Four Yogic Paths and Jainism Compared

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Yoga as a philosophy and path of life:
Yoga is a spiritual discipline, path and religious practice that informs the majority of Indian religions. The history behind this path began with Aryan shamans, who created a path of ecstasy known as Yoga which maybe discovered in the first Yoga posture artifact in Mohen-da-jaro. The research of Yoga history can be conducted with the movement towards internalizing ritual symbolism in the high point of Hindu culture during the 5th century B.C. There is mention of Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita where Arjuna is instructed in Bhakti Yoga, devotional Yoga, Kriya Yoga, discipline yoga, Raja Yoga, mental yoga, and Karma Yoga, Yoga of works. In the other Hindu works, Yoga is discovered in the Upanishads where contemplation, the symbolism of OM and the practice of meditation is outline. From these sources, the Yoga Sutras by Patajanli was created that outline the eight limbs of yoga, the meditative practices, the psychology of Yoga and the stages of enlightenment. Yoga was also involved in Tantrism movement from the Tamils where self-ecstasy technique known as Kundalini was developed to enhance enlightenment and spiritual enlightenment. In the late 5th century, two religious movements namely Buddhism and Jainism separated from Hinduism and took away some Yogic practices. Thervada Buddhism took the meditative practices of mantra yoga, visualization, and vipasana meditation. In addition, Jainism took away more contemplative practices of mantra meditation and ecstasy techniques. As time went on, Yoga has manifested itself in the West through the Mahrishi Mahesh movement known as TM, Ashtanga Yoga, Iyenagar Yoga and other movements.
Yoga as a discipline is divided into eight limbs of yoga and four paths of yoga. The eight limbs are contained in the four paths. The first limb is the ethical observances namely outward principles called Yamas and inward principles called Niyamas. The outward principles are contained in purification, religious observance and cleansing. The inward principles are non-violence, chastity, truthfulness and service. The next limb is called Hatha Yoga which is the yoga of postures. The fourth limb is called Bandhas or locks of energy like bending the head forward. The fifth limb is called pranayama or breathing exercises. The sixth limb is external meditation on objects, pictures or the candle. The seventh limb is called kundalini yoga or the yoga of chakra meditation (energy center meditation. The eighth limb is the yoga of internal meditation to reach satori or enlightenment. The path of Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion and absorption in Brahma or Krishna, an ...