89-474: Mindful Yoga or Mindfulness Yoga combines Buddhist -style mindfulness practice with yoga as exercise to provide a means of exercise that is also meditative and useful for reducing stress . Buddhism and Hinduism have since ancient times shared many aspects of philosophy and practice including mindfulness, understanding the suffering caused by an erroneous view of reality, and using concentrated and meditative states to address such suffering. The use of
178-610: A hybrid of yoga and mindfulness for stress was pioneered by Jon Kabat-Zinn in America in 1990. It has since been advocated in differing forms by yoga and meditation teachers and authors from many backgrounds, such as Anne Cushman , Frank Jude Boccio , Stephen Cope , Janice Gates , Cyndi Lee , Phillip Moffitt , and Sarah Powers . Courses in Mindful Yoga are provided in Buddhist meditation centres, yoga studios, and stress clinics around
267-461: A 7th-century stone carving in Mahabalipuram appears to contain a figure standing on one leg, perhaps indicating that a pose similar to Vrikshasana was in use at that time. It is said that sadhus disciplined themselves by choosing to meditate in the pose. Some other standing poses have been suspected of having medieval origins, without reliable evidence. One difficulty is naming; the existence of
356-626: A body of teachings incorporating esoteric tantric techniques, may be viewed as a separate branch or tradition within Mahāyāna. The Theravāda branch has a widespread following in Sri Lanka as well as in Southeast Asia, namely Myanmar , Thailand , Laos , and Cambodia . The Mahāyāna branch—which includes the East Asian traditions of Tiantai , Chan , Pure Land , Zen , Nichiren , and Tendai
445-621: A major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of development which leads to awakening and full liberation from dukkha ( lit. ' suffering or unease ' ). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes such as asceticism or sensual indulgence. Teaching that dukkha arises alongside attachment or clinging ,
534-495: A medieval pose with the name of a current standing pose is not proof that the two are the same, as the names given to poses may change, and the same name may be used for different poses. For example, the name Garudasana , Eagle Pose, is used for a sitting pose in the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā , 2.37. The name Garudasana is given to a pose close to Vrikshasana in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi ; the modern standing pose named Garudasana
623-525: A phenomenon known as Greco-Buddhism . An example of this is evidenced in Chinese and Pali Buddhist records, such as Milindapanha and the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra . The Milindapanha describes a conversation between a Buddhist monk and the 2nd-century BCE Greek king Menander , after which Menander abdicates and himself goes into monastic life in the pursuit of nirvana. Some scholars have questioned
712-413: A radical reworking of hatha yoga , in particular by adding standing asanas and transitions ( vinyasas ) between them, and by suppressing most non-postural aspects of yoga , rather than a smooth continuation of ancient traditions. These changes enabled yoga to be practised as a flowing sequence of movements rather than as static poses, and in turn this allowed sessions to focus on aerobic exercise . Yoga
801-444: A radical reworking of hatha yoga, in particular by adding standing asanas and transitions (vinyasas) between them, and by suppressing most non-postural aspects of yoga , rather than a smooth continuation of ancient traditions. The addition of vinyasas enabled sequences consisting mainly of standing asanas to be practised in a continuous flow. Such a sequence could be performed quickly if desired, making for aerobic exercise , possibly at
890-476: Is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Its spiritual and philosophical goal was to unite the human spirit with the Divine ; its practices were mainly meditative. The branch of yoga that makes use of physical postures in addition to other practices such as meditation and purifications is hatha yoga ; it flourished from the 11th century. The term "Yoga" in
979-459: Is not seen until the 20th century. Another issue is the use that is made of a pose; the existence of a pose in medieval times is not proof that it was used in hatha yoga. For example, Natarajasana , the pose of Dancing Shiva , is depicted in 13th - 18th century Bharatnatyam dance statues of the Eastern Gopuram , Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram , implying, according to Ananda Bhavanani, that
SECTION 10
#17328955351581068-430: Is only safe and effective when it has mindfulness at its heart", and Robert Butera's 2018 Body Mindful Yoga: Create a Powerful and Affirming Relationship with Your Body . Buddhism Buddhism ( / ˈ b ʊ d ɪ z əm / BUUD -ih-zəm , US also / ˈ b uː d -/ BOOD - ), also known as Buddha Dharma , is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to
1157-614: Is predominantly practised in Nepal , Bhutan , China , Malaysia , Vietnam , Taiwan , Korea , and Japan . Tibetan Buddhism , a form of Vajrayāna , is practised in the Himalayan states as well as in Mongolia and Russian Kalmykia . Japanese Shingon also preserves the Vajrayana tradition as transmitted to China . Historically, until the early 2nd millennium , Buddhism was widely practiced in
1246-400: Is scholarly disagreement on whether insight was seen as liberating in early Buddhism or whether it was a later addition to the practice of the four jhānas . Scholars such as Bronkhorst also think that the four noble truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight". According to Vetter, the description of
1335-640: Is shown by a large increase in epigraphic and manuscript evidence in this period. However, it still remained a minority in comparison to other Buddhist schools. Mahāyāna Buddhist institutions continued to grow in influence during the following centuries, with large monastic university complexes such as Nalanda (established by the 5th-century CE Gupta emperor, Kumaragupta I ) and Vikramashila (established under Dharmapala c. 783 to 820) becoming quite powerful and influential. During this period of Late Mahāyāna, four major types of thought developed: Mādhyamaka, Yogācāra, Buddha-nature ( Tathāgatagarbha ), and
1424-474: Is vast, with many different textual collections in different languages (such as Sanskrit , Pali , Tibetan , and Chinese ). Buddhist schools vary in their interpretation of the paths to liberation ( mārga ) as well as the relative importance and "canonicity" assigned to various Buddhist texts , and their specific teachings and practices. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravāda ( lit. ' School of
1513-696: The Dharma of the Buddha , fójiào in Chinese, bukkyō in Japanese, nang pa sangs rgyas pa'i chos in Tibetan, buddhadharma in Sanskrit, buddhaśāsana in Pali. Standing asana The standing asanas are the yoga poses or asanas with one or both feet on the ground, and the body more or less upright. They are among the most distinctive features of modern yoga as exercise . Until
1602-809: The Dharmaguptaka school. The Islamic conquest of the Iranian Plateau in the 7th-century, followed by the Muslim conquests of Afghanistan and the later establishment of the Ghaznavid kingdom with Islam as the state religion in Central Asia between the 10th- and 12th-century led to the decline and disappearance of Buddhism from most of these regions. The origins of Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") Buddhism are not well understood and there are various competing theories about how and where this movement arose. Theories include
1691-673: The Milindapanha version, expressing doubts whether Menander was Buddhist or just favourably disposed to Buddhist monks. The Kushan empire (30–375 CE) came to control the Silk Road trade through Central and South Asia, which brought them to interact with Gandharan Buddhism and the Buddhist institutions of these regions. The Kushans patronised Buddhism throughout their lands, and many Buddhist centres were built or renovated (the Sarvastivada school
1780-465: The Pali canon . The history of Indian Buddhism may be divided into five periods: Early Buddhism (occasionally called pre-sectarian Buddhism ), Nikaya Buddhism or Sectarian Buddhism (the period of the early Buddhist schools), Early Mahayana Buddhism , Late Mahayana, and the era of Vajrayana or the "Tantric Age". According to Lambert Schmithausen Pre-sectarian Buddhism is "the canonical period prior to
1869-659: The Tarim Basin . The first documented Buddhist texts translated into Chinese are those of the Parthian An Shigao (148–180 CE). The first known Mahāyāna scriptural texts are translations into Chinese by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema in Luoyang , between 178 and 189 CE. From China, Buddhism was introduced into its neighbours Korea (4th century), Japan (6th–7th centuries), and Vietnam ( c. 1st –2nd centuries). During
SECTION 20
#17328955351581958-555: The Theravada tradition had not established any deities, but were epistemologically cautious rather than directly atheist . Later Buddhist traditions were more influenced by the critique of deities within Hinduism and therefore more committed to a strongly atheist stance. These developments were historic and epistemological as documented in verses from Śāntideva 's Bodhicaryāvatāra , and supplemented by reference to suttas and jātakas from
2047-600: The Vyayama Dipika gymnastic exercise manual to create the Mysore Palace system of yoga. Sjoman further observes that whereas many traditional asanas are named for objects (like Padmasana , lotus pose), legendary figures (like Matsyendrasana , the sage Matsyendra 's pose), or animals (like Kurmasana , tortoise pose), many of Iyengar's asanas have names that simply describe the body's position (like Utthita Parsvakonasana , "Extended Side Angle Pose"); these are, he suggests,
2136-581: The epistemological tradition of Dignaga and Dharmakirti . According to Dan Lusthaus , Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra have a great deal in common, and the commonality stems from early Buddhism. During the Gupta period (4th–6th centuries) and the empire of Harṣavardana ( c. 590 –647 CE), Buddhism continued to be influential in India, and large Buddhist learning institutions such as Nalanda and Valabahi Universities were at their peak. Buddhism also flourished under
2225-435: The psychotherapist and yoga scholar Stephen Cope examines the overlap of Patanjali 's raja yoga and Buddhism. He notes that both were mainly concerned with "the problem of suffering , and the problem of seeing reality clearly." Both traditions provided three sets of tools: techniques for cultivating skilful behaviour to reduce suffering; techniques to develop intense states of concentration ; and ways of investigating how
2314-584: The Śramaṇa traditions. New ideas developed both in the Vedic tradition in the form of the Upanishads, and outside of the Vedic tradition through the Śramaṇa movements. The term Śramaṇa refers to several Indian religious movements parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion , including Buddhism, Jainism and others such as Ājīvika . Several Śramaṇa movements are known to have existed in India before
2403-527: The "primary foundation" for his vinyasas , the flowing movements between poses. The pose would then have been taken up by his pupils Pattabhi Jois and Iyengar. In 1924, Swami Kuvalayananda founded the Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center in Maharashtra . He and his rival Yogendra began to combine asanas with Indian systems of exercise and modern European gymnastics, having according to
2492-599: The "self" is constructed by the mind. Both recognise "ordinary reality" as a confusing mental construction, as modern constructivism does, Cope writes. They agree that abolishing such confusion of thought permanently ends suffering. They agree, too, he states, on numerous "pillars" of their accounts of reality, with the concepts of nirodha (stilling the mind), klesha (afflictions), karma (cause and effect), samvega (urgent desire to change), samadhi (concentration), prajna (insight into reality), and samskara (impressions on consciousness). However, Cope writes,
2581-544: The "sister traditions" are beginning a "rapprochement", or a continuation of the exchange of practices and thinking that has carried on for two millennia. Cushman writes that when she first taught yoga on a meditation retreat, her pupils told her that doing yoga gave them a fresh way to connect to "mindful presence", and made it easier to bring what they had discovered in meditation back into daily life. The practice of Mindful Yoga has spread to meditation centres and stress clinics, with drop-in classes and courses available around
2670-504: The 1200s. The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China is most commonly thought to have started in the late 2nd or the 1st century CE, though the literary sources are all open to question. The first documented translation efforts by foreign Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory of
2759-402: The 19th century Sritattvanidhi it is illustrated as a low squatting pose with the buttocks resting against the heels; the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 2.27 is similar, but the heels are raised. Standing asanas such as Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog), Virabhadrasana (Warrior Pose) and Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) are a conspicuous feature of the yoga practised around the modern world. Nearly all
Mindful Yoga - Misplaced Pages Continue
2848-588: The 20th century there were very few of these, the best example being Vrikshasana , Tree Pose. From the time of Krishnamacharya in Mysore , many standing poses have been created. Two major sources of these asanas have been identified: the exercise sequence Surya Namaskar (the salute to the sun); and the gymnastics widely practised in India at the time, based on the prevailing physical culture . The origin of standing asanas has been controversial since Mark Singleton argued in 2010 that some forms of modern yoga represent
2937-556: The 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre- Mahavira ), and these influenced both the āstika and nāstika traditions of Indian philosophy . According to Martin Wilshire, the Śramaṇa tradition evolved in India over two phases, namely Paccekabuddha and Savaka phases, the former being the tradition of individual ascetic and the latter of disciples, and that Buddhism and Jainism ultimately emerged from these. Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical ascetic groups shared and used several similar ideas, but
3026-664: The Bhairava Vidyapitha tantras. Ronald M. Davidson meanwhile, argues that Sanderson's claims for direct influence from Shaiva Vidyapitha texts are problematic because "the chronology of the Vidyapitha tantras is by no means so well established" and that the Shaiva tradition also appropriated non-Hindu deities, texts and traditions. Thus while "there can be no question that the Buddhist tantras were heavily influenced by Kapalika and other Saiva movements" argues Davidson, "the influence
3115-406: The Buddha , a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE . It is the world's fourth-largest religion , with over 520 million followers, known as Buddhists , who comprise seven percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a śramaṇa movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played
3204-608: The Buddha advised meditation practices and ethical precepts rooted in non-harming . Widely observed teachings include the Four Noble Truths , the Noble Eightfold Path , and the doctrines of dependent origination , karma , and the three marks of existence . Other commonly observed elements include the Triple Gem , the taking of monastic vows , and the cultivation of perfections ( pāramitā ). The Buddhist canon
3293-484: The Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way". In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path. According to numerous Buddhist scriptures, soon after the parinirvāṇa (from Sanskrit: "highest extinguishment") of Gautama Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held to collectively recite the teachings to ensure that no errors occurred in oral transmission. Many modern scholars question
3382-504: The Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907), Chinese Esoteric Buddhism was introduced from India and Chan Buddhism (Zen) became a major religion. Chan continued to grow in the Song dynasty (960–1279) and it was during this era that it strongly influenced Korean Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism also became popular during this period and was often practised together with Chan. It
3471-648: The Elders ' ) and Mahāyāna ( lit. ' Great Vehicle ' ). The Theravada tradition emphasizes the attainment of nirvāṇa ( lit. ' extinguishing ' ) as a means of transcending the individual self and ending the cycle of death and rebirth ( saṃsāra ), while the Mahayana tradition emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal , in which one works for the liberation of all sentient beings. Additionally, Vajrayāna ( lit. ' Indestructible Vehicle ' ),
3560-711: The Indian subcontinent before declining there ; it also had a foothold to some extent elsewhere in Asia, namely Afghanistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Tajikistan . The names Buddha Dharma and Bauddha Dharma come from Sanskrit : बुद्ध धर्म and बौद्ध धर्म respectively ("doctrine of the Enlightened One" and "doctrine of Buddhists"). The term Dharmavinaya comes from Sanskrit: धर्मविनय , literally meaning "doctrines [and] disciplines". The Buddha ("the Awakened One")
3649-588: The Theravada Majjhima Nikaya and Sarvastivada Madhyama Agama contain mostly the same major doctrines. Richard Salomon , in his study of the Gandharan texts (which are the earliest manuscripts containing early discourses), has confirmed that their teachings are "consistent with non-Mahayana Buddhism, which survives today in the Theravada school of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, but which in ancient times
Mindful Yoga - Misplaced Pages Continue
3738-520: The Vinaya (monastic rule), and this caused a split with the conservatives who rejected this change, they were called Mahāsāṃghikas . While most scholars accept that this happened at some point, there is no agreement on the dating, especially if it dates to before or after the reign of Ashoka. Buddhism may have spread only slowly throughout India until the time of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (304–232 BCE), who
3827-510: The Western world often denotes a modern form of hatha yoga, yoga as exercise , consisting largely of the postures called asanas . The earliest asanas were cross-legged meditation seats ; other postures were gradually added. Among the few standing poses definitely practised in hatha yoga before the 20th century is Vrikshasana , tree pose. It is described in the 17th century hatha yoga text Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 2.36. It may be far older than that;
3916-458: The age of 80 in Kushinagar , India. The Buddha's teachings were propagated by his followers, which in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE became various Buddhist schools of thought , each with its own basket of texts containing different interpretations and authentic teachings of the Buddha; these over time evolved into many traditions of which the more well known and widespread in
4005-759: The ancient religion Jainism , is also claimed to be ksatriya by his early followers. ) According to early texts such as the Pali Ariyapariyesanā-sutta ("The discourse on the noble quest", MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204, Gautama was moved by the suffering ( dukkha ) of life and death, and its endless repetition due to rebirth . He thus set out on a quest to find liberation from suffering (also known as " nirvana "). Early texts and biographies state that Gautama first studied under two teachers of meditation, namely Āḷāra Kālāma (Sanskrit: Arada Kalama) and Uddaka Ramaputta (Sanskrit: Udraka Ramaputra), learning meditation and philosophy, particularly
4094-705: The benefits of merging mindfulness with asana", leading to "something we might call 'Mindful Yoga'." Isaacs described the benefit of not reacting to the discomfort that one might feel in a standing asana such as Virabhadrasana I , instead just observing one's thoughts and sensations in the pose. She commented that the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism and the Patanjali's eight-limbed yoga have similarities, both going from "ethical practices and conduct and include training in concentration and awareness." She quotes Cope as saying that he sees "Buddha and Patanjali as brothers, using different languages, but speaking about and pointing to
4183-599: The body scan and sitting meditation…" Kabat-Zinn developed the original course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction including sitting meditation and Mindful Yoga. In 2008, the yoga teacher and editor of Yoga Journal Nora Isaacs wrote a feature on bringing "Mindfulness onto the Mat", noting that teachers from many backgrounds, such as Frank Jude Boccio , Cope, Janice Gates , Cyndi Lee , Phillip Moffitt , and Sarah Powers , had "each, independently, discovered
4272-467: The development of different schools with their different positions". The early Buddhist Texts include the four principal Pali Nikāyas (and their parallel Agamas found in the Chinese canon) together with the main body of monastic rules, which survive in the various versions of the patimokkha . However, these texts were revised over time, and it is unclear what constitutes the earliest layer of Buddhist teachings. One method to obtain information on
4361-618: The earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include the first versions of the Prajnaparamita series, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya , which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India. There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of Buddhism, with a separate monastic code (Vinaya), but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas. Records written by Chinese monks visiting India indicate that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks could be found in
4450-587: The early texts, which has led most scholars to conclude that Gautama Buddha must have taught something similar to the Four Noble Truths , the Noble Eightfold Path , Nirvana , the three marks of existence , the five aggregates , dependent origination , karma and rebirth . According to N. Ross Reat, all of these doctrines are shared by the Theravada Pali texts and the Mahasamghika school's Śālistamba Sūtra . A recent study by Bhikkhu Analayo concludes that
4539-500: The ending of the mental defilements ( asavas ), the ending of suffering, and the end of rebirth in saṃsāra . This event also brought certainty about the Middle Way as the right path of spiritual practice to end suffering. As a fully enlightened Buddha , he attracted followers and founded a Sangha (monastic order). He spent the rest of his life teaching the Dharma he had discovered, and then died, achieving " final nirvana ", at
SECTION 50
#17328955351584628-465: The expense of a more meditative practice. Surya Namaskar is a major source of standing asanas. In its modern form, it was created and popularised by the Rajah of Aundh , Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi , early in the 20th century. It was offered as a separate practice (not then described as yoga) from Krishnamacharya's yoga, and taught in the next-door hall of the Mysore Palace. Surya Namaskar
4717-493: The historicity of this event. However, Richard Gombrich states that the monastic assembly recitations of the Buddha's teaching likely began during Buddha's lifetime, and they served a similar role of codifying the teachings. The so called Second Buddhist council resulted in the first schism in the Sangha . Modern scholars believe that this was probably caused when a group of reformists called Sthaviras ("elders") sought to modify
4806-434: The idea that it began as various groups venerating certain texts or that it arose as a strict forest ascetic movement. The first Mahāyāna works were written sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts, mainly those of Lokakṣema . (2nd century CE). Some scholars have traditionally considered
4895-610: The maintenance of a political state during succession and wars to resist invasion. During the Middle Ages, Buddhism slowly declined in India, while it vanished from Persia and Central Asia as Islam became the state religion. The Theravada school arrived in Sri Lanka sometime in the 3rd century BCE. Sri Lanka became a base for its later spread to Southeast Asia after the 5th century CE ( Myanmar , Malaysia , Indonesia , Thailand , Cambodia and coastal Vietnam ). Theravada Buddhism
4984-530: The meditation and "insight" practices described by Patanjali are missing from the mainstream Western tradition of yoga, though they are taught within Buddhism. The professor of medicine and pioneer of Mindfulness Yoga Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote in 1990 that "Mindful hatha yoga is the third major formal meditation technique that we practice in the stress clinic [at the University of Massachusetts Medical School ], along with
5073-412: The meditative attainment of "the sphere of nothingness" from the former, and "the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception" from the latter. Finding these teachings to be insufficient to attain his goal, he turned to the practice of severe asceticism , which included a strict fasting regime and various forms of breath control . This too fell short of attaining his goal, and then he turned to
5162-573: The meditative practice of dhyana . He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree—now called the Bodhi Tree —in the town of Bodh Gaya and attained "Awakening" ( Bodhi ). According to various early texts like the Mahāsaccaka-sutta, and the Samaññaphala Sutta , on awakening, the Buddha gained insight into the workings of karma and his former lives, as well as achieving
5251-478: The modern era are Theravada , Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought of Iron Age India around the middle of the first millennium BCE. This was a period of great intellectual ferment and socio-cultural change known as the "Second urbanisation" , marked by the growth of towns and trade, the composition of the Upanishads and the historical emergence of
5340-596: The oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pāli Canon and other texts. The reliability of the early sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies. According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished: According to Mitchell, certain basic teachings appear in many places throughout
5429-611: The ones developed in the 20th century. The yoga scholar Mark Singleton argues that Krishnamacharya was familiar with the physical culture of his time, which was influenced by Scandinavian gymnastics such as the system of Niels Bukh ; Krishnamacharya's experimentation with asanas and his innovative use of gymnastic jumping between poses may well explain, Singleton suggests, the resemblances between modern standing asanas and Scandinavian gymnastics. The origin of standing asanas has been controversial since Singleton's 2010 book Yoga Body argued that some forms of modern yoga represent
SECTION 60
#17328955351585518-627: The origins of early Vajrayana has been taken up by various scholars. David Seyfort Ruegg has suggested that Buddhist tantra employed various elements of a "pan-Indian religious substrate" which is not specifically Buddhist, Shaiva or Vaishnava. According to Indologist Alexis Sanderson , various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism . Sanderson has argued that Buddhist tantras can be shown to have borrowed practices, terms, rituals and more form Shaiva tantras. He argues that Buddhist texts even directly copied various Shaiva tantras, especially
5607-450: The physical practice of yoga; it is the holistic approach of connecting your mind to your breath." For her, the key point is to be open to and interested in sensations in the body, so each one can be investigated fully and then released. Cope notes in addition that yoga's asanas and pranayama , yoga breathing, "have found their way into many Buddhist meditation retreats", just as Buddhist meditation practices have appeared in yoga studios, so
5696-423: The pose was among the many introduced into modern yoga by Krishnamacharya in the early 20th century, and taken up by his pupils such as B. K. S. Iyengar , who made the pose a signature of modern yoga. Another case is Utkatasana , sometimes called chair pose, though its name, Utkata , means "fierce". In modern yoga, it is indeed a challenging squatting pose with the thighs approaching the horizontal, whereas in
5785-510: The pose was used in medieval hatha yoga and that there was a cultural interchange between yoga and dance. However, Elliott Goldberg observes that Natarajasana is not found in any medieval hatha yoga text, nor is it mentioned by any pre-20th century traveller to India, nor is it found in artistic depictions of yoga such as the Sritattvanidhi or the Mahamandir near Jodhpur. Goldberg argues that
5874-639: The precise dates are uncertain, although the 5th century BCE seems to be the best estimate. Early texts have the Buddha's family name as "Gautama" (Pali: Gotama), while some texts give Siddhartha as his surname. He was born in Lumbini , present-day Nepal and grew up in Kapilavastu , a town in the Ganges Plain , near the modern Nepal–India border, and he spent his life in what is now modern Bihar and Uttar Pradesh . Some hagiographic legends state that his father
5963-402: The same monasteries, with the difference that Mahāyāna monks worshipped figures of Bodhisattvas, while non-Mahayana monks did not. Mahāyāna initially seems to have remained a small minority movement that was in tension with other Buddhist groups, struggling for wider acceptance. However, during the fifth and sixth centuries CE, there seems to have been a rapid growth of Mahāyāna Buddhism, which
6052-580: The same thing". Isaacs writes that yoga stresses concentration on a single object such as the breath, whereas Buddhism calls for mindfulness of all events as they come to one's consciousness. She quotes Boccio as saying that he does not just practice asanas mindfully; "I teach and practice mindfulness through the form of asana." Isaacs reports, too, that Cushman finds that mindfulness practice can enliven yoga for people who find sitting meditation difficult. The yoga teacher Michelle Ribeiro writes that Mindful Yoga "applies traditional Buddhist mindfulness teachings to
6141-490: The schisms, each Saṅgha started to accumulate their own version of Tripiṭaka (triple basket of texts). In their Tripiṭaka, each school included the Suttas of the Buddha, a Vinaya basket (disciplinary code) and some schools also added an Abhidharma basket which were texts on detailed scholastic classification, summary and interpretation of the Suttas. The doctrine details in the Abhidharmas of various Buddhist schools differ significantly, and these were composed starting about
6230-404: The scholar Joseph Alter a "profound" effect on the evolution of yoga. Krishnamacharya, known as the father of modern yoga, studied under Kuvalayananda in the 1930s and created in his Mysore yogashala "a marriage of hatha yoga, wrestling exercises, and modern Western gymnastic movement, and unlike anything seen before in the yoga tradition." Norman Sjoman argues that Krishnamacharya drew on
6319-467: The society he grew up in may have been invented and interpolated at a later time into the Buddhist texts. Various details about the Buddha's background are contested in modern scholarship. For example, Buddhist texts assert that Buddha described himself as a kshatriya (warrior class), but Gombrich writes that little is known about his father and there is no proof that his father even knew the term kshatriya . ( Mahavira , whose teachings helped establish
6408-485: The specific focus of Buddhist mindfulness and compassion helps the yogi's mind become unbiased, wakeful, and connected". This has been followed by other books such as Charlotte Bell's 2005 Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice , structured around the eight limbs of Patanjali's yoga, Anne Cushman's 2014 Moving into Meditation with awareness of the body, Hannah Moss's 2018 The Practice of Mindful Yoga: A Connected Path to Awareness , which argues that "Yoga
6497-533: The standing poses now practised were unknown in hatha yoga until the 20th century. Many are described in Iyengar's 1966 Light on Yoga . Some, such as Tadasana , appear in the 1896 Vyayama Dipika , a manual of gymnastics , as part of the "very old" sequence of danda (Sanskrit for "staff" or "stick") exercises. Norman Sjoman suggests that it is one of the poses adopted into yoga in Mysore by Krishnamacharya and forming
6586-639: The support of the Pāla Empire (8th–12th centuries). Under the Guptas and Palas, Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana developed and rose to prominence. It promoted new practices such as the use of mantras , dharanis , mudras , mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas and developed a new class of literature, the Buddhist Tantras . This new esoteric form of Buddhism can be traced back to groups of wandering yogi magicians called mahasiddhas . The question of
6675-680: The third century BCE and through the 1st millennium CE. According to the edicts of Aśoka , the Mauryan emperor sent emissaries to various countries west of India to spread "Dharma", particularly in eastern provinces of the neighbouring Seleucid Empire , and even farther to Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean. It is a matter of disagreement among scholars whether or not these emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist missionaries. In central and west Asia, Buddhist influence grew, through Greek-speaking Buddhist monarchs and ancient Asian trade routes,
6764-509: The three Vedic sacrificial fires, reinterpreting and explaining them as ethical conduct. The Śramaṇa religions challenged and broke with the Brahmanic tradition on core assumptions such as Atman (soul, self), Brahman , the nature of afterlife, and they rejected the authority of the Vedas and Upanishads . Buddhism was one among several Indian religions that did so. Early Buddhist positions in
6853-605: The world, for example in the West London Buddhist Centre. In 2004, Boccio published Mindfulness Yoga , relating Buddhism, especially the techniques of the Anapanasati Sutta and Satipatthana Sutta , to Yoga, especially the Yoga Sutras , and asanas. Also in 2004, Lee published her Yoga Body, Buddha Mind , advocating a combined practice, stating that "yoga helps Buddhists embody their meditation ... Similarly,
6942-510: The world. The teacher of Mindful Yoga Anne Cushman notes that Hatha yoga and Buddhist meditation are branches of the same Indian contemplative tradition . In her view, asanas are both objects of meditation, and useful for preparing mind and body for sitting meditation, while Buddhism offers a formal structure of meditation techniques and philosophy that can exploit the "sensitivity, concentration, discipline and energy cultivated during asana practice." In his 2006 book The Wisdom of Yoga ,
7031-563: The Śramaṇa traditions also drew upon already established Brahmanical concepts and philosophical roots, states Wiltshire, to formulate their own doctrines. Brahmanical motifs can be found in the oldest Buddhist texts, using them to introduce and explain Buddhist ideas. For example, prior to Buddhist developments, the Brahmanical tradition internalised and variously reinterpreted the three Vedic sacrificial fires as concepts such as Truth, Rite, Tranquility or Restraint. Buddhist texts also refer to
7120-647: Was a Śramaṇa who lived in South Asia c. 6th or 5th century BCE. Followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Sakyan -s or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India. Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez asserts they also used the term Bauddha , although scholar Richard Cohen asserts that that term was used only by outsiders to describe Buddhists. Details of the Buddha's life are mentioned in many Early Buddhist Texts but are inconsistent. His social background and life details are difficult to prove, and
7209-468: Was a king named Suddhodana , his mother was Queen Maya. Scholars such as Richard Gombrich consider this a dubious claim because a combination of evidence suggests he was born in the Shakya community, which was governed by a small oligarchy or republic-like council where there were no ranks but where seniority mattered instead. Some of the stories about the Buddha, his life, his teachings, and claims about
7298-615: Was a public supporter of the religion. The support of Aśoka and his descendants led to the construction of more stūpas (such as at Sanchi and Bharhut ), temples (such as the Mahabodhi Temple ) and to its spread throughout the Maurya Empire and into neighbouring lands such as Central Asia and to the island of Sri Lanka . During and after the Mauryan period (322–180 BCE), the Sthavira community gave rise to several schools, one of which
7387-491: Was also during the Song that the entire Chinese canon was printed using over 130,000 wooden printing blocks. During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from the 8th century onwards), Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia . Johannes Bronkhorst states that the esoteric form was attractive because it allowed both a secluded monastic community as well as the social rites and rituals important to laypersons and to kings for
7476-905: Was apparently mutual". Already during this later era, Buddhism was losing state support in other regions of India, including the lands of the Karkotas , the Pratiharas , the Rashtrakutas , the Pandyas and the Pallavas . This loss of support in favor of Hindu faiths like Vaishnavism and Shaivism , is the beginning of the long and complex period of the Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent . The Islamic invasions and conquest of India (10th to 12th century), further damaged and destroyed many Buddhist institutions, leading to its eventual near disappearance from India by
7565-421: Was not recorded in any Haṭha yoga text before the 19th century. Its standing poses, integral to modern international yoga as exercise and the vinyasas used in some styles to transition between the asanas of Surya Namaskar, vary somewhat between schools. In Iyengar Yoga, other poses can be inserted into the basic sequence. In Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga , the basic sequence incorporates the lunging Anjaneyasana and
7654-480: Was particularly favored), especially by Emperor Kanishka (128–151 CE). Kushan support helped Buddhism to expand into a world religion through their trade routes. Buddhism spread to Khotan , the Tarim Basin , and China, eventually to other parts of the far east. Some of the earliest written documents of the Buddhist faith are the Gandharan Buddhist texts , dating from about the 1st century CE, and connected to
7743-478: Was represented by eighteen separate schools." However, some scholars argue that critical analysis reveals discrepancies among the various doctrines found in these early texts, which point to alternative possibilities for early Buddhism. The authenticity of certain teachings and doctrines have been questioned. For example, some scholars think that karma was not central to the teaching of the historical Buddha, while other disagree with this position. Likewise, there
7832-584: Was the Theravada school which tended to congregate in the south and another which was the Sarvāstivāda school, which was mainly in north India. Likewise, the Mahāsāṃghika groups also eventually split into different Sanghas. Originally, these schisms were caused by disputes over monastic disciplinary codes of various fraternities, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being caused by doctrinal disagreements too. Following (or leading up to)
7921-635: Was the dominant religion in Burma during the Mon Hanthawaddy Kingdom (1287–1552). It also became dominant in the Khmer Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries and in the Thai Sukhothai Kingdom during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng (1237/1247–1298). The term "Buddhism" is an occidental neologism, commonly (and "rather roughly" according to Donald S. Lopez Jr. ) used as a translation for
#157842