The Experience of Yoga and Meditation as a Subject-Matter of Philosophy in India

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the status of yoga and meditation in Indian philosophical thought. The author claims that they played an important role in shaping the subject-matter of Indian philosophical tradition, and contributed to its original concept of experience. The difference between the latter from the subject of philosophy and the concept of experience, as they are interpreted in the West is being analyzed. Although its reliance on the experience of yogic and meditative states makes Indian thought soteriologically oriented, it does not render it a pure praxis or mere instructions for its implementation. Certain theoretical ideas are importantly associated with it. On the one hand, these are epistemological and ontological concepts of this kind of experience (for example, the theory of yogic perception in different schools of Indian philosophy), as well as of external and internal reality revealed by it, for example, three characteristics: impermanence, selflessness, dissatisfaction, etc. On the other hand, there are philosophical concepts influenced by this experience (for example, the epistemological ideal of the direct, non-verbalized cognition in Buddhism), as well as ideas that have arisen in connection with the interpretation of certain aspects of this experience (for example, interpretation of the Buddha’s omniscience which triggers discussions about self-awareness as the main feature of consciousness). In the conclusion, some philosophical achievements of Indian and especially Buddhist thinkers, which may be traced back to a theoretical assessment of contemplative practices, are being listed.