Exploring the origins, Earthly and otherwise, of the Yoga path.
Let us first consider the limits of our historical knowledge.
We can only see so far back.
A mere few thousand years and we have very little clear understanding of what the human population of the world was like.
Modern archaeology continues to discover more and more amazing things demonstrating a much wider spectrum of possibilities than we currently generally acknowledge.
What we do know ... is that we don't know.
Spiritually-speaking, who knows how long or how many were the humans that knew their Self-Truth?
We don't.
So then ... as far as we know :b ... where does the wisdom of Yoga come from?
I would like to approach this question in two ways.
Approach #1 - Historically
The Mohenjo-daro seal
The oldest existing physical evidence of Yoga practice is the famous Mohenjo-daro seal.
It is the earliest evidence of civilisation in the Indian subcontinent.
It depicts a figure, seated on a low couch, cross-legged in a Yoga meditation posture.
The seal, approx 2" square, comes to us from Mohenjo-daro a principal city of a great lost culture which flourished some 3,000 years before Christ.
The Indus Valley culture was established for some 1000 miles along the Indus Valley and down to the coast of the Arabian Sea.
This culture disappeared for unknown reasons some 1500 years after the seal was made.
The Vedas
Around this time another enigmatic culture thrived in northwestern India ... the Aryans.
Their sacred wisdom was encoded into the Vedas.
Rich, poetic descriptions of the universe and humanity's place in it comprise some of mankind's oldest existing records.
They have been, and continue to be, passed down orally from generation to generation.
In written form they constitute text books of Eternal Truth whose central theme is discovery of our hidden, primary nature.
The wisdom preserved in the Vedas was intuited/received by the great seers (rishis) and considered Divinely-inspired (shruti).
The Vedas assert that the knowledge they contain is unchanging and absolute, because it is contained in and derived directly from Eternal Source/Consciousness.
Yoga is one of six orthodox Vedic philosophies (called darshana - viewpoints).
These six combine to form a complete, practical, philosphical expression of Truth and the way to go about finding It.
(Buddhism is an example of an unorthodox Vedic philosophy.)
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The great sage Patanjali was the first to write the teachings of Yoga down, c.500 BCE.
His work is a compilation of Vedic wisdom previously taught orally, by chanting.
The 196 succinct verses are dense with wisdom/information and are widely considered to be the core text from which modern Yoga practice is derived.
Patanjali defines Yoga, what it is for, what it does and how to practice it.
It is the original self-help manual.
Much more on this wonderful work in later articles.
Approach #2 - Spiritually
All wisdom is inside us all.
As the Vedas inform us, we are all Soul/Consciousness.
We are all streams of The One All-Knowing Source.
This Self is the universal Truth underlying all things.
Thus, we have all knowledge inside ourselves.
We are all guru.
The wisdom of Yoga comes from direct experience of the Truth at our core and says that becoming aware of, and established in, that Truth is the goal of life.
Conclusion
Approach #2 is contained in approach #1.
The Vedas/Yoga (and indeed other great Spiritual traditions) offer great and sacred knowledge of immeasurable value.
But the words in them can only ever be understood intellectually until we experience the Truth they indicate for ourselves.
Their greatest value is in the direction they can give us on our own path to the central Truth.
Truth Itself is not in chants or books or techniques ... they are but signposts, relative truths (albeit immensely valuable ones) pointing towards the Truth which resides forever inside us.
Whilst such ancient tradition is of immense importance, and its study of great worth, it is fundamentally important to not be slaves to it.
With the utmost respect, I suggest that we are best served always recognising that ultimately we are, each and everyone, the Source of All.
Yoga is not lifeless.
If we engage the path, with this destination always foremost in out intentions, then we are Yoga living now.
We all can achieve clarity.
Yoga offers means to do so.
We have these wonderful tools and techniques and the inspirational perceptions of the ancient seers to guide us on our path.
And always the path goes inside.
All wise masters say the same thing ...
Know that inside is where Truth is.
Seek inside.
"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time".
TS Eliot Little Gidding.
