Meditation: Yoga vs. Zen - Yoga Forums
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does anybody have any experience with both zen meditation and yoga meditation? I am curious as to the differences. Im pretty sure Buddhism was influenced by Yoga, right? Didn't the Gautama Buddha study from Yogis during his soul-searching period? I know zen is a chinese innovation, but im guessing that there are some similarities. I could look for this information online, but how can i really compare descriptions of activites that need to be experienced. Im hoping somebody out there has tried both. I hope this is not too esoteric. |
Yog is meant to unite the Individual soul (jīvātmā) with Paramātmā (Cosmic Soul or The Supersoul)...
Zen is aimed at annihilating the mind, zenists believe that as long as there is mind, there are desires and due to desires a soul is embodied following its karmic bondage...to an extent this is right...but it is not absolutely right. As ego, cannot be annihilated. Zenists first try to impose on themselves that they are zero, the world is zero...when they reach that stage of millions of births of practice, they realize that zero also is an entity...
so Zenists then try to practice zazen, to erase the remaining consciousness that i'm nothing. but this is unnatural so they cannot quite achieve this.
here is where they differ from Yog...
Yog (not Patañjali, that is an atheistic form of Yog, the Original Yog Texts are to be found in Jābāl Darśan Yog Upaniṣad that are much older Texts than Patañjal Yog sūtras) propounds that desire is a form of energy, it cannot be annihilated (even the modern science confirms this, no new energy can be created or annihilated, they can only be converted)...
So, the Yog doesn't annihilate the mind or desires, they change its direction from material world to spiritual world.
This is the kindergarten level of Bhakti Yog.
There are different types of yog, but if i am asked, i'd say all other yogas simply beat around the bush, Bhakti Yog directly addresses the Self.
in short, zen is destructive in nature, Yog is constructive in nature. Zen believes in the kill, Yog believes in the cure.
However, you may absorb some LIght from the Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā (Try and find the authentic version, don't fall into interpretation and commentaries)...for a more comprehensive view of Yog.
Your servant,
Sadāśiv Rām Kṛpālu Dās