History of Yoga

from the 2018 Ghosh Yoga Immersive

• As of 2018, the oldest discovered reference to yoga is the Pashupati Seal from 2,500 BCE. It shows a figure in a seated position.

Timeline

Notes:

• Classical Yoga: 2,500 BCE-1000 CE
• Hatha Yoga: 1000 CE - 1858 CE
• Modern Yoga: 1858 BE - present

Notes

• When the British colonized India, European and Indian ideas began to mix. This was the beginning of the modern era of hatha yoga.
• Most of what we know about yoga is from the last 150 years.
• There are many yoga texts and many yoga systems

Vedas

• Veda means knowledge or wisdom
• The Vedas are the oldest Hindu texts (1700-1100 BCE)
• The texts are 'revealed' like terma, and have no author
• These are the foundational texts of Hinduism.
• There are 4 collections of Vedas:
  1. Rig-Veda
  2. Sama-Veda
  3. Yajur-Veda
  4. Atharva-Veda
• Each collection has 4 chapters or text-types:
  1. Samhita
  2. Aranyakas
  3. Brahmanas
  4. Upanishads

Upanishads

• The last text in each veda
• Foundation of Vedanta
• The origin of the concepts Brahman with Atman

6 Orthodox Schools of Hinduism

The Vedas are the root text

1. Samkhya
2. Yoga
3. Nyaya
4. Vaisheshika
5. Purva Mimamsa
6. Vedanta

2 Non-Orthodox Schools of Hinduism

Have root texts other than the Vedas

1. Buddhism
2. Jainism

Vedantic Texts

• Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutras
• Main belief: 'all is one'

Samkhya Philosophy

• Originates from 1500 BCE

• Oldest of the orthodox schools of Hinduism

• The philosophy is based on rational examination

• Core belief: the universe exists because of 2 realities:

  1. spirit/conciousness (purusha)
  2. matter/energy/creative agency (prakriti)

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras

• 2000 years old; written ~400 CE
• 4 chapters/books
• 194 sutras
• 8 limbs or parts
• Many smaller systems within the text
• This text is why yoga is considered Hindu
• Patanjali is depicted as half human and half certain, which probably means that multiple people make up Patanjali.