Hindu way of knowing yoga

Lord Shiva is considered the Adi Yogi (The first Yogi) and the Adi Guru(The first Teacher). He turned himself from Aadi Yogi to Aadi Guru when he transmitted the yogic science to Sapta-Rishis (Seven Great Saints) on the day of full-moon. This day has been celebrated as a Guru Purnima in India.  He is the foremost among the yogis and the first teacher of the science of Yoga. No one knows his origin. He is depicted as sitting in lotus pose on mount Kailasha (in Himalaya) in deep samadhi, unmoved by the events of the universe.

In Hindu Scriptures his appearance in a form had been explained. His body is smeared with sacred ash. In his hair is the crescent moon symbolizing mystical vision and knowledge. The serpent coiled around his neck symbolizes the mysterious kundalini energy present in all of us. The river Ganges cascades from the crown of his head symbolizing perpetual purification, which he bestows upon his devotees. He is the three-eyed one (Trilochana) as he has the third eye or the eye of wisdom in the center of the forehead. He is described as the “blue-throated” (Neelakanta). He is said to have drank the poison that emerged during the mythological churning of the ocean by the gods and the Asuras (Demons), thereby protecting the world from its harmful effects. His trident represents the three gunas ( tendencies, qualities, attributes) of Nature, namely tamas, rajas, and sattva.

He is Yogeshwara, the lord of Yoga; Maheshwara, the Greatest God and Bhuteshwara, the lord of the five elements from which the universe is created.

It is said that Shiva first imparted his knowledge to Parvati or Shakti, his spouse. Also, for the good of mankind, he taught the science of Yoga to the ancient rishis who passed on this knowledge to the rest of humanity. All yogic and tantric systems consider him as the first Guru. On the banks of Kanti Sarovar, a lake that lies a few kilometers above Kedarnath (the region of Himalaya), Shiva shed his grace upon the human race, and the transmission of the yogic science to these seven sages began. After many years, when the transmission was complete, it produced seven fully enlightened beings – the seven celebrated sages who are today known as the Sapta-rishis, and are worshipped and admired in Indian culture. Shiva put different aspects of yoga into each of these seven sages, and these aspects became the seven basic forms of yoga. Even today, yoga has maintained these seven distinct forms. The Sapta-rishis (Seven sages )were sent in seven different directions to different parts of the world to carry this dimension with which a human being can evolve beyond his present limitations and compulsions. They became the limbs of Shiva, taking the knowing and technology of how a human being can uplift to the highest possible state of consciousness.

Siva Sutras and Vighyana Bhairava Tantra are popular texts that contain specific techniques to liberate the embodied soul from the limitations of the body and mind and experience his true blissful nature. These techniques got refined over the centuries through various masters, who perfected this art and then taught it their disciples. Thus a Guru-disciple tradition was developed and the wisdom of yoga was passed on through the ages.

Shiva is considered the supreme consciousness in which the play of creation happens in the form of Shakti. Shiva and Shakti are inseparable, just as the creation cannot be separated from the creator. This is the begin of Yin-Yang and Hatha.