Origin of Yoga and its
journey to America
(Series – Authentic Yoga Tradition-1)
By
Acharya Girish Jha, Mentor, Guide and Life Coach
Yoga represents a philosophy comprehensive enough to embrace
the whole of knowledge, everything that was, is and must be. Yoga is the master
of all sciences. By integrating the material and transcendental divine, yoga
enables one to lead a balanced life with the optimum level of physical, mental
and spiritual well being. Yoga is also the greatest and most difficult of all
the arts. It is the discipline in life of coming in conscious contact with the
divine or ultimate consciousness- The source. So yoga calls for self-conscious
human beings to understand mentally and intellectually its philosophy, to
follow it as a path systematically and to experiment within life and experience
the new level of consciousness that in the end results in enlightenment.
History
of Yoga in India
The birth of human civilization (oldest) is known as
Indus Valley Civilization or Sindhu-Sarswat tradition is as old as 5000
B.C. The oldest text Rig-Veda is
considered to be written prior to 1900 BC, around 3100 BC before Sarswat River went
dry in 1900 BC
A beautiful verse from Rig-Veda explains all about Yoga:
When a Yogi has control on his 5 organs of action, 5 organs
of perception and mind through the power of Yoga, in this way when he does
meditation, then he sees God - (Rig Veda Mantra I, Sukta 93 Mandal 9).
There are as many as 900 texts
were written and available during the period until 300 AD, in which references
about philosophy, practices of yoga are explained in detail. These texts are
classified into two groups- Shruti and Smriti. Shruti are authoritative texts,
while Smriti are secondary texts. All these texts prove the continuing of Yoga
Tradition during the period of over 8000 years. Following Shruti Texts have many references of philosophy
and practices of Yoga: Four Vedas namely
Rig Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sam-Veda and Atharva-Veda , Aryankas( texts written
perhaps in forests by masters) specially
Aiterya and Shankhayana ( name of texts), Brahman Granthas( name of texts),
Upanishads( 32 out of 108 Upanishad texts essentially belong to Yoga). Following
Smriti texts refer about Yoga practices : Dharma Shasta ( 27 texts which refers about Yoga), Mahakavyas
(the Epics; they include Mahabharata and the Ramayana) – Bhagvad Gita – the
famous text is part of Mahabharata has 30 million copies in over 30 languages
of the world, Puranas (the fables or writings) – 18 Puranas , Sutras (proverbs or aphorisms) –
there are as many as 100 texts under this category explains about Yoga, Agamas
(the philosophies; including Mantras, Tantras, and Yantras) – 250 texts , Darsanas (the philosophies;
including the Vedanta) – there are total nine divisions out of which six are
known as followers of Vedic Principles while rest three are Non-followers of Veda
are Jainism, Buddhism, and Charvaka.
Many great masters
during the period beginning from 700 AD until present time have immensely
contributed and have written very authentic texts on Yoga. Kabir, Rai Das,
Meera, Sahajo Bai, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Mother, Telanga Swami,
Swami Rama, Osho, Mahrashi Raman are few of many names who influenced the
entire humanity.
Journey of Yoga to America
Swami Vivekananda in 1893, Mastmuni in 1919, Paramhamsa Yoagnanda in 1920, Indra Devi (Russian Born) in 1947, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi in 1960 is few of many who popularized Yoga in different forms and styles in America. The most notable who laid the foundation and awakened the American mind to think beyond their own set paradigms of life was Swami Vivekananda. In 1893, in the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, USA, speech of Swami Vivekananda is well remembered. This marked the beginning of interest of Americans in Indian Philosophy, particularly Yoga. The very first phrase used by Swami Vivekananda, “Sisters and Brothers of America” mesmerized the audience present there.
According to one conservative estimate over 17
million Americans are practicing one or the other schools of Yoga 2-3 times
weekly. Yoga is now a $20 billion dollar industry and is increasing at the rate
of 30% annually. The first ever Yoga center was established by two monks of
Swami Vivekananda, known as Vedanta Society of Chicago.
Yoga: A science
of making a better person
I was asked by an audience in Indonesia, after a lecture on
Yoga, “I am a Christian, and can I practice Yoga.”
I was really amused by his question and said,” If you are a
Christian and practice Yoga, you become a better Christian. If you are a
teacher and practice Yoga, become a better teacher. If you are a husband,
practice Yoga, become a better husband.”
Yoga discovers the Real Self (that dwells within every human
being) guided by Peace, Harmony, Love, Delight and Wisdom. And when one discovers and brings these
attributes into one’s life, one evolves consciously , drops all his/her
inhibitions and awakens inherent latent traits that makes him wiser and wiser ,
besides attaining physical, mental and emotional well being. That is why, Yoga
is also termed as way of life that harmonizes every layers of Human Existence
i.e. Body, Life and Mind. A simple query to your self-followed by contemplation
as how to be good/better person in personal, professional, social lives will
take one to understand the philosophy of yoga and encourages him to practice
yoga in order to bring about fundamental changes in life.
The next blog we
will cover “Perennial Philosophy of Yoga for
Modern Man’ (series –Authentic Yoga Tradition-2)
Contact Acharya Girish Jha at guruji220@gmail.com
Acharya Girish Jha, a master teacher, mentor, guide, and
blogger and life coach holds MS, BS, Dip. Yoga, nature cure, Cert. in Research
methodology, and Board Certified Professional Counselor (APA). A deep urge for
self-discovery inspired to spend yrs. in Himalayas and with many yoga and
spiritual traditions. He learnt from more than 100 Himalayan masters, teachers
and saints. He has the credit of teaching over 100000 people during the last
over 33 years, conducting over 1000 workshops, seminars, and talks, actively
conducting res. projects in Asthma, Diabetes, Stress Management, High Altitude
Sickness research, meditation and stress management, offered life coaching
(integral wisdom with customized practices) to more than 500 couples, conducted over 300 Radio talk
shows, anchored over 30 TV serials on Yoga. He has experience of over 28000
hours of teaching (6000 hrs. of life coaching and spiritual counseling),
contributed over 200 articles/papers on yoga and yoga research, and developed
specialized practices based on conscious evolution and transformation.
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