Yoga and the Jesus Prayer - A Comparison between aṣtānga yoga in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali and the Psycho-Physical Method of Hesychasm
The present article will try to show differences and similarities in description about the ascetic teaching and mystical experience of two totally different spiritual traditions, i.e. in regard to the Jesus Prayer in the late Byzantine era and yoga in ancient India. A prayer made much use of by...
| Published in: | Journal of Hindu-Christian studies |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Univ.
2015
|
| In: |
Journal of Hindu-Christian studies
|
| RelBib Classification: | BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages KDF Orthodox Church TC Pre-Christian history ; Ancient Near East |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The present article will try to show differences and similarities in description about the ascetic teaching and mystical experience of two totally different spiritual traditions, i.e. in regard to the Jesus Prayer in the late Byzantine era and yoga in ancient India. A prayer made much use of by Christians in the Eastern Orthodox Church is the so-called Jesus Prayer or Prayer of the heart, including a short phrase, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me that is repeatedly and continuously recited.1 The Jesus Prayer began to spread generally in the Eastern Church with the birth of hesychasm, a spiritual movement of Orthodox monasticism in the 14th century Byzantine empire. But a significant part of this movement was not so much the establishment of the Jesus Prayer itself but a special psycho-physical technique which began to be practiced with this prayer by monks on the Holy Mountain of Athos. What interests us in this regard is that this psycho-physical method, including a special bodily posture and a breath control technique, appears to be quite similar to the methods set out in another religious tradition, namely that of yoga that developed from ancient times in India. Because of its impressive similarity, a Byzantinologist, Endre von Ivánka, called the practitioners of hesychasm byzantinische Yogis.2 For this present article we take up the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali with its comprehensive method of yoga, and clarify similarities and differences in the conceptual and methodological frameworks of the two systems. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2164-6279 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Hindu-Christian studies
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1606 |