India gave rise to yoga, more popularly known in the west as a set of postures to enhance strength and flexibility. However, yoga is far more complex than sequences of body postures and breathing techniques. It has a deep-rooted history that can be traced to three main yoga worldviews. Tantra is one of the main tenets of yoga philosophy.
Yoga is a Philosophy
Yoga is a centuries-old body of knowledge and practices that prescribe a way of life. It’s believed to be a representation of Vedic truth. Vedic refers to Vedas, a body of four sacred texts considered to be the oldest and most sacred in Hinduism. According to Britannica, the Vedas were composed in archaic Sanskrit from about the 15th to the 5th century BC.
Vedas and Upanishads
We first know of yoga from the Vedas. Although yoga first appeared in Vedic sacred texts, it was still only just developing in those ancient times. In its earliest form, yoga was a set of meditative and sacrificial rituals. It was a manual on how to perform rituals to attain success in various situations.
Eventually, people wanted to do more than sacrifices and rituals. They asked deeper questions and yearned to understand the world we live in. This is how the Upanishads came to be. Upanishads are philosophical works by various writers. They aspired to answer the quintessential philosophical question, “What is the meaning of life?” Unlike the earlier Vedic texts, they were less prescriptive and more inspiring. They offered new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Today, Upanishads are deeply revered and include some of the earliest principles of Indian philosophy like karma and dharma.
Patanjali
Around the same time as the Upanishads, a man named Patanjali started composing “The Yoga Sutras.” Patanjali’s sutras outlined the practice of yoga. They were profound teachings focusing on spirituality and how we may overcome pitfalls of our physical world. Some of these pitfalls included stress, ego and materialism.
Patanjali’s sutras contained “The 8 Limbs of Yoga,” a set of teachings guiding us to a more spiritual life. The third limb was Asana, known today as yoga postures. Patanjali’s “Yoga Sutras” became the cornerstone of classical yoga, one of the three main yoga worldviews.
Three Yoga Worldviews
The three yoga worldviews are concerned with how we relate to the physical and spiritual world. All forms of yoga today can be traced to at least one of the three main philosophical traditions: Classical Yoga, Advaita Vedanta and Tantra. At times you may find them combining two or all three of the worldviews.
Classical Yoga
Classical yoga refers to schools of yoga that are most closely aligned with Patanjali’s “Yoga Sutras.” This type of yoga focuses on the dualism of matter and spirit. Both are recognized but spirit is superior and matter is inferior. Spirit is our higher self, the essence of consciousness and awareness. Matter is our physical bodies, worldly thoughts and emotions.
This type of yoga strongly separates the two. It considers matter (body) as less and something to be conquered. The goal is to experience more of the spirit and less of the body. Examples of yoga practice grounded in classical yoga beliefs are Iyengar, Sivananda and Ashtanga.
In short, classical yoga believes in spirit and body. However, spirit is higher than body.
Advaita Vedanta
This worldview differs from classical yoga because it only recognizes the spirit. Spirit is unchanging and eternal while the physical is ever-changing and temporary. Therefore, the body is merely an illusion. This school of thought emphasizes that the spiritual realm is our only reality. Everything else is an error in perception.
Ashtanga yoga also adheres to this school of thought. Ashtanga aims to control the physical senses just like in classical yoga. However, Ashtanga yoga also encourages practitioners to go inward and reconnect with their spirituality.
To sum it up, Advaita vedanta only believes in the reality of spirit. To them the physical world is only an illusion.
Tantra
Tantra completely revolutionized Indian philosophy. This school of thought saw matter in a different light. For example, the body is neither an illusion or inferior to the spirit. It is divine in itself. It is an honor and a manifestation of spirit. Tantric philosophers didn’t see the body as a problem but rather, a celebration. According to Tantra, we do not control or overcome the body and our physical desires. We celebrate it. It is a holy place where we can begin our spiritual journey.
As tantra honors our physical desires, reaching orgasm then becomes an important element. However, it is far more than just achieving sexual peak. It is about being in tune with the energies of your body, on a much deeper and meaningful level. Kundalini yoga and tantric yoga adhere to tantra principles.
Here are the main distinctions of the three worldviews:
- Classical yoga believes in spirit and body. Spirit is higher than body.
- Advaita Vedanta only believes in spirit. The body is an illusion.
- Tantra believes that the body is a divine gift. It is not an obstacle but a path to spiritual journey.
Diverse Paths of Yoga
Countless interpretations and paths were formed from the three yoga worldviews above. Tantra is a yogic worldview that grew into its own rich body of knowledge and principles. The yoga practices we see today are much like the branches of an old tree. They vary in size and direction yet they all connect to the same deep-rooted tree.