The real history of Yoga
In what’s often considered “a life-time moment of clarity and business-like enlightenment”, Patanjali sold his house, goats and wife and set off to write the “Sutras”.
• ‘ I’d say we’re in business again!’ - exclaimed Patanjali.
• ‘ what’s next on the agenda? ’ - asked Pradipika.
• ‘ You’ll see…‘ - stated Krishnamacharya
• ‘ Done’ - …Bikram
After a couple of weeks in a headstand, a finally head-soared Patanjali realizes about the annuities the Rishi were smartly pointing at already three-thousands years before and delayed, if not, but by the fat pigsty-headed and greedy Brahmins bloating in between.
In what’s often considered “a life-time moment of clarity and business-like enlightenment”, Patanjali sold his house, goats and wife, invested everything in some sheets of papyrus bought from the Egyptian merchants, some pints of ink from the Chinese, some chapati from the Bengalese, and set off to write the “Sutras”.
Patanjali was much smarter than what it looked like and foreseeing the future, wrote an email to Pradipika (to be born about eight centuries later on).
Patanjali was also a patient man and endowed by immense faith.
About 8 centuries later, Pradipika came to Earth, went through the usual motions of wetting himself, being breastfed, bullied by schoolmates, until he checked his email. No luck there. No internet yet, but eventually the postman arrived and delivered a bunch of Papyrus sheets.
Pradipika read them all, and faithful to speed-post, emailed the question…no quick replay!
However, Pradipika was a creative youngster and definitely not an idle one, while waiting for the not so fast replay, he began to draw people in fancy body poses and even named them.
He drew about 80 of them,…still no response, until father found him in the cave where he was hiding, checked the drawings and exclaimed - ‘attaboy! you’re very talented.’-.
Pradipika was sent to an Art School, the drawings abandoned as well as the papyruses sent by Patanjali.
About 13 centuries later, Krishnamacharya is experiencing an existential turmoil, he needs to do something and even though unwillingly, decides to withdraw in a cave and meditate.
Krishnamacharya is a restless soul, very physical and not very much prone to silent and sitting meditation.
He paces the cave back and forth, moving stones from place to place, until hidden behind one he finds the abandoned drawings of Pradipika and the other papers. Bingo! Krishnamacharya is very excited, he starts to repeat over and over the bodily poses, combines them, he even studies the papyruses, skind of boring albeit intriguing.
After about 7 years he is ready to leave the cave.
He brings with him the papers by now named “The Yoga Sutras” and “Atta Boyoga Pradipika”(later changed), and sets off to spread the word. Back to business!
Bikram is a clever boy, born in India, but very attentive to the spiritual needs of the bored and rich Western Souls. He learns the basics, moves to America.
Like many immigrants, he struggles and sweats a lot, no doubt, but eventually he manages to set up a lucrative enterprise which allows him to relax a bit and even to surf the net. And there is where he finds floating in the web an ancient, yellowed and crumpled email gone unanswered.
He just clicks replay and writes: -‘Done’-.
The story continues.