PART 3 The History and Lineage of Yoga
The history of yoga may be understood in terms of four phases. These could be further subdivided in the interests of greater precision, but for our present purposes that would involve us in too much detail. I am approaching this discussion from a historical perspective because it is one that Western readers can relate to. The four phases of yogic history I am calling “naturalism,” “mysticism,” “philosophy,” and “technology.”
Phase One — Naturalism
At the dawn of time, people lived in harmony with themselves and nature. The average person had contact with the truth inherent in us, our divine nature. Religion or philosophy was not needed very much because people saw truth, beauty, and value within themselves and their surroundings.
The scriptures compiled in this age were called the Vedas, of which the most important is the Rig Veda. It comprises hymns in appreciation of life, the body we have been given, and the earth we live on. It is because people lived simple and natural lives that I call this age “naturalism.”
During the age of naturalism most people used the mind like a muscle: you flexed it only when there was work to do. When there is no work for the mind, it is suspended (nirodha). At this time people naturally abided in their true nature.1 It is this suspension of mind that is characteristic of the phase of naturalism.
Over time, however, the harmonious period of naturalism began to decline: people lost contact with their true nature and simultaneously the power of the priestly caste increased.
By the end of this vedic phase, religion had become no more than a stale establishment, and people had to pay the priests to sustain even some type of contentment.
Phase two – mysticism
The second phase started when a great number of people turned their backs on society and went into the forest to search within themselves for the lost happiness. Most had lost the suspended mind (nirodha) and now had a single-pointed mind (ekagra chitta). The disadvantage of the single-pointed mind compared to the suspended mind is that it thinks constantly. However, in contrast to the predominant mind of today, it has the huge advantage of still being able to think about one subject until a clear solution is arrived at.
During this phase there were many masters called rishis (seers) who had attained freedom through meditation, and many students gathered around them. In fact, if we believe various passages of theRamayana and Mahabharata, some of the forests were then as densely populated as the cities.
In this phase many could still quiet their minds by meditation. Often just listening to a teacher prompted people to awaken. The teachers living during this period were nirodhas, meaning they taught from a suspended mind. They offered a spontaneous insight into the nature of reality. It takes a student whose mind is at least single-pointed (ekagra) to spontaneously understand such a teacher. In other words the student needs to have a “mature soul.” I put this in quotation marks because the true self is eternally free and unchangeable. It does not increase or decrease in maturity.
The scriptures compiled in those days were the Upanishads, which are mystical dialogues between master and student. “Upanishad” means sitting near the master, while “mysticism” means that the hidden or the inexpressible is being expressed. The mere use of the word “hidden” indicates that we had largely lost the knowledge of our true nature by then, whereas in the vedic age, the age of naturalism, nothing was hidden. Gradually, the age of mysticism declined.
Phase Three — Philosophy
When the age of philosophy dawned, the majority of people had lost their ability to focus and now had a distracted mind (vikshipta chitta). A person with a distracted mind cannot understand a teacher with a suspended mind (nirodha chitta). The distracted mind, which is also called a confused or oscillating mind, needs a teacher with a single-pointed mind to explain systematically what has to be done. An individual with a distracted mind can no longer grasp truth spontaneously.
One teacher who rose to the challenge was the Rishi Kapila, who created the first systematic philosophy of mankind, the Samkhya. Since the truth could not be found spontaneously anymore, it had to be reached in systematic steps. Kapila’s great achievement was that he created a meditation system that guided students to freedom using a completely rational scientific method totally free of any religious influence. His appearance marked the beginning of the age or phase of philosophy.
During this phase there appeared many great teachers who offered very different solutions. Although superficially at odds, all of the solutions or systems they offered were crystallizations of the one truth uttered by the rishis of the Upanishads. Most of the new schools of philosophy that emerged subsequently, such as Buddhism, Yoga, Vedanta, and Tantra, used the Samkhya of Kapila as a foundation and built on it.
Almost a thousand years after Kapila there came another great teacher, Patanjali. Very little is known about his life, but mythology offers us a story about him. Lord Shiva once gave a discourse on yoga to his consort, Uma. Because it was highly secret, a remote jungle location was chosen for the occasion. Shiva had just finished his discourse when he heard a noise in the shrubs. On investigation he found the thousand-headed serpent of infinity, Ananta, trying to get away. Shiva apprehended Ananta and told him that, as a punishment for secretly listening, he was sentenced to go to the humans and impart to them his new knowledge.
Setting out immediately on his new task, Ananta approached a village. As soon as they saw the thousand-headed serpent, some villagers ran away in horror while others started hurling stones at him. When Ananta went back to Lord Shiva and told him what had happened, Shiva explained that humans would be frightened by the appearance of a thousand-headed serpent, and suggested he take on human form. Following this advice, and having taken the name Patanjali, Ananta was readily accepted by humans. Because he is seen as a manifestation of the serpent of infinity, Patanjali is traditionally depicted as being half-human, half-snake.
Ananta himself is seen as the perfect yogi. One of his jobs is to provide a bed for Lord Vishnu. Vishnu can be incredibly heavy at times, so the bed needs to be very strong. At the same time, a very soft bed needs to be provided for the Lord. For this dual task, Ananta was very well suited, his coils being soft and strong simultaneously. In this way Ananta exemplifies the meaning of Yoga Sutra II.46, “sthira sukham asanam” — the posture needs the dual quality of firmness and softness.
Patanjali was not only the author of the Yoga Sutra, however. The Rishi Vyasa says, in a hymn praising Patanjali:
Let us bow before the highest of all sages, Patanjali
who instructed on yoga to give clarity of mind who instructed on grammar to give clarity of speech
and who instructed on medicine to give health to the body.
Patanjali was also the author of the Mahabhasya, the great commentary on Panini’s grammar. The Charaka Samhita, one of the principal treatises on Ayurveda, is also attributed to Patanjali.
Western scholars believe, however, that these three scriptures were written by three individuals, there being reason to believe they appeared in different centuries. The traditional view is that many of the great masters, such as Patanjali, were in fact siddhas or perfected beings who were either immortal or could manifest whenever they chose to. If we accept that Patanjali managed to transform himself from the thousand-headed serpent of infinity into a human being, it is not difficult to believe that he was able to manifest where and when he chose to.
Some time after Patanjali there came the next master in the lineage, Vyasa. He appears to have been immortal, since it cannot otherwise be explained how he could have produced such a vast body of writing. His birth name was Krishna Dvaipayana, but he is known as Veda Vyasa or just Vyasa. Veda Vyasa means “the divider of the Veda.” When at the beginning of the fourth age, the Kali Yuga, the memory of mankind had degenerated so much that nobody could memorize the vast entirety of the Veda, Vyasa divided it into four (Rig, Yajus, Sama, Atharva) and allocated the parts to different gotras or family lineages that were charged with protecting them. He is thus credited with preserving the Veda.
Vyasa is said to have created the 100,000 verses of the Mahabharata, the largest single piece of literature produced by humanity,2 as well as the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra, the most influential philosophical treatises in India today. He is believed also to have compiled the thirty-six Puranas, which consist mainly of mythological material.
The reason why Vyasa remains so important for us today is that he authored the authoritative commentary on the Yoga Sutra, the Yoga Bhasya. It has become so important that his commentary and theYoga Sutra together are regarded as one book. If it was not for Vyasa’s commentary, the rather cryptic sutras of Patanjali could no longer be understood. In other words it is due to Vyasa that we know what Patanjali meant.
All historical commentators who came after Vyasa, with the exception of King Bhoja, accepted his commentary and commented on it rather than on the Yoga Sutra directly. Vyasa was possibly the most important master in Indian history, and tradition ascribes to him divinity. It is said that he comes during every world age to restore ancient knowledge. Vyasa was an all-round genius, and we could call him the Leonardo Da Vinci of Indian philosophy.
Today, surprisingly enough, we find twentieth-century authors who write, in their interpretations of the Yoga Sutra, that they disagree with Vyasa or other ancient authorities. As modern-day practitioners we should allow ourselves to “disagree” with such towering intellectual and mystical giants only when we have risen to their state. Otherwise it will be difficult to reap the precious fruit of yoga.
Another important side of Vyasa that we have to understand is that he wrote authoritative texts on seemingly opposing schools of thought. He founded for example the philosophical school of Vedanta by compiling the Brahma Sutra, but he contributed to a rival school, that of Samkhya/Yoga by compiling the “Commentary on the Yoga Sutra.” Western scholars are very confused by the notion that one and the same person could write commentaries on opposing schools of thought, and they usually propose that there were two or more Vyasas. The truth is most Vedanta masters, such as Gaudapada, Shankara and Vachaspati Mishra, wrote commentaries on yoga — which, viewed superficially, is an opposing school of thought — while yoga masters provided commentaries on Vedanta. The reason for this is that all philosophical systems are only representations of the one truth taught in the Upanishads — they are versions of the truth but never the truth itself. A true mystic knows this. Although one might have a favorite system, he or she is still capable of realizing the truth in other systems and can make a contribution to them.
Scholars who have not had a mystical experience cannot understand this: they are still caught up in the game of right or wrong. According to the logic of consciousness, thesis (a certain position), antithesis (the opposing position), synthesis (the incorporation of both), and the negation of all these positions can be held simultaneously, since none of them can be true. Truth is only consciousness, which has no position and no right or wrong, but only awareness. If this is truly realized, the goal of yoga is reached.
The next teacher concludes the age of philosophy. His name is Adi Shankara, but he is often called Shankara Bhagavatpada (after his master), Govinda Bhagavatpada, or Shankaracharya, the last of these meaning the teacher Shankara. He founded four monasteries whose abbots still carry the title Shankaracharya today. Some scriptures that are attributed to Shankara were actually written by abbots; nevertheless, he did leave behind a vast body of writings.
Shankara was a true genius. When he was twelve, his master assigned him the task of writing commentaries on the principal Upanishads, and they remain authoritative. His main work is the Brahma Sutra Bhasya, a commentary on the Brahma Sutra. Today he is mainly known as a teacher of Advaita Vedanta, which was his chief subject.
Shankara’s great contribution to yoga is his commentary on Vyasa’s commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, called Vivarana.3 One of the best descriptions of Yoga philosophy, it is a worthy expression of Shankara’s genius. With him the age of philosophy drew to a close, and the world experienced an even further decline.
Phase Four — Technology
While most people in the age of naturalism had a suspended mind (nirodha chitta), in the age of mysticism a single-pointed mind (ekagra chitta), and in the age of philosophy a distracted mind (vikshipta chitta), the average person in the last age has an infatuated mind (mudha chitta).
“Infatuated” here means obsessed with one’s own body, wealth, appearance, and family relations. Connected to these are materialism and vanity. Important here is that the infatuated mind identifies with the body. Materialism is the philosophy that reduces human beings to their bodies. Obsession with wealth results from preoccupation with the whims of the body, while vanity is preoccupation with one’s external appearance. Obsession with family relations means relating more to people who share one’s gene pool.
This last phase is called the age of technology. The Sanskrit word tantra means “technique.” Since philosophy and, to a greater extent, mysticism and naturalism now went right over people’s heads, the new types of teaching were concerned only with techniques: how one does things.
The scriptures of this age, which describe mainly technique and do not emphasize philosophy, are called tantras, and there are between seven and eight hundred of them. Westerners know the tantras mostly for their excursions into explicit sexual technique, but to reduce the tantras to those rare passages does not do them justice. It does show us, however, how the infatuated Western mind works. Most yogic treatises written after Shankara, such as the Shiva Sutra, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva Samhita, and the Gheranda Samhita, to name but a few, are in fact tantras.
The philosophical school of yoga was maintained during the age of technique by a number of masters. Vachaspati Mishra, who commented on Vyasa’s commentary and all other traditional systems of philosophy, made outstanding contributions in the tenth century. Vijnanabhikshu, who also commented on Samkhya and Vedanta, wrote one of the most important commentaries, the Yoga Vartikka, in the fifteenth century. The most recent of the important contributions is the excellent commentary on Vyasa’s commentary written by Hariharananda Aranya in the twentieth century. All of these writings have been consulted in preparing the present text.
The Importance of the Four Ages for Today’s Practitioner
According to the Puranas, humanity started out in the golden age (the vedic age) and, through progressive ages of degeneration, we are now in the dark age (Kali Yuga). If we look at the development of yogic scriptures we can recognize these stages.
In the golden age people had a suspended mind (nirodha chitta), which means they thought only when necessary and at other times abided in the heart, the divine source. In the second age, people had single-pointed minds (ekagra chitta) and, through a few instructions given by a master who had a suspended mind himself, they could return to the source. In the third age people’s minds shifted down into a confused state (vikshipta chitta). The masters who taught in this period worked on getting individuals back into the single-pointed state. In the fourth age, the period we live in now, people’s minds have degenerated into the infatuated, materialistic state (mudha chitta). Teachers today first have to teach that there is an eternal, immortal sacred core to us, which the confused mind is still able to remember but the infatuated mind has forgotten.
For the study of philosophy this means that we must first understand what was taught by teachers who also lived like us, in the age of the infatuated mind. They include Vachaspati Mishra, Vijnanabhikshu, and Hariharananda Aranya. With this understanding, we unlock the teachings of the masters of the age of philosophy (= confused mind) like Patanjali, Vyasa, and Shankara. After internalizing these, we can understand even earlier teachers like Yajnavalkya, Vasishta, and Kapila (single-pointed mind). If we understand their simple message of the heart we have arrived home at the suspended mind, where our true nature is recognized.
Involution Versus Evolution
We can say that, on an individual level, the yogi has to reverse the historical development that the human race has undergone. Similarly we can say the yogi has to reverse the movement of evolution of the universe on an individual level. The philosophy of Samkhya describes the process of evolution of the world as a down-and-out movement. Evolution here starts with the highest and most subtle, the state before the Big Bang (prakrti).
This source of nature evolves into intelligence. From intelligence comes ego. From ego comes space. From space comes air. From air comes fire, from fire comes water, and from water comes earth. Each evolute becomes coarser and grosser than the previous, subtler one.
In the human body these steps are represented through the chakras, with pure intelligence referring to the Sahasrara chakra, pure I-am-ness or ego to the Ajna chakra, space to the Vishuddha chakra, air to the Anahatta chakra, fire to the Manipura chakra, and water to the Svadhisthana chakra. Finally the element earth is represented through the lowest chakra, the Muladhara. This whole process is called evolution, but it comes with a degeneration of awareness. When the Muladhara is reached, the world is manifest and self-knowledge is lost. This movement of evolution is directed downward and outward.
The yogic process of involution reverses this to an in-and-up movement. We go in and up through the chakras of earth, water, fire, air, and space, and then reabsorb ego into intelligence and intelligence into its origin, prakrti (nature). Then we abide in the pristine state of consciousness and awareness, which is the state of freedom and ecstasy.
1. Yoga Sutra I.3.
2. Earlier in this essay the Ramayana was mentioned in conjunction with the Mahabharata. It was written down after the Mahabharata, but is set in a much earlier time.
3. As a commentary on a commentary, it is referred to as a subcommentary.