The word yoga comes from the word yoke meaning to unite or discipline; therefore, yoga by definition is a method of training designed to lead to integration or union. Yoga can be translated as “union” or “discipline” that leads to the integration of the internal environment. Yoga has been under experimentation for hundreds of years in India. India has been interested in precision and ideally complete control over the body’s every function. Yoga was also designed to unite the human spirit with God or in this case Brahman-Atman the absolute, the ultimate reality. However there are three distinct yogas that include the title of marga which means a path or way; these yogas include jhana yoga marga, bhakti yoga marga, and karma yoga marga. These three yoga-margas lead to the path of moksha, the liberation from the finite self to the infinite self. Hatha yoga and Raja yoga are only tools for the 3 yoga margas. Hatha yoga focuses on the discipline of the body, and raja yoga focuses on the discipline of the mind. These tools are the fundamentals needed in order to fully understand the three yoga-margas. Each yoga-marga will equally lead an individual to the path of moksha. This means that there is no better yoga-marga than the other, they are respectfully treated equally; in addition, from learning the three yoga-margas, an individual may feel or specialize in one yoga-marga from the three.
In order to understand yoga from a more general perspective, think about musical instruments in this example: say there is an orchestra band waiting to begin a musical; however, before any musician starts their music, a musician must tune their instruments. The tuning phase of the instrument is the individual trying to adjust to their inner self by learning and practicing their yoga’s. Furthermore, once the instrument is in tune and the musicians on the orchestra band begin to play there is harmony, a sense of beauty through sound. Once an individual has fully understood the...