How will you know what yoga is?

"When creation began, it was marked as the Satyug. In Satyug, Yoga primarily was gyan (not knowledge). We differentiate knowledge from gyan – while knowledge is limited to the physical brain and the 5 senses, gyan is embedded in the deepest core of the physical and etheric self. To prove this fact, I would like to quote an interesting case study. Mr. William Sheridan from New York went for a heart transplant. Before the surgery he was an ordinary office-goer, but post the surgery he suddenly started to sketch and paint. He himself was taken by surprise and when research was done, it was found that the heart that was given to him belonged to an artist http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-381589/The-art-transplant.html This proves that consciousness is present in each and every cell of the body and in all layers of cell. [Cell is not a modern-day concept. Rishi Atreya gave the concept of anu and paramanu many millennia ago in the Sankhya philosophy. He described the three parts of the cell - positive, negative and neutral.]

After Satyug came Tretayug, the yug changed and so did Yoga. In Tretayug, Yoga changed from gyan to remembrances, what you know as shlokas and smritis. Next, in Dwaparyug, Yoga changed to karma - nishkaam karma - as given by Krishna in Gita. Now in Kaliyug, Yoga has again changed its form. It has now become Patanjali Ashtang Yoga comprising of 8 limbs-yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahar, dharna, dhyan and samadhi.

The 5 yamas (satya, ahimsa, asteya, aparigraha, brahmacharya) and 5 niyamas (shaucha, santosh, swadhyaya, ishwar pranidhan and tapas) pertain to the cleansing of body and the soul, and happen to be the crux of Yoga. Although in Patanjali Ashtang Yoga the word 'asana' has been mentioned, but the only description is –“sukham sthiram asanam”- a posture that gives you peace, stability and happiness. [Normally, the first image that comes to mind on hearing the term 'asana' is that of a trapeze artist or a person jumping around like a monkey but that is not the case. All these take a toll over the body and increase friction in the body leading to hyperventilation (that is, breath rate shoots up). As a result, more energy is produced and the body ages. This can be understood by the simple law of physics - every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Thus, when more energy is produced in the body (action), more is the toxicity generated (reaction)- which leads to ageing.]

Markandeya Rishi and Rishi Vyas predicted (clearly in vanparva of Mahabharat) that a time will come (and this is that time) when the pious sciences of the Vedas will be sold, they will be misinterpreted and that nobody will raise a voice against it and this is exactly what is happening. An asana, which is sukham sthiram asanam,has become the jumping posture of a monkey. A pranayama, which was supposed to be a kumbhak, is now interpreted as – ‘breathe as fast as you can, more energy, more adrenaline rush’ (and so you feel so good initially but again it leads to destruction of the body). No one talks about service and charity. Satya (truthfulness, the first yama)- There is no mention of cure of any diseases in Patanjali Ashtang Yoga. But today nearly every yoga school boasts of curing diseases through yoga. Similarly, asteya and aparigraha –don’t take anything that belongs to someone else and do not collect – are the next two yamas. But if you look around just the opposite of this is happening, the prime aim of every major yoga school is to collect more, make more, build more. So tell me, where will you go to learn yoga? How will you know what yoga is?"-Yogi Ashwini