The Advaitist

What is Yoga? Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations (vRRitti) of the mental plane (chitta). Once that is achieved, the seer resides in its own true nature, otherwise the seer is absorbed in the fluctuations of the mental plane. What are vRRitis? There are five kinds of mental fluctuations - right knowledge, error, imagination, sleep and memory and these may be either detrimental or non-detrimental to the practice of yoga. Right knowledge consists of sense perception, logic and verbal testimony. Error is false knowledge stemming from incorrect notion of something. Imagination is the usage of words that are devoid of an actual object. Deep sleep is the mental state based on absence of any content. Memory is the retention of images of sense objects that have been experienced. What is chitta? In Yoga, human body consists of three layers: a. Gross Physical body b. Subtle Internal body c. Soul or puruSha The Internal body is know as chitta and consists of three layers: a. manas or mind,...

1. Yogasutra by Patanjali 2. Bhashya by Vyasa - commentary on Yogasutra 3. Tattvavaisharadi by Vachaspati Mishra (glossary on Vyasa's Bhashya) 4. Rajamartanda by Bhoja 5. Yogavarttika by Vigyanabhikshu 6. Yogasarasamaghaha by Vigyanabhikshu

Chitta or Mind is the first birth of consciousness and is associated with awareness. Chitta is divided into three categories in accordance with their functions - they are intelligence (buddhi), ego (ahamkara) and mind (manas). Buddhi is the seat of intelligence, the intuitive capacity of the individual, his means of direct perception. When manas registers objects, buddhi discriminates, determines and recognizes. Ahamkara is the first manifestation of individual consciousness, personal position, individual identity. It is the Individualized Self that arrogates to itself the experience had by manas and passes it on to buddhi to be determined. Manas is the seat of responsible conscious activity and accounts for the process of rationalization. It works in association with the knowing senses (gYAnendriya-s) and working sense (karmendriya-s), and can perceive but cannot conceive like buddhi. The principle of the indriya-s, tanmAtra-s and bhUta-s are the same as Samkhya and have been discus...

In the universal condition of nature Gunas are the substance of all things, in the individual manifestation they are the psychological basis of all things. Sattva Guna is the abstract principle of illumination. In the mental world it accounts for joy, pleasure, enlightenment, detachment, compassion and pure action. Rajas Guna is the abstract principle of activity which moves either of the other gunas to suppress each other. In the mental world it accounts for attachment, heedlessness, falsehood and all craving of senses. Tamas Guna is the abstract principle of restraint. In the mental world it accounts for indolence, delusion, ignorance etc. The individual proceeds from the universal condition of Purusha/ Prakriti to manifesting as Jiva. Man therefore has two aspects, subtle and gross. The subtle body known as the Linga Sharira is the vehicle of the Jiva and survives the destruction of the physical body. It is constant and does not change throughout the cycles of life and death. Howe...

Yoga assumes the same cosmological doctrine as the Samkhya, but while Samkhya pertains to the Universal condition of Nature, Yoga deals with Individual condition of Nature. It believes that the gross individual must have a subtle aspect from which it is manifested and to which it will return. This manifestation of an individual is as a result of the dynamic energy of the individual's past action (karma). "Yoga is the restraint of mental modifications" - Patanjali. jIva is the Individual Soul and is the subjective aspect of the individual in the phenomenal world. It is that which produces the feeling of Being.

Astika (आस्तिक) and nAstika (नास्तिक) are technical terms in relation to Hindu philosophy indicating whether the philosophical schools accept the Vedas as the supreme authority or not, respectively. The six Astika schools (also known as sad darshana) are: nyAya Vaisheshika Samkhya Yoga Mimamsa Vedanta The common theme of all the schools of Hindu Philosophy is the same - to understand the Ultimate Reality - the difference lies in the depth and level of interpretation of the Ultimate Reality. Each of these schools focus on a particular aspect of the whole and answers specific questions. nyAya answers the question "What are the means by which I may gain knowledge about the Ultimate Reality?" vaisheShika (वैशॆषिक) answers the question "What are the various things to be known about the Ultimate Reality?" sAMkhya (सांख्य) is a metaphysical doctrine and tries to answer about the fundamental nature of Existence yoga (योग) links this metaphysical doctrine to t...

Introduction Hindu Philosophical thoughts have their origin in antiquity - for example, as early as the 10th book of Rk Veda,  in the Nasadiya Sukta (RV 10.129), we find the Seer contemplating on the Origin of Universe. However, by the Upanishadic age, dvelopment of various philosophical schools were in full swing. Differences in Philosophy Development Style in East and West Development of philosophical ideas in India, were quite distinct from the way it happened in the Western World. In Greece for example, a philosopher propounded his views. He himself or someone else, documented the ideas and others debated on it. The next philosopher entered the scene and did the same thing and so on. Thus a clear chronology of philosophical ideas is available to the student of history and philosophy. In India, things were different. First of all, there were different schools of philosophy as opposed to a single person, and the inter-school rivalry was intense. Secondly, the entire phil...