Yoga makes us better at whatever we are. It makes us a better version of ourselves, irrespective of the culture to which we belong. 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 and spirituality of Yoga have sprouted and flourished for millennia.
In modern times, people want to take Yoga out of its 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.
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, not 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.
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 Bharat, it is not just about 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.
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.
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 also gotten caught up in this 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.