Over 15,000 years ago, Adiyogi appeared in the upper regions of the Himalayas. No one knew where he came from or what his origins were. He just came and went into intense ecstatic dance upon the mountains. 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. So they gathered around him wanting to know what it was. But no one had the courage to go near him because he was so intense, like a blazing flame of fire. So they waited, hoping something would happen.

Nothing happened.

He did not even seem to know that they existed. He was either in intense dance or absolute stillness, paying no attention to what was happening around him. So people came, waited a few months, and left because the man was oblivious to the presence of others. Only seven hardcore seekers stuck on. These seven were insistent that they must learn from him, but Shiva ignored them. They pleaded and begged him, “Please, we want to know what you know.”

Shiva dismissed them, “You fools, the way you are, you are not going to know in a million years. You need to prepare. A tremendous amount of preparation is needed for this. This is not entertainment.”

But they hung on. Seeing their perseverance, he said, “I will give you a preparatory step. Do this for some time. After that, we’ll see.” So they started preparing. Days rolled into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years; still, he ignored them. Then, one day, after eighty-four years of sadhana, when the sun’s run with relation to this planet was shifting from the northern run to the southern run – known in this tradition as Uttarayana and Dakshinayana – Adiyogi happened to look at these seven people and saw that they had become shining receptacles of knowing. After eighty four years of intense, involved sadhana, they had built their systems to such power and capability that they were absolutely ripe to receive. He could not ignore them anymore.

shiva shakti

He watched them closely for the next twenty-eight days, and when the next full moon rose, he decided to become a Guru. That full moon day is known as Guru Pournami because the Adiyogi transformed himself into the Adi Guru – the first Guru was born on that day. He took the seven disciples to Kantisarovar and started a systematic exposition of yoga in a scientific manner. He began propounding the whole mechanics of life to these seven people, not intellectually as a philosophy, but experientially. He explored every nut and bolt of creation with them. He brought forth yoga as a technology with which every human being can evolve himself. For every human being on the planet, there was a way. This is the science of the human mechanism, to be able to dismantle it or put it together. A reminiscence of this knowledge can still be seen in various forms and distortions in anything that you see as religious or spiritual on the planet, whether it is East or West. If you look deep enough, it was all taken from this basic body of knowing which was created by this one being. The transmission went on for a long period of time. After many years, when it was complete and had produced seven fully enlightened beings, who are today celebrated as the Sapta Rishis,

Adiyogi sent each one of them to different parts of the world. One went to Central Asia. Another went to North Africa and the Middle East, where certain schools exist even today. Another went to South America, and that is one culture that imbibed it in a deep way and made something big out of it. One went to East Asia. His work is never mentioned anywhere, but he remained with his eyes closed all his life and did a very subtle form of work. One stayed right there with Adiyogi. He just sat, because his path was such that he became utterly still, and his presence exuded across the Himalayas. Another one came to the lower regions of the Himalayas and started what is known as Kashmiri Shaivism. Another one went south into the Indian Peninsula. This one is very important for us because he is Agastya Muni. Of the seven Sapta Rishis, Agastya Muni has been the most effective in terms of bringing the spiritual process into practical life, not as a teaching, philosophy or a practice, but as life itself. It is the benefit of what he did that the Indian people are still enjoying because he produced hundreds of yogis who were like fireballs.

adi yogi

He made the spiritual process a part of everyone’s life. They say he made sure every human habitation in the region was touched. You can still find the remnants of his work in every family in this country. They are unknowingly doing some kind of yoga, though it is in distorted forms sometimes. If you look carefully at an Indian family, the way they sit, the way they eat, the way they do many things, whatever is being done traditionally are the remnants of Agastya’s work.

The Sapta Rishis became the basis of the seven basic schools of yoga. Even today, these seven schools are still distinctly there. Adiyogi created this spine of knowledge, not in the form of books or teachings, but as an energy-based knowledge. If one knows how to access it, it is always there. A reminiscence of this knowledge can still be seen in various forms and distortions in anything that you see as religious or spiritual on the planet, whether it is East or West. If you look deep enough, it was all taken from this basic body of knowing which was created by this one being.

Author: Sadhguru

Excerpt from “SHIVA Ultimate Outlaw”

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