Commercialization

[satay]

It's amazing how "yoga schools" are popping up left, right and center in the western countries. I wonder what is happeing in these schools. The people "selling" yoga have truly lost the underlying meaning of the practice!

Then again this is kali yuga...

satay

[Namo Narayana]

Satay, yoga is arguably one of the most popular form of exercise. it makes wonders if you practise it and no wonder there is a huge following. lot of yogists especially american professional yogis learn it from India from stalwarts like BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi jois. Pattabhi jois himself charges around 16K rupees per month as tuition fees alone.

Fee Ranges from few dollars to $20 per hour. YMCA and LA Fitness offer it free with monthly membership.

[Sudarshan]

Where is the Yoga? Yoga is not the exercise.

The only valid Yoga is the Yoga of God realization. Where is that science? If you are lucky, you will be lucky enough to meet a real Yogi who can impart the knowledge. Barring that, you can get it only from Bhagavan, the greatest Yogi amongst all Yogis. Will we be that fortunate to get it from him?

[Namo Narayana]

I think satay talks about Yoga as an exercise

[satay]

I think satay talks about Yoga as an exercise

Master of all yogis, Bhagwan krishn teaches us what yoga is...Yoga is the way to experience bhagwan and it is not merely some exercise routine like it has become in today's society.

satay

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,

my views, naturally, will be somewhat different than my Sanatana Dharma friends on this topic.... for, in my school of Buddhism, we include several Yogas which are not found in other systems.

nevertheless with regards to the OP, it seems to me that there are several things happening here and the commercialization of Yoga is merely symptomatic.

it is, of course, clear that Western Hemisphere societies are becoming increasingly aware of the Eastern Hemisphere traditions, not the sensationalist pulp media junk, but real spiritual traditions with real answers for beings who are seeking.

in Buddhism we have a term, Upaya, which means "skillful means". this is what we try to use when dialoging with another being, to skillfully understand their needs and questions so as to skillfully present the correct information. for a great many beings, i would submit, the initial stages along the path of Dharma can look very unusual to us that are comitted to the Dharma already.

that being said, it is my view that we should encourage beings that are taking up the practice of Yoga even if they are uninformed about the inner dimensions of the practice. there is benefit to the practice, on a physical level, even if there is no inward dimension to the practice, in my opinion.

metta,

~v

[Ram]

Master of all yogis, Bhagwan krishn teaches us what yoga is...Yoga is the way to experience bhagwan and it is not merely some exercise routine like it has become in today's society.

satay

janmAntara sahasreshu tapo dhyAna samAdhibhih |
narANAm kshINa pApAnAm kRshNe bhaktih prajAyate ||

The sins of human beings get exhausted over a period of several incarnations by means of austerities, meditation, and contemplation(samadi) on Him, and devotion to Lord Krishna results in the end.

Great devotees of Bhagwan are not just accident, only a great Yogi who performed Yoga and realised the Lord in the past has the true bhakti towards him. True Bhakti imples knowledge about the Lord, which implies Yoga. Unfortunately, this has now degenerated to exercise and money.

[Eternal Law]

Yoga as an exercise is not a bad thing. I would say West has started moving in a right direction. We should'nt expect them to raise at the level of Eastern understanding of Yoga instantly but the process has started. You will see most of the western converts have entered Sanatana dharma through gates of Yoga(just as an exercise) and later they discover Sanatana Dharma and complete message of Yoga..

Only thing Hindus can do is to keep spreading parallel message of Yoga as a whole in West and atleast Hindu teachers should never try to disconnect Yoga from Sanatana Dharma for commercial purpose.

[Indrajaya]

Yoga as an exercise is not a bad thing. I would say West has started moving in a right direction. We should'nt expect them to raise at the level of Eastern understanding of Yoga instantly but the process has started. You will see most of the western converts have entered Sanatana dharma through gates of Yoga (just as an exercise) and later they discover Sanatana Dharma and complete message of Yoga..

Only thing Hindus can do is to keep spreading parallel message of Yoga as a whole in West and atleast Hindu teachers should never try to disconnect Yoga from Sanatana Dharma for commercial purpose.

Namaste.

And here I was believing that I was the first guy in the West to discover the Dharma through yoga . Five years ago, my doctor recommended yoga as a treatment for the stress that comes with a Type A personality. All I knew about India at the time was that Hindus worshipped cows, were racists (varna=White Brahmins and Black Shudras), and that Islam had broken their evil caste system.

Since my doctor is extremely good at what she does: I decided to try yoga. But not the type she recommended. I went out of my way to avoid any practice that any Hindu references. As a Type A, I was drawn to Power yoga. I liked it, and wanted to know where asanas (I called them "poses" then) came from. I found out that Power yoga is a watered down, Westernized form of something called "Ashtanga". That led to the Mahabharata and the Upanishads.

Five years later, here I am. Still a Type A, but a LOT less angry and stressed out. And let's just say my views of Hindus and India have
changed. The Dharma was to strong to resist.

Bharat Mata is the queen of nations. If she ever stands up, gets her own house in order, and turns to the world--then the rest of humanity is hers. Christianity and Islam are flip sides of the same coin. It's our way or death and eternal torment.The Dharma is a viable alternative to anyone who doesn't have such a Manichean world view.

And that is what makes it so dangerous. The West and Islam can't compete equally with the Dharma. To them, this is war; and yoga is Hinduism's beachhead. The practice has been co-opted by the former and banned by the latter for a reason.

Om Shanti.

Indrajaya

[Namo Narayana]

Indrajaya, a great post. what do you mean by type A person ? I too used to have pre-high blood pressure. when I am not able to do yoga, I do a hand stand which reduces stress and cheers you up a lot. when I did four times a day for couple of minutes each time, it phenomenally reduced my stress, and made me energetic and also changed the way i saw others view points . Ashtanga is said to be created by Pattabhi Jois in 20th century.

According to me there are lot of Americans who teach and practise and learn yoga. Ofcourse i have seen some christians who consider yoga as a hindu thing. But if you talk to the people who practise it, then you will realise that they dont have slightest apprehension that yoga promotes hinduism