Debates on the Connection between Yoga and Religion
As yoga gains popularity in the West and other parts of the world, debates concerning its connection with religions like Hinduism and Buddhism have ensured leading to some sort of confusion that the society is far from gaining clarifications. In the west, Yoga has become the modern-day sensation as evidenced by moves to introduce the practice in schools as a form of Physical Education. However, specific groups are against Yoga as they believe that it, directly and indirectly, impose Eastern Religious teachings. For instance, in UK Catholic and Anglican Church leaders have banned Yoga from church halls on the grounds that it is demonic. Similarly, a priest from Northern Ireland found himself in trouble for implying that Yoga has its origins in paganism and thus it is capable of drawing its practitioners in “bad spiritual domain”[1]. From these points, it is quite apparent that supporters of yoga uphold that there is no connection between the practice and religion. On the other hand, opponents view yoga as a religious practice that poses spiritual risks to those who practice it.
The Origin and Spread of Yoga
As already mentioned, yoga has gained significant popularity in the West and most parts of the world over the past decades. Scholars attribute the widespread of yoga to the fact that it falls in a theological blind-spot. In essence, whereas Religions like Protestant Christianity places significance on beliefs and words, yoga is centred on experience and practice. For this reason, yoga has been likened to a mirror image that keeps changing based on the object placed in front of it. Hence yoga has managed to shift according to the era of the participants thus creating a possibility for personal interpretation that is presented in a practice which is deeply grounded in something grander. Whether yoga is a religious practice or not is debatable, and the only way to cut through the noise is by understanding its history and importation to the West. Therefore, the essay examines a brief history of yoga and how it was introduced to the West and other religions. This information would provide a basis for the discussion of the link between yoga and religion in an attempt to determine whether it is a religious practice or not.
Overview of Yoga History
Today, yoga is known as the contemporary fitness practice with benefits ranging from a decrease of stress to the reduction of risks of developing complications like diabetes and obesity among others. Whereas these benefits are well-known, most people rarely stop to think about the origin of yoga beyond the fact that it is rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism. Researchers attribute the ignorance to Yoga’s history despite its prominence to its dynamic nature which allows people to redefine it is according to the era and their understanding. This notion is rarely dismissed or rectified because the actual information regarding the origins of yoga is unavailable. Moreover, yoga’s history is not only lengthy but also complicated with a lot of missing pieces because the practice was either pass down generations orally and any recorded information was done on delicate palm pamphlets that got destroyed over time. Research gaps paved the way for varying interpretation of core concepts resulting in many different meanings and practices over the years. Based on this points, it can be inferred that the very definition of yoga is highly diverse and thus the term might mean different things to different people.
Historical Periods of Yoga
Historical evidence indicates that yoga existed as early as 2700 B.C. which is often referred to as the pre-Vedic period. However, the timing is debatable because historians are uncertain about the exact period when yoga practice first appeared. However, the term “yoga” first appears in Hinduism teachings as early as 1500 B.C. and it is composed as a Vedic Sanskrit. The complexity of yoga practice makes it imperative, to summarize, the history in different historical periods that include pre-classical, classical, post-classical and lastly modern period.
Pre-classical Yoga
In the pre-classical yoga, the practice was introduced by the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization about 5000 years ago in Northern parts of India. Specifically, the word yoga was first mentioned in the Rig Veda, a collection of texts mantras, songs and, rituals used by Vedic priests. Over the years, mystic seers that are Rishis and Brahmans refined the concepts of yoga and documented it in the Upanishads that is a collection of more than 200 scriptures. In essence, the Upanishads internalized the notion of ritual sacrifice which states that one should be able to give up his/her ego by attaining self-knowledge, wisdom and, action. Note that during this period, yoga was a mishmash of a multitude of beliefs, ideologies and, techniques that often contradicted each other. Therefore, the proceeding phase which was significantly influenced by the Patanjali’s Yoga-Sûtras entailed making clarifications to confusions that arose in the pre-classical yoga. Historians believe that classical period occurred sometime in the second century. Throughout the period the so-called Patanjali has organized the yoga practice into eight steps aimed at attaining enlightenment.
Post-classical Period
Another significant change in the practice of yoga occurred a few centuries after the classical period in what historians refer to as the post-classical period. The Patanjali’s yoga masters diverted from the old teachings and embraced the belief of using the physical body to attain enlightenment. In essence, the masters created the Tantra yoga concept designed to rejuvenate a person’s body with the intention of prolonging life[2]. In other words, this notion was designed to help the yogis break ties that bind them to the physical existence in order to cleanse their bodies and minds. Exploration of the connection between the physical and spiritual well-being resulted in the Hatha Yoga notion. The last period is referred to the Modern period, and it entails the spread of the Hatha Yoga in India and other regions including Western nations. Even though understanding Yoga’s history provides valuable insights about the practice, the knowledge in itself does not specify whether yoga is a religious or secular practice. It would be imperative to examine both sides of the argument before taking a stance, to be able to explore this concept.
Discussion on Yoga as a Religious Practice
When it comes to the debate concerning the connection between Religion and yoga, the general population can be divided into two that is supporters who believe that yoga is a religious practice and opponents who view is as a philosophy of attaining body and mental fitness. Supporters argue that it is impossible to separate yoga from Hinduism. This point can be supported by historical information that depicts development and refinement of yoga practice over the years resulting in the Hatha, i.e. the modern day yoga. To be specific, the term yoga is first mentioned in pamphlets referred to as the Rig Veda that is a collection of texts mantras, songs and, rituals used by Verdic priests about 5000 years ago. The concept undergoes numerous refinements like the redefinition of yoga to fit into eight steps that one can follow to attain the ultimate goal, i.e. a state of enlightenment. Centuries later the concept is redefined again resulting a deviation from its original meaning as the masters place more value on using the yogi’s physique to rejuvenate the body in an attempt to prolong life. It is not until the late 1800s that yoga is introduced in the West. Based on these points, it can be argued that the link between yoga and Hinduism go back in time making it impossible to dissociate the two.
In contrast, opponents of the view that yoga is a religion argue that the practice might have existed way before religions like Hinduism were found. As previously mentioned, the history of yoga is still obscure due to the existence of several missing pieces as well as the complexity of the concept. This notion creates an opportunity for speculations that might completely separate yoga from Hinduism and Buddhist Religion. Even though this view is logical, it can be countered on the grounds that the present-day yoga is the outcome of Hinduism refinement that took place over the years. Initially, yoga focused on an individual’s spirit as a way of attaining enlightenment[3]. This view was changed during the post-classical period when the Patanjali's yoga masters deviated from the old teachings and promoted the essence of the physical being in attaining unity between the spiritual and physical well-being in one’s journey towards attaining enlightenment. Alternatively, the history of yoga could be summarized to direct all the attention to the modern-day yoga. If this approach is undertaken, then it is clear that the yoga that is known to the 21st-century society is nothing but the product of Hinduism's influence on the ancient yoga. The outcome is the so-called Hatha yoga which places significant focus on using the physical rejuvenation to attain enlightenment.
Other than history, the existence or non-existence of a connection between yoga practice and religion can be specified based on yoga’s traditional and western/modern view. In general, opponents of the view that yoga is a religious practice uphold a westernized perspective while supporters of this notion prefer the traditional approach. In simple terms, the main difference between the two concepts arises from the fact that whereas the traditional perspective is ‘radical’ as it is an accurate representation of yoga’s history, the Westernized view can be described as moderate or superficial as it is nothing more than a modification of history. Supporters of the view that a connection exists between yoga and Religion base their argument on the original definition of yoga which means a union between the transitory and eternal self that is the ‘Jiva’ and ‘Atman/Brahman’ respectively. This union is attained by restraining the mind’s natural turbulence which is thought to prevent human beings from understanding their true natures. Such a goal is achieved once one undergoes the eight progressive steps called the ‘limbs’. Completion of these phrases means that the individual would have managed to practice all the religious rituals as well as the stretching bit which makes up a small portion of the whole concept. For this reason, it can be argued that yoga is indeed a religious practice.
However, opponents of the view that connects yoga to Hinduism religion assume a Westernized approach that neglects several sections of yoga’s history simplifying it to an ‘exercise program’. As mentioned before, the modern-day yoga which is common in most western nations is referred to as the Hatha yoga, and it was designed to help a person attain enlightenment by rejuvenating the body in an attempt to break one’s link to the external world. Considering the eight phases of yoga, Hatha makes up a small section of the so-called ‘limbs’. In essence, Hatha which entails the ‘asana’ or posture is only a small part of phase three and four. Present day yoga teachers prefer to skip phases one and two ‘Yama’ and ‘niyama’ which focuses on the individual’s morality.
Even though other steps of yoga such as the tantric which involves positioning the body in a coiled serpent posture, it is undeniable that the Westernized view of yoga is a distortion of the traditional approach. Thus for those who uphold that yoga is not a religious practice argue that the present-day yoga is an alteration of the original practice. Today’s yoga focuses on the physical bit of the whole practice and negates all the religious acts that might link the yogi to Hinduism or Buddhism. However, agreeing with this notion is the same as saying that a small section of a concept is different from the very ideology that this sect represents.
Moreover, people who argue that yoga is not a religious practice focus on the difference between spirituality and religion in furthering their view. Spirituality can be described as a person’s sense of connectedness with something that is much greater than him/her. From a generalized perspective, spirituality is considered inclusive as people practice it either consciously or unconsciously at all times rendering it impossible to separate a person from it. For this reason, spirituality is an essential part of human nature. On the other hand, religion is a specified set of beliefs and ideologies that govern a group of people into worship in a certain way. Remember that all the physical aspects involved in yoga are aimed at helping one attain a state of awareness of oneself as well as the surrounding. This insight is gained by disrupting the mind’s turbulence to allow the establishment of a connection between the yogi’s physique and spirit. Based on this point, it would be right to say that yoga allows an individual to attain spirituality, a goal that is compatible with not only Hinduism but a range of other global religions.
In contrast to the people who believe that yoga is a secular practice capable of supporting the various global religions, opponents of this view uphold that yoga goes beyond spirituality as it is based on the sacred teachings of the Eastern religions. As mentioned before, in the West a lot of emphases is placed on the physical aspect of the yoga practice and others while other sections receive minimal or no attention. The outcome has been over-simplification of yoga practice to a form of physical exercise whose outcomes are known. From such a stance, it would be okay to categorize yoga as a science because the cause and effects are known. Despite the existence of all these possibilities that encourage the confinement of yoga as a spiritual rather than a Religious practice, it is undeniable that yoga represents an integral part of the Eastern religion. For instance, the Hatha yoga depicts postures that entail greetings of the Hindu god of the sun, a concept that is unique to Hinduism making it impossible to dissociate yoga from the Hindu religion.
Conclusion
From the presented argument it is quite apparent that every stance that supports or opposes the view on whether yoga is a religious practice can be argued out. The entire essay employed three approaches the historical, approaches and, the variation between spirituality and religion. Historically, yoga has its basis in Hinduism sacred teachings. However, the modern yoga is a deviation from the original concept which allows the utilization of the western approach that is moderate compared to the traditional view. In essence, the Western perception of yoga places significant focus on the physical aspects of the eight phases rendering the moral bits optional.
Despite the attempt to select what to focus on, it is still impossible to completely separate yoga from Hinduism because the practices that are often referred to as physical exercises or stretches represent fundamental rituals of the Hindu religion, i.e. greeting the goddess of the sun. For this reason, yoga is a part of the Hindu religion meaning that Hinduism gives it the religious meanings that it holds. However, Hinduism is not contained within yoga which means that upon the dissociation of the practice from religion then all that remains is a physical practice capable of increasing self-awareness. Unfortunately, it is impossible to dissociate yoga from its basis, i.e. Hinduism leaving us with one conclusion that is yoga is a religion.
Bibliography
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[1] Alexander, Steven. 2015. "Pope Francis urged to discipline Catholic priest who called yoga 'work of the devil'." February 23.
[2] Bushak, Lecia. 2015. "A Brief History Of Yoga: From Ancient Hindu Scriptures To The Modern, Westernized Practice." Newsweek Business, October 21: 1.
[3] Berger, Peter L. 2014. "Cultural Globalization: Is Yoga a Religion?" The American Interest, May 28: 1.
[4] Scott, Brad. 2015. "Yoga - Exercise or Religious Practice?" Watchman Fellowship, Septemper 23.
[5] Basavaraddi, Ishwar V. 2015. "Yoga: Its Origin, History and Development." Ministry of External Affairs, April 23: 1.
