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The course of yoga through the millennia

Peter John Theodorou
Peter John Theodorou

Just how old is yoga? Well, almost as old as the ancient civilizations of the world over 5,000 years back.

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YOGA The Course of Yoga through the Millennia
Just how old is yoga? Well, almost as old as the ancient civilizations of the world over 5,000 years back. Some even consider it to be older by a further 5,000 years, but there are no reliable documents to prove that. Since the principles of yoga were largely conveyed orally and kept hidden from the larger populace, the exact time-frame of its formalization and adoption is hard to figure out even for scholars of history and archaeologists. There were written texts too, but since much of writing back then was done on palm leaves that couldnt stand the test of time. But though its origins in pre-history arent well documented, its certain that yoga is more than 5,000 years old. That would take it to the period of the Indus Valley Civilization in north western India and what is now Pakistan, between 3300 and 1900 BCE. But it is believed that yoga was further developed and perfected upon during the Vedic period that extended from 1500 to 500 BCE in northern India.
First Use of the Term Yoga The Rig Veda, one of the oldest religious texts in the world, contains the first use of the word yoga. The Rig Veda is part of the Vedas text collection which contains mantras, rituals and songs for use by the Hindu Brahman priests. The Brahman caste was considered the highest in the caste-based society of the day. The Brahmans further developed the yogic practices. Credit also goes to the seers of the era, called rishis. The rishis and the Brahmins could document their practices in another religious work, the Upanishads. The Upanishads framed the karma yoga and jnana yoga disciplines. But the development of yoga has also been attributed to the non-Brahmanic Sramana traditions. Patanjalis Yoga-Sutras From 200 BCE to 500 BCE, a philosophical system for yoga started emerging. This was the age when Buddhism and Jainism emerged as well. In the 2nd century AD, Patanjali brought out his Yoga-Sutras text. Patanjali is credited with documenting the classical stream of yoga, called Raja Yoga. Patanjalis focus was on organizing the steps of yoga with an aim of attaining enlightenment or Samadhi. These Yoga- Sutras still have a major influence on modern yoga, which is why Patanjali is called the father of yoga.
The Yoga Widely Followed in the West Hatha Yoga The modern practice of yoga commonly practiced in the United States and the Western word largely follows the principles of Hatha Yoga which itself is an evolution of Tantra Yoga developed by yoga masters who lived centuries following Patanjali. They did not follow the concepts of the Vedic texts I mentioned earlier. Rather, they considered the physical body as a means to enlightenment and developed the principles of Tantra Yoga, which eventually led to Hatha Yoga. By the Middle Ages, there were many satellite divisions of yoga that emerged. The Western world got wind of yoga only millennia later, in the 19th century after Swami Vivekanandas exposition of Hinduism and Indian traditions in 1893 at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago. Peter Theodorou is one of the most successful yoga trainers out there. He believes in always staying physically fit for a healthy life. And yoga has been helping him do that. He just wants to impart that wisdom to others so they can benefit from it.

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The course of yoga through the millennia

  • 2. Just how old is yoga? Well, almost as old as the ancient civilizations of the world over 5,000 years back. Some even consider it to be older by a further 5,000 years, but there are no reliable documents to prove that. Since the principles of yoga were largely conveyed orally and kept hidden from the larger populace, the exact time-frame of its formalization and adoption is hard to figure out even for scholars of history and archaeologists. There were written texts too, but since much of writing back then was done on palm leaves that couldnt stand the test of time. But though its origins in pre-history arent well documented, its certain that yoga is more than 5,000 years old. That would take it to the period of the Indus Valley Civilization in north western India and what is now Pakistan, between 3300 and 1900 BCE. But it is believed that yoga was further developed and perfected upon during the Vedic period that extended from 1500 to 500 BCE in northern India.
  • 3. First Use of the Term Yoga The Rig Veda, one of the oldest religious texts in the world, contains the first use of the word yoga. The Rig Veda is part of the Vedas text collection which contains mantras, rituals and songs for use by the Hindu Brahman priests. The Brahman caste was considered the highest in the caste-based society of the day. The Brahmans further developed the yogic practices. Credit also goes to the seers of the era, called rishis. The rishis and the Brahmins could document their practices in another religious work, the Upanishads. The Upanishads framed the karma yoga and jnana yoga disciplines. But the development of yoga has also been attributed to the non-Brahmanic Sramana traditions. Patanjalis Yoga-Sutras From 200 BCE to 500 BCE, a philosophical system for yoga started emerging. This was the age when Buddhism and Jainism emerged as well. In the 2nd century AD, Patanjali brought out his Yoga-Sutras text. Patanjali is credited with documenting the classical stream of yoga, called Raja Yoga. Patanjalis focus was on organizing the steps of yoga with an aim of attaining enlightenment or Samadhi. These Yoga- Sutras still have a major influence on modern yoga, which is why Patanjali is called the father of yoga.
  • 4. The Yoga Widely Followed in the West Hatha Yoga The modern practice of yoga commonly practiced in the United States and the Western word largely follows the principles of Hatha Yoga which itself is an evolution of Tantra Yoga developed by yoga masters who lived centuries following Patanjali. They did not follow the concepts of the Vedic texts I mentioned earlier. Rather, they considered the physical body as a means to enlightenment and developed the principles of Tantra Yoga, which eventually led to Hatha Yoga. By the Middle Ages, there were many satellite divisions of yoga that emerged. The Western world got wind of yoga only millennia later, in the 19th century after Swami Vivekanandas exposition of Hinduism and Indian traditions in 1893 at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago. Peter Theodorou is one of the most successful yoga trainers out there. He believes in always staying physically fit for a healthy life. And yoga has been helping him do that. He just wants to impart that wisdom to others so they can benefit from it.