What is the difference between yoga and buddhism

For me, the number one thing that Buddhist practice offers is mindfulness, which broadens your ability to manifest your values in your life. It makes such a difference in our daily lives. The buddhadharma is very complete and you can find answers in a kind of straightforward way. The tools of yoga asana are very skillful in creating that inner environment, that potential for inner investigation.

The tools of Buddhist meditation bring a calm, abiding presence. In both yoga and Buddhism, there is a beautiful exploration of the koshas, the layers of the subtle body. But when we discuss mind, the Buddhist system is more descriptive. And we learn how to isolate the various aspects and subtleties of the mind and its hindrances.

There is a wider map of the psychological realm in the Buddhist tradition. It is difficult, it is sparse, and it is bare. In fact, the teachings are really quite similar to the basic pillars of buddhadharma—karma, kleshas, seeing reality clearly, ending suffering. All that is in the yoga tradition. Anna Douglas: I would say to a person who is interested in yoga and meditation that yoga is very good for awakening energies.

What the Buddhist tradition does is speak very directly to suffering. How could people not hear it? People are suffering. Anna Douglas: For instance, I have observed a tendency in the yoga world to look at the body as an object. To look at the performance aspect of yoga, rather than revealing the hidden emptiness of the body.

They are ready to look at suffering in all aspects of their lives, including the suffering of looking at themselves as objects. Stephen Cope: Part of the brilliance of the Buddha was that he eschewed metaphysical concerns. He was more interested in how practically to attenuate the kleshas conflicting emotions in order to unravel the roots of suffering.

I think that among the millions of people who are doing yoga in this country, many have not yet discovered that the foundation of yoga practice is also the attenuation of the kleshas. It is unraveling greed, hatred and delusion. That view is completely present in the classical path of yoga, but we in the American yoga world are just beginning to get down to those roots-the concern with kleshas and suffering-and see how the postures help to deconstruct all that.

Phillip Moffitt: I remember an experience I had once, about , while I was doing a shoulder stand. I was very uncomfortable, and I suddenly realized: this was was just one more meditation posture. From that day on, my yoga was different. But I agree with the others that most hatha yoga practitioners in this country have yet to discover this. It is not what has been taught, and I had to discover it experientially. You can go directly to the teachings to see that.

What does an on-going yoga practice have to offer Buddhists? Anna Douglas: In the early years of Spirit Rock, I started a class combining sitting and yoga practice because I knew how much yoga had helped me in learning how to sit still. A mind that can focus and become concentrated is a better tool for enlightenment than a mind easily distracted and fragmented. In contemplating the relationship of yoga and Buddhism, we must not forget that the Buddha was Indian, was well-versed in Vedantic philosophy, was a practitioner of yoga, and sought an experiential understanding of the philosophy.

The Buddha was such a devoted and serious practitioner of the yogic arts that he attained the fruits of the practice: enlightenment. The first noble truth proclaimed by the Buddha is Dukka: Life is suffering and suffering is a reality. The second truth, Samudaya, is that the cause of this suffering originates in our own minds.

The third noble truth, Nirodha, offers hope: liberation and freedom from suffering is possible. Both Buddhism and Yogic schools of thought recognize that enlightenment arises when there is freedom from the dualistic mindset.

Krishna teaches in the Bhagavad-Gita the importance of equanimity of mind. Freedom comes when we are free from our wants, our preferences.

The yogic text Astavakra Samhita states: One who thinks he is free is free, one who thinks he is bound is bound, as we think so we become. When one identifies with that which is eternal, one eventually becomes eternal.

Nothing exists without a cause. November Fundamentals of Zen Buddhism Monday, 15th November at pm Online classes for members and those who have completed the Introducing Buddhism Course or equivalent New members wishing to join the class are requested to email The Spread of Buddhism Buddhists follow three main traditions; the Theravada or Southern tradition; the Mahayana or Northern tradition; and the Vajrayana Tibetan tradition.

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