"YOGA"
== A Brief Overview
======= THE WORD "YOGA" IN ITS EARLY
CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
*"tapasya"*: bodily austerities that
concentrate inner "heat" for powerful cosmic effects
= goes back at least to Atharva Veda (c.400's BCE); semi-magical,
semi-religious concept
= such
austerities may actually coerce and threaten the gods
= the Buddha: austerities/asceticism plus meditation
plus *lotus position* (*"padmasana"*)
= "yoga" = "yoke" (to restrain; to
harness; to get work from)
= (on such
cognate words: *Proto-Indo-European Language website*)
yoga in *"The Katha-Upanishad" and "The
Svetasvatara-Upanishad"* (c. 200's BCE)
= *Katha Upanishad: Sixth Valli* discusses yoga
= *Svetasvatara Upanishad: Adhyaya II*
discusses yoga
= no asanas; yoga as powerful meditational/mystical technique
= a good modern edition: *"Upanisads"*, trans. by Patrick
Olivelle (Oxford Univ. Press, 1996)
yoga in the *"Bhagavad Gita"*in the Mahabharata
(c.300 BCE-300 CE)
= Chapter 3, karma-yoga, "the yoga of action"
= Chapter 4, jnana/gyana-yoga, "the yoga of knowledge"
= Chapter 12, bhakti-yoga, "the yoga of devotion"
= no asanas; yoga as a general word for some form of
mystical/religious practice
= a good modern edition: *"The Bhagavad-Gita"*, trans. by
Barbara Stoler Miller (Random House, 1986)
the *"Yoga Sutra of Patanjali"*, "by 400
CE"
= no asanas; endorses tapasya; enjoins cosmic realization,
self-control, breath control; guru needed
= a relevant modern account: *"The Yoga Sutra: A Biography"*,
by David G. White (Princeton Univ. Press, 2014)
=======
EARLY MODERN HATHA YOGA-- and YOGIS
1) *"Hatha Yoga Pradipika"*,
c.1400's-1500's
= attributed to Swami Swatmarama of the *Nath
panth/sampraday*, said to be a disciple of *Guru
Gorakhnath* (and *tales about the Naths live on*)
= trans. by Pancham Sinh, 1914
= Chapter One calls its practice "Raja Yoga"; secrecy needed, guru
needed; 15 asanas: Swastika; Gomukha; Vira; Kurma; Kukkuta; Uttana
Kurma; Dhanur; Matsya; Pashcima Tana; Mayura; Shava; Siddha;
Padma; Simha; Bhadra
= Chapter Two has forms of breath control (pranayama), preceded by
"bodily purifications": Dhauti (mouth); Basti (colon and anus);
Neti (nostrils); Trataka (eyes); Nauli (stomach manipulation);
Kapala Bhati (lungs); Gaja Karani (vomiting)
= Chapter Three has "mudras" yielding immortality: Maha Mudra,
Maha Bandha, Maha Vedha (breath control); Khechari (tongue
loosening); Uddiyana Bandha (stomach compression); Mula Bandha
(contraction of the anus); Jalandhara Bandha (breath control);
Viparita Karani (headstand); Vajroli, Sahajoli, Amaroli (ways of
reabsorbing male and female sexual fluids; these are frequently
censored; see vs. 83-103); Shakti Chalana (breath control)
= Chapter Four has more on mudras, and on attaining a meditative
trance (samadhi); main emphasis is on breath control, pranayama
(nadis, chakras, kundalini, the "subtle body"), pursuit of siddhis
(immortality, supernatural powers)
= a good modern textual sourcebook: *"Roots of Yoga"*, by James Mallinson
and Mark Singleton (Penguin Books, 2017)
2) *"Shiva Samhita"*, c.1400's
= author unknown
= 84 asanas named, 4 described in detail
= yogic/tantric, Advaita Vedantin perspective
3) *"Gheranda Samhita"*, c. late 1600's
= trans. James Mallinson, 2004
= *32 asanas*; 25 mudras, many other practices
as well
= ghatastha or "vessel" yoga, body and mind carry and serve the
soul
*Some images of "yogis" and their austerities*,
c.1700's-1800's
= Shaivite/tantric/Nath-panthi yogis were widely considered to be
dirty, dangerous, potentially violent gypsy-like wanderers
(outside caste boundaries), who practiced repulsive forms of
tapasya
=======
MODERN POSTURAL YOGA: A CULTURAL HYBRID, with "HYBRID VIGOR"
c.1860's on -- Indian and Western teachers and promoters of
physical culture and yoga, borrowing back and forth from each
other, in a successful collaboration
= Western-educated, nationalistic Indians, writing in English,
began to assimilate yoga into a scientific and medical paradigm;
unappealing asanas were rejected; esoteric claims and occult
tantric/yogic pretensions to magic power were repudiated; new
practices and positions were adapted and presented as the fruit of
ancient wisdom
= Western authors and promoters started from existing practices
and ideologies ("muscular Christianity"; Social Darwinism; fear of
racial "degeneration"; Christian Science; theosophy; YMCA
body-building exercises for men; "harmonious" stretching exercises
for women; the emerging cult of physical fitness and health), and
sought to offer access to the same desirable health and fitness
goals plus ancient, exotic Indian wisdom; photography became an
effective (and externalizing) means of transmission
*"Raja Yoga and Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms"*,
1896
= by Swami *Vivekananda*, charismatic star of the
Parliament of World Religions, Chicago, 1893
= Disciple of Shri Ramakrishna of Bengal (who himself had strong
tantric tendencies)
= no asanas; no esotericism or mystery allowed; "raja yoga" as
spiritually powerful, scientifically based knowledge; hatha yoga
as "merely physical" pursuit of unworthy goals
= *"Maharishi Mahesh Yogi"*, 1955: no asanas,
"transcendental meditation" only
*"Light on Yoga"*, 1966
= by B. K. S. Iyengar; treated Yehudi Menuhin, 1952, became
globally famous thereafter
= trained by T. Krishnamacharya, with princely patronage (and gym
surroundings) in Mysore
= 57
asanas; 28 of them are strikingly similar or identical to
ones from "Primary Gymnastics" (1925) by Niels Bukh, a Danish
method long popular in both Europe and India (Singleton 2010,
p.200)
*A few depictions of the tantric/yogic "subtle
body"*
=======
ANALYSIS
**"Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture
Practice"** -- highly recommended
by Mark Singleton, Oxford University Press, 2010
*"Not as Old as You Think"* -- refuting
right-wing Hindutva claims that they "own" yoga
by Meera Nanda, from Open Magazine, Feb. 12, 2011
*James Mallinson and Mark Singleton, a video talk*
-- a good overview
New York Society Library, November 16, 2017
*"In Pakistan, Yoga Rises Above Its Indian
Origins"* -- imagine, yoga in Pakistan!
by Bina Shah, New York Times, Dec. 8, 2017