The Paths of Yoga
There are four different approaches to yoga, known as “marga” in Sanskrit which translates as ‘ways’ or ‘paths’.
In the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Hindu text on yoga, three paths are presented: Karma Yoga (the yoga of action), Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion) and Jnana Yoga (the yoga of knowledge).
Later, the eight-limbed system of yoga presented by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra came to be known as Raja Yoga (‘royal’ yoga). Its main focus is meditation, but it also includes asana (physical postures), pranayama (breathing techniques) and ethical guidelines for life. Raja Yoga was added to the traditional three paths of yoga to form a four-path system by Swami Vivekananda at the end of the 19th century. He suggested that each path is suited to a different type of personality. |
Sometimes Hatha Yoga is also counted as a path, to make a five-path division of yoga. Hatha Yoga includes asana, pranayama, mudra (hand or whole body positions used to affect energy), bandhas (holding energetic seals in the body) and kriyas (cleansing practices).
Most modern yoga asana classes and styles belong to either the Raja Yoga or Hatha Yoga paths. |
Karma Yoga
Karma means ‘action’ and the path of Karma Yoga is about achieving enlightenment (or union with the Divine, or spiritual growth) through action and service. The key point is that we should not be attached to the fruits of our actions.
However, in our average daily lives we can all too easily become attached to the results that we hope for from our work and actions – we work extra hours hoping for a promotion or pay rise, or we give people gifts hoping to get even better ones back, and hoping that everyone will praise us for being generous. A lot of the modern mental illness of stress spring from our expectations of results from our actions – if I do this work, I’ll get more money and I’ll be able to pay for my kids’ college tuition – if I don’t do this work, I’ll get sacked and then I may not get another job and I won’t be able to pay the mortgage and I might lose the car too….and so on. The path of Karma Yoga is a difficult one, as these are very real fears for people in modern society. This path teaches us to go about life with dispassion and detachment, and doing so we unexpectedly find ourselves experiencing great joy and contentment. |
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti means ‘devotion’. The path of Bhakti Yoga is that of the mystic – whether Sufi, Christian, Hindu or any other kind, mysticism is by its very nature the same. The practitioner searches for union with God and is filled with the love of God. This devotion is not about the outer forms of worship and ritual, but an inner union with the God in our hearts. Chanting of mantras or prayers may form part of the practice in this path of yoga. The outer life of a Bhakti Yogi is also filled with love for others, as he or she sees God in each and every person and creature of the world.
Jnana Yoga
Jnana means knowledge, but the path of Jnana Yoga is not about acquiring more and more knowledge and information, nor even particularly about studying and learning. Rather, it involves the knowledge that comes from intuition. Although study of yoga texts and other spiritual or philosophical texts may form part of the practice in Jnana Yoga, it is the knowledge of the self that comes from self-enquiry and self-reflection that forms the real basis of understanding and wisdom.
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Raja Yoga
Raja Yoga (‘royal’ yoga) is perhaps the most inclusive of the paths. Due to the wide-ranging nature of the 8 limbs, which encompass all areas of life, many forms of yoga practised today (e.g. Iyengar Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga) fall into this path.
However, the emphasis of Raja Yoga and of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is meditation as the main yogic practice. The other limbs support the meditation practice – asana prepares the body to sit comfortably for long periods of time and keeps the body free of illness and pain so that the mind can focus, pranayama calms, stills and purifies the mind and energy, while the ethical guidelines free a person from becoming consumed in worldly matters. |
Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga is the other main path of yoga practised today. It is also the most traditionally ‘Indian’ of the yoga styles. Most Indian gurus teach a yoga belonging to this path – for example Sivananda Yoga. Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan can also be said to fall in this category.
It is different from Raja Yoga in its focus on balancing the body’s energy (prana) and the use of specific cleansing kriyas (or shatkarmas - see my blog post, Cleansing and the Shatkarmas). By purifying the body using kriyas and working directly with its energy through pranayama, asana, mudra and bandha, a balance of the solar and lunar energies (‘ha’ and ‘tha’, otherwise known as ‘yang’ and ‘yin’) is gradually achieved. Meditation also forms a part of Hatha yoga, but the focus of the practices is different from Raja Yoga, and Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga are not given so much weight. |
What about other styles?
As yoga is a very old tradition and there are very many different schools and styles, each of which seems to have its own name, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the ‘paths’ of yoga and ‘styles’ or ‘types’.
Some styles of yoga obviously fit into one or other of the paths, but others seem to be different. The dividing line between styles and paths is blurry – for example, modern Ashtanga yoga uses bandhas throughout the practice as a key feature, but it is part of the Raja Yoga path rather than the Hatha Yoga path which specifically includes the use of bandhas. There is a lot of overlap between the categories and no hard and fast rules. All of these paths and styles are called ‘yoga’ because they all aim at ‘union’ of one kind or another – see my webpage on “What is yoga?” for many definitions of yoga which explain 'union' in more detail. |
Which is my path?
At the end of the day, it is really only important to know about the style of yoga that you practise (or would like to practise, if you are still looking around!).
Just ask your teacher which path your yoga style belongs to. Or read Georg Feuerstein’s excellent book, The Yoga Tradition, for a detailed and complete discussion of all names of yoga styles you can think of. |
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