Yoga

Yoga allows man, to slowly develop his highest potential, to reach the Absolute. It means letting the limited “I” merge into the great Universal Self, there where peace and unconditional joy reign, hence the term yoga meaning “union”.
The types of yoga include
1 Bhakti Yoga – Selfless Love, Devotion of the universal, absolute kind
2 Karma yoga – Action without regard to benefits/results
3 Raja yoga – Dimming and decreasing the priority of the senses/perception/mind to experience the absolute
4 Jnana yoga- Knowledge of the nature of reality and absolute truth

Among these, though Raja Yoga and Bhakti yoga are spoken of (by different sources) as the only means to self-realization. The only essential, true and effective path to self-realization, and to breaking free from the cycle of karma is karma yoga. If Bhakti or Raja yoga is performed without karma yoga (with a result or goal, even if the purest one in mind) it cannot lead to self-realization.
Self-realization, once attained in totality, means experiencing the absolute at every moment (being absolute reality) and using the mind/senses in action as a tool and not letting the mind/senses control action. It also means being one with the universal, and experiencing oneness with the universe, hence love for all. It also means knowledge of the self and its universal nature. Thus self-realization encompasses the various yogas, but it cannot be attained without karma yoga.