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religion - - (+6|-1)
Evans-Wentz provides a great definition for 'yoga'(self)
4 commentsbyLarrySwinger

I'm reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead.[1] On page 46 there's a compact yet accurate definition for the term 'yoga'. They are quoting Walter Evan-Wentz. He wrote in English but this book translated his words into Dutch. I will translate them back into English:

Yoga derives from a Sanskrit word that means yoking, connecting. A concatenating of the biological nature to the divine nature inside the human, such that the higher one controls the lower one.

Yoga is the scientific method of making the mind lucid and transparent, so that the light of Reality can be reflected and the person can know himself.

In the same way that gold can be purified by chemical means, Truth can be separated from delusion through yoga.

It's slightly coloured by adherency but still well balanced with precision. I no longer care too much about all information being exclusively academic. There are plenty of times when adherents of some doctrine provide useful information and this is especially true for Eastern wisdom since the contents by themselves are profound.

The use of this definition is to communicate the distinction between yoga and physical exercise in an accessible way. I find that even books that promote exercise will often still include a good description of the authentic yoga, although those initial pages are the only thing those books are useful for.

  1. The Tibetan Book of the Dead, translated by Kazi Dawa-Samdup, edited by W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Oxford University Press, 1927.

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[-]Neol5(+4|0)

Did you watch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enter_the_Void ? It's like a movie adaptation of Bardo Thodol :)

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[-]LarrySwinger3(+2|0)

I have watched and but missed that detail. Good film. From my reading so far it seems more like the person who dies will experience illusions, while in that film he still hovers around the world he knew during his life. But I haven't finished reading it.

Do you like Noe? That is his only film I have seen till the end. I want to give Irreversible another try some time. I tried to watch Love as well last year but simply couldn't watch that, too pornographic.

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[-]Neol2(+1|0)

I didn't read Bardo Thodol in whole, but I think the color sequences in movie are also from there, Google pointed me to this Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Pure_Lights

I only saw Irreversible of other Noe movies, and liked it (though probably less than Enter the Void). Reviews exaggerate the rape scene as if it's a center of the movie, but I think it's really not, I like it as a whole piece, it's really peaceful in the latter part.

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[-]LarrySwinger2(+1|0)

I didn't even stop watching Irreversible because I knew rape was upcoming. Rather I wasn't patient enough for that cinematographic style at the time. But what I saw kind of stuck with me so I've always been curious. Later on I asked a friend if he wanted to watch it with me but he shot it down specifically because of the rape. I feel like most descriptions of movies do more to spoil and ruin the experience than to prepare you. Some context is nice to have but you have to accept the spoilers then. Good information is hard to come by.

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