Mircea Eliade YOGA IMMORTALITY AND ... - Brihaspati.net
Mircea Eliade YOGA IMMORTALITY AND ... - Brihaspati.net Mircea Eliade YOGA IMMORTALITY AND ... - Brihaspati.net
Although the magical conception of the world is more profound in the Indo-tre, hesitate to impute to the magi-ca trend witnessed in the complex Yoga and giving Aborigines the exclusive rite me-mystical trend seems to us safer allocation nar the considerable contribution the importance of Indo-mo ritualis and theorizing that gave rise, and reserve for Aborigines the trend towards the concrete in religious experience, the need-ing a mystical devotion to the gods about per-sonal and local (istadevata, gramadevata). To the extent that re-presents a reaction against the ritualism and the theorizing is-colasticas, Yoga part of Aboriginal tradition and opposes the Indo-European religious heritage. We had the opportunity to dis-covers the resistance of orthodox means, that is tributary to the Indo-European tradition, to various forms of Yoga. Recall that the absence of complex yoga in other Indo-European groups confirms that this technique is a creation of the Asian soil, Indian land as if we have reason to link the origin of the ascetic yogi protohistoric Indus religion, po let us conclude that it is such an archaic form of mystical experience, disappeared elsewhere. Indeed, repe-scams, Yoga can not be included among the countless varieties of primitive mysticism commonly designated by the name of shamanism, "Yoga is not a technique of ecstasy: the contrary, strives to make the absolute concentration to reach the enstasy. In the universal history of mysticism, the Classical Yoga has its proper place, hard to locate, on the other. It depicts a "living fossil", a modality of archaic spirituality In no other place survived. (Recall that the concept of "living fossils" was used to advantage in several branches of biology, such as potholing. The troglobious that today inhabit the caveman belong to a long-extinct animals. "Ver-dader are living fossils, writes Professor Racovitza, and are often very old stages of the history of life, tertiary and even secondary. "Caves fauna preserved so archaic, very important if one is to understand the point of zoomor-graphic primitive groups not are fosMzables. It is in this sense we can speak of certain archaic forms of spirituality that remained until now as "living fossils" are the more interesting for the history of the human mind when leave no trace "documentaries" are not, we would say "fossilized"). The archaism Yoga is another confirmation of its structure in initiation. We have called attention to the symbolism Yogi death and rebirth, death to the profane human condition, re-birth into a transcendent mode (p. 23). The yogi seeks to "invest" totally normal behavior: it imposes itself frozen immobility of the body (asana), rhythm espatiado and detention of respiration (pranayama), setting psychomental flow (ekagrata), immobility of think-ing, the "detention" and even "repression" of semen. At all levels of human experience, does the opposite of what life demands. But the symbolism of the "opposite" indicates the condition while post-mortem condition and the divine right to know on earth, it is left in the hereafter, a broken vase in this world equals a glass intact in the underworld and the gods, and so on. The "inversion" of the situation to normal behavior, the yogi out of life. But do not stop in the middle of the road:'s death and followed by a re-birth im'ciatico. The yogi makes a "new body" as well as the neophytes of the archaic socie-ties get a new body through the initiation. At first glance, the rejection of life imposed by the Yoga might seem terrifying, as it entails more than a symbolic funeral: experiences which are so many anticipations of death. The arduous and complicated process of detachment and of disposing the end of all contents belonging to levels of human experience psychophysiological ^ does not
ing to mind the death process? For India, in fact, death translates into a brutal separation of the Spirit that moves away from all psychophysiological ex-perience. And watching intently, the mystery of liberation, the regression of the elements (tattva) to the prakrti means also an anticipation of death. We have said above (p. 261): Certain exercises tantric yogi-are but a "visualizaci6n advance" of the decomposition and regression of the circuit elements of nature phenomenon normally triggered by the death. More than an otherworldly experience Thodol described in the Bardo, the Tibetan Book of Death, corresponds strangely to the meditation exercises-Tantric yogi. We know now that this death is a death early ini - sciatica, ie, which is followed necessarily by a re-birth Towards this is another way of being that the Yogi sacrificed everything in the plane of worldly existence, pa-rece care. Sacrifice "of his life," but also of his "persona-ability". In perspecuva a profane existence, this sacrifice becomes incomprehensible. But we know the response of Indian philosophies: the existence of secular perspecuva is false. This is due to double raz6n: life stripped of the sacred is suffering and illusion and, moreover, no problem could be solved, end-to in the perspective of this life. Recall the response of the Samkhya-Yoga to issues related to the cause and the beginning of the pseudo-slavery of the Spirit in the circuit of matter and life are intractable problems in the current human condition: in other words, are "mysteries" for any intelligence that has not been released (say to all intelligence fall). If you want lle-gar to understand these "mysteries" is necessary to rise to another way of being and to get him, we must "die" in this life and "sacrifice" the personality emerging from the temporal and created by the history (personality is above all the memory of our own history). The ideal of yoga, the state of jivanmukta, is living in an "eternal present" out of Time. The "Released in life" no longer enjoys a personal conscience, or nourished nor its own history, but a witnessconsciousness, pure lucidity and spontaneity. Do not try to describe this paradoxical state: obtained through "death" on the human condition, we can not reduce it to our-work category. However, we point out a fact, rather historical interest: The Yoga resumes and continues the immemorial symbolism of the initiation, in other words, is integrated into a universal tradition of religious history of mankind: that is anti-pate death to ensure rebirth into a life santi-fied, ie, made real through the incorporation of the sacred. But at the traditional level, India has come a long way. The initiatory rebirth, for Yoga, leads to the attainment of immortality or absolute freedom. It is in the very structure of this paradoxical state, which is located alia, in the most profane existence, we must look for the explication of the coexistence of the "magic" and "mystical" in Yoga: everything depends on the meaning to be given the iberty. NOTES Note I, 1: Texts and bibliographies Samkhya The word Sankhya has been interpreted in different ways. Garbe (Die Samkhya Philosophie, cinema Darstellung des indischen Rationalismus, Leipzig, 1894, p. 131-134) derives from the terrrjino "Sankhya" ( "number", "quantity") and think it means "enumeration" " search, "" analysis "(Untersuchung, Prvfug, Unterscheidung, Erwagungen). Oldenberg (Die Lehre der Upanishads des Buddhismus und die Anfdnge, Gottingen, 1915, p. 351, n. 129) thinks rather in the sense of "act of examining,"
- Page 153 and 154: and temporal experience of yogui.48
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- Page 185 and 186: The Brahmanic sacrificer ascends to
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- Page 195 and 196: 571, note. 81 A. Griinwedel, Der We
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- Page 207 and 208: They may have been several "schools
- Page 209 and 210: Note I, 2: Patanjali and texts delY
- Page 211 and 212: J. Abs, Some early Buddhistic Tests
- Page 213 and 214: thSorie of systdme dans le connaiss
- Page 215 and 216: ., vol. 52, 1900, p. 1-15) which sp
- Page 217 and 218: Note II, 1: The concentration of ob
- Page 219 and 220: Yogapraxis, P. 169 and ff., Id., Vr
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- Page 227 and 228: p. 211-251). The Anugita (Mahabhara
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- Page 231 and 232: Philosophy, p. 297-318; A. L. Basha
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- Page 237 and 238: Lalttavistara Saddha-branch-pundari
- Page 239 and 240: G. W. Briggs, Gorakhnath and the Ka
- Page 241 and 242: Moreover, since the Sutralamkara (X
- Page 243 and 244: my country terioso North-called Sve
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- Page 249 and 250: V. Raman Sastri, The Doctrinal Cult
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Although the magical conception of the world is more profound in the Indo-tre, hesitate<br />
to impute to the magi-ca trend witnessed in the complex Yoga and giving Aborigines the<br />
exclusive rite me-mystical trend seems to us safer allocation nar the considerable<br />
contribution the importance of Indo-mo ritualis and theorizing that gave rise, and reserve<br />
for Aborigines the trend towards the concrete in religious experience, the need-ing a<br />
mystical devotion to the gods about per-sonal and local (istadevata, gramadevata). To the<br />
extent that re-presents a reaction against the ritualism and the theorizing is-colasticas,<br />
Yoga part of Aboriginal tradition and opposes the Indo-European religious heritage. We<br />
had the opportunity to dis-covers the resistance of orthodox means, that is tributary to the<br />
Indo-European tradition, to various forms of Yoga. Recall that the absence of complex<br />
yoga in other Indo-European groups confirms that this technique is a creation of the<br />
Asian soil, Indian land as if we have reason to link the origin of the ascetic yogi<br />
protohistoric Indus religion, po<br />
let us conclude that it is such an archaic form of mystical experience, disappeared<br />
elsewhere. Indeed, repe-scams, Yoga can not be included among the countless varieties<br />
of primitive mysticism commonly designated by the name of shamanism, "Yoga is not a<br />
technique of ecstasy: the contrary, strives to make the absolute concentration to reach the<br />
enstasy. In the universal history of mysticism, the Classical Yoga has its proper place,<br />
hard to locate, on the other. It depicts a "living fossil", a modality of archaic spirituality<br />
In no other place survived. (Recall that the concept of "living fossils" was used to<br />
advantage in several branches of biology, such as potholing. The troglobious that today<br />
inhabit the caveman belong to a long-extinct animals. "Ver-dader are living fossils, writes<br />
Professor Racovitza, and are often very old stages of the history of life, tertiary and even<br />
secondary. "Caves fauna preserved so archaic, very important if one is to understand the<br />
point of zoomor-graphic primitive groups not are fosMzables. It is in this sense we can<br />
speak of certain archaic forms of spirituality that remained until now as "living fossils"<br />
are the more interesting for the history of the human mind when leave no trace<br />
"documentaries" are not, we would say "fossilized").<br />
The archaism Yoga is another confirmation of its structure in initiation. We have called<br />
attention to the symbolism Yogi death and rebirth, death to the profane human condition,<br />
re-birth into a transcendent mode (p. 23). The yogi seeks to "invest" totally normal<br />
behavior: it imposes itself frozen immobility of the body (asana), rhythm espatiado and<br />
detention of respiration (pranayama), setting psychomental flow (ekagrata), immobility<br />
of think-ing, the "detention" and even "repression" of semen. At all levels of human<br />
experience, does the opposite of what life demands. But the symbolism of the "opposite"<br />
indicates the condition while post-mortem condition and the divine right to know on<br />
earth, it is left in the hereafter, a broken vase in this world equals a glass intact in the<br />
underworld and the gods, and so on. The "inversion" of the situation to normal behavior,<br />
the yogi out of life. But do not stop in the middle of the road:'s death and followed by a<br />
re-birth im'ciatico. The yogi makes a "new body" as well as the neophytes of the archaic<br />
socie-ties get a new body through the initiation.<br />
At first glance, the rejection of life imposed by the Yoga might seem terrifying, as it<br />
entails more than a symbolic funeral: experiences which are so many anticipations of<br />
death. The arduous and complicated process of detachment and of disposing the end of<br />
all contents belonging to levels of human experience psychophysiological ^ does not