History of Yoga - kimschles/schlesinger-knowledge GitHub Wiki

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.

Pashupati Seal

Timeline

History of Yoga 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.