– scorrere giù per la versione in italiano –

Eddie Stern was in Milan this week-end and I couldn’t miss the chance to practice with him and to attend one of his lectures yesterday afternoon. The subject was Samkhya philosophy and what is yoga. Here a short story he related to answer the question ‘Is yoga physical, spiritual or religious?’:

Once, somebody asked Krishnamacharya: what are yogasanas for?

Krishnamacharya answered:

For those who have faith, asanas are done to realize the link between the individual self and the cosmic Self. Here comes into play the word yoga as union.

For those who do not believe in God, but believe in the individual self, then yoga is the union between that individual self and the mind.

Finally, for those who do not accept the individual self, yogasanas aid the union between self (body) and prana (vital force).