Impact of Yoga on Hinduism - Essay Example

Impact of Yoga on Hinduism Yoga practices have had several controversies in the US. Yoga has been defined as a general term for the spiritual disciplines in Buddhism and Hinduism practiced by the Asian communities with an overall goal of attaining higher level of consciousness and rebirth as well as minimizing individual ignorance and suffering. This process involves a series of exercises that try to unite the entire body, spirit and mind with an intention of self enlightment (Syman, 2010). There are several forms of yoga which include Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, Raja, Tantra and Mantra yoga. Currently, yoga has been influenced by modern world. In most cases, modern day yoga has been misrepresented; it has less spiritual essence, and has more emphasis on financial gain. This is because modern day yoga has been reduced to physical exercise program, with yoga specialists releasing yoga videos, as well as magazines for sale. This situation has been worsened by the fact that more yoga specialist especially those in the secular field have no background on Hinduism and they do not appreciate Hinduism and Buddhism religions. In the United States, it is estimated that approximately, 20 million people practice yoga. It is estimated that the practiced has been there since 1970 with majority of the US citizen pursuing yoga for medical reasons with few individuals pursuing it for purposes of acquiring body energy and stamina, spirituality and to magnify self esteem and creativity (Syman, 2010). In this regard, due to beneficial aspects of modern day yoga, the practice has been integrated in recreation facilities in developed nation. In Ohio, the integration of yoga at Snowpea City Recreation Center has been critiqued by majority of the residents due to the fact that the center which was funded by resident taxes should , therefore, not promote Hindi practices like yoga, since most of the residents are non-Hindi believers (Syman, 2010). In this regard majority of the residents have criticized the yoga practices due to the fact that it downplays the Monism principle of Christianity (the philosophy of existence of one God, the distinction between one God and the universe). The practice of yoga where an individual is recommended to repeat the phrase “So-ham” during deep breaths is violation of Christian faith since the quote translates to identification of oneself to the divine and the merging of oneself with the divine. In addition, yoga advocates for an individual’s spiritual detachment and freedom from body and material constraint, while Christianity advocates for human acts that promote love generosity and their positive personal attributes and not impersonal divine. The Christian perspective of using prayers to free self concentration, and freedom from impersonal techniques differs from the yoga perspective of oneself concentration and high regard for spiritual privatism and self-discipline. From a Hindi perspective, the yoga practices are often wrongly misrepresented. First, the Hatha yoga is the most commonly yoga practiced in US (Syman, 2010). Moreover, Hatha yoga cannot treat diseases (such as depression, stress and back pain); the practice can only reduce the incidences of such diseases by improving the physical flexibility of an individual and minimize negative thoughts through meditation, hence, yoga can only be used as supplementary therapy for such diseases. Moreover, Hatha yoga has numerous applications in providing therapeutic treatments to sport related physical health, pediatric conditions, cancer(improvement of patients biomarkers), blood pressure, Demetria, improvement of an individual’s mental and emotional balance and promote strong body-mind interconnection. Hadtha yoga has also been criticized on hyper-extensive exercises on basis of safety perspective. In this regard, some critics have argued that advanced moves (such as hyperextension and rotation of the neck) might contribute to cervical artery dissection. In this regard, yoga specialist recommend that beginners should avoid such advanced moves, yoga students should inform their teachers about their physical concerns and limitations and that yoga practices should not integrate psychoactive drugs in order to minimize an individual’s risk of physical injury (Syman, 2010). Conversely, though yoga is part of the Hinduism and Buddhism, the modern yoga has undermined other Hindi practices (such as the significance of core Hindi teachings). Moreover, yoga students as well as teachers have negatively stereotyped the religion as a polytheistic faith creating a situation in which yoga is recognized as positive spiritual Indian wisdom (Syman, 2010). Moreover, practitioners of modern yoga avoid mentioning Hinduism culture, symbols and belief in order to avoid commercial implication from the yoga students from other non-Hindu religions. In this regard, several popular magazines have often avoided using the word Hinduism in order to avoid religious association of yoga and Hinduism. Moreover, Hatha yoga has more to offer than the bodily postures and breathing techniques used by the yoga practitioners that most catholic critics have suggested having association with evil spiritual implications (Syman, 2010). In this regard, the critiques consider postures such as the mountain, are used to “welcome Hindu gods” such as Shiva (a goddess of death). In conclusion, the introduction of yoga in social recreation facilities should be avoided at all cost due to the social and religion point of view. While the Christian criticizes the yoga practices on grounds that it violates the basic fundamental belief of one God, separation of supreme God, mortal humans and the universe as well as the significance of prayers as a way to connect to god, the Hinduism have a different approach on yoga in that it appreciates that yoga improves self-potential and self discipline as well as appreciates human purity. Despite this, most Hindi believers, recommends that modern yoga practitioners must acknowledge that yoga draws it policies and practices from Hinduism and Buddhism. In this regard, the practitioners must include more Hindi teachings and not merely rely on the physical and medical benefits of yoga. Moreover, practitioners must acknowledge the purity and beauty of Hinduism and provide accurate information to its clientele (Syman, 2010).Though yoga has great commercial benefits to the Hindu Community, more campaign on providing the correct information of the real Hindi culture to critiques (such as the Catholic apostolate Women of Grace) should be done. Work Cited Syman, Stefanie. The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America. Macmillan. (2010). Print Read More