ABSTRACT
The Moscow Art Theatre Archive holds two books from Stanislavsky's private library: Hatha Yoga: Yogic Philosophy of the Physical Well-Being of a Man, and Raja Yoga: The Teaching of Yogis about the Mental World of Man. Modern Yoga defined classical Yoga in three major areas. Modern Yoga redefined classical Yoga in three major areas. First, following the nineteenth century preference towards the mind, a dichotomy was introduced between the meditational and physical practices, the result of which was that Raja Yoga as the practice of meditation overshadowed in the minds of the newly initiated Hatha Yoga as the practice of Yoga poses. Secondly, the concept of prana was reformulated according to popular metaphysical beliefs and became equated with the concepts of 'the vital force' and 'the fluid of life'. Finally, samadhi, a state of unconditional freedom whereby the spirit transcends and is no longer related to matter, was translated into the language of metaphysical thought.
