View source for Yogi

{{Short description|Practitioner of Yoga}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}} 
[[File:Bronze figure of Kashmiri in Meditation by Malvina Hoffman Wellcome M0005215.jpg|thumb|Bronze figure of a yogi in [[Dhyana in Hinduism|Dhyana]] (meditation) by [[Malvina Hoffman]]]]
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

A '''yogi''' is a practitioner of [[Yoga]],{{sfn|White|2012|p=8}} including a [[Sannyasa|sannyasin]] or practitioner of [[meditation]] in [[Indian religions]].<ref name="Banerjea">A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', [[Motilal Banarsidass]], {{ISBN|978-8120805347}}, pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331</ref>  The feminine form, sometimes used in English, is [[yogini]].

Yogi has since the 12th century [[Common era|CE]] also denoted members of the [[Nath]] [[siddha]] tradition of [[Hinduism]],{{sfn|White|2012|p=8-9}} and in [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], a practitioner of [[tantra]].<ref name=ritagross87>Rita Gross (1993), ''Buddhism After Patriarchy'', SUNY Press, {{ISBN|978-0791414033}}, pages 85–88</ref><ref>[[David Gordon White]] (2013), ''Tantra in Practice'', [[Motilal Banarsidass]], {{ISBN|978-8120817784}}, pp. xiii–xv</ref> In Hindu mythology, the god [[Shiva]] and the goddess [[Parvati]] are depicted as an emblematic yogi–yogini pair.<ref>Stella Kramrisch (1994), ''The Presence of Siva'', [[Princeton University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0691019307}}, pp. 305–309, 356</ref>

==Etymology==

{{Hinduism small}}

In [[Classical Sanskrit]], the word ''yogi'' ([[Sanskrit]]: masc ''{{IAST|yogī}}'', [[Devanagari|योगी]]; fem ''{{IAST|[[yogini|yoginī]]}}'') is derived from ''yogin'', which refers to a practitioner of yoga. ''Yogi'' is technically male, and ''yoginī''  is the term used for female practitioners.<ref name=ritagross87/> The two terms are still used with those meanings today, but the word ''yogi'' is also used generically to refer to both male and female practitioners of yoga and related meditative practices belonging to any religion or spiritual method.

The term yogini is also used for divine goddesses and enlightened mothers, all revered as aspects of the [[mother goddess]], [[Devi]].<ref>[[Vidya Dehejia]] and Thomas B. Coburn (1999), ''Devi: The Great Goddess'', Smithsonian Institution, {{ISBN|978-3791321295}}, p. 386</ref>

A yogi should not be confused with someone practicing [[asceticism]] and excessive self-mortification.<ref name="Banerjea"/>{{rp|297}}

==Hinduism==
In [[Hinduism]] the term ''yogi'' refers to an adherent of [[yoga]].{{sfn|White|2012|p=8}}

=== Textual references ===

{{Further|Yoga Vasistha|Yoga Yajnavalkya|Yoga-kundalini Upanishad|Yogasutra}}

The earliest evidence of yogis and their spiritual tradition, states [[Karel Werner]],<ref name=karelwernerkesinrv>{{cite journal |first=Karel |last=Werner |author-link=Karel Werner |date=1977 |title=Yoga and the Ṛg Veda: An Interpretation of the Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136) |journal=Religious Studies |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=289–302 |doi=10.1017/S0034412500010076 |s2cid=170592174 |quote=The Yogis of Vedic times left little evidence of their existence, practices and achievements. And such evidence as has survived in the Vedas is scanty and indirect. Nevertheless, the existence of accomplished Yogis in Vedic times cannot be doubted.}}</ref> is found in the [[Keśin]] hymn 10.136 of the [[Rigveda]],{{refn|group=note|Sanskrit Original: ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.१३६ Wikisource] of the Keśin hymn); Rigveda 10.136, 2nd millennium BCE}} though with the terminology of [[Rudra]] who evolved into [[Shiva]] worshipped as the lord of Yoga in later Hinduism.<ref name="karelwernerkesinrv" /> The Hindu scripture Rigveda uses words of admiration for the Yogis, whom it refers to as Keśin, and describes them as follows (abridged):<ref name="karelwernerkesinrv" />

{{Quote|
Carrying within oneself fire and poison, heaven and earth, ranging from enthusiasm and creativity to depression and agony, from the heights of spiritual bliss to the heaviness of earth-bound labor. This is true of man in general and the [Vedic] Keśin in particular, but the latter has mastered and transformed these contrary forces and is a visible embodiment of accomplished spirituality. He is said to be light and enlightenment itself. The Keśin does not live a normal life of convention. His hair and beard grow longer, he spends long periods of time in absorption, musing and meditating and therefore he is called "sage" (muni). They wear clothes made of yellow rags fluttering in the wind, or perhaps more likely, they go naked, clad only in the yellow dust of the Indian soil. But their personalities are not bound to earth, for they follow the path of the mysterious wind when the gods enter them. He is someone lost in thoughts: he is miles away.
|Karel Werner (1977)|"Yoga and the Ṛg Veda: An Interpretation of the [[Keśin Hymn]]"<ref name="karelwernerkesinrv"/>}}

The term yogin appears in ''Katyayana Shrauta-sutra'' and chapter 6 of Maitri Upanishad, where the implied context and meaning is "a follower of the Yoga system, a contemplative saint".<ref>[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/tamil/recherche yogin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607113955/https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/tamil/recherche |date=7 June 2019 }}, ''Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary'' (2008 revision), Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, Germany</ref>

The term sometimes refers to a person who belongs to the Natha tradition.{{sfn|White|2012|p=8-9}} They usually belong to [[Shaivism|Shaiva]] tradition, but some Natha belong to the [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] tradition.<ref name="lorenzenmunozx" /> In both cases, states David Lorenzen, they practice yoga and their principal god tends to be [[Nirguna]], that is a god that is without form and semi-[[Monism|monistic]],<ref name="lorenzenmunozx" /> influenced in the medieval era by the [[Advaita Vedanta]] school of Hinduism, [[Madhyamaka]] school of Buddhism, as well as Tantra and Yogic practices.<ref>David Lorenzen (2004), ''Religious Movements in South Asia, 600–1800'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195664485}}, pp. 310–311</ref><ref>David N. Lorenzen and Adrián Muñoz (2012), ''Yogi Heroes and Poets: Histories and Legends of the Naths'', SUNY Press, {{ISBN|978-1438438900}}, pp. 24–25</ref>

[[File:Yogini, South India, Tamil Nadu, Kaveripakkam, 10th century AD, granite - Arthur M. Sackler Gallery - DSC05990.JPG|thumb|upright|A 10th-century Yogini statue from Tamil Nadu, India. She is seated in an [[asana]], and her eyes are closed in meditative state.]]

The Yoga-Bhashya (400 CE),{{sfn|Rosen|2012|p=72}} the oldest extant commentary on the Yoga-Sutra offers the following fourfold classification of yogis:{{sfn|Feuerstein|2000|p=343}}<ref>SH Aranya (1983), ''Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali'', SUNY Press, {{ISBN|978-0873957281}}, pp. 334–337</ref>

# Prathama-kalpika (neophyte/beginner, devotional)  
# Madhu-bhumika (one who has begun to enjoy the spiritual pursuits without effort)
# Prajna-jyoti (the advanced practitioner who knows spiritual concepts)
# Atikranta- bhavaniya (those who have attained what can be taught, achieved [[siddha]]s, and are on their personal path to ultimate insights)

===Sexuality===
A yogi or yogini aspires to [[Brahmacharya]] (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मचर्य), which means celibacy if single, or non-cheating on one's partner.<ref name=ad>Arti Dhand (2002), "The dharma of ethics, the ethics of dharma: Quizzing the ideals of Hinduism", ''Journal of Religious Ethics'', 30(3), pp. 347–372</ref><ref>Yajnavalkya tells Gargi in verse 1.55 of [[Yoga Yajnavalkya]] that one who copulates (मैथुन) only with and always with one's sexual partner is a Brahmachari; see "[http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_yoga/yogayAjnyavalkya.pdf योगयाज्ञवल्क्य १-५५] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120221014/http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_yoga/yogayAjnyavalkya.pdf |date=20 January 2016 }}" (Sanskrit text of "Yoga Yajnavalkya"), ''SanskritDocuments Archives'' (2009)</ref>

There have been two parallel views, in Hindu texts, on sexuality for a yogi and yogini. One view asserts restraint in sexual activity, towards [[monk]]- and [[nun]]-like asexuality, as transmutation away from worldly desires and onto a spiritual path.<ref name=sovatskybrahmacharya/> It is not considered, states Stuart Sovatsky, as a form of moralistic repression but a personal choice that empowers the yoga practitioner to redirect his or her energies.<ref name=sovatskybrahmacharya>Stuart Sovatsky (1987), "The pleasures of celibacy", ''Yoga Journal'', March/April Issue, pp. 41–47</ref> The second view, found particularly in [[Tantra]] traditions according to [[David Gordon White]], asserts that sexuality is an additional means for a yogi or yogini to journey towards and experience the bliss of "one realized god-consciousness for oneself".{{sfn|White|2012|pp=1–6}} In the second view, sexuality is a yogic practice,<ref>Machelle Seibel and Hari Kaur Khalsa (2002), ''A Woman's Book of Yoga'', Penguin, {{ISBN|978-1583331378}}, pp. 108–109</ref> and one broadly revered through the ''[[lingam]]''–''[[yoni]]'' iconography of [[Shiva]]–[[Parvati]], the divine yogi–yogini in Hindu mythology.<ref>Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1981), ''Siva: The Erotic Ascetic'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195202502}}, pp. 262–263</ref>

===Ethical duties===

{{further|Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)}}

{{Quote box |width=30em | |align=right |salign = right 
|quote=Both a yogi and a philosopher are seekers of an absolute truth. But they differ in their modes of approach. A philosopher advances in the path of rational logic (theory) and wants to intellectually understand the Truth. A yogi advances in the path of self discipline (practice) and aspires to spiritually realize truth.|source=—Akshaya Banerjea, ''Philosophy of [[Gorakshanath|Gorakhnath]]''<ref name="Banerjea"/>}}

A yogi or yogini lives by other voluntary ethical precepts called [[Yamas]] and [[Niyama]]s.<ref>K. N. Aiyar (1914), ''Thirty Minor Upanishads'', Kessinger Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1164026419}}, chapter 22, pp. 173–176</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lorenzen |first=David |title=The Kāpālikas and Kālāmukhas |date=1972 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520018426 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/kapalikaskalamuk0000lore/page/186 186–190] |url=https://archive.org/details/kapalikaskalamuk0000lore/page/186 }}</ref> These include:<ref name=sanskrityogayajna1>"[http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_yoga/yogayAjnyavalkya.pdf योगयाज्ञवल्क्य प्रथमोऽध्याय] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120221014/http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_yoga/yogayAjnyavalkya.pdf |date=20 January 2016 }}" (Sanskrit text of "Yoga Yajnavalkya"), ''SanskritDocuments Archives'' (2009)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Āgāśe |first=K. S. |title=Pātañjalayogasūtrāṇi |date=1904 |publisher=Ānandāśrama |location=Puṇe, India |page=102 |url=https://archive.org/stream/patanjaliyoga/yoga_sutras_three_commentaries#page/n111/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name=svatmaram>{{cite book |title=The Hatha Yoga Pradipika |author=Svātmārāma |first2=Pancham |last2=Sinh |edition=5th |date=1997 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9sBFttVx6ukC |isbn=9781605066370 |page=14 |publisher=Forgotten Books |quote=अथ यम-नियमाः अहिंसा सत्यमस्तेयं बरह्यछर्यम कश्हमा धृतिः दयार्जवं मिताहारः शौछम छैव यमा दश १७}}</ref>
 
* [[Ahiṃsā]] (अहिंसा): [[nonviolence]], non-harming other living beings<ref name=jl>James Lochtefeld, "Yama (2)", ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism'', Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing. {{ISBN|9780823931798}}, p. 777</ref>
* [[Satya]] (सत्य): truthfulness, non-falsehood<ref name=ad/><ref name=jl/>
* [[Asteya]] (अस्तेय): not stealing<ref name=jl/>
* [[Compassion#Hinduism|Dayā]] (दया): kindness, compassion<ref name=ss/>
* [[Ārjava]] (आर्जव): non-hypocrisy, sincerity<ref>J Sinha, {{Google books|VCwmmWXJBqEC|Indian Psychology|page=142}}, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidas, {{oclc|1211693}}, p. 142</ref>
* [[Forgiveness#Hinduism|Kṣamā]] (क्षमा): forgiveness<ref name=ss>Stuart Sovatsky (1998), ''Words from the Soul: Time East/West Spirituality and Psychotherapeutic Narrative'', State University of New York, {{ISBN|978-0791439494}}, p. 21</ref>
* [[Dhrti|Dhṛti]] (धृति): fortitude
* [[Mitahara|Mitāhāra]] (मितहार): moderation in diet both in terms of quantity and quality
* [[Shaucha|Śauca]] (शौच): purity, cleanliness
* [[Tapas (Sanskrit)|Tapas]]: austerity, persistence and perseverance in one's purpose<ref>W. O. Kaelber (1976). "'Tapas', Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth in the Veda", ''History of Religions'', 15(4), pp. 343–386</ref><ref name=sabha>S. A. Bhagwat (2008), "Yoga and Sustainability". ''Journal of Yoga'', Fall/Winter 2008, 7(1): 1–14</ref>
* [[Santosha|Santoṣa]]: contentment, acceptance of others and of one's circumstances as they are, optimism for self<ref name=nt>N. Tummers (2009), ''Teaching Yoga for Life'', {{ISBN|978-0736070164}}, p 16–17</ref>
* [[Dāna]]: generosity, charity, sharing with others<ref>William Owen Cole (1991), ''Moral Issues in Six Religions'', Heinemann, {{ISBN|978-0435302993}}, pp. 104–105</ref>

===Nath siddha===
[[File:Gorakshanath.jpg|thumb|upright|A sculpture of [[Gorakhnath]], a celebrated yogi of Nath tradition and a major proponent of Hatha yoga.<ref>{{cite book|author=Akshaya Kumar Banerjea|title=Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ljn1koKa0CQC |year=1983|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0534-7 |pages=xxi }}</ref>]]

According to David White,
{{Quote|''[[Siddha|&#91;S&#93;iddha]]'' means 'realized, perfected one',{{refn|group=note|Compare Siddhartha Gautama, one of the names of [[Buddha]].}} a term generally applied to a practitioner (''[[sādhaka]]'', ''[[sadhu]]'') who has, through his practice (''[[sadhana]]''), realized his dual goal of superhuman powers (''[[siddhi]]s'', 'realizations', 'perfections') and bodily immortality (''[[jivanmukti]]'').{{sfn|White|2012|p=2}}}}

====Respect====
Archeological evidence suggests that in some contexts and regions, yogi of the [[Nath]] Siddha tradition were respected and recognized in India. For example, inscriptions suggest a general of the Yadava king Ramacandra donated a village to a yogi in 13th-century.{{sfn|White|2012|p=94}} Near Mangalore, that later became a hub of Nath yogis, a monastery and temple was dedicated to yogis in the 10th century.{{sfn|White|2012|p=94}}

David Lorenzen states that the Nath yogis have been very popular with the rural population in South Asia, with medieval era "tales and stories about Nath yogis such as Gorakhnath, Matsyendra, Jalandhar, Gopichand, Bharthari, Kanhapa and Chaurangi" continuing to be remembered in contemporary times, in the Deccan, western and northern states of India and in Nepal.<ref name=lorenzenmunozx>David N. Lorenzen and Adrián Muñoz (2012), ''Yogi Heroes and Poets: Histories and Legends of the Naths'', SUNY Press, {{ISBN|978-1438438900}}, pp. x–xi</ref>

====Persecution====
In some contexts, adds White, the term ''yogi'' has also been a pejorative term used in medieval India for a Nath siddha, particularly on the part of India's social, cultural and religious elites.{{sfn|White|2012|p=8-9}} The term ''siddha'' has become a broad sectarian appellation, applying to Saiva-devotees in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] (''[[Maheśvara]] siddhas''), alchemists in Tamil Nadu ([[Siddhar|''siddhars'' or ''sittars'']]), a group of early Buddhist [[Tantra|tantrikas]] from Bengal (''[[mahasiddha]]s'', ''siddhacaryas''), the alchemists of medieval India (''rasa siddha''), and a mainly north Indian group known as the ''Nath siddhas''.{{sfn|White|2012|p=2}} The Nath siddhas are the only still existing representatives of the medieval Tantric tradition, which had disappeared due to its excesses.{{sfn|White|2012|p=7}} While the Nath siddhas enjoyed persistent popular success, they attracted the scorn of the elite classes.{{sfn|White|2012|p=7}}

[[File:17th century Hindu female Nath yogi painting.jpg|thumb|upright|17th century Hindu female Nath yogis. The earliest records mentioning female Nath yogis (or yogini) trace to 11th century.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Alf Hiltebeitel|author2=Kathleen M. Erndl|title=Is the Goddess a Feminist?: The Politics of South Asian Goddesses|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQJzTr4c-g4C |year=2000|publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-3619-7 |pages=40–41 }}</ref>]]
According to White, the term ''yogi'', has "for at least eight hundred years, been an all-purpose term employed to designate those Saiva specialists whom orthodox Hindus have considered suspect, heterodox, and even heretical in their doctrine and practice".{{sfn|White|2012|p=8}} The yoga as practiced by these Yogis, states White, is more closely identified in the eyes of those critics with black magic, sorcery and sexual perversions than with yoga in the conventional sense of the word.{{sfn|White|2012|p=9}}

The Nath Yogis were targets of Islamic persecution in the [[Mughal Empire]].  The texts of Yogi traditions from this period, state Shail Mayaram, refer to oppressions by Mughal officials such as governor. The Mughal documents confirm the existence of Nath Yogis in each ''pargana'' (household neighborhoods), and their persecution wherein Nath Yogis were beheaded by [[Aurangzeb]].<ref>Shail Mayaram (2003), ''Against History, Against State'', Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0231127301}}, pp. 40–41, 39</ref>

====Resistance to persecution====
According to David Lorenzen, the religious groups in Hinduism that militarized and took up arms following the [[Muslim conquest of India]], to resist persecution, appeared among the Nath or Kanphata yogis, often called simply yogis or jogis.<ref>David Lorenzen (2006), ''Who Invented Hinduism?'', Yoda Press, {{ISBN|978-8190227261}}, pp. 51–63</ref>

The warrior [[ascetic]]s were institutionalized as a religious order by Gorakhnath and were expanding in the 13th century, after the establishment of the first Islamic Sultanate in India. They interacted and cooperated with ''[[fakir]]s'' of Sufi Muslims.<ref name="whitesyogi198">David Gordon White (2011), ''Sinister Yogis'', University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226895147}}, pp. 198–207</ref> The yogis feature prominently in Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire period official documents, states David White, both in terms of impressing the ruling elite in the Muslim administration and awards of receiving land grants in some cases such as by [[Akbar]], as well as those yogis who targeted the elite merchants and disrupted the business of administrative Islamic elites in urban areas.<ref name="whitesyogi198" /><ref name="williampinchwarascetic">William Pinch (2012), ''Warrior Ascetics and Indian Empires'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-1107406377}}, pp. 4–9, 28–34, 61–65, 150–151, 189–191, 194–207</ref> In other cases, yogis from the Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism traditions of Hinduism marshaled armed resistance against the Mughal and British colonial armies.<ref name="whitesyogi198" /><ref name="williampinchwarascetic" />

====Cultural contributions: founding Hindu temples====
The history of Nath yogis has been diverse, such as in the 11th and 12th centuries, when Buddhists in South India converted to Nath siddha traditions and helped establish Shiva Hindu temples and monasteries.{{sfn|White|2012|pp=94–101}}

==See also==

* [[List of yoga schools]]
* [[List of Hindu gurus and sants]]
* [[Ngagpa]]
* [[Rishi]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Citation |last=Feuerstein |first=Georg |author-link=Georg Feuerstein |date=2000 |title=The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga |publisher=Shambhala Publications}}
* {{Citation |last=Rosen |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Rosen (yoga teacher) |date=2012 |title=Original Yoga: Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga |publisher=Shambhala Publications |isbn=9780834827400 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZeOYkgOQTUC&q=Yoga-Bhashya}}
* {{Citation |last=White |first=David Gordon |author-link=David Gordon White |date=2012 |title=The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226149349 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pQuqAAAAQBAJ}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{Wikibooks-inline|Yoga/Yoga Tales}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Yoga}}
{{Worship in Hinduism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Asceticism]]
[[Category:Yogis| ]]
[[Category:Titles and occupations in Hinduism]]
[[Category:Vajrayana Buddhists]]
[[Category:Jain religious occupations]]