What are the differences between the four paths of yoga? And relate the four paths to other philosophical or religious traditions? The four paths of yoga are jnana yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, and raja yoga. Even though the four parts of yoga come from Hindu philosophies each has its own way that can make people live spiritually and comfortably by choosing a certain path that an individual is comfortable with. Everyday people will use techniques that were born with yoga and not even know they are using a basic form of yoga. Each type of yoga is different from one another in a lot of different ways. Jnana yoga is learning from others. Karma yoga believes doing work unselfishly will lead to good deeds happening for one. Bhakti yoga is expressing yourself. Raja yoga is the art of meditation. Jnana yoga or knowledge yoga is based on learning from teachers who have a lot of knowledge with jnana yoga. As such priests and intellectuals will prefer this type of yoga so they can learn and then teach it themselves. Reading the bible is also considered jnana yoga since you will gain knowledge by doing this. This type of yoga was refined by a school of philosophy that is still being done today the school of Vedanta. The Vedanta school uses the ideas of the Upanishads as its primary inspiration. Upanishads is defined as which come at the end of the Vedas. All other forms of yoga do not incorporate learning or teaching in they way they express themselves. Jnana yoga can relate to numerous religions that require the reading of the bible and the quran. Today in school students will use jnana yoga and not even know they are using it when they are learning from their teachers and also when they are reading textbooks and such. Karma yoga or action yoga is of the belief that if you do a deed unselfishly than you will be rewarded. In order to practice karma yoga one must do things that have no benefit for themselves. Karma yoga differentiates itself from others by a person having to do things for others and not for themselves. Karma yoga relates to philosophical traditions in that there is widespread belief that if you do something bad to a person then something bad will happen to you and vice versa. Today karma is a common thing for people to say when they witness something bad happening to somebody immediately after they have done something to another person. Its my opinion that everybody has done some sort of karma yoga in that they have done unselfish acts for a person and something good happens to them either immediately or within a couple days of doing the good deed. It also goes the other way when they do something bad to a person and then something bad will happen to them. Karma yoga can also be the hardest to do due to the fact that the act will require you to give up something that yourself could have had and also requires you to put your pride to the side. Bhakti yoga or devotion yoga is the art of expressing yourself. I believe this is also the most complicated path of yoga. This is due to the way we live in this world where people are always judging other people. Is that the right thing to do, obviously not because if you judge somebody on they way they look, how they talk, who they associate with, where there from you would never actually know the person. Even though the majority probably wouldn’t admit it everybody is guilty for doing this even myself. The most common way to express yourself is by the clothes you wear. Bhakti yoga is easily the one path that every religious tradition can relate to due to the fact that each religion has there own type of way in which they are expressed. In Catholicism you will be able to notice one is catholic by either observing them pray the rosary or by there belief in the Virgin Mary. Islam is noticeable by when they pray five times a day. Each religion also has there own distinct way of conducting mass by having there own distinct songs, chants and the way they pray to god. By doing this certain things is how oneself will devote themselves to their religion. Raja yoga or royal yoga is the art of meditation. Raja yoga is different in that is uses your own mind. When we are young we are taught to pay attention to the outer world and raja yoga makes you pay attention to your inner world. Raja yoga is very hard to master in that it takes great patience and therefore it is strongly suggested that you master the six prior steps in Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga. Once mastered raja yoga can lower stress, bring a sense of peace and induce new states of consciousness. It is very beneficial if you have the patience and can master raja yoga. It relates to other religious traditions by the way religions pray. When you pray you are suppose to temporary clear your head and meditate on what you are praying for and it is best done in silence or to gentle music. To conclude even though the four paths of yoga all come from Hindu philosophies they are in fact unique and different from one another. Jnana yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, and raja yoga all have their own unique advantage when done properly and all relate to religious traditions or philosophies in there own way.