To hell with yoga?!

Before we go ahead, I would suggest you read my article  https://yogeshvar.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/a-generic-history-of-spiritual-traditions-4/.This would give us a similar frame for understanding.

I was watching on sunday-Aug7-2011, a documentary done by some pro christianity group in USA and aired by a romanian channel TVR3. The whole program was aimed at labeling all the new age movements and resurgence of yoga as a way of life as a conspiracy to convert the world to hinduism.There was a lot of mention about new age movement along with yoga. But I would like to confine our discussion to the yoga topic alone as this is my domain.

Though the film was predominantly a childish prattle, it does point out some deep issues regarding the human psyche and our general approach to religion and spirituality. There were also lessons for every yoga teacher. This video is not alone. There are a lot of orchestrated attacks on yoga and hinduism by organized christian groups all around the world. calling hinduism and yoga as ‘pagan’ and ‘satanic’.

Yoga is hinduism:

One of the main points the film was trying to convey was ‘yoga is not secular; It is just hinduism repackaged’. I am very happy to see this as boon in the disguise of an allegaion.The intention of the producers might be to scare their christian crowd with fear of hell. A malicious intention indeed. But from one angle yes, they are right!

Yoga is not secular. It is out and out hinduism from start to finish. And, I dont know what was the problem for all the early ‘yoga missionaries’ in the west for marketing yoga as secular. This tragic nonsense is going on even in India with the blessings of the ‘top ten gurus’.

This film gives a golden opportunity for all the yoga teachers and ‘gurus’ around the world to come out loud and clear that ‘Yoga is Hinduism’. In fact they can even say ‘Hinduism is Yoga’. That’s even better!

This is very important especially after the late pope John Paul-lI gave an official papal statement that practice of yoga and meditation is against the spirit of christian prayer. (I am sure this news comes as a surprise for many.)

Now, another main point in the film was this:
” The benefits of yoga, meditation and self-realization are psychological and physical. Not spiritual. The spiritual solution for human problem lies outside oneself, with God ( God of the Bible).”

(In this context they even presented the psychic powers promised in yoga are the powers of satan. I dont want to respond to this as this is just a evangelic joke for any sane person.)

I would say the main responsibility for all this lies with the half baked hindu gurus and yoga teachers who repeatedly try to package a ‘godless, self centered secular yoga’ for the arrogant, pleasure addicted western audience.

Here I would like to point out that yoga is a ‘Astika Darshanam’ that is based on the faith in ‘Veda as pramanam’;meaning, a teaching based on the fundamental faith in Veda as a valid means of knowledge.
This means, liberation is attained only by knowledge of oneness of Self and God; The knowledge is in the form of words revealed in the Veda. Yoga is the method of Self purification that prepares one’s mind to recieve this knowledge.
Here the tradition is so generous to tell us that what liberates is the assimilated knowledge and not the veda by itself. Not by some power hungry God sitting in heaven either. The veda also teaches us ‘What is God’ according to the context of explanation, and tells us that only by God’s grace one is able to understand the Truth.
This is very different from the ‘salvation’ promised by bible.
From this we can understand that, in a sense, even yoga is based on the knowledge that ‘salvation is outside oneself’ and not ‘within oneself’ as wrongly presented by many yoga teachers and gurus.
But here, ‘Out-side oneself’ is very clearly defined contextually. The salvation or Moksha is not a whim of a ‘God’ saving a ‘soul’ that believes in a ‘saviour’.

There is one more issue presented in the movie which I would like to address here. This is especially for my friends who would like to think of themselves as ‘christians’.
The issue is, by practising ‘yoga’ are you slowly becoming a hindu? Answer is Yes and No!
If so is it a problem? Answer is No and Yes!

Just by practicing some asana and mind training exercises based on yoga you are not ‘becoming a hindu’, though i should tell you that the basis of all these practices is hinduism.

In course of time as your mind gets more purified, you will start seeing the fallacies of mind constructed by fear and desire and you will clearly see the utter nonsense in the concept of ‘salvation’ promised by the christian church, be it evangelic, catholic or orthodox!

In this context you will also see how much authenticity is there in hinduism even in it’s organized form!! This seeing itself is the ‘Religion’ called ‘Hindusim’. In this way yes, you have ‘become’ a ‘hindu’.

Is this a problem? No. This is a much better proposition than a life as person ‘guilty of sin’ and ‘scared of hell’. Is this a problem after death? No again. Scriptures of Yoga say, what happens after death is dependent on the ‘quality of your mind’ irrespective of whether you lived as a Hindu, Buddhist, Christian or Atheist.

Oh yes, may be this ‘conversion to Hinduism’ is a problem for the different churches of the world who are fast losing their crowd to the truth of science, sensibility and sincerity.

If God is the Truth, then Lie is Satan. A Lie cannot hold on for long. So, Who is ‘satanic’? It is healthier for all if church shifts the focus of  marketing from ‘Satan’ to ‘God’ , from ‘hell’ to ‘heaven’. You dont need revelation to tell you this. Any basic study of psychology will tell you this.

The solution for the churches to keep their crowd could be then, to just be open to Truth. Probably they too have the truth in some small pockets, in some rare mystics and monks living in some remote monasteries. Time to put them in-charge, instead of crying foul on Yoga and Hindusim.

Sathyameva Jayate! ( Truth alone Triumphs!)
Om Tat Sat.
Yogeshvar