[Hind., Skr. yoga lit. union: see YOKE sb.] In Hindu religious philosophy, Union with the Supreme Spirit; a system of ascetic practice, abstract meditation, and mental concentration, used as a method of attaining this. Also attrib.
1820. W. Ward, View Hindoos (ed. 3), IV. 125. Clear knowledge of spirit arises from yogū, or abstraction of mind.
1832. H. H. Wilson, in Asiatic Researches, XVII. 184. The Yoga, or Pátanjala school of philosophy.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVII. 657/2. Yoga … chiefly consists in a continual meditation on the sacred monosyllable Om..., profound contemplation of the divine excellence, and various acts of self-denial…. The Yoga is often practised for the purpose of obtaining the eight magical properties of power…. In the Purân’us and other works, Yoga very often means magic.
1881. W. Knighton, in Contemp. Rev., Oct., 583. The yoga faculty, or the power of spiritual communion and absorption, is specially claimed for the Hindu race.
1886. ‘F. Anstey,’ Fallen Idol, viii. A yogi performning his japa in the yoga posture.
