There is a spiritual heart called hridaya on the right side of the chest that mirrors our physical heart on the left. It radiates a pure, infinite, immortal vibration that unites the individual to the whole of creation.
Wow! That is the first time I have heard that. What teaching is that part of, if I wanted to learn more? Thanks!
Oh man, that's a great question! Where do I start?...Have you heard of the Upanishads?
Hridaya is a Sanskrit word that comes from ancient vedic texts.
The word "vedic" describes something coming from the Vedas.
The Vedas are Hindu scriptures (hymns, to be more specific).
The Upanishads are part of the Vedas.
A great deal of yogic doctrine comes from this arena. (There are LOTS more yoga texts, but that's where some classic stuff comes from.)
Some people consider a study of the Vedas as integral to a meaningful yoga practice.
Jnana yoga is the yoga of self-study or wisdom.
So you can practice jnana yoga, study the Vedas and Upanishads, and learn more about hridaya.
You can also practice jnana yoga without specifically reading the Vedas and study your SELF instead... :)
While I believe a full spectrum yoga practice addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual realms, personally, I don't believe in dogma. I find it more beneficial to cut right to the chase - yoga is consciousness.
Therefore, you can read all you want about hridaya (and it is a fascinating concept) or you can just meditate on and tune into your spiritual heart and FEEL and embody it to get the real juicy stuff out of it.
I'm familiar with the words, Upanishads and Vedas, but never made it much past the yamas and niyamas in yogic doctrine. This is my first time hearing about jnana yoga too, so lots to learn! One of the down sides of a home based practice is the need to be your own teacher. Thanks!
Where are you from, @kittyandcheese?
Western approaches to yoga like to compartmentalize and define everything and separate the different "types" of yoga. To me, real yoga is LIFE itself! Various teachings are just guides for interfacing it.
On the one hand, all these terms matter because maybe they help us understand ourselves a little better, but on the other hand they don't matter at all because we can just tap into our innate light, love, and truth at any time without the need for any words or language at all!
I get that. Yes. I have my own relationship to my practice that is enough regardless of anything else.
Didn't mean to question too much. I 'm just going though a phase of gathering new influences and something in your post struck me.
Thanks, @saramiller!
Do you know this one? One of the hardest texts I have ever read, barely grasped it, the second being Śakti and Śākta by John Woodroffe
I have not read that book @street.yoga. Sounds interesting! Can you tell me a summary?
In a dialogue between Tripurasundari and Bhairava, techniques like bavana meditation, mantras, pujas from the lowest ritualistic to the highest spiritual ones, nyasa and japa rites are described. Tantric tattvas are taken up, various hand mudras and kundalini meditation. This tantra is basically devoted to the beautiful goddess of the three cities and her manifestation in form of the triangle symbolizing the yoni and forming the sri chakra, including worship of the siddhis, here as deities, on the nine parts. It's a handful for a book with not even 200 pages, but I think you would like it :)
Oooooo yes it sounds right up my alley! I love to explore tantric liberation. I will search for an online version for this text.