Commercial Yoga: Misleading and false promises

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#61

[QUOTE=Asuri;74102]Unfortunately the definition of what is valid seems to be “agrees with Surya Deva” and the definition of invalid seems to be “does not agree with Surya Deva”. I’ve already learned that it’s impossible to get rid of “quackery” in yoga, mainly because no one person can set themselves up as the arbiter of what is or is not “quackery”. If they attempt to do so, they become a would-be yoga dictator, which itself is a form of “quackery”.

I suspect that this campaign against commercialization in yoga is really a veiled attempt by hindus to “take back” yoga. Personally, I think its a good thing that yoga has escaped hinduism.[/QUOTE]

Personal attacks are not valid contributions to any discussion. They are also against the terms of use of this forum. You have already been banned for 3 months for making personal attacks. Obviously David does not want personal attacks on his forum, and has already requested you several times to stop it. Continue to not heed his rules, and you will probably face permanent banning. I am going to report each and everyone of your personal attacks against me from now on.

It is possible to self-regulate against pseudoscience and unethical consumer practice . The scientific community do a good job of it, as do many ethical consumer groups like anti-vivisection etc . There should be a similar groups set up to regulate Yoga.

The issue of commercialization of Yoga is a common issue in the Yoga community and thus something needs to be done about it. This issue is raised by not just by Hindus, but by many serious and sincere practitioners of Yoga. The issue has nothing to do with religion, it has to do with ethical consumer practices. It is not an ethical consumer practice for example to misuse quantum physics to sell products like Secret, Law of attraction etc This is unethical because it spreads misinformation about quantum physics. It sells false beliefs and promises.

Regarding Yoga escaping Hinduism? This is wishful thinking Christian. Yoga is still very much rooted in the Hindu tradition. Modern Yoga is founded by Krishmacharya, who is the architect of the Vinyasaya flow-sequence which is the core of modern Yoga. Krishnamacharya was a Hindu scholar, Ayurvedic Physician and had learned Yoga from a traditional Hindu guru. He developed the modern practice of Yoga based on the classical Hindu texts with the core philosophy that the asanas and pranayamas were only tools to the final goal of Yoga, enlightenment and liberation. None of his students B.K.S Iyengar, Indra Devi, Pattaboi Jois abandoned this core aim of Yoga. While Krishnamacharya et al did put a lot of emphasis on asanas in their practice, they never lost sight of the final goal of Yoga which is the aim of Hindu philosophy: Moksha.

Yoga has certainly not escaped Hinduism. It is only people who are ignorant of its philosophy and history and treat it as nothing more than an exercise program who have this misconception.

#62

You guys have changed the definition of Quantum physics to: the science of things so small that the quantum nature of reality has NO effect

#63

Do you hear that? [I]Something needs to be done about it.[/I] Your friendly neighborhood yoga regulator will be coming to a yoga studio near you. But wait a minute, first we need a constitutional congress, and a constitution, and a legislature, and some laws, and of course the all important yoga police. What a bunch of silliness.

No quantum yoga, no reiki, nothing that’s not…what?..[I].hinduism[/I].

Free at last, free at last. Thank god almighty, I’m free at last!

#64

@Flex

What do you mean, [I]you guys[/I]?

#65

Do you hear that? Something needs to be done about it. Your friendly neighborhood yoga regulator will be coming to a yoga studio near you. But wait a minute, first we need a constitutional congress, and a constitution, and a legislature, and some laws, and of course the all important yoga police. What a bunch of silliness.

I think what is silly is your interpretation that setting up a self-regulating body means a dictatorship. Self-regulating bodies are set up for many fields and organizations, for example in cinema the the initial system of censorship that was practiced was based on self-regulating, before the current standard rating system was institutionalzied.
Having standardized codes of practice and ethics is a common feature of any healthy system.

It is much better having self-regulation than government regulation. The Yoga alliance is one attempt at developing a non government Yoga regulating body to ensure certain standards are met. It is a step in the right direction, but in its current form it is inadequate. I am proposing setting up a more rigorous regulating body which institutes not just codes of practice, but also ethical codes that prevent commercialization and quackery in Yoga. Such an organization would be secular, not based on any religion, but only on professional scientific research. I propose that this body not only be limited to Yoga, but the entire spiritual field.

This would prevent brands like quantum Yoga, Secret, Law of attraction from proliferating. It would also represent in the spiritual field a rational and professional voice and an accurate, factual representation of Yoga and spirituality, to the extent that the study of Yoga would become a legitimate and accepted discipline in the academic community and encouraged within education at all levels.

#66

Before you take the splinter out of your brother’s eye, you first need to remove the log that is in your own eye.

#67

New age fluff talk? Have you ever read the Upanishads - some of the promises sound similar. I think people recognize true yoga for true yoga once they’ve been exposed to a variety of teachers and styles.

#68

The commercialization of yoga is definitely a concern for many westerners. And understandably, however, B.K.S. Iyengar talks about the different ways one can approach yoga without ever understanding the 'spiritual benefits. You have to approach people from where they are - lost in the mire of modern society and all its crazy-making. If they can only approach yoga from a purely physical vantage point, then so be it. Iyengar eventually understood the more esoteric gems of a yoga practice, and so will others.

#69

I feel that ANY way you can get the masses to start to slow down and be more present, to induce a sense of peace and calm, is better than trying to get them to choke on any sort of dogma about religion and spirituality - even in yoga. You cannot become enlightened while you are a big bag of stress, anyway.

#70

New age fluff talk? Have you ever read the Upanishads - some of the promises sound similar. I think people recognize true yoga for true yoga once they’ve been exposed to a variety of teachers and styles.

Yes, the Upanishads are very mystical and religious texts, and as such I consider them outmoded. What is important are the systematic and scientific and philosophical system of Samkhya-Yoga which have developed from the foundation of the Upanishads.

I don’t think most people have the time, energy or determination to try every style and approach of Yoga there is in the world. Many people end up getting bound up with the Yoga they first try, and if your first trial of Yoga is some quacky Yoga like quantum Yoga or Kundalini Yoga by 3HO, then you end up getting bound to a low standard Yoga which is really just nothing more than commercialization and quackery. Hence to ensure that people get exposed to high standards of practice and ethics we need some kind of regulating and standards body.

#71

The commercialization of yoga is definitely a concern for many westerners. And understandably, however, B.K.S. Iyengar talks about the different ways one can approach yoga without ever understanding the 'spiritual benefits. You have to approach people from where they are - lost in the mire of modern society and all its crazy-making. If they can only approach yoga from a purely physical vantage point, then so be it. Iyengar eventually understood the more esoteric gems of a yoga practice, and so will others.

I feel that ANY way you can get the masses to start to slow down and be more present, to induce a sense of peace and calm, is better than trying to get them to choke on any sort of dogma about religion and spirituality - even in yoga. You cannot become enlightened while you are a big bag of stress, anyway.

B.K.S has a very sincere approach to Yoga, even though his emphasis is on asana. He attempts to incorporates all of Patanjali’s limbs of Yoga, but usually as a part of as asana routine. He understands Yoga’s real meaning is to achieve self-realization. Thus his approach is the most authentic of the modern Yoga approaches and also the most secular and scientific.

I don’t agree that we expose people to low standards of Yoga they will eventually find their way to the high standard Yoga. There are many people who will stay for decades with low standard Yoga, like the kooky and cultish Sahaja Yoga. I know many people in this ‘Yoga group’ who have been there for decades. Likewise with the equally kooky and culltish 3HO Kundalini Yoga. Every year even more quacky Yoga brands emerge, like this Quantum Yoga. It is not responsible to not regulate this.

Yoga needs to be represented accurately based on solid scientific and professional research. It is a mind-body discipline, which is based on a scientific theory of matter-consciousness dualism, that consciousness is entangled with the complex field of matter(in the context of Yoga, the field of matter is the body) and its aim is to reverse the process by disentangling consciousness from matter through the practice of witnessing. This involves a systematic process of witnessing body sensations, breath, thoughts and feelings. This is a true representation of the Samkha-Yoga system, evident to anybody who is versed in the literature of Yoga and the tradition.

It is not an exercise or stress-busting system, this is an ignorant misconception. Also, just practicing asanas is not Yoga either: because asanas only serve an instrumental role in Yoga, so that the body is relaxed and comfortable enough for witnessing. It is impossible to put yourself in a mode of witnessing if your body prevents it.