Baalbek – Lebanon’s Ancient Yogic Connection - The Isha Blog

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Baalbek Lebanons AncientYogic ConnectionAn Isha meditator talks about her experience ofvisiting the Baalbek monument in Lebanon, andabout her realization that this was in fact, a templeconstructed by yogis a long time ago.

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An Isha meditator talks about her experience of visiting the Baalbekmonument in Lebanon, and about her realization that this was in fact atemple constructed by yogis a long time ago.

Baalbek is an incredible monument, standing on a hill in the Bekaavalley in Lebanon. The construction of the expansive temple wasbegun by the Phoenicians between three and four thousand yearsago. The Greeks then added to it, followed by the Romans, andmuch later the Arabs. Local legend has it that the temple wasoriginally built by people from the East; not much is knownbeyond that. I have visited the place several times and enjoyed longwalks through the ruins, but it was not until my pursuit of yogathat I found revealing connections to other civilizations.

One of the large stones, similar to the ones mounted on the walls of



The lotus isthe most common symbolism of spirituality in India.

Baalbek.

Some curious facts about the Baalbek temple are that you will seestone lotuses carved on the temples ceilings. That is intriguing,because there are no lotuses in Lebanon. But when I later came toIndia, I saw that the lotus is the most common symbolism ofspirituality here. I havent seen an Indian temple without one.Secondly, the foundation stones of the temple are supposed toweigh eight hundred tonnes each. The ancients transported theseimmense stones, and also erected huge columns, which are at least10 feet in diameter and 50 feet high. It is said that they were movedwith the help of elephants, but people dont give much credence tothis as there are no elephants in West Asia.

All these pieces of the puzzle dramatically fell together, when I waslearning to perform the traditional Guru Pooja in the ashram inIndia. I was told that the traditional way to honor the guru is knownas Shodashopachara, or 16 ways of treating a Guru. Something called



a Guru Pooja stone, a stone with 16 corners, is also used for thepurpose. When I saw it, I was reminded of this large stone lying inthe middle of the ruins of Baalbek and I was able to connect thedots 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 ofyears.

Sadhguru:

Baalbek is an incredible monument. It is something that everybodyshould see. Some of the stones weigh 800 tonnes. I want you to justunderstand to do this without equipment, without cranes,without trucks, without any big ships, what kind of human beingswould even endeavor to think like that? Definitely not people whoare thinking of just money and bread.

Among the roof stones, there is a clear anahata symbol, with 6petals and two interlocking triangles. And above all, in the museumat Baalbek, there is a stone with 16 corners called a Guru Poojastone.

Guru Poojais not just an emotional thing, it is a whole system ofcreating a certain possibility, of creating a field of energy aroundyou so that people become receptive and are drawn to the wholeprocess. This is called Shodashopachara, which means 16 ways oftreating a Guru. For this, 16-cornered stones are made which are



Photo courtesy @kakki

called Guru Pooja Peetas which are unique to yogic culture. GuruPooja stones of 16 corners could not have gone anywhere else exceptfrom the knowledge that Adiyogi himself transmitted. Such a thingexists nowhere else on the planet, but in Baalbek there is a GuruPooja stone that is thousands of years old. Obviously there was avery active commercial and spiritual connection between the twolands.



Cancerisaseriousaberrationinthehumansystem.ClassicalYogabringsharmonyandneutralizesaberrations.



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Robin 2yearsagoTheimageofthesixpetallotusinastarinscribedonastonefoundintheremains@Baalbek

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Nikole 3yearsagoFromhowtheIshameditatordescribedit,itsurelylookslikesuchaninterestingmonument.Ihaveyettoseethismyself.ThankyouSadhgurubecauseyouhaveonceagainsharedyourinsightsevenonsuchhistoricalplacesandmonuments.

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GhanshyamChavda 3yearsagoIwasluckytogofirsttimein2001/secondtime2006/forshahisnaanandthankstomyguruiwasevenmoreluckytobeintheprocessionwiththenagababasofjunaakhara..theenergyandvibranceofthatplaceanditsbabaswasintenseandamazing.JustfromexperiencingitilearntalotaboutthenakedbabasandhowstupidIreallyam.(anoteofcautionthewatergivesyoubrainfreezehahahaandiwasgetchancelivethereonemonthwithguruji,thanxmygurujishrishrishri1008MahamandleswarswamiAlakhgirijimajaraj

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Jaya 9monthsagoWhatAdiyogiandlotusflowers?

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Reply WhatAdiyogiandlotusflowers?

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Suanqu 10monthsagoNamaste,upuntil2000yearsago,Lebanonwasfamousforitsgreatforests,SinaiwasRome'shuntinggroundtocaptureanimalsforthearena.5000yearsago,theSaharawasstillintheprocessofbecomingthedesertweknowtoday,soit'slikelyelephantswouldhavebeenmorecommon.Butthere'ssomuchaboutourhistorywedon'tknow.

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veeranagoudayaligar 3yearsago11.

NoBullPlease 3yearsago

>veeranagoudayaligar

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Baalbek – Lebanon’s Ancient Yogic Connection - The Isha Blog