I am amazed to find that Yoga has borrowed from Buddhism, rather than vice versa!
I must make this more precise: the Yoga-sutras of Patanjali have borrowed from Buddhism. Yoga itself is far older than the Yoga-sutras, which De Smet places in late 5 AD or early 6 AD. In fact, De Smet points out that Buddhism as a whole must be considered essentially as a system of yoga (see Guidelines 250).
The requisites of yoga are vairagya and abhyāsa. Abhyāsa is the repeated practice of the means of yoga and the good use of the 5 means (upaya) (cf. upaya-kausalya of Bddhism and Gita): sraddha, virya, smrti, samadhi, prajna. "These five means are obviously adopted from Buddhism." (Guidelines 252-253) In fact, I remember some of these terms from my brief acquaintance with Vipassana at Igatpuri: the need for faith in the method; the prajna or panna.
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"In fact, De Smet points out that Buddhism as a whole must be considered essentially as a system of yoga"
ReplyDeleteNow we are talking, although I believe it is more precisely, as may be experienced in the Zen aspect of Buddhism, which developed in China; and apparent when when one sees resonances in various Paths, Way (Dou, Tao 道). as in Shodo 書道, Hitsuzendo 筆禅道, Aikido 合気道, Judo 柔道, Saado (chado) 茶道 or Cha no you, Tea ceremony (茶の湯), Kodo 香道, Kado 華道 also Ikebana, Iaido 居合道, etc.