Search - ORIGINS OF YOGA: Quest for the spiritual on DVD

Excellent and Informative!

Yogafrau | USA | 11/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just loved it, as this film gives you so much more insight about yoga and where it comes from. Those practising yoga should def. watch ORIGINS OF YOGA. That does not mean that you have to be into the spiritual part about yoga. It's just great to see how the "true" Yogis live and where it all began. I can't wait for more films like this. I already saw 'Naked In Ashes' by Paula Fouce and it is outstanding, and I hope that it will be available on DVD soon."

Disappointed

U. Bhatt | 01/13/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Very disappointed. This DVD is nothing but collection of video of Sadhus. If Origin of Yoga is the subject, Yoga is much older than Buddha and is discussed in ancient scriptures of South Asia, which could have been shown together with details from Patanjali's book or from famous "Autobiography of a Yogi". If Spirituality is the subject, Sadhus shown in the video are too ordinary to talk about spirituality. There are respected experts in India on Yoga such as Baba Ramdev, who has tought Yoga to millions ( yes, millions ) and on Spirituality such as any of Shankaracharya or Sri Ravishankar. I found this DVD to be nothing but superficial work on naked sadhus."

Lifestyles of Indian yogis

Kim Boykin | New York, NY | 12/16/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This 50-minute documentary explores the way of life of wandering Indian yogis, vividly making the point that hatha yoga, practiced by many Westerners, is just one small part of the yogis' life of renunciation and seeking oneness with the Divine.

We see various yogis--many of them clad only in ashes rubbed onto their skin--wandering through northern India and Nepal, making pilgrimages to holy sites, praying, meditating, bathing in rivers, offering blessings, and of course performing difficult yoga asanas (postures). Commentary is provided by the yogis themselves and by Dr. Georg Feuerstein, a prolific Western writer on yoga.

The film, though interesting, wanders about with little apparent organization and with virtually no analysis (Are these guys "holy" or just odd? What are their backgrounds? What do their families think? Why aren't there any women?), and I came away feeling that I hadn't learned much about yoga or gotten much new insight into yoga as a spiritual path.

If you want to learn about the origins of yoga--a topic that doesn't actually get much attention in this film--I'd recommend the documentary "Yoga Unveiled." Two other good videos on India are "The Soul of India" (a guided tour of India), and "Ancient India" (a history of India)."

Great film!

JB | Phoenix, AZ | 07/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even for a non-Yogi...or someone who has never taken Yoga before, this film is very informative and goes into the history of where Yoga comes from...And India is beautiful, so are the people there...I was very impressed and it's not even really my genre, but now I want to see more..."