Adiyogi The First Yogi

Ever wondered when yoga was first discovered? Or who was the first yoga teacher
and when was the first yoga class?

In a vivid narration from Sadhguru, we take a look at the being who introduced yoga to
humankind, the Adiyogi, the first yogi.
Sadhguru:

Over 15,000 years ago at a time predating all religion, Adiyogi, the first yogi, transmitted the
science of yoga to his seven disciples, the Saptarishis. Today, millions of people on the planet are
practicing some form of yoga. This has not happened because of force or conversion, but out of
yogas sheer efficacy.

Yoga is widely practiced today purely as a form of physical exercise, however yoga is much
more than that. It is the technology of taking ones life energies to the very peak and making the
human system a ladder to the divine. To achieve this, Adiyogi expounded 112 ways through
which a person can transcend their limitations and reach their ultimate potential.

Today, we refer to this being as Shiva. But in yogic culture, Shiva is not seen as a God, but as the
Adiyogi or the First Yogi the originator of yoga. He was the one who first put this seed into the
human mind. According to the yogic lore, over fifteen thousand years ago, Shiva attained to his
full enlightenment and abandoned himself in an intense ecstatic dance upon the Himalayas.
When his ecstasy allowed him some movement, he danced wildly. When it became beyond
movement, he became utterly still.

People saw that he was experiencing something that nobody had known before, something that
they were unable to fathom. Interest developed and people came wanting to know what this was.
They came, they waited and they left because the man was oblivious to other peoples presence.
He was either in intense dance or absolute stillness, completely uncaring of what was happening
around him. Soon, everyone left

Except for seven men.

These seven people were insistent that they must learn what this man had in him, but Shiva
ignored them. They pleaded and begged him, Please, we want to know what you know. Shiva
dismissed them and said, You fools. The way you are, you are not going to know in a million
years. There is a tremendous amount of preparation needed for this. This is not entertainment.

So they started preparing. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year,
they prepared. Shiva just chose to ignore them. On a full moon day, after eighty-four years of
sadhana, when the solstice had shifted from the summer solstice to the winter solstice which
in this tradition is known as Dakshinayana the Adiyogi looked at these seven people and saw
that they had become shining receptacles of knowing. They were absolutely ripe to receive. He
could not ignore them anymore. They grabbed his attention.

He watched them closely for the next few days and when the next full moon rose, he decided to
become a Guru. The Adiyogi transformed himself into the Adi Guru; the first Guru was born on
that day which is today known as Guru Purnima. On the banks of Kanti Sarovar, a lake that lies
a few kilometers above Kedarnath, he turned South to shed his grace upon the human race, and
the transmission of the yogic science to these seven people began. The yogic science is not about
a yoga class that you go through about how to bend your body which every new born infant
knows or how to hold your breath which every unborn infant knows. This is the science of
understanding the mechanics of the entire human system.

After many years, when the transmission was complete, it produced seven fully enlightened
beings the seven celebrated sages who are today known as the Saptarishis, and are worshipped
and admired in Indian culture. Shiva put different aspects of yoga into each of these seven
people, and these aspects became the seven basic forms of yoga. Even today, yoga has
maintained these seven distinct forms.
The Saptarishis were sent in seven different directions to different parts of the world to carry this
dimension with which a human being can evolve beyond his present limitations and
compulsions. They became the limbs of Shiva, taking the knowing and technology of how a
human being can exist here as the Creator himself, to the world. Time has ravaged many things,
but when the cultures of those lands are carefully looked at, small strands of these peoples work
can be seen, still alive. It has taken on various colors and forms, and has changed its complexion
in a million different ways, but these strands can still be seen.

The Adiyogi brought this possibility that a human being need not be contained in the defined
limitations of our species. There is a way to be contained in physicality but not to belong to it.
There is a way to inhabit the body but never become the body. There is a way to use your mind
in the highest possible way but still never know the miseries of the mind. Whatever dimension of
existence you are in right now, you can go beyond that there is another way to live. He said,
You can evolve beyond your present limitations if you do the necessary work upon yourself.
That is the significance of the Adiyogi.

We have compiled a huge amount of research information on how 8000 to 12,000 years ago,
there was linga worship in South America, Turkey, and North Africa, and snake worship all over
the world there is archeological proof for that. Only over the last maybe 20 centuries, this has
been demolished and lost in most parts of the world, but originally, the Saptarishis influence
spread across the planet. There is no culture that did not benefit from Adiyogis science of yoga.
 Delphi, Greece A Temple Built by Yogis

Yoga went everywhere not as a religion, belief system, or philosophy, but as methods. Over a
period of time, there have been distortions, but still, unknowingly, millions of people across the
planet are doing some yogic practice. This is the only thing in the history of humanity that has
lived for so long without ever being forced upon people.

There is no culture that did not benefit from Adiyogis science of yoga. There are attempts to
deny the acknowledgement of a certain culture and of the one who has made the most significant
contribution to human consciousness ever.
 The Temple at Delphi, Greece was known as the navel of the earth among the ancient
Europeans. Among the ancient Greeks, the temple was dedicated to Apollo, the Greek God of
healing, music, poetry and a lot more. But according to studies, the temple was built before the
beginning of recorded Greek history and was originally a Goddess temple.

Navel of Earth

http://isha.sadhguru.org/man/globetrotter/delphi-greece/

No one ever put a sword to anyones throat and said Do yoga! Otherwise, we will behead you.
No force has ever been exerted to impose it, but still yoga has lived for over 15,000 to 20,000
years, and there has been no single authority to propagate it simply because the process is so
effective. It has had its highs and lows, but it is once again coming back in a big way. However,
there are sources today that question the origin of yoga. Some even claim that the yoga that is
being taught today was extracted from a European exercise system. There are attempts to deny
the acknowledgement of a certain culture and of the one who has made the most significant
contribution to human consciousness ever.

Before I fall dead, I want to see that Adiyogi is sufficiently acknowledged. These 21 and 112
foot-tall statues of Adiyogi are part of this effort. After working on it for over 2-1/2 years, we
arrived at an image that we are generally happy with. Now we are in the process of manifesting
that image. Each of these Adiyogi statues will come with a structure of 112 feet tall consecrated
linga. These will be powerful energy spaces for meditation. The first ones are coming up in
North America one near the US Tennessee ashram [the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences in
McMinnville], one near San Jose, one in Seattle, one in Toronto. Many other cities are examining
this possibility too. Our idea is to set up 50 in the United States one for each state.

Adiyogi Statues in India

In India, such spaces will come up wherever someone takes the initiative to make it happen. A
few people are also working towards establishing 112-feet-tall Adiyogi statues in four corners of
India. The government of Arunachal Pradesh has invited us to establish one in their state, which
is the first part of the country to be touched by the rising sun. It is my desire that the first sunlight
in India should fall on his face. Irrespective of caste, religion, and gender, people should
celebrate him for the contribution that he has made to humanity not as a god but as a man who
rose beyond all limitations he was everything that a man can be and everything that a man
cannot be. He was the one who opened up this possibility for humanity for the first time. He not
only spoke about it he gave specific methods as to how to do it. No one else before him or after
him has made a greater contribution to human consciousness.

Out of the other three 112-feet-tall Adiyogi statues, we want one to come up in Uttarakhand, on
the way to Hardwar; one near Kanyakumari, and another one in Rajasthan, near the border. In
four corners of the country, there will be large, iconic Adiyogi statues that people cannot ignore.
We are also coming up with a book on Adiyogi. It is very important to see him as a man only
then, there will be a possibility of you striving to be like him. Whether it is Krishna, Rama, Jesus,
or someone else the moment you look at them as gods, you dont strive to be like them that is
the problem. I want to constantly remind everyone that Adiyogi was more than a man, but still
very much a man. Every human being is capable of this irrespective of the backgrounds they
come from, what they know, and what they do not know. If they are willing to do certain things,
transcendence is a possibility in everyones life. To make this a big statement and acknowledge
him as the one who offered the science of yoga, we are thinking of setting up four 112 foot
statues in the country and in between as many 21-foot statues as we can.

Yoga is the Only Way

Everything that I am is only because of this particular science being available to us freely. If,
when I was young, they had imposed a restriction lets say If you want to do yoga, you must
do Guru Pooja I would have gotten up and left. If they had told me to bow down or light a
lamp, I would have left. There were no such restrictions. There were just instructions on what to
do, and it worked. I would not be who I am without the science that Adiyogi has offered, which
is 100% irreligious. He predates all religion. Yoga is something so precious for the modern
world, because we are stuck with the intellect. The problem I had in my youth that I couldnt
light a lamp, I couldnt bow down, I couldnt enter a temple; if someone said one mantra, I
would go away is a problem of the intellect.

I want to see that Adiyogis name is uttered everywhere. Everyone who comes to an Adiyogi
space can pick from 112 options the one thing they want to do and start with a three-minute
sadhana.

The more the intellect is emphasized, the more people will have this problem. When this problem
arises, yoga as a scientific approach is the only way. Everything else will only divide people.
And that time is not far away for humanity. Before that time comes, I want to see that Adiyogis
name is uttered everywhere and everyone knows that this science of yoga is available. These
statues will be 112 feet tall because Adiyogi gave 112 ways a human being can attain to the
Ultimate. We want to simplify this and offer you 112 things that you can do. Out of this, you just
have to do one thing. This will transform your life in the simplest possible way.

Everyone who comes to an Adiyogi space can pick from these 112 options the one thing they
want to do and start with a three-minute sadhana. Everyone can invest three minutes. If it works
for them, they can gradually increase the duration to 6, 12, or 24 minutes. We want to establish
this within the next decade that irrespective of caste, religion, gender, or physical condition
everyone will have a simple spiritual process in their lives.

A Historic Event

Sadhguru invites you to be part of a moment in history as a unique face of Adiyogi is consecrated
at Isha Yoga Center. A towering 112 feet high, this iconic face represents the 112 ways one can
attain to ones ultimate nature.
On Mahashivratri Feb 24th, Sadhguru will share his intimate experience of
Adiyogi with the world. Come and bask in the grace of the ultimate. Find out more
here (http://isha.sadhguru.org/mahashivratri/)