[KobaQ]

The goal of meditation is not to get a better brain. As the goal of yoga is not to get a sexy body. These articles and even more the countless yoga ads with young beautiful ladies are really counterproductive from the viewpoint of yoga. They might be helpful from another perspective.

I can't summarize the real goal of yoga properly (meditation is one of the important exercise beside contemplation; the asanas are for preparation only), but it's more to be able to let go of the selfish desires like becoming smarter, getting a sexier body, getting more money, fame, admiring ("Oh, you look so good lately" ... "Yes, you know, I'm doing yoga."). The goal is more to be able to coordinate (not suppress) the desires to avoid doing harm and at the end creating harm for yourself. Meditation gives us insight to where the desires are coming from. Are they essential? Do I need to fullfil them? Or do I need to eat another snickers just because the last one has made my blood sugar go like a rollercoaster?

[cygnus_a]

Actually, I've heard many-a-monk describe meditation as training the mind, so the goal is often to 'get a better brain'. Not to mention, an improvement in the brain's mindset is necessarily linked to physical changes in the brain. Furthermore, a sexy body is often chosen to be sexy because the body is healthy and happy in the first place. These motivations are not superficial in my opinion, but rather natural to the human condition.

Exploring the physical and mental benefits of these practices gives a context for practicing meditation in the first place. It takes many years of meditation to be able to consistently let go of 'selfish' desires (emphasis on the ambiguity of selfishness). Entering a practice without a well-defined reason for doing so makes motivation hard to come by. For most folks, the deeper benefits of meditation are only understandable after much dedication.

Anyway, I believe meditation is a means to more than one end. ;)

[sanswork]

"The goal of meditation for me."

"The goal of yoga for me."

You clearly take the spirituality focused route in your yoga and meditation and thats great for you but you can't proclaim that the only right way to do it is your way and everyone doing it for different reasons is wrong.

[j42]

I think he's criticizing the cultural caricature that accompanies any activity becoming mainstream... but perhaps misdirected as the context in which one finds value isn't really important in contrast to value itself. Perhaps the elegance is in how deeply individual a practice it can be (turning the locus of one's awareness inward).

And to the OP, isn't it great that yoga can hold so much value through both a spiritual and physical lens? I think the mental and spiritual component has a lot to offer, but it's hard to claim that someone pursuing a positive activity, regardless of motivation is a bad thing.

[KobaQ]

What I've written is nothing that I've thought of be myself. I've tried to describe the goal of traditional yoga, which really contradicts a lot of the modern interpretations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras_of_Patanjali

[KobaQ]

Here's a great interpretation of the yoga sutras ...

http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras.htm

[latiera]

The "goal" of meditation/yoga is UNION with GOD.

Where GOD can be anything of significance to you but to those who have experienced it's "the universe", the Void, the Unborn, the Undying and so on.

It's funny how a lot of ppl disregard this and have no clue about the "occult" (magick!) elements of the Art. When "mystical" experiences happen to them, lacking theory/practice and a proper framework to serve as a foundation, they tend to lose the world under their feet.

[pedalpete]

Meditation enables the getting of a better brain with the goal of having a better life. Yoga(modern western understanding of the asanas) enables the getting of a better body with the goal of having a better life.

What is this better life? Well, in respect to these two areas, it is a brain with the ability to focus and relax and a body which is flexible and balanced. That's my interpretations anyway.