Yoga’s Historical Origin? Yoga is Found Within

Yoga was never born, thus, it never dies. Yoga is not an historical event or a philosophy devised by a great thinker of the past. Its source lies dormant within each one of us as divine potential. The heart of yoga is hidden inside your very being. It is the union of Atman with Paramatman. When you enter samadhi, the union of yoga is created. Yoga is the experience of oneness with God. It is eternal; without beginning and without end. Various yogic paths are described in the holy text of The Bhagavad Gita, such as Bhakti Yoga (devotion), Karma yoga (action), Hatha Yoga (physical), Jnana Yoga (knowledge) and Raja Yoga (the royal path). The techniques were handed down by Lord Krishna to his disciple, Arjuna, to teach him that he, and we, are the incarnation of the God-being.

Evidence of yogic practices go back more than 6,000 years and Shri Patanjali’s “Yoga Sutras,” the first written code, was recorded some 2,000 years ago. But yoga itself existed long before. It was handed down via the oral tradition from rishis to valued students so the practice would live on among devout seekers. The eternal yoga is born in you and through you. It is reborn again and again. While the techniques of yoga are many, the experience of yoga is Oneness.

Could Patanjali, Buddha or Christ have created yoga? No. The numerous yoga disciplines that have evolved over the eons are like different doors. Each, if practiced intently, is an entryway to the divine unity of yoga. Every realized yogi who followed different paths experienced the origin of yoga within. Yoga was revealed to the great rishis. What they taught were yogic techniques that ultimately reveal the mystery of yoga that is always present within.

As a student of yoga since my youth, I had the great privilege to study with one of the greatest Kundalini Masters of the 20th century, His Holiness Swami Shri Kripalvanandji, a direct descendent of the Lord Lakulish Lineage of Masters. Because of this blessing, I have personally experienced the origin of yoga. My guru revealed to me the secret method of awakening the unifying experience of oneness that yoga is.

If yoga is awakening to your own divine omnipresent presence, know that you are the eternal undivided whole. You always were and you always will be. Becoming too involved in worldly matters makes us forget. If we can remember, from moment to moment, that when yoga is born from within, it is eternal yoga.