Some Truths and Misconceptions about Yoga – Swami Indrananda

(I originally wrote this article in 1992 and it appeared in our Autumn Magazine No. 59. At that time the Yoga industry was booming, the classes were generally full to capacity and there was a lot demand for teachers required in Evening Institutes, Gyms, and other physical Institutes. Also, the Yoga Institutes were busy training Yoga teachers. The situation today is even better than 1992 and the demand for teachers has immensely increased; we may soon find amongst us more Chiefs than Indians. New Yoga organisations are being established and are advertising to train students to become teachers within the shortest possible time. However, it is to be seen that we are maintaining the status of the great Masters and Rishis relating to the eternal science of Yoga. The following article will perhaps give an idea about this.)Since the days of Sri Swami Vivekananda Ji in 1893, Yoga has been gaining strength in the Western hemisphere and is today one of the most popular subjects talked about in almost every educational establishment, Sports Clubs, Physical Health Centres and even the medical institutes which are looking for alternative or complementary therapies. However, is this the type of Yoga which has been passed on to us from time immemorial by the great Rishis of yore? Or is it different, or should I say completely different: What do we find in the old texts and scriptures of this perennial science? We will try to look into the subject critically in the following few paragraphs.

Source and origin of Yoga
We all agree that Yoga is ‘above’ religion or I should add that there was no ‘man made’ religion at the time when this ancient science was passed to human beings. But it, too, must have had its source and who was responsible for its being passed on to future generations?

Whether we agree or not, we find in the Bhagvad Gita (an ancient treatise on Yoga) that Lord Krishna who lived nearly 5000 years’ ago, told Arjuna, his friend and disciple, that this “imperishable Yoga was declared by me to Vivasvan (the Sun God) who taught it to Manu (the great Rishi) who then transmitted it to Ikshvaku (the first among the kings of the Solar Dynasty). The knowledge was then passed on from generations to generations and it is this ancient tradition of Yoga that I am today teaching you “ (Bhagvad Gita IV, 1-3) Swami Chidbhavananda Ji vividly recounts in his commentary that as Moksha or spiritual emancipation is imperishable, Yoga or the means to reach this state, is also designated as imperishable. Ironically, however, most of us in the West do not recognise this fact but try to twist the language of Yoga to our own self–interest in order to meet our own ends. I have been travelling for a long time up and down the country and have found that a number of teachers are getting more reluctant to state clearly that Yoga is a part of Hindu philosophy. They try to maintain that as Yoga is ‘above‘ religion, it has no connection with Hinduism and will use any means which will satisfy their followers/students who belong to a faith other than Hinduism. As many of us have made Yoga a living (which is not following its teachings), we are afraid of losing students by speaking the truth. I can appreciate such fears but one can hardly conceal the truth as this will eventually be revealed by the men of knowledge and wisdom. If Yoga is not accepted by people in its true form, I would say then that there is no need for them to use its name or system at all. There are many alternatives

Recently I have been given a research paper written by late Revered Wilfred Clark which says that Hinduism is steeped in Yoga and which maintains that Yoga came before from this form of religion. Wilfred Clark was a good friend of mine and we often used to discuss Yoga together, in particular various aspects of Yoga postures. I had a great regard for him and the services he rendered to the cause of Yoga. He was not in favour of using Sanskrit names for the postures and wanted instead to give them English names. He used to point out, in particular, the ‘Savasana’ or ‘Mritasana’ (Corpse) pose in this regard and I, having very little knowledge of the subtle science of Yoga at that time, used to wonder myself about the significance of these terms. This was due to my ignorance. I have since realised my foolishness in challenging the wisdom of the great Masters and also felt that Wilfred’s research was either incomplete or shrouded by bias. The purpose of ‘Savasana’ as we all understand it, is to relax the physical body and to rise above it. Indeed, if you look at a body within a few minutes of death, you will find that every limb and organ has become completely relaxed like a child, quite different from eventual hardness and stiffness. Hence the practitioner of this pose should be able to relax the body to the extent that s/he loses body consciousness and rises above it.

Similarly, we very often fail to understand the subtle language of the scriptures because of our ignorance or prejudice and misinterpret the texts. Thus, by the time this knowledge is transmitted to the ordinary person or layman, the true meaning and essence has been completely lost. Yoga, as we have discussed earlier, is not a religion, it is a method which was adopted by the great seers of yore for their self-realisation and they have passed on their knowledge to future generations. As Lord Krishna says, such knowledge is imperishable and eternal and so should the source through which it has sprung, be imperishable and eternal. The term ‘Hindu’ with which we connect Yoga today, says Shri T.M.P. Mahadevan, a reputed thinker and philosopher, in the foreword of the book “Wealth and Wisdom of India” (by Swami Siddhinathanda) is not used in the original texts. The name was given by invaders who could not pronounce the word ‘Sindhu’. Unlike other religions, the Hindu faith has no proper name as such. It is known as ‘Sanatan Dharma’, i.e. the Eternal, Ancient, or Vedic religion. Hence, one can safely say that unless proved substantially otherwise, the eternal science of Yoga was and is part of this eternal religion Hinduism. There may have been lapses from time to time, as Lord Krishna relates to us, but Hinduism has been practised continuously and nurtured by the great Rishis, generation after generation in the forest and in the cradle of the Himalayas. These Rishis belonged to that ‘Eternal’ religion and passed on their experiences to the whole of humanity without showing any discrimination. The seers and sages of the ‘Upanishads’ and other realised Masters echoed with the same voice the means by which a human being could achieve his final goal of self-realisation and liberation through the philosophy of Yoga. As a result, the whole of humanity has benefited from their experience.

What is Perennial Yoga?
Perennial Yoga which may be called a science or art, starts with the ethical and moral precepts. These are the foundation stones of all branches of Yoga. No matter how perfect one may be in any one aspect of Yoga, if one is not following the proper rules
of ethics and morals, there will be no or little progress, and the goal will remain as distant as it was when the aspirant took up the practice of Yoga.
Cleanliness, which is considered next to ‘Godliness’, is a part of these ‘ethics’ and ‘morals’. What we are witnessing today is physical Yoga which in itself is also void of the Yogic cleansing techniques. Although we are trying very hard to mix Yoga with various martial and other arts and embrace a number of sporting techniques, one will not and cannot achieve success to make progress without paying attention to its fundamental principles.
Personally, I have my doubts. However, if we persuade the Yoga aspirants to follow the first two steps, i.e. the Yama and Niyama or Ten Commandments of Yoga, as explained by the great Rishi Patanjali, then they will be stepping along the right path and we shall be rendering a great service to the cause of Yoga.
We all know that the root of any dis-ease or illness lies in an unnatural way of living or position of the physical body, although one’s mental attitude also plays an important part in restoring or aggravating any given dis-ease. Cleanliness of the body as well as of the mind is laid out in these first two steps of Yoga which, if followed, will assure a strong foundation for an aspirant upon which s/he can erect a sturdy edifice. It is unfortunate that these two important aspects of the science of Yoga are neither emphasised nor practised properly by either students or teachers alike.

Teachers/Gurus
It is very easy to say that the one who teaches is a teacher, or Guru. But if we look at the word ‘teach’ in the Oxford Dictionary, it gives the meaning among others ‘to cause to adopt’ (a practice, etc.) by example or experience. An a Guru means the one who dispels the darkness and radiates light. Let us examine the state of teachers in our times and see in they really fulfil the true meaning of the word.
We know that most of the exercises taught in so-called Yoga classes (run by a Local Education Authority or privately) are far from the classical positions. The purpose of Classical Yoga, developed by the great Masters/Yogis, was to apply proper massage to the internal voluntary and involuntary organs of the body in order to keep them supple and flexible. Although, Yoga classes are rapidly expanding nowadays, it is very rare to see so-called Yoga teachers being able to perform classical positions. Even an ordinary man in the street associates Yoga with sitting in the lotus position or standing on one’s head, and most of our so-called Yoga teachers are uable to do these two important Yoga asanas. I would say that it is ethically and morally wrong for anyone to teach anything of which s/he has no practical experience. It is a pity that Yoga diplomas are freely available to those who can spend some money to attend a certain set of classes and write a few essays but without following the proper discipline, ethics and morals, as well as the laws of cleanliness, both outer and inner. The reason is that the tutors who train the teachers follow the same pattern and do not pay much attention to the classical side of Yoga. I have heard it said time and time again that at least the message of Yoga is spreading in this way. But this is not going to help sincere Yoga aspirants to rise above the physical aspects or bodily consciousness.

Sri Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, explicitly tells Arjuna at the end of discussion that His teachings (of Yoga) are never to be spoken to one who is devoid of austerities, nor to one who is not devoted, nor to one who does not do service, nor to one who speaks ill of Me (Bhagvad Gita XVIII, V.69). If this message is for an aspirant who wishes to follow the path of Yoga, one can imagine the strict regime to be practised by a teacher. The Lord had already spoken to Arjuna in the last 18 stanzas of Cahpter II of the Bhagvad Gita about a man of steadfast wisdom. We all know that real Yoga is as hard to follow as it is hard to walk on the edge of a razor blade. My only plea is that those who wish to pursue or teach other than classical Yoga should abandon the use of the word ‘Yoga’. They can spread their message in a different way. It is seen that a number of people who are unable to do anything will consider becoming Yoga teachers and are happily accepted by the tutors. The reasons are not the love of Yoga but for some other material gain. If we maintain this kind of attitude, I fear that we will never be able to spread the true message of Yoga.
When we see the Gurus relaxing their discipline and neglecting the Yamas and Niyamas which they were following strictly under the supervision of the Masters, we can visualise what kind of message their students will receive from them. Siva Samhita clearly says that even an advanced Yogi should not abandon his or her practice of Yoga at any time, and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (Chapter II, V.76) states that some of the characteristics of a Yogi are slim body, sparkling eyes, sonorous voice, shining skin and purification of the nervous system which we rarely find among our Gurus. Although we often try to justify our means by bringing fate/destiny into the picture, we cannot hide from the fact that most of the fault, as Swami Sivananda Ji says in his book ‘Health & Happiness’, lies within us.
I maintain that a ’normal’ person can only raise the body consciousness when there is a harmony in his/her physical structure. Otherwise to talk about mind over the matter is the same as talking of present day Yoga mixed/polluted with every other art/science and which has nothing to convince or attract innocents who are ignorant of this science. It would be far better to have a very few Gurus/Teachers who follow the True path of Yoga without being influenced by our materialistic world.
There is another point which is traditionally seen as wrong but which is very prevalent in our modern society even looked upon with great pride; that is the mixing of both sexes in the field of Yoga. This may appeal to the senses in the beginning, but will eventually bring about the downfall of a true seeker. We find the teachings of every religion forbidding the followers to mix freely and physically with the opposite sex. The early monasteries abided by this rule and even today monks and nuns live separately and are not allowed to associate freely with each other. In the same way, schools were traditionally separate for boys and girls and the result of mixed schools is self evident by the spread of various diseases.
The Gurus or Swamis who are traditionally prohibited from getting married, now do so to their secretaries. In the same way, teachers are attracted to their students and vice versa. Sometimes, even so-called ‘advanced’ teachers move from one partnership to another. This is all carried out under the umbrella and pretence of love, but which is in reality nothing less than sensual indulgence. Take a look at the high class teachings of Yoga which say that an aspirant/teacher/Guru should view a member of the opposite sex as a mother/father, sister/brother or a child. Otherwise, there is always the danger of falling into the trap of the senses. However much we may convince ourselves about ‘Ying’, ‘Yang’, etc. history tells us that the great Rishis of yore, the Kings and Queens, great men and politicians of today have not been able to escape from the onslaught of Kama (lust). If any of us wants to follow the true path of Yoga, we must look at the opposite sex with the greatest respect according to our scripture and should not bow down to the senses. There is a possibility that we may be fortunate not to be affected for several years to come, but when Kama rears its ugly head it can happen within a twinkling of an eye. Let us be on our guard all the time.
This is not the end of whole story but it will give us some food for thought in order to step onward on the Path of Yoga and to set an example for others to follow.

May the Divine bestow upon us strength and will power to follow the sacred path of Yoga with all our sincerity and honesty in order to reap the harvest.

OM Shanti Shanti Shanti OM