Inner World of Yoga – Day 30

Were ancient humans enlightened? Doubtful. But, they lived much closer to the natural forces governing life than humans do now. YOGA assumes the ancient mind is the same mind at work today, even though life today looks nothing like it did 60,000 years ago. The ages of science, industry, and technology grew out of human desire to explain the workings of earth and cosmos, changing the landscape of human living and the earth itself. Political and religious systems (at many times in human history the same thing), grew in response to a need to organize, explain and contain how humans can live together in increasing numbers. Yet along the way it seems that much of that initial recognition of the interconnectedness of all of creation has become diminished and even lost.

Where does that leave the ancient mind? I have strived to demonstrate through the system of yoga how the nature of human mind has not changed even though brain structure itself has modified and continues to evolve. Is humanity at its fullest potential at this point in time? I don’t think so. Almost daily, information concerning so-called junk DNA is coming to light. Medical science has discovered that 70% of our immune system is in the gut and related to what we eat and feel, and now sees the neurological system of the heart and the possibilities it holds for informing brain activity, mind and consciousness.

Curiously, ancient man also recognized all of this to be true, and in Yoga, the sister sciences of Ayurveda, Vastu, and Vedic Astrology/Jyotish evolved alongside philosophy and spiritual practices. The ancient Vedic system or creed, actually encompassed every aspect of life, providing an amalgam of religion, philosophy and science by which ancient man defined life and lived by principles designed to honor and maintain harmony both within the human organism and with the outer world.