(Sanksrit) Sacrifice.

(Sanskrit, "self-control") 1. The first of the stages of Raja Yoga; a series of ethical practices. 2. (Tibetan gshin rje) In Buddhism, the ruler of the hell realms and god of death. He is depicted holding the Wheel of Samara in his mouth and claws.

(Hebrew יסוד means foundation) The ninth sephirah of the Kabbalah (the Tree of Life). In the macrocosmic universe, Yesod is the fourth dimension. In the microcosmic universe (man), Yesod corresponds to the sexual organs and to the Ethereal body. In the Bible, Yesod is Eden, the Promised Land.

"Yesod is the Vital or Ethereal Body. Yesod is the foundation of the Third Logos, the center where the sexual force of the Third Logos gravitates. The sexual forces which are the living foundation of our physiology gravitate in Yesod. The Holy Spirit abides in Yesod." - Samael Aun Weor

"And the king [Solomon] commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, [and] hewed stones, to lay the יסד [foundation] of the house." - 1 Kings 5:17

"Yew, the profoundly sacred name, is related with the Light and clairvoyance.  It is written that Jesus, the Great Kabir, chanted a song of praise in the Great Name.  It is written that He pronounced the profoundly sacred name Yew and He blew in their eyes saying, “Ye are now clairvoyant.” Unquestionably, Yew is a mantric word or magic key related to clairvoyance." - The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

(Sanskrit) "union." Similar to the Latin "religare," the root of the word "religion." In Tibetan, it is "rnal-'byor" which means "union with the fundamental nature of reality."

"The word YOGA comes from the root Yuj which means to join, and in its spiritual sense, it is that process by which the human spirit is brought into near and conscious communion with, or is merged in, the Divine Spirit, according as the nature of the human spirit is held to be separate from (Dvaita, Visishtadvaita) or one with (Advaita) the Divine Spirit." - Swami Sivananda, Kundalini Yoga

"Patanjali defines Yoga as the suspension of all the functions of the mind. As such, any book on Yoga, which does not deal with these three aspects of the subject, viz., mind, its functions and the method of suspending them, can he safely laid aside as unreliable and incomplete." - Swami Sivananda, Practical Lessons In Yoga

"The word yoga means in general to join one's mind with an actual fact..." - The 14th Dalai Lama

"The soul aspires for the union with his Innermost, and the Innermost aspires for the union with his Glorian." - Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of Beelzebub

"All of the seven schools of Yoga are within Gnosis, yet they are in a synthesized and absolutely practical way. There is Tantric Hatha Yoga in the practices of the Maithuna (Sexual Magic). There is practical Raja Yoga in the work with the chakras. There is Gnana / Jnana Yoga in our practices and mental disciplines which we have cultivated in secrecy for millions of years. We have Bhakti Yoga in our prayers and Rituals. We have Laya Yoga in our meditation and respiratory exercises. Samadhi exists in our practices with the Maithuna and during our deep meditations. We live the path of Karma Yoga in our upright actions, in our upright thoughts, in our upright feelings, etc." - Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of Beelzebub

"The Yoga that we require today is actually ancient Gnostic Christian Yoga, which absolutely rejects the idea of Hatha Yoga. We do not recommend Hatha Yoga simply because, spiritually speaking, the acrobatics of this discipline are fruitless; they should be left to the acrobats of the circus." - Samael Aun Weor, The Yellow Book

"Yoga has been taught very badly in the Western World. Multitudes of pseudo-sapient Yogis have spread the false belief that the true Yogi must be an infrasexual (an enemy of sex). Some of these false yogis have never even visited India; they are infrasexual pseudo-yogis. These ignoramuses believe that they are going to achieve in-depth realization only with the yogic exercises, such as asanas, pranayamas, etc.Not only do they have such false beliefs, but what is worse is that they propagate them; thus, they misguide many people away from the difficult, straight, and narrow door that leads unto the light. No authentically Initiated Yogi from India would ever think that he could achieve his inner self-realization with pranayamas or asanas, etc. Any legitimate Yogi from India knows very well that such yogic exercises are only co-assistants that are very useful for their health and for the development of their powers, etc. Only the Westerners and pseudo-yogis have within their minds the belief that they can achieve Self-realization with such exercises.Sexual Magic is practiced very secretly within the Ashrams of India. Any True Yogi Initiate from India works with the Arcanum A.Z.F. This is taught by the Great Yogis from India that have visited the Western world, and if it has not been taught by these great, Initiated Hindustani Yogis, if it has not been published in their books of Yoga, it was in order to avoid scandals. You can be absolutely sure that the Yogis who do not practice Sexual Magic will never achieve birth in the Superior Worlds. Thus, whosoever affirms the contrary is a liar, an impostor." - Samael Aun Weor, The Estoeric Course of Kabbalah

A student of Kriya Yoga who brought his tradition to America in the early 20th century and founded the Self-realization Fellowship.

(Sanskrit) female yoga practitioner.