Female Saudi Yoga Instructor

[Sahasranama]

I have to admit though, all though I think that every sincere student should have the opportunity to learn yoga regardless of their race, statistically westerners will more often be insincere than Indians. I do think the practice of yoga, especially therapeutic yoga and ayurveda, should be open to everyone regardless of faith, but people should refrain from discrediting Hinduism for the gift of yoga and ayurveda.

Fifty years ago, in the west, people would be arrested by police if they performed some form of devil worship. Yoga practicioners in the west were often mistaken for devil worshippers. Therefore, they needed to dissasociate yoga from Hindu religion and turn it in a physical cult. The danger of arabian yoga instructors learning yoga is the same dissasociation when they go back to their countries. I don't deny that this danger exists, but I don't think we can forbid any particular group of people to learn yoga. We can only make it clear to them what real yoga is and what yoga is not.

[sm78]

most westerners who practice yoga are not interested in the spiritual aspects at all, which they avoid and find distasteful.

Paricularly when some of the mega-church pastors in US have come out and said Yoga is anti-christian.

[Arjuni]

Sm78, your comment came just in time for this: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-pastor-says-yoga-demonic-sparks-row/articleshow/6766178.cms

Some folks, like this Saudi teacher, the 'Christian yoga' practitioners mentioned in an earlier post, and many who learn yoga in the West, are indeed not interested in the religious aspects and go quite far to avoid the 'taint' of a different faith upon the practical benefits of yoga practice. The problem is that reducing yoga to 'a series of physical postures' and 'serenity-filled breathing instructions' makes it less meaningful and more easily abandoned. It seems it would be far greater to teach yoga in its full richness and beauty instead of cutting it off at the knees, so to speak. It IS a religious practice, and just like secular labyrinth-walking, universalist drum circles, and Wiccan sweat lodges, to remove or alter the religious origin of a practice is to produce a strange, less significant hybrid.

I write as a Westerner who would have loved to know the totality of yoga in the first place. I took a class years ago in university, having heard of yoga only as a physical workout, and pursued the postures and diet for about a year before giving it up. (The only book I owned was a practical guide which carefully avoided mention of specifically 'Hindu' topics and presented mantras to 'evoke certain energies' without explaining that they were specific to God. I merrily recited Om Namo Narayanaya for 'harmony and balance' and Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah for 'creative energy and wisdom,' with no idea who Vishnu or Saraswati were.) When life became very sad and stressful, I felt rootless, and frustrated with a practice that had started to feel like little more than pretzel aerobics. Had I known of Sanatana Dharma then, I might have considered yoga - as I do now - vital, not to be abandoned under any circumstances. (It also would have given the postures an essential significance; I felt ridiculous doing Simhasana, for example. Had I known about Lord Narasimha, I would have assumed that pose with - but forgive the pun - pride.)

For the many folks who would reject yoga with the religion added in, there are some who are not able to pursue the full fruits of Yoga because they genuinely don't know there's anything more. So it seems that the current commercial teaching of yoga is lukewarm on both sides - on the one hand, fit and supple people who are calmer and in better shape but ignorant of the bigger picture, and on the other hand, spiritually-inclined folks who are wondering why breathing and moving into downward dog isn't producing any feeling more noble than "Owww."

There are many yoga practitioners who are not seeking a faith, and that's fine, but then why not find physical movement and balance within one's own tradition, or with an exercise series that has nothing to do with religion? The Himalayan Academy's guide for Hindu converts mentions that adopting Hindu ideas and practices, while still rooted in another religion, produces a certain 'subconscious conflict' that's not easily resolved; I think there's truth to that. How does the mind of this Saudi practitioner, for example, react - whether consciously or not - to the energies and vibrations of the posture names? Padmasana, Vajrasana, Surya Namaskar, Matsyasana, and many more names and concepts are specific to Sanatana Dharma. What will she say to her Muslim students the first time someone asks why that limb-squishing Garudasana is an 'eagle,' and what's the point of moving like an eagle anyway? I think she's brave to travel worldwide and work so hard to learn a practice that's obviously important to her, but I don't envy her the task of trying to teach yoga in her homeland; it seems like her road ahead is going to be very hard.

[prithvi]

Hindusim,sikhs,jains are the only religion which does not believe nor they convert people to their religion...even bhuddhism is like that only..but some westerners who accepted bhudhism are doing the same work wat christian missionaries r doing...but its ok as bhuddhism is peace relgion and not fake

These usa pastor is just frustated because their business (what they doing in churches) is getting exposed and therefore many of westerners are moveing towards hinduism as there only they getting peace of mind(as its not any man made relgion like christanity)

“THE MOST DANGEROUS BOOK ON EARTH “(the Bible),

KEEP IT UNDER LOCK AND KEY.”

Keep the Bible out of your children’s reach.

Why did George Bernard Shaw called the Bible the most dangerous book on theEarth !!!? lol

[Sahasranama]

Sm78, your comment came just in time for this: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-pastor-says-yoga-demonic-sparks-row/articleshow/6766178.cms

The Church is critising Hinduism for being such a beautiful religion. Hinduism doesn't convert, but Hinduism is so beautiful that people are drawn towards it naturally.

Indraneela, it's great to see westerners who have moved beyond modern postural yoga and have found what authentic yoga really is. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says amongst thousands of people only one strives to reach the ultimate and of those who strive only a few have realised His nature. Taking an interest in authentic yoga and the vedic tradition, you are definitely one amongst many. A lot of westerners cannot do this.

[brahman]

Dear Blessed Seekers,

The thread showcases a certain beauty before me, because I could feel the philosophy I believe in, unfolding to realms of diverse beliefs. The beauty of it is beyond the scope of words, and I feel proud. Whether people, whom we segregate on religious and ethnic grounds, have clearly believed or gained a deep understanding or is slowly learning to believe our philosophy, does not confuse me.

The search for the Ultimate has crossed the borders, and the stage is atleast set for the first phase- of learning Yoga.

Isn�t this the moment to commemorate with honor our Rishis, to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed�? They and all our antecedents as typical representatives, over the years, transferred the divine Knowledge to us. I remember them with thanks and pay obeisance.

We still employ these direct experiences as methods of learning. Today, across the world, the philosophy is now happily reviving; so do we need to vehemently disapprove?

The knowledge reached us over many years. It will grow and flourish in leaps and bounds in the many years to come. The authenticity of Sanadhana Dharma is becoming evidently portrayed. In essence, through this concern, our most cherished wealth, the tradition of the Sages, shows an incredible growth each day.

Despite all the seemingly intricate hesitations we have, let us all ask ourselves � Are we systematically trained in the philosophy we believe in? Which is why it is important for us remember that we are tasked with a job to find the answer to our self-realization, far more than just getting instigated at similar topics.

Let us once again salute the rich lineage of divine teachers we had and convince ourselves. Love

.

[joemy]

India is the origin of yoga class,I think it is okey, maybe it is more traditional,but it is more effective,just my opinion