Yoga Philosophy

The Yoga philosophy is one of the six major important schools of Hindu philosophy, yet distinct from Samkhya. Ancient, medieval and modern literature often simply call Yoga philosophy, Yoga.  A systematic collection of ideas of Yoga is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a key text which has influenced all other schools of Indian philosophy.

The metaphysics of Yoga is Samkhya's dualism, in which the universe is conceptualized as composed of two realities: Puruṣa (witness-consciousness) and Prakṛti (nature). Jiva (a living being) is considered as a state in which puruṣa is bonded to Prakṛti   in form, and in various permutations and combinations of various elements, senses, feelings, activities and mind. During the state of imbalance or ignorance, one or more constituents overwhelm the others, creating a form of bondage. The end of this bondage is called liberation, or mokṣa, as taught by both the Yoga and Samkhya schools of Hinduism, and can be attained by insight and self-restraint.

The ethical theory of Yoga philosophy is based on Yamas and Niyamas, as well as elements of the Guṇa theory of Samkhya. The epistemology of Yoga philosophy relies on three of six Pramanas as the means of gaining reliable knowledge. These include Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference) and Sabda (Āptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources).  Yoga philosophy incorporates the concept of a "personal, yet essentially inactive, deity" or "personal god"  - Ishvara.

Purusha is defined as that reality which is pure consciousness and is untouched by thought or quality. Prakriti is the empirical, phenomenal (physical) reality which includes matter and also mind, sensory organs and the sense of identity (self, soul).[19]A living being (a man or woman) is considered to be the union of matter and mind. The metaphysics of Yoga is dualistic. It considers consciousness and matter, self/soul and body as two different realities. 

The Yoga system espouses dualism between consciousness and matter by postulating two "irreducible, innate and independent realities: Purusha and Prakriti. While the Prakriti is a single entity, the Yoga philosophy admits a plurality of the Puruṣas in this world. Unintelligent, unmanifest, uncaused, ever-active, imperceptible and eternal, Prakriti is the final source of the world of objects. Puruṣa is considered as the conscious principle, a passive enjoyer (bhokta) and Prakriti is the enjoyed (bhogya). Yoga believes that the Puruṣa cannot be regarded as the source of the inanimate world because an intelligent principle cannot transform itself into the unconscious world. This metaphysics is a pluralistic spiritualism, a form of realism built on the foundation of dualism.

Yoga philosophy adopts the theory of Guṇa from Samkhya. Guṇas theory states that three gunas (innate tendency, attributes) are present in different proportions in all beings, and these three are sattva guna (goodness, constructive, harmonious), rajas guna (passion, active, confused), and tamas guna (darkness, destructive, chaotic). These three are present in every being but in different proportions, and the fundamental nature and psychological dispositions of beings is a consequence of the relative proportion of these three gunas. When sattva guna predominates in an individual, the qualities of lucidity, wisdom, constructiveness, harmony, and peacefulness manifest themselves; when rajas is predominant, attachment, craving, passion-driven activity and restlessness manifest; and when tamas predominates in an individual, ignorance, delusion, destructive behavior, lethargy, and suffering manifests. The guṇas theory underpins the philosophy of mind in the Yoga school of Hinduism.

The early scholars of Yoga philosophy, posit that the Puruṣa (consciousness) by its nature is sattvic (constructive), while Prakriti (matter) by its nature is tamasic (chaotic). They further posit that individuals at birth have buddhi (intelligence, sattvic). As life progresses and churns this buddhi, it creates asmita or ahamkara (ego, rajasic). When ego in turn is churned by life, manas (temper, mood, tamasic) is produced. Together, buddhi, ahamkara and manas interact and constitute citta (mind) in the Yoga school of thought. Unrestrained modification of citta causes suffering. A way of life that empowers one to become ever more aware of one's consciousness and spirituality innate in buddhi, is the path to one's highest potential and a more serene, content, liberated life. Patanjali's Yoga sutra begins, in verse 2 of Book 1, by defining Yoga as "restraining the Citta from Vrittis."

The Yoga philosophy of Hinduism holds that ignorance is the cause of suffering and saṁsāra.  Liberation, like many other schools, is removal of ignorance, which is achieved through discriminative discernment, knowledge and self-awareness. The Yoga Sūtras is the Yoga philosophy's treatise on how to accomplish discernment, knowledge and self-awareness. Samādhi is the state where lucid awareness develops, and this is how one starts the process of becoming aware of Purusa and the true or higher Self. It further claims that this awareness is eternal, and once achieved, a person cannot ever cease being aware; this is moksha, the soteriological goal in Hinduism.

The benefits of the Yoga philosophy are summarized in verses III.46 to III.55 of the Yoga Sutras, stating that the first five limbs leads to bodily perfections such as beauty, loveliness, strength and toughness; while the last three limbs through sanyama leads to mind and psychological perfections of perceptiveness, one's nature, mastery over egoism, and the discriminative knowledge of purity, self and soul.

Yoga as a separate school of philosophy has been included as one of the six orthodox schools in medieval era Indian texts;  the other schools are Samkhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.