let’s not bend over backwards to politicise yoga. The concept of International Yoga Day is to take it to the global stage. But to link it with religion is to chip away at the ambitious effort by the Modi Government
The United Nations General Assembly has declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. Yoga, an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice, which aims to transform body and mind, has been at the centre of this great controversy. The Government’s recommendation that the day be celebrated in all schools across the nation has invited the wrath of many Muslim politicians and clerics. Dr Zahir Kazi, president of Anjuman-I-Islam, which runs a chain of schools and professional colleges, argues that the order is undemocratic and amounts to infringing on the rights of a group of citizens who don’t worship anyone except Allah, who is formless and omnipresent. To substantiate his points, he further says that even though Muslims revere their mothers and believe that heaven is at the mother’s feet, they still don’t bow to their mothers or touch their feet as they are mandated to only bow to Allah.
Maulana Mustaqeem Azmi, president, Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind (Maharashtra), too has slammed the Government order. While MIM MlA advocate Waris Pathan commented that if yoga involves surya namaskar, which monotheistic Islam doesn’t approve of, it should not be made compulsory. The whole controversy raises threefold issue: Is yoga religious in natureIJ Is yoga and Hinduism analogousIJ Does one understand and follow everything stated in the religious textsIJ How does the promotion of yoga at an international level going to benefit usIJ
To begin with a major reason of the discomfort of the fundamentalists is Surya Namaskar. Surya namaskar means to bow down to the sun in the morning. The sun is the life source for this planet. Thus, the sun cannot be a Hindu entity alone; it is universal. Surya namaskar is a series of 12 physical postures. These alternating backward and forward bending postures flex and stretch the spinal column through their maximum range giving a profound stretch to the whole body. Hence, Surya Namaskar has a deep effect in detoxifying the organs through copious oxygenation and has a deeper relaxing effect. Hence, if one deletes the salutation “Aum Surya Namah”, Surya Namaskar becomes one among the many exercises that are performed while doing yoga. like any other exercise, it completely depends on the performer how comfortable he is assuming a certain posture. Nothing is compulsory. But the politicised attempt to give yoga religious overtones is highly despicable.
Contrary to the misconstrued notion of Aum — the traditional mystical invocation related to Hindu spirituality and yoga practice — being related to a particular religion, it has universal meaning and significance. With its threefold nature, special shape and unique sound, Aum lends itself to a variety of detailed symbolic interpretations. The symbol of Aum consists of three curves — one semicircle and a dot. The large lower curve symbolises the waking state (jagrat), in this state the consciousness is turned outwards through the gates of the senses. The larger size signifies that this is the most common (majority) state of the human consciousness. The upper curve denotes the state of deep sleep (sushupti) or the unconscious state. This is a state where the sleeper desires nothing nor beholds any dream. The middle curve (which lies between deep sleep and the waking state) signifies the dream state (swapna). In this state the consciousness of the individual is turned inwards, and the dreaming self beholds an enthralling view of the world behind the lids of the eyes.
These are the three states of an individual’s consciousness, and since Indian mystic thought believes the entire manifested reality to spring from this consciousness, these three curves therefore, represent the entire physical phenomenon. The dot signifies the fourth state of consciousness, known in Sanskrit as turiya. In this state the consciousness looks neither outwards nor inwards, nor the two together. It signifies the coming to rest of all differentiated, relative existence. This utterly quiet, peaceful and blissful state is the ultimate aim of all spiritual activity. This Absolute (non-relative) state illuminates the other three states. Finally, the semicircle symbolises maya and separates the dot from the other three curves. Thus, it is the illusion of maya that prevents us from the realisation of this highest state of bliss. The semicircle is open at the top, and when ideally drawn does not touch the dot. This means that this highest state is not affected by maya. Maya only affects the manifested phenomenon. This effect is that of preventing the seeker from reaching his ultimate goal, the realisation of the One, all-pervading, unmanifest, Absolute principle. In this manner, the form of Aum represents the unmanifest and the manifest, the noumenon and the phenomenon.
This apart, Aum is a universal syllable. It has been found that Aum when chanted sequentially activates the stomach, spinal cord, throat, nasal and brain regions. This helps the energy to move all the way up from the abdomen to the brain and in the process it energises the spinal cord and brain. Aum mantra improves concentration and reduces mental stress thereby giving peace and steadiness to our mind.
Nevertheless the Government knows that in a country where religious symbolism often attracts huge political controversies, it’s better to keep the effort “free of controversy”. Hence, Modi Government has decided to drop all references to Aum in its coming promotion to reach out to wider public. There will be no reference to Aum in the 33-minute Common Yoga Protocol that’s been prepared by the Ministry of AYUSH, not even in the literature and video being prepared for the June 21 celebration. Hence, the arguments substantiating the objections to celebrate Yoga Day do not stand anymore. The concept of International Yoga Day is to take yoga to the global stage but to link it with religion is to undermine the ambitious effort by the Modi Government.
Discussing the second issue, we need to understand the meaning of yoga. The word yoga, which radiates peace and tranquility, is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj,’ which essentially means to join or unite. The union referred to is that of the individual self uniting with cosmic consciousness or the Universal Spirit. Yoga is a means to achieving this goal.
The history of yoga has many obscurities and uncertainties due to its oral transmission of sacred texts and the secretive nature of its teachings. However, yoga is believed to have evolved in India during the period of the Sat Yuga, also known as Golden Age. This period, which is almost 26,000 years old, is known as the time of everlasting peace and abundant blessings, filled with seekers of the Eternal Truth. Perhaps that explains why even today we associate yoga with sages and hermits. With the discovery of the Indus Valley civilisation the knowledge about the origin of yoga surfaced which associates its roots in Hinduism.
Perhaps the origin of yoga in the Vedas and Upanishads perturbs the clerics who have raised their dissenting voices against the practice of yoga in schools and other places. The acknowledgement of yoga as a tremendous contribution of ancient Hindus to the world is not to imply ownership of yoga. No one owns yoga. Rather, it is an appreciation of the richness and universality of Hindu teachings. It’s disheartening that their myopic vision fails to understand it. These orthodox clerics want to influence the common people and want them to believe that the spread of yoga is akin to spread of Hinduism for their own vested personal or political interests.
Does one really understand the true meaning of the religious textsIJ In the name of Allah, thousands are being killed mercilessly, hundreds of women are being raped and children are being robbed of their childhood by dragging them in the dark realm of jehad. Is it really what Allah wantsIJ No religion teaches violence. It is our own vested interest that we adopt multiple ways to dominate the world and rejoice in our false notion of power. Power is healing distraught soul, loving human beings irrespective of class, caste, religion and region.
Taking the arguments further, one might say that while Riba (interest payment) is prohibited in Islam, but not any fundamentalist refuses the interest paid by the banks and the pension which is another form of interest payment. While the Muslim financiers who operate in the Gulf countries claim that they do not levy any interest but they simply have different price schemes for people making full payment and for the people paying in instalment. Isn’t it another way of charging interestIJ Further there isn’t any mention of mobile phones, stereo, television, and all other electronic and non electronic items of luxury, in the Muslims’ holy book, but these fundamentalist are not uncomfortable with any of these luxury items.
Discussing the promotion of yoga at international level, one cannot ignore the facts that it would not only help our country to reclaim its glorious past but also provide ample opportunities for this ancient practice to flourish and open up decent vacancies. Hindus as well as people from other communities would benefit from it. The Muslim community is alienating itself unnecessarily by distorting and misinterpreting the celebration of Yoga Day.
Aslam Ghazi, legal cell coordinator of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, has rightly said that the Government should be more concerned about improving the infrastructure of schools than making Yoga Day compulsory. Is it enough to provide proper infrastructure and manufacture academic scholarsIJ Ironically most of the disturbing news is heard from affluent institutions be it ragging, sexual exploitation, drug abuse or self abatement. Hence, in today’s modern disintegrating society it is more important to inculcate moral values and spread the knowledge of human compassion and empathy. learning meditation and self-discipline through yoga is a positive step forward.
Yoga does not begin and end in the physical realm. Yoga perpetuates deeper personal growth, in both the emotional and spiritual realms. Yoga takes on the form of meditation, and during these times of silence and introspection, we can reconnect with who we are. In yoga, all the negative energies evaporate as we create our own space. All the external voices dissipate, allowing us to communicate with our inner, most honest self. Yoga allows us to face fears, quell frustrations, and overcome worries — to welcome emotional self-healing.
By releasing tension and pent up lymph, yoga can literally increase our inner level of empathy and compassion. Moments in time become reflections, as we see ourselves in others. The more intuitive, empathic, and conscious we become, the more we learn to interpret events and interact non-verbally with people. Thus we ascend beyond just connecting verbally. We learn to connect energetically and realise that we are all one connected consciousness. What we do to others, we do to ourselves. This realisation can bring a level of spiritual fulfilment not found in the many man-made religions. By tuning out of the external world, its expectations and fears, we find ourselves lifting to new heights of appreciation and love for all. This can bring an empowering sense of spiritual purpose.
This is a time of unrest, social and moral disintegration, mass murder and mutual mistrust. We all need to widen our horizon and transcend our petty issues of personal gains, political manipulations, fundamental beliefs, and myopic visions to create a better world. This is the only process of attaining salvation and oneness with God or Allah or Krishna — whatever name we believe in.
(Anish Gupta and Aaleya Giri teach Economics and English respectively at DelhiUniversity. They can be reached at pioneer.article@gmail.com. Views expressed here are personal.)