The Original Master

Yoga was conceived and developed by Adi Guru (Original Master) Mahadeva himself. However, it was shared with the world not by one individual, but by a group of saints, rishis and sages who acknowledged that yoga should be available to everyone.

Of these great, enlightened beings, it is Patanjali, often referred to as Vyasa (which means editor or organizer), who is considered as the founder of the yoga system. Yoga is associated with the culture and heritage of India, but belongs to the whole world and therefore should not be diluted or copyrighted.

Authentic Yoga Is …

It is a system developed for humanity to reach its peak possibility in body, mind, emotions, and at the being level. In the modern day, yoga has been misrepresented, manipulated and altered by those who have not experienced the depths of yoga. A true yoga teacher can customize an asana for a specific purpose or personal need, but the origin of that particular yoga asana cannot be diluted or lost. The whole possibility of yoga from body to consciousness should be understood and should not be deliberately altered from its original form.

Yoga starts with the body but is not just all about the body. Yoga can awaken one’s Kundalini Shakti and can bestow miraculous, extraordinary abilities, especially when it is practiced directly in the presence of the enlightened yogis and in an energy field such as the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, Bengaluru Aadheenam in South India. It can awaken yogic powers that help us to fulfill the reality we wish to experience. Therefore, it is important not to learn yoga in an altered, misrepresented, manipulated form.

Yogic Scriptures

There is authentic yogic literature thousands of years old such as Hatha Yoga Pradeepika, Pranayama Paddhati, Laya Yoga Pradipika, Yoga Sutra, Yoga Shaastra Tattwa Kaumudi, Hatha Yoga Kaumudi and Gheranda Samhita. These original texts and the authentic translations are available to the world. Only teachers who can quote the original reference in the Sanskrit language should teach yoga.

Completion through Nithya Yoga

Nithya Yoga, devised at Nithyananda Peetham, is yoga in its original, pristine, pure, authentic form – it is yoga from its source. It was created for the purpose of COMPLETION – completion with body, completion with mind, completion with the being-level and completion with consciousness. This is what is missing in many other forms of yoga in the world today. Nithya Yoga teachers are given the adhikara (the right), only for permutation and combination as per their experience and expertise.

They have the freedom to plan which pranayama (breathing technique) can follow which pranayama, which asana (position) can follow which asana. But they cannot create new positions, new methodology for visualizations or new pranayama techniques. When a Nithya Yogi gives an asana or kriya, he can also give the original quote from the original yogic scripture with the verse number, translation, and its meaning. Whether a yoga teacher is an Indian or Westerner does not matter. What matters is that he knows the origin of yoga and whether he is a great contributor to the rise of yogic consciousness.

Necessity of The Guru in Yoga

“Whether the Guru speaks or not, if you are sitting in the space of listening, you are in Upanishad. A real Master goes on speaking whether the disciple listens or not. A real disciple goes on listening whether the Master speaks or not.” – Paramahamsa Nithyananda

Guru is required to keep the authenticity of yoga alive. Guru in Sanskrit means, remover of darkness and ignorance. Guru removes the mental blocks and obstacles that stand in the way of your awareness and realization of your true Self. The shastra pramana (sacred scriptures) repeatedly mention the need for a guru.

Gurus use different ways to remove the mental blocks from disciples. These include: personal guidance, instructions, teaching and scolding. Regardless of the method used, the goal is to raise the disciple to a state of higher awareness. Guru resides in the highest state of awareness and consciousness, so he is able to see where the disciple is stuck. It is essential that the guru be a true guru, one who is fully enlightened and with the highest vision. It is said, that the Guru appears in your life when the time is right.

There is a great need for an authentic, Living Master who can impart and most importantly, transmit the knowledge and experience of superconsciousness. All of the ancient scriptures such as the Brahma Sutras, Shiva Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Hatha Yoga Pradipika as well as the recent masters like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi and Paramahansa Yogananda, all stress on the importance of the guru’s guidance as a vital component of any spiritual path.

(From the archives of Nithya Yoga, Nithyananda Peetham, Bengaluru Aadheenam, Karnataka State, India)