IS YOGA SECULAR?

There is a lot of stuff coming up these days on social media about Yoga and being secular and so I thought I would add my two cents to it.

Yoga is universal, Yoga is timeless, and Yoga is beyond all isms. So, the first thing we need to remember is not to put Yoga in a box!

Yoga makes us better at whatever we are; makes us a better version of ourselves, irrespective of the culture to which we belong. If we belong to the Indian culture, we become better, if we belong to a culture such as the Asian, the European we still become a better version of ourselves. Whatever way of life we are living, we become a better version of that through the practice of Real Yoga.

This traditional Yoga has sprouted from the fertile soil of Indian culture, a way of life called Sanatana Dharma: the eternal culture, a mindful way of life that is in tune with the Universal. Sanatana Dharma is the fertile soil in which the art, science, philosophy, psychology, spirituality of Yoga has sprouted and flourished for millennia. In modern times, people want to take Yoga out of its cultural context, they want to take Yoga out of the cultural context and divorce it from its roots, but yet they still want to call it Yoga, because Yoga is a marketable term these days.

The modern approach to Yoga is plasticized Barbie Doll Yoga. That is as good as going to a gym and having a good workout. So then, why even call it Yoga? Call it exercise and go on! I’ll have no issues with it. But when we call it Yoga it has to be living. It has to be alive, and to be alive something has to be connected to the source! You take a fish out of water, put it on concrete, and then you say: “I have a beautiful fish.” Yeah! But it’s dead! When the fish is connected to the water, its life source, the fish is alive, and it thrives in its bountiful multi-dimensional existence.

So, when Yoga is connected to Sanatana Dharma, a way of life in tune with universality, Yoga will be Yoga. Otherwise it becomes this mutated, plasticized, mummified version which is not Yoga anymore.

People always seem worried that if people learn Yoga it will make it them become Hindus and go into Hinduism. They are actually worried about losing control over them. That is all nothing but control freakism, power-mongering control freakism that exists in all human made structures.

Yoga is in tune with all cultures, all religions because it is Universal. If you are a Christian, you become a better Christian. If you are Muslim you become a better Muslim. If you are a Jew, a Jain, a Hindu; whatever you become a better purer version of yourself.

The problem is when you become a better version of yourself, you may no longer be sheeple — you may no longer be one of those people who can be controlled by the power-hungry, money-hungry systems that have been created artificially by human beings.

Yoga is for sure compatible with all religions at the highest point, but then that highest point comes down in all these different structures that we create in order to maintain control — control freakism, power-freakism, and money-freakism. Humans created these structures, and the people in charge of those structures — artificial, human-made structures, are scared of Yoga and, yes, they should be scared. Because the moment you really get into Yoga, real Yoga — not plasticized Barbie Doll, dead Jada Yoga, you start to connect to the Universal Self. You start to connect to the highest aspect of yourself and you start to evolve, grow, and transform from limited individuality to universality.

I believe that every religion actually wants that at the highest point, that we should outgrow our limitations. But then, the power-hungry people in charge of the structures will not like it. And this is where the struggle comes and then people start to say: “Oh, don’t teach Yoga there, because then Hinduism will come in.”

Don’t forget that the word Hindu is an artificially coined foreign word. Sanatana Dharma is a universal, eternal way of life that is open to everyone, every aspect.

“That” Truth is One, the wise people call it different names.

At the highest level, Yoga makes you a better version of whatever you are. You become that highest manifestation of your potential divinity.

But this scares people who are control freaks, and this exists in all organized structures — be it political, be it religious, or be it corporate. This is why when we talk about Yoga, Yoga is truly secular at the highest level, it is truly secular at the highest level, but then, in modern times, people think to be secular is to be anti-Hindu, especially in India. Actually the secular is universal at the highest level.

I meet people who say: “Oh! We do Yoga, but we don’t like India and Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a dead language and India is a dirty country.” My responses I, “Then, why call it Yoga? “ The word Yoga is from Sanskrit, mind you. Call it exercise, call it keep fit, and then I will not come into your zone at all. You can do whatever nonsense you want, but if you call it Yoga, I will stand up for it.

One doesn’t have to be a Hindu to practice Yoga, but one has to understand the culture from which Yoga has sprouted, the culture that has nourished it, that continues to nourish it. When we talk about Bhaarat, it is not a geographical location of India. It is a cultural ethos. That cultural ethos is alive and kicking and it sustains and nourishes the true Yoga.

So, whenever people get confused about this, anybody can practice Yoga — no doubt about it — you will become a better version of yourself, but because you grow out of the box! And please remember anything in a box is usually dead. Anything in a box is usually dead. Don’t put Yoga in a box. If you are going to put Yoga in a box, call it something else — then I have no issues.

Yoga is something which is timeless. Yoga is something which is priceless. Yoga is something that is universal. And that is why I always like to say that Yoga is truly universal, to such an extent that Yoga is for all. I’ll repeat that.

Yoga is for all, but all may not be for Yoga.

Because we break our boundaries, we break those limitations of the box that we have been put into, and by transcending the boxes, we transcend boundaries, we transcend limitations, we transcend structures that have been artificially created by human beings for the sake of controlled freakism, power freakism and money freakism. And there Yoga becomes a threat. When we live Yoga, when we love Yoga, we are becoming a better version of ourselves. We are connecting to that universal powerhouse, that universal prana, because that is what Yoga is. It is the universe itself.

Yoga has its roots in Sanātana Dharma: do not divorce it from its roots! When you cut a plant away from its roots, you kill it! When you cut a fish away from its source of water, you kill it! When you cut Yoga away from Sanātana Dharma, you kill it! And then, you have mummified plasticized Barbie Doll, jada Yoga — dead body Yoga. You have the body, but not the soul. Without the soul it’s not Yoga. It’s a keep fit exercise.

In conclusion, Yoga helps you to become the best version of whatever you are! You become a better Christian, a better Muslim, a better Jew, a better Jain, a better Buddhist, a better Hindu, a better human being. But the organized structures which want you to be controlled, they will feel it’s a threat, because you are getting out of control now, because you are now connecting to the source, all the middlemen are getting cut out. And this I must say, even of Yoga organizations, which in modern times, sadly, have got also caught up in control-freakism, power-freakism and money-freakism. Yoga is liberating. Yoga is not binding. It is liberating!

We must be true to Yoga.

Yoga is our Mother.

Let’s not sell her for plastic.