Yoga and Buddhism

[daniel p]

With regards to Tai chi, I practice every morning and evening for a short time and have found it an excellent opportunity to practice mindfulness in a more dynamic situation to just plain sitting. Sitting is still the cornerstone of my practice but Tai chi (and Hatha Yoga) can be quite complementary. One can bring qualities of one practice to the other.

However, someone did once give me some advice once. They said "don't try to achieve the aims and goals of one while practicing the other." I think this is good advice. you can't ride two bicycles at once. Sit when you sit. Exercise when you exercise. -Was the point they were making. Also more broadly speaking, Buddhism, Daoism and Hinduism(?) may share many common ideas and truths but it could be hazardous to start mixing and matching. So proceed with your good sense.

[John C. Kimbrough]

I have been practicing them both for well over ten years (Yoga 20 years, Buddhism 12 years). I think they compliment each other very well...............It is really easy to make the practice of both of them part of our life and how we are. I started with Yoga and through Yoga came to Buddhism. My practice consists of meditation for 30 minutes each day, at least 30 minutes of Hatha Yoga and then race walking for at least one hour a day. For each one hour of racewalking I do, I try to do 20 to 30 minutes of Hatha Yoga. I also do a lot of Bible study and am fascinated by how the concepts and vocabulary of Buddhism comes up again and again in the teachings that are put forth in the Bible. With that in mind, May The Buddha, God and Patanjali bless you and us all........

[John C. Kimbrough]

How Do Yoga and Buddhism Help Us Make A Stronger Connection with Others

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York was not a bad environment to grow up in at all.

But what made it difficult was the feeling of being mentally and physically isolated from others. Apparently this was a feeling that many inhabitants of
this great city had.

It is also a feeling that people in cities all over the world seem to have. I have sensed it among the inhabitants of Bangkok where I have lived for the last
17 years as I have in other cities that I have visited such as Seoul, Tokyo, Istanbul, London, Brisbane, Sydney, Phnom Phen, Singapore, Jakarta and Lahore,
among others.

Perhaps feelings of loneliness are common to all big cities and anywhere in the world, but to feel that one is mentally and physically isolated from others is
dangerous as such a feeling can lead to alienation, anxiety and depression.

If we are at a state of ease in how we relate to others in any environment be it a small village or big city, we will be healthier and happier people and
better able, open and willing to make meaningful connections with others.

So how can the teachings and disciplines of Yoga assist us in making a stronger connection with others?

Having practiced and taught these disciplines for a number of years and in a number of different environments, this writer has found two specific
practices to be most helpful.

In Yoga it has been the practice of Yoga postures. The practice of postures brings about a release of tension in the body. When we release this tension, we make our
physical and mental energy purer and more relaxed. We start to see, perceive and experience things with greater energy and clarity. In feeling our own energy
better we naturally see, feel and respect and love the energy of others better.

In Buddhism it has been the teaching known as right understanding. Right understanding teaches us that there is suffering in life. It is something that we
all experience and how we experience is remarkably similar among human beings. In being exposed to this understanding and strengthening this understanding
through our practice and reflection on it, we are making a stronger connection with others based on compassion and clearer comprehension of the ways
things are in life.

If we understand others, how can we feel isolated from them or anxious to them?

Of course there is a degree of shyness whenever we are around new people or people that we have not met before, but we are not talking about shyness here, we
are talking about making a stronger connection with others.

This is a connection based on seeing and experiencing things clearly.

It is also a connection that we can all work to and one that is both important and worthwhile to work to.

It makes us compassionate instead of anxious.

It makes us practice loving kindness instead of being selfish.

It makes us think, speak and act with wisdom instead of being ignorant and having a desire or obsession that needs to be filled by any means possible.

2007 John C. Kimbrough

[John C. Kimbrough]

Both Yoga and Buddhism have the capacity, if we understand and practice them alone or in conjunction correctly and diligently, to make those of us who are or have been spritually confused or dead very much alive.....

[polarbuddha101]

Didn't the Buddha learn yoga and forms of meditation from 2 Yogis. I mean, his teachers didn't take him to enlightenment but I'm sure they helped him a little bit.

[Ben]

Didn't the Buddha learn yoga and forms of meditation from 2 Yogis. I mean, his teachers didn't take him to enlightenment but I'm sure they helped him a little bit.

Not quite.
Yoga as we understand it today is a modern phenomenon.
Details of the Bodhisatta's Noble Search are disclosed in the following sutta
Ariyapariyesana Sutta MN 26
kind regards,

Ben

[polarbuddha101]

Yeah, I just kind of assumed they were yogis I guess. I always thought yoga was around 3000 years old or something, the kind where you stretch alot amongst other mystical stuff like chakras. I need to read a book on ancient Indian history or something.

Anyway, I'm about to start taking up some hatha yoga cause I am way inflexible and I don't want my body to deteriorate too quickly as I age and become more stiff. Plus I think yoga will give me more awareness or mindfulness of my body and improve my circulation and athletic ability and in turn make meditation easier and more fruitful. Full range of motion sounds nice. Plus, I'd be down to be able to bust a full lotus someday

[Kim O'Hara]

Yeah, I just kind of assumed they were yogis I guess. I always thought yoga was around 3000 years old or something...

Tilt is right but so are you ... mostly, anyway. Their practice is what developed into yoga as we know it, but the differences are quite significant - as you would expect when you look at the time-span. You wouldn't expect a farmer or builder now to work the same way a farmer or builder in ancient India did, and the same applies to yoga.


Kim

[cooran]

Hello all,

I'm just going off to a beginners' class in Yoga. Not sure what to expect, or how long I'll last ....
http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/c ... vice/14349

with metta
Chris

[alan]

Good for you Chris!
To all:
I do Yoga every day and would not conceive of ever giving it up.
How does anyone live without Yoga?
Answer: they live bent, slouchy, and crooked. Awful!

A warped body will eventually produce warped health. Take control of your body--do Yoga. I promise you will feel better!