Yoga East Meets West

"Spirituality" is difficult to define, and false gurus have always abounded in Western yoga . After reading about (1) QANON and it's correlation with Yoga Subcultures in the West (blog post), (2) watching the film "Kumare'" and (3) the documentary on Tantra, and (4) reading chapters 5 and 6 in Selling Yoga (Jain), discuss the importance of spiritual beliefs among yoga practitioners in the West. On what are these beliefs based, and how can they help us understand the repeated belief in false gurus.

Ayurveda is a  5,000-year-old system of natural healing  that has its origins in the Vedic culture of India. It is one of the seven sister sciences (along with yoga). Although suppressed during years of foreign occupation and British colonial rule, Ayurveda has been enjoying a major resurgence in both its native land and throughout the world. Tibetan medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine both have their roots in Ayurveda. Early Greek medicine also embraced many concepts originally described in the classical ayurvedic medical texts dating back thousands of years. More than a mere system of treating illness, Ayurveda is a science of life ( Ayur  = life, Veda  = science or knowledge).  It offers a body of wisdom designed to help people stay vital while realizing their full human potential.  Providing guidelines on ideal daily and seasonal routines,  diet,  behavior and  the proper use of our senses Ayurveda reminds us that health is the  balanced and dynamic integration between our en

Is Western Yoga A cultural Appropriation? Hindu Roots of Yoga and the Hindu American Foundation Or...has Yoga always adapted to novel circumstances as Jain suggests? Oldest texts of somatic yoga are shown to be Buddhist rather than Hindu texts (Mallinson) authentic form of yoga does not exist Jain'sDefinition of Yogaphobia: "A social anxiety characterized by suspicion and fear of modern yoga. It is expressed by certain religious institutions and individuals, emphasizes the incompatibility between yoga and certain doctrines and moral codes, results from and perpetuates essentialist interpretations and Orientalist stereotypes, which are often buttressed by social and political ideologies and agendas, and relies on a sense of otherness, despite many shared cultural qualities." The New Chopra App is finally here ! The social ascendancy of yoga is there a "yoga industrial complex" where large corporate conglomerates "own" the business of yoga? is there a de

Is Yoga a Religion?  YEP   NOPE What is "religion"? and how does this differ from "spirituality"? "Yoga is in religion, religion is not in yoga"-the many yoga practices along with their transcendent goal of direct experience, are typically not practiced by adherents of religion. (Swami Rama) Most academics who study the history of yoga would say no. This is because: yoga has roots in Buddhism  Yoga has developed within Hinduism Yoga was developed within Jainism Yoga has developed within agnostic and atheistic contexts The principle tenets of classical yoga ( Samkhaya ) is a Philosophical tradition, not a religion=  attributed to the sage Kapila .  His propositions were based on an understanding of the the "natural" universe in relations to all beings and entities in it.  The natural world was seen as a manifestation of "consciousness".  It did not entail any DIVINITY (belief in a supernatural- which is common to the basis of religion) B

SMITH ARTICLE: Ashtanga Yoga Discipline and authority lie at the heart of Traditional Yoga (But how do we deal with this in modern TNY in the USA?) How is authority established through teaching and practice in the West? ·           GURU-S’ISYA  (teacher –disciple) relationship ·           Physical Challenge of Daily Practice ·           Textual foundations and antiquity of practice ·           Physicality of teaching and traditional authority of the teacher ·           Progressing through teacher’s touteledge History ·           First trained Norman Allen, David Williams and Nancy Gilgoff. ·           1974 brought PJ to calif ·           Now popular around the world mostly in urban contexts ·           Purpose: keeping fit and flexible and managing stress Seriousness of Practice ·           Physically demanding nature of asana practice ·           Emphasis on daily practice ·           Programmatic form guided by teacher ·           Orientation toward PROGRESS (DRIVEN PERSON) Role of H

  Lineages: (1) Yogananda Parmahasma---------Ghosh (brothers)  (physical culture and body building)                                                            I                                                       Bikram Choudoroy ( Bikram Yoga ) (2)                                Krishnamacharya (Mysore palace)                                      I                         I                                    I      BKS Iyengar (nephew)       Patthabi Jois  (nephew)         TKV Desikachar (son)           ( Iyengar Yoga )                      ( Ashtanga Yoga )                          ( Viniyoga )                   Pune                                     Mysore                                       Bombay              /                                            /                                                   (Anusura)                             (power, hot & Jivamukti yoga)       ( 3)                                 Swami Sivananda (flying yogi)  Pattamahadai (Tamil Nadu)