3.1 Yoga in the Jaina and Bauddha Traditions

3.1 Yoga in the Jaina and Bauddha Traditions

Two syllabus items — 1.4 and 1.5 — put the Shramana traditions squarely on the Level 3 paper. They are there for a reason that goes beyond historical courtesy: several practices modern yoga teachers use daily, and one of Patanjali's most important structural moves, are unintelligible without them.

A point of vocabulary first, because it is the most commonly mis-answered fact in this area. Jainism and Buddhism are classified as Nastika darshanas. Nastika here means not accepting the authority of the Vedas — it does not mean atheist. Jainism affirms an infinity of eternal souls; Buddhism affirms rebirth and moral causation. Both are Nastika strictly because they reject Vedic scriptural authority.

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Part 1: Yoga in the Jaina Tradition

Syadvada — the theory of sevenfold predication

Jaina epistemology begins from Anekantavada, the doctrine of non-absolutism: reality has infinite aspects, and no finite statement captures all of them. Syadvada is the linguistic discipline that follows. Every assertion is prefixed with syat — "in some respect," "from a certain standpoint" — and the full analysis of any proposition yields seven modes (Saptabhangi):

The classical illustration is a clay pot: it is as clay, it is not as gold, both statements hold in their respective aspects, and its full nature exceeds what any single statement expresses. The number to memorise is seven — the syllabus itself glosses Syadvada as "theory of seven fold predications."

Why does an ethics-and-practice syllabus carry an epistemology? Because Syadvada is the intellectual form of Ahimsa. Dogmatic assertion is treated as a subtle violence against another's standpoint, so non-absolutism in thought is continuous with non-violence in conduct. That connection is worth making explicitly in a viva.

Kayotsarga — abandonment of the body

Kaya (body) + utsarga (abandonment, casting off). Kayotsarga is the Jaina practice of complete relinquishment of bodily activity while remaining fully alert: standing (urdhva) or lying (shayana) motionless, the attention withdrawn from bodily identification, ordinarily for a fixed count of breaths or Namokar recitations. It is one of the six essential daily duties (Avashyakas) of a Jaina practitioner and forms the concluding element of Pratikramana.

For a Level 3 teacher, the practical point is direct: Kayotsarga is the historical ancestor of the deep-relaxation practices now taught as Shavasana and, at one remove, Yoga Nidra. The difference is one of emphasis. Shavasana as commonly taught aims at physiological recovery; Kayotsarga aims at dis-identification from the body as a spiritual end in itself. A candidate who can articulate that distinction shows genuine command of the material rather than a memorised gloss.

Preksha Dhyana — perceptual meditation

Preksha means "to see carefully and profoundly." Preksha Dhyana was systematised in the twentieth century by Acharya Mahaprajna of the Terapanth Svetambara tradition, drawing on canonical Jaina material. Its governing instruction is "Sampikkhaye appagam appaenam" — see the self by the self — and its rule is perception without judgement: no like, no dislike, no evaluation.

The principal limbs are:

• Kayotsarga: relaxation with self-awareness (the entry practice)
• Antaryatra: internal journey of consciousness along the spinal cord from the lower centre to the top of the head
• Shvasa Preksha: perception of breathing (long breath and alternate-nostril breath)
• Sharira Preksha: perception of the body and its internal sensations
• Chaitanya Kendra Preksha: perception of the psychic centres
• Leshya Dhyana: perception of psychic colours
• Animesha Preksha: unblinking perception (closely comparable to Trataka)
• Vartaman Kshana Preksha: perception of the present moment

Set alongside Patanjali, Preksha's sequence — relaxation, body awareness, breath awareness, energy-centre awareness — is recognisably a Pratyahara-to-Dharana progression built out of Jaina rather than Samkhya vocabulary.

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Part 2: Yoga in the Buddhist Tradition

The Four Noble Truths (Chatvari Aryasatyani)

The Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath, the Dhammachakkappavattana Sutta, sets out four truths in a deliberately medical form — diagnosis, aetiology, prognosis, prescription:

The Noble Eightfold Path, grouped in three trainings

The structural parallel examiners look for

Patanjali's fourfold diagnostic scheme (Chaturvyuha) is the same architecture in Samkhya vocabulary:

The overlap in ethical content is equally close: Shila maps onto the Yamas, the Brahmaviharas (Maitri, Karuna, Mudita, Upeksha) appear verbatim as Patanjali's four attitudes of Chitta Prasadana in PYS 1.33, and Samyak Smriti (right mindfulness) and Samyak Samadhi correspond to Smriti and Samadhi in the eight limbs.

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Summary of Exam-Key Points

• Nastika = rejects Vedic authority. Jainism, Buddhism and Charvaka are Nastika.
• Syadvada: seven-fold predication (Saptabhangi), each mode prefixed by syat; the linguistic expression of Ahimsa.
• Kayotsarga: abandonment of the body; ancestor of Shavasana-type relaxation; one of the six Jaina Avashyakas.
• Preksha Dhyana: Acharya Mahaprajna; perception without judgement; limbs include Kayotsarga, Antaryatra, Shvasa/Sharira/Chaitanya-Kendra Preksha, Leshya Dhyana, Animesha Preksha.
• Four Aryasatyas: Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha, Magga — mirrored by Patanjali's Heya, Hetu, Hana, Hanopaya.
• Brahmaviharas = Patanjali's Maitri, Karuna, Mudita, Upeksha (PYS 1.33).