Yoga of Offering Goodness to All
Why Yoga Works
WHY YOGA WORKS
by John Brady, Director ACIP
For over two decades the Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP) has worked with Indian scholars and Tibetan lamas to preserve and disseminate the rapidly disappearing textual sources
of the endangered Indic esoteric traditions of yoga and tantra, as well as those of Tibetan Buddhism.
These manuscripts have carried a vigorous and influential philosophical, cultural, and artistic heritage
as well as extraordinary record of the lineage of Tantra, Yoga, and the Buddha's original teachings.
ACIP creates digital versions of these vital texts, thus preserving their contents in an
easily distributed and searchable form.
Our most recent effort has concentrated on the search for the traditional written lineage of yogic and tantric practices from India and their influence on the great Tibetan Buddhist practices that continued undisturbed, in Tibet, for over 900 years. So little is written about this shared knowledge. A little known example of this, is the fact that the Tibetan Buddhist canons, known as the Kangyur and Tengyur, contain the only known records of half of the lost manuscripts of the great Mahasiddhi traditions of India.
Today, these only exist in Tibetan; the original works in Sanskrit are gone, whilst the Tibetan Buddhist traditions embraced these yogic philosophies and incorporated them into their tantric practices.
These influences on Buddhist thought and practice go back to the time of Lord Buddha,
although this has been hotly debated among practicing Buddhists to this day. Did the Buddha pass on a tantric lineage, only written down centuries later?
ACIP is currently working throughout India digitizing several private and public collections that house manuscripts which specifically focus on the subtle body practices of tantra and yoga. One such collection is housed in the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, located in Lonavia, India, 40 miles south of Pune. . This remarkable Institute was founded in 1924 by Swami Kuvalayanda in his pursuit to find an authentic spiritual path. He came to the conclusion that fundamental changes at the mental and physical level are essential in order to take one into the spiritual realm. He decided to explore the process scientifically and came to the conclusion that the Yogic Practices act on four different levels.
1. Your practice (physical)
2. Something happens due to practice (Physiological)
3. Something you experience (Psychological)
4. Finally you become something (spiritual)
He defined Yoga as "The Art of Living and The Science of Experience".
One of his many visions for creating the Institute was to have a library that would house works
on the practices of Yoga, Tantra, Ayurveda as well as other traditions indigenous to India. Today there over 25,000 manuscripts and books related to these traditions housed in Kaivalyadhama's library. ACIP now has the honor of scanning this collection and digitally making the collection available so scholars and students who will then have access to the rare commentaries, practices and explanations of why and how yoga works.
Recently our staff at the library, has scanned 16 different editions of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika as well as several commentaries on this masterpiece. The library houses several commentaries on two famous texts on yoga known as "Devala Smriti" and "Harita Smriti". These precious works were most likely destroyed by bug infestation. The bugs eat the palm leaves on which the manuscripts were written, literally devouring the only record of the original works' existence
The remaining commentaries in the library, written later by great yogi adepts, are now our only connection to the existence of the Devala & Harita Smirti. Thus, ACIP and other preservationists feel that time is of the essence in capturing these great, yet fragile collections in a digital form, so future generations can carry the lineage of these extraordinary teachings.
The yogic and tantric traditions of India are the cornerstone for what now we see in the west as an extraordinary movement into the exploration of yoga. Over 26 million women and men practice yoga in the US alone and there seems no end to the expansion. Why has this 4000 year old science of the mind and body become available in every small, moderate and large city in America, Europe, and now Asia?
For centuries the practice of yoga was limited to the very few, almost all male, seekers of liberation - the attainment of Samadhi, the height of divine consciousness. The practice of yoga, an outer method used for bringing on this state, has now come into modern culture as a way to maintain one's body. Few who practice may realize that what is actually happening during a good yoga class, under the
guidance of a well trained teacher, is much more subtler, profound and life changing.
The asanas, taught at our local yoga studio, are actually created to tap into a level of the mind which can temporarily transform our perceptual experience, leading to a euphoric, almost blissful experience of our mind and body.
The by-products of yoga, just to name a few, are the natural toning of the muscular tissue, the replenishing of oxygen to the mind,
the cleansing of the organs and most importantly, the temporary opening of what the yogic tradition calls the central channel,
in sanskrit known as the Sushumna Nadi. When this channel opens,
even for a few seconds, we can experience a sublime state of bliss and a level of awareness not usually available to us.
We temporarily shed our normal perception of our outer world and can realize the true nature of how we create our reality.
The only other times the central channel opens for a few brief moments are at the height of sexual orgasm and in
the last few minutes of the death process. So many great commentaries have been written to explain the intricate details
of reaching these higher states. The science of breathing, Pranayama being another example, is the perfect complement
to our asana practice and also contributes to opening the shushumna nadi.
Many yoga studios in the US with qualified teachers are shifting their thinking in regard to how one should approach asana practice.
Asana is now being taught more regularly in conjunction with the practice of talking about the esoteric nature of
how yoga really works. The early pioneers of yoga in America who have studied under B.K.S. Iyengar, Sri Pattabhi Jois,
Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, now realize the importance of moving out of the physical obsession
that has made yoga so successful and more into incorporating of the study of the profound esoteric traditions.
It is vitally important to know what the mind is focused on while doing the asanas. The practice of keeping the mind particularly on a higher object, other than how good you're looking or how well your fellow yoga neighbor looks can have a far greater affect on the result of your efforts.
The Asian Classics Input Project is determined to save the great books of yoga. We hope to contribute to the evolution of yoga, our new global phenomenon. The world needs these wisdom traditions more than ever and the practice of asana, combined with a knowledge of its real purpose
can perhaps change ourselves and our world far more than we can imagine in the present moment.
by John Brady, Director ACIP
For over two decades the Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP) has worked with Indian scholars and Tibetan lamas to preserve and disseminate the rapidly disappearing textual sources
of the endangered Indic esoteric traditions of yoga and tantra, as well as those of Tibetan Buddhism.
These manuscripts have carried a vigorous and influential philosophical, cultural, and artistic heritage
as well as extraordinary record of the lineage of Tantra, Yoga, and the Buddha's original teachings.
ACIP creates digital versions of these vital texts, thus preserving their contents in an
easily distributed and searchable form.
Our most recent effort has concentrated on the search for the traditional written lineage of yogic and tantric practices from India and their influence on the great Tibetan Buddhist practices that continued undisturbed, in Tibet, for over 900 years. So little is written about this shared knowledge. A little known example of this, is the fact that the Tibetan Buddhist canons, known as the Kangyur and Tengyur, contain the only known records of half of the lost manuscripts of the great Mahasiddhi traditions of India.
Today, these only exist in Tibetan; the original works in Sanskrit are gone, whilst the Tibetan Buddhist traditions embraced these yogic philosophies and incorporated them into their tantric practices.
These influences on Buddhist thought and practice go back to the time of Lord Buddha,
although this has been hotly debated among practicing Buddhists to this day. Did the Buddha pass on a tantric lineage, only written down centuries later?
ACIP is currently working throughout India digitizing several private and public collections that house manuscripts which specifically focus on the subtle body practices of tantra and yoga. One such collection is housed in the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, located in Lonavia, India, 40 miles south of Pune. . This remarkable Institute was founded in 1924 by Swami Kuvalayanda in his pursuit to find an authentic spiritual path. He came to the conclusion that fundamental changes at the mental and physical level are essential in order to take one into the spiritual realm. He decided to explore the process scientifically and came to the conclusion that the Yogic Practices act on four different levels.
1. Your practice (physical)
2. Something happens due to practice (Physiological)
3. Something you experience (Psychological)
4. Finally you become something (spiritual)
He defined Yoga as "The Art of Living and The Science of Experience".
One of his many visions for creating the Institute was to have a library that would house works
on the practices of Yoga, Tantra, Ayurveda as well as other traditions indigenous to India. Today there over 25,000 manuscripts and books related to these traditions housed in Kaivalyadhama's library. ACIP now has the honor of scanning this collection and digitally making the collection available so scholars and students who will then have access to the rare commentaries, practices and explanations of why and how yoga works.
Recently our staff at the library, has scanned 16 different editions of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika as well as several commentaries on this masterpiece. The library houses several commentaries on two famous texts on yoga known as "Devala Smriti" and "Harita Smriti". These precious works were most likely destroyed by bug infestation. The bugs eat the palm leaves on which the manuscripts were written, literally devouring the only record of the original works' existence
The remaining commentaries in the library, written later by great yogi adepts, are now our only connection to the existence of the Devala & Harita Smirti. Thus, ACIP and other preservationists feel that time is of the essence in capturing these great, yet fragile collections in a digital form, so future generations can carry the lineage of these extraordinary teachings.
The yogic and tantric traditions of India are the cornerstone for what now we see in the west as an extraordinary movement into the exploration of yoga. Over 26 million women and men practice yoga in the US alone and there seems no end to the expansion. Why has this 4000 year old science of the mind and body become available in every small, moderate and large city in America, Europe, and now Asia?
For centuries the practice of yoga was limited to the very few, almost all male, seekers of liberation - the attainment of Samadhi, the height of divine consciousness. The practice of yoga, an outer method used for bringing on this state, has now come into modern culture as a way to maintain one's body. Few who practice may realize that what is actually happening during a good yoga class, under the
guidance of a well trained teacher, is much more subtler, profound and life changing.
The asanas, taught at our local yoga studio, are actually created to tap into a level of the mind which can temporarily transform our perceptual experience, leading to a euphoric, almost blissful experience of our mind and body.
The by-products of yoga, just to name a few, are the natural toning of the muscular tissue, the replenishing of oxygen to the mind,
the cleansing of the organs and most importantly, the temporary opening of what the yogic tradition calls the central channel,
in sanskrit known as the Sushumna Nadi. When this channel opens,
even for a few seconds, we can experience a sublime state of bliss and a level of awareness not usually available to us.
We temporarily shed our normal perception of our outer world and can realize the true nature of how we create our reality.
The only other times the central channel opens for a few brief moments are at the height of sexual orgasm and in
the last few minutes of the death process. So many great commentaries have been written to explain the intricate details
of reaching these higher states. The science of breathing, Pranayama being another example, is the perfect complement
to our asana practice and also contributes to opening the shushumna nadi.
Many yoga studios in the US with qualified teachers are shifting their thinking in regard to how one should approach asana practice.
Asana is now being taught more regularly in conjunction with the practice of talking about the esoteric nature of
how yoga really works. The early pioneers of yoga in America who have studied under B.K.S. Iyengar, Sri Pattabhi Jois,
Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, now realize the importance of moving out of the physical obsession
that has made yoga so successful and more into incorporating of the study of the profound esoteric traditions.
It is vitally important to know what the mind is focused on while doing the asanas. The practice of keeping the mind particularly on a higher object, other than how good you're looking or how well your fellow yoga neighbor looks can have a far greater affect on the result of your efforts.
The Asian Classics Input Project is determined to save the great books of yoga. We hope to contribute to the evolution of yoga, our new global phenomenon. The world needs these wisdom traditions more than ever and the practice of asana, combined with a knowledge of its real purpose
can perhaps change ourselves and our world far more than we can imagine in the present moment.
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