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Paths of Yoga: Perspective for Workplace Spirituality

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The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment

Abstract

Yoga is a generic name for a broad set of spiritual practices aimed at a total transformation through Self-realization. Indian traditional wisdom and literature on Yoga include paths oriented towards intellectual discernment (Jñāna Yoga), devotion (Bhakti Yoga), service (Karma Yoga), and Samādhi (Aṣṭāṃga Yoga). Each offers practices to mitigate suffering and aims at total personal transformation and spiritual fulfillment. Different paths of Yoga are based on the world view that is centered on a shared vision of spirituality in various branches and sub-branches of Hindu traditional wisdom. This chapter has two major objectives. The first objective is to elucidate some of the basic tenets of Hindu worldview about the notion of self, aim of human life, role of human being in larger social and natural environment for putting up different paths of Yoga in appropriate context followed by the explanation of the features of the four primary paths of Yoga. The second objective is to illustrate the relevance of the four paths of Yoga in business organizations and their implication on management practices and scholarship.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Set of aphorisms by the Pataṃjali.

  2. 2.

    yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjayasiddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga uchyate

    Be steadfast in the performance of your duty, O Arjun, abandoning attachment to success and failure. Such equanimity is called Yog. BG 2.48:

  3. 3.

    Latin root religio of the word religion points to a bond between human being and some greater-than-human power. Historically, this term is referred in three ways. According to Hill et al. (2000): First, a supernatural power to which individuals are motivated or committed; second, a feeling present in the individual who conceives such a power; and third the ritual acts carried out in respect of that power (Wulff 1997). However, as drawing upon the work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1962/1991), Wulff pointed out that religion has become increasingly reified in contemporary society. At times, it is transformed from an abstract process to a fixed objective entity and converted into a definable system like denominations, theological traditions, etc. Smith (and Wulff) conclude that though sometimes useful for classification, this is unfortunate and a serious distortion and depreciation of religion because it overlooks the dynamic personal quality of much religious experience.

  4. 4.

    Vitality is a meaningful construct in most cultures and ancient traditions due to its remarkable salience from the Chinese concept of Chi to the yogic concept of Prana (Jou 1981; Ryan and Frederick 1997; Cope 1999).

  5. 5.

    Wilber (1993, p. 165) points out that the Advaitic perspective of the Self into five sheaths shows that there is no discontinuity of consciousness, that there is but one consciousness, namely, that associated with Atman, which appears in different states because of various misidentifications of self with one or more aspects of phenomenal selfhood. He concluded that the psychological systems of the spiritual traditions from Vedanta to Zen are in essential, formal agreement.

  6. 6.

    kurvanneveha karmāṇi jijīviṣet śataṃ samāḥ evaṃ tvayi nānyatheto’sti na karma lipyate nare.

  7. 7.

    As St. Gregory says, “We ascend to the heights of contemplation by the steps of the active life.” Morals on Job, XXXI, 102.

  8. 8.

    Pañca vā ete mahāyajñāssatati, Pratāyante satati saṃtiṣtante

    Devayajnaḥpitra, yajño bhutayajño, Manuṣya yajño brahmayajña iti. Taittirīya āraṇyaka

    These are the five great sacrifices which are to be performed on a daily basis and completed. They are Deva-yajña, Pitṛ-yajña, Bhūta-yajña, Manuṣya-yajña, and Brahma-yajña.

  9. 9.

    Taasu No Dhehy-Abhi Nah Pavasva Maataa Bhuumih Putro Aham Prthivyaah Maataa Bhuumih Putro Aham Prthivyaah, Trans: Absorb us in that Power and Purify us, O Bhoomi Mata, I am the Son of Mother Earth. Bhumi Sukta, Atharva Veda 12.2.

  10. 10.

    śṛṇvantu biśve amṛtasya putrā | ā ye dhāmāni dibyāni tasthuḥ || (Śvetāśvetaropaniṣada, 2.5) – Trans.: May all the sons of the Immmortal listen, even those who have reached their heavenly abodes. (Radhkrishnan 1953, 2016, p. 720).

  11. 11.

    Bhakt word refers to one who offers Bhakti to God, devotee of the Lord.

  12. 12.

    Loka means society (people) and cosmic system (nature). Saṃgraha means to gather, protect, nourish, regulate, etc. (Tilak 1915). Lokasaṃgraha means binding people together, protecting them to achieve the welfare of the society and leading them on the path of self-realization. The notion of Lokasaṃgraha involves well-being of all people (Chakraborty 2006), welfare of society as whole and humanity (Sharma 1999; Sebastian 2003), concern for social and natural environment (Pandey et al. 2009), unity of the world (Radhakrishnan 1948), and interconnectedness of the society (Pandey et al. 2016; Pardasani et al. 2014).

  13. 13.

    “yogashchittavrittinirodhah” Pataṃjali Yoga Sutra, 1.2

    Yoga is restraining the mind stuff (Chitta) from taking various forms (Vrttis) (Vivekananda, p. 9). Yoga is the control of the whirls of the mind (Trans. Feuerstein 2003, p. 31).

  14. 14.

    Pure consciousness is beyond the mental processes and has continued to appear in the writings of many Western scholars since the early 1970s (Fischer 1971; Wilber 1993; Forman 1990).

  15. 15.

    In Hindu society and culture, there is the distinct institutional category of the “sampradāyas,” which involve lineages of spiritual teachers and disciples. There are numerous sampradāyas with a large following and with histories that extend across centuries. Some of them, such as the Nātha Sampradāya, are specialized in Pataṃjali’s Dhyāna yoga. Others, like the Vārkarī Sampradāya, primarily involve the practice of Bhakti yoga.

  16. 16.

    dhāryate iti dharmaḥ.

  17. 17.

    dhārayati iti dharmaḥ.

  18. 18.

    One must elevate, not degrade, oneself by one’s own “mind.” The mind alone is one’s friend as well as one’s enemy. (6.05). The mind is the “friend” of those who have control over it, and the mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it. (6.06). Trsl: Radhakrishnan (1927, 2009, pp. 189–190).

  19. 19.

    ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāns tathaiva bhajāmyahammama vartmānuvartante manuṣhyāḥ pārtha sarvaśhaḥ

    As men approach me so do I accept them: men on all sides follow my path, O Parth (Arjuna). BG 4.11: Trsl: Radhakrishnan (2009, p. 158)

    Rucīnāṃ vaicitryādṛjukuṭilanānāpathajuṣāṃ, nṛṇāmeko gamyastvamasipayasāmarṇava iva॥7॥

    As the different streams having there sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee (Lecture of Swami Vivekananda, first World Religion Congress in Chicago in 1893.).

  20. 20.

    Transcendental meditation is a meditation technique developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1911–2008).

  21. 21.

    Ādi śaṃkara is considered to be the most revered interpreter of Jñāna Yoga and Advait Vedanta (nondualistic perspective in Vedas) has enumerated similar steps in his text, namely Vivekacūḍāmaṇī.

  22. 22.

    The practice of Pratyāhāra (sense control), Dhāraṇā (concentration), and Dhyāna (meditation) explained by Pataṃjali in the system of Aṣṭāṃga Yoga is combined with Jñāna Yoga by sages of the modern times like Raman Maharshi.

  23. 23.

    yo māḿ paśyati sarvatra, sarvaḿ ca mayi paśyatitasyāhaḿ na praṇaśyāmi, sa ca me na praṇaśyati

    For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me. Bhagavad Gita 6.30.

  24. 24.

    “sarvaṃ sarveṣu bhūteṣu” | “samaṃ sarveṣu bhūteṣu” | “tiṣṭhantaṃ parameśvaraṃ” | “vinasyatsva avinasyantaṃ” | “yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati”

    He who sees Me every where and sees all in Me; I am not lost to him nor is he lost to Me. BG. 6.30 (Transl: Radhakrishnan 2009, p. 204).

    samaḿ paśyan hi sarvatra, samavasthitam īśvaramna hinasty ātmanātmānaḿ, tato yāti parāḿ gatim

    For, as he sees the Lord present, equally everywhere, he does not injure his true Self by the self and then he attains to the supreme goal. BG 13.29 (Transl: Radhakrishnan 2009, p. 311).

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Acknowledgments

Authors acknowledge the insight full discussion with K. Ramasubramanian, Mukul Kanitkar and Rajen Gupta to bring this chapter in the present form.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India

    Ashish Pandey & Ajinkya V. Navare

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  1. Ashish Pandey
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  2. Ajinkya V. Navare
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Correspondence to Ajinkya V. Navare .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robertson School of Government, Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

    Gary E. Roberts

  2. International College of Management (ICMS), Sydney, Australia

    Joanna Elizabeth Crossman

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Pandey, A., Navare, A.V. (2018). Paths of Yoga: Perspective for Workplace Spirituality. In: Roberts, G., Crossman, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62163-0_4

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