Insights from the Eastern Books of Wisdom

There are five main books from the Eastern Wisdom traditions which helped to shape our modern practice of Yoga and to give us insight as to the proper way to practice. Beginning with the Vedas, followed by the Upanishads and then with the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras as written by Patanjali and finally, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika written by Swami Swattamarama, we can see yoga's evolution.

The Upanishads are one of the great wisdom books of the East. Like the Vedas of the ancient Brahmans or the Tripitaka of the Buddhists, or even the parts of the Koran of Mohammed, the Upanishads offer wisdom and advice. Although these works are all religious in nature, we mustn’t be tainted in our estimation of their wisdom by the religiosity of them. It is true that many of the world's religions have been used as political devises more than philosophies to help man understand his true nature, at their heart, all religions aim to bring out compassion, tolerance, love and brotherhood among us. If possible, we can siphon out the little gems of wisdom within these Sacred Books and leave the political and dogmatic aspects of their religions aside. All great works, such as these, began with the burning desire of man to understand himself. Surely, just as some men or women have ventured into space to tell us more about the heavenly bodies in our Universe, some men and women have dug deep into the human heart to find other universes therein, and come back to tell us of their findings. The Upanishads is a book which does just that.

The Upanishads are from the Hindu culture. They were written between 800 and 500 BC as a furtherance of the Vedas in order to explore spirituality in more depth. Yoga is thought to have existed well before either the Vedas or Upanishads were written. Yoga was apparently well established on the Indian continent when these books came about. Many think yoga to be at least four thousand years old as it is first mentioned in the Vedic Shatras. Yoga is explained in the Maitrayaniya Upanishads thusly, "Shadanga-Yoga - The uniting discipline of the six limbs (shad-anga), as expounded in the Maitrayaniya-Upanishad: (1) breath control (pranayama), (2) sensory inhibition (pratyahara), (3) meditation (dhyana), (4) concentration (dharana), (5) examination (tarka), and (6) ecstasy (samadhi)."

Nonetheless, specific concepts explored in the Upanishads are the nature of god vs. man/woman, the soul, the law of karma, and the human role in the world, as well as the purpose of our existence and true salvation. The Vedas were the foundation of the Hindu faith and the Upanishads seem to be more of an instruction book for attaining enlightenment. Yogic practices are described as a means to reach Samadhi, or an enlightened state.

The Bhagava Gita outlines yogic practices via the character of Lord Krishna. These are karma yoga, or the giving unconditionally of work and self to others, Jnana yoga, or the way of knowledge and introspection, and also Bhakti yoga, or the way of devotion. Through these practices, one is able to shed accumulated, undesired karma and reach enlightenment. The Bhagavad Gita is one of India's most popular tales and uses the relationship between Arjuna and Krishna during the Mahabharata battle on the holy field of Kurukshetra to demonstrate these practices.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras were a compilation of yogic practices that had been taking place for centuries in India. The eight limbs of yoga were outlined in his sutras which were only 195 short phrases. He wrote them to be simple so that they could be practices easily and understood by all. The first of the eight limbs are yamas and niyamas. One outlines the five things a yogi must abstain from and the other, the five observances he must strain to keep. The next limb describes asana, which should always be a comfortable, steady pose. The fourth branch is Pranayama, or control of the breath; the fifth, Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses. The sixth limb is called Dharana or concentration. It involves fixing the mind on one point. The seventh limb is Dhyana or meditation and finally, there is Samadhi, the last limb of Patanjali's Sutras. Samadhi is the Sanskrit word for enlightenment.

Finally, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Swami Swattamarama, is said to be the oldest surviving book on Hatha Yoga. It contains detailed information about asana, pranayama, the chakra system, Kundalini Yoga, how to practice bhandhas, kriyas, the nadis or circuit breakers of our energy flow and also mudras. The book is written for Siva (Shiva), one of the Hindu Deities and also explains where and how one should practice Yoga.

Any yogi wanting to further educate themselves on the practices of Yoga might become better acquainted with these texts. Eight thousand years of knowledge and wisdom is packed into these five books.

(c) 2009, 2010 Christina Sarich