What does Yoga mean?
There are many interpretations of what the word Yoga means and some comments lately have led me to contemplate it a little deeper for myself.
Georg Feuerstein, a yoga scholar, in his publication “The Lost Teachings of Yoga” says this about the word Yoga:
The word Yoga stems from the Sanskrit language and has very many meanings, for our purposes, two meanings stand out: union and discipline.
So what kind of union, you might ask, what kind of discipline? In order to do justice to Yoga, we need to be truly comprehensive in our explanation, so I would like to say that yoga is the art and science of disciplining the body-mind. Disciplining in what way? By uniting or integrating all the aspects of our being.
He then goes further to mention that perhaps that definition might still seem a bit vague, but will become clear throughout the rest of his presentation.
I remember learning early on, and being told very clearly that the word yoga comes from the sankrit word “yuj” which means to ‘yoke’ or ‘join in union.’ More specifically, I learnt that what was being united was the individual or “small self” with the transcendental “Self” or universal conciousness. That yoga, is an individual journey and that we make the “connection” through our own efforts and attain enlightenment through the discipline of the work we have done.
At Om Shanti: A Yoga Blog, I came across this interesting information about the word Yoga.
Importantly, yoga did not mean “yoke” or “union” in its classical usage, despite what most yoga teachers and popular writers on yoga say today. But, as many contemporary scholars of Indian philosophy will point out, it would indeed be odd for yoga to mean something like “yoke” or “union” since the objective of Patanjali’s yoga, as it is laid out in the Yoga-Sutra, is for the yogi to recognize and realize the true nature of the universe – i.e. that pure consciousness (purusa) is distinct from mere matter (prakrti), which includes our minds and our thoughts. In other words, the yogi does not seek union or oneness with the world; rather, he seeks to liberate himself from his attachment to the worldly.
I always seek to remind myself, that above all else, yoga is a path of spiritual liberation.
With the increased Westernisation of yoga, there have been more interpretations of what type of “union” it is that we are seeking to attain. In our current global situation many people are returning to the idea of local communities, and indeed lately I have heard a lot of talk around me that yoga is about “connecting with other people” and “forming community”. In one of the more recent editons of Australian Yoga Life magazine a headline on the cover caught my eye: “Building a Yoga Community.”
A teacher close to me, has also been seeking to build a yoga community. Yet something about it just makes me feel uneasy. Whenever they talk about it, they say things like “we should be building a community, after all that is what yoga means, union, and we should practice what we preach.” Yet every community I know of, where people have deliberately set out to build one, has failed dismally, and often in devastating ways that leaves lasting damage. You hear it all the time: The road to hell is paved with good intentions!
I feel that community is a natural progression and evolution, not something that we should push for. As we increasingly unite with the truth of who/what we are (and I cannot offer any suggestions on what that is) then we will naturally form community.
Certainly if we are going to overcome the challenges that we face in the world we are going to have to come together, but I have often seen personal agendas rise and politics form in constructed communities. After all the ego goes with us everywhere, and so for me I would prefer to do my own work on spiritual liberation without having to deal with the agendas of others. I firmly believe that when I have done the work on myself, only then can I truly be of any assistance to anyone else. I often feel that these groups that form are really about patting each other on the back, than doing any real work to change or liberate themselves.
A good friend said to me once; “If you want to drive people around, you have to put fuel in the car.” In other words; if you neglect yourself, you cannot help others.
I worry that yoga’s true essence as a path of spiritual liberation is being diluted and that if we lose it, it will be lost forever. Lately it seems, many people are practising yoga so that they can feel good about themselves. Of course it is great to feel good about yourself! Who doesn’t want that? 
But is it enough?
What do you think? What does the word “Yoga” mean to you?
Tags: community, liberation, union