Yoga, Buddhism and Lao Tzu - Essay Example

Nov 13th Yoga The book of Bhagavad Gita talks of different types of yoga that the faithful can use in their meditation at different times and their uses. The book contains the teachings of the raja, jinana, karma, and bhakti forms of yoga, and as a result, the book is viewed as the earliest or rather first yogic scripture among the Hindus. In this case, yoga is used to refer to the meditative practice of attaining a high level of enlightenment in one’s spiritual journey on this earth. There are four different forms of yoga according to the Bhagavad Gita, which serve different functions despite their close-knit relationship in being forms of yoga. The raja yoga concerns itself mainly with the wellbeing of one’s mind, known as rsih through cultivation of the same mind whose wellbeing is the main concern. It uses a number of successive steps that include meditation and contemplation to deal with the fluctuations of the mind and how to master the fluctuations. For this reason, the relationship between the body and the mind must be put at ease in order to gain acceptance between the two. As a result, due to the required balance between the body and the mind, one must be in overall god health and psychological condition in prior to pursuance of inward yoga aspects for the mind to be at ease with the body. Therefore, raja yoga serves to control all ways of thought and mental modification in order to further one’s acceptance of reality and achieve liberation. The second form of yoga is the karma yoga, which is taken to mean the yoga of doing owing to its origins in Sanskrit. Karma refers to action while yoga is taken to mean union thus literally meaning the path of union through action and is, therefore, the process of achieving perfection through action. With this in mind, karma yoga is a form of yoga in which one is expected to align his or her actions, thoughts and will towards perfection (Wathen). This is done through action according to one’s sense of duty and without bias towards selfish desires or inclinations towards like and dislike. The third form of yoga according to Bhagavad Gita is the jinana yoga or the path of knowledge, where one is required to achieve knowledge of the absolute (Wathen). It also views the above named knowledge as a condition of devotion. The jinana yoga is aimed at attaining high levels of enlightenment in knowledge, in relation to reality, which is similar to the Karma and raja yoga. The fourth form of yoga is the bhakti yoga or the path of devotion that signifies active involvement by the devotee in divine worship, which relates to the jinana yoga of knowledge in that it calls for attainment of a union with the absolute, which is also characteristic of the karma yoga. The final is the hatha yoga, which is the preparatory stage of physical purification that the body practices for higher meditation; and is related to the other four yoga forms following the higher meditation and attainment of higher enlightenment achieved altogether after their practice. Of all the forms, none can be considered the best as they all work to the wellbeing of the individual in question. However, the karma yoga may have an upper hand over the rest following the relationship that it has with one’s way of thought and actions. This is because; it guides one’s actions through peace of mind and creation of harmony between the body and mind. The Noble Truths Buddhism has five aggregates, form, sensation, perception, mental formation and consciousness, which work together to come up with a mental being. Form refers to the physical factors of a being such as the body and all material objects while sensation refers to feelings in three kinds-unpleasant, pleasant and indifferent. The other three forms are perception, which is the formulation of a concept or idea on an object by an individual; while mental formation defines conditional responses to objects with which an individual has experiences. On the other hand, consciousness describes the awareness or sensitivity that an individual has towards an object. Buddhism speaks of the four noble truths that make up the foundation of Buddhism and include dukkha, samudaya, nirhodha and magga, of which each is an independent entity, despite being intertwined together to create the basis of Buddhism. Dukkha stands for the truth of anguish of which dukkha translates to life is anguish and is the truth of suffering (Walpola 12). Therefore, with the truth of suffering, it means that Buddhism is neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but only realistic. In this light, the outlook on life is conducted on an objective perspective. This is concerning accepting the presence of suffering, as well as that of happiness. The noble truth of dukkha is also taken to mean that everything in life is temporary and that it will at one time or the other end. The second truth is that of samudaya meaning the cause of suffering, where it states that the cause of suffering is craving (Walpola 21). This happens as man progressively searches for something outside himself to make him happy. In the end of success at finding that which makes one happy, satisfaction remains elusive. The thirst is said to stem from ignorance of one’s self, where one goes through life taking hold of all that he or she can in order to gain security. With this tendency, Buddha says that man becomes frustrated at his attempts to find security as none of the things sought to satisfy one, never conform to expectations. Samudaya is thus known as the point of inception of dukkha due to the things affiliated with it. The third truth is the end of suffering, also known as nirhodha, where one is liberated from the continuity of dukkha. It indicates the end to all forms of lack of satisfaction, in which case on e relinquishes or abandons the craving. In this case, nirvana comes up where it is to be realized only by the wise by following their path diligently and with patience. The final noble truth is the magga, the path that leads to the cessation of dukkha, and avoids two extremes, the first being the search for happiness through pleasures of the senses and the second through self-mortification, which is painful and unworthy (Walpola 32). The path to ending dukkha is through working in all aspects of a positive life, which range from having the right thoughts to the right mindfulness, and concentration. In the case of right livelihood, one is expected to making a living through a profession that does not bring harm to others; while actions refers to promoting moral, honorable and peaceful conduct. Lao Tzu In governing the state, Lao Tzu calls for the application of the non-doing doctrine, which is applied by the use of the non-being. The two doctrines express the attitude that humans are not adversaries in the world, but rather belong to different cadres in the world; thus the reason to cooperate. Lao Tzu’s ideology on governance was more on lessening the desire of people and it enables them to develop with equilibrium in a reasonable manner. This works with the application of the non-being doctrine, which grasps the essence of the world radically (Enming). In addition, Lao refers to the world as a dependent entity on the state of being, which depends on the state of non-being creating a state of interdependence. When this is related to the real world, Lao refers to the subjects being governed as people dependent on the leader and the leader being dependent on the subjects. As a result, the non-being doctrine calls for the discarding of prejudice that exists in a subject in a state of “being” (where being is dependent on the state of non-being). In the world, the leader is viewed as the controller of objects, who in this case refer to his or her subjects and the subjects’ posses’ consciousness (Enming). As a result, of all the states of being and non-being, Lao states that managing or governing people by strongly meddling and controlling leads to resistance, even in the face of danger. This makes the principle of non-being a guide, in that leaders should not apply governance methods that lead to resistance, as the state of being should be abandoned due to its prejudice. The same applies to the relationships between nations, where he calls for world peace, which is supposed to begin from the lowest levels before spreading to the rest of the world. With this in mind, the smallest unit that should have peace is the heart followed by the home that is then supposed to pour out to the rest of the world. In relation to war, Lao Tzu views light engagement in war as a large calamity that should be avoided at all costs, as it leads to the loss of one’s treasure (Turkovich). As a result, rulers should be at ease with each other in relation to relationships between nations, as the doctrine of non-being calls for discarding of earlier mentioned prejudice; thus, no one should subdue the world with arms. This translates to that there is no best way to engage in war, but it is wiser to retreat as the man with mercy, according to Lao is the winner in the war. Retreats and peace should be the best to engage war, where none loses and none wins, but instead, peace prevails. Works Cited Turkovich, Marilyn. Lao Tzu: On War and Weapons. Voices. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. Enming, Shen. Lao Tzu’s Idea of “Governing with Non-doing” and Modern Management. n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. < http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-12/chapter_vii.htm> Wathen, Grace. Bhagavad Gita & Yoga. LIVESTRONG.COM. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. < http://www.livestrong.com/article/480353-bhagavad-gita-yoga/> Walpola, Rahula. What the Buddha Taught, New York, USA: Grove Press, 1974. Print. Read More