Yoga poses vocabulary

Hemacandra adapts Jain discourse to and informs it by the new hegemonic Tantric discourse. A further part of his Tantric yoga consists of four forms of dhyana meditation, as pranayama according to Hemacandra, did not lead to liberation but mainly to a healthy body. He then describes some Tantric styles of dhyana. These are various meditation styles employing mantras and sounds, which are typical for Tantric sadhana. In similar typical Tantric style, we are then told about the supernatural powers – siddhis – generated by these dhyana styles.

Thus Hemacandra’s Tantric yoga in summary consists of a range of pranayama techniques followed by meditations on sounds and Tantric signs. His detailed account leaves the impression of a kind of nada-yoga – sound yoga – informed by Tantric discourse. He claims that this yoga will lead to happiness in heaven’ and the soul will incarnate in excellent bodies,’ when it returns to this world. Here the adept – following Jain prescriptions -easily gains eternal liberation. We could say this Tantric yoga reduced the number of times an adept needed to be reborn in order to gain liberation. We notice however that this Tantric yoga does not on its own lead to liberation. It is clearly included in a hegemonic Jain discourse, as the adept must follow Jain prescription to achieve final liberation.

At the end of the book (CH.11-12) Hemacandra finally describes the traditional Jain fourfold pure meditation style – sukla-dhyana – and in the final chapter he adds his personal flavour of meditation. Hemacandra’s personal meditation is very reminiscent of the still-mind-or mortification meditation that we encountered as early-yoga evolved as a branch of an underlying proto-yoga field. The no-mind condition created by this meditation however has nothing to do with the Brahmin mystical discourse, where non-duality was realised. Neither can Hemacandra’s meditation be compared to (the dying moments?) of samadhi, where the meditator has realised and overcome the various distractions of the elements of prakriti.

Repeat 10-12 times. 29 BEGINNER Seated Leg Extension Yoga poses vocabulary BENEFITS: Strengthens your quadriceps muscles. Sit on the ball. At first, you can Yoga poses vocabulary hold onto the ball. As you get better at balancing, extend your arms out to the side. Lift one knee and straighten your leg, reaching out through your heel. Flex and point your ankle. Return to the starting position. Repeat on the other side. Do this 10-12 times. BEGINNER Seated Knee Crunches BENEFITS: Strengthens your abs and lower back. Sit on top of the ball with your knees at a right angle to your hips and your hands on the ball. Lift both knees at once toward your chest, using your abs to lift your knees. Return back to the starting position. Do this 5 times, working your way up to 15. BEGINNER Seated Hamstring Stretch BENEFITS: Creates a long, graceful line from your butt to your knee.

Yoga poses vocabulary Photo Gallery



Maybe You Like Them Too

Leave a Reply

8 + 1 =