Spiritual Sciences of Buddhism and Yoga: Where the Paths Converge I. Buddhism II. Yoga III. Overlap History: In a Nutshell Philosophy: Buddhism and Patanjali’s Classical Yoga A Few Techniques: Buddhism and Yoga (Pyschology of) (In Western Psychology)

Buddhism 4 Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path The Four Immeasurables (Minds, Limitless Ones): Love, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity.

Buddhism Review! The Fourth Noble TruthsThe Eightfold Path The truth of suffering (Dukkha) The truth of the origin of suffering (Samud ā ya) The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha) The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)

Siddhartha Gautama An aristocrat born during the Upanishadic era, into the Shakya clan of Koshala, a country situated at the southern border of Nepal “I had been wounded by the enjoyment of the world, and I had come out longing to obtain peace.” He joins thousands of renunciates at 29 years old, in search of wisdom Arada Kalapa of Magadha, taught a form of Upanishadic Yoga (“the sphere of no-thing-ness, “akimcanya-ayatana) Rudraka Ramaputra of Vaishali, “the sphere of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness,” naiva-amjna- asamjna-ayatana 6 years of intense meditation with five other yoga adepts, near death, travel, bodhi tree in May, Bodhgaya

13-16 th centuries: Muslim Invasions in India

Some of Buddha’s Relics at Sarnarth Our enthusiastic tour guide!

The Indian Subcontinent Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnarth, Nalanda, Mohenjodaro, Indus Valley

What is yoga?

YOGA = ???

YOGA... Sanskrit for “yoke,” to join, to connect Has had different meanings in various eras The psychospiritual technology of India, aspects of which are found in Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism All branches and schools of yoga have one thing in common: “samadhi”

What are some schools of yoga?

Oldest known forms of documented yoga Also: Japa, Laya, Kundalini, Mantra, Kriya. Some overlap in concepts due to geography/time

Hatha Yoga Perfection of the body through transmutation Preparation for Raja Yoga (the yoga of meditation) First emerged around1100 AD Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15 th c CE): 15 postures, mostly seated Gheranda Samhita (17 th c CE): Shat Karmas Siva Samhita (18 th c CE): 84 Asanas Basis for most of what is practiced in popularized American yoga

How old is yoga? First possible archaeological evidence of yoga/meditation found in the Indus Valley ( BCE)

Seal from the Indus Valley

How old is yoga? First possible archaeological evidence of yoga/meditation found in the Indus Valley ( BCE) Philosophical foundations rooted in the Vedas (“the end of knowledge,” connoting the dawn of wisdom, pre-1900 BCE)

Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century. Originally on birch bark or palm leaves. Largely oral until the rise of Buddhism. “Everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganges.“ ~ Francois Voltaire

How old is yoga? First possible archaeological evidence of yoga/meditation found in the Indus Valley ( BCE) Philosophical foundations rooted in the Vedas (“the end of knowledge,” the dawn of wisdom, pre-1900 BCE) First mention of the word “yoga” in the Taittiriya-Upanishad (2.4.1) as a controlling of the senses ( BCE)

A page from the Upanishads

How old is yoga? First possible archaeological evidence of yoga found in the Indus Valley ( BCE) Philosophical foundations rooted in the Vedas (“the end of knowledge,” connoting the dawn of wisdom, BCE) First mention of the word “yoga” in the Taittiriya-Upanishad (2.4.1) as a controlling of the senses ( BCE) Baghavad Gita defines three primary paths of yoga: Jnana, Karma, Bhakti, Raja ( BCE)

Arjuna and Krishna In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial. Henry David Thoreau

Raja Yoga Also known as Patanjali, Ashtanga, or Classical Yoga 100 – 500 CE Heavily influenced by Buddhist teachings (Nalanda University) Dualist, as opposed to the non-dualist views of Vedanta ( BCE), the Upanishads BCE), and Tantra ( CE), etc.

Common Techniques: Mudras Hasta Mudras, nadi/sen/meridian lines, rituals, dance, healing

Common Techniques: Mandalas & Yantras Focusing device for the meditator A map of the cosmos and the psyche The construction of the mandala is a meditative act in which the initiate identifies with the specific deity or deities of the mandala and gradually passes through the various psychic experiences and states corresponding to the different aspects of the psychocosmogram.

Tibetan Mandala Amitayus Mandala

Yogic Yantra Anahata Yantra

Common Techniques: Mantras Man – mind Tra – instrument

Common Techniques: Meditation

References Cope, Stephen: The Wisdom of Yoga Feuerstein, Georg: The Yoga Tradition (Chpt. 7: Yoga In Buddhism) Joshi, Lal Mani: Discerning the Buddha: A Study of Buddhism and of the Brahmanical Hindu Attitude to It Stone, Michael: Writing on the Connections Between Yoga and Buddhism Tandon, SN: A Reappraisal of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras in the Light of Buddha’s Teaching Archaeology Online The Story of India, a BBC and PBS 6-part series The Teaching Company: Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed