I would like to thank all the participants of this thread ( excluding me 
) for sharing their great knowledge here.
For a newbie like me , its a great opportunity to learn about, yoga, religion, and spirituality.
Namaste Lotusgirl, Yoga philosophy and the Yoga practice is suffused throughout the Vedas, as they are written by highly realised Yogis. Every word they speak is Yogic. But as stated earlier, they are only mentioned. The developed practice is only mentioned later in the Upanishads and the Darsanas. The Vedas merely mention them.
The pure soul, cleansed through the control
of breath and meditation soon attains salvation
and becomes one with the supreme
(Atharva 6.51.1)
The five senses are linked with five elements.
The five seasons are linked with the five breaths
of the mind. The five directions are the five organs
of cognition controlled by the soul.
(Atharva 8.9.15)
Sight leaves the sage not, life breath quits him not
He attains proximity of the supreme one, the Purusha.
(Atharva 10.2.30)
Thy mind goes far away
To heaven and earth,
call it back to thyself,
So that it may remain
under thy control
(Rig 10.58.2)
Acquire and develop thy wisdom
Through discriminating between
Truth and falsehood
(Sama 171)
The face of truth
Is covered by the glittering lid of the golden light
The Purusha - the ultimate source of conscious life
Who shines in the sun
I am that Aum
The supreme one.
(Yajur 40.17)
It is very clear then that Yoga is the religion of the Vedas. The Vedas describe the philosophy of Yoga, the ethics of Yoga and even the practice of Yoga. The Vedic religion is therefore the religion of Yoga. Hinduism is just a modern name for the Vedic religion.
So if you practice Yoga you are indeed practicing our Vedic religion.
To be honest I cannot understand for the life of me why anybody would not want to be part of such a noble religion of enlightened sages, and would want to be part of religions that promote death and destruction. (Yes, I mean Abrahamic religions)
Hi Surya!
To be honest I still don’t see the proof. I see many generalities.
Lotusgirl, I cannot read for you. I have shown you very clearly Yoga in the Vedas, direct citations discussing Yoga philosophy and describing the practice. Thus proving my point the oldest reference ever to Yoga to be found anywhere in the world is in the Vedas. Yoga is self-realization and union with the supreme reality, then what the heck is this saying:
The pure soul, cleansed through the control
of breath and meditation soon attains salvation
and becomes one with the supreme
(Atharva 6.51.1)
Are you deliberately being ignorant?
No, and there’s no need to get snippy about it either. Does it say this is yoga? Does it say you need to be Hindu to do this? Everyone breathes and does at least some type of meditation or reflection. I understand what yoga is Surya and I’m not being ignorant. I just don’t see how this justifies your position. That’s all.
Several steatite seals discovered at Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1700 BC) sites depict figures in a yoga- or meditation-like posture, "a form of ritual discipline, suggesting a precursor of yoga", according to Indus archeologist Gregory Possehl.[1] He points out sixteen specific "yogi glyptics"[2] in the corpus of Mature Harappan artifacts that suggest Harappan devotion to "ritual discipline and concentration", and that the yoga pose "may have been used by deities and humans alike."[3] Some type of connection between the Indus Valley seals and later yoga and meditation practices is supported by many other scholars.[4]
So now I have presented two conclusive proofs
- Direct citations from the Vedas describing Yoga philosophy and practices
- Archeaological evidence from the Indus valley civilisation showing how widespread Yoga was in India
What more evidence do you need that Yoga originated in India? It is an open and shut case. As conclusive as the steam engine originating in modern Europe.
Show me evidence Yoga is being practiced anywhere else on this planet before the Indus valley civilisation
Aw cmon!!! You said the word Yoga was used in Vedas!
Where is it???
Cmon Surya Deva! is that your best shot?
Open and shut case? For you perhaps.
The quotation you have given are nowhere near any proof that they are near your Yoga concept.
Now now Surya, be honest now, and foremost be humble.
And don’t quote Europeans now, quote your own sources. Just because a westerner says that some non-descript seal(by the way I am an indian, and these seals are printed in 10 grade CBSE textbooks, they dont scare me 
) depicted some mendicant sitting in a cross legged position, does this prove your Vedic oldies were Yogis??? Where is the proof???
I hope you are aware that Harappan civilisation to this day is not proven to be Ayran in nature? and that supposedly your Aryans actually plundered and looted them and pushed them to south India at least if not more. There is no acceptable proof amongst historians that Indus Valley Civilsation was ARYAN civilisation. No university professor of India can argue and win on this. Dont cite your RSS scholarson this now. Every Indian knows your Saffron brigade.
And further, the most popular theory of Aryan origin is of central asia, (max mueller and others) and if you have been watching Nat Geo channel you would know that SCIENTIFIC (you may read this word again) data of gene studies SUPPORTS this theory. In this case lotusgirl is right that ancient vedic rishis got this knowledge from central asia from their forefathers.
So now be prepared for a global patent on Yoga by RUSSIANS!!
Lotusgirl,
It appears you do not seem to know. Yoga is the spiritual practice of self-realization whereby one connects to the supreme reality/soul/being/self. What are the Vedic mantras saying that I just cited:
The pure soul, cleansed through the control
of breath and meditation soon attains salvation
and becomes one with the supreme
This is actually quite particular as well on what method is used. The control of breath and meditation.
I am sorry but what do we call the practice whereby one control one breath and mind to attain union with the supreme self? Yoga.
Lets be honest now. I said at the beginning in the Vedas it is only mentioned. In the Upanishads it is developed and expanded. Finally in the Yogasutras this is
when Yoga is given a scientific form. Indeed this is exactly what I have proven.
[QUOTE=lostontheway;36711]Aw cmon!!! You said the word Yoga was used in Vedas!
Where is it???
Cmon Surya Deva![/QUOTE]
In the Vedic times the word “Yoga” was not used. They used the word tapasya. However, the Sanskrit word “Yoga” does indeed occur, it just not used in that context. The word Yoga as a word to describe the practice of Yoga(previously called tapasya) occurs in the Upanishads which are written much later. They are still considered part of the Vedic corpus(which consists of Brahmanas, Aranyakas) but of these the Samhitas are the oldest.
The Vedas also describe the practices as Yagya(which is surprsingly very close to the word Yoga) which means sacrifice. Scholars mention two kinds of sacrifices in the Vedic tradition one was the exoteric fire sacrifice(also known as homa) where food-stuff would be offered into a fire, and the other was an esoteric inner ascetic practice where they would offer their breath and mind into the inner-fire. Sri Aurobindo has written a lot on this subject.
We do know without a doubt that Yoga asanas were being practiced in the Indus valley(3000BCE) as we can find various Yoga asanas depicted on the seals.
I have now proven to you that the Vedas do indeed admit of the same ultimate reality which is expressed in many forms, as the Upanishads also tell. You have interestingly remained silent on that.
its late now, I shall write some more on this later, perhaps on weekend.
I have already discussed Aryan invasion theory here several times. This theory is now dead. The only people who continue to believe in the Aryan myth are white supremists(Nazi organizations still cite from it) and Indian separatists(South Indian nationalits, Maoists, Marxists) Even Western academics no longer accept the classical invasionst theory.
No evidence of any invasion has ever been produced. On the contrary they have found that the Indus Valley already has Vedic features. For example, the bricks they used for construction in the Indus valley cities are in the same ratios as prescribes by the Arthshastra of Kautaliya.
Mountains of evidence has piled up for several decades now ranging from geological studies, genetic studies, archeological studies of which have disproven the Aryan invasion theory. This is why Aryan invasion theory has largery been discredited and dismissed.
You sound like a Sikh separatist to me now to be honest. This is a shame, I am Sikh-born and my parents and relatives are Sikhs, and they do not engage in anti-Hindu rheotric. We even go to the Hindu temples together. I once made the mistake of going to the Sikh society at my University and was really put-off when I heard the enemity they had for Hindus. I was thinking “Hang on, you believe in pretty much the same thing as Hindus do, and Guru Nanak never made any attempt to start a new religion” There is a very good reason why I chose to diassocate from Sikhism. Sikhs have lost their way and turned the religion into some socio-political grouping. An excuse to do bhangara, host expensive weddings, to eat tandoori chiken and drink alcohol.
Which established scholar says it is dead?
Bricks? ha ha and you do know that Arthashastra and Kautilya came later than Idus valley civilisation do you not? Have you even read a 10grade history book?
Mountains of evidence, that too genetic, any proof, any reference?
I am particularly interested in genetic proof.
I am not a Sikh separatist. Did I at any place say I want a separate state or anything like this. I on the other hand believe that all religions are to be respected and all humans are to be respected. It is you who is going on in his blind ignorance calling Jesus disrespectful things. You are the one who is a Hindu fundamentalist and a separatist.
And you are , in your frustration dare say disrespectful and communal-hate things against Sikh community? Do you think I have any dearth of things against Hindu community. Dont even get me started on what guys like you are doing to present day India.
I again say, maintain dignity and respectful decorum.
Now you are getting personal Surya. Maintain your dignity and self respect
Namaste,
Lets stick to the facts then.
You see the fact that the standarized ratios of Kautaliya Arthashatra are being used in the Indus valley either suggests the Vedic people later adopted them, or that the Arthashastra was composed in the Indus period. Yes a 10th grade history book in India will give different dates, but this is because these textbooks are based on the history as given by Aryan invasion theory which produces a huge gulf between the Indus period and the so-called Vedic period. It is now becoming clear that there was no so-called Vedic period, which means many dates are going to be pushed back for events and personalities in Indin history.
Do you know the the date of the start of the “Vedic age” put forward by Max Muller of 1500BCE was based on the creation myth in the bible of the world beginning in 4004BCE? Did they teach you this in your 10th grade textbook? Do you know that Max Muller himself later admitted his dates for the “Vedic age” was complete guess work. He went as far to say they could be more than 10,000 years old.
Do you know that the Nadi Suktam in the Rig Veda describes a mighty living river that was extinct in around 2000BCE, and was flowing in 4000BCE and prior.It describes all the rivers of India by name Ganga, Yamuna, and now the extinct Saraswati river. So if the Rig Veda is describing a thriving river at the time of its writing which was flowing in 4000BCE then this means they were already in India at the time. No?
The following videos presents some very interesting facts in a straight forward, objective and scholarly way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO8-JCK45tc
All of the facts presented in this video can be corroborated by further research.
So now be prepared for a global patent on Yoga by RUSSIANS!!
Could this be? I’m part Russian. How exciting!
Sorry, I felt that the mood needed to be lightened up a bit.
I would like to see the Russian texts and archeaological evidence which mention Yoga. I know of Indian texts and Indian archeological evidence which mention Yoga.
Now I am really starting to wonder is it really the British that created the steam engine or the Chinese 
Like Irish soda bread created in Italy. Don’t know how I came up with that one???
I am going to do the arduous task of transcribing a paragraph from a book, “The Deeper dimension of Yoga” by Georg Feuerstein, considered to be one of the greatest scholars on Yoga in the West:
In the earliest identifiable form, Yoga was connected with the sacrificial ritualism of the Vedic people, who created the worlds oldest extant literature, and apparently also were the authors of the so-called “Indus Saraswati(or Harapan) civilisation”. Vedic Yoga consisted primarily in techniques of mental concentration, breath control, chanting and ritual worship. It served the purpose of invoking, envisioning and even merging with various deities. The Vedic male and female deities(devas) were considered great allies in the invisible realm without those benediction life could not run smoothely. Only by focussing attention, but turning it into a laser beam, could the barrier between the visible and invisible be melted and deities contacted.
In the next paragrapth Feuerstein mentions the myth that the Vedas are polytheistic, and dismisses it, showing that it is clear many of the archaic hymns of the Rig Veda contain non-dualistic thought as which characterizes Yoga philosophy. The deities/devas in the Veda are nothing more than powers/principles of the one ultimate reality. The practice of visualising deities, invoking them and merging into them is a popular Yogic practice even to today.
What do you know, even more evidence for what I am saying
So it’s an open and shut case now. Yoga is the philosophy and practice of the Vedic religion. He/she who is practicing Yoga is practicing our Vedic religion. The religion we call Sanatana Dharma and you call Hinduism.
We welcome you into our religion, for you cannot go wrong in choosing a religion founded by enlightened masters. Ours is the religion of enlightenment. Welcome 