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THE MIND IN HATHA YOGA
A REVIEW
Dr. R. Bodhe
The topic which I have chosen to present is a research thesis, and a literary study. Yoga, like any science, basically depends on a study of the scriptures. I would like to present to you my conclusion from the scriptures of hatha yoga on the subject of mind. One of the most important texts is Swami Swatmarama's book, Hatha Yoga Pradipika a thorough study of which gave me some opinions about mind.
I have observed during my research at Kaivalyadhama, Lonavala, and here, that whenever we discuss the mind in yoga or in hatha yoga, we either end up talking about the views on mind as expressed in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras or we take up the views expressed in Vedanta and relate them with the practice of hatha yoga.
So, I thought, why not look into the literature available on hatha yoga to see if there is any review on "mind". The practitioners of hatha yoga believe that it is a science dealing basically with the body and Patanjali's yoga deals with the mind. So it is not possible to find anything that would be of much use on the subject of mind in hatha yoga or in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
Yet you will be surprised to know that the views expressed in Swatmarama's Hatha Yoga Pradipika, concerning mind are able to provide a foundation for psychology, the modern science of mind. Furthermore, we call yoga an experiential science but it is difficult to prove it from the researcher's point of view. Then, if yoga or hatha yoga is to be presented as an experiential science the views on mind that have been given in Swatmarama's Hatha Yoga Pradipika can show us the way to do it. Secondly, Swatmarama gives hatha yoga an empirical basis, an experiential concept.
So, though it is said that yoga, especially hatha yoga, is a science of the body, we must not start speculating that hatha
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