History of Modern Yoga: Patanjali and Western Esotericism
Elizabeth De Michelis
Language: English
Pages: 301
ISBN: 2:00036154
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
A History of Modern Yoga traces the roots of Modern Yoga back to the spread of western esoteric ideas in 18th century Bengal's intellectual circles. In due course Raja Yoga, published by Vivekananda in 1896, became the seminal text of Modern.
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by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. First published 2004 by Continuum First paperback edition 2005 © Elizabeth De Michelis 2005 Reprinted 2006, 2008 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-8264-8772-8 (paperback) Typeset by YHT Ltd, London Printed on acid-free paper and
(historically, conceptually or in any other way) the phenomenon of Modern Yoga. In this emerging field of study we find publications by Joseph Alter (2000, Part II; and forthcoming), who has been working on the Indian aspects of Modern Yoga from the historical and anthropological point of view. Silvia Ceccomori's book (2001) discusses Modern Yoga in France: a look at the table of contents (accessed by Internet) shows that her coverage of the subject is quite comprehensive and, it would appear,
in our country does not go here. You must suit it to the taste of the people. If you ask [Americans] to become Hindus, they will all give you a wide berth and hate you, as we do the Christian missionaries. They like some of the ideas of our Hindu scriptures - that is all ... A few thousand people have faith in the Advaita doctrine. But they will give you the go-by if you talk obscure mannerisms about sacred writings, caste, or women. (CW7:481) Adjusting his teachings on the basis of these
passing that in this radically simplified view of Vedanta we already have, at this early stage, a kind of preview of what will become the essence of twentieth-century Modern Yoga: a strong focus on "practice" justified by a theory of "realization" (whether of "God" or "Self"). Starting from these premises, Roy identified what he believed to be "the heart of vedanta", i.e. the injunction "'Adore God alone'" (ibid.). Such "true worship leads to liberation (moksa) ... [as] 'He who knows God
in. (Ibid.: 137-8) As far as the Prdna Model is concerned, it is obvious that Vivekananda resolves the mind-matter problem in a thoroughly materialistic way. 19. What will be defined as Modern Postural Yoga in the next chapter. 20. See, for example: "It is the Prana that is manifesting as the actions of the body [especially breathing], as the nerve currents, as thought force" (ibid.: 147-8). 164 5. VIVEKANANDA'S RA]A YOGA (1896): MODERN YOGA FORMULATED Pranayama as healing technique Turning