How Does the Practice of Hatha Yoga Naturally Lead One

How Does the Practice of Hatha Yoga Naturally Lead One

to Buddhism?

Such a statement and assertion may result in those who

practice Yoga and Hatha Yoga a variety of thoughts and reactions.

And in the teaching of Hatha Yoga, just as the

teaching of anything, the teacher’s experiences with

life and their practice and approach to life and

teaching will influence what he or she shares with the

students and how the energy of their mind and body is

directed during their hour or hour and a half

together, once a day, everyday or three times a week.

Some teachers may place a lot of emphasis on various

other teachings and aspects of Yoga while they teach,

while some will focus solely on the body.

Some teachers may have ideas as to what should be

their sole focus while teaching, some thinking that

anything outside of the physical practice of Yoga is

not suitable, while others will bring other things

into their teaching.

In secular cultures and societies where the practice

or non – practice of religion and a spiritual

discipline is thought of as being a very much

individual choice, any discussion of religious and

spiritual ethics and teachings may be considered to be inappropriate, unsuitable and even offensive to some in the Hatha Yoga

teaching and learning session.

And in order to see how the practice of Yoga can

naturally lead one to Buddhism, one needs to be

familiar with what Buddhism is built around and

teaches.

In the briefest possible manner, Buddhism states that

we suffer as individuals and that this suffering is a

result of defilements in our mind and consciousness,

our conditioning and how we think, speak and act.

Buddhism gives us a set of teachings to learn,

understand and apply which weakens the defilements,

rectifies unwholesome conditioning from the past, and

allows for wholesome conditioning in the present and

future, both as individuals and in our interactions

with others.

This set of teachings is known as The Noble Eightfold

Path.

Seasoned teachers and practitioners of Hatha Yoga know

that by working with the body and consciousness

through the breathing techniques and bodily postures

that Hatha Yoga recommends, changes come about in how

we think, feel, speak and act.

Many of the states of consciousness that the

understanding and application of The Noble Eightfold

Path bring about naturally we start to evolve to

through our practice of Hatha Yoga.

This is a result of the fact that through the practice

of Hatha Yoga, we become more balanced, relaxed,

mindful and concentrated.

We become more understanding and compassionate to the

ways of other people and can see what causes their

problems and our own and how they can be dealt with.

This equates to Right Understanding, the first step of

The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism.

We start to live a life built more around the idea and

practice of harmlessness and good will to others,

while making changes on our own that require less from

others and our environment. This equates to Right

Intentions, the second step of The Noble Eightfold

Path of Buddhism.

Our speech is less hostile to others, both to their

face and behind their back. We are more honest in what

we say, in addition to being more mindful about how

our words can affect others. This equates to Right

Speech, the third step of The Noble Eightfold Path of

Buddhism.

Our actions are less aggressive and violent to all

forms of life, and we do not need to appropriate those

things that belong to others or engage in sensual or

sexual actions that may be injurious or demeaning to

ourselves and others. This equates to Right Action,

the fourth step of The Noble Eightfold Path of

Buddhism.

We look more closely at what we do for a living and

what our attitude is to our work. It is quite common

to see people who have had a spiritual awakening

through any number of ways to make changes in what

they do for a living, if it is possible.

And many times, even it is does not initially seem

possible, eventually some change will happen.

Though the original ideas as put forth in Buddhism of

what Right Livelihood consisted of were quite narrow

and explicitly stated as being a few particular

things, as society, culture and life as evolved, these

have been broadened somewhat, so that jobs where greed

and lust for money, power and influence is the primary motivation behind the work may also be questioned as being a wrong

form of livelihood.

This equates to the fifth step of The Noble Eightfold

Path of Buddhism.

The next three steps of The Noble Eightfold Path of

Buddhism are Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.

Right Effort means the conscious application of our

mental and physical energy to weaken the negative and unwholesome states of our being while cultivating the positive and

wholesome states of our being.

These positive and wholesome states of our being are

those very states that we mentioned that the practice

of Hatha Yoga brings us to above, that being more

relaxed and calm, concentrated, mindful and balanced.

These equate to what are known as The Seven Factors of Enlightenment in Buddhism. They are mindfulness, tranquility,

equanimity, energy and effort, joy, concentration and an investigative nature.

As a long - term Yoga student of mind told me

yesterday after our session together, she felt

“relaxed and alert”.

In Right Mindfulness, the seventh step of The Noble

Eightfold Path of Buddhism, we are more aware of the

body, our feelings and our mental states.

When we practice Hatha Yoga, we start to become very

mindful of our body and posture, both while we

practice and when we are not practicing.

We are more aware of how we feel and what we are

thinking at any particular moment and time and also

more mindful of how we can rectify or renew stagnant

or negative thinking.

The eighth step of The Noble Eightfold Path of

Buddhism is referred to as Right Concentration and

consists of various states of concentration and

consciousness that we attain through the overall

understanding and practice of The Noble Eightfold Path

of Buddhism and the practice of meditation.

Hatha Yoga prepares us for such an activity as

meditation and balances the mind and consciousness so

that attaining this various concentration states is