Yoga. Indian yogis - who are they. Indian yoga gurus - who are they, really? Yogi who are they movie

Every more or less educated person has heard something about Indian yoga. Of course, not every Indian yogi. But it was in ancient India that this doctrine arose.

And now it's finally available in Kharkov.

But what really lies under this amazing name - yoga?

Extensive European and American literature on yoga describes mainly the phenomena achieved by the followers of this teaching.

Regardless of how the purpose and meaning of the specific exercises characteristic of yoga theories are interpreted, almost all researchers agree that their main and direct effect is a gradual change in consciousness along a hypnotic type.

So, at one of the stages of training according to the method yoga(4 stage system yoga- pranayama) most of the time is devoted to the skills of regulating the rhythm of breathing with the concentration of thought on these movements. Few things are more conducive to entering a hypnotic state than monotonous rhythmic stimuli and focusing on them. The highest stage - the ability to focus attention until the transition to the state of "samadhi" - reveals a complete resemblance to the deepest phases of hypnotic sleep. From such autohypnosis it is natural to expect manifestations of the same latent possibilities of the nervous system that are observed in studies with hypnosis, carried out "from the outside", from an external tester. And such abilities appear.

The mechanism of these phenomena today, given the level of our knowledge in physiology and psychology, is not yet entirely clear, but the path to its understanding has already been outlined.

This unusual study began in 1957 when two American scientists, M. A. Wenger of UCLA and R. Bagkhee of Ann Arbor, Michigan, came to India to study the effects of yoga. Are yogis really capable of enduring monstrous overloads and doing without air, as rumor and Sanskrit texts attribute to them? Is it possible that through concentration of attention and the occult practice of self-discipline, a person is able to master such amazing physical and mental powers?

Despite the understandable skepticism with which reports of the miracles of Hindu ascetics have always been perceived in the scientific community, the researchers decided to seriously address this problem in the full armor of modern physiological methods. Their initiative met with a response among Indian physicians and physiologists: at present, this work is being continued by a large team of employees of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, headed by B. K. Anand and G. China.

Among the subjects who agreed to take part in these unusual experiments were 15 disciples of the famous guru Magarishi Magesh Yoga, as well as several ascetics from the Himalayan caves and one English teacher who became a Hindu "saint". As a result of comprehensive studies, including fluoroscopy, registration of gas exchange, galvanic skin potentials, and various metabolic processes, it was possible to scientifically verify the fact that some yogis are able to exercise extremely effective volitional control over the activity of their autonomic nervous system. In some cases, a high resistance to prolonged hypothermia of the body was observed, as well as the ability to voluntarily inhibit metabolic processes and volitional control of such vegetative functions as thermoregulation and sweating. Some of the subjects could temporarily stop the pulse. X-ray showed that the heart did not practically stop its work, but it took on the character of weak vibrating contractions, not accompanied by a noticeable pulse. A detailed study of the physiological mechanisms of various types of yogi breathing has shown that they allow one to develop resistance to such stressful conditions as low oxygen content and the presence of extremely high, lethal concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

These results suggest that the potential possibilities of resistance and adaptability of the human body are still far from being studied and, apparently, they are much wider than it appears in the light of modern physiological knowledge.

One of the most impressive results of yoga experiments is that they illustrate the exceptional degree of mobility of the human nervous system, which, under certain circumstances, in a relatively short period of time (months and years) can develop completely new types of efferent connections, thanks to the powerful repetition of a psychological order.

We will also talk about some demonstrations and experiments that are characteristic of yogis and are of particular interest to us.

Let's start with the experience of long-term burial yoga- a procedure that in India has the character of a ritual folk tradition. The description is taken from reports published in the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times (Science and Religion Magazine, 1969, No. 8 pp. 51-53)

October 25, 1958 A sadhu (spiritual person in India), who was welcomed by the people of Sadrashtra and the capital, demonstrates the unusual possibilities of yogism. This is 52-year-old Babashri Ramdaji Jirnari. For 24 hours he will be in a state of "samadhi" inside the crypt, the walls of which are equipped with nails two and a half inches long, pointing inward.

The sadhu is now on a 10-day fast, during which he only drinks water. Such a fast is necessary for him, as the disciples explained, before the sadhu passes into the state of "samadhi".

Ramdaji reported that he had already been in this state a hundred times; this will be his 101st dive. He would like to convince others of the possibilities that yogism creates.

October 27, 1958. Women initiates stood with folded hands as Babashri Ramdaji Jirnari entered the crypt on the grounds of the New High School in New Delhi.

The sadhu is supposed to stay in this airtight crypt for 24 hours.

The garlands of flowers and the shawl were removed from yogi, and the stain of cinnabar was removed from his forehead. In a short shirt, with a saffron handkerchief in his hands, he descended into a cabin four and a half feet deep. His eyelids were closed. The points of five thousand nails protruded from the boards that were upholstered in the walls of the cabin. Yogi calmly sat down on them. Then the crypt was closed with wooden planks. Outside, they were poured with cement to make the top of the crypt airtight. There was some water in the yogi's brass mug. . .

October 28, 1958. About 5,000 people gathered outside the premises of the New Delhi High School when the crypt was opened at 4:30 pm. The yogi was still in a state of "samadhi" that lasted for 24 hours. He regained consciousness some time after opening the crypt. His students rubbed his head for a long time, using large amounts of cottage cheese, buttermilk (a waste product when cream is churned into butter) and ice, before his natural state was completely normalized. For a short time following the opening of the crypt, the yogi could be seen squatting with folded arms, as if in a state of deep concentration. After a while the Yogi took a glass of lemon juice and a cup of milk.

Eight years before the described "burial", the English magazine "The Lancet" spoke in detail about a similar experiment of the same Ramdazhi.

In front of a large crowd, he entered a crypt dug in the ground. Its volume is 5 * 4 * 8 feet, nail tips protruded from the floor and walls. The crypt was filled with cement from above. But after 56 hours, a hole was punched in the ceiling of the crypt and 5,300 liters of water were injected with a fire hose. The hole was sealed again. Six hours later, the lid of the tomb was removed and the sadhu was taken out of the water, in which he was completely immersed.

The author of the article, Dr. Weikl, an eyewitness to everything that is happening, subjected yoga medical examination. Ramdazhi was in a semi-conscious state, his pulse was slow, but regular, as was his breathing, also slow (8-10 per minute). His condition returned to normal very quickly, and nothing said that he had just spent 56 hours in incredibly difficult, and 6 in completely unsuitable conditions for life.

The ability of yogis to manage this kind of burial with an extremely small amount of oxygen has now become the subject of detailed study in several research institutes in India, in particular in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Underground crypts, filled with cement, were replaced by specially equipped hermetic chambers with a variety of measuring instruments, and the astonished silent crowd was replaced by a team of physiologists. The data obtained so far contain only material that testifies to the complete reliability of the burials described above, but it is still far from understanding the mechanism of the phenomenon. The amount of oxygen in the air that a yogi could breathe during the six hours of the experiment would certainly not be enough to sustain the life of an ordinary, unprepared person.

The 34-year-old yogi Ramananda, under the supervision of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, once again posed a puzzling biological problem. The air restriction experiment he was subjected to is part of a series of studies set up by researchers to break through the "barrier" of yogism.

Ramananda was placed in a hermetically sealed glass room at 8 o'clock in the morning and remained there until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. He was not in a state of "samadhi" and therefore could follow the movements of doctors and even helped them with gestures. A red light on the control panel, indicating that the oxygen content of Ramananda's breath had dropped to a level insufficient to sustain human life, came on at 11 am. The doctors were worried, but the yogi gave them a sign to continue the experiment. Every 30 minutes, a sample of air was taken from the closed room in which Ramananda was located to determine the amount of oxygen remaining in it. During the experiment, with the help of electronic devices, respiration, cardiac activity and electrical activity of the brain of the subject were recorded.

The yogi was asked to stop the experiment at 4 pm. Ramananda emerged from his cabin unaided, fresh despite the 8-hour ordeal. He drank coffee, the only addition to the half glass of water he drank during the experiment. "I was often buried for 28 days underground," said Ramananda. And he showed smudges on his forehead, legs and hands. “How does a yogi feel during a trance? What feelings does he have? - "Images arise, sweeping through the consciousness, followed by a dazzling stream of light." “And then what?” He cannot add anything. “I'm still just a beginner in the study of yogism,” says Ramananda modestly, not considering 17 years of his practice sufficient. . . “I can show you something else.” He pulled out a tape recorder from the drawer. "Listen to my heartbeat." There was a series of sonic booms that gradually became weaker and weaker until there was complete silence. “It stopped my heart,” said the yogi. This recording was made during one of the experiments at Visakhapatanam Medical College.

A natural question arises: how does science relate to the demonstrations of yogis, does it recognize them?

It is the desire to “break through the barrier of yogism” that drives scientists today, who know that there are no mystical mysteries in the superpowers of yogis. There is convincing evidence of the omnipotence of the brain and nervous system over the body with its huge reserves. But the elucidation of the details of this omnipotence is still at the stage of discovering phenomena and putting forward hypotheses. What do we already know today?

Trying to explain "burials", experts most often use the word "anabiosis". This is a state of significant weakening, a decrease in the intensity of metabolism in difficult living conditions. Anabiosis is the lot of many insects, worms and lower organisms; significantly higher metabolic rate in animals falling into hibernation (ground squirrels, bats and others). However, even such a decrease in vital activity can be conditionally called anabiosis-like.

Most researchers are inclined to think that the state of yogis during the period of "burial" is a phenomenon of the same kind. We do not yet know how, in a prolonged anabiotic state with a distinct cessation of breathing, that is, with an extremely low (or even completely absent) oxygen consumption, the most fragile structures of the body, primarily nerve cells, do not die. After all, it would seem that one of the most essential links of metabolism is broken: oxygen is not supplied, and carbon dioxide is not removed, which becomes a dangerous poison in large quantities. It is assumed that the use of oxygen, which is directly in the tissues of the body, is taking place, or that the cells of living tissue are rearranged to some special, super-economical mode of metabolism. But neither one nor the other hypotheses are yet supported by serious scientific data.

The fact that yogis are capable of a significant decrease in the basic vital functions - suppression of respiration and cardiac activity, even interference with heat exchange - is beyond doubt. The study of these abilities was carried out at the modern scientific level, using special equipment, at the limit of the experimental possibilities of our days.

So, the ability of a person to regulate the functions of his body that seem to be independent of his will is a fact, although not yet unraveled by science, but sufficiently established. The same fact is the volitional compression of peripheral blood vessels, including small arteries, which can stop bleeding, sometimes even quite serious wounds.

From time to time, people appear in European circuses demonstrating their insensitivity to pain.

Austrian artist To-Rama, who performed in the 1920s with a program that is characteristic of certain human conditions. (Arbitrarily induced insensitivity to pain - turning off the most important of the danger signals), the absence of bleeding from wounds, the ability to sharply - to the illusion of death or lethargic sleep - reduce the intensity of the main vital signs: breathing and heart function, said:

“Power over yourself is the most important thing in life. Many try to develop their energy and willpower. But after a while, noticing that they are not moving forward, they stop training, considering it aimless. But these people are wrong. The first condition for achieving a strong will is self-discipline, self-education. Lack of this is a big disadvantage and your energy will never increase until you are tougher on yourself, stop making excuses for your wrongdoings, and put self-discipline first.

To-Rama's story is a thoughtful and detailed presentation of the path leading to the use of the abilities contained in the human nervous system.

At the end of the First World War, To-Rama was seriously wounded. In the hospital, his condition was recognized as hopeless - the doctors spoke about it, and he heard it; he was moved to the death row. “Then,” writes To-Rama in his article, “something rose up in me. . . I gritted my teeth and only one thought came to my mind: “You must stay alive, you won’t die, you don’t feel any pain” - and everything in the same way. I repeated this to myself an infinite number of times, until this thought entered so deeply into my flesh and blood that I completely ceased to feel pain. I don't know how it happened, but something incredible happened. The doctors shook their heads. My condition began to improve from day to day. So I stayed alive only with the help of my will. Two months later, in one of the Vienna hospitals, I underwent a small operation without general anesthesia and even without local anesthesia, one self-hypnosis was enough. And when I fully recovered, I developed my own system of victory over myself and went so far in this respect that I do not experience suffering at all if I do not want to experience them.

All this shows that verbal suggestion or self-hypnosis can selectively inhibit those reflex centers of the brain that are in charge of pain sensations.

People who have mastered the art of yoga can speed up or stop the digestive process or the activity of the heart at will. And the famous case of a yogi, for purely scientific purposes, was subjected to a dangerous experiment under the strict supervision of the medical faculty in Madras. He swallowed a large dose of cyanide salt and passed the poison intact through the esophagus and his body did not absorb the slightest dose of it. The poison was then removed from the body naturally.

In conclusion, I would like to say that there is nothing supernatural in all experiments. And although modern science cannot yet give an exhaustive explanation of these facts, let's hope that this will happen in the near future.

"Indian yogis - who are they?"- a documentary film directed by Almar Serebrenikov, filmed at the Kyiv film studio of popular science films "Kievnauchfilm" in 1970.

In the film, in addition to the original filming, newsreel footage and plots from the Bulgarian Popular Science Film Studio and the Bombay Documentary Film Studio are used.

Plot

The film in a popular manner tells about Indian traditional health-improving gymnastics. The authors recall the thousand-year history of yoga, emphasize the connection of physical exercises with the philosophy and ethics of the ancient teachings. People are frowned upon for using their knowledge to organize circus performances, benefiting from a public display of their unique abilities.

Filming takes place in scientific institutions and clinics of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and India. Scientists demonstrate the successes achieved by using the best of the heritage of yogis. Gymnastics, breathing exercises and meditative practice are increasingly being used in the arsenal of medical practitioners and used in the fight against premature aging, obesity and many other diseases of modern man.

Involved in the film

• Vasily Vasilyevich Brodov - Indologist, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor
• Georgy Lozanov - doctor, head of the suggestology center in Sofia
• Anatoly Nikolaevich Zubkov - Indologist, certified yogi of the highest qualification
• Aleksey Isidorovich Kolomiychenko - laureate of the Lenin Prize, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, professor
• Konstantin Terenevich Sokolov - Candidate of Biological Sciences (Kyiv Research Institute of Medical Problems of Physical Culture)
• Karolis Dineika - a practicing doctor in the Druskininkai Park of Physiotherapy
• Dargomir Mateev - Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
• Yuri Sergeevich Nikolaev - Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Fasting Clinic
• Leonid Davydovich Gissen - Candidate of Medical Sciences (All-Union Research Institute of Physical Culture)
• Yuriy G. Antamonov - Candidate of Technical Sciences (Institute of Cybernetics of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)
• Alexander Semyonovich Romen - Doctor of Medical Sciences

film crew

• Screenwriters: Anatoly Zubkov, Almar Serebrennikov
• Author's text: M. Veprinsky
• Stage director: Almar Serebrennikov
• Director of photography: V. Chuprinin, Almar Serebrenikov
• Composer: V. Shevchenko
• Sound engineer: M. Petrenko
• Editor: V. Gaidai
• Director's assistant: G. Davidenko
• Consultants:

• Director: L. Shersher

From time immemorial, in India and other Eastern countries, there have been people who devoted their time and energy to the study of methods for developing the forces of man, physical, mental and spiritual. The experience of the first generations of these seekers was passed down over the centuries from teachers to students, and the science of yoga was gradually folded, i.e., these studies and teachings were eventually given the name "yogi" - from the Sanskrit word "south" - which means "to connect" .

Yoga is divided into several divisions, ranging from the teachings on the control of the body to teachings on how to achieve higher spiritual development. In what follows, we will not touch on the higher aspects of the subject of the book, if it does not itself lead to that.

The “science of breathing” is often very close to the field of yoga, and although its first task is to develop the forces of its physical organism in a person, it also serves his spiritual development in some aspects.

There are great schools of yoga in India, uniting thousands of leading minds of this great country. Yogi philosophy is the rule of life for many, many people. The true teachings of yoga, however, are held among the few, while the masses are content with the crumbs that fall from the tables of the educated classes - the Eastern custom in this respect is not like what we see in the West. But Western ideas are beginning to have an effect on the East, and now teachings that were previously communicated to only a few are freely offered to anyone who is only qualified enough to receive them. East and West are growing together in close communication, using this for mutual influences.

"Indian yogis - who are they?"- a documentary film directed by Almar Serebrenikov, filmed at the Kyiv film studio of popular science films "Kievnauchfilm" in 1970.

In the film, in addition to the original filming, newsreel footage and plots from the Bulgarian Popular Science Film Studio and the Bombay Documentary Film Studio are used.

Plot

The film in a popular manner tells about Indian traditional health-improving gymnastics. The authors recall the thousand-year history of yoga, emphasize the connection of physical exercises with the philosophy and ethics of the ancient teachings. People are frowned upon for using their knowledge to organize circus performances, benefiting from a public display of their unique abilities.

Filming takes place in scientific institutions and clinics of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and India. Scientists demonstrate the successes achieved by using the best of the heritage of yogis. Gymnastics, breathing exercises and meditative practice are increasingly being used in the arsenal of medical practitioners and used in the fight against premature aging, obesity and many other diseases of modern man.

Involved in the film

• Vasily Vasilyevich Brodov - Indologist, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor
• Georgy Lozanov - doctor, head of the suggestology center in Sofia
• Anatoly Nikolaevich Zubkov - Indologist, certified yogi of the highest qualification
• Aleksey Isidorovich Kolomiychenko - laureate of the Lenin Prize, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, professor
• Konstantin Terenevich Sokolov - Candidate of Biological Sciences (Kyiv Research Institute of Medical Problems of Physical Culture)
• Karolis Dineika - a practicing doctor in the Druskininkai Park of Physiotherapy
• Dargomir Mateev - Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
• Yuri Sergeevich Nikolaev - Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Fasting Clinic
• Leonid Davydovich Gissen - Candidate of Medical Sciences (All-Union Research Institute of Physical Culture)
• Yuriy G. Antamonov - Candidate of Technical Sciences (Institute of Cybernetics of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)
• Alexander Semyonovich Romen - Doctor of Medical Sciences

film crew

• Screenwriters: Anatoly Zubkov, Almar Serebrennikov
• Author's text: M. Veprinsky
• Stage director: Almar Serebrennikov
• Director of photography: V. Chuprinin, Almar Serebrenikov
• Composer: V. Shevchenko
• Sound engineer: M. Petrenko
• Editor: V. Gaidai
• Director's assistant: G. Davidenko
• Consultants:

• Director: L. Shersher

Forty years ago, the documentary "Indian Yogis - Who Are They" appeared on the screens. The creators of this film were going to acquaint the Soviet people with an unusual phenomenon of Indian culture and provoke scientists to think about the topic of "human capabilities". The film made a splash. People, young and old, began to try to stand on their heads or do other tricks. But we must not forget that in yoga exercises for the body are not the most important thing.

Of particular interest to people were the following shots from the film "Indian Yogis - Who Are They": yoga, lying under the wheels of a truck; yoga resting on nails; yogis chewing glasses; Indian yogis drinking hydrochloric acid; yogis lying on broken glass and other footage.

Yogis have their own steps in the knowledge of the ancient teachings:

The first and second steps of Indian yogas are morality.

Indian yoga is not just health-improving gymnastics, but also ethics, philosophy of body and mind. Morality is considered on the first two steps of this philosophy. Since Indian yogis believe that before you start doing gymnastics, you need to become friendly, truthful, honest, that is, to be a deeply moral person.

Indian yogis say that a person who commits vile and bad deeds usually gets sick with gastrointestinal diseases. And a person who is aching, capricious and always dissatisfied with something usually has problems with the liver. Since morality is in close connection with human health.

Indian yogis from the circus violate the first two steps. After all, real Indian yogis use their exercises only to maintain their physical body, and not to demonstrate them to others.

The third stage of Indian yoga is hatha yoga.

Indian yogis believe that breathing should be deep, slow and rhythmic. Since such breathing helps to achieve complete ventilation of the lungs, and also contributes to the regulation of blood circulation, and this, in turn, increases the body's resistance, has a beneficial effect on the endocrine system and a number of important internal organs. Indian yogis advise breathing only through the nose.

In childhood, everyone breathes correctly, but with age, people lose this ability. Since a sedentary lifestyle has caused the acquisition of shallow breathing, air stagnates in the most important areas of the lungs. Breathing exercises and water procedures are a necessary minimum for good health.

The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth steps of Indian yogas are exercises for the mind and psyche of a person.

Using almost four thousand years of experience of the Indian people, yogis, as Jigarkhanyan said to Nehru, preach methods of discipline of mind and body. Indian yogis are fans of the ancient doctrine of the health of the body and spirit. However, these people are quite modern.

In India, there is even a special sports boarding school for young Indian yogis. With the support of the best trainers, young Indian yogis go in for sports all day long. After all, these girls and boys have a goal to make the body dexterous and strong. For this, young yogis use not only the exercises recommended by the ancient teachings.

In Chandigarh, there is even a State Yoga Training Center. Anyone can come here after a medical examination.

Indian yogis start their morning with special gymnastics. Usually this gymnastics consists of 10 or 15 asanas. Legends say that Shiva, the founder of the teaching, knew about 33 million asanas. But today it is recommended to use only 84 of them. Asanas are selected individually, depending on the state of health.

The Yogi Health Center is located in the city of Bombay. In it, with the help of special exercises, Indian yogis treat people, although many are skeptical about this. Indian yogis claim that diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, stomach diseases and many others can be cured with the help of special asanas.

Indeed, as scientific studies have shown, asanas rhythmically change the pressure in the internal cavities. Therefore, with the help of asanas, you can regulate blood flow to certain organs, but in general, most asanas are just the same and are intended for internal organs.