FIVE BROAD CATEGORIES OF YOGA DEVELOPMENT
8 Feb 2022 HYN Himalayan Yoga Academy
FIVE BROAD CATEGORIES OF YOGA DEVELOPMENT
The science of Yoga has its origin thousands of years ago, long before the first religion or belief systems were born. According to Yogic lore, Shiva has seen as the first Guru Aadiguru. Several thousand years ago, on the banks of Lake Kantisarovar in the Himalayas, the first Yogi, called Aadiyogi poured his profound knowledge into the legendary ‘saptarishis’ or “seven sages”. We do know, though, that it originated in HimavatKshetra / Bhaarata Khanda 15,000 or more years ago. This message is viewed in Rig-veda, the oldest sacred text of the world. Before Vedic period, there was Deva Yoga Yuga or Pre-vedic Age in which Shiva as Aadiyogi, or Aadiguru who practiced Yoga called Tapa or Tapasya and taught to Parvati as a first disciple of Shiva.
PRE-VEDIC PERIOD
All vedas were appeared from the voice of Paramatma or Brahma on the meditated or liberated stage. Paramatma viewed these precious and divine words on the stage of Meditation, Samadhi or Yoga. In Veda, we can find Brahm Vidhya and Yoga Vidhya, the meeting point or core is Prana Vidhya that is AUM. The sages were given the knowledge of the Vedas: Agni, Vayu, Aditra and Angira;
VEDIC PERIOD
The yogic teachings found in the above-mentioned Rig-Veda and the other three ancient hymnodies are known as Vedic Yoga. The Sanskrit word Veda means “knowledge,” while the Sanskrit term rig (from ric) means “praise.” Thus, the sacred Rig-Veda is the collection of hymns that are in praise of a higher power. This collection is in fact the fountainhead of Hinduism, which has around one billion adherents today. You could say that the Rig-Veda is to Hinduism what the Book of Genesis is to Christianity. The other three Vedic hymnodies are the Yajur-Veda (“Knowledge of Sacrifice”), Sama-Veda (“Knowledge of Chants”), and Atharva-Veda (“Knowledge of Atharvan”). The first collection contains the sacrificial formulas used by the Vedic priests. The second text contains the chants accompanying the sacrifices. The third hymnody is filled with magical incantations for all occasions but also includes a number of very powerful philosophical hymns. It is very connected with Atharvan. The Fourth is Atharvan, is a famous fire priest who is remembered as having been a master of magical rituals. It is a collection of hymns, spells and prayers, and involves issues such as healing of illness, prolonging, black magic, seeking cures from herbs, gaining a lover or partner, or world peace, the nature of good and evil and rituals for removing maladies and anxieties.
PRE-CLASSICAL YOGA PERIOD
Yoga was slowly refined and developed by the Brahmans and Rishis (mystic seers) who documented their practices and beliefs in the upanishads, a huge work containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, composed around 500 B.C.E. The Upanishads took the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and internalized it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action (karma yoga) and wisdom (jnana yoga). Period of Mahabhaarata, and Ramayana, are the period of Pre-classical.
CLASSICAL YOGA PERIOD
This label applies to the eightfold Yoga—also known as Râja-Yoga—taught by Patanjali in his Yoga-Sûtra. This Sanskrit text is composed of just under 200 aphoristic statements, which have been commented on over and over again through the centuries. Sooner or later all serious Yoga students discover this work and have to grapple with its terse statements. The word sûtra (which is related to Latin suture) means literally “thread.” Here it conveys a thread of memory, an aid to memorization for students eager to retain Patanjali’s knowledge and wisdom.
The Yoga-Sûtra was probably written sometimes in the second century A.D. The earliest available Sanskrit commentary on it is the Yoga-Bhâshya (“Speech on Yoga”) attributed to Vyâsa. It was authored in the fifth century A.D. and furnishes fundamental explanations of Patanjali’s often-cryptic statements.
POST-CLASSICAL YOGA PERIOD
A few centuries after Patanjali, yoga masters created a system of practices designed to rejuvenate the body and prolong life. They rejected the teachings of the ancient Vedas and embraced the physical body as the means to achieve enlightenment. They developed Tantra Yoga, with radical techniques to cleanse the body and mind to break the knots that bind us to our physical existence. This exploration of these physical-spiritual connections and body centered practices led to the creation of what we primarily think of Hatha Yoga from Mahayogi Gorakhanath, Swatmaram, Gheranda.
In Nepal, learning yoga during your yoga teacher training course means learning the history of Himalayas from the traditional gurus of Himalayas. Here in our yoga school during yoga teacher training nepal, we not only focus on learning about the yoga but also how yoga has been developed through centuries. How yoga has helped thousand of people change their life. Learning these broad categories of yoga development is the part of Yoga Teacher training in nepal by Himalayan Yoga Academy
Written By : Swami Yog Subodh