The Nature and Purpose of Astanga Yoga - A Study

Yoga may be described as the conscious and determined effort of an individual for a supersensory experience. It brings about the spiritual state of mind which transcends our everyday experience. Not all states of mind are Yoga. Fainting fit and hysteria should not be mistaken for Yoga. Yoga is the ability to stop at will the fluctuations of the mind through the practice of the eightfold path. It opens up a new field of vision which gives deeper understanding of oneself, one¿s life and the world. Yogic intuition of the truth transforms our personality and enables us to function in a new dimension.The insight deepens and widens our knowledge of the Infinite. It brings about a direct communion with the essence of all things and the universe as a whole.Yoga prepares the individual for a direct experience of the ultimate reality. It is a systematic and sure method of attaining the state of Samadhi, the union of the individual soul(jivatma) with the universal Soul (Brahman).Samadhi is the crown of the Yoga system. In it the Yogi¿s vision unifies him with the heart of the reality in its totality.Samadhi liberates the Yogi from the bondage of Samsara, the round of births and deaths.