Talk:Rāja yoga

message: *Structure and organization of the article is fixed by adding sections and by dividing the article based on those. 
*The tone of article is majorly instructional than informational. Need to be fixed
*Few typos still remain. 
*Heavily laden with Sanskrit words. Explanation should be given wherever necessary. Any feedback from Non-indian/Sanskrit/Hindu is appreciated in this regard
--Vyzasatya 15:00, 22 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks!! that helps --Vyzasatya 18:13, 22 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Cleanup

message: :The Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga article Talk page currently makes reference to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois referring to the style of yoga he has promulgated only being officially called Ashtanga Yoga. My suggestion would be to move the material from Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga to Ashtanga Yoga providing disambiguation info at the top. Paul foord 09:36, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga article claims, "Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga or short Ashtanga Yoga is a style of Hatha Yoga taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India."  This is not consistent with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.  I oppose the proposed move.  — RDF talk 13:46, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

text: Maybe a disambiguation page would work better.  My basic objection is that Ashtanga Yoga is not "a style of Hata Yoga."  There are at least four articles of the "eight limbs."  Some consolidation would be helpful.  — RDF talk 15:44, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Merging articles ([[Ashtanga Yoga]]-[[Raja Yoga]] reference to [[Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga]]

message: Why merge the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and not Bikram Yoga, etc.
Please explain how the articles referenced at the List of yoga schools will be dealt with - do we end up with a massive unwieldy article or will you have a summary with links to more specific articles.  Paul foord 12:27, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: re merge proposal of 6 October 2005

message: I have expanded the Ashtanga Yoga article with the material from here and left a summary here. If you still want to merge then this is not inconsistent. Saves on creating disambiguation page. But question remains how to reference of 8 limbs items elsewhere? Paul foord 13:50, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I think we can refer to that paticular section if we want to. The current setup looks lot more redundant. --Vyzasatya 16:07, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alternative to merge 

message: === Merge Ashtanga ===
I propose merging the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga page with this one since there really is no system called "Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga" and the distinction between the entities, while seperate, are quite related. Ashtanga Yoga as taught by  Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is a particular approach to teaching the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali. Again, the distinction should be clear, but they should be on the same page. Additionally, the first todo item on the Yoga discussion page is to merge the content that currently exists here over to the Yoga page, although it should also remain in some form here. Any thoughts? --Souljerky 21:15, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I am not sure if this mereger proposal is still relevant after the merger of Raja Yoga and Ashtanga yoga. --Vyzasatya 16:22, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The argument is circular the Jois system is known as Ashtanga Yoga generally (but now could be moved to the Ashtanga Yoga page), there are some websites calling it Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, most students would know it as Ashtanga Yoga. It is an entity in its own right. Either leave it alone with cross referencing and disambiguation or move it - information has been lost regarding the disambiguation of the two entities Ashtanga Yoga. Paul foord 23:01, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The entire point of this article is that Raja Yoga = Ashtanga Yoga. As Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga (is/is not) special case of it, I would would say It would be appropriate for it to be further discussed at talk:Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. For now I would prefer to leave it alone with cross referencing and disambiguation like you suggested until it is resolved in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga page --Vyzasatya 04:21, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: talk page of Ashtanga Yoga

message: I propose merging the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga page with this one since there really is no system called "Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga" and the distinction between the entities, while seperate, are quite related. Ashtanga Yoga as taught by  Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is a particular approach to teaching the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali. Again, the distinction should be clear, but they should be on the same page. Additionally, the first todo item on the Yoga discussion page is to merge the content that currently exists here over to the Yoga page, although it should also remain in some form here. Any thoughts? --Souljerky 21:15, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I am not sure if this mereger proposal is still relevant after the merger of Raja Yoga and Ashtanga yoga. --Vyzasatya 16:22, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The argument is circular the Jois system is known as Ashtanga Yoga generally (but now could be moved to the Ashtanga Yoga page), there are some websites calling it Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, most students would know it as Ashtanga Yoga. It is an entity in its own right. Either leave it alone with cross referencing and disambiguation or move it - information has been lost regarding the disambiguation of the two entities Ashtanga Yoga. Paul foord 23:01, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The entire point of this article is that Raja Yoga = Ashtanga Yoga. As Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga (is/is not) special case of it, I would would say It would be appropriate for it to be further discussed at talk:Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. For now I would prefer to leave it alone with cross referencing and disambiguation like you suggested until it is resolved in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga page --Vyzasatya 04:21, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge Ashtanga 

message: "Raja Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga is one of the four major Yogic paths of Hinduism."
How does this opening statement relate to :Template:Hinduism?  — RDF talk 16:58, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The hinduism template has links to Yoga, Yogasutra and Hatha yoga pradIpika. If we feel that it is taking too much of a page. we can do away with it. I am OK with it --Vyzasatya 17:11, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

text: I found this webpage citing four yogic paths. --Vyzasatya 04:25, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I made a new basic template for yoga related articles. give me your input for further improvements --Vyzasatya 04:54, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I like the idea of a :Template:Yoga! :-)  That certainly puts this article into a nice perspective.  In terms of the list headings, would the one for here more appropriately be called "Four yogic paths of Hinduism"?  How about for the next one, "Eight limbs of Raja Yoga"?  (Do the wiki section-style capitalization rules apply here?)  For the "Yogas" list, would that be expanded to include all the "This-and-That Yogas"?  This template also got me thinking.  Do you think there would be much interest in developing a Wikipedia:Wikiportal for "Yoga"?   — RDF talk 17:55, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

text: I think we can Include the rest of "This-and-that Yogas" too if we are thinkig in terms of a portal beacuse that will garner more support. Portal is a very nice idea depending on how number of people who are interested in Yoga. We need to gather support for the idea. Kudos RDF --Vyzasatya 19:24, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hinduism template 

message: The plot thickens...
"Brahman-Atman Yoga is also the same Kriya Yoga discussed by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Brahman-Atman Yoga is the proper name, Kriya Yoga is the common name, and Raja Yoga is the popular name."
Are there more "merge" and/or "cross-reference" issues here?  — RDF talk 19:34, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The above claim made in Brahman-Atman Yoga article need to be verified. As Kriya Yoga article does not mention anything of being same as Raja Yoga or Brahman-Atman Yoga. Raja Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga does not claim anything about Kriya Yoga or Brahman-Atman Yoga. --Vyzasatya 20:21, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: So maybe just "clarifying" that statement will take care of it. ;-)  — RDF talk 21:05, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Brahman-Atman Yoga (article deleted) & Kriya Yoga 

message: Hi.
I have a problem here delineating what is classically known as Raja Yoga, e.g. Patanjali, Vivekananda etc and the spiritist practises used by the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University which involves meditating on the channelled entity or spirit they call Shiva after the Hindu God, the channelling of so-called "Shiva" through BK adherents, and the use of channelled messages spoken through their founder and current medium as the new "Gita".
Now, it is perfectly clear that what the BKs are teaching is entirely novel and the use of identical terminology is entirely confusing. But how to qualify this on the wiki? Unfortunately the Western academics demanded by other editors - whether sociological or Christian theologists - are entirely unqualified to comment on the differences. 
*Does anyone know if any experienced Hindu academics or yoga specialists have analysed the BKs and their practise?
Thank you. 195.82.106.244 15:48, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  BKWSU Raja Yoga versus Classical/Patanjali Raja Yoga 

message: The section on dhyana is clearly taken directly from Swami Sivananda's works. It should be attributed to him with the proper reference. --Raga 07:55, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dhyana and Swami Sivananda 

message: Gīta-4.2  speaks of a very ancient "The Yoga of ", but it seems to be a secret discipline, not properly explained anywhere.  may mean a king who was like  a . The present article defines Rāja Yoga as the "king of yogas" , but Gīta seems to have a concept "Yoga of kings".--Vinay Jha 07:42, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Your contention is far from obvious and unworthy of inclusion. Maybe Chap 6 is the closest to Yoga Sutras, albeit with increased theocentricity.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Simon D M (talk • contribs) 14:58, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

text: Interesting. Would love to see this included so others can expand if they find something related to the keyword. We live interesting times. Wakari07 (talk) 02:48, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: First Reference of Rāja-Yoga

message: While I applaud the writers at their efforts to explain this immense subject, generally, I find the tone of this wiki to be too personal and "instructional" - in other words, just the facts, please. For example, the "definition" of Niyama is briefly stated, then includes the following instruction - 
"He who practises meditation without ethical perfection, without the practice of Yama-Niyama cannot obtain the fruits of meditation. Purify your mind first through the practice of Yama-Niyama. Then practice regular meditation. Then you will attain illumination."  
Are these intrepretations from Patanjalis sutras, and if so, which translation? Or, is the writer just giving us his/her own interpretation of the Niyamas, etc. and instructing us on practice? Does this even belong here? The source for this quote - and all similar quotes - would be helpful and would improve the quality of this wiki.
There are also inconsistencies in structure - why the briefest of statements for most of the eight limbs, followed by three paragraphs full of (somewhat) unneccesary details for the dhyana section? Omit needless words.Ekadesha (talk) 13:35, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Your first comment seems to refer to sloppily included translation. Your 2nd comment reflects Patanjali's own emphasis. --Simon D M (talk) 13:42, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sources 

message: I had a cursory curiosity about Yoga so I started reading Wikipedia. I found this article to be incredibly hard to follow, especially the latter part. It need to be reworked by someone who knows the topic to be more descriptive and to use a LOT more English words or translations. As it reads now, it's not very useful. Kevin Rector (talk) 06:05, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: In particular, the head of this article needs major help.  Looking at it, I have no idea what Raja Yoga is!!!!  It says a "succession of steps," which tells the reader absolutely nothing aside from the fact that there's more than one part to the practice. Flies 1 (talk) 18:43, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: I've changed the lead. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 07:09, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Great! Flies 1 (talk) 15:35, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

text: I agree. The whole article reads as nonsense. This is what they means when they say "a camel is a horse designed by a committee." I can't tell what much of it is attempting to communicate. Straight away it's confusing, Rāja yoga was both the goal of yoga and a method of attaining it (Which is what?). The term also became a modern name for the practice of yoga (the practice of which yoga!? There are dozens)." Imagine reading about oranges, "Raja orange also became the modern name for oranges." Mandarin orange? Sweet orange? Bitter orange? I don't even know how to edit the article because I can't understand the original intent of the authors.--173.18.253.215 (talk) 17:28, 15 May 2020 (UTC)
replies: text:  Er, that was 12 years ago, when the article was quite different. The subject is complicated but the article certainly makes clear that there are alternative and indeed rival meanings, and makes a fair attempt at explaining what each of those is. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:43, 15 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Really Hard to Figure out 

message: this quote seems nice, but was too broad for Meditation#Hinduism so I'm putting it here for potential future use. makeswell (talk) 17:19, 29 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  safekeeping quote 

message: I removed the following block of text ("<nowiki>" added here for clarity):
There are many types of yoga, such as hatha-yoga, astanga-yoga, raja-yoga, dhyana-yoga, and bhakti-yoga. Rudimentary hatha-yoga has become very popular as a form of exercise and relaxation, but real yoga -- as taught by Patanjali in his Yoga-sutra or by Krsna in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita -- is an eightfold system of meditation for attaining samadhi, or complete absorption of the mind in the Supreme. The eightfold yoga process is very difficult to perform, and even Arjuna decided it was too difficult for him. And those few who can practice it often become captivated by the siddhis, or perfections, that one can gain through this yoga, such as the ability to walk on water, become extremely small, and control other people's minds. So the mystic yoga process, being very difficult and full of many possible distractions, is not recommended in this age.Pure devotional service, on the other hand, is far superior to fruitive work, philosophical speculation, and mystic meditation. ... Similarly, Krsna tells Arjuna at the end of the Sixth Chapter of the Gita that absorption in Krsna consciousness is the ultimate yoga:
yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar atmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah / "And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me -- he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion" (Bg. 6.47). Narada Bhakti Sutra 25
<End removed text.>
The first part seemed out out of place, and "but real yoga" is very POV.  The rest sounded like it was supposed to be a quote but was written as text to the article, which changes its significance.  --Doug.(talk • contribs) 21:00, 8 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  removed text 

message: I propose that Yoga Sutras of Patanjali be merged into Ashtanga Yoga/Raja Yoga. The current sizes of the articles are 22,813 bytes and 17,664 bytes respectively. The largest section on the "eight limbs" (present in both articles) has a significant overlap (12,288 bytes in the former article and 8,192 bytes in the latter). And this is inevitable since Ashtanga Yoga/Raja Yoga is based on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. A merger will allow us to gain the 'critical mass' necessary to develop the combined article to good article level initially and FA level someday. Zuggernaut (talk) 02:56, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: OK, that's good feedback and something I overlooked, having always thought of the Sutras as sutras and not as a book in the modern/Western sense of the word (remember, the sutras were not written down as a book until much later). But by that logic the merge does not make sense. It may be possible to include Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in a section in Raja Yoga as a text. The text itself is really terse and the article has not grown for a while. If the combined article grows beyond 90-100 KB then we can split. Or you still think it's not a good idea to merge?  Zuggernaut (talk) 05:51, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: "Yoga Sutras" brings up 23,000 citations in Google Book Search (HERE). The fact that the article hasn't grown in a while doesn't mean it couldn't grow. In my opinion it's silly to consider a merger. Not quite as silly as merging the page for the Bible into Christianity, but still silly. Health Researcher (talk) 17:07, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge proposal

message: * is there a *good* reason to not have Rāja Yoga as article title? Wakari07 (talk) 16:44, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Rāja Yoga or Raja Yoga

message: The phrase "the mind is traditionally the king of the body" is poorly supported and arguably a complete misinterpretation of the phrase raja yoga. Raja yoga is referred to as such partly because this path is being differentiated from other yogas as the "king" of all yogas.
Yoga literature supports an idea that the mind is not king nor subject. The treatise on raja yoga, patanjalis yoga sutra describes a much subtler relationship between mind and body.
Thus I'll go ahead and remove this unsupported and in my opinion very deceptive and unhelpful statement. The tradition where the mind rules the body is not from the yogic perspective at all.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.136.144.39 (talk) 09:19, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: needs citation 

message: The term rāja yoga is a very ancient Sanskrit word. It was used in Upanishads and Puranas. 
It is wrong to say "The term rāja yoga is a retronym, introduced in the 19th-century by Swami Vivekananda." 
Vivekananda just translated the famous Yoga Sutras of Patanjali naming it as Rāja Yoga. He was just a translator and interpreter of the book. 
The more original and authentic works are in Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads.The term rāja yoga is used in Bhagavad Gita. The ninth chapter of Bhagavad Gita is known as "Raja-Vidya_Raja_Guhy_Yoga". See Bhagavad-Gita By Sir Edwin Arnold. I think, Vivekananda took the name from Bhagavad Gita.  
Some more ancient references for the name  Rāja Yoga are as follows:
Jaimini Sutras,19.SU-26-27
Yogasara Upanishad
Yoga Tattva Upanishad,129-131(a)
AndrewNewYork (talk) 09:21, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Interesting, and you may be correct, but you'll need WP:RS. I've tried to find them for this topic, but I failed, unfortunately. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 11:03, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Term Rāja Yoga Beyond Vivekananda 

message: I've split the article into Rāja yoga and Yoga (philosophy). Yoga is more than Patanjali's and Ashtanga. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 05:40, 21 June 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Split article 

message: "In all historical texts, Rāja yoga in the modern sense of its meaning, is known simply as Yoga, where it means one of six major orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy" - is this this correct? Doesn't it refer to the practice of yoga, instead of the school of philosophy? Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 18:22, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Raja yoga refers to samadhi. It is not a practice.VictoriaGraysonTalk 18:40, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: @JJ/@VG: Indeed, that sentence needs surgery, and Raja yoga means different things depending on the context. This article needs some clean up. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 18:43, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Yoga -school or practice? 

message: What does this sentence mean?VictoriaGraysonTalk 00:16, 25 June 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  "The term in some texts is one of many types of yoga" 

message: I'm curious why White is "probably not reliable" here. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 04:57, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: See this.VictoriaGraysonTalk 05:29, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks; I'll read it. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 06:27, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  White