Magic and Yoga (i)

Many magicians, in particular followers of the older traditions, feel that an intense and thorough study of yoga should be included in their students’ magical training—at least for a while. Many styles of Indian yoga have been adapted to fit the needs of Western­ers and these are so popular nowadays that it hardly seems necessary to discuss them in a book like this. As far as hatha yoga (the type of yoga involving physical exercises) is concerned, we will indeed keep our comments to a minimum. After all, there are plenty of excellent books about it on the market and classes are offered at gyms, community centers and yoga schools in even the most remote areas.

But with the large amount of information available, we often tend to forget what yoga is really about. Patañjali, one of the classic authors of yoga literature, says it best in his book The Yoga Sutras:

“Yogas´ citta-vritti-nirodhah.”

In English:

“Yoga is restraining [Sanskrit: nirodha] the fluctuations of mind.”

Although the derivative of the word “yoga” as “yoke = harness/self-discipline” is com­monly stressed, it doesn’t help much when the true intention of yoga is overlooked, for

example through exaggerated perceptions of asceticism, a sole emphasis on complicated body postures, or purely speculative philosophizing.

Plus, yoga is a complete philosophical and ideological system that cannot be reduced to a mere type of gymnastics. Like no other discipline known to us today, all of the nu­merous different styles of Indian yoga are extremely effective in applying highly devel­oped, refined techniques for shifting awareness and shaping matter with the mind.

Readers who already have a good knowledge of yoga can just skim over the next sec­tion.

the structure of ashtanga or raja yoga

It was Vivekananda who was instrumental in bringing yoga to the Western world and establishing its popularity there. Through him, the term “raja” (= “royal”) came into use to describe a system of yoga that is more commonly known in India as “ashtanga” (= “eightfold path/eight limbs of yoga”). In fact, in Indian culture, a person’s own personal yoga path is generally referred to as the “royal” path, which sometimes causes confusion when it is mentioned in literature. That’s why we’ll stick to the initial designation of “eightfold yoga” in this book. After all, the style of yoga introduced by Vivekananda is the most widely practiced.

As the name already implies, this type of yoga is divided into eight paths or limbs, each one in itself leading to samadhi (= “union with the highest” or “enlightenment by achieving a state of empty mind”), although they are generally viewed and treated as parts of a whole.

We’ll be introducing these paths or limbs in the traditional way, first in their rela­tionship to one another as a whole, and then individually. However, since we’re pursu­ing a concept that is different than most other authors’ of literature on yoga or magic, we will not be discussing them in order, but rather in the sequence that’s appropriate to the corresponding chapters of this book.

Yama

Ahimsa — nonviolence

Satya — truthfulness

Asteya — abstention from theft

Brahmacharya — abstinence from sexual activity

 Aparigraha — refrainment from accepting gifts

Niyama

Shauca — purity

Santosha — contentment

Tapah — austerity

Svadhyaya — spiritual study

Ishvarapranidhana — self-sacrifice to God

Asana body postures

Pranayama