Saturday 27 October 2012

Understanding Sanatana Dharma Part 5

(18) Astanga Yoga of Patanjali

   Yoga is not merely a series of stretching exercises. It is a complete darsanam, or philosophy, born out of the mind of Patañjali. As such, it has its own specific ideas regarding the nature of jìva [the individual soul], jagat [the universe], ìsvara [God], samsara [bondage], moksha [liberation from bondage], and sàdhana [the means to attaining liberation from bondage].


    Today, as a complete philosophy, the Yoga Darsanam is not widely followed. However with millions of people throughout the world becoming more and more interested in hatha-yoga àsanas and meditation, Patañjali’s system for personality refinement outlined as part of the philosophy is thriving indeed. This system is known astanga yoga. Not only is the astanga-yoga system practiced to some degree or the other by millions of hatha-yoga practitioners and meditators worldwide, but it has also been accepted as a tried-and-true system for personality refinement by other Indian darsanams that are more widely followed today, such as Advaita Vedànta.


an article on astanga yoga is available here


Saturday 13 October 2012

Posters on Sanatana Dharma (Malayalam)

സനാതന ധര്‍മത്തിലെ ചില അടിസ്ഥാന തത്വങ്ങളെ വിഷയമാക്കി 'സത്യം സനാതനം' നിര്‍മിച്ച ചില പോസ്റ്ററുകള്‍ ഇവിടെ പങ്കുവയ്ക്കുന്നു.