Yoga Is as Yoga Was

I read an interesting article by Aseem Shukla regarding the origins of Yoga and how many people and practitioners of this ancient art tend to forget the origins of the art or choose to overlook it. It seems that over the past five years or so, yoga has gained popularity, much the way many things Asian has over the same period of time. Whether it is interest in yoga or in Indian food and culture, knowledge of historically Indian practices have become rather mainstream these days. What Shukla points out however is that many groups tend not to emphasize or even mention the origins of the art of Yoga for whatever reason. Mostly, he contends, to disassociate it from Hinduism.

Shukla points to the American Yoga Association's position on the matter in which they state that "the common belief that Yoga derives from Hinduism is a misconception. Yoga actually predates Hinduism by many centuries...The techniques of Yoga have been adopted by Hinduism as well as by other world religions." Now while I agree that Yoga may not be a purely Hindu practice in origin, it's wrong to insinuate that it isn't linked to the religion. After all, if it was something that was associated with all the major religions of the world (and after all, most religions did sprout from the same general region of the world) then why did no one else practice it? I'm sure scholars and supporters of this stance can probably list a hundred reasons why they can prove that yoga has no Hindu connection but I would contend that it was Hinduism that helped perpetuate it and then spread it to the rest of the world.

After all, if it wasn't linked to Hinduism in some way, shape or form, then why do many classes begin and end with the traditional Hindu greeting of "Namaste" which essentially means I acknowledge the presence of the Divine in you? Sure you can argue that that's because it is now more or less part and parcel of the popular practice of yoga associated with Hinduism but if it is truly not part of that religion then why bother saying it? You could do like some groups do and say that it is a Christian practice, or a Jewish one or even an Islamic one but then are we reinventing history or just taking the convenient view of it?

I don't believe there's anything wrong in acknowledging the origins of certain practices. After all, understanding the greater context of how something came to be benefits our world view as individuals. To put it another way, I have discovered so many older musical artists just by listening and reading interviews with modern artists who cite the older ones as their influences. In doing so you understand how music came to be what it is today and you appreciate the way in which older sounds have evolved into newer ones. By similar analogy, if we choose to acknowledge the link between Yoga and Hinduism, are we really doing anything wrong? Are people falsely afraid that they will somehow betray their own religion by doing so? If that's the case then they already have problems as their own faith in their religion is on a shaky foundation.