The basic problem of all living creatures is how to survive in a hostile world. Many generations ago, from the teeming human masses of the East, where man lived in ever-present dread of war, famine, disease, flood, invasion, Yoga, a method of attaining physical and mental peace and happiness under adverse and even horrible conditions, was introduced. Humanity, in essence, has changed little in the course of historic time. The philosophy of Yoga and its practice, which enabled its practionners to survive the stresses of their time, can also enable men of the modern Western world to achieve contentment and serinity in the face of wars, terrorims, economical crisis and other perils in a fastly changing world.
Scientists who tried to trace the beginnings of the practice of Yoga have found its principles well established as far back as when the written word was new. There are many "books" of Yoga among the oldest scripts of India. These refer to a far distant past in which the secrets of Yoga were passed by word of mouth. Only the Indian form of Yoga is well known in America and Europe, but there is evidence that Yoga was known to the Egyptians and Chinese and that there were monastic societies among the Hebrew Essenes who were groups of Yoga practitioners. Perhaps the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls will reveal some of the secrets that have been lost in the shadows of the years.
