Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 5)

25 November 2016

The last posted article dealt with the six classical schools of Indian philosophy and gave a brief description of each. This article will focus on Vedanta as it applies to yoga, more specifically what Dr. David Frawley writes about the nature of yoga and its relationship to Vedanta.

The following is excerpted from Dr. Frawley’s book, “Vedantic Meditation: Lighting the Flame of Awareness.” …

"The first teachers who brought Yoga to the West came with the profound teachings of Vedanta as their greatest treasure to share with the world. They presented Vedanta as the philosophy of Self-realization and Yoga as the methodology by which to achieve it. Such great masters began with Swami Vivekananda at the end of the nineteenth century and continued with Swami Rama Tirtha, Paramahansa Yogananda, and the many disciples of Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh. They called their teaching Yoga-Vedanta, which they viewed as a complete science of spiritual growth.

"However, in the course of time asana or Yoga postures gained more popularity in the physically-minded West, and the Vedantic aspect of the teachings fell to the sidelines, particularly over the last twenty years. The result is that today few American Yoga teachers know what Vedanta is or can explain it to others. If they have an interest in meditation they generally look to Zen or Vipassana, not knowing that meditation is the very foundation of classical Yoga and its related traditions.

"Even students of related disciplines like Ayurveda or Vedic astrology may know little about Vedanta, the path of self-knowledge that is the spiritual support and goal of these systems. Meanwhile, those who study the great Vedantic gurus of modern India, like Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta Maharaj, generally look at the particular teacher as the source of the teachings, and they may fail to understand the tradition that they are part of. In this way the heart teachings of India's great sages have become progressively lost even to those who claim to follow their teachings in the West.”

A bit about David Frawley: He has been a student of Ramana Maharashi’s teachings since 1970 and has written for their magazine The Mountain Path since 1978. He is a visitng professor at the Sringeri Shankaracharya Math, the oldest vedantic center in India, and has receive the personal blessings of the Shankaracharya. He teaches at Vedantic centers in America and is one of the few Westerns recognized as an authentic Vedantic teacher by the Vishva Hindu Parisha, the largest Hindu religious organization in the world. Frawley directs the American Institute of Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

A brief Biography: Dr. David Frawley (aka, Pandit Vāmadeva) is a Vedic teacher and educator who is the author of over thirty books in several Vedic and Yogic fields published worldwide over the past thirty years. He is the founder and director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies (www.vedanet.com), which offers on-line courses and publications on Ayurvedic medicine, Yoga, mantra and meditation, and Vedic astrology. He is involved in important research into ancient Vedic texts and is a well known modern exponent of Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma. He has a rare D.Litt in Yoga and is a recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan award, one of India's highest civilian awards for "distinguished service of a higher order." His work is highly respected in traditional circles in India, as well as influential in the West, where he is involved in many Vedic and Yogic schools, ashrams and associations.

Stay tuned, this series will continue – coming up next; “Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 6).”

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