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For a large majority of people, including many Americans, yoga is a ritualistic series of body contorting movements done while being totally oblivious to any external facets of life. For others, an image of a wise old man sitting atop a mountain appears in their ....

Middle of Essay
.... the world or of mankind. He does not sit in judgment of mankind, nor does he punish them for their sins. Rather the god of yoga is "a special person untouched by misery, desire, or action and its results... He is the teacher of the ancient teachers" (Nikhilananda 680). The goal of the yogi, one who studies yoga, is to reach the state of pure intelligence, which is the soul's true essence, by suppressing all other mental activities (Nikhilananda 680). In order to reach this state, The yogi fixes himself in an immobile bodily position and fixes his mind on an inanimate object such as a spot on the floor or the tip of the nose. This intense concent ....