Overview

There are many misconceptions and misinformation about yoga and early Buddhism floating around. Many people mistakenly think for example that yoga is all about the body, while Buddhist meditation is all about the mind. Forgetting the common Indic roots of both traditions, people easily associate Yoga with India but when they think of Buddhism, they tend to think of it as an East Asian tradition. Even though the Buddha pre-dated Patañjali by some 500 years or more, yoga teachers tend to attribute a greater antiquity to Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras than is warranted, while ignoring the important historical influence of Buddhism upon Indian philosophy and soteriology. If we really want to accurately understand what yogic and Buddhist practices are about then it is important that we do away with these and other misconnections to look anew at how Yoga and Buddhism might be related historically and practically. It must be remembered that both Yoga and Buddhism changed and evolved over time including - directly or indirectly - in interaction with each other. If we want to compare these systems, we have to first of all start at the beginning, i.e. we have to start with the comparison of early Yoga with early Buddhism. In this thesis, we will analyze the similarities and differences between Patañjali's Aṣṭāṅga (Eight-Limb) Yoga and the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path. We would ask: Did these paths emerge independently or did one influence the other? What are the similarities and differences in the practices and goals of early Buddhism and Aṣṭāṅga Yoga? Can one help to illuminate the other?

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