So what happened? Over time yoga was diluted and became divided. It broke off into many different schools, 27 in total, and each focused on a specific aspect of the individual. Each school was led by a teacher or hierarchy of teachers who had mastered a particular type of activity such as intellectual dialogue, physical activity, sound and mantra, etc. Students would attain knowledge from the 27 schools sequentially.
Yoga was eventually taught less openly and became highly secretive and selective. Only certain people of particular status or roles in society became privileged to the original teachings of yoga. These techniques became highly coveted due to their profound effects on consciousness, physical and mental health and vitality, and for other strongly desired outcomes.
To the original yogis a modern yoga class would probably be unrecognizable if not laughable or perhaps even worse. We are currently witnessing both the globalization and standardization of yoga. With its entry into the mainstream it has become even more diluted and divided. It would be difficult to count how many styles/types of yoga now exist. Some styles have become more centered around a particular personality rather than any true difference in the technique or technology of that style.
In ancient cultures our ancestors were honored and respected. The elderly were taken care of and sought out for wisdom. Currently the elders of our planet are being ignored and dishonored. Their wisdom traditions are being lost and their warnings are going unheeded. Is this the way to treat and honor our mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers? Could there be any other way to survive without the preservation of this precious knowledge?
With all the fresh, new and young styles of yoga available it has become a very common thing to see yoga in advertisements, on billboards, in gyms and even corporations. Yoga has become hip and trendy and it has also become a gigantic industry in the West. There are many advantages that have come from the sudden surge in interest in yoga (and other eastern healing modalities). People have the opportunity to look and feel better. People often come to yoga with various concerns about their bodies and their minds. Meditation can provide immediate relief and assist in stress reduction as well as having many other physical and psychological effects and benefits. I am very pleased with the spreading and diversification of yoga and I offer and give thanks everyday that this awareness may continue to grow and blossom like a field of beautiful flowers.
May all yogis and yoga schools resist the greatest tendency (temptation!), especially, in American corporations; which is to attempt to spread too aggressively. If not, they may just risk becoming a nuisance, like weeds in a garden. According to Wikipedia, "Weeds may be unwanted because they are unsightly or they limit the growth of other plants by blocking the light or using up all the nutrients from the soil. They can also harbor plant pathogens that can infect and degrade the quality of other plants." Is it possible that mainstream yoga may have weed-like tendencies and if so what can be done to curtail these untempered aspirations? What can be done to ensure that mainstream yoga does not continue to spread and grow like vines on the great concrete jungle strangling itself and the precious life beneath, in its unstoppable ambition to reach the top where the light (or in this case money) is?
Please don't misunderstand me. I am neither trying to scare anybody nor to say that the globalization of yoga is inevitably a bad thing. I believe it is a wonderful thing! My only concern is that we have forgotten to honor the Mother (the origin) along the way. In Kundalini Yoga we call on this primal Mother, the Adi Shakti, for strength and protection. She is the Primal Power and She is the True Power. She is the Kundalini "Mata Shakti" herself!
Truthfully, she is more like our Great Great Great Grandmother than our "mother". We are so many generations removed from the time of the great yogis let alone the "origins of yoga" that there is only a handful of people on the planet who can share this knowlgedge and remind us of the rich legacy that is our birthright. Yogi Bhajan was one of these unique individuals who came to serve and remind us of our greatness. This legacy is larger than we can imagine and it must be collectively recalled if humanity is to make the eventual transition into a golden age or Age of Peace. Who can remember this great original teaching that can bring wisdom to the ignorant, peace to the violent, and prosperity to the poorest of beggars?
Who is it that longs to return to the heart of the Divine Mother? If yoga means union, then is it not time for the Divine Mother herself to finally reunite all her children? Her mission is to make them feel happy, healthy, safe, loved, and to know once and for all, that they too are Holy (holy=whole) beings. Who will help her in her quest? Who will call on her power and grace? Whoever will awaken the Kundalini within him/her self and serve others will have all knowledge beyond time and space. You will recognize these individuals by their radiant faces and their compassion, not by what cars they drive, their ads in Yoga Journal or on billboards, or how much money they have in the bank. You will recognize them only when you recognize your own face as the very face of the True Guru.
Sat Nam!
