Think of yoga teaching like Hindustani music. It has a tonal structure that structures the discipline. This is the Eight Pillars of Yoga, Ashtanga. Gurus, commentators, texts, and students have freely developed styles within the framework of the goal they are trying to achieve: breaking free from the cyclical bondage of the mind from birth to death.
Of Patanjali’s 196 Yoga Sutras, only four mention asanas (2.29, listing it among the eight pillars along with self-restraint, discipline, breath control, withdrawal of the senses, concentration, meditation and absorption; 2.46, describing the holding of asanas as “sthiraskamasanam” – “postures should be steady and comfortable”; 2.47, perfecting postures through meditation; and 2.48, claiming that perfection brings liberation from duality). This is often seen as an indication that asanas are not the essence of yoga, but that is incorrect. The yoga practice itself is drawn from ancient texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15 asanas), Gheranda Samhita (32), Hatha Ratnavali (84), Tirumantiram (126), Yoga Yajnavalkya (8), Vasishta Samhita (10), Ahirbuddhanya Samhita (10), Trishiki Brahmana Upanishad (16), and Rudrayamala Uttara Tantra (54). According to Ved Vyasa’s commentary, the asana in Sutra 2.46 was apparently taken from an existing source. This means that the definition of yoga is fluid among schools and practitioners.
The Yogatattva Upanishad says, “Asanas ka tavanti yavanthio jivajataya” or “As many as there are living beings, there are asanas.” The Rudrayamala Uttara Tantra gives the number as 10 crores. “Shataraksha Sahasrani Asanas mahitale.” 84 are considered precious to Lord Shiva, the Adi Yogi. As the Yogis say, one cannot be skilled even if one practices for a lifetime. Since yoga is full of possibilities, it is necessary to define what yoga is not. Yoga is not an Olympic sport, and stilling the mental element, i.e. stopping chitta, cannot be an Olympic sport.
Reducing yoga to postures, asanas alone, ignores the other seven limbs. Moreover, there are other paths in yoga. You can be a Karma Yogi, a Jina Yogi, or a Bhakti Yogi, using action, wisdom, or devotion. There is yoga in the Tantric traditions as well. To enhance the asanas classified as Raja Yoga, harnessing Rajasthattva (the physical urge to restrain oneself), without contextual study, is a limited understanding of the practice.
Yoga is a lofty mission of balance, not necessarily balancing on one’s head. Lifelong yogis may find that their movements become limited as they age. Knees become more inflamed, backs ache, and muscles and ligaments become less “resilient.” This doesn’t make them any less of a master yogi. Yoga places the yogi within the body’s natural processes, rather than against them. Each resistance teaches the yogi something about their mental, cognitive, emotional, or physical limitations and capabilities. Every day, the yogi steps anew on the mat, responding to the present moment, body and mind as they are. So how do we measure “failure” and “success”? By the number of medals?
Defining yoga solely in terms of physical exercises has led to the proliferation of yoga schools and exorbitant teacher training certifications. Some now claim to be certified in “Kundalini” yoga after a 500-hour, one-month boot camp. To make matters worse, Western science evangelists have put such modular yoga under laboratory observation protocols and declared it unsafe. This is not a Western conspiracy against yoga. Yoga, like any form of sadhana (progressive meditation), if practiced without its philosophical framework, can have a range of effects, from physical disability to nervous breakdown. Self-proclaimed experts have been found to be sexual predators. This is because claims of self-control promise safety, self-control, and self-awareness. Those who cannot certify these should not claim yoga on any podium. The race to be seen as adept solely through physical strength undermines the very essence of yoga.
The practice of yoga has concrete effects on the body, mind and spirit. Just as consuming alcohol dulls the mind, everything from breathing to any kind of intake, food, words, thoughts, sexual acts and cravings all constitute asanas as a result. To master asana, one must understand this chain of causality and how to mitigate its effects. If yoga is not transformational, it is not yoga.
The Olympics is at best a test of strength and speed, but for a genuine yoga practitioner, the fitness of the body is merely a barometer of the mind. There is no room for competition in genuine yoga and no room for yoga in competition.
Das is a Mysore-based author, mind-body-spirit therapist and practitioner.
© Indian Express Ltd.
First uploaded: May 7, 2024, 6:59 AM
