Yoga is a journey of the self, through the self, to the self 

What does the word yoga mean?

The word Yoga has many translations and interpretations. This is because Yoga is thousands of years old.⁽¹⁾ It’s meaning has changed over time and many guru’s have given different interpretations. So, the meaning of the word Yoga, has evolved through different lineages.

It’s generally accepted that the word Yoga means Union.

Exactly what this ‘union’ is also has different interpretations. In most styles of yoga, we learn that union means; The joining of the ‘separate ego self’ with your ‘higher self’.

In eastern philosophy that would be described as; Merging Atman (the individual self) with Brahman (universal principle, or absolute reality)…

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad manuscript page, verses 1.3.1 to 1.3.4

A translation regarding the Atman, from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad⁽²⁾…

”Atman is the person in the earth and the person in the body… in fire and in speech; in wind and in breath; in the Sun and in the eye… in truth and truthfulness; in humanity and in the human; in the Self and in the self.”

A translation regarding Brahman, from the Svetashvatara Upanishad…

”with the nature of this self, as with a lamp, a practitioner of Yoga beholds here the nature of Brahman”

You’d be forgiven for thinking words like ‘higher self’ sound like some new age fantasy. However, these ideas and philosophies are akin to science. Any valuable authentic spiritual philosophy offers propositions that can and must be verified empirically (in your direct experience), that is,

So, in other words, if you apply yourself to the teachings for a certain length of time, it is likely that you will come to agree with many of these propositions offered, even if they are counter-intuitive at first.

So, through meditation and contemplation, we can not only understand, but also feel, then experience the higher self.

Journey to the Self

The quote at the top of this article is from the Bhagavad Gita⁽³⁾ I’ll attempt to give you an interpretation;

Yoga is a journey of the self
We start off as an individual self, looking for answers, or maybe looking to improve flexibility, or wellbeing, for example.

Through the self
We start to learn more about ourself and initially may feel some kind of ‘improvement’ in one way or another. Through deeper practice of Yoga, we might start to ask the question, what, or where is this ‘self’ I refer to.

To the Self
With either spiritual practice, guidance from a teacher, or even a sudden insight, we eventually experience the self we thought we were trying to improve, does not exist. Or at least not in the way we thought.

We realise that we are not our thoughts.

We are not our feelings.

We are not even our body.

The Self that seems to experience thoughts, feelings and body, is awareness. Or consciousness. Or being. Or God – different words for the same thing.

We only know of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, in fact, any experience whatsoever, because first we are aware of it.

This grounds us in the absolute knowing that our essential nature is awareness itself.

Hence, what we once thought was self (our name, thoughts, physical body etc.) is no longer a reasonable explanation for the self.

⁽¹⁾Many scholars still dispute how old yoga is, with some claims that yoga is 5,000 years old, some dating yoga to 10,000 years old. However, there is solid, reliable evidence that yoga has been consistently practice for 2,500 year

⁽²⁾One of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. Date unknown – Estimated 7th to 6th centuries BCE.

⁽³⁾ A 700 verse Hindu scripture (part of an epic scripture, the Mahabharata), written at some point between 400 CE and 600 CE. The Bhagavad Gita translates to ‘Song of God’