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YOGA IN AMERICA, First 100 years
It is fascinating to see how many guises yoga wears and
how many accents it speaks – as it takes to the mats in
different parts of the country.
Chicago – 1893
WORLD PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS
Swami Vivekananda.
July – 1969
WOODSTOCK BENEDICTION
Swami Satchidananda invoked the spirit of a
generation
HOW THE SWAMIS CAME TO THE STATES
1.
EMERSON, THOREAU , the transcendentalists
1841 – read Bhagavad Gita….Emerson called it the much
renowned book on Buddhism, however they seemed to understand
the Spirit.
2.
1861 LAHIRI MAHASAYA (34), government accountant, family
man, (Babaji) helped make Yoga a household word in
America.
*taught Kriya (indestructible yoga, same as was taught to
Arujuna by Krishna
*ideal householder yogi
*until his death in 1895, he taught Kriya
*yogis of the new age should earn their own living and
practice in the privacy of their own homes.
3.
1878 – William Henry Channing (Concord Circle), Bronson
Alcott, director of the concord Summer School of Philosophy
published his son-in-laws book “THE LIGHT ON ASIA” Edwin
Arnold…sold 1/2 million copies and 80 editions.
4.
1875 – Theosophical Society, Madame Blavatsky(Russian
occultist)and Colonel Henry Alcott (NY York lawyer)
1877 – ISIS UNVEILED
1888 – THE SECRET DOCTRINE
5.
1893 SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (B1863-1902)
Raja Yoga (Detroit, Chicago, Boston, New York)
Vedanta: jnana/intellectual raja/meditative
karma/service bhakti/devotional
Hatha is more like physical education in India
In 1972, another Swami Shivananda (1902-1988) opened the
Yoga Center of Chicago….he was a disciple of
Ramakrishna.
EARLY 20TH CENTURY PIONEERS
1848 GOLD RUSH which in 1870 there were 63,000 Chinese in
the US and by 1900 there were 400 temples….
1893 Soyen Shaku Roshi spoke at the W.P. of Religion
(ZEN)
1926 Nyogen Sensaki open first Zen Center in SF
William Warren Atkenson studied with BABA BHARATI and
then took the name Swami Brahmancharaka…published 20 books
and taught a modified Yoga System. Another American, renamed
Pandit Acharya, abandoned career as NY playwright and
founded the Yoga Research Institute of Nyack, NY in the
20’s. Then an Indian named Rishi Singh opened a Yoga Ashram
in Southern CA on San Marcos pass whose numerous books were
published by JF Rowney Press (yoga and kundalini books).
Jay Gordon Melton – 30,000 library, inherited 5000 from
Rowney Press….1969 Institute for the Study of American
Religions in S.B., Ca and in 1990 published the Encyclopedia
of the New Age with 1000 biographies of Yogis and the
History of Hatha Yoga.
Paramahansa Madhavadasaji (b1798-1921) from Bengal
organized a small circle of hatha practitioners to
reformulate the ancient yogic practices around more modern,
scientific principles. He was a disciple of Sri Gauranga
Mahaprabhuji.
1. Sri Gopaldas
2. Swami Kuvalayananda (b1883-1966) founded Kaivalyadhama
Ashram and Research Institute and HE edited Yoga Mimamsa,
its technical Journal..in Lanavla, near Pune. Regarded as
pioneer in Physical Education.
3. Yogendra Mastamani brought the work to America in 1919
he landed in NY (Long Island). He introduced Hatha to
Americans. He met Benedict Lust (naturopath). One of his
students was Pierre Bernard who taught tantric and hatha
yoga to the rich and famous of Long Island….his nephew
Theos Bernard wrote Hatha YOGA: THE REPORT OF A PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE…journeyed to Bombay in the 1930’s to study with
Yogendra…
In 1971 the Madhavadasaji lineage returned to America
when Vijayendra Pratap, a students of Kuvalayananda’s
founded in 1972 the SKY Foundation in Philadelphia to
propagate “classical yoga” – postures, breathing,
relaxation, concentration and meditation.
THE YOGA JOURNAL STORY
1974 Rama Vernon and Rose Garfinkle started THE WORD then
in 1975 Rama Vernon, Rose Garfinkle, Judith and Ike Lasater,
Jean Girardot, Janis Paulsen and William Staniger — THE
YOGA JOURNAL.
THE ROOTS OF YOGA
PURVA MIMAMSA (earlier discussion) – Jaimini (200
bce)
Philosophy of ritualism, a catalogue of priestly duties,
a science of moral action and a schema for ethical
behavior.
VEDANTA (Uttara Mimamsa) – later discussion or Veda’s end
(Shankaracharya 788-800) – MAYA VADA DOCTRINE, monistic and
nondualistic based on Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and
Brahamana Sutra. Not all Vedanta is illusory….presents
itself to BODY / MIND. ATMAN IS TRUTH. VEDANTA DENIES THAT
THERE IS ANYTHING RADICALLY DIFFERENT FROM PURUSHA.
NYAYA (rule) – Gautama (500 bce) taught rules, logic,
rhetoric, causation, general theory of knowledge
.
Kanabhaksa (tenets) of Vaiseshika (600 bce) Six
fundamentsl categories of existence – stressed differences
between things.
CLASSICAL YOGA (union) – 196 sutra of Patanjali (2nd
century ce), 6 to 8 forms of the Wheel of Yoga, USED SAMKHYA
CATEGORIES.
SAMKHYA (number) – Kapila elaborated Ishavara Krishna
(350 ce) Vedanta’s intellectual rival. Number and
description of the categories of existence, focuses on
plurality of being, methods emphasize discrimination within
dualistic framework involving spirit (purusha) and matter
(pakriti), ALWAYS eternally separate emphasizes
categories…when they get together it looks like its part
of the body/matter…..CONSCIOUSNESS HAS NEVER BEEN PART
OF…ANY CATEGORY!
MOKSHA IS RELEASE OF THE UNREAL WORLD OR MENTAL
CONCEPTION
KAIVALYA IS ISOLATION OR ALONENESS..ISOLATION FROM
PAKRITI
YOGA ideas and sadhana practices….we are always that
but we purify ourselves by removing blockages in our own
mind … The light is always there but it’s covered with
mind.
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