I was really shocked when I saw a picture (then videos) of the 7th yoga gathering in Times Square NY: an important amount of people doing asanas in one of the most famous public places in the world, among cars and by-passers.
A public statement?
Marketing?
I find this to be a scarry phenomenon.
Yoga is a personal practice not a circus act!
The huge industry that developped and continues to grow around "yoga" brings billions of dollars each year, but the more marketized yoga gets, the more it is made "chewable" and "available" to the masses, the more it becomes a physical exercise with the aspirations of a "spiritual" practice. There is nothing traditional about the way we, Westerners, do yoga. And yet all groups lay claim to such a heritage.
What a mess.
2 comments:
I don't see why yoga should not be made "chewable" to the masses, in the same way that I do not see why science should not be made "chewable" to the masses. These are avenues of (self-)development that can have significant benefits to the person who's willing to consider them, but I don't see why we all have to become experts in them - is this really just for the select few who choose to dedicate their lives to it? Is there no value to them _unless_ you give your life to them?
By not making it "chewable" to the average person, you make it unreachable, and therefore nearly impossible for the average person to benefit from something that could be beneficial. And just because it started out as a spiritual practice, does that mean it has no value outside that context, if practised within a secular context?
If nothing else, placebo can have a huge positive effect.
Why deny it to people who try to better themselves while not harming anyone?
You cannot really compare Yoga to science since Yoga is more than a technique. It defines the means and the goal at the same time.
What I mean by "chewable" is looking at yoga only from the technique's stand point, as if the whole purpose of it was to be able to bend like a pretzel!! This is Western yoga. but generally people don't see this aspect. They think it's enough to make some references to the Yoga Sutra and to recite some "om"s to make the practice "spiritual" - something to which everybody aspires.
Do I think "yoga" understood like this could be of benefit to people? of course! So is gym! Actually, gym is probably a better choice! But that's not yoga, that's "physical exercise inspired from yoga", or "health/stretch practice".
"And just because it started out as a spiritual practice, does that mean it has no value outside that context, if practised within a secular context?"
Do you still have a car if you take out the engine? sure, you may make a horse-drawn carrige, but it won't take you that far.
"is this really just for the select few who choose to dedicate their lives to it? "
The real thing you mean? YES!
Just because anyone has access to musical intruments nowdays and plays some scales or pop songs, it doesn't mean they are musicians. A musician is someone who does this the entire time and thus can really refine his art. The same thing here.
I one am really annoyed by the ignorance and pretense. There is no such thing as mass spiritual practice! This is probably THE domain in which communism doesn't apply. Yoga concerns the individual and his own inner life.
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