The Importance of Raja Yoga

The Raja Yoga, also called the royal path of yoga, is one of the four classical yoga paths (the other paths are karma, jnana and bhakti yoga). Compared to Hatha Yoga, the more physically oriented variant, Raja Yoga is more intellectually oriented: over eight levels, Raja-Yoga is supposed to give people a higher level of perception of inner (mental-spiritual) processes in higher spiritual and spiritual dimensions to lead.

The term 'Raja-Yoga' is first documented in a 15th century source, in the 'Hatha Yoga Pradipika'. Swami Vivekananda (1863 - 1902), disciple of the Hindu mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836 - 1886), made Raja yoga known in the West. His lecture as a representative of Hinduism at the World Congress of Religions in Chicago from 11 to 27 September 1893 attracted great attention.

In the Kurma-Purana, one of the 18 most important Vedic scriptures, Raja yoga is described. Swami Vivekananda translated the eight developmental stages of Raja Yoga contained in Kurma Purana and summarized them:

The eight stages of Raja Yoga

1) Yama - five things to be contained: do not kill, do not lie, do not steal, do not accept gifts, do not aspire to loss of meaning.

2) Niyama - five habits to be assumed: purity, contentment, discipline, study of the Vedas and Mantras, devotion to the Divine.

3) Asana - the right body for meditation, an upright posture where you can sit comfortably for a long time.

4) Pranayama - Yoga exercises, with which one can control and control the life energy in the body through various breathing techniques.

5) Pratyahara - internalization or withdrawal of sensory perception.

6) Chakra - continuous concentration on the heart or on the crown chakra.

7) Dhyana - meditation, which here means concentration in itself, without an object to which concentration concentrates.

8) Samadhi - the highest level of Raja yoga, the complete knowledge of one's own self, of unity (Advaita), with all that is. This stage, often called 'enlightenment' in the West, entails freedom from fear and unspeakable bliss and inner peace.