I was just reading the news before bed and came across a story about yoga.
Seems as if the Malaysian government has banned Muslims from practicing yoga due to "it is un-Islamic" and could "corrupt". Yoga-practicing Muslims are outraged and say it has nothing to do with spirituality.
And Muslims aren't the only ones on the bandwagon...fundamentalist Christians are also saying "yoga's Hindu roots conflict with Christian teachings and that using it in school might violate the separation of church and state".
Hmmm.
Now I'm not a yoga or religious scholar, but even I can tell that yoga is being used more and more for exercise and relaxation than as a pursuit of the spiritual. I can honestly say that my yoga teacher never mentioned God or Buddha while we were sitting on a mat like pretzels. And I don't think school children are being taught spiritual enlightenment in their short gym class, just exercise and stretching.
But some people just have to attack what they don't understand.
I don't make it a habit of telling y'all what to believe, but here is a good website that discusses the history of yoga. How it started thousands of years ago as meditating in order to reach spiritual enlightenment, but as of this age has evolved into good fitness practices.
To all of y'all who don't know what to think...go ahead and read up on it and do some research on your own. And then go to a gym and take a yoga class. You'll see that it's healthy and good for you.
How can that be wrong?
Just my opinion.
I think most forms of yoga practiced in schools these days is so diluted of any specific religious content that it's safe to say you're not going to violate your own religious beliefs/laws.
ReplyDeleteNow this isn't to say that there's some aspects of it I don't add to my routine, if you don't feel comfortable(spiritually or physically) doing the task ..then don't.
Good article.
- Evan
Ya, totally agreed with you.I am from Malaysia, Chinese and do practice yoga. My company provides yoga class for all the employees once a week after work. After this rule being announced,i think my Muslim colleagues won't join the yoga session anymore :-(....
ReplyDeleteI think if anyone ought to be mad, it's the ones who practice yoga as a spiritual meditation. I would think they would be mad that we Westerners are "bastardizing" it and remaking it into something else. But you don't see them complaining.
ReplyDeleteMe? I just need to lose some more weight so I can comfortably do the stretches again.
I am from India and I practice yoga. I think that yoga is more of a form of an exercise than a religious belief. It was invented at a time when no other modern techniques of exercising were present.
ReplyDeleteThis subject is more complex than it seems at first glance.
ReplyDeleteWhy would powerful religious figures denounce other forms of practice or experience?
Their faithful practitioners might learn something that contradicts the contents of their indoctrination. If that occurs, the power structures that maintain the edifices of Islam, Christianity, etc, might shudder and fall.
If that were to occur, what would people do? What would people do without sets of rules, roles, and guidelines about how to act in every situation?
We would be left with the evolving, dynamic creature that everyone has so much fear of.
Then what?
Then we would live with beauty and joy.
Perhaps those of us who make a solid decision to do so anyway can begin right away.
Enjoy!