The history of yoga roots itself within Hindu philosophy and practice, with is postures, or Yoga Asana, found within ancient artifacts and sculptures. The term 'yoga' appeared around 1500 B.C., about the same time the Hindu Vedas were dated as composed. It is strongly believed, though, that yoga was studied for centuries prior. The term was found during the decline of the Harappan civilization which was an Indus Valley farming community existing during the same time as Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. While archaeological evidence shows that Yoga asana was inscribed into stone seals dating back to 3000 B.C., some even believe that it is as old as civilization itself! It is also thought that yoga shares roots with shamanism due to its roots in the art of healing.
- Yoga & Early Civilization
We invite you to read and visualize the common thread of yoga touching the passions, meditations, and most trying of moments in the history of man's first breath seeking purpose within existence.
Yoga & Early CivilizationAncient to modern writings have designed and enhanced the world of yoga, including the Vedas (the sacred scripture of Brahmanism ), Upanishads (200 scriptures explaning Vedas), Bhagavad-Gita (the oldest yoga scripture), and Yoga Sutra compiled by the great yoga mind, Patanjali. Many thinkers and masters through the histor of yoga have dedicated their being on Earth to the art and science of yoga, such as Patanjali, Sivananda, and Iyengar, and it has touched through the most ancient of times, permeating religions.
- Harappan Civilization
The Harappan culture was one of domestication - from the land and farming to the domestication of the animals. Figurines of the feminine form and cattle were prevalent, attesting to the appreciation of the Mother Goddess and pre-Shakti worship in India. Also found were male figures in yoga posture and phallic symbols associated with what would become Shiva. While a strong religious attitude held the people together and hunting of wild game was practiced, they were not known as a warlike people and survived through 600 years of annual floods and natural disaster without breaking the balance of the land. This is reflected in their building methods: their largest structures were the granary and large bath or pool. As the Harappans' were conquered by travelling Persian-Aryan invaders, a change took place. This is when sharp differences can be found between the ancient writings of the Persian Avesta and the Hindu Vedas. The decline of this civilization, though, is so debatable and wrapped in theory that a definite conclusion of the Harappans is not known.
Ancient Texts of Yoga
Texts have developed and evolved the system of yoga and how it is practiced today. The Vedas are the earliest known source of yogic teachings and not found in writing until around 300 B.C. These Hindu scriptures were and are believed to be natural, neither composed or written, and had been handed down through oral tradition of the Brahmin. This would mean that they are not divine, nor are they human, but as integral and eternal to human existence as is breath.
- The Four Books of The Vedas
The oral translations were kept within select groups within the Hindu caste system. The Brahmin who held the tradition of scripture for centuries, shared this rite with artisans and tradesmen called the Vaishya, as well as the Kshatriya who handled the ruling and judgement of society. While the other groups read the Vedas as was read to them, the Brahman had the privilidge of expounding upon the texts and interpretation of law.
The Vedas are grouped into Mantra anthologies, including the Rig Veda (oldest, consisting of 1028 hymns), Sama Veda (rearrangement of Rig Veda into stanzas for musical purpose), Yajur Veda (prayer texts of sacrifice) and Atharva Veda (mystical blessings and curses in stanza form). This knowledge remained within the group of Rishis, studied for the release of mental boundaries and the acceptance of an ultimate higher reality. Yogis lived mainly in seclusion during this period and the greater populace relied on the Rishis for spiritual guidance.
The Rig Veda hymns mention the advances of the Aryan superiority in metalwork and warfare,but tells also the hymn of creation in philosophical verse. It reads that from the non-existence, the first inhalation was taken, concealed by a void of chaos. From this breath came tapas (heat) and existence began. From existence came desire, that primal seed that would grow into spirit. A line formed and it was called light, creating above and below.
And it is said, in the most recent and final hymn of the tenth mandala that speach (Vak) penetrated the heavens and earth to bind together all existence. In the Rig Veda, the definition of yoga is "yoking" or "discipline" - or to bind.
The term 'yoga' surfaces once again in the book of Atharva Veda. It is referred to in the fifteenth book 'to yoke'. This, though, is the first reference to breath control, or pranayama. It was studied by a group of outcast Brahmin who worshipped Rudra called the vratyas. As their study of pranayama grew, so did the skill of their voices in the singing of the Vedas.
- The Upanishads
The Upanishads were the next spiritual stepping stone of Vedic philosophy, written between 800 and 400 B.C. They mark the turning point of natural harmony and truth turned towards the self. It is remarkedly a point that man consciously and socially is aware of the divine as a source within man, non-reliant on a vehicle of the gods.
These texts (Upa/near - ni/down - shad/sit) formed in the basis of alleviating suffering via two routes that formed: Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga. These combined the path of action with the path of intensive knowledge and learning. These practices of the self and guru would then lead to liberation of this worldly suffering that is destructive. The Vedas that had exacted the specifics of sacrifice for the purpose of appeasing the gods evolved into the secret teachings of karma - an internalization of the idea of sacrifice towards a more mystical appeasement within.
The remarkable turning point of the Upanishads lies within the concept of the connecting bridge of the Atman (soul) and Brahman (truth). This bridge is the doctrine of karma. Yoga, as it is studied today in any form and style, maintains true to it's original purpose of the balance within and without - that connection and ultimate partnership of the Ultimate and the Self, and the space that lies between.
- The Aranyakas
Aranyakas are the texts of the ascetics, Vataramsa sages, who had retreated into the forested areas. They and their students communed in nature, pulling away from sacrificial rites of the Vedas and relying on formulas and intellectual discussions. Upheld most of all during this time was truth and intelligence. This leads to the enrichment of the essence within, or Brahman, and realization of the inner self, or Atman.
The concept and awareness of prana (life energy and breath) was realized and grew. Prana, it is written, is found in the living, including plants, animals, and people. The purification of the soul to gain knowledge was practiced through tapas (austerity) and vairagya (non-attachment).
The Roots of Buddhism
The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was born into the Brahman caste and shaded from the effects of the human condition. In the sixth century B.C. (the dates surrounding the life of the Buddha are still being debated today), as Gautama left his high-born status, wife and child, he fell to the extreme of abstaining from the physicality of common daily routine, including food, and became an ascetic. When finding the middle path of moderation, the Buddha relied upon and taught the foundations of yoga and meditation as building blocks to living truth and higher reality. Siddharta Gautama achieved enlightenment at the age of 35, continuing to live for another 45 years.
- The Puranas and the Practice of Yoga
The Puranas hold the story of the universe from creation to destruction. These are broken into the books of Brahma (Creation), Vishnu (Preservation), and Shiva (Destruction). Lesser works are Upapuranas.
Brahma, Yoga of Thought, and Creation of Reality
The world around us is only as the mind and our thoughts perceive of it. Your reality will be directly affected by your thoughts as will the world be affected by the inhabitants of it. If we look at the description of Brahma, he sits on a Lotus, symbolizing Reality, and it's petals are infinite. Brahmas four faces are the four Vedas, or the functions of thought. Thought is formed by the ego, intellect, mind, and consciousness.
Understanding the vehicles of thought is the direction of attainment of knowledge. As it is written, Brahma is wed to the goddess of knowledge, Saraswati.
Vishnu and Practice of Yoga
Though Vishnu is known as a lesser god, he is associated with the primeval waters of which creation became and is often portrayed floating, he is the omnipresent. He is the balance between good and evil forces and is said to descend to the earth for balance. His posession is the lotus, the unfolding of creation, and the eternal conch holding within a spiral from which life originates and is wed to Lakshmi, the goddess of beauty and fortune. Vishnu shows us that perpetuation may only be found in sustenance, or the proper practice of asana, breathing technique, yogic diet, proper relaxation, and positive meditation.
Shiva and Nirvana
The poised and unaffected Shiva sits like a still lake, the mind deep and undisturbed by movement or ripple. In a meditative state, the self is realized. He holds the trishool (three-pronged trident) significant for the destruction of ego and the desires of the three consciousness' - body, intellect, and mind. Victorious over ego, nirvana is found.
Beyond the learned consciousness that is developed in life lies god-realization. Shiva, in this state, is esctatic and blissful and he becomes Nataraja. However, Shiva is married to the goddess of perishable matter, Uma. It is only in contact with perishable matter that Shiva causes destruction. And to the state of the ultimate reality, perishable matter has no meaning and therefore, no association.
- The Mahabharata
There are great national epics of India, legends, and other spiritual stanzas that have lasted from as early as 540 B.C. One of which is the Mahabharata, the longest poem in the world translated as 'Great India'. Beginning with the words, "What is found here, may be found elsewhere. What is not found here, will not be found elsewhere..." it was written by the sage Vyasa, who had previously split the Vedas from one book to four. The 1.8 Million-word epic details the roles of dharma and karma withing our lives to lead to the four aims of the human condition: Artha (wealth), Dharma (duty), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation).
- Ramayana
Two main books known within yoga and yoga asana are part of the Mahabharata. Ramayana, by the poet Valmiki speaks of destined duty and how to recognize it. Ramayana movingly tells of the incarnation of Vishnu on Earth as Rama, living out dharma in the form of a love story between Rama and Sita against evil.
- Bhagavad Gita
More importantly to the world of yoga, is The Bhagavad Gita. This translates to 'the Song of the Divine One' or 'As It Is'. It is the most revered text in relation to the path of yoga towards ultimate truth. The immortality of one's soul is described by Krishna (a form of Vishnu) to Arjuna on the battlefield. Arjuna is overcome by the destitude of war, which is furthered by the realization that his family is on the opposing battlefield. His mind becomes overcome with emotion and unclear and it is Krishna's solution to reveal his godhood to him.
In doing so, it is explained that the mind is affected and that learned behavior makes it hard and obstinate, but it is the chariot of the body. The senses are always absorbing, but it is the intellect that must guide the mind, which is connected to the spirit. A death, on battlefield or not, is a shedding of the physical body only.
Mental or ego identity creates a whirlwind within the mind. It is described that the paths of yoga lead and condition our dual form to act and react in accord with the truth of self. The detachment from what is material transcends the self into divinity.
As Krishna unveils himself to Arjuna, he shows his essence, called Vishvarupa/Viratrupa or Universal Form. He said, " And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt." Attainment, he describes, is through the path of the yogi, or the paths of Bhakti Yoga (Devotion), Jnana Yoga (Ultimate Knowledge), Karma Yoga (Selfless Action), and Raja Yoga (Meditation).
Gurus & Masters of Yoga
Patanjali
Patanjali & The 8 Limbs of Yoga
As yoga grew into a more intricate study, by the fifth century C.E. a grammarian and philosopher by the name of Patanjali realized the need for a formed description of yoga principles to keep balance of the spirit (non-perishable), mind (highly-valued perishable matter) and the perishable matter of the body. If the mind is understood, emotion and intellect become dispassionate and may operate at a benefit not only internally, but for the greater universe. The ego becomes pure. The body as the chariot of the soul should be exercised in asana and the whole of our being will become strong, yet supple, coordinated and concentration will grow. How Patanjali evolved these concepts of yoga is by recognizing the need of separation that was established between the body and spirit. It is said that his gifts to humanity were three-fold: clarity of communication through his work on grammar, physical health through his work in medicine, and realized depth of spirit through his work with yoga philosophy.
Patanjali's system of yoga is has eight paths called limbs, or Ashtanga. This includes truth and non-violence in thought, action and deed. The limbs include: Yama for Right Ethics and Values (includes Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, and Aparagriha), Niyama for Mental and Personal Austerity, Asana for Physial Posture, Pranayama for Breath Control, Pratyahara for Dispassionate Senses, Dharana for Concentration, Dhyana or Meditation, and Samadhi or Nirvana. The importance of Ashtanga is the well of truth that lies as the direction of practice and the absolute adherance to not cause pain within yourself or others.
This is all written within the Yoga Sutra, which helped to define yoga and is the next step within Raja Yoga.
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna’s teachings through the 1800's revitalized yoga as he was not Brahmin and had been initiated by a sannyasin (renunciate), which had been uncommon. The greatest points of his teachings re-formed yoga mentality as emphasis was placed on harmony and oneness. He taught that all is as one, all is divine, and what bonds human beings to the cycle of living and dying is summed in greed and lust. Studying many religions, he proclaimed harmony between all of them and existence relied upon the unity of god-realization.
Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda of the late 1800's was a pupil of Ramakrishna and stood out for the position he took as he faced social issues. He excelled in sports and music and was drawn to philosophy, logic, and history. Vivekananda understood that global measures were needed if India was to survive. He became part of the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Illinois and lectured on Eastern and Hindu religion. After four years of touring and opening Vedantic centers, he returned to India among great criticism, yet had seen his goal through of igniting interest and acceptance of Eastern religion and thought. His teachings included some of Ramakrishna's teachings including 'Jiva is Shiva ', or every individual is divinity, and that freedom for one cannot exist fully without freedom for all. Socially, his impact was strong, calling for separation of religion and state - that religion should not be forced in any situation. His positive nature is shown in his words, " All power is within you, you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak... You can do anything and everything, without even the guidance of any one. All power is there. Stand up and express the divinity with you... Arise, awake, sleep no more. With each of you there is the power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe in this, that power will be manifested. "
Sivananda
Swami Sivananda is known as one of the greatest Yoga masters of the 20th century. He was born during 1887 in the south of India and became adept at gymnastics and spiritual practices. He became Dr. Kuppuswami, studying medicing, and that is what brought him to Malaysia. One patient that he took was a wandering Sannyasin (monk) who, in turn, taught him yoga and the philosophy of the Upanishads. This event changed his life and was the forming of the world teacher that is known today. His approach to life and yoga, in his words: "Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize". To help the greater population, Sivananda made popular the Five Points of Yoga, which are: Asana, Pranayama, Savasana (relaxation), Proper Diet (vegetarian), and Meditation.
Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda was named by the Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri as he became a Swami himself in 1915. His name joins 'Yoga' (union) and 'ananda' (bliss) and is significant in Gosh' own service to the world of fulfillment through the teaching of the powers of love. His educational center won the respect of Ghandi and his ideals won the respect of the Indian government and he was sent to Boston in 1920 as a delegate. This brought to the West new awareness and he started the Self-Realization Fellowship.
Importantly, Yogananda was able to bring light to Kriya Yoga, which has enlightened many about the spiritual science, and he was able to break ground on the unifying similarities among the world's greatest religions. His teachings reached many within the scientific and cultural fields and he was formally recieved to the White House during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge.
Krishnamacharya
Krishnamacharya was born in 1888 and lived over 100 years. One aspect of his teachings that made him one of the greatest yogis of modern times is the fact that he taught to the individual and to their health, mental, and spiritual needs. He was not one to standardize and made yoga relevant to each student. He remained true to ancient idea and philosophy, making yoga practical in the modern day and transforming the ways in which hatha yoga is practiced.
Pattabhi Jois
Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois was born in 1915, between Vishnu and Shiva temples. He was born into a Brahmin family and his father was a priest and astrologer and was the pupil of Krishnamacharya. He has always taught the same style of astanga as was taught to him and it spread throughout the Americas in the seventies. He teaches vinyasa for internal cleansing, tristhana for body, mind, and nervous system cleansing. He teaches that yoga is practiced to eliminate yoga shastra, or the six poisons: kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), mada (sloth), matsarya (envy), and moha (delusion).
Mataji
In 1937, the first Western female was accepted into the school of Krishnamacharya. Her name is Indra Devi, also known as Mataji. Krishnamacharya personally saw to her learning and knew that she must teach after only a year of practice. She is the founder of the controversial Sahaja yoga and is known for her methods of igniting self-realization to large groups at a time.
Brahmachari
Dhirendra Brahmachari was the yogic guru of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his daughter, Indira Gandhi. Born in 1924, he wrote several books on yoga, including "Yogic Sukshma Vyayama" and "Yogasana Vijnana". Interestingly, he spent time in the sixties invited to the USSR to train soviet cosmonauts the form of hatha yoga. After years of teaching in large ashrams, it was a shock to many that he retired to the fact that for many people yoga was an interest, but none were ready to make the sacrifice to become a real yogi.
BKS Iyengar
“When I practice, I am a philosopher. When I teach, I am a scientist. When I demonstrate, I am an artist.” These are the compelling words of BKS Iyengar. Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja (BKS) Iyengar was born a child sick from malaria, tuberculosis and typhoid. He turned to yoga for health. At 16, his sister was to wed guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who agreed to teach him yoga which turned into a lifelong love of the practice. After being sent to Pune for an English seminar, Iyengar relied on his own practice to lead his insight into yoga.
Iyengar’s teachings were first published in 1966, the classic book “Light on Yoga” and today he has published over fourteen. He is known for his precise, almost rigid style. He was the first to teach large groups and is respected for being able to assist in the breaking of personal limitations. On the other hand, he is a teacher that is known also for his booming voice and aggressive tactics to reach precision in his students practice by slaps on the arm or feet – or as he calls them, smacks to ‘awaken’ the area.
How Iyengar’s teachings differ from other guru’s is three main principles: Sequencing, Technique, and Timing. The balance between asana practice and pranayama is approached through timeliness and awareness. Only when the student is completely aware of the components of an asana or breathing technique are they able to intensify or release a prop from practice.
Iyengar has also said, " All may be able to do yoga but only one in a million is fit to be called a Yogi."
Bhajan
Yogi Bhajan, born in what is now Pakistan, studied philosophy of the Vedas and comparative religion. He left a prestigious governmental career in India at the age of 39 to teach yoga in the sixties. He realized that the drug-induced culture of the west had shown a deeper need for liberating awareness of the inner and global vision. As a master of Kundalini, he also teaches proper nutrition and ethics, having a profound affect. As the Sikh leader of the west, he has entered discussions with Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama.
Maharishi Mahesh
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, or Mahesh Prasad Varma, is best known for his findings and teachings in the Transcendental Meditation Movement (TM)and his popularization through The Beatles. His technique and personal wealth has garnered a lot of suspicion. He has written many books and continues to teach TM, roots of which are from Vedic philosophy. A quote sums his teachings as well as those of sages for centuries, "Expansion of happiness is the purpose of creation and we are all here to enjoy and radiate happiness everywhere." |
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