What is yoga
Yoga Then & Now

what can yoga do for you
The Need for Yoga in the 21st Century

 

 

In most recent times the
materialist, consumerist ethos has almost completely
enveloped the ancient spiritual science of Yoga and has
altered it to an almost unrecognizable extent. The
science of Yoga, which was designed to free man of his
body consciousness and enable him to rise above it, has
now become a vehicle for enhancing body consciousness.
The 'Cult of Flexibility' has emerged ...

today,
to a large extent a result of the fact that its
propagation has seen a veritable explosion around the
globe in a relatively short period of time. Within the
most recent decade, that explosion has reached near
atomic proportions, with "Yoga" finding itself among the
fastest growing trends in pop-culture today, a
multi-billion dollar industry that continues to extend
its visage into nearly every facet of modern day life.
roots of Yoga lye in ancient India,
where it has been practiced for thousands of years.
Historically, its teachings were transmitted in the
Guru-Chela tradition, an intimate, one-to-one personal
manner from Guru (teacher) to disciple, in remote and
often inaccessible forest or mountain hermitages. In
these earliest times, the sole purpose of Yoga was the
attainment of the highest spiritual goals;
self-realization, enlightenment, and the liberation of
the individual soul. Yoga remained in this
relatively pure and altruistic form for thousands of
years, until as late as around 500 A.D. when many "other
forms" began to emerge under the inspiration and
direction of several influential masters. From this
period onwards, the ambitions of Yoga began to concern
themselves more with social needs, and the teachings
began to be transformed into movements for not only the
highest spiritual attainment of the individual, but also
for the betterment of society as a whole. But
from about 1500 A.D. onwards, the lofty spiritual aims
of Yoga had already started to become more and more
mundane. Teachers began to shift their primary emphasis
onto the physical practices of Hatha Yoga, such
as Asana (postures) and Pranayama (breath control),
quite often overlooking the higher spiritual aims and
the deeper aspects concerned with personal
transformation and self-awareness. Eventually,
developing a flexible, strong and healthy body became
the primary aim of Yoga.In little more than a
century, Yoga has now seen an unprecedented rise in its
dissemination. However, for the most part, its face has
changed considerably. The ascetic values of ancient
times - those of purity, simplicity and humility - have
been all-but forgotten. Moral and ethical restraints
have been caste aside in favour of contemporary cultural
attitudes, and mastery of desires and the discipline of
the body, mind and emotions replaced with a mind-set of
permissive indulgence. Physical fitness, enhanced
sexuality and personal achievement have become the goals
of Yoga practice. As Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani states in
her essay,Yoga in Modern TimesIn short,
the Yoga scene looks suspiciously like the 'ordinary
world' which it had promised to transcend! She
concludesSince the 20th
century the ancient word "Yoga" has taken on thousands
of new associations, some of them enlightened and some
of them self-seeking and even hedonistic! The meeting of
the 'materialistic West' with the 'spiritual East' has
created a huge number of cross currents in regard to
this ancient science, a shaking up and a mixing up of
concepts, lifestyles and practices. One thing is for
certain. 'Yoga' is now a household word around the
globe. But what that word means for those who utter it
is another matter altogether.
Much of value is continuing to be
brought forth in the name of Yoga today. Yet it remains
intermingled in a "modern Yoga culture" where much
misguided, suspect and superficial understanding
prevails. The modern student of Yoga should be aware of
just how far the common notion of Yoga has deviated from
its origins, and of the immense amount of potential for
growth, health, and transformation that lies largely
unnoticed within the body of teachings of this vast and
profound"Science of Life"

 
 

home about us classes contact us news

  Copyright © 2008 shanlanka.com
Free Web Hosting