Journey With Yoga estimated publication date: Jun 2026

Starting in the 1^st century CE, in the Roman empire, the killing of the bull and integration of the lion took a fascinating turn in the cult of Mithras with its scenes of a slaying of the bull, plus a third mythic character, a lion-headed god likely representing, as academics say, time, cosmic power, or a struggle with lower instincts.

Regarding the presence of Helios and Luna above: I must comment that in Yoga, the sun and the moon energies are developed and balanced by Hatha yoga. In Sanskrit ‘ha’ means sun and ‘tha’ means moon. More specifically, Hatha Yoga refers to the male and female aspects (Shiva and Parvati in the Ardhanārīśvara), the hot and cold, yang and yin if you wish. Hatha Yoga refers to these energies and their interplay throughout the universe, and within ourselves. We will talk more about these hot and cold energies, including my personal experience with them, when we describe the Yoga subtle energy body later in Chapter 12.

Here is what Jung says about Mithras on his book, “Man and His Symbols”: “…like Orpheus, (Mithras) represents the longing for a life of the spirit that might triumph over the primitive passions of man and, after a ceremony of initiation, give him (the devotee) peace”.

When one kills the more physical bull (and lion...), then these Yoga ha-tha subtle body energies manifest. This is the reason why the sun and moon sit above the bull in the artwork (the heavenly plane) while the bull sits below (earthly, physical plane). While this may not seem entirely convincing at first, bear with me, as the number of reinforcing symbols with parallels to the Yoga tradition will build-up to an astounding number.

So what is the symbolism of a hero slaying a bull and dining in union/communion with the sun? I let C. G. Jung answer that: “The psychic life-force, the libido, symbolises itself in the sun or personifies itself in figures or heroes with solar attributes” - Carl Jung (Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 297). Did we not say the bull symbolises desire, libido which if transmuted, becomes another type of energy? In his book on the psychology of the unconscious, Jung goes so as far as to say that the cap Mithras wears symbolises the penis foreskin. I must comment that the diagonally erect posture of Mithras over the bull is equally suggestive of this interpreation.

The image of the cup filling the vase shows that side-channel energy is no longer drained by desire at the base. Instead, it now supports the main energy channel and helps the energy rise. This idea (hypothesis) is supported, but the two snakes (ida and pingala) in the Mithras gem.

This is why in Mithras, the snake drinks from the blood of the bull, because the kundalini rises from the overflowing force of the bull sacrifice (the sacrifice of desire through abstinence, pranayama). How do we know this? Remember Nandi the vahana from Shiva? Nandi means anand. It stands for virility or libido, which is transformed into the bliss (Ananda) from Shiva that sits on it (pretty much like Mithras atop the bull).

Scholars assume the ancient human-bull hybrid figurine shown below, sitting in a vajra meditation posture, was likely involved in a ritual. Could it be a ritual of sacrificing of what the bull symbolises through sitting quietly in meditation? Could the result of the sacrifice overflow and pour like as if from a vase?

The identity of the leontocephaline is not certain, but it is almost certainly neoplatonic, and is commonly assumed to be in some way related to the god Aion the Greco-Roman personification of boundless time. Aion is often associated with the god Chronos (father time)”. Notice the visual similarity of this statue with Hercules wearing the lion skin as shown in: “Hercules wearing the lion skin:, Boston 99.538, Attic bilingual amphora, ca. 525-500 B.C. Photograph courtesy,Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. H. L. Pierce Fund. Hercules (Heracles) is associated with Chronus in the Orphic Theogony presented and this statue is associated with Aion (also known as Chronus).

Above we have a depiction of the god Chronos with adjacent heads: bull and lion. Do you see the duality, prey and predator, and the transcendence from that as a divine figure in the centre?

Do you see the similarities from the Theogony with all the symbols sitting in between bovine and feline adored by different cultures? I mean these symbols: the Indus Valley Pashupati, the Greek/Hindu Ardhanārīśvara, the Roman Mithras who slays the bull and then brings a lion God associated to Chronos to the scene. The “Mystery of Mithras” book points out a strong link in between Mithras and the theogony of Orpheus as described by Hesiod, here we show a perhaps even stronger link with the theogony of Orpheus as described by Damascius, the two are somewhat different.

By the way, the Damascious theogony states that the heads of “the bull and the lion are naturally produced”. Therefore, it is natural to be stuck in duality, it is our ordinary state. What is god-like is to transcend these like Chronos and Adrasteia, or like the first yogi in the Pashupati seal, or Ardhanārīśvara or Mithras or Sivananda, or my teachers, and so on. Alas, the vast majority of human beings living on the planet today do not know this transcendent mind state related by the ancients. And this situation does not seem to have improved since the Greek times with the development of technology. Perhaps we are more likely to find transcended people in a tribe in the forest than in a city today!

This symbology is consciously linked to Ezekiel, mentioned below. Notice the wings criss-crossing like ida and pingala or forming 8 links from the bottom chakras to the head chakras. It’s 8, as in the symbol for infinity (like in Chronos, father time). Are these last details a coincidence? Did the artist know it? They surely add to the whole set of symbols pointing to what we call transcendence from duality and the subtle body energy system. Transcendence into the eternal from Hakuin, and into the ultimate as we shall see by the end of the book.

“An the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle” – Revelations 4:7 (est. 90-96 AC).

“An the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle” – Revelations 4:7 (est. 90-96 AC).

This one has the Ida, Pingala as Lamassus on the sides, and the transcendence as a king in the centre (central energy channel in kundalini), totality as the solar disk with wings at the top (yes some interpret it as a symbol of royalty, but that is secondary in spiritual terms). The two palm trees reinforce the meaning of duality as it is often practiced (reinforcing what you imply).

Could this be symbolizing both the animal nature in us and duality? Could it be that having two heads is not so auspicious? Such as the two-headed dog Cerberos that guards the gates of the Greek hell? Or as in the Mithraeum from Hawarte, where there is a fresco from after 360 CE that represents one of the two guardians of the temple holding in chains a two-headed demon (he has a human shape with two heads), see: “The Mystery of Mithras” in figure 5.

Hiranyakashipu had a son named Prahlada (sk. Supreme bliss), who was a formidable devotee of Vishu. Prahlada was a pure child capable of seeing the divine in all; much the opposite was his father, who perceived everything as having two sides: his own side covered with gold, and the other side without gold.

Hiranyakashipu's equally malevolent younger brother, Hiranyaksha, assaulted the defenceless goddess Bhumi, and ran away with her. As punishment for this transgression of desire, Hiranyaksha was slain by the Varaha (boar) avatar of Vishnu. The boar is similar to the bull that in previous chapters symbolises the side of desire, libido, and virility. Thus, the death by a boar fits the desire-driven assault and kidnapping of a goddess.

Hiranyakashipu requested of Brahma: “Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at nighttime, nor in the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapons or hands, nor by any human or animal. Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or non-living created by you. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any deity or demon or by any other organisms and divinities.” – Roshen Dalal (2010) in “The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths”. Penguin Books. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-14-341517-6.

Endowed with this boon, he began to wreak chaos and havoc, persecuting all the devotees of Vishnu, including his very son Prahlada who was a benevolent devotee of Vishnu.

I make an interjection here: we know today that inside every bully lies a coward, dominated by fears.

Given the great havoc caused by Hiranyakashipu’s bullying, the devas requested Vishnu to intervene.

Vishnu took the form of a half-man, half-lion deity (neither man nor god) and sets out to disembowel Hiranyakashipu, on his lap (neither earth, nor sky!), in the window or balcony of his house (neither inside nor outside!), in the dusky evening (neither day nor night!), with its claws (neither by hand nor by weapon!).

Vishnu took the form of a half-man, half-lion deity (neither man nor god) and sets out to disembowel Hiranyakashipu, on his lap (neither earth, nor sky!), in the window or balcony of his house (neither inside nor outside!), in the dusky evening (neither day nor night!), with its claws (neither by hand nor by weapon!).

Notice the similarity to the Mithraic lion god or to Hercules wearing the lion skin. The similarity with the Mithraic lion is not only to the half-human, half-lion god shape, but also to the disc they often wield, which symbolises cyclical time (the Mithraic lion was the god of unbound time, Aion). Both gods share the same time period from 1st century CE to 5^th century CE, and both gods display elements (disc) symbolising boundless time.

The Vajrakilaya embodies the enlightened activity of all the Buddhas. We can see the three faces quite clearly, like in the Pashupathi seal. We can see its consort, like the male and female Ardhanarishvara shiva form. We can see the Buddha above its head symbolizing enlightenment, transcendence. It also has wings which are a symbol of transcendence. Like Shiva, it has a trident on one of his hands. Like on the triptych, it has a white skull at the bottom of the painting. You will be able to read and deep dive in the symbolism by starting at the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrakilaya.

The Vajrakilaya embodies the enlightened activity of all the Buddhas. We can see the three faces quite clearly, like in the Pashupathi seal. We can see its consort, like the male and female Ardhanarishvara shiva form. We can see the Buddha above its head symbolizing enlightenment, transcendence. It also has wings which are a symbol of transcendence. Like Shiva, it has a trident on one of his hands. Like on the triptych, it has a white skull at the bottom of the painting. You will be able to read and deep dive in the symbolism by starting at the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrakilaya.

Back to our main painting from Giorgio Kienerk. Regarding the “human” word from the “human enigma” of “pain, silence and pleasure”. Do animals do that? Do animals run away from pain and towards pleasure like ordinary people? Not always. Wild animals are particularly good at enduring pain.

The natural diet on chapter 10 will also have a material impact on the amount of packaging waste which is detrimental for ourselves and the planet.

Yogis typically live frugally and make wise consumption choices such as buying wool clothing as opposed to synthetic (read about microplastics if you are not motivated yet). This way of living redirects the efforts of society towards what is really needed instead of what is superfluous. Focusing on what is needed is even more appropriate in our times where we fight for planetary resources. I see the extreme deprivations some in the younger generation face when I do volunteer with children (teaching yoga; swimming; computing skills; English).

The above divide the eightfold path in three large categories of conduct.