Way towards enlightenment – The history of yoga #1

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Way towards enlightenment – The History of Yoga.

I know that most of you people have heard the word ‘yoga’ in your life. Yes, a beautiful art which our ancient world gave  us. Especially, Indian ancestors and cultures have made the world very peaceful with the help of Yoga.

The word ,’ YOGA’ from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’, means Union or Communion. If we really want to examine the roots of yoga, we need to go back to Harappan culture, dated back to 3,500 years, when yoga was a meditative practice at that time.

According to some scriptures, around 1500 BCE, Harrapan culture was diminished because of Aryan invasion. Barbarians from Normandy introduced the caste system and implemented a collection of religious rituals that involved blood sacrifice practices. The word “yoga” was first mentioned in the RigVeda. It refers to the concept of discipline.

Fast forward to 800 BCE,The Upanishads, a collection of old texts explaining the concepts of Hinduism, prescribed a method of achieving enlightenment by studying under guru(ancient way of teaching).

In 14th century CE, Upanishads for yoga was introduced. Tejo Bindu Upanishad prescribed seven more important parts of yoga practices:  mula bandham (root lock), maintain balance, undisturbed vision, tyaga (abandonment), mauua (quiet), desha (space), and kala (time)

Diverse meaning of ‘Yoga’. ( Definition of Yoga)

From ancient time to present world, there are many definition for Yoga. Here are some, but in future you’ll have your own definition.

  1. Yoga is a way towards enlightenment. Enlightenment means freedom from ignorance and misinformation. In this world packed with full of information one  should be aware of misinformation.
  2. Yoga is a way to discover yourself or self discovery. We are hiding from ourselves for others and from others rather being  who we truly are. So discovering oneself is very significant in our life.
  3. Yoga is a state ‘ where nothing is missing’. This one is very interesting. For instance, if you are getting ready to meet an important person, at that time you are inspecting yourself, if something is Missing. But the state where ‘nothing is missing’ was attained only when we were in our mother’s womb.

To attain a enlightenment, Upanishad prescribed a six-step process as below;

Pranayama (breath control), pratyaharia (sense withdrawal), dhyanam (meditation), tharana (one-pointed concentration), tarka (own-reflection), and samadhi (absolute absorption)

We know that there are many benefits of doing Yoga & Yoga asanas . Some of them are here for you.

Yoga lowers stress, improves posture, improves circulation and digestion and acts as a anti-aging regiment. It also eases everyday pains ,disappointments and frustration and will increase kindness and compassion in life.

Thank You for reading!

What is atma ? Read here

Arun Kumar S
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