It is not easy for the western mind—accustomed to its Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Sartre, Hegel, Nietzsche, and so on— to determine whether yoga is, or is not a philosophy.

Yoga is philosophy, because there is no doubt that, with a deep love and great reverence for the Truth, the ancient seers developed one of the most extraordinary philosophies that mankind has ever known, But, at the same time, yoga is not a philosophy, in the sense that there are no topics for debate or discussion and no engagement in long intellectual speculations. Yoga is not a question of information but of transformation. It is not to be practiced, but to be lived.

As a consequence, the aim of yoga lies not in increasing the volume of our “much—informed ignorance”, but in changing our life. Yoga creates a space within us for Pure Consciousness to be able to flow through every expression, movement, glance, thought, emotion and word.

To inquire into the origins of yoga, it is indispensible to refer to the sacred scriptures of Hinduism.

Yoga is not an invention. It was not constructed by the limited and imperfect mind of a human being, but arose from revelation. Due to their purity, the sages of antiquity could easily access higher and subtler levels of consciousness, until they directly perceived that plane which is called veda or “wisdom”. The original Vedas are Shabda—brahman, that is, the Truth that exists eternally as a sound vibration at a certain dimension of consciousness. The enlightened sages, called Rishis or “seers”, knew how to channel this transcendental, eternal wisdom, and so they served as veritable bridges between humanity and the Divine, between the human being and the Transcendental, by orally transmitting the major portion of that wisdom.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Founder of the Vishwa Dharma Mandalam



Join us
Who do I know here?
Join us and be the first to know when new Meetups are scheduled
Log in with Facebook to find out
By creating a Meetup account, you agree to the Terms of Service

Yoga Philosophy

Join and suggest a new Meetup

Recent Meetups

See all past Meetups

What's new

More activity
 

Our Sponsors

Ramakrishnananda Hatha Yoga - NY

Ramakrishnananda Hatha yoga studio is offering you 2 free trial classes.

Ramakrishnananda's Gifts

Natural Incense Sticks, Smudge, Perfume Oils, Resin Incense, and more...

Yoga & Meditation Meetup - NYC

Membership perks

Offer a perk for our members and get exposure.

Offer a perk →
Other nearby
Meetups
Why these groups?
x

The Meetup Groups shown here are topically similar to Yoga Philosophy.

Groups are more likely to be displayed here if they:

  • have a Meetup scheduled
  • have a high rating
  • have a group photo
  • are "public" and not "private"
  • have shown they are likely to stick around (older than 30 days)
Find more Meetup Groups
near New York

Log in

  • Not registered with us yet?

Forgot your password?

or

Log in to Meetup with your Facebook account.

Log in using Facebook

Sign up

Use Facebook?
Sign up using Facebook
Otherwise, join Meetup here:

By creating a Meetup account, you agree to Meetup's Terms of Service