My way is oldest

This is a typical claim made by many people practicing Yoga. As per ancient texts such as Bhagvat Gita Yoga is classified into four types namely Dhyana Yoga, Jana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga. It is just in the modern world that people have invented many types and styles of Yoga. Clearly there are commercial motives behind such inventions. I find it funny when I see these people trying to convince other how their system is original, authentic and oldest. This is totally fully. It simply doesn't matter how much old your system is. What matters is whether your way is able to induce self-realization in the practitioner.

People often believe that oldest Yogic system must be the best. This need not be true. For example Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is considered as one of the classic work on Yoga. However, he rarely includes techniques such as Asanas, Mudras and variety of Pranayams. It is evident that the science of Pranayama and Kundalini awakening was explored in much more details by later Yogis. That means just like any other thing in life Yoga can evolved further!

It is often believed that Yoga has reached saturation in terms of concepts and practices. I do not agree with this. It is true that ancient Yogis took Yoga to one peak and showed us a great way to attain liberation. However, what is lacking is innovation and time relative experimentation. For example how can modern science help us hasten spiritual progress? Can we use its inventions to accomplish spiritual aims? Can modern medicine and science throw some light on functions of mind in relation to spiritual development? Unfortunately only few people seem to be doing work in these areas.

When you try to convince others that your system is best because it is oldest it clearly shows that you have very few plus points as compared to other systems. Real challenge is to assist modern man to realize its spiritual potentials and help him to accomplish his spiritual goals. If all so called styles and their inventors join hands to create a standardize framework of Yogic practices that will help a lot to the world. Unfortunately only few seem to be interested in such work. Everybody wants commercial gains, fame and glory and that's why such people want something "new". Since they can't create anything new in Yoga itself they simply create new styles. 

Anyways...if you are looking for some Yoga instructor or studio don't let them fool you by saying that they are best because their style alone is authentic and oldest. Ask them upfront - how can your so called oldest and authentic style is going to help me? how is it different than rest of the crowd apart from name and luxurious studio?

Posted On :	06 Apr 2007
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About the Author

Bipin Joshi Bipin Joshi is a .NET trainer and consultant and runs his own firm, BinaryIntellect Consulting. He is a Microsoft MVP and a member of ASPInsiders. He is a prolific writer on .NET technologies and runs a network of popular web sites including dotnetbips.com and binaryintellect.net. Having adopted Yoga way of life he remains absorbed in deep meditation when away from computers. His detailed profile can be read at his blog bipinjoshi.com.

Comments

nice 1, but.. Nice blog post. In my opinion, oldest and authentic is only one of many marketing words yoga marketers use. "how can your so called oldest and authentic style is going to help me?" --> If I've no deep idea on Yoga and I ask the Yoga instructor how can that help me he would probably promise an attractive list of things which may not be true. I would suggest to learn Yoga from Yoga instructors who has less commercial motive. Something like a Ramakrishna -Vivekananda Mutt near by (www.sriramakrishna.org) or so. Thanks to the author for the blog post. overall, I like the post Posted By : Kalyan Ganjam Posted On : 4/13/2007

nice......... If i dont know anything about yoga then how can i aware of it before going to join whether it is commercial one or not. Posted By : Narmada Posted On : 6/6/2007

Re: nice......... Few things to remember: 1. Find out which yoga style they are teaching. Is it classic one or they are claiming to have discovered their own style. 2. See who is the founder of the institute. Are they a social organization? or are they purely in yoga business. 3. There fees itself will give you some idea if they are for money making business 4. Talk with their teachers. see their profiles. Are they qualified from reputed institutes? How much experience they have? 5. See if they are famous in that area. Are people knowing about them? 6. Ask references to them. Have they really helped people getting rid of diseases? Posted By : Bipin Joshi Posted On : 6/6/2007