[QUOTE=Surya Deva;32935].
The real guru is the the one that will help me realise my highest potentials and put me in touch with my self.[/QUOTE]
lift up your hand, now smack yourself in the face. Now first of all that is a miracle, anything that happens is a miracle. second of all you are now in touch with your self. repeat as necessarry.
PS. my yoga mat is still bigger
Yoga is Universal. Claiming it’s hindu is preposterous and secretarian.
Hinduism is not a secetarian at all. It is a name given to all the sects, religions, cults in India Shaktism, Smartism, Shivaism, Vaishavism. What is common to all of them is moksha, yoga, dharma, karma and reincarnation. These in turn are based on the six schools of Hindu philosophy, which in turn are based on the Upanishads which in turn are based on the Vedas.
You can call it Sanatana dharma if you like. But the rest of the world knows it as Hinduism. The term has stuck now so rather than fighting it, you need to embrace it.
Yoga is the practice of Hinduism. It is taught in Hindu scriptures. It is taugt by Hindu gurus(Swami Vivekanada, Swami Yogananda, Sir Aurobindo, Ramana Maharishi, Papaji, Swami Dayananda, Swami Sivananda etc et) You can try all you want to try and separate Yoga out from Hinduism, but you will invariably fail. I mean how can you separate it from Hinduism when Hinduism actually teaches Yoga? The Hindu bible, the gita, is a treatise on Yoga. Hinduism is in fact Yoga. I think one who cannot realise this is a fool.
The hindu religion is the religion of people who believe that ones sole mission in life to attain self-realization and become the ultimate consciousness that pervades all of existence which is both transcendent and immanent in myriad forms. It is their belief that one is born and reborn endlessly until this mission is not realised. It is their belief that there is an eternal way and we should we live in harmony with this eternal way. It is their belief that there are countless ways to self-realization and there are countless enlightened masters. It is their belief that everything is cyclic. It is their belief that we must only accept what is reasonable and logical and reject blind faith.
These are the core beliefs of a Hindu. If you believe in all of these core beliefs you are a Hindu. It does not matter what planet you are on.
Don’t scare the people away.
You do your yoga. Get unstuck. Quit with all this sillyness. You’ll be all better.
It sounds like you are afraid of people not doing Yoga if it associated with Hinduism. This is why i said that earlier that people who are trying to market Yoga to the West are going to disapprove of my honesty. But like I said I have no agenda to convert people to Yoga, so I am going to tell the truth. Yoga is Hindu. They are doing a Hindu practice. They will not be able to shake this off. I have nothing against them doing a Hindu practice so as long as they recognise it is Hindu.
Even Christian authorities have recognised the fact that Yoga is Hindu.
Christian Authorities?
I’m converting to Taoist Yoga. I’m gonna study the TAO. And turn the wheel. and go through the gate. And contemplate the void. and Do Tai Chi and qi gong I’m gonna put my spirit in the house of FIRE!!!
No sunsalutations there. NOpe. No lotus petals there. Not a one. No vishnu granthi. No third eye chakra. No Shiva. No Krishna. No Kanda. No Shankara.
YOU BONEHEAD!!!
I’m not afraid or scared. You simply provide the people a serious disservice through your stunted view. Do your yoga so you can get unstuck and help out.
and I’m done…
I am afraid we Hindus have strong sense of pride now days and we are not going to let others appropriate our contributions. Yoga is what we developed. Not the rest of the world. It is a unique Hindu contribution.
Stop acting like a fool and pretend Yoga appeared in a vacuum. Anybody who studies the history of Yoga will be lead back to Hinduism.
By all means do your tai ch and qigong. That is just a syncretic form of Yoga and traditional Chinese practices. It is not as developed as Yoga. This is why Yoga is a multibillion dollar industry and not tai chi or qigong.
The truth comes out.
[quote=InnerAthlete;32743]
Beware the man of one book.
St. Thomas Aquinas [/quote]
Yes, it is. But what is the nature of your comment ?
[QUOTE=Hubert;33093]Yes, it is. But what is the nature of your comment ?[/QUOTE]
I can try to answer this question, even though this is the first time I’d heard this saying.
I believe it could be referring to what is know in philosophy, as a false dichotomy. This is a black and white type conclusion. For example the question ‘was Jesus the son of god, a prophet, or a fraud?’, would be considered a false dichotomy, because it fails to allow other alternatives, for example jesus could have been a magician, or a regular guy minding his own business, or maybe he never existed at all.
Another example could be the recent threat on this forum called ‘who’s fault’ here http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f16/whos-fault-6157.html It asked who is at fault for one’s own actions. The individual, or the parents and the environment in which one was exposed to whilst growing up. I answered that it was both, then Surya Deva gave a black and white answer and said it was one’s own fault completely. This is a false dichotomy, as it doesn’t allow any exception to his answer.
You see a lot of false dichotomies in religion and spirituality, because it encourages black and white thinking. In religion, usually once something has been answered, then it no longer needs questioning. If anyone claims to know all the answers, or have a book or a belief system, or even a ‘science’ that holds all the answers, they are the one’s that usually know the least of all, as they are presenting a false dichotomy.
[QUOTE=YogiAdam;33106]I can try to answer this question, even though this is the first time I’d heard this saying.
I believe it could be referring to what is know in philosophy, as a false dichotomy. This is a black and white type conclusion. For example the question ‘was Jesus the son of god, a prophet, or a fraud?’, would be considered a false dichotomy, because it fails to allow other alternatives, for example jesus could have been a magician, or a regular guy minding his own business, or maybe he never existed at all.
Another example could be the recent threat on this forum called ‘who’s fault’ here http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f16/whos-fault-6157.html It asked who is at fault for one’s own actions. The individual, or the parents and the environment in which one was exposed to whilst growing up. I answered that it was both, then Surya Deva gave a black and white answer and said it was one’s own fault completely. This is a false dichotomy, as it doesn’t allow any exception to his answer.
You see a lot of false dichotomies in religion and spirituality, because it encourages black and white thinking. In religion, usually once something has been answered, then it no longer needs questioning. If anyone claims to know all the answers, or have a book or a belief system, or even a ‘science’ that holds all the answers, they are presenting a false dichotomy.[/QUOTE]
Yoga is the only Method to get the answers you want.
By yoga I am not speaking of downward dog. Downward Dog has pretty much nothing to do with yoga in terms of its ultimate aim.
[QUOTE=The Scales;33108]Yoga is the only Method to get the answers you want. [/QUOTE]
Perfect example of a false dichotomy!
[QUOTE=YogiAdam;33110]Perfect example of a false dichotomy![/QUOTE]
You only show your lack of understanding.
Keep practicing. You’ll see.
[QUOTE=The Scales;33111]You only show your lack of understanding…[/QUOTE]
Keep telling yourself that.
[QUOTE=The Scales;33111]Keep practicing. You’ll see.[/QUOTE]
You also have a lot of work to do on your ego. You always make these sweeping statements and extraordinary claims. Just chill, and don’t take yourself so seriously. Have a day off yoga. Take a girl out for a nice dinner and a movie. A comedy would be good, and talk to her about mundane, petty things. Use yoga as a way to improve the quality of your life. You don’t need to hide behind yoga. You don’t need to use yoga to convince yourself that you are special. Be happy with who you are, and enjoy the simple things.
From [I]Autobiography of a Yogi[/I] - a popular book.
“Truth is for earnest seekers, not for those of idle curiosity. It is easy to believe when one sees, no soul searchings are then necessary. Supersensual truth is deservedly discovered by those who overcome their natural materialistic skepticism.”
The End.
I thougt he/she was teasing you. If he/she was serious about it, than of course you are right.
[quote=YogiAdam;33106]I can try to answer this question, even though this is the first time I’d heard this saying.
I believe it could be referring to what is know in philosophy, as a false dichotomy. This is a black and white type conclusion. For example the question ‘was Jesus the son of god, a prophet, or a fraud?’, would be considered a false dichotomy, because it fails to allow other alternatives, for example jesus could have been a magician, or a regular guy minding his own business, or maybe he never existed at all.
Another example could be the recent threat on this forum called ‘who’s fault’ here http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f16/whos-fault-6157.html It asked who is at fault for one’s own actions. The individual, or the parents and the environment in which one was exposed to whilst growing up. I answered that it was both, then Surya Deva gave a black and white answer and said it was one’s own fault completely. This is a false dichotomy, as it doesn’t allow any exception to his answer.
You see a lot of false dichotomies in religion and spirituality, because it encourages black and white thinking. [B]In religion, usually once something has been answered, then it no longer needs questioning[/B]. If anyone claims to know all the answers, or have a book or a belief system, [B]or even a ‘science’ that holds all the answers[/B], they are the one’s that usually know the least of all, as they are presenting a false dichotomy.[/quote]
This is good stuff. I bolded out the part I liked the best.
You know how annoying children are when they keep asking things you thought you know, than you realize you were just parroting something you have no clue about whatsoever ?
This is what I understand when I hear the christian teaching: If you become not like children you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven.
We do need to formulate our own honest questions, and filter the answers through our conscience. The difficulty lies in filtering all that “knowledge” we think we know, what we assimilated willingly-unwillingly as being part of the culture we live in. And that’s why other “cultures” are so annoying as they discard basic things we hold as true. Conflict is always good. It is an opportunity to learn.
Another example could be the recent threat on this forum called ‘who’s fault’ here http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f16/whos-fault-6157.html It asked who is at fault for one’s own actions. The individual, or the parents and the environment in which one was exposed to whilst growing up. I answered that it was both, then Surya Deva gave a black and white answer and said it was one’s own fault completely. This is a false dichotomy, as it doesn’t allow any exception to his answer.
The answer I gave was not black and white but was cognizant of the factors that affect one life(circumstances) but showed that these factors are not determinants, but they are influences. The person still has freedom to a respond to the circumstances and make the best of them. I then give actual examples of people who had unfortunate circumstances, but have been able to make the best use of their circumstances to succeed. Further showing the validity of my argument.
So evidently the answer I gave was not an EITHER OR false dichotomy but a considered response. Just remember if you are going to talk philosophy with me, I have a degree in philosophy.
However, you of all people are very guilty of false dichotomies. You only look at empiricism and you only look at matter, and you completely ignore rationalism and mind. You claim we can only know about matter for certain but not about mind. Well, there is your false dichotomy, who told you mind and matter were separate? What if mind and matter are not separate but continious. Then looking at one in isolation would be a fallacy. You are guilty of what you are criticizing others off 
[QUOTE=Surya Deva;33133]However, you of all people are very guilty of false dichotomies.[/QUOTE]
I’m full of false dichotomies and contradictions. This universe would have never started if it wasn’t for imperfection. Gravity + tiny imperfections = Our universe. I’ll never be perfect, and am most cautious of those who claim to know perfection. I was only intending to illustrate what my interpretation of the saying ‘beware the man of one book’. I was not attacking your point directly (we’ll trying not to)… or maybe subconsciously I was… but only to make me feel better about myself temporarily 
I was not attacking your point directly (we’ll trying not to)… or maybe subconsciously I was… but only to make me feel better about myself temporarily
And I think therein lies your problem. You want to believe this universe is imperfect and that all beings are imperfect so you can feel better about your own imperfection. However, when you encounter people who claim to be perfect, who claim the universe is perfect and claim perfect knowledge it cuts you like a knife through butter
I certainly do not beleieve this universe is imperfect. Do you know even if a single ratio was incorrect at the subatomic level there would be no existence. Everything functions perfectly in conjunction with everything else. There are definite principles of nature governing everything. The mission of science is to discover all those principles to know everything that can be known as well how we know that we know. When science has reached this goal then it would be possible to give single answers to everything.
Well Yoga is that final theory of everything. It can explain everything. If you want to know about the supersensible realities there is only one way to do it and that is Yoga. Like I told you before the only way you will know is if you practice.
[QUOTE=The Scales;33117]From [I]Autobiography of a Yogi[/I] - a popular book.
“Truth is for earnest seekers, not for those of idle curiosity. It is easy to believe when one sees, no soul searchings are then necessary. Supersensual truth is deservedly discovered by those who overcome their natural materialistic skepticism.”
The End.[/QUOTE]
This is a brilliant quote from Babaji. Thanks for that. Yes, to know about the supersensible realities the only way to do is it overcome materialism. Materialists will never be able to know about these realities. There are only two methods via which one can know about the supersensible realities by logic and by direct experience. I know it largely through the former.