Ever
since June 21 was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the United
Nations (at the suggestion of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi), there has
been a lot of debate in the media on the significance of the gesture and its
subsequent impact.
Not
that awareness about yoga, the ancient Indian system of healing and spiritual
growth, was lacking before the announcement. But the fact that the PM himself
has been pushing for it and that elaborate arrangements are being made by the
Indian government to celebrate the day in several parts of the world on an
unprecedented scale makes the whole thing a gigantic affair.
Plus,
there are reports that yoga asanas
(bodily exercises) are to be done compulsorily in schools. This has led to certain
sections of people speaking up in rebellion. Of particular note is Surya
Namaskar, an asana in which the
person must bow before the Sun (god) and pronounce “Om” as part of the
elaborate regimen. Some Muslim groups have objected strongly to this, saying
they cannot bow before anyone except Allah. Responding to the criticism, the
government has said that they can invoke Allah or any other thing sacred to
them instead of the Sun or Om.
In this backdrop, a lot of stories
are emerging in
mainstream and social media about what yoga is, how it should be done (or not
done), who should be doing it, how it originated, and how true are the health
benefit claims, among others.
This
blog post is an attempt to bring to light some of the most pertinent facts,
legends and practices related to yoga in the hope that much confusion and
darkness will be dispelled, thereby helping the saadhaks (adepts) of this oldest system of mind-body healing and
of attaining the union of the individual self with the Supreme Soul.
Before
I delve deeper into the very heart of yoga, let me first reflect on the state
of yoga as a discipline and an industry in India and the world—and how the
money-mindedness of today’s self-styled yoga gurus is warping a holistic
ancient heritage into something superficial, as if it were just another of
those physical routines that go by fancy names.
I’m
not, of course, the first one to raise the question of the muddied waters
around yoga. In fact, there was a recent movement (hashtagged #TakeBackYoga)
started by the Hindu American Foundation in the US, and I would urge you to
look at some of the articles on their website here (look in particular
for the debate between Deepak Chopra and Aseem Shukla on acknowledging
the Hindu roots of yoga, among others).
A
quick look at the economics of the yoga industry worldwide, particularly in
America, reveals how lucrative yoga has become—a far cry from the time when it
was taught only to the very deserving adepts without any consideration for
money. (If the saadhak excelled in
yoga and further illumined others in the discipline, that was remuneration
enough.)
According
to Yoga Journal, the leading publication
on yoga, over 20 million Americans practiced yoga in 2012, spending as much as $10.3 billion on yoga classes and products, including equipment, clothing,
vacations, and media. This is almost double the $5.7 billion they spent in
2008, when the Journal conducted its
previous study. However, while the money doubled, the number of yoga
practitioners grew relatively slowly (15.8 million Americans practiced yoga in 2008).
Large
spends on such things as “equipment” and “clothing” for yoga would certainly
have bemused, if not disgusted, the true yogis of ancient India who quietly
went about their yoga business on straw mats or bare earth in modest huts or
forest caves. It’s another matter that India now has its own share of
self-styled yogis who run multimillion-dollar empires.
But
the most amazing thing about yoga in America is how innovative people have been
in pummeling it into all sorts of modern, hip or plain weird forms to suit
their own interests or sex up its commercial aspects: Power Yoga (propounded in
1995 by Bender Birch who, says a Yoga
Journal piece, wanted “to give a Western spin to the practice of Ashtanga
Yoga”); Jivamukti Yoga; Yin Yoga (the martial arts expert-turned-yoga- founder’s
eponymous website, pauliezink.com, greets you upfront: “You can learn some
fundamentals of Yin Yoga from other teachers but you can only learn the
complete art of Yin yoga from the founding master”); Phoenix Rising Yoga
Therapy (yes, you read it right); and many, many more.
The
proponent of one of the hottest and most lucrative yoga forms, Bikram Yoga, is
currently fighting sexual harassment lawsuits from six women. Huffington Post has even put the guy,
Bikram Choudhury, on its mocking Dickipedia list (no affiliation with
Wikipedia) with this description: “Bikram Choudhury is a 69-year-old yoga
instructor, a multi-millionaire businessman, and a dick.”
The
Bikram case may be an extreme one, where the lust for power, money and sex has
allegedly taken a self-styled yoga trainer to the pits of moral bankruptcy. But
increasing commercialization and trivialization of a great, holistic realm such
as yoga is indeed shameful and unfortunate.
Thankfully,
some Western practitioners are open to acknowledging the ancient Hindu roots of
yoga and accord it the place of pride it deserves. Genny Kapuler, who teaches
Iyengar yoga (more on BKS Iyengar later), says in this article on NPR.org
that her understanding of yoga is indeed Hindu in origin. In her practice, she
says, “every thought, every action has a ramification... there is this moral
responsibility to own what you do.”
It is high time people across the
world not only knew about the rich, ancient heritage of yoga but also realized that it is much,
much more than the physical postures known as asanas (in Hindi as well as Sanskrit, the word asana means “sitting posture” or “a place to sit”). No doubt these
postures have immense health benefits as evidenced by millions of practitioners
all over the globe, and they are an integral part of yoga (we used to call them
yogasanas in school), but the reach
and impact of yoga is so high that an average mind would boggle at what human
beings can achieve through yoga.
Just
as a layperson would get completely bewildered if a quantum physicist were to
explain to them the laws and working of the Large Hadron Collider, the
hip-hop crowd equating yoga with gymming would be totally left agape at the
grand philosophy, practice and science of yoga as envisioned by the ancient rishis who bequeathed yoga to the world.
(A rishi is a Hindu sage or seer who
has performed intense saadhana over
the years and thus obtained humongous powers.)
There
are some fascinating stories of
yoga’s origin or expansion on earth, going back thousands of years in time. The
Western mind, much attuned to a linear way of thinking and progression, may
find the existence of multiple stories baffling or discrediting, but the all-embracing
Hindu tradition—which views things from a cyclical point of view and values the
richness and complexity of multiple narratives—knows how to benefit from them
or take them in its giant stride (reminds you of the Vamana avatar of Lord
Vishnu).
Before
I relate a couple of stories, I would like to highlight another unfortunate
aspect about India’s ancient culture, history and heritage. Which is: because
of centuries of foreign rule (primarily Mughal and British periods), most of
the original scripts depicting India’s past glory have been lost in the
political upheavals. What survive today are but a few translations of the
original texts. In my research I also discovered some English translations by
British authors who seemed bent on discrediting old Hindu traditions rather
than make the texts accessible to a wider audience.
Nevertheless,
there are some authentic or near-authentic texts and translations as well. For
the doubtful mind, there may be gaps here or cracks there, along with some
inconsistencies or confusions, but for the souls who are willing to combine the
surviving body of knowledge with their own experience and self-exploration,
there is enough to carry on with the amazing journey of yoga.
Looking
at the multiple references to yoga’s origin and development, and the current
way in which it is commonly understood and practiced, Sage Patanjali is
arguably the most notable figure. Even today’s maverick yoga proponent, Baba
Ramdev (who is credited in India with the current resurgence of interest in
yoga and ayurveda, the ancient Hindu system of healing using herbs and dietary
control), has used Patanjali’s name for his firm. (Going by his strange antics in
front of media and allegedly dubious intentions of profiteering from ayurvedic
formulations, however, one cannot be sure if Patanjali would have approved.)
In his book, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, renowned yoga guru BKS
Iyengar relates how
the legendary Hindu sage perfected yoga on earth and became its perfect master.
As per the tale, Patanjali was an incarnation of Sheshnag (also called Adishesha),
the thousand-headed serpent upon which Lord Vishnu is often shown reclining in
Hindu pictures (Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are together said to form the Hindu
holy trinity).
Here
is how the story goes: Once Lord Vishnu was seated on Sheshnag, watching Lord
Siva dance and feeling increasingly enchanted by the movements. Gradually, his
own body began to vibrate with the rhythm of Siva’s dance. As the dance went
on, Vishnu’s body felt heavier and heavier, much to the discomfort of
Sheshnag—who was on the verge of collapse. However, the moment Siva’s dance
came to an end, Lord Vishnu’s body felt light again. The entire experience left
Sheshnag amazed and he asked Lord Vishnu about it. When Vishnu attributed the
experience to the grace, beauty and majesty of Lord Siva’s movements, Sheshnag
professed a desire to learn to dance so as to be able to exalt his Lord the way
Siva did.
As
per Hindu mythology and tradition, everything happens at its own opportune
time. When Vishnu told Sheshnag that Lord Siva would grace him one day,
Sheshnag began to meditate on Siva and look forward to that day. One day, in
his meditation, Sheshnag had the vision of a yogini (lady practitioner of yoga) called Gonika, who used to pray
to the Sun god for a worthy son to whom she could impart her knowledge and
wisdom. Sheshnag realized that she would be a worthy mother for him and waited
for the right occasion. At one point, Gonika thought that her life on earth was
about to come to an end. She took a handful of water in both her hands as a
final oblation and meditated on the Sun god. Lo and behold! To her surprise, in
her enfolded palm fell a little snake, which quickly turned into a male child,
who requested her to accept him as her son. She agreed and the son came to be
known as Patanjali (hands held together, semi-open palms upturned, for an
offering are called anjali and pata means “to fall” in Hindi).
Living
sometime between BCE 500 and BCE 200, Patanjali is said to have composed 196
sutras or aphorisms on yoga.
Patanjali,
says Iyengar in the book, assumed human form, experienced a typical human
being’s sorrows and joys, and learned to transcend them. “In Yoga Sutras he described the ways of
overcoming the afflictions of the body and the fluctuation of the mind: the obstacles
to spiritual development,” writes Iyengar. He further says that the 196 sutras
cover all aspects of life, beginning with a prescribed code of conduct and
ending with man’s vision of his true self.
Another
legend relates to Yogi Matsyendranath (the first of the famed Nav Nath
religious sect, the second being his disciple Gorakhnath/Gorakshnath; the town
of Gorakhpur in India is said to be named after the latter), who is said to
have lived around the 10th century. Once Matsyendranath (also called
Machhindranath; Matsya or Machhi means fish) was traveling in a boat when it capsized
and he was swallowed by a large fish. As luck would have it, the fish happened
to be around a place where Lord Siva was lecturing his consort Parvati on yoga.
Matsyendranath acquired this knowledge by overhearing them. Later, he emerged
unhurt out of the fish and went on spreading the knowledge of yoga among his
disciples.
Yoga Yajnavalkya is
another ancient treatise on yoga, which is attributed to Yajnavalkya Rishi (who
is said to be a philosopher in the court of King Janaka of Mithila, around 700
BCE). According to a Wikipedia entry, the book takes the form of a dialog
between Yajnavalkya and the renowned female philosopher Gargi. The extant
Sanskrit text is said to comprise 12 chapters and 504 verses. Further, many later
yoga texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (attributed to Yogi Svatmarama) and
books on Kundalini (Google this word and you’ll get over 10 million results)
quote substantively from Yoga Yajnavalkya.
It
goes without saying that yoga as a discipline has the richest and most ancient
history of any healing system in the world.
The
yoga as propounded in Patanjali’s Yoga
Sutras envisages eight angas or
limbs, which is why it is also called Ashtanga Yoga (besides its other name,
Raja Yoga). The prefix ashta in
Ashtanga means eight in Sanskrit.
A
brief look at the eight limbs would reveal how holistic and all-encompassing
indeed is yoga:
(1) Yama
(ethical restraints), namely, ahimsa
(non-violence), satya (truthfulness),
asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (continence), and aparigraha (non-covetousness)
(2) Niyama (ethical observances), namely, shaucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (fiery discipline or austerity), svadhyaya (study of sacred literature as
well as one’s own self), and Ishwara
Pranidhana (surrender of the self to God)
(3) Asana (the famous body postures most
people now mistake for the bigger concept of yoga): While some texts suggest
there are as many asanas as there are
species on Earth according to Hindu philosophy (that is, 8.4 million), many
sources point to 84 classical poses. Of these, 32 are said to be preeminent or
of particular importance (a few famous poses include Padmasana, Shirshasana,
Siddhasana, Bhadrasana, Simhasana, Vajrasana, Chakrasana and, of course, Surya
Namaskar).
Here,
it is pertinent to draw attention to the attempts by purely commercial elements
(especially in the West), to get patents on traditional asanas. Taking note of the 130 yoga-related patents granted in the US
in 2007, the government of India, according to Wikipedia, sought clarification
on the guidelines for patenting asanas
from the US Patent Office. Next year, to stress that all asanas are public knowledge and so cannot be patented, the
government formed “a team of yoga gurus, government officials, and 200
scientists from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to
register all known asanas in a public
database.” The team collected asanas
from 35 ancient texts, including the Mahabharata, the Bhagwad Gita, and
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and as of
2010, identified 900 asanas for the
database, which was named the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library and made
available to patent examiners.
If
such precautionary steps are not taken, imagine the outrage that rampant,
commercial patenting can cause among Indians. For instance, suppose you are
practicing an asana in the local park
one fine morning when a foreigner catches hold of your leg mid-asana, proclaiming: “Sorry, you can’t do
this—it has been patented by my firm Yogadusht Inc.”
(4) Pranayama (giving dimensions to “prana,” the
breath realized as the life-force): In the book, Iyengar describes pranayama as
the expansion of the life force through control of the breath. Pranayama by
nature has three components: inhalation, exhalation and retention. He says that
Patanjali adds one more type of pranayama that is free from deliberate action:
called Kevala Kumbhaka or Kevala Pranayama, it transcends the sphere of breath
which is modulated by mental volition.
In
my opinion and experience, pranayama calms your nerves, regulates your
breathing to make it easy and smooth-flowing, and provides for a tranquil
body-mind platform better suited to embarking upon dhyana or meditation, the seventh limb of yoga.
(5) Pratyahara (withdrawal of the sense organs
from external objects): If one follows the precepts of pratyahara, one gains full control of the sense organs and all
craving for things such as food, drink, clothes, and other paraphernalia just
goes away.
It
is said that the first five limbs of yoga—yama,
niyama, asana, pranayama and pratyahara—set the stage for the next three angas: dharana, dhyana and samadhi.
(6), (7) & (8) Dharana, Dhyana
and Samadhi: These
three are so closely interlinked that it might be a good idea to consider them
together here. In dharana, which is
translated as concentration in English, the saadhak
aims to focus his concentration on a single point or object. In his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali has identified
certain points within and outside the body which should be used by the seeker
for concentration and contemplation. If dharana
is maintained steadily, explains Iyengar, it flows into the next limb, dhyana (meditation). And when the
meditator and the object meditated upon become one, dhyana flows into samadhi.
Of
course, all this is not so simple and quick as it sounds. To achieve the final
state of samadhi can take one a few
days, weeks, years, decades or even several lifetimes. All this, they say,
depends on the current status of one’s accumulated karma over past lives. Yogis have even described different states
of samadhi. (Karma, like yoga, is
another integral aspect of traditional Hindu philosophy. The law of karma is somewhat like the Newtonian law
of action and reaction—only the results of actions are spread across various
births.)
Unlike
the puffed up and greedy yoga peddlers one often finds these days, the old
masters who dedicated their entire lives in the study, practice and selfless
service through yoga were humble to the core. It is my belief that such
masters, gurus and yogis abounded in and around India in ancient times
(historic as well as pre-historic) but their numbers have dwindled over the centuries.
Some
of the modern names I can recall, who are widely believed to be true yoga
masters and did a lot to spread the discipline without greed, include T
Krishnamacharya, Swami Sivananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, BKS Iyengar, K
Pattabhi Jois and Andre Van Lysebeth.
I
have a book by Lysebeth (a Belgian yoga instructor and author who was a
disciple of Sivananda) that is quite popular in the West. In the book, Yoga Self-Taught, Lysebeth not only
explains some of the key asanas with
great lucidity, he also gives detailed scientific explanations of how
particular positions affect different regions of the body and what benefits
they bring to the practitioner.
To
cite but one example, talking about the effects of Dhanurasana (the Bow
position), Lysebeth writes that “the compression of the dorsal part of the
rachis, and the stretching of the anterior surfaces act upon the ligaments,
muscles and nerve centers of the spinal column. The Bow prevents untimely
calcification in the vertebrae, and straightens backs hunched through years of
sitting at desk, in offices or at workbenches.” He goes on to describe the asana’s beneficial effects on the abdominal
muscles, cellulitis, endocrine glands, and a few other regions of the human
body with precise terms and logical explanations.
Such
instances are scattered throughout the book—leaving little room for doubt about
yogasanas’ immense ability to keep
the body healthy and the mind rejuvenated. There is a small supplement on
dietary control as well.
I
am sure there would be many more yoga instructors, teachers and authors who
have spread or continue to spread the light of yoga in a spirit of service and
authenticity in these get-rich-quick times. But as the age of instant
gratification rolls on, you will find fewer and fewer of them. In the olden days
one went to the jungles and peeked inside caves in search of true yogis, but
now that humanity is spread over the whole planet like locusts, even that
option may not work. (I wonder what a modern-day Paul Brunton would find
if he were to undertake his “Search in Secret India” in today’s messed up,
crowded country!)
What
strikes me about the few good yoga gurus such as Iyengar is their honesty and
humility—hallmarks, in my view, of anyone worthy of being credited with
greatness. In the introductory note on Patanjali in his book, Iyengar writes:
“Though I have practiced and worked in the field of yoga for more than fifty
years, I may have to practice for several more lifetimes to reach perfection in
the subject. Therefore, the explanation of the most abstruse sutras lies yet beyond my power.”
Contrast
this with the haughty and misleading claims of several self-styled yoga gurus
who are busy minting money with their own concoctions of yoga (and who would
rather have fifty million in their bank than practice a rigorous discipline for
fifty years).
The
literal meaning and import of yoga is union of the self with the Supreme Soul
(you can call the latter God, the most powerful universal force, energy or
whatever). The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root “yuj,” which means “to
join.”
There
have been attempts by the yogis, mystics and Buddhists of yore to define the
supreme bliss, feeling of peace and ethereal experience that spring forth from
the state of samadhi, the apogee of yoga. But it is generally agreed upon that
no words suffice to fully describe this unique, divine occurrence. And this
experience is something to strive for, to live, to share with the world at large
for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Just
as scientists are discovering different levels of intelligence among various
species of animals, practicing yogis achieve varying degrees of success and
stages of mind-body control in their saadhana.
Think of yoga like a perennially flowering tree, which gives different kinds of
fruit in different stages of its unfolding. The most popular of these, asanas, have amazing health-giving
properties as we have seen. Others—yama,
niyama, pranayama, etc.—too have great benefits that can significantly
lessen the rampant greed and corruption and bring about a sense of wholeness,
peace and well-being.
While the roots of yoga are steeped in ancient Hindu traditions and philosophical thought, to the best of my knowledge, not a single (true) yogi has ever uttered any remark prohibiting people from other religions from practicing asanas or living by the precepts of yoga.
The goal of yoga is to unite, not divide.
There
couldn’t perhaps be a more opportune time for yoga than the current
“disjointed” age we are living in.
Post-script: Having finished writing the post, I
realized that something substantial was missing. After a while, I noticed that
all the yogis mentioned here are male (barring a brief mention of Gonika,
Patanjali’s mother). How could this happen, I thought?! But then, don’t we all
take our mother for granted, even though she is the one who brings us into
this world and is truly our first guru?
I
also remembered that there are temples in India dedicated to yoginis, often
called chaunsath yoginis (chaunsath = 64 in Hindi). Besides being a female adept of yoga, a yogini is considered to be an incarnation of the sacred feminine (goddesses Lakshmi, Parvati, Durga, Kali, etc.) Said to be enlightened women, yoginis are known to possess exuberant passion, deep insights into the nature of reality and great spiritual powers. Some of the 64
yoginis depicted in the Hirapur Chaunsath Yogini Temple in the Indian state of Odisha
are: Bahurupa, Tara, Yamuna, Vaishnavi, Kalaratri, Chinnamasta, Saraswati,
Mahalakshmi, Ambika, Kali, Aditi, Chamunda, Aghora and Ganga. (Also, check out "Tibetan yoginis" on the Web and you will be overwhelmed with a wealth of amazing information and images.)
PPS: This blog post is but a tiny, humble attempt
to encapsulate a system and philosophy as vast as yoga into a few words—with
the hope that it would kindle interest in yoga among those who want to live
holistic lives and rise above the ordinary. Namaste!
