Yoga originated from Shiva
Yoga originated from Shiva, the Adi yogi (Getty images)
In ancient times, India did not exist as one country, but still it was considered as one entity which they called 'Bharat Varsha'.
By race, by language they were not same; by religion, they did not worship the same Gods; politically, they were never one, but still the land south of the Himalayas was referred to as Bharat Varsha . So somewhere, there was some sense of unity because of the common spiritual ethos they carried in them.
Spiritual ethos means, no matter what you are doing, whether you are a king or a peasant, whatever is the nature of your activity, there is only one ultimate goal for everybody - liberation. Even today, even the simplest farmer in this country will talk about mukti. This is a result of the phenomenal amount of spiritual work done in this country. One person who is largely responsible for this, who is of paramount significance in shaping the human consciousness is Shiva.
In the yogic culture, Shiva is not known as a God, but as the first Guru or the Adi Guru. He is the Adi Yogi or the first Yogi. Out of his realisation, he became ecstatic and danced all over the mountains or sat absolutely still. He was constantly into bouts of stillness and bouts of mad dancing. All the gods who saw him, saw something was happening to him that they themselves did not know. Suddenly heaven felt like a bad place, because this guy is having such a good time! They felt, "We are missing out on something." When they finally got him to teach the method, Shiva expounded various types of yogas depending upon the level of preparedness of the person who was sitting in front of him.
The first part of Shiva's teaching was to Parvati, his wife. It was taught in a certain intimacy. In great detail, and in very gentle ways, Shiva expounded the ways of yoga to Devi. The yoga sutras of Shiva are such that almost in every sutra , he refers to her as the resplendent one, the gracious one, the beautiful one. So this teaching transpired between two people with utmost intimacy. Intimacy should not be understood as sexuality. It means there is no resistance; this person is absolutely open to whatever is being offered.
By race, by language they were not same; by religion, they did not worship the same Gods; politically, they were never one, but still the land south of the Himalayas was referred to as Bharat Varsha . So somewhere, there was some sense of unity because of the common spiritual ethos they carried in them.
Spiritual ethos means, no matter what you are doing, whether you are a king or a peasant, whatever is the nature of your activity, there is only one ultimate goal for everybody - liberation. Even today, even the simplest farmer in this country will talk about mukti. This is a result of the phenomenal amount of spiritual work done in this country. One person who is largely responsible for this, who is of paramount significance in shaping the human consciousness is Shiva.
In the yogic culture, Shiva is not known as a God, but as the first Guru or the Adi Guru. He is the Adi Yogi or the first Yogi. Out of his realisation, he became ecstatic and danced all over the mountains or sat absolutely still. He was constantly into bouts of stillness and bouts of mad dancing. All the gods who saw him, saw something was happening to him that they themselves did not know. Suddenly heaven felt like a bad place, because this guy is having such a good time! They felt, "We are missing out on something." When they finally got him to teach the method, Shiva expounded various types of yogas depending upon the level of preparedness of the person who was sitting in front of him.
The first part of Shiva's teaching was to Parvati, his wife. It was taught in a certain intimacy. In great detail, and in very gentle ways, Shiva expounded the ways of yoga to Devi. The yoga sutras of Shiva are such that almost in every sutra , he refers to her as the resplendent one, the gracious one, the beautiful one. So this teaching transpired between two people with utmost intimacy. Intimacy should not be understood as sexuality. It means there is no resistance; this person is absolutely open to whatever is being offered.
The second set of yogic teaching was expounded to the Sapta Rishis , or the first seven sages. When we use the word yoga, you should not think of twisting your body or holding your breath or anything like that we are not talking about a particular exercise or a technique. We are talking about the very science of creation and how to take this piece of creation (you) to its ultimate possibility. We are looking at gaining mastery over the fundamental processes of life; the very process of creation and dissolution. It doesn't matter at what level of evolution a person is right now, for him also, there is a way. For every being on the planet, there is a certain way that is the advantage of yoga. This teaching happened on the banks of Kanti Sarovar, near Kedarnath. This is when the world's first yoga programme happened.
Today, yoga is said to be the world's fastest growing wellness regimen because it presents spirituality as technology. Mahashivratri is a festival that was chosen to honour Shiva, the Adi Guru, from whom yoga originated. On this night the planetary positions in the northern hemisphere are such that there is a natural upsurge of energies. If one just stays awake and keeps one's spine erect throughout the night, it naturally pushes a person towards his spiritual peak.
Today, yoga is said to be the world's fastest growing wellness regimen because it presents spirituality as technology. Mahashivratri is a festival that was chosen to honour Shiva, the Adi Guru, from whom yoga originated. On this night the planetary positions in the northern hemisphere are such that there is a natural upsurge of energies. If one just stays awake and keeps one's spine erect throughout the night, it naturally pushes a person towards his spiritual peak.