Raja yoga is considered the royal path to enlightenment through meditation. It emphasizes self-mastery of the mind and is one of the branches, or paths, of yoga. Other major branches include karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga and hatha yoga. Depending on your approach to life, you may identify with one branch more than another. Karma yoga is the path of service or action. Bhakti yoga emphasizes devotion and love. Jnana yoga is the path of intellect or knowledge. Hatha yoga, the most well-known branch in the United States, focuses the mind through the physical practice of postures.
Who Is Attracted to Raja Yoga?
According to yoga and meditation teacher Michele Hébert, raja yoga incorporates all paths and styles of yoga to help control the mind and find inner harmony. "It is inclusive of all the yogas including hatha yoga. There is no one type of person or personality that is attracted to raja yoga. It is a soul calling," says Hebert. "There is a season and cycle for every soul to seek spiritual unfoldment regardless of age, personality or outer circumstance."
Meditative Approach to Yoga
Others believe that the internal, meditative qualities of raja yoga appeal to certain groups of people more than others. According to the "Yoga Journal" website, raja yoga attracts people who are "introspective and drawn to meditation." While you don't need to join a monastery or ashram to be a raja yogi, members of religious and spiritual communities often devote themselves to this royal path of yoga.
Eight Limbs of Yoga
The foundation of raja yoga is the eight-limbed philosophy found in the Yoga Sutras. The Sutras were compiled by an Indian sage named Patanjali around 500 B.C. and they have become the most revered philosophy of yoga. The Sutras include eight steps to help you reach self-realization or union with the divine: 1) Yamas: ethical standards; 2) Niyamas: self-discipline; 3) Asana: the physical practice or postures; 4) Pranayama: breathing techniques; 5) Pratyhara: withdrawal of the five senses; 6) Dharana: concentration; 7) Dyana: meditation; and 8) Samadhi: complete liberation and peace. Raja yoga integrates the eight-limbed system of yoga with other branches of yoga, including hatha yoga, to calm the mind and find spiritual fulfillment.
Dropping the Stereotypes
People from all walks of life choose the path of raja yoga. Although stereotypes of yogis abound, ultimately anyone who harnesses the power of the mind to seek his true nature is practicing raja yoga. World-renowned yoga teacher B.K.S. Iyengar says, "He who has conquered his mind is a raja yogi."
References
- Michele Hébert ERYT; Yoga and Meditation Instructor and Author; La Jolla, California
- "Yoga Journal"; The Branches of Yoga; Mara Carrico
- Inner Vision Yoga; Yoga's History; Jeff Martens; Sept. 16, 2009
- "Light on Yoga"; B.K.S. Iyengar; 1979
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