The Yoga Snatchers

To my chagrin and dismay, self-appointed defenders of oppressed cultures who cast contemporary western yoga as the second coming of the East India Company have attached themselves to the fabric of yoga discourse with the stubborn persistence of a burr on a sock. Consequently, perfectly serviceable yoga programs are now at risk of being run [...]

Just as Yoga in the West seemed ready to set flight with that many more passengers aboard, something stalled the latest take-off. The Western Yoga world vomited all over itself. We'd been holding back our own bile for so long, and then a single Yoga teacher in Ottawa finally triggered the gag-reflex -- [...]

On a spring day a long time ago, a hunter killed one of a pair of birds while in their courtship dance. Such cruelty said the sage Valmiki can only mean one thing. We are now bereft of values and social and ecological disaster looms for future generations. “Is there no one that is upright [...]

a whole industry has grown up in the name of ‘secularism’, ‘progress’ and ironically ‘tolerance’ to disassociate yoga from being Hindu. In this warped universe, Hinduism and the term Hindu only gets associated with Sati, caste, rape, human sacrifice and other ‘savagery'. [...]

There are many misconceptions about Yoga and/or meditation, especially in the material-minded West. Many there, seem to confuse relaxation and “mindfulness” with Hindu’s meditation-proper, which is primarily of a more exact and technical methodology, and is of a primarly psycho-spiritual nature. This is a typical confusion that happens often between Eastern spirituality and/or Yogic techniques and with vague New Age cliches. [...]

The Problem While yoga is growing at a rapid pace within the western world, its association with Hinduism is all too frequently becoming lost, disregarded and more importantly disrespected. This has been repeatedly illustrated within the corporate world through the introduction of items such as the “Hindu deity toilet seat cover” and Hindu deity shoes [...]

Presently there are many in the west who have a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras, practice some form of Yoga and/or meditation, are vegetarian and believe in reincarnation and Karma. Yet they deny being affiliated with Hinduism or any other religious tradition because they think that all religions are corrupt, mundane [...]

India has now however rightfully made a move to patent Yoga asanas and will probably patent more of the indigenous Hindu practices in the years to come. [...]