Living Yoga Wisdom: Philosophical Exercises for Personal Practice

By Eckard Wolz-Gottwald

Through yoga philosophy towards more awareness for body, mind, soul. Living Yoga Wisdom is a practice book for beginners as well as for advanced yoginis and yogis, who would like to deepen and advance their practice through yoga philosophy. Each of the 18 chapters is coupled with exercises, which not only make yoga philosophy more comprehensible, but also applicable and experiential in everyday living. The book demonstrates that yoga philosophy means a lot more than only theory. The philosophical exercises help to create awareness of the meaning of yoga practice in its original sense. It becomes possible to experience yoga as a pathway of training the consciousness of body, mind and soul, and also as guidance for everyday living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
• Release date: May 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781782796381

Eckard Wolz-Gottwald

Eckard Wolz-Gottwald ranks amongst the most important yoga philosophers in the German-speaking world. He teaches at the University of Philosophy and Theology Muenster as well as at yoga teacher trainings in various schools throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. His books on Applied Yoga Philosophy are widely seen as being comprehensive fundamental guides by students and teachers alike.

Book preview

life.

I. Historical Backgrounds

1

The Origin of Yoga

What is yoga? Those who have guessed that yoga means a lot more than being able to bend one’s body like a pretzel seem to be right, but what does this more mean? What is the original meaning of yoga as it was discovered thousands of years ago in ancient India? Interestingly, no one is sure when exactly this discovery took place. In the northwest of the Indian subcontinent in what is nowadays known as Pakistan archeologists dug up city ruins, which probably existed around 3000 BC. In these ruins they found small plaques with images of squatting people, who are reminiscent of yogis sitting on the ground. Yet, being able to remain in a seated posture does not make one a yogi, and looking from an angle of serious research it is not possible to say whether at that time yoga was really known then.

Only later, in the second millennium BC, the oldest Hindu texts originated. These texts speak about silent ascetics, who had withdrawn from society in order to live a life in complete silence. But can these ascetics, who had withdrawn from the hubbub of everyday life in order to practice silence, really be considered the first yogis?

The real discovery of yoga happened only much later between the 7th and 6th century BC. These first real yogis had little interest in writing down their experiences. However, we are lucky. The priests of that time, the Brahmans, recognized the immense value of the discovery of yoga. They integrated the words of the first yogis into their own sacred texts of Veda and referred to these earliest texts of yoga with the term Upanishad, which means ‘secret text’. Many of such secret texts were produced during that time. As the Upanishads were not written down, but had to be memorized, they were only delivered orally from teacher to student until they were finally recorded much later in time. Today we have evidence of the origins of yoga in the form of books. Anyone can buy these books so it is no longer necessary, as it used to be, to be a personal student of a Brahman or a yoga master in order to learn something about the origins of yoga.

So, what did these first yogis find out when they initially discovered yoga almost 3000 years ago in ancient India? What was written down in the old sacred texts of the Upanishads? It is obvious that even in those days it was hard to put yoga experiences into words. However, in order to still be able to explain to their students what they had experienced, these first yogis referred to the concepts of the religion of that time. If we want to understand what yoga means in its original sense, we have to enter the world of the gods of ancient India. We will encounter ancient images that can tell us something important even in today’s modern