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Baalbek
Lebanons Ancient
Yogic Connection
An Isha meditator talks about her experience of
visiting the Baalbek monument in Lebanon, and
about her realization that this was in fact, a temple
constructed by yogis a long time ago.
Blog Home / Yoga & Meditation / History Of Yoga

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An Isha meditator talks about her experience of visiting the Baalbek

monument in Lebanon, and about her realization that this was in fact a
temple constructed by yogis a long time ago.

Baalbek is an incredible monument, standing on a hill in the Bekaa

valley in Lebanon. The construction of the expansive temple was
begun by the Phoenicians between three and four thousand years
ago. The Greeks then added to it, followed by the Romans, and
much later the Arabs. Local legend has it that the temple was
originally built by people from the East; not much is known
beyond that. I have visited the place several times and enjoyed long
walks through the ruins, but it was not until my pursuit of yoga
that I found revealing connections to other civilizations.

One of the large stones, similar to the ones mounted on the walls of
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Baalbek.
Some curious facts about the Baalbek temple are that you will see
stone lotuses carved on the temples ceilings. That is intriguing,
because there are no lotuses in Lebanon. But when I later came to
India, I saw that the lotus is the most common symbolism of
spirituality here. I havent seen an Indian temple without one.
Secondly, the foundation stones of the temple are supposed to
weigh eight hundred tonnes each. The ancients transported these
immense stones, and also erected huge columns, which are at least
10 feet in diameter and 50 feet high. It is said that they were moved
with the help of elephants, but people dont give much credence to
this as there are no elephants in West Asia.

The lotus isthe most common symbolism of spirituality in India.

All these pieces of the puzzle dramatically fell together, when I was
learning to perform the traditional Guru Pooja in the ashram in
India. I was told that the traditional way to honor the guru is known
as Shodashopachara, or 16 ways of treating a Guru. Something called
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a Guru Pooja stone, a stone with 16 corners, is also used for the
purpose. When I saw it, I was reminded of this large stone lying in
the middle of the ruins of Baalbek and I was able to connect the
dots the lotuses, the elephants and the 16-cornered stone
Suddenly, my coming to India did not seem so novel or original.
Obviously, there was a cultural interaction going back thousands of
years.

Sadhguru:
Baalbek is an incredible monument. It is something that everybody
should see. Some of the stones weigh 800 tonnes. I want you to just
understand to do this without equipment, without cranes,
without trucks, without any big ships, what kind of human beings
would even endeavor to think like that? Definitely not people who
are thinking of just money and bread.
Among the roof stones, there is a clear anahata symbol, with 6
petals and two interlocking triangles. And above all, in the museum
at Baalbek, there is a stone with 16 corners called a Guru Pooja
stone.
Guru Poojais not just an emotional thing, it is a whole system of
creating a certain possibility, of creating a field of energy around
you so that people become receptive and are drawn to the whole
process. This is called Shodashopachara, which means 16 ways of
treating a Guru. For this, 16-cornered stones are made which are
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called Guru Pooja Peetas which are unique to yogic culture. Guru
Pooja stones of 16 corners could not have gone anywhere else except
from the knowledge that Adiyogi himself transmitted. Such a thing
exists nowhere else on the planet, but in Baalbek there is a Guru
Pooja stone that is thousands of years old. Obviously there was a
very active commercial and spiritual connection between the two
lands.

Photo courtesy @kakki

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Cancerisaserious
aberrationinthe
human
system.ClassicalYoga
bringsharmonyand
neutralizesaberrations.

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Sadhguru
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Jointhediscussion
Robin 2yearsago

Theimageofthesixpetallotusinastar
inscribedonastonefoundintheremains
@Baalbek

Reply Share

Nikole 3yearsago

FromhowtheIshameditatordescribedit,it
surelylookslikesuchaninterestingmonument.
Ihaveyettoseethismyself.Thankyou
Sadhgurubecauseyouhaveonceagainshared
yourinsightsevenonsuchhistoricalplacesand
monuments.
2

Reply Share

GhanshyamChavda 3yearsago

Iwasluckytogofirsttimein2001/secondtime
2006/forshahisnaanandthankstomygurui
wasevenmoreluckytobeintheprocession
withthenagababasofjunaakhara..theenergy
andvibranceofthatplaceanditsbabaswas
intenseandamazing.Justfromexperiencingit
ilearntalotaboutthenakedbabasandhow
stupidIreallyam.(anoteofcautionthewater
givesyoubrainfreezehahahaandiwasget
chancelivethereonemonthwithguruji,thanx
mygurujishrishrishri1008Mahamandleswar
swamiAlakhgirijimajaraj
3

Reply Share

Jaya 9monthsago

WhatAdiyogiandlotusflowers?
http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yogameditation/historyofyoga/baalbeklebanonsancientyogicconnection/

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WhatAdiyogiandlotusflowers?

Reply Share

Suanqu 10monthsago

Namaste,upuntil2000yearsago,Lebanon
wasfamousforitsgreatforests,Sinaiwas
Rome'shuntinggroundtocaptureanimalsfor
thearena.5000yearsago,theSaharawasstill
intheprocessofbecomingthedesertweknow
today,soit'slikelyelephantswouldhavebeen
morecommon.Butthere'ssomuchaboutour
historywedon'tknow.

Reply Share

veeranagoudayaligar 3yearsago

11.

Reply Share

NoBullPlease>veeranagoudayaligar
3yearsago

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