Streams of Yogic and Mystic Experience (History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization: Vol. XVI, Part 3)

Yoga goes back to the dawn of human consciousness, to the first awakening of humanity's earliest aspiration for God, Light, Freedom, Bliss and Immortality. Despite vicissitudes of time this quest of man had resurfaced again and again-and this 'earliest formula of Wisdom promises to be its last,' says Sri Aurobindo. Great disciplines of Yoga such as Jnana, Karma and Bhakti apart, numerous schools bearing the name developed in India over the centuries, each one based on the experiences of one or more ardent seekers, followed thereafter by many. While the term Yoga literally means Union-union with the ultimate Reality or the source from which everything had emanated-by knowing which alone one could know everything-that which is also present in each being as its very kernel-the paths leading there have been many. 'As many views, so many paths', pronounced one of the most profound mystics of all times, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.