Enter Yoga

It seems funny now to write about some of these most basic concepts (as are presented below). Even funnier to realize this was less than a year ago! But of course I had to learn them at some point, and many of these words will show up again and again from now on here. And some of these ideas and words may be new to a few of you. As I will write about at some point, and probably has struck many of you already, it is utterly bizarre that I had already read so much and been so dedicated in some ways to the sacred texts and ideas of India WITHOUT ever having become interested in yoga until this point. More on that later. But yes, I am aware how strange that is/was.

January 20
Returning my library books (fiction) and finally realized I don’t have to take the risk or figure out beforehand which is the perfect yoga book. Duh! They do carry other books that are actually useful in some way. And I was surprised at what a selection our library had. From slim glossy volumes stripped of all spiritual content, to those focused on age and others on varieities of health problems. Yoga as fitness predominates. But there were many books offering to explain the “real”yoga, the spiritual, the ancient, the Indian yoga. Some by Americans – scholars or MDs, some telling of their personal journeys, and some who’ve set themselves up as gurus. Then there were a handful by Indians and other Asians, including at least one of the wall one. And a couple of Christian Yoga volumes. So a decent variety for a small, close-minded city that usually pretends it’s never neard of anything besides Lutheranism and Catholicism. I wonder if the Fed is tracking our library card usage. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve converted to Hinduism rather than Islam :)
Anyway, I’m going to keep reading the Upanishads, because I want to and because I just finally got to the Changdogya Upanishad. But I’m also going to start one of the yoga books. As soon as my butt allows (I was just pre-hemhoiroid surgery) I want to work it into my daily life, as well. As part of and in addition to my meditation and mantra. This body obviously needs some help. Who else is going to give it?
The Changdogya U seems to be mostly about the High Chant, OM, and establishing or supporting the superiority of breath. Breath was already shown to be the most sacred, or central or closest to brahman in the BU, but eh CU continues on that theme. In the first chapter you see something you’d never see in an English translation of a Christian text: All the most sacred things described as being in an act of coitus. In acts of coitus with one another in matched pairs.
First establish the holiest of holies; what is the essence of beings on earth? Water. The essence of water? Plants? Essence of plants? Man. And so on, until we get the most important things. Then: “The Rg is nothing but speech; The Saman is breath; and the High Chant is this syllable Om. Speech and breath, the Rg and The Saman, each of these is clearly in a state of coitus.”
In the second chapter it is explained how evil entered our human consciousness, but also how it is and has always been limited. Prajapati made both gods and the demons. When the gods and demons began to fight, the gods decided to use the chant Om against the demons. “So they venerated it as this breath here in the nostrils.” The demons attacked it, and that’s how we came to have both good and bad smells. So the gods take OM and “venerate it as speech.” Devils attack and we say good and evil things. And so on through all the senses until they come to “this breath here in the mouth.” That breath, prana, is so solid and secure that the demons cannot assail it. They attack, but is like “throwing clay stones at a rock; the clay stones shatter upon hitting the rock.” When OM and prana are united, I guess, no evil at all may enter. Not the whole host of demons and devils may breach it.
Okay! I have to give Ms. Turlington (Christy Turlington, Living Yoga) full points. She’s done a good job (I won’t even say “for a model”) of anchoring yoga deeply in India and explaining to a very thorough degree the complexity and age of the spiritual traditions there. Moreover, she’s done it in a way that reveals the complexity without making it so overwhelming a neophyte would throw up their hands. I’m impressed. And she’s done it with humility, with good (excellent) reasons for writing the book – I.e. because the trendy West has largely ignored the spiritual origins and implications of yoga which has lead to situations where people are teaching it long before they understand it themselves. Dangerous. But she says this without casting blame or making anyone feel badly, or that she’s saying she has a right to judge. More like she is obeying an imperative that when one has knowledge others might need, it is one’s duty to lovingly provide it. Except that sounds smarmy or condescending and she didin’t strike either of those tones.
Anyway, so far, except for the part about her life – pretty interesting in itself and not wholly unlike my own though vastly more financially and popularly successful – it has all been review for me up until now. Now being a description of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. We have them; they’ve been sitting in the bathroom for two years. I’ve read part of them, but I bought them for J, and haven’t wanted to “steal” them from him. I may need to just read them now, and they are clearly important to pursuing the path toward samadhi.
In them he apparently describes eight limbs of yoga (jnana or raja? Or is this a kind of blended, post-Gita, Classical period arch-yoga?). The limbs are called astanga. The astanga are:
Yamas and niyamas – modes of moral and social conduct. I assume the same as Krishna gave in the B.Gita.
Asanas – postures, I think.
Pranayama – restraint and control of the breath
Pratyahara – internalization of the senses
Dharana – Concentration
Dhyana – meditation
Samadhi – ultimate state of union with Self, God, the Source
Yama, niyama, asana and pranayama are all bahira sadhana, external practices, which can be taught by someone else. Ah, I really should read his chapter on avidya, or “Knowledge other than right knowledge.” He apparently discusses at length, in the second chapter, the state of false understanding, when we think we are doing the right thing, but it is wrong, or we don’t trust our instincts when we are right, and convince ourselves to do wrong. I could definitely use more discernment in figuring out whether I am on the right path about some things.
Now I am learning about Krishnamacharya, widely credited with bringing yoga to the West. She (Turlington) claims there are three main branches of yoga (of Hatha yoga, of course): Astanga Vinyasa, Iyengar and Kundalini. Astanga Vinyasa was developed in the 20th century from a recently rediscovered manuscript, the Yoga Korunta, which Krishnamacharya and his students believed to be what Patanjali originally intended. Don’t they all? This method emphasizes vinyasa-synchronizing breath and movement. It also produces great intence body heat and sweath, meant to purify and detoxify muscles and organs.
Iyengar follows nother of Krishnaryacharya’s students, and seems to focus more on the mind and self –practice. Standing asanas. Stay in each one for a long time, so no heat general. They allow one to use paper, belts etc. to attain the proper position until one can do it oneself. Kundalini – literally= the curl of the lock of him of the hair of the blood. Especially for householders. Interesting. So for those with the busiest lives, most drudgery, it is give a most direct experience if one’s highest consciousness.
The point is to discover one’s prana and put it at the service of one’s will, one’s Self.
There is also Bikram Yoga, which sounds awful. They heat the room to 100 degrees and practice in front of full length mirrors on all four walls. The focus is purely on the physical appearance. I saw his book in the library. There was zero mention of spirituality, or discipline, or any kind of soul-benefit. It was all about toning, losing weight, looking good, etc.