosis in Sanskrit

"tool" or "instrument" used in meditation or ritual as a symbol of a deity or cosmic idea

 a South Asian religion associated with the Vedas, Upaniṣads, legends of gods and goddesses, and the Bhagavad Gita

"eight auxiliaries" or "limbs" of the yoga of Patañjali

"power" in Sanskrit, also a name for the Goddess who makes manifest the world

original language of the Vedas and Upanishads, Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras

"posture" in Sanskrit, often seated but can be non-seated as well

Pali spelling of Sanskrit word dhyāna, "meditation"

the tendency to view the world in terms of hidden powers or energies, including through practicing yoga

a worshipper of the Goddess (Śakti / Shakti)

The Vedic god of fire, also fire element

Sanskrit word meaning yoking or union 

"not-self," a Buddhist doctrine of no self or soul behind the skandhas

a Tamil yogin who helped change Hinduism after its encounter with Theosophy

god of wind, also the element air

"path" or "way" in Sanskrit, often implying a spiritual path

semi-legendary founder of the Nath order, cited in numerous Hatha Yoga texts

"body" in Sanskrit, synonymous with deha

sadhus and yogis who sing esoteric and mystical songs and celebrate a common humanity beyond religious differences

"thus-gone ones," special Buddhas for meditation in Tantric Buddhism, often five in number

mainstream schools in the centuries after Buddha that preserved techniques of yoga and meditation

a ca. seventeenth-century text of Sufi yoga from the Bengal region

Sanskrit word for “body,” synonymous with kaya/kāya

meditative "concentration," often on a single object or scene

originally referred to a poor renunciate, often Sufi, but acquired new meanings in the Baul tradition

duty, religion, law, also a god who is the embodiment of the same

"practice" or goal-oriented "effort" in yoga and tantric contexts

"self" or "soul" in Sanskrit

a Hindu god who is the preserver of the universe, part of the trimūrti

sacred four scriptures in early South Asia, of which Rig Veda is the earliest

a Russian medium and occult author who took an interest in Indian spirituality and helped found the Theosophical Society

a worshipper of Śiva (Shiva)

a major epic in Sanskrit, that includes the Bhagavad Gita as a small part

the "Lord" or "Absolute" — can refer to any number of gods, or the "Lord of Yoga" (Yogeśvara)

 "quality," often in a set of three: purity (sattva), activity (rajas), and darkness (tamas)

cycle of birth and rebirth, also worldly existence and domestic life, family

"Song of the Blessed One," a part of the Mahabharata in which Krishna gives instruction on the battlefield

a renunciate, often Hindu but also Baul, who practices an in depth form of sādhanā or spiritual practice

British occultist who integrated yoga into his teachings on Thelemic "Magick"

“heaps” or “aggregates” around the body, of which there are five in most Buddhist schools

meditative "cultivation" that often includes visualization or reflection on something

"action" in Sanskrit, also a kind of yoga

ca. 6th-century CE systematizer of yoga, the Yoga Sūtra is attributed to him

“disk” or “wheel,” a site of subtle life or gnosis in the body, sometimes also lotuses

a mystical dimension of Islam that often stresses internal self-reflection and teachings on fana (dissolution)